[Woodcarver] sites

[Marcia Berkall]

Hey, John,

Nice to hear from you :)  Good question and conversation starter!!

I used to do lots of shows.  I really enjoyed the people contact and 
they are a great way to get your name out there.  The down side is 
that here in Maine at least, where we have a huge tourist trade, 
people tend to look at us as, let us say "unworldly", and think they 
can get good bargains from us "hicks".  LOL  I love the people 
contact at shows, but the flea market mentality is sometimes hard to 
take.  For years I resisted galleries, not wanting to pay the 50% 
commissions. BUT, since working with galleries, my prices have at 
least tripled.  Add to that the fact that some of the more upscale 
shows cost $300 to $400, or even more, plus transportation, motels or 
camping expenses, food.....well, you get the idea.  For me, staying 
home and carving and driving the 2 miles to the Post Office to get 
work to the galleries has worked out much better.  I still do between 
3 and 5 demonstrations a year to keep my name out there and to remind 
people that I'm here.

My web page has gotten me some great commissions and several return 
customers.  I wouldn't want to have to rely on it for food money, but 
it sure helps.  The commissions I've gotten through it have been 
GREAT!  By the way, I recently completely redesigned my web page.  It 
is now at http://whittlinsnwood.com

I have not had any luck at all with online galleries/sites.  I've 
been thinking about Etsy, though.  The fees there are so reasonable 
that with the right key words or categories it may be worth a 
try.  Unlike ebay, there is a good range of prices, so who knows??!

Hope this helps!  Good luck!!
Marcia (aka Mush)


See Marcia's wood carvings 
at: 

http://whittlinsnwood.com
*****
Affordable Web Page 
Design:
http://artwebmaine.com
***** 

Get 20% Off CoffeeCup Web Design Software
Use this code when you checkout: 226STS
www.getcoffeecup.com  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/woodcarver/attachments/20080616/d2d1548c/attachment.html>