I "Carve Out" Independence, Satisfaction, and a Respectable Living

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The secret to marketing hand-carved signs in quantity is exposure. Get your work into public view, and—if it's good—within a short period of time you should be able to garner (by word of mouth) all the business you can handle. (It goes without saying that you should include your name and address or phone number on each and every carving you sell or give away. Remember: Sold pieces are your best advertisements!)

And how can you gain that all-important first exposure? Start by making a sign for the front of your own house. (This is the kind of work you'll sell most often, so it won't hurt a thing to give a few away as gifts to friends.) If zoning laws permit, mention on the plaque that you're a wood-carver for hire . . . otherwise, just feature your name and address. Mount the carving in an attractive and conspicuous manner on the lawn or in a window.

Another way to gain visibility is to rent a booth at a local craft fair. Mount your samples on an old door or piece of plywood and stand the display up alongside your booth's table. Have some business cards made in advance (blockprinted cards are best, but hand-lettered ones will do). And to really draw in the potential customers, lay out a stock of pre-traced boards, grab your carving tools, and make those chips fly!

You shouldn't have to attend too many of these craft shows before the customers begin to bang down your door (the one with the samples attached to it)! At my first saleduring the Potato Blossom Festival in Fort Fairfield, Maine—I received some orders from as far away as Pennsylvania . . . and one lady from Bangor, Maine gave me a standing order for as many decorative plaques as I could produce! (At another craft fair, however, I forgot my carving tools and business was lousy.)

You might want to try selling your work through a consignment crafts outlet (that is, a store which will stock your wares and pay you if and when the pieces sell). Since I've never had to go this route, I can't recommend it one way or the other.

I generally charge a dollar per three-inch (or smaller) letter when making signs, and $2.50 to $15 each for plaques . . . when the customer pays in cash. (I like to remain flexible on payment: Bartering and haggling can be half the fun of a sale!)

DEADLINES

I used to give customers a firm date on which they could expect to receive their finished carvings. I soon found, however, that "due dates" decreased my enjoyment of—and hence the quality of—my work. As a result, I now avoid deadlines altogether, since I've found that most people are willing to wait extraordinary amounts of time—if they have to—for handcrafted goods.

THE MONEY QUESTION

You're probably wondering—and rightly so—how much money a person can expect to make with my small carve-it-yourself sign business. All I can say is, you can make a little or a lot depending on how many hours you're willing to work, what kind of reputation you'll eventually build, etc. I can create $25 (or more) worth of signs in a four-hour workday . . . signs which-many times—are sold before they're finished. For you to do this, however, you must have an established reputation and experience . . . both of which take time to get. So don't expect to become rich—or even moderately affluent—at this craft overnight.

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