Poet Ponders the Digital

The Etsy office's community workspace area. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley February 2, 2015 Deadline March 2015 Issue Artisans often spend as much time trying to sell their works as creating them. Traveling throughout the Valley, and beyond, the artists I know set up booths at county fairs, craft shows, farmer’s markets and other events, trying to entice buyers interested in handmade items. A few local galleries and stores offer space to artists, and a handful of artists have spaces of their own. But, many of our creative artists need greater opportunity. For arts and crafts, the leading online marketplace remains Etsy. In less than a decade, Etsy has established itself as the place online shoppers go first, which means artisans should have a presence in the Etsy community. A few competing online marketplaces exist, such as ArtFire and Zibbet , but none rival the popularity of Etsy. Craft fairs have overhead, from booth rental feels to the ...