finding like minded people. Communities within communities

Finding people who like what you like or do what you do can be difficult if you get too narrow in your focus. Some of you maybe asking why you should care about the support of other people doing similar things in your area. There are a myriad of reasons.
Competition: if you are showing or selling your work it is good to know you else is competing for the attention and the money. 
Cooperation: you can share tips about where to find supplies, how to market and how to avoid having side by side booths at the county fair.
Support: its good to know other people have the same thought processes and they may have experienced many of the same hurdles you have. 
Introduction: you can share information about other people in you local crafting community.

So how do you find these like minded people?
Networking. 
Be social when you are at vendor venues. Talk to the customers, but also the other vendors.  When you are not a vendor at a venue go and look around and introduce yourself. Almost everybody appreciates making more connections to people.

Have a card. Having business cards (even if you are not a business) means people can invite you to events you do not hear about through the usual channels. Hand them out and make sure you have an email address that people can use. if you have a webpage or FB page let people know. You do not need to have a physical/mailing address or phone number on the card. But and image and a few words that describe what you do is a great idea. 

Pick up cards too. This gives you a way to start looking at how other artists are marketing themselves. Maybe this can lead to a discussion or the discovery of a class about marketing for the artist. 

Have an on-line presence. You do not need an extravagant webpage to grab people's attention and Facebook is only one facet you should consider when developing your on-line space. Be careful though not to let the on-line pages become your focus instead of your art. Static pages that are rather like a super version of your business card but that do not need constant updating, unless you want to add to your gallery is a good plan. Make sure your business card and your fb page direct people to you webpage as well. On-line markets are also important to connect to all your other on-line media.

Go to events. The more you are seen the more you are known. Marketing at local craft bazaars and shops works great when possible buyers can meet the artist. Gallery walks and such get you known in your own communities.

We should not be afraid to make connections. We should not fear that what we do will lose the mystery or the magic because we are in touch with our communities. Reach out and find more reasons to make connections.