Etsy isn't great these days, yeah. I've been looking for better alternatives (for buying xmas gifts ), and there are some, but I haven't given them a shot yet.

Woodworking does seem tougher for selling online than, say, wirewrapping (have a relative trying to figure out selling those). I see facebook pages and personal websites for those sorts of local businesses, instead of etsy. A local blacksmith has an instagram. If you looked to build a website with pictures of old pieces, that'd give you a link to put on a card where anyone can see what you're capable of. Eventually with a contact form for whatever you want to sell (custom orders? small batches of a similar item?) when you're at that point.

The gallery here is nice: https://ridderworks.com/

My father talks about starting a business in a new town. He sent out a thousand mailers in the late 70's and got one customer who reccomended him around to her friends. That first customer or store buyer is tough. My business had a slow period and we advertised in a local mailer. It was expensive and we got one call out of it, lol. We're also temperature limited (house painting) and winters can get slow.

Thinking about working locally, i get some good business out of local paint and hardware stores. If you want to do custom work, they often keep business cards for recomendations when customers ask. For singular, prebuilt pieces, I also see small furniture pieces for sale from local sellers at gift shops.

Any local farmer's market? https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/comments/34qfhi/thoughts_after_my_first_farmers_market If you get some small stock and sell here, you can give out cards at the same time.

Getting started is tough, but unfortunately I enjoy spitballing this sort of thing. Feel free to ignore any and all ideas that sound useless, and especially ignore any that are irrelevant to your situation, lol.