Craftspeople in Orkney can get plenty of support from the Orkney Crafts Association which helps promote their products through a website, exhibitions and the Orkney Craft Trail.  This trail, set up through the Orkney Marketing Scheme in 1996, signposts visitors to the workshops, studios and shops of the artisans through a brochure which is widely available in Orkney.  Specially designed roadsigns help steer the public in the right direction.  In the summer an Orkney Crafts shop trades as the biggest emporium of crafts under one roof in the county.  This shop has huge footfall from tourists, cruise ship visitors and local shoppers looking for gifts and souvenirs.

Members also team up to market their wares at large trade and public events on mainland Britain such as the Country Living Christmas Fair in London in November.  The range of craftspeople in the association include jewellers, textile artists, knitwear designers, potters, photographers, wood turners, furniture makers, glass designers, a craft co-operative, weavers, a soft furnisher, an artist and illustrator, a digital artist and more.

The association was set up in the 1990s with help from Orkney Islands Council and grew with assistance from both OIC and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), then called Orkney Enterprise.

Other associations which help craft businesses include Orkney Arts and Crafts, which promotes locally made crafts and goods at fairs and exhibitions within Orkney and the Orkney Jewellery Group which supports a thriving jewellery industry.