If you are less than the level cap, always try for 100% Quality from all NQ items. At low levels, you won’t max Quality. It will still have a decent chance of being a HQ final product.

Do not pick only one or two crafters to level; level them all. Keep them in the same level ranges and you can provide your own gear, can even make extra to sell on the board yourself. I’d also recommend leveling the gatherers, and using combat retainers (for the first two, at least; if you are going to have more then spread out to include some gathering retainers) as hunting mob drops is far more of a pain than gathering mining/botany materials. The less it costs you to get your materials, the more profit there is to be had from the board.

There will be times when it is more expedient to get things from the board, so even if profit is not your goal it is still something to bear in mind.