Can You Afford NOT to Advertise?

Do you do advertising?

Where, and how often?

Advertising can be a leap of faith. It is often hard to measure the effectiveness of an ad, at least in the short-term. And ads will often need to have repeated exposure to maximize their effect.

I am relying more and more on advertising now that I have focused on wholesale, and have virtually eliminated the retail side of my business. With a disciplined approach, and some effective images, ads can definitely work.

I do most of my advertising through Wholesalecrafts.com. They offer a few options. One is their Buyer's Guide, which is like a catalog of craft artists. It has ads ranging in size from full page to 1/12 of a page. I have run 1/12 , 1/6, 1/3, and soon will be running a full page ad in the Guide. And I have found, size matters, as does repetition. The most recent guide went out a few weeks ago, and I came back from New York with three messages on my machine, and continued to get calls through the week. Not all are placing orders, and the orders placed have been conservative. No surprise there.

But part of what has helped me is that I am sticking with the advertising, in spite of being fully aware of how bad the economy is right now. The last Buyer's Guide was the thinnest I can recall seeing. Especially for that time of year. I had a third of a page ad, and it got noticed. People are asking for information, visiting my page on Wholesalecrafts.com, and placing orders. Three good measures of an ad's effectiveness. With less ads, it is easier to be seen. With pictures that I know work well, it is easier to get a good outcome.

I debated whether I should run another ad in the next issue which will go out in September. I finally decided that I should. People will place orders for the holidays, although they are likely to be smaller and later. And from the sounds of it, fewer artists will be running ads. I was offered the chance to bump up to a full page ad at a terrific price. It was a no-brainer. Yes.

The biggest obstacle to the decision is truly psychological. Am I the type of artist who would run a full page ad? In other words, had I crossed some imaginary line in my head that gave me permission to be so bold? No, but I decided I needed to do it anyway. Act as if. The best part is that I had fewer creative limitations. I could design the ad myself. I love doing that sort of thing, and spent too much time this weekend designing and refining my ad.

In addition to the Buyer's Guide I often run a co-op ad in Niche magazine. Niche goes to galleries across the country who purchase handcrafted work. My target market. I get a better price by doing a co-op ad with Wholesalecrafts.com. And I get exposure to the market that would be most interested in buying my work. It has led to some terrific accounts.

How can I afford it? I guess I have come to see I can't afford not to. If I hold back from advertising, I will disappear into the ether. Visibility matters if you want to sell your work. It is about seeing your work as a product, rather than an extension of yourself, and then doing what it takes to make sure that your market sees your work, and knows about it. I have said this before, and I likely will say it again. Marketing your work is a bit like dating. Sitting at home waiting for Prince Charming to come knocking on the door is about as effective as making your work and waiting to be discovered. Might happen. But, probably not. It takes effort. It takes putting yourself out there for others to see. Simply listing your work on Wholesalecrafts.com, Etsy, or Trunkt is not enough.

Sellers on Etsy rely on the Showcase, and Treasuries to be seen. Flickr users will often join many groups where they can post their pictures to increase their exposure. I have come to look at the expense of advertising as the equivalent to the booth fee at a retail show, with less wear and tear on my body and my work. It takes time to build an audience for your work, but given enough patience and time, and yes, money, it is possible.

What do you do to have your work seen?

Maybe, This Stuff Works...

Just about five years ago, I started down the path of playing with polymer clay, and not long after, learning everything I could about the business of being in craft. You might think that someone with an MBA, would not need to learn much. But I have never in my life presumed expertise. And, after working in so many industries in the past, I knew I would have to learn what made the business of craft tick.

What have I learned in the last five years? LOTS! Some things the hard way, some the traditional way. But I certainly know more now than I did then. I'll try to summarize a few of those lessons here,

1. Doing matters. In the end, without action, it is nothing. Talk truly is cheap. Acting takes guts and often funds. But without taking action of some sort, nothing happens. And even when things go wrong....there is always an opportunity to learn, or to gain experience. Nothing has ever been a complete waste of my time. A few things came close. But I never came close to making those mistakes again.

2. The most successful are those who are usually just plugging away. You seldom see them complaining about much. Not because they are successful, and have nothing to complain about. No. It seems to me, that more often it is because they see little is gained from the complaint.

Complaining about ignorant or irritating customers, wholesale or retail, seldom does much except allow you to spend more time in a time drain. Complaining about artists who rip off others seldom is a well-spring for creativity. Complaining about how lousy the market is does not help you find new customers.

The successful are not Pollyannas. If anything they are hyper-realists. They realize that the only thing that is going to get them closer to their goals, whatever they might be is themselves. And no amount of complaining ever moved anyone forward. Usually it keeps them firmly planted in place as the rest of the world moves forward.

3. Perfectionism can be a crutch. It can be a way to avoid trying. It can be an excuse for item number 1. Good enough really is good enough. Don't get me wrong, craftsmanship matters. But, there is a line. Cross that line and you will never have anything leave your studio, and you will never be able re-coupe your investment in time if you try to sell your work.

4. Craftsmanship develops best in volume. Make something over and over and over again, and you will learn it and understand it in ways that are not possible in the first, the fifth, or possibly even the 100th piece.

5. Pricing never ever gets easy. You just reach a point of peace. You know you are covering your costs. You know your work will sell at a price. You are not selling it faster than you can make it. An equilibrium of sorts is reached, but it never maintains itself indefinitely.

6. Packaging matters. The best work in the world is enhanced with good marketing support materials. Some sort of packaging that tells your story or presents the work to best advantage will nearly always help sell the work a bit better than without it.

7. Understanding your customer is essential. It will help you answer so many other questions about how to bring your product to market. What shows to do? Pricing. Packaging. Colors. Designs. Where to advertise or publicize.

8. Even in a good market some will fail. Likewise in a lousy market some will succeed. Our success is more often influenced by our own actions than by those of the general climate. Those things matter, but they are not the only factor.

9. The world keeps moving, and so should you. New designs. New markets. New ways of getting your work out into the market. The internet is going to play an integral role as we move forward. If you are reading this you probably already sense this, if not know it and live it. Stay still and you will be left behind.

10. Going it alone is lonely. I love time on my own. But I can't say I would ever have learned as much, or gone as far as I have so far without the company of others.....virtually or in person. That new person at the show that you have been doing for years may know just the web guru that you need. The craftsperson who seems to be able to set up his booth with his eyes closed, because he probably can....will probably have some good advice if you are willing to listen. Sharing your dreams with others may mean that when they see the opportunity that is perfect for you, you will find out. Be a friend and make a friend. Your business will benefit, and so will you.

The title? It seems as if I should be in a lull right now. The economy is faltering. I had a large order with a catalog company cancelled. And yet, I am working like crazy. Orders are coming in. Opportunities dropping in my lap.

Why? Luck, perhaps. But maybe because I am working to stay focused on these essentials. I don't know. But I do know that the more I do that is alignment with the things I profess here, the more success comes my way. I get it wrong, like anyone. But I allow myself the error, and move forward. I hope that you can do the same with your business, and that it brings you the same satisfaction and success. I am looking forward to the lessons that the next five years will bring.

Tedium Central

I am doing a task I have known I should do for a long time, but never quite got around to it. I am building a mailing list of galleries. With the ACRE show coming up, I want to do what I can to maximize my success at the show....and the return on the money spent doing the show!

When I first starting selling at retail shows, I began my mailing list with the names of friends and acquaintances. It is the classic place to begin when you are starting from scratch. Over time, I added to that list with people who would sign my mailing list book at a show, or buy work from me at a show. Over time I have built up a decent size list.

Putting together a mailing list for a wholesale show is in some ways easier, and in some ways more tedious. With the internet, there is a wealth of information at our fingertips. But it means spending time sorting through all that information to find the shops and galleries that appear to be the best fit for your work.

How do you begin?? If you have done some wholesale sales, you have a start. If you have had any one ask you if you sell wholesale, they go on the list. Over the last several years, this list has grown to just over 100 entries. I have used this list in the past for an e-mail newsletter, and for my postcard mailing before ACRE last year.

But, the economy is tougher now. Now is not the time to put off doing the things we know we need to do to grow our business. So, I have spent the last two days adding to that list, and it now approaches 300 entries. How?

1. Magazines. American Style. Crafts Report. Looking at ads and gallery profiles. Sometimes it is an ad for an artist's work that has a list of several galleries that carry their work. If the work is similar enough in style (contemporary vs. rustic, colorful, etc.) than I add those galleries or shops to my list.

2. Internet. This is a multi-webbed approach, much like the internet itself. I might start searching for a gallery with Google, to find a street address, and then see several artists whose names come up in the search, because they have their work in that gallery. If I recognize an artist as someone whose work I think would complement my own, I go to their website and see if they have a list of shops and galleries. This can be a gold mine of information.

The other approach on-line is to go to artist's websites directly and see where they list to purchase their work. Inevitably, I find myself bouncing between these approaches. I may get a list of galleries from one site, but then I need to fill in information about the mailing addresses, and it is back to Google. Before long, I am on another artist's website.

There is no guarantee that the gallery or shop is still in business, or that you can find a good address. There is no guarantee that they will be going to the ACRE show.

But.....it is a numbers game. The more people I get my work in front of, the more opportunities I will have to sell my work. If you want to think of it the other way, you have to get a certain number of rejections to get to the "yes!" This task could be building the number of "no's" to help find the "yes!"es.

Sometimes, when the economy is strong, and your work is in demand, you can coast along without doing all those things you know you should do, but never get around to. When the economy is slow, the most savvy will survive. And the savvy are working every opportunity they can to increase their chances of success.

The way I see it, I could spend this time whining about how crappy the economy is, and how so few people are buying craft......or.......I can get busy and find those people that are. This is not likely to be a stellar year for business overall. But even in the worst of times, some thrive. Sometimes it is because they are offering a product or service that is in greater demand when times are tough. Or, sometimes, it is because they put in that extra effort. They work to go against the flow, and build a strong business in spite of the economy. When the economy turns around, they already have momentum in their favor, and will likely be positioned for greater growth. That is where I want to position myself.

So I sit here at the computer. Googling. Sorting. Searching.

In the end, it will likely be time well spent.

A New Focus

I have made a decision to focus on selling wholesale this year. My decision has come from several vantage points. First, I have seen terrific growth in this area of my business, and I want to be able to continue that growth. Second, retail shows have been more problematic for me.

Retail shows are a terrific way to get a first hand reaction to your work. This can be misleading and confusing though. I have had shows where the work flew out of my booth, and another show with the same work was dismal. Which information was correct? Both, most likely. Demographics, flucuations in the economy, weather, and many other factors can effect the outcome of a show. My energy level, or my display can also have an effect.

And retail shows are time consuming. Before the show I typically will do a mailing. This means updating my mailing list, printing out labels, and stamping postcards. A day to pack things up and organize. A day to travel and set up. Three days at a show, tearing down and traveling home on that last day. Crash and burn for at least a day. A week out of the studio. If the show was great, this was a week well spent. If not, it was a week away from family, and out of the studio. Then there are sales taxes to be paid, credit card sales to be entered, unloading the van, and putting everything away again. And more names to add to the mailing list.

In the past, I have felt unable to really think through, and follow through on developing a consistent and cohesive marketing plan for my work. It has been catch as catch can. Part of why I want to try focusing just on wholesale this year is because I want to be able to give enough attention to marketing that it can be more effective, and opportunities are not dropped or lost for lack of follow through.

Here is part of what I want to do;

1. Mailings. I still will do postcard mailings, but now they will be to galleries, and planned to promote some sort of special offer. A call to action, if you will. I also plan to mail out my new catalog to anyone who as ordered from me in the past or has asked for information. It will build on the past interest, and perhaps generate some sales. Too often in the past, I would send out a catalog after an inquiry, but leave it at that. I will make use of the mailing list of galleries I have built up over the last three years.

2. Newsletters. This is a step I have already begun. I sent out my first e-newsletter this week using Mail Chimp. They have a 30 day free trial, and flexible pricing plan that works for my volume and frequency. And it works! I had an order within 12 hours of my first mailing. I plan to send one out every other month, alternating with the postcard mailing. Not all galleries even use e-mail. But for those that do, it is a great way to stay in touch and let them know what is new with your work. These newsletter services would work well for retail as well. The nice thing about services such as Mail Chimp, or Constant Contact, is that they tell you how many people opened your email. How many times, and which links people clicked on. They clean up the list automatically, removing bounced e-mails. You could do this your self with a standard e-mail, but the background information is helpful to gauge the success of your newsletter.

3. Advertising. One of the tenets of effective advertising is repetition. Some people will contact you with the first advertisement. But others will have to see your ad repeated times before they take action. In the last year, I focused my advertising dollars on the Buyer's Guide put out by Wholesalecrafts.com. It is open to anyone who is on their site, and it goes out four times a year. I had planned to only do two ads last year, but ended up going with four. I also increased the size of my ad. The results were well worth the expense.

This year I plan to run ads in at least one, maybe two periodicals on an on-going basis. I am starting with Niche magazine, put out by the Rosen Group, and sent to galleries. I can run a co-op ad, again through Wholesalecrafts.com, and gain broader exposure for my work.

What I have learned in the last year of running the ads in the Buyer's Guide is that I get a different clientele contacting me as a result of these ads. I get phone calls from galleries who do not visit the Wholesalecrafts.com website, and do not want to place an order on-line. They prefer to talk to me on the phone. Perhaps have a catalog to peruse at their leisure. Some customers love the flexibility of ordering on-line, but others prefer a different approach. Being able to respond to all the various styles of your clientele is important.

4. Wholesale show(s). I will be doing the ACRE show in Las Vegas again this year. This show gave me exposure to buyers who like to come and see and touch the work in person before placing an order. Doing the show last year took me out of my comfort zone, but was well worth every minute of anxiety.

My approach to this is pretty much like it has been all along with my business. It is a trial. An experiment. I will allow myself this year of focus and see what happens. I may even do a retail show or two this year. But maybe not. I like the idea of traveling only once this year to do the wholesale show. I like the idea of taking the money I would have spent on retail shows this year, and using it to boost my advertising, and exposure.

I will let you know how this experiment works out. I am sure I will have more adjustments to make next year, but I feel like I have a map for the coming year. Each time we try something new, we learn new things. We may learn that it doesn't work for us, but we know it with certainty rather than fear.

Attention Polymer Clay Artists!

You have a wonderful opportunity to generate some free publicity for your work. Polymer Cafe has a new editor, and she is looking for submissions, now! Yesterday even. But tomorrow will do.

The secret that many people don't know is that editors need us to send them our work, and our ideas. That is what fills all those pages of the magazine. And in return we get publicity we could not otherwise afford. Editors do not use every item that crosses their desk, but without those submissions, there is no magazine. Editors do not base a magazine solely on hunting down quality work and begging the artist for the opportunity to feature them in their magazine. Editors have time constraints like the rest of us, and they depend upon the majority of what goes into the magazine coming from submissions from artists.

It is just these sorts of opportunities that we need to have a press kit, with a CD with images of our work, ready to go out the door, or at least put together quickly. Even if you do not have that, maybe you have an idea for an article that you have thought about writing, or some great pictures of some recent work. Submit it! Take advantage of this opportunity. And, know that these opportunities exist all the time. Waiting for us to take advantage of them.

Chop, chop. Time's a wasting.... What are you waiting for? You know you want to see your work in print. Go for it. I can't wait to see what ends up in the magazine.

Contest: Name that Crane

For the last few years, when I make a crane I start from scratch. I may make a cane that will create 3 or 6 or more cranes, but when that cane was done, so was that design. While there is some creative freedom in this approach, it can also be challenging when I have orders to get out the door. And there is anxiety as I package up an order. Will they like this one? I had a few variations that I could easily reproduce, such as a Skinner blend with a metal leaf crackle finish. But the patterned cranes were the ones that many people love.

After having to come up with a reproducible design for the catalog company I began to rethink my whole approach to making cranes. Maybe it would be easier to have several patterns that would be exclusive for one year. The next year, I would have a new set of designs. With that in mind, I have been working on several styles or designs to offer for 2008, and I have come up with a few that I like, and I know I can repeat....at least in pattern, if not in the exact colorway.

The group of cranes at right are called "I Love You" cranes. They were designed with Valentines' Day in mind. But I will only have this design for 2008. In 2009, there will be a new design with this theme.

The next picture is a group of cranes I call "Carpet Ride". When I am laying out the sheet of clay with the cane slices, I am using the idea of an oriental rug. I spent a year working part time selling rugs at an area furniture store. I loved the colors and patterns, and each night when I came to work, I would look through the rugs, to see the newest patterns and designs. Most rugs have a center field and a border. These cranes use that idea in how they are created. This pattern that will have more variety...depending on the canes I have to work with at the time.

Now, you come in. I have a few other designs that I need some help with naming. The right name can romance the work a bit. A story can be conjured up in just a few well selected words. Problem is, I have a nasty cold right now. My brain is in slow motion. Which can be great for getting tedious tasks done, but not so great for brainstorming. I need your brains and creativity. Two designs are wanting for a name.

Every idea I have come up with falls flat. The top group can be called group 1, and the lower picture, group 2. These are not the only colors that these cranes will come in, but they give you an idea of how the pattern can look in a variety of colorways. Submit your ideas in the comments, and specify which group you are naming. You are welcome to submit as many ideas as you can come up with. You have until next Friday, December 28th, at midnight(EST) to come up with an idea and post it in the comments. If your name is selected, in exchange for your permission to use the

name to promote that line, I will send you a crane in that pattern....hanging or sitting, you choose.

I hope your creative juices are flowing better than mine are right now. I look forward to seeing your ideas! And thank you for your creative energy....I need it right now. :-)

Press Kit; Where to Begin?

I have talked about having a press kit in the past, and how helpful they can be to getting publicity for your work and your business. But, I have not gone into detail about how to put one together. There more than one way to approach this, so feel free to apply your creative genius to the concept. I find by the time I get around to putting one together, I have do not have the creative time or energy to go beyond the basics. But don't let that hold you back!

The first step is to gather together copies of any publicity your work has received. This could be articles or announcements in your local paper, or features in national magazines. They all qualify. Sometimes a publication will provide you with a .pdf of an article, which is helpful for reprinting, or they may offer you additional copies of a magazine for a reduced cost.

If you do not yet have any articles about you or your work, don't worry. Your press kit will help that happen eventually, and we all start at zero. But, if you do, it shows that others have deemed what you are doing "newsworthy". When an editor sees that you have numerous articles, it can be a cue to look further.

Head off to Kinko's, Staples, or your nearest copy center, and make copies of the articles, or at least the first page of the articles. For some magazine articles, I have copied a two page spread onto a single page. Smaller articles might be able to be combined onto a single page.

If you happen to be at an office supply store, look around and see what you can find to hold your material for your press kit. You can get jazzy and have custom printed folders. Or you can use a standard, two pocket folder, and perhaps attach a postcard to the front for image. Get several, because you will be sending out more than one.

I put my press clippings, and press releases (future post), into the right hand pocket. I arrange them in chronological order, with the most recent in the front.

In the other pocket I add visuals. Postcard(s). A CD with several high resolution images. The CD should be packaged in such a way that it will not be easily damaged in handling.

Next, I include tear sheets or sell sheets. A sell sheet or tear sheet is a one page flyer that shows images of your work. I have one sheet per collection, or line. It is not necessary to have every style and every colorway of your work shown on the sell sheet. It is a way for someone to get a quick overview of your work. They can be used to announce a new line of work.

The sell sheet should have your logo, and it should have contact information. You can have dimensions of your work under each image. It is primarily focused on visual information. A collection of sell sheets with a separate price sheet can serve as a catalog for prospective wholesale accounts. By the way, I do not include a price sheet in with my press kit. But, you might include the wholesale and/or retail price range somewhere in your kit.

Next, you want to include your Artist Bio and Artist Statement. Recognize that you are not writing a bio or statement that you must live with for the rest of your career. We grow and evolve as artists, business people and human beings, and our Bio and Statement should change over time with us. I can't begin to tell you how many times I have re-written mine.

If you are not comfortable with writing it yourself, get some help. Find a friend who is a good writer, or hire someone. Look on Craig's List or DoMyStuff.com. Nothing is impossible.

I put those in behind the sell sheets on the left hand side.

Finally, I insert a business card into the space that is usually found on the left hand pocket. That is it. Nothing too extreme or too difficult. Yes, it takes time. But think of publicity as advertising you could not afford. On that basis, it is time well spent.

In a future post, I will write about press releases, and about where to send your press kit and/or press releases. But this should keep you busy in the meantime.

From "Ho-hum" to "Wow!"

I have been preaching about the importance of having the best possible images of your work. It is absolutely essential to market your work effectively. While professional photography is great for the pictures you want to submit for shows or competitions, it is also very expensive. I take most of my own photos. I invested in a tabletop studio several years ago, and it was one of the best investments in my business I could have made. I have raved about it in the past, and I will continue to rave about it to anyone who asks. It has dramatically improved the quality of the pictures I am taking.

This photo was about the best I could do using a plastic bin on it's side, with some halogen lights, and a grey paper backdrop. I think I was using a 1 Megapixel camera at the time, as well. It was okay, but very flat. It could easily put you to sleep.

After I improved the quality of my camera, (6 Megapixels, not great by today's standards), and got a tabletop studio set-up, without any tweaking on the computer, the images were better. This necklace was taken with my Fujifilm camera in my photo cube, with a grey gradient backdrop. No tweaking. This is how it comes off the camera. Much better than before.

But it could be better. I have been using Photoshop Elements to adjust my images for the last few years. It is the basic program, relatively inexpensive, and does most of what I need. You can see what it can do to both of these images, below.

This is doing some very basic things....color correction, cleaning up the dust, adjusting for contrast and brightness, and making a slight adjustment with Unsharp Mask, to remove the flatness that you can get with digital images. All this takes me no more than a few minutes per image now....unless there was a lot of dust on the backdrop! And it is a big improvement.

But, I have been running up against some of the limitations of Photoshop Elements for the last year or so. I have needed a CMYK image a few times, or a RAW file and you can't get that with Elements. And most of the adjustments are "auto", meaning the program is doing the thinking for you. Sometimes it is good, and sometimes it is not.

Recently I ran across this information on using Curves in Photoshop to make adjustments to the image. There were a few other functions that Elements did not have, that I thought would help my images get just a bit stronger. Yesterday, I took a deep breath, and bought Photoshop. It is not inexpensive, but,...Wow! Look at the same images again, this time edited in Photoshop CS.

The necklace seems to pop off the page, and the bracelet is almost passable. It still is not a very strong picture, but it at least is more interesting visually than the one at the top of the page.

I am not in the league with the professional photographers I mentioned in a recent post, but I am doing better than I was last year, and better still than the year before. And that is what it is about. Doing a bit better. Taking those baby steps.

I do not spend this money easily or without a lot of angst. I have been thinking about making this move for over a year. When I can get these kinds of results for the money I spent....and the time learning about curves!...then it is money and time well spent. I am still learning the ins and outs of Photoshop, and will never claim to be an expert, but with each image, it gets a bit easier and faster.

Here are a few more pics.

Before and after.

What Can We Learn from Those Stats?

There has been some serious grousing lately on a discussion board. It is about statistics. This is a discussion that happens regularly anytime someone is trying to sell something, and is using the services of another company to facilitate that process. If the outcome is not meeting their expectations, there is the inevitable outcry...."Where are the buyers?" "We want to see the numbers...." Attendance, visits, who is visiting?..... Raise the cry, and you will be sure to hear the back up chorus chiming in, in full harmony. I have seen and heard this over and over again, for wholesale shows, retail shows, on-line outlets (EBay, Etsy, and Wholesalecrafts.com), etc.

The latest discussion leaders want more statistics about the buyers. Who is coming? How often do they come? How often do they buy? The thinking seems to be that valuable information can be found in those statistics. If they had the statistics, they could then "prove" that the particular outlet is not performing. Or it is not their fault that things are not going the way they want. It is the quality of the buyers. The lack of buyers. The wrong buyers.

But at any of these places, you can also find artists who are connecting with buyers. Why? Is it because they are selling "cheap stuff"? Is it because they are lucky? There are endless reasons why they may be having more success than those who are focused on getting more statistics. But I am willing to guess that the main reason they are doing well, is they putting in the effort to promote their work. They are keeping their work fresh. They are constantly adjusting and adapting.

Etsy has become a hot place to sell your handcrafted work. But it takes a lot more than just putting up some pictures and waiting for the sales to come in. Successful sellers on Etsy are promoting their presence on Etsy elsewhere, on the web and off, and they are working the site. They are on the discussion boards. Showcasing their work. Active on the street teams. Success on Etsy just doesn't happen. It takes work.

At a retail show, you need to do the mailing, display your work to best advantage, and sell your work. Be present to the customer. Have a story to tell about your work, your inspiration, or your life as an artist. Have a good product at a fair price. Buyers are more selective than they may have been in the past. Being talented is not enough. In order to get a sale, you need to have the rest of the package in place.

On a site like Wholesalecrafts.com it takes effort to get sales. You might as well just put $400 in an envelope and hand it to a stranger if you are not going to invest any other effort...or money...into making the site work to your best advantage. Being on the site is only the first step. Anyone who has an on-line shop with their website will tell you that you must be able to get the traffic to your site to be able to have a chance at making a sale. Likewise, on a site like Wholesalecrafts.com, where there are over 1000 artists on the site, you need to do more than post images of your work to generate a sale. You need to keep your work fresh, run ads, online and in print. And being on the site doesn't mean you shouldn't be pursuing other opportunities off the site.

So, let's say the people raising the outcry get the statistics. And they find out that buyers are coming to the site. What then? Do they ask for a financial audit of the buyers? It must be that the buyers who are coming are just not buying enough stuff, right? Or they don't have a big enough budget to buy quality work.

It's the statistic thing again. Statistics can give us valuable information. But they don't eliminate the need to do the basic work. Develop a good product. Control your costs. Make sure you are doing the right shows, or are on the right sites for the work you are producing. Promote your work. And follow through. Be there for the sale. Better yet, exceed your customer's expectations. Those are the things that help you develop a following. And that, takes time.

I like statistics. They tell me a lot. But sometimes they tell me what I am doing is not working, and I need to do something differently if I want a different outcome. What are you looking to find in the numbers? Salvation? Justification? Or perhaps just a little information?

Stepping on the Stats Scale

One of the standard pieces of advice you recieve when you go on a diet is to not step on the scale everyday....let alone three or four times per day. It is misleading and can be distructive. Once a week or so is plenty....better yet, look at how your clothes fit.

Statistics have become the scale of the internet. Stats for our blogs, our websites, our networking site, our Etsy page or EBay listing. How did we ever live without all these numbers. Keeping score for us. How many people are visiting us? How long do they stay? What did they look at? Where did they come from? Our mood can surge or plummet based on our stats.

All this information can be helpful, but it can also be a distraction. We can get lost in a lot of details that do nothing to really inform us.....especially when we check the stats multiple times per day. It is hard not to be drawn to the numbers. Especially if we are starting up a blog, or getting set up on a site like Etsy. But is hourly checking of the numbers helping you accomplish your goals?? What if you checked every few days or once a week? Think of all the noise in your brain from all that data that could be quieted.

Sure, it is good to know if anyone is visiting your blog. And it is nice to know how they find you. But when we look at that information obsessively, it gets us off track of our true goals. Suddenly the numbers become our goal. We can become driven by the statistics. The reason we began our effort in creating a website, or a blog gets buried in the stats.

Just like we can have sudden drops or spikes in our weight from day to day, a sudden spike in the numbers can pull our attention away from where we need to be focusing our energy. If we get a big spike because someone with lots of traffic linked to our site, it can be heady. But it can also seem so empty when they all move onto the next link the following day. With a longer perspective we can see the base of our traffic.

I find myself falling into this stats trap. But since I have been so busy with work in my studio lately, I have broken the stats habit. And I realize that it can be a huge distraction. I have lived many years, very happily, without having to know how many visitors came to my page on that day, and where they came from. It is fun to know that I have links from a blog in Estonia. But it does not help me write a better blog entry. It is great to see the impact of a press release on PRWeb has had in driving traffic to my website. But it is only in the longer view that I can really see how effective the tool has been.

Do you have a stats habit that needs curbing? Do you walk around quoting the number of visitors your blog has gotten this week, and what your Technorati rating is up to? It may be time to walk away from the computer for a bit and start withdrawing from the habit. See how much more useful the information can be when it is viewed once a week instead of three times a day. And see what things fill the vaccuum. Perhaps you will not miss the stats much at all. And you wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

Wholesale Shows, How?...Part 2

So you've applied to a wholesale show....and you got in! Congratulations. Now it is time to start preparing for the show. If you have done retail shows in the past, it will be a fairly simple adjustment. How is a wholesale show different?


First and most important, at a wholesale show, you only need to bring samples. At a retail show, it is cash and carry. At a wholesale show, people will be placing orders based on the samples you have at the show.


In addition to having samples to display at the show, you will need to have a catalog or some sort of handout that will provide information to interested buyers about your work and your product lines. This may be four color printed material, or it could be simple copies of line drawings. It could be a collection of postcards, and some supplemental information about your work. How many? The advice I received before I did my first show, was to calculate how many sales pitches could I do per hour. Then multiply that times the number of hours the show will last. If over three days, there are twenty hours, and you can do 3 sales pitches per hour, you should have at least 60 sets of your sales literature.


Along with the sales literature, you will need a price list. I print my price list seperately from my catalog. That allows me to make any necessary changes to prices and terms easily and quickly. Have a copy for each set of your sales literature.


You will need to think through how you will want to display your work. There are not dramatic differences in display for a wholesale show and a retail show....except for pricing. You want to make your prices very visible. The buyers will be walking a large show, and will be making many, many decisions. You want to make the process as easy as possible when they come to visit your booth. Your wholesale prices need to be clearly displayed with your work.


You will need some way to write up your orders. This could be a customized order form that you can get printed up, or it could be a standardized order form that you purchase from an office supply store.


At a wholesale show, there are fewer numbers of buyers walking the aisles. But those buyers are going to be spending much more money than the buyers who are walking the aisles of a retail show. They are not there to look. They are there to buy. They have a budget. But they want to buy.


Does this mean that if your sales presentation is brilliant that you will be able to sell your work to any buyer who approaches you? No. They will be assessing your work with how it will fit with their shop, gallery, or catalog. They will be evaluate the workmanship, the price points, and the appropriateness of the work for their shop. So you want to learn what you can about their needs. You may quickly find out they like your work....personally....but don't see it as a good fit with their gallery.


But, let's suppose that your work is a good fit. Then you need to be ready to answer the questions you are likely to get. What is your story? Why do you do what you do? What do customers like about your work? What are your best sellers? What is your minimum? Will you accept terms? What would you recommend as an opening order? These are the kinds of questions you need to be able to answer quickly and easily.


And when it comes time to write your orders, have a calendar. You will need to know when you can deliver the work, and determine when the buyer wants the work. As you commit to deliveries, mark off the necessary time on your calendar. You need to be able to plan your production schedule as your recieve orders.



One last thing. Bring your press kit. Kits, actually. There will be people from various publications who will also be at the show. The money you are spending on the show will be nothing compared to the free publicity you might be able to get from this one move. So far, I have had my work featured in New Age Retailer (at right), and Gift Shop magazine since the ACRE show this spring. Simply because I brought along my press kits. This was exposure I could not have afforded.


Those are the essentials. Definitely doable. Most importantly, don't forget the comfortable shoes!

Wholesale Shows, Where and Who?

This is the fourth in a series of posts about wholesale craft shows.

Wholesale shows can be regional, or national, or perhaps even international. Shows such as the New York Gift Show will have importers as well as craft artisans from the United States and Canada. The size of the show will impact, to some degree, the numbers of people who come to the show, and how far people will come from to the show. The two big wholesale shows in the world of craft are The Rosen Group Buyer's Market of American Craft (referred to as the Rosen show, or BMAC) in Philadelphia, and The American Craft Council Wholesale Market (ACC) in Baltimore. BMAC occurs in both February and August, and the ACC show is in February. These shows draw buyers from gift shops to top galleries, and from local shops to galleries from across the country.


There are Gift Shows that occur all across the country. Boston, New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, Seattle, etc. George Little is one of better known promoters for these shows. Some of these shows are geared toward specialty retailers, others are for anyone selling gifts. Some have a reputation for lots of importers and very little work in the "fine craft" category. Before doing a show, visit if you can. At the very least, talk to other artists who have done the show to try and find out if it is the right show for you. A great resource for finding out about shows is some of the forums online, such as at the Craft Report website, or American Craft Forum. Like all online groups, the traffic and intensity of conversation can vary over time, and the quality of information can vary. But the archives can be a good resource, and a way to get a range of experiences and opinions.


Who is at wholesale shows? Primarily Vendors and Buyers, naturally. But there are other people who will visit a show. People from various publications will go to a show to see what new things are out there. Being prepared with some press kits to leave in the show office is a good idea. You never know what kind of publicity you might be able to generate by bringing materials to a show. My work was featured in two different publications due to ACRE. and at least 8 or 9 copies of the press kit were picked up at the show. Those articles have led to phone calls and inquiries from shops and galleries.

Next, and last in this series....How??

Back to School...Math Lesson

It is that time of year again. For a long time I felt like September should be when the year began. My whole rhythm was on the school calendar. I am back on it again, with kids, but I don't feel that same sense of new beginnings that I used to.

Fall is time to gear up production. Galleries and shops are placing orders for their holiday inventory. Shows are coming up. (I will be at the Lyndhurst show in Tarrytown, New York from September 14th to 16th). Special holiday sales are lining up their artists. It is time to hunker down and crank out the work. January now seems to offer more time and space for renewal and reflection.

I came back from my trip thinking that was going to dive into production. I knew I had a few orders that had to get out after I got back. And a few catalogs to send. But the trip threw me off my game. My back was seriously out of whack for about a week, and I was jet lagged and exhausted. My studio was in a state of chaos when I left, and the cleaning fairy never showed up to tidy things up.....she always seems to miss my place.....

So Labor Day weekend was one of serious labor for me. I had three orders to crank out. I had some inventory I could draw on, but... One order had slipped my radar until I went hunting for the paperwork for another. Today, I shipped all three orders, and sent out information packages to five shops/galleries. After that I took a well deserved afternoon off. Whew! Tomorrow the kids go back to school and I can get back in the groove. Top of the list, dig out the studio!

One of the advantages to shows, or delivery dates for wholesale orders is that they give me deadlines to focus on tasks that I am prone to put off. I finally put together a product insert for my jewelry, that can also serve as an earring card. It has a paragraph blurb about me and my inspiration on the back/inside. I know these things make a difference and are important to do. But, do I make them a priority? Nope. They keep sliding down the list. Never bumping up to the top of the list. My inserts for the cranes have been an important element to their success. Why do I think I can just skip that step with my jewelry??

There are just so many things to balance. In addition to being creative, and productive, we need to make sure that the business side of things stays up there on the to-do list. I also put together a flyer for the new star ornaments, and a sell sheet for my new jewelry. Both of these went in the packages and the information packets that went out today. It was tough to pull all of this together, but it felt really good to know that I gave those tasks the attention they had been needing.

I can easily lose a day in my studio. Going from production to play and back again. But if I do not do the other work, the business side of things, it all might as well be play. I was reading a newsletter sent out by Paradise City Arts Festivals to artists. In it, they report on sales results for their spring and summer shows. They did an additional analysis of the self-reported data from artists this time. They looked at the correlation of sales with advertising and direct mail efforts by the artist. It was not clear if this was just using the services provided by Paradise City, or if it included seperate marketing efforts by the artist. Either way, the end result was that the average sales were 24% higher for those who did the mailings and/or advertising for the show than for those who did not.

Twenty-four percent. The average sales for their shows are between $5000 and nearly $7000. I did the math. If we assume an average sales of $6000, and that half the artists advertise, and half don't.....

Artist who advertises and promotes their presence at the show: $6642
Artist who skips advertising and promoting presence at show: $5357

The difference: $1285.

Percents are one thing. Dollars are another. Paradise City offers to do a mailing at NO COST for any artist who provides them with the mailing list. They have a website, that can link to the artist's web page....assuming the artist has a website. Artists can also purchase ads in their show guide they mail out prior to their shows.

How much time does it take to send a mailing list in to have someone else do your mailing? If you are keeping up your mailing list, ten minutes tops. Do you have a website? If not, put it on the top of the list, right after updating your mailing list. A website is essential today. You do not need to have a merchant site. Pictures, artist's statement, bio, contact info, and of course images of your work. You do not have to be a programming whiz. You can either hire someone, or use a hosting service that offers a template that you can easily do yourself. You cannot skip these steps. Look what the potential costs are. Are you willing to walk away from nearly $1300 because it is a hassle? I didn't think so.

No wonder I loved math so much. And marketing.

Voting with Dollars

So, the purse fairy gives you $500 or $1000, or even $5000. Any purse your heart desires, is yours to own.

From the time we start carrying a purse, they can become appendages. You don't leave home without it. A purse can also be a way of expressing who you are and what you are about.

Huge sums of money are spent on these bags to carry our keys, our money, our cellphones, odd bits of paper, and on and on. Some aspire to own the same purse sported by the celebrity on the go. Knockoffs of purses abound. There are blogs about purses. No surprise really. The Purse Blog. The slogan..."Shallow Obsessing Strongly Encouraged." Seriously. Check it out. Or how about The Purse Snob. Pictures of celebrities out and about, sporting bags by Louis, Kate, Jimmy, Marc,... In case you do not know who the "it" designers are, they have a list, with the links. For me, there was just nothing that got me excited. Nothing I had to have.

On the other hand, if I could own one of Kathleen Dustin's purses, it would make my heart skip a beat. Or one of the amazing beaded purses by Sherry Serafini. I would be tickled to carry one of these fun Flashbags for everyday. As I browse the internet I see touchable shibori bags by Range of Emotions, or these cool metal mesh purses by Bo's Art.


Here is my concern. If what most people aspire to own is mass produced, but has a corporate created sense of exclusivity, does that diminish the really exclusive and wonderful creations out there? Whether it is handbags, fashion, or a beautiful vase. How as artists, can we overcome the name game? How can we create the same interest in our work that the production items have?


One thing we can do is act from our beliefs. Vote with your dollars. Scrimp and save a bit to buy the piece of jewelry, the handbag, the platter, the simple, but exquisite mug that was made by hand and with attention and care by the artist. When you drink a cup of tea or coffee out of that mug you will feel special. When you continually get stopped as people want to know where you got that great bag, or pendant, you will know you were not the only one who sees the beauty in your purchase. You will also know that it is about more than how much something costs, or having other people know you own an "it" bag.

By voting with our dollars, as much, or as little as we are able, we make a choice to support beauty and art in the world. And that has to be contagious. It sets an example for those around us. Don't leave the trendsetting to the celebrities. Most high fashion begins on the street. With people who have their own innate style. They don't follow the magazines, or want to own something because they want to say they know what is "in". They look inside themselves for inspiration.

Sadly, there is no purse fairy. But our dollars do count. Vote wisely.

How Much Control Do You Need?

An important ingredient of any artrepreneur's business plan is promotion. If you don't get the word out in some way about what you are doing, you reduce your chance of success. How can someone buy that amazing creation of your's, or sign up for your classes, if they don't even know you exist, let alone know about your work??

There are a few basic ways to go about this. One is advertising, another is publicity. The third is creating buzz....the internet is the main hive for buzz these days.....blogs, forums, etc. The differences between the options come down to two main things. Price and control. If you are willing to work a bit, and let go of some of the control, you can get exposure you could not otherwise afford.

This month I have had an abundance of publicity, from a variety of sources. Contests, magazine submission, and articles. Some of it expected, some of it a surprise. I found my inner control freak starting to peek out a bit, before I quickly reminded myself, it was mostly free! Here is a partial run down:

I just received my copy of The Buyer's Guide on Monday, and ...Woohoo!!!....there was a picture of one of my cranes on the cover. It was the same crane that came in third place in the National Polymer Clay Guild Progress and Possibilities 2007 exhibit in the alternative use category. The Buyer's Guide features advertisements from artists who have their work available on Wholesalecrafts.com. It is mailed to artists and galleries across the U.S. and Canada. It is the main place I spend my advertising dollars. I am paying for my ad space, so I can decide which picture I will use, and how big the ad will be. I can't control placement, but this time I had a great spot....centerfold....top, right-hand page. And then the crane on the front. Woohoo!! Thank you Wholesalecrafts!

Last week, the July issue of Mothertown Monthly, a free feature magazine in my area came out. It had a profile of me and my work. A local gallery owner had suggested me for the article to the editor. The first paragraph was one I would love to live up to:

"There are some people who truly love their jobs. Easy to spot, they’re always smiling and eager to talk about their craft. They tackle each new project with a zest that most don’t recognize.
Judy Dunn is one of those people."

As I read further through the article, there were details that were off a bit. But with a start like that, who really cares??? It is the control thing. If you are not writing it, and having final control over every word, then guess what....you have to let it go.

I have never had an article that someone else has written about me or my work, going all the way back to college, that has not had some minor details that I flinch a bit as I read them. In the end, those details really do not matter. They happen with everyone. The only way to make sure that it does not happen is to make sure no one ever writes about you or your work. That is a pretty steep price to pay for control.

Last week I also had a blurb in the Crafts Report Insight section which highlighted polymer clay. (page 67) I was happy that the submission was accepted, and they used the picture and text I sent them.....but I was disappointed by the picture. I was surprised that a magazine focused on such a visual subject matter would have such an itsy bitsy image. It was barely over one inch square. The picture I sent in was more than 1600 by 1400 pixels....not microscopic. Oh well. They spelled my name and contact information correctly. :-) Sometimes that has to be enough! Here is the picture in a larger format....in case you didn't have a magnifying glass....just kidding Crafts Report!

All this publicity I was so fortunate to receive has more to do with taking chances, and submitting work to people, than any talent or success on my part. Doing your best work is important. But getting it out there for others to see matters to your success as well. Whether you want to sell your work, teach classes, write articles....whatever your goals are with your craft, promotion is something that you need to work at, from time to time, if you want to move towards those goals.

If you were brought up like I was, to not draw too much attention to yourself, it is hard to get comfortable with the idea of publicity at first. Just look at it as drawing attention to your work....not you. It is about the business, not about your ego. It is trying to get the advertising you could not otherwise afford, stretching those tight funds.

Accept the so-so publicity, and embrace the "wow!" And be willing to accept that sometimes you get nothing at all from your submissions. It is a bit of a crap shoot. Sometimes you get the perfect storm effect of lots of things happening at once. You cannot control when or if this will happen. The wave will pass, and life will go on as before. But do be sure to save the clippings....they can be used in your press kit!

Drawing Pictures

Not all pictures are drawn with pen and paper. Sometimes the visual is created with words. For instance, who is your customer? Not an individual customer. But the typical customer for your work. This is something you should think about and review from time to time. By understanding who your customer is, you can make more intelligent decisions about the best shows for your work, how to promote your work, and help the stores and galleries who represent your work sell it better.

The best way to start filling out this picture is to start asking questions.

Are they young, middle-aged, or older?
Are they male or female?
Is the purchase more often made by an individual or a couple?
Are they buying for themselves or as a gift?
Where do they fit on the economic spectrum?
Are they urban, suburban or rural?
Are they hipsters or traditionalists?
What kinds of magazines do you think they read?
Do they surf the web?
Do they hate cellphones, the internet, and anything tech?
Nature lovers or modernists?

Get the idea? If, like me, you like to people watch, this kind of task can be fun. It is people watching in reverse, sort of. Instead of watching people go by and creating the back story for them, you are building the person from their story first.

What if you have absolutely no idea? Well, it is time to start paying attention. Who is getting excited about your work? Ask them questions. Being chatty with customers or the visitors to your booth can be a great way to gain insight into who your buyers are. As you package a purchase, or process the sale, you can be learning little bits of information about this person and why they are buying from you. Not the inquisition, just some simple open ended questions that might get them talking about themselves and why they are buying your work.

For instance, do they usually come to this show? Is this purchase a gift? You could notice any jewelry they might already be wearing if you sell jewelry. I remember a show I did about two years ago, and there were a lot of people who liked my work who happened to be wearing jewelry made by Lauren Pollano. I happen to be a fan of her work, so I recognized it immediately. I have come to know when someone comes into my booth wearing some sort of "art jewelry" they are a better candidate for a purchase than someone wearing more traditional jewelry. Even if you do not sell jewelry, the jewelry someone is wearing may tell you a lot about that person's style and taste.

These conversations will also reveal what it is about your work that people are responding to. This can help hone your story of your work. Rather than the story from the point of view of the creator, it is the story from the point of view of the observer. Which point of view do you think is more effective for selling your work?

Selling and promoting your work effectively means sometimes you need to take on the role of a detective or journalist. Dispassionately observing and noting. Taking in the information and processing it so that you can draw a picture. The picture of your customer. How much detail can you sketch out?

Getting the Word Out

If you have ever taken a class in marketing, one of the first things you are likely to learn about is the 4 "P's".....Price, Product, Promotion, and Place. Each aspect is important to being successful in the marketplace. Let's assume that you have a product, and you have a price for your product....now you need to let the world know about you and your product.....Promotion.

Advertising, promotion, "guerilla marketing" or creating "buzz" are all ways to promote your product. This is a Primer of sorts about each of these alternatives, and the pros and cons.

Advertising: This is when you pay for an ad. The ad could be in a magazine, newspaper, show guide, or on the web. While there are often constraints with any place you decide to place your ad, you are paying for the space, so you have more control. Control over any images used, size, text, content, etc. But it does cost money. Anywhere from $50 or so for a small ad in a show guide, to thousands of dollars in high end magazines geared toward the collector market.

But to some extent you get what you pay for. There is no guarantee that anyone will read that ad in the show guide, or that it will have any life beyond the show. A well produced magazine will have higher quality paper, printing, and a longer shelf life. It may be the kind of magazine that is found in the waiting room of a doctor or an auto dealer. But that high end magazine ad may well be out of the reach of many artists. Resourceful artists have been known to get help in the cost of those ads. They may ask several galleries who represent their work to chip in for the cost of the ad. Their gallery name appears in the ad, and they get exposure for their gallery and any cachet that the artist brings.

But advertising is something that can't be a one-shot deal. You need to have repetition in the ad before you will see any significant results from it. The rule of thumb is that you need to run an ad at least three times before you can judge the results. Most of my advertising dollars go to The Buyer's Guide produced by Wholesalecrafts.com, and in advertising on their site. After two years on the site, and a more consistent effort in this area, I am seeing a difference.

Let's say that you are still in the early stages of your business, and don't have much money available to spend on any advertising. This is where promotion comes in. I like to think of this as the "free" advertising. Promotion is the press releases, the articles or pictures submitted to magazines, the contests, etc. The cost is your time and effort in pursuing these opportunities. There are no guarantees of return for this effort. You may enter a contest, submit a press release, or send pictures for the gallery section of a magazine. This does not mean that your work will be accepted. You give up the control that you have with an ad. But you may gain some credibility. Even if a newspaper or magazine uses every word of your press release, completely unaltered, there is the perception that editorial content....articles, etc....are less biased than an ad.

Promotion can be a win-win. Magazines are in continual need of content. 4, 6 or 12 issues a year. 8 to 20 articles in an issue. Local newspapers have less reporters on staff these days, and are often looking for articles about local people. You are helping them find material to fill that constant void. But you need to make sure your work is a good fit for the magazine or newspaper. Each publication has different standards for submissions. They can often be found on their website. And the pay-off is often not immediate. But over time, it is one way to build your exposure, and credibility.

Competitions are another great way to build your exposure and credibility. Win an award in a competition, and now you are an "award winning" artist. Lists of competions can be found in many magazines including The Crafts Report. There are an endless stream of books that are being published in the world of craft. They will often include a gallery section. Lark Books for one, has a place on their website where you can see what types of submissions they need for upcoming books. You risk rejection in each case, but the potential rewards are great.

Finally there is the guerilla marketing or buzz factor. This is the more organic type of marketing. It can be a blog where you post your latest work, or about your upcoming shows. Or it can be networking with other artists. This takes time, and effort, and without some sincerity in your message, is likely to fall flat.

I am someone who loves to share finds. Good or bad, if I learn about some new product or service that I really liked or absolutely detested, the people in my life are likely to learn about it. Some companies are trying to build on this in a more formal way. There are Bzzz Agents, or guerilla marketers and You Tube. I had joined Bzzz Agents because I thought it would be fun to do, and a natural fit with who I am. Turns out, for me, you can't force something like that. I did not Love or Hate any of the products I tried out, so creating buzz felt artificial to me. I am a flunk out of a Bzzz Agent. But I am opinionated, so this blog, or on-line forums are a great way for me to share my opinions and thoughts, and perhaps help people learn about my work.

Do you have plans for Promotion for your business? If not, now is a good time to start thinking about where and how you can get the word out about the gorgeous work you are creating.