Goodbye 2013!

Today's Silver Price: $19.49/t.oz.

2013 has been interesting, but I'm looking forward to 2014. I hope to start selling paintings and entering some gallery shows in the next year. I have some new jewelry design ideas as well that will be coming to my Etsy shop very soon!

Sales in my Etsy shop have steadily increased in the last three years. I hope 2014 blows all of past years totals out of the water! Seeing as I only started using Twitter and Instagram over the summer, I think I can drastically increase my sales for 2014.

I believe 2014 will be an amazing year for me creatively. A new chapter begins tomorrow!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe New Year's Eve celebration, and I hope everyone has a joyful, successful and amazing 2014! 

Social Media Blitz

Today's Silver Price: $23.78/t.oz

I've recently started using Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest to promote my Etsy shop. It's probably been a few months now, and I've seen an incredible jump in views of my shop. And the results are immediately seen. When I post on Twitter or Instagram, I see an increase in views that same day. On days when I haven't posted anything new, my Etsy views are often zero. Even small blurbs on Twitter can lead to shop views. I believe the social media posts have led to purchases, however I cannot be sure as there is no way that I know of to track how a specific buyer came to my shop.

I've read that in order to use Twitter and other social media sites to successfully promote a webpage or business, you must post often. Regular posts keep people interested in your feed. This type of discipline is something I've struggled with in the past and will have to overcome. Even when I'm lazy and don't feel like posting, I need to post even a tiny snipet, inspirational quote or a photo to try and hold the attention of potential customers. This obviously applies to blogging as well, so I will do my best to post here regularly.

Today I updated my LinkedIn profile. I figured that promoting my Etsy shop through this outlet can't hurt. When I created the account, I didn't think I would use it much as it seems to be a site for business connections. However I've come to realize that if I want to pursue self-employment, I'd better start promoting myself as a creative entrepreneur. I've chosen to list myself as an artist. I have always shyed away from identifying myself with this term, but now I feel that I can embrace it and live it. I am a designer, I am a painter, and overall I am an artist.

I've become fed-up with my 9-5 office job, so I am now intent on developing my business and working towards self-employment. My very wise aunt says, if you throw enough mud at a wall, eventually some of it will stick. So I'm determined to throw as much social media mud on the internet wall as I can!

Below are some of the recent items I've listed in my shop, and at the bottom is a photo of my creative process!

Silver Plated Bracelet

Sterling Silver Ring

 

Double Strand Silver Plated Necklace

Holiday Game Plan...?

Today's Silver Price: $33.79/t.oz.

Game Plan: None.

Am I supposed to have one?

During an online forum on Etsy I heard that for the holiday season you should plan for increased sales, therefore you must have increased inventory. The audience members were asking what the experts were doing to prepare for the holidays. The experts suggested simplifying your collection of merchandise- or editing down to the most popular items. Focus on creating items that are proven sellers. Hmmm, I guess this is no time for experimenting.

This makes me think of a presentation I watched on creating your own path to success. The presentation was entitled "Design Your Own Success." The speaker was Sharon Ann Lee who is a cultural trend analyst, writer and artist. The presentation is about 30 or 40 minutes and I highly recommend watching if you have the attention span especially if you are a small business owner. There's also some good life lessons in there. She explains the difference between when "your ass is broke," and when "money is coming out of your ass." Good stuff.

ANYWAY.... One way Lee says we can be more successful is to become more efficient in our work. Lee explains the 80/20 rule, or the Pareto principle. It goes like this: 20% of your work brings in 80% of your results (revenue), and therefore 80% of your work and effort only brings in 20% of your results. She states that you should cut out the 80% of your effort that is not producing maximum results, thus giving you more free time. Interesting theory, however I have yet to determine what 20% of my effort is most profitable.

If I were to compare painting to jewelry making, painting definitely takes more time and effort, and so far has been the least profitable. A painting may take 5 hours, 10 hours or more to complete. Usually a piece of jewelry takes 20-30 minutes to complete and maybe less. So perhaps I should focus solely on producing jewelry? Devote my time and money to creating as much jewelry as possible and put the painting projects to the side. I hate the sound of that. But it may be a sound business decision. Did I just figure out what the 80% to cut is???

And thus ensues the battle between heart and mind!

Different Brushstrokes for Different Folks.

Today's Silver Price: $31.65/t.oz.

When I started doing craft shows I quickly learned that my style of art is not exactly mainstream. I enjoy exploring and learning about other cultures, and some of my paintings reflect that part of my personality. I connect with exotic patterns and designs and I am particularly interested in Indian and Asian art. I naively thought that everyone would appreciate this type of aesthetic- but I was wrong. Below are some of the first watercolor paintings I displayed for sale at vendor shows.

Most people had no idea what the Om symbol was or what Namaste means. I got a lot of compliments and folks passing by said that my paintings were beautiful or lovely, but no one was buying them. Not my audience? I still have not sold these pieces.

In February of 2010 I was doing a vendor fair at a high school. A very old woman in a wheelchair came by and was looking through my paintings. She left, but a while later she came back and bought this painting:

The woman had no knowledge of the symbolism of a lotus flower; that it represents strength and perseverance. She bought it because it was a pretty flower. Again, not my audience. It made me think about my customers and what they were looking for. Being the stubborn bull that I am, it was hard for me to put aside my own ideas about art and try to create pieces that would be more popular and more attractive to buyers. I noticed that vendors around me were selling items that were cute, witty, or personalized. While I still like to create spiritual or cultural pieces, I am starting to incorporate paintings such as this into my offerings:

Items for the home (mostly the kitchen) that are witty and playful are being added to my collection. I have a wooden sign that I made in my kitchen that says La Cucina (The Kitchen in Italian). These are the kinds of things people will by, and I have to offer at my table. I am also considering offering personalized signs that people can order, such as "John's Tavern." I think that personalized items with children's names would also be very popular.  

I did a show at a bar last spring. The show was held on the second floor in their catering room. It was part of an Earth Day celebration. There was live music and dancing downstairs in the bar, and the attendees would wander upstairs to see what was happening at the craft show. I found that people are more likely to buy something if they've been drinking... lol. I sold the painting below, a 9x9 watercolor along with two others.

That event turned out to be rather successful for me. I sold several jewelry items and 3 or 4 paintings. A woman stopped by and complimented my wire technique. She stated she was a jewelry maker and was impressed with my rings. There was a heavy hippie population at this event and lots of young artsy hipsters. Had I found my audience? 



I guess I have to find a balance between the super artsy paintings that I enjoy creating and the more commercial pieces that are more likely to sell. Then of course I have to think about the time of year...jewelry with hearts and paintings about love will sell well around Valentines Day, Celtic jewlery and art will sell more around St. Patrick's Day, etc.

I guess when I'm rich and famous I can paint whatever I want and people will buy it...  For now I will cater to the conventional masses and see if I can make a few bucks here and there.

Craft Shows, Vendor Fairs, and The Pickle Man.

Today's Silver Price: $32.18/t.oz.

When I started thinking about selling my jewelry and paintings at craft shows I figured I should do some research on the subject. I knew absolutely nothing about it. How do you find shows? How do you get into shows? How much does it cost? Do I need my own table? Do I need a tent? Do I need a permit or a license?

I read a great book called "Crafts and Craft Shows: How to Make Money," by Philip Kadubec. This book showed me the world of crafting and craft shows. It got me excited about pursuing a career as a craft vendor. Kadubec helped his wife turn crafting into a full time business. Together they sold baskets at craft fairs throughout the country for many years. The book gives an excellent look at the life of professional crafters, artists and artisans. Kadubec tells you what works, and what doesn't work at craft shows. It includes everything from work schedules to pricing; booth display to customer service; cost of materials to paying taxes. Also the author tells you what to watch out for, i.e. event organizers that take advantage of vendors. One big thing to watch out for are event promoters that collect booth fees, but then don't spend any money advertising the event. An event must be well advertised within the community in order to get the maximum amount of attendees.

I found a picture from my very first vendor fair. It was held at a local volunteer fire house. It was the First Annual Vendor Fair of I Don't Remember Who/What. I heard once you should never go to the first annual ANYTHING. Apparently the best shows/fairs are the ones that have already been running for several years and people already know about them.

Looking at the picture now it's a little embarrassing- I had nowhere near enough merchandise! The table is almost empty! LOL.

I was very excited about this show. I had high hopes. A couple of hours into this show I realized that this was NOT my target audience. Hardly any of the women there were into jewelry. They weren't wearing any and they weren't interested in mine. I sold a pair of earrings to a teenager, and I sold a few elastic bracelets. A few of my friends stopped by and we had some laughs, but it was a disappointing day. I did not 'make my table.' Oh, did I mention there was a nor'easter that day? Yeah, so the event was not well attended. The terrible weather made packing everything back into my car a miserable experience.

One of the most surprising things about this event was The Pickle Man. Now this was a vendor show, so people were allowed to sell whatever they wanted. There was a Tupperware table, an Avon table, a Pampered Chef table, a woman selling handbags, etc. Hardly anything handmade. And then there was The Pickle Man. This guy shows up with four huge buckets of pickles and sets them up on a table. He scooped them out of the bucket and put them into plastic containers and sold them. Guess what? He sold pickles like they were going out of style! People were lining up to buy pickles! Unreal! The guy made a killing selling pickles! I later found out that he had driven to Brooklyn that morning, purchased the buckets of pickles, then brought them back out to Babylon to sell them! Come on! This was not the kind of show I wanted to be in. I was pissed off because this guy put no work into the product he was selling. Also reinforced the realization that this was not my target audience! Maybe I could sell olives...

So a weak display and lack of merchandise led to a flop at my first show. 'Making your table' means that you sold enough items to cover the cost of your table fee, or break even. If you don't make your table, you've lost money. I lost money.

Nowadays my displays have improved. I bought two window screens and spray painted them black, added a piece of wood to stand them up, and use those to display my earrings. I took paint rollers and covered them in felt, and I drape my bracelets over them. I also have small rectangular metal baskets from Staples in which I rolled up three pieces of felt lengthwise and placed them inside, creating slots for my rings to sit in.

I have a table rack for my watercolor paintings, and I'm considering bringing my easel to my next show. I'm almost to the point where I could fill up two tables, and eventually I will start using two, but that means twice the table fee. Outdoor summer shows are a whole different ball game, for those you usually pay for a 10'x10' space and bring your own tent and tables.

The most exclusive of shows are juried craft shows in which only handmade items are sold. In order to enter a juried show you must submit photographs or slides of your work to the show's organizer. They will choose which vendors to allow at their show. These are some serious shows. You must have a tax ID number and it must be displayed in your booth. You must have your own tent and tables. Vendors at these shows are professionals and go all out on their booth displays. Some vendors use lighting and require electrical hookups (which is another fee). Many organizers require that all fabric in your booth is fire-retardant. This is a whole other ball of wax than what I am involved in. This type of show is my goal. As Kadubec explains in his book, a vendor must prepare months in advance for these types of shows. Most vendors plan out there events for the entire year, budgeting money for entrance fees 12 months ahead of time. This is when crafting becomes a full-time job, as I hope it will for me.

For now I'll settle for the vendor fairs... but I've got my eye on bigger things...