Arra and Anne are very proud of the handmade items they create and the top-of-the-line materials that are used in production. And, he says, for every smooth stone they harvest, a rough one is “planted” back in the water to take its place and eventually be tumbled smooth as well.
One of the things that I learned as a salesmen was that you had to make yourself stand out in order to be remembered. I learned that showing appreciation for my customers for their business made me stand out from my competition.
Roger Wood of Klockwerks creates handmade one-of-a-kind timepieces. A self-taught artist, Roger developed his line long before Steampunk became popular.
We have a couple of videos on our website that can be accessed by everyone. It is a great sales tool to allow customers or potential customers an insight to how a piece is created.
Metal artist Allison Fomich used apprenticeship and a grant to help her career along. She also had to be flexible and open to change to balance business and family life.
I’d been making these funny little robots for my own amusement out of junk in our basement. My darling husband said “Why don’t you take a few weeks off until things pick back up (little did we know!) and make some robots?
Joy spoke to the Arts Business Institute about making smart choices, and how she has used sound business methods to develop an audience for her high-end work despite a sputtering economy.
When professionals offer criticism of your work, listen to them. They are not critiquing you personally. They are simply helping your work improve so you can succeed.
Being flexible is key to working with retailers in this economic climate. So is loyalty. I provide loyalty to my accounts and get loyalty in return.
At first I thought Etsy could be the business. But I realized the sales needed for a good income couldn’t come exclusively from Etsy, at least not for me.