BUFFALO ETSY TEAM: silent mylo studio

Showing posts with label silent mylo studio. Show all posts

Saturday, May 25, 2013

ART SHOWS 101: Survival Tips for Show Artists and Crafters, Vol.10, Some Advice about...Advice :-)

ART SHOWS 101: Survival Tips for Show Artists and Crafters

Volume 10: Some Advice about......Advice :-)

“Artists should appear mysterious. Don’t wear that hippie dress of yours and “chat” with your customers! Dress in black and act superior.......”

“Your work is SO expensive! If you cut your prices in half you’d probably sell twice as much....”

“Your prices are too low! Triple them and NEVER offer a discount! It devalues your work......”

“You should put up a big sign that says “Super Blowout Sale”. That’ll bring in more quality customers......”

“Wholesale? Don’t give someone a 50% wholesale discount?! Why GIVE your work away when you can SO EASILY sell it at shows?”

“If I were you I’d.....(fill in the blank).......”

Ughh!! Advice! So, so, so much unsolicited advice! Sometimes it seems that everyone and their brother knows how to run your business better than you do; and they just can’t keep themselves from sharing their fabulous ideas.

Listen to their advice, throw in a few educational seminars and workshops on marketing, attend a few networking events, read a few articles online (especially this one :-), and you’ll know everything you need to know to increase your business threefold -- right?!?

Well -- maybe not :-)

In an attempt to increase sales and free myself from the need of side jobs, not to mention financial worry, I’ve been seeking “professional” advice. I overbooked myself this week; three seminars within a day and a half; the quality of which ranged from very good, to forgettable, to really pretty bad.

And maybe because I’ve made no secret of my current seminar attending spree, I’ve been treated to more than the average amount of unsolicited advice from friends and acquaintances.

After a week of listening to “professional advice” and “You shoulds....” I was nearly catatonic! Not only did I fail to find “the answer” to all of my current questions, I started doubting everything that already works!

After taking a giant step back and smoothing down my very ruffled feathers, I realized there comes a time when we have to stop seeking the advice of others and just go with our guts. Because, when it comes right down to it, no one knows our businesses better than we do. Professional speakers are, well....professional speakers. They may have the education and work experience to speak wisely (or not) on topics that may affect our businesses, but they don’t know the day to day reality of what we do. Go to some of these events. Listen carefully to what the speakers have to say, and then separate the wheat from chaff. It is our job to find what works for us, not to conform to the model set forth by a speaker or advisor.

When seeking answers to pressing questions about our businesses we shouldn’t forget to look within. Deep down inside, we know our strengths and weaknesses. We know where we excel -- and we also know the boundary lines we are not willing to cross.

And for all that unsolicited advice offered by our friends, families and peers? Keep in mind that most, if not all of it, is offered in good faith. Listen to some of it, change the subject when it gets to be too much and, if all else fails, smile and nod as you drift off to your happy place.

Until next time -- keep creating!

Alison

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SilentMyloStudio

https://www.facebook.com/ArtistAlisonEKurek

Saturday, May 18, 2013

ART SHOWS 101: Survival Tips for Show Artists and Crafters Vol. 9: How to handle discount seekers, clueless festival goers and artist wannabes

Volume 9:

How to handle discount seekers, clueless festival goers and artist wannabes

“What do you want for that?” $50?! I’ll give you five bucks, take it or leave it!”

Artists and craftsmen who have done even a small number of shows are painfully familiar with those words -- or at least the sentiment behind them.

The clueless, sometimes rude, comments that are made to show artists and craftsmen never cease to amaze me. Right behind the low-ball discount seeking comments are phrases like:

“Look at this stuff. My kid can make that!”

“Do you know who makes all of this stuff?”

“How did you do that? Exactly?” Like, say I would want to make one.....”

And the list goes on and on........... because, when you are dealing with the public, you are bound to run across a jack-ass or two :-)

So, how do you respond to questions and comments of this sort? Do you give in to the discount seekers and sell your new, beautiful work for a fraction of your asking price? Do you angrily snap at the “would-be” customers and commenters and tell them to get out of your booth?

The answer to both questions is NO! But you should have a plan to deal with situations like these. While I can’t tell you how to set your pricing policies, or give you canned responses to all of the ridiculous comments and questions you may receive, I CAN tell you that it’s really not worth blowing your top at the festival goer who has asked you the 100th stupid question of the season. It may feel good for about a minute, but it’ll make you look bad to anyone within earshot -- and you really don’t want to lose a sale to a non-discount-seeking customer because you were a jerk to the person standing in front of them in line.

Think about and formulate a discount policy BEFORE you go to your show. While it’s absolutely fine to NOT offer discounts of any sort, there may be situations in which you do want to offer one. You may want to establish a “Friends and Family Discount Policy” -- something like a standard 10%- 20% off your asking price.You can also choose to extend that discount to repeat customers and people buying large amounts of work at one time if you’d like. Establishing a policy, (even if it’s just written in your head :-) will do two things. First, it will make you really think about your pricing and profit margin. Second, with a policy in place , you won’t be caught off guard when a complete stranger asks for a discount. Do you need to give a complete stranger the same discount you would give to Aunt Sally? Hell No! But you’ll at least have done the math and decided on the maximum discount you’re willing to give.

As for the insulting low-ball “I’ll give you five bucks for that” comments, just grit your teeth and say “No” -- with a smile, albeit a fake one. I’ve found that it’s just not worth your breath to explain that all of the items in your booth are hand-made and they are not flea market items; or taking the time to remind the offending asker that he does not bargain for purchases at supermarkets or gas stations; or stating that your art work is a means of making a living, not a hobby. While that may all be true, it’s not going to change the mindset of Mr/Mrs. Five Bucks, but it will frustrate you and waste your time.

As for the myriad of other strange, weird, funny, insulting and unbelievable comments you may receive, take the high road and answer as politely as possible. Keep in mind that many people attending festivals and shows just don’t understand what we do. We want to believe that each and every person who walks into our booth knows the hours upon hours of time we spend creating out work, and the time and energy we spend getting ready for the show, and the jury processes we go through to be accepted into shows, but they don’t! Many of them are well meaning individuals who truly think we are selling someone else’s work and are given free spaces to do so; and some of them just don’t take the time to think about how their questions will be interpreted by us. Not that I'm saying we're over-sensitive, but are we? :-)

At the end of the day, get together with other show artists. Share and trade your stories. Laugh about them. If all else fails, blog about them. I do : http://alisonekurek.com/?p=617

Until next time -- keep creating!

Alison

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SilentMyloStudio

https://www.facebook.com/ArtistAlisonEKurek

Monday, March 25, 2013

Monday Interview with Alison Kurek of Silent Mylo Studio

This week Alison from Silent Mylo Studio joins us!

Please tell us a bit about yourself?

I'm an artist since birth and I think it's in my blood. I tried to make it go away more than once (I have a BS in Business!) but it just keeps coming back! I've been selling at art shows for about 20 years now and have recently decided to try to make a go of being "almost" completely self employed. I'll let you know how it goes :-)

What do you create?

I have a pretty wide range of items -- from large, mixed media paintings, to prints, to small gift items like magnets and ornaments.

How did you come up with your store name?
My original Etsy shop name was AlisonEKurek. I changed it to SilentMyloStudio a couple of years ago. I have a bratty tuxedo cat named Mylo who is the model for my cat paintings. He seems to have acquired a bit of a cult following (I sell a LOT of cat prints :-) so, when Etsy gave us the chance to change our shops names I choose SilentMyloStudio.

How does Buffalo influence your work?

I’ve joked that the long Buffalo winters force us to be creative and I really do think that’s true .In addition to that, Buffalo has a VERY strong arts community. We have a world class art museum in the Albright Knox, a fabulous resource in the Burchfield Penny, local galleries and groups such as 464 and WNYAG, regionally know and well attended art festivals and shops that want to sell the work of local artists. We're pretty lucky to have all of that -- not all cities do.

What is the best thing about having a etsy shop?

The wide geographical reach. I’ve had a handful of local sales, but the majority of my sales go out of the area -- quite a few to California and Texas -- and even a few to Australia, England, Finland, Germany and Israel.

How do you promote your work to the world?

About 80% of my sales come from direct, face to face sales at festivals. Another 15% comes from shops and galleries. My online sales last year were only about 5% of total sales -- a number I am working to increase! I'll be the first to admit that my marketing skills are lacking! My big marketing plan of last year was to hand out flyers at shows that listed all of my online contacts. It worked to some extent. I made a few online sales and gained a number of Facebook followers -- but I know I can't stop there. I've been making more of an effort with my Facebook Pages the last couple of months and have noticed increased activity on them -- more Likes, more views, and comments -- and will continue to build on that.

What is the hardest part about selling online?

What's probably bothering me the most these days is the inconsistency of views and sales. I had a very good (well -- very good for me :-) start to 2013. January 2013 was was up 300% from January 2012 -- and February was okay too. But then if just stopped! My views plummeted and I went from every other days sales to NOTHING for the month of March. It's like my shop dropped into a black hole! Ha ha! Can you tell I'm a bit frustrated?

Where can your work be found locally?

Village Artisans on Main Street in Williamsville carries a large selection of my work -- and you can find some of my items at 464 Gallery (Amherst Street, Buffalo) and the TR Inaugural Site (Delaware Avenue, Buffalo) as well.

Do you have any up and coming art shows/craft shows that you would like us to know about?

Yes! I'll be at the Small Press Book Fair on Saturday, April 6th at Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, 453 Porter Avenue in Buffalo as well as the Artists in Buffalo Spring Gift Show at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, Friday and Saturday, April 26 & 27, Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo

Do you have any advise or suggestions for new sellers to etsy?

Keep on plugging away! Post good photos; use Etsy resources to learn about tags and titles, and find ways to promote yourself and your shop beyond Etsy.