Marie E.v.B. Gibbons on sat 11 mar 00
Hi all
I sent this info before, but the subject i used might have made it sound self
serving, and I haven't seen the post go up, so i will try it again.
I found a site, www.cafepress.com
you can do images of anything (your work!) and have it put on t shirts, mugs,
mousepads. the great thing about it is there is no investment on your part
except the time to upload images. This - IMHO - could be a great way to
advertise yourself and work, your studio, gallery etc. etc.
I think it is worth checking out. If anyone would like anymore info on it
you can email me personally as well.
Marie Gibbons
oooladies@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/MGibb21521/indexMarieE.v.B.Gibbons.html
Deborah Thuman on sat 3 oct 09
For those of you who sell your work..... would you be willing to share
how you promote yourself?
Many thanks.
Deb Thuman
http://debthumansblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=3D5888059
Des & Jan Howard on sun 4 oct 09
Deb
Our total advertising budget goes into membership of a
regional tourism group & inclusion in our regional
tourist guide. Flyers are also displayed in the tourism
centre. Less than1/2% of our work is on show in a
coo-op in town 28km away & less than 1/2% is on show in
a regional potters room at a gallery in a town 56km
away. A sign is at the end of the street leading up the
300m to the workshop, the 'OPEN' is nailed in place as
is the one on the showroom door. The tourism centre
staff know that we're always here & quite prepared to
welcome visitors.
Plus, our pots are marked with a tiny stamped
'LUE POTTERY', quite 'Googleable', we see no reason to
include your inside leg measurements, GPS co-ords or
your star sign.
Des
Deborah Thuman wrote:
> For those of you who sell your work..... would you be willing to share
> how you promote yourself?
--
Des & Jan Howard
Lue Pottery
Lue NSW
Australia
2850
02 6373 6419
www.luepottery.hwy.com.au
-32.656072 149.840624
Des & Jan Howard on mon 5 oct 09
Susan
Generally, in the Oz ethos, being aggressively
assertive in presenting oneself is counter productive.
Being 'discovered' & recommended/referred to/extolled
is acceptable & effective. There is a momentum that
takes time to develop. The downside is that things can
get bigger than you may want. A 45 second freebie bite
in a national TV lifestyle show had our place
unpleasantly frantic for months.
Des
Susan Fox Hirschmann wrote:
> My suggestions:
> Use what ever free advertising you can possible use:
> "Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and ADVERTISE!"
> Best of luck and happy marketing.
> Susan
> It's another part of being in this business that I really LOVE.
--
Des & Jan Howard
Lue Pottery
Lue NSW
Australia
2850
02 6373 6419
www.luepottery.hwy.com.au
-32.656072 149.840624
May Luk on tue 6 oct 09
Hello Deb;
Since last year, (the year I started) I do one to two local indie market
each month starting in May and progress to heavy selling at holiday times. =
I
consider those marketing since I am new. I work on the principle that "if
people don't see your work, they can't buy it"
The fairs are okay, I can't pay myself labor yet. I get my cost covered and
some food money usually. But whenever I do an event, I get press and links
to my site. (Meeting others makers are very good too) These eyeballs add up
over time. But I also edit my product range by interacting with customers
and profile them for future references.
I collect emails when I do fairs and I try to send newsletter when I do an
event. I can do special promotions through the newsletter but I am quite
lazy in doing so as I also have a permanent part-time freelance job 3 days =
a
week.
I have a content management type web site and I update it regularly. My
avatar on etsy, Google, Flickr ,Twitter profile are the same. I enjoy
putting in-progress photos on the web site as well as Facebook and Flickr. =
I
also sign my name and links when appropriate on other peoples' blogs. I onl=
y
do it if I have something to say. I can also do flippant if the site is
playful.
I signed up Google alert so that I know when I get a mention on the web. I
update my press page if it's worthy to mention. And I would go back to that
site to thank the owner if it's appropriate. And I post the link on
Facebook. There is a bit of mutual back scratching on social networks, but
you do what is natural to you.
If I am on an etsy treasury, I make sure I thank the creator, go to that
treasury and add a comment and click through all the products. It gets a
chance to be on the front page if there are a lot of clicks, I was told. If
not, at least it's a polite thing to do.
On my web site and etsy site, I make announcements of where I will be "on
the street". If I remember, I would do an event invitation on Yelp and
Facebook.
I send photo updates with my Iphone if I'm doing an event to Facebook and
Flickr. I might say something on Twitter too. Though I found out it is very
hard to do a live tweet when doing a busy and stressful event like altCraft
at the Amerian Craft Council Show SF.
I have one local gallery gift store that carries my work this year. Even
though it is only consignment. I make sure I visit the store often and help
with merchandising and make sure I have a good spread and presentation. I
have gotten a couple of press opportunities with local newspaper by being i=
n
the store.
If you are starting out, make a practice press kit, have good photos and
good quality postcards made. Write your bio and about you work. You may or
may not use it. It helps clear up your head and be prepared when you need t=
o
talk about your work coherently. And you "improve" it over time, like a
business plan (which I only have in my head. haha!)
Best regards
May
Brooklyn NY
On Sat, Oct 3, 2009 at 12:20 PM, Deborah Thuman wrote=
:
> For those of you who sell your work..... would you be willing to share
> how you promote yourself?
>
> Many thanks.
>
> Deb Thuman
> http://debthumansblog.blogspot.com/
> http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=3D5888059
>
--
http://twitter.com/MayLuk
http://www.flickr.com/groups/handmade_mugs/
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