mel jacobson on tue 6 dec 05
we have gone around and around on this
concept for 40 years.
if you can train your customers to come and
buy pots...they don't want anything but to
be left alone and get on with the hunt.
i always put out candy, wrapped...and kids will
help themselves...a few adults will pick it up, but
most of it is still there at the end of the show.
the big 40 cup urn usually has about six cups missing..i drink four.
i think, without doubt, that not looking cheap is the
answer for me. you have guests, so treat them with
respect. have a snack...let them choose and get out
of their way. i always have that big urn of coffee, cookies,
and candy.
i gave up wine openings years ago. of course i would have
dozens of students hanging around...and never had wine out
for them to sneak.
i had a clear rule...high school age students could not come and buy pots..
remember, kids are not allowed to buy from teachers....so.
it did not mean that parents were denied pots...they bought
like crazy. (and they respected my decision to not let the
kids buy.) i have about two hundred former students in my
data base...they still buy. some are now in their late fifties.
i did encourage all of my students to come and look, pick up stuff
and see how i sold pots. good lessons.
so much about home sales, using your own studio to sell is based
on regional concepts. you must be aware of them.
i do not have a wine crowd...if i did...well they would want
pate/fruit and lunch with it....and hang around for hours into the
night talking. you will notice that the good galleries are far
more prudent with food and wine. small glass, lite fair.
no one car afford to serve wine to big crowds of free/loaders any longer.
i have never wanted my home sales to turn into parties. it is serious
business for me. if a few folks stay on...friends and neighbors, well
they go in the house and sit around the living room with sharlene until
i close shop...turn off the lights. put the money in the safe in the
basement...then i can relax.
signs:
one has to be careful about signs...get permission. and cities and townships
can really get after you for signs. i have a big, six foot flag with my mj
logo
on it. black and white...hang it from the porch. everyone knows the
house...and it does not say...`pottery for sale.` i have two large
platters/seconds...hanging on each side of my garage door. easy to
spot. `must be mel's place`. they are up year round.
i put a logo sign with an arrow at the main road.
my invitations change...but they always have a big black mj logo right
on the front. it is so important that folks do not throw out
your invite, thinking it is a store advert. i use yellow for my christimas
sale...never red and green. i want it to stand out. look at the
stuff that comes in the mail...then make your advert just the opposite.
lots to think about and plan for a home sale...it is the softest sell
in the world. folks really like that. so much better than a mall.
keep that in mind. soft sell, classy...easy.
mel
our sale is this coming weekend. all the pots were done a month ago.
i will not fire the kiln the night before a sale....scramble around
like a crazy person.
from mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
GAIL ADKISSON on tue 6 dec 05
Well, I get your drift about free loaders, but that's not how it goes at our home show at all. We always have beer, wine and hot apple cider and chips and salsa and dip and cheese and veggies. We don't put up signs. We invite everyone from the studio and friends and family. Nearly everyone brings something and there's lots of leftover food and wine when the show is over. Hell, we even had a band on the deck this time and we had a SUPER successful show.
When you have a cozy home with food, music, friends and nice pots, hardly anyone will leave without a pot or five.
Gail Adkisson
Creative Clay Studios
5704E General Washington Drive
Alexandria, VA 22312
703-750-9480
www.CreativeClayPottery.com
From: mel jacobson <melpots2@pclink.com>
Reply-To: Clayart <CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG>
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: wine or coffee/home selling
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2005 08:14:31 -0600
>we have gone around and around on this
>concept for 40 years.
>
>if you can train your customers to come and
>buy pots...they don't want anything but to
>be left alone and get on with the hunt.
>
>i always put out candy, wrapped...and kids will
>help themselves...a few adults will pick it up, but
>most of it is still there at the end of the show.
>
>the big 40 cup urn usually has about six cups missing..i drink four.
>
>i think, without doubt, that not looking cheap is the
>answer for
me. you have guests, so treat them with
>respect. have a snack...let them choose and get out
>of their way. i always have that big urn of coffee, cookies,
>and candy.
>
>i gave up wine openings years ago. of course i would have
>dozens of students hanging around...and never had wine out
>for them to sneak.
>
>i had a clear rule...high school age students could not come and buy
>pots..
>remember, kids are not allowed to buy from teachers....so.
>it did not mean that parents were denied pots...they bought
>like crazy. (and they respected my decision to not let the
>kids buy.) i have about two hundred former students in my
>data base...they still buy. some are now in their late fifties.
>
>i did encourage all of my students
to come and look, pick up stuff
>and see how i sold pots. good lessons.
>
>so much about home sales, using your own studio to sell is based
>on regional concepts. you must be aware of them.
>i do not have a wine crowd...if i did...well they would want
>pate/fruit and lunch with it....and hang around for hours into the
>night talking. you will notice that the good galleries are far
>more prudent with food and wine. small glass, lite fair.
>no one car afford to serve wine to big crowds of free/loaders any
>longer.
>
>i have never wanted my home sales to turn into parties. it is
>serious
>business for me. if a few folks stay on...friends and neighbors,
>well
>they go in the house and sit around the living room with sharlene
>until
>i close shop...turn off the lights. put the money in the safe in the
>basement...then i can relax.
>
>signs:
>one has to be careful about signs...get permission. and cities and
>townships
>can really get after you for signs. i have a big, six foot flag
>with my mj
>logo
>on it. black and white...hang it from the porch. everyone knows
>the
>house...and it does not say...`pottery for sale.` i have two large
>platters/seconds...hanging on each side of my garage door. easy to
>spot. `must be mel's place`. they are up year round.
>i put a logo sign with an arrow at the main road.
>
>my invitations change...but they always have a big black mj logo
>right
>on the
front. it is so important that folks do not throw out
>your invite, thinking it is a store advert. i use yellow for my
>christimas
>sale...never red and green. i want it to stand out. look at the
>stuff that comes in the mail...then make your advert just the
>opposite.
>
>lots to think about and plan for a home sale...it is the softest
>sell
>in the world. folks really like that. so much better than a mall.
>keep that in mind. soft sell, classy...easy.
>mel
>our sale is this coming weekend. all the pots were done a month
>ago.
>i will not fire the kiln the night before a sale....scramble around
>like a crazy person.
>
>from
mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
>website: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your
>subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
>melpots@pclink.com.
Lee Love on tue 6 dec 05
For the downtown St. Paul Art crawls, when We had studio/loft space
at the Northern Warehouse Artists Cooperative (it was in the old Union
Pacific RR warehouse near the Mississippi), I always baked bread or
cookies, sometimes popped popcorn. The aroma would draw people to our
corner of the hall. Would always fill my sushi platters with sushi
(tekka maki and kappa maki that I made myself.) Had cheese, veggie
dip and vegetables out too and little breads or crackers if I didn't
bake bread. My customers came to look at art and were ready for this
kind of layout.
When the charter art high school moved in on the 1st
floor of our building, we moved the wine to "the back room" for
friends and regular customers. Always had Jean's mother's sherbet
punch out front and sparkling water for everyone.
--
Lee Love
in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://seisokuro.blogspot.com/ My Photo Logs
"Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art."
--Leonardo da Vinci
Richard Aerni on tue 6 dec 05
On Tue, 6 Dec 2005 08:14:31 -0600, mel jacobson wrote:
>
>the big 40 cup urn usually has about six cups missing..i drink four.
>
>i think, without doubt, that not looking cheap is the
>answer for me. you have guests, so treat them with
>respect. have a snack...let them choose and get out
>of their way.
>i put a logo sign with an arrow at the main road.
>
>my invitations change...but they always have a big black mj logo right
>on the front. it is so important that folks do not throw out
>your invite, thinking it is a store advert. i use yellow for my christimas
>sale...never red and green. i want it to stand out. look at the
>stuff that comes in the mail...then make your advert just the opposite.
Sorry to cut and paste Mel's post, but I just left in the stuff that I felt
I wanted to respond to...
I've probably done around 24-25 holiday sales over the years. I would agree
with Mel that coffee doesn't disappear, except for artists drinking it.
This year we had mulled cider and a variety of flavored seltzers and
carbonated water, and pretty much all of it was gone by the end of the two
days.
I've always felt that if people were going to come to your studio to buy
your work, that you should "put out" for them as well. (not that way!)
I've always, with the groups I've worked with, had the participating artists
bake, cook, prepare food (hors d'oeuvres, etc) for the people, with the
thought that it it more meaningful for us to do that than to simply purchase
food from the store for them. Customers have always seemed to appreciate
that.
This year's invitations were a bit of a change for us. I've always had my
name prominently displayed, and tried to keep things as simple and clear as
possible on them. We did something different this year, as there were more
artist's taking part, and we let one of the other potters design the
postcard. It wasn't what I would have done, but it was a nice card. I was
a bit concerned about clarity and message, and I guess in some ways my
concern was justified, as this week I've been getting a number of calls from
regular customers (who I know are on the mailing list and come to my sales)
wondering when my sale was, (it was two weeks ago) and coming into the
studio and buying from the leftovers. They had no idea that the postcard we
sent out had anything to do with my holiday sale. Most had no idea a
postcard had even been sent out to them. So clarity is very important.
And as for serving alcoholic beverages at the sale, I think Kathy LeSeure
answered this one, but I'll repeat the message. If you are the party
serving alcohol to someone who later causes damage or injury as a result of
that alcohol, then you are liable for damages in a court of law. I think
it's better to keep the stuff corked until it's time for the artists to
celebrate the end of the day.
Good luck to everyone with their sales!
Richard Aerni
Rochester, NY
Susan Nebeker on tue 6 dec 05
I've been doing my "home events" for 9 years now.
From the beginning of that time, to my sale three weeks ago, I've felt it was important to serve refreshments of some sort. But, I'm not so sure that it's all that necessary.
I've tried to really make my studio sales "destination" events. I've wanted to make it worth driving a couple of hours for, as do many of my folks. Of course, it would seem that feeding them something would be part of making the whole experience inviting, right?
Due to some pretty stressful circumstances last year, I canceled my spring sale at the last minute.
100 folks showed up anyway and cleaned me out, with nary a cracker or cookie in sight.
Three weeks ago, I spent a pretty penny on hot mulled cider and applesauce cake doughnuts to serve.
I ended up with 6 of the 8 gallons of cider left, and 14 of the 16 dozen doughnuts.
Arrrgh! The cider will keep, but whaddya do with 12 doz doughnuts?
Drive 'em around to the neighbors and take them to church the next morning, that's what!
Conclusion drawn: I will still offer a drink and some goodies, but in much smaller quantities.
This has been the refreshment scenario at each of my events for the five years. The bigger the crowds, the less they eat. Of course, what you want is for one and all to be looking for and picking up their treasure and then to get in line at the cash register.
I will fight the "mother instinct" to over-provide from now on. There is a distinct pattern occurring.
I really think that once you've established yourself with your folks, they will come for your product and to re-establish themselves with you, the artist- not for the food.
It's a nice touch to offer it anyway. Seems like a gracious thing to do, but not necessary to make sales. The lure is your product, right?
Just some food for thought- :)
However, I'm afraid I will never be able to emulate this wise person- rather he has aptly described ME!
*** "our sale is this coming weekend. all the pots were done a month ago.
i will not fire the kiln the night before a sale....scramble around
like a crazy person". ***
Susan Nebeker
www.pollywogpottery.com
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Paul Lewing on tue 6 dec 05
on 12/6/05 6:14 AM, mel jacobson at melpots2@pclink.com wrote:
> i think, without doubt, that not looking cheap is the
> answer for me. you have guests, so treat them with
> respect. have a snack...let them choose and get out
> of their way. i always have that big urn of coffee, cookies,
> and candy.
Amen. Part of our philosophy is that we will end up snacking on whatever we
put out, so we want it to be good.
We had our annual sale last weekend- my tiles, my wife's drawings and
massage gift certificates, and a weaver and a jeweler. It was one of the
best we've ever had.
All four of the artists in our sale are real "foodies", so we really care.
We would never put out the 40-cup urn of coffee. This is Seattle, so we
make small batches of really good coffee, plus non-alcoholic cider and
sparkling water. We make cookies and sweet breads ourselves, and put out
vegies and dip. We also put out several flavors of goat cheese made by
friends who we went to ceramics school with. It's expensive, but folks
walk in and say, "Oh, this is the place with the goat cheese! You've got
to try this!" And we put out their cards (Rollingstone Chevre from Parma
Idaho, once referred to by Bon Apetit as "the best goat cheese in the world
outside of France. It's internationally recognized and wins prizes all over
the world. Support your local craftsman, even if their medium is food).
We had another jeweler for a few years, but we let her go because she just
didn't get the food thing. She's bring stuff that was not only cheap, but
inappropriate. Key lime pie is not opening food. Neither is dim sum. It's
greasy when it's hot (the weaver loves that!) and gross when it's cold. And
she'd bring five pounds of the cheapest coffee she could find. Maybe at
some sales- not this one.
> i gave up wine openings years ago.
Us too. We're part of a tour of sales, and the last thing we want to do is
encourage people to have a drink and drive to another location.
Paul Lewing, Seattle
Marcia Selsor on tue 6 dec 05
Funny,
this year for the Art Walk and Downtown stroll our studio complex
served mll cider and a non-alcoholic punch.
The weather was awful. Turnout low, and we all were thinking safe
driving under these conditions, The points
brought up by other are good regarding our responsibility for serving
alcohol. Good points.
Marcia in Montana
Jennifer Boyer on thu 8 dec 05
My sale was last weekend and I noticed that the cookies and hot spiced
cider I had available mainly kept bored kids/friends/spouses busy while
the real shoppers did their thing.
I had coffee once but it wasn't a big hit. I do lemonade at my spring
sale. Next year I'll have maple kettle corn in little bags for people:
a nice promotion for the neighboring maple farm...
My assistant noticed that some people who came in groups were affected
by one person in the group who was in a hurry to leave: that "leaver"
could short circuit a more interested shopper's experience: these
groups were a shopping herd: too bad I couldn't figure out a way to
divert the bolter's attention!
Jennifer, picking up the pieces of a busy fall...
On Dec 6, 2005, at 10:30 PM, Marcia Selsor wrote:
> Funny,
> this year for the Art Walk and Downtown stroll our studio complex
> served mll cider and a non-alcoholic punch.
> The weather was awful. Turnout low, and we all were thinking safe
> driving under these conditions, The points
> brought up by other are good regarding our responsibility for serving
> alcohol. Good points.
> Marcia in Montana
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
>
************************
Jennifer Boyer
Thistle Hill Pottery
Montpelier, VT
http://thistlehillpottery.com
steve graber on thu 8 dec 05
if the "bolter" is an obvious person to pick out of a crowd, one could short circuit the exit with totally off topic discusions about "nice shoes", the weather, what do you do?, and regardless of the answer say OOOH! that's gotta be a rough job! that'll likely divert them into an hour's discussion about who knows what...
see ya
steve
Jennifer Boyer wrote: My sale was last weekend and I noticed that the cookies and hot spiced
cider I had available mainly kept bored kids/friends/spouses busy while
the real shoppers did their thing.
I had coffee once but it wasn't a big hit. I do lemonade at my spring
sale. Next year I'll have maple kettle corn in little bags for people:
a nice promotion for the neighboring maple farm...
My assistant noticed that some people who came in groups were affected
by one person in the group who was in a hurry to leave: that "leaver"
could short circuit a more interested shopper's experience: these
groups were a shopping herd: too bad I couldn't figure out a way to
divert the bolter's attention!
Jennifer, picking up the pieces of a busy fall...
On Dec 6, 2005, at 10:30 PM, Marcia Selsor wrote:
> Funny,
> this year for the Art Walk and Downtown stroll our studio complex
> served mll cider and a non-alcoholic punch.
> The weather was awful. Turnout low, and we all were thinking safe
> driving under these conditions, The points
> brought up by other are good regarding our responsibility for serving
> alcohol. Good points.
> Marcia in Montana
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
>
************************
Jennifer Boyer
Thistle Hill Pottery
Montpelier, VT
http://thistlehillpottery.com
______________________________________________________________________________
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
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