Business Seminars at Handmade in Bradford

Creative people in the Bradford district will be able to improve their skills and knowledge with free workshops and seminars on Saturday 23rd June.

Handmade in Bradford is hosting a day of activities for craftspeople and designers at its shop in the city centre on Tyrrel Street. There will be workshops on knitting, mastering your sewing machine, printmaking and creative crafting.

There will also be two business seminars for crafters and designers delivered by Jo Whitehead of Artists in Business.  The seminars are aimed at increasing craftpeople's business skills in Selling Their Work Through Retail and Running Workshops from the Studio.  In addition, creative people will be invited to share their experiences of social media marketing with a lunchtime discussion forum. Handmade in Bradford will also be launching a free Crafting Resource Centre where artists and makers can swap art materials and equipment.

Handmade in Bradford is part of Fabric, a registered arts charity that supports artists and creatives.

The event is from 10am to 4pm at Handmade in Bradford, 1 Tyrrel Street Bradford on Saturday 23rd June. For details please email: info@fabricculture.co.uk or call 01274 370291

 

It's all over....

The Giveaway competition for The Handmade Marketplace has now closed and the winner is 
Helen White from Helenka White Design.  Many thanks to everyone who took part. 
However, if you still have a top tip for artists starting in business please visit our Facebook Page and post it there for all to read. 
If you wish to receive newsletters from Artists in Business please sign up for our free newsletter HERE. 


We will be running another fun giveaway competition soon. 

Setting up a creative business from your kitchen table

Did you know that, in the USA, women who stay at home and look after the kids are called SAHMs? (stay at home mums) and that women who work from home are called WAHMs? Personally, I can't see the difference - whether its child rearing or paid employment, they are both "work" in my opinion. 
Whether you are a SAHM or a DAHM (more dads are staying home to look after the kids these days) or neither, you might be considering starting a creative business from home.  I have always been inspired by Laura Ashley, who started her famous homewares business making screen printed tea towels from her kitchen table.  But there's so much more to setting up a creative business from your kitchen table than just making lovely things. You will need to have (or learn) a multitude of skills - most of which you will already have - even if you didn't know it. 


But, before you start sending out press releases for the launch of your new cottage industry, take a few minutes to consider if you have what it takes to run a small business. What do you want from your creative business?
a)  You enjoy making and want to earn enough money to pay for a few treats 
b)  You need to make some money in the short term until you start a job
c)  You want to work for yourself and you want to make a success of selling your creative products.


Follow this Link to find out If You Have What It Takes (but don't forget to come back to read the rest of this post).  


So, what are these additional skills that you need to acquire to start your business from the kitchen table?
Manufacturer - you are making your product therefore you are a manufacturer.
Accountant - you already manage your domestic finances. It's basically the same thing, money goes out and, hopefully, more money comes in.
Trader - you have to sell your product to your customer.
Marketer - you know how great your product is - how do you tell others?
Designer - you need to develop your product in order to attract more sales. 


Your Start Up Business Tool Kit
Here is a list of the basics you will need at the start of your new enterprise.
1.  Office equipment - two vital bits of office equipment that you will need are: a computer and a phone. You probably already own both but spend wisely on equipment - do you really need that photocopying and laminating machine? Anything else is a luxury - only to be purchased when you are making a profit.


2.  Keeping accounts - start as you mean to go on by setting up a simple spreadsheet and logging all money going out and all money coming in. You don't need a separate bank account but you do need evidence of your business finances.


3.  Stationery - letterheaded paper will not only make your business look professional but many companies will not pay an invoice that isn't on letter headed paper.  Business cards tell everyone who you are and enables them to contact you at a later date.


4.  Website/blog/Facebook page - having just one of these will help you to market your product. Rather than spend all your money on a super slick website, blogging is free and you can design your blog to have all the features of a reasonable website. Facebook is also free and you don't have to make "friends" to attract people to your FB page. 


5.  Training - invest in your business by getting yourself onto some basic business workshops such as: book keeping, taxation and national insurance, marketing, costing and cashflow, legal framework for the self employed.  Look around for workshops that are directed at creatives.


Recommended reading for the creative entrepeneur - Business as Unusual by Anita Roddick
Finally, do you have something to say? why not write for Artists in Business? We will post your stories, experiences and advice about your art business in Artists in Business.  Just send us an email HERE. 

Where have we been???

Artists in Business is back in business. 
We have been so busy with our day jobs we haven't had a chance to keep up with the blog! Well, we made a New Year resolution to try harder and publish helpful and informative business posts for artists in business. 


Look out for the following coming soon:
Working as a Community Artist - one artist shares her experiences
Setting up a creative business from your kitchen table - or anywhere else in the house (but possibly not the bathroom)?
pop up galleries and empty shop studios

We will also be giving away a free gift each month to one of our newsletter subscribers. If you would like to subscribe to our newsletter please use the contact box on the top right hand side of the page. 


Finally, do you have something to say? why not write for Artists in Business? We will post your stories, experiences and advice about your art business in Artists in Business.  Just send us an email  HERE

COMMENT

My apologies to everyone who has been following the posts about writing a business plan - it's been year-end for us. That means tidying up accounts, writing reports (bleugh) and looking at possible funding streams. I'll be back on with business plans this week (promise).
So, as we head toward May 6 (here in the UK) we wonder what the future holds for artists and art businesses. The recession's over, right? The economy's picking up, right? Everyone's just waiting until after the general election before they release their funding opportunities, spend their cash, commission new art? Wrong.
Those dependable funding streams that provide new opportunities for emerging artists and new arts businesses just aren't going to be there. Whichever political party is elected, they all have one thing in common - there's going to be no new spending. Just think how much potential arts funding has already been swallowed up by the cash-hungry Olympics monster (and it's still devouring money) And as for the banks - they will be too busy buying the government's gilts to want to invest in art. And don't even ASK the Arts Council...
So what shall we do? Shall we all go down the pub for a pint and a moan? Abandon our creativity until things pick up? Keep calm and carry on regardless? 
No, we shall diversify. We will look outside our "comfort zone" for new and innovative projects that will generate income (eventually) whilst satisfying our creative needs. We will support our fellow artists, buy hand made whenever possible, take part in guerilla art events and support pop-up shops. Are you all behind me? (Where have you all gone)?


So, if you ever needed a business plan you need one now! 

Business Plans for Art Businesses Part 2

Further to my previous post "Business Planning for Art Businesses" I gave an overview of the business plan and WHY it is important to write one. In this post I will show you the kind of information your plan should include.

Your business plan should be concise and easy to read. Not everyone who picks up your business plan will want to read the entire document through, particularly if they have 20+ other business plans to consider (usually funders or banks). The business plan should always start with an "Executive Summary" - a short list of key points taken from the entire business plan. The Executive Summary will show the key features of your business, giving the reader an overview of what you do. The reader should know, from the Exec Summary, exactly what you do and what you want, without all the dressing.
When do you write the executive summary? Although this is the first part of the Business Plan it needs to be the part you write last so that you can pick out those key points from the rest of the document.
Start with an opening sentence that tells the reader what the exec summary will show, for example:
"This business plan will show that (name of business) is a viable business and that it can develop successfully".

Now you need to list those key points of
1. What you are doing successfully now and
2. what you will be doing to take your business forward.
You will take these from the remainder of your business plan, which is why you write the executive summary last.

You can also include a separate list of key points showing the reasons that you can run a successful business. For example:
"(Name of Business) will be a successful arts enterprise because..." then list the opportunities that will arise in the future.
At the end of your Exec Summary the reader should know exactly what you do without being bored with the detail. In fact, the reader should be interested enough to want to read the rest of your report.

Also, as part of your Exec Summary, the bank, funder or backer will want to see an overview of your figures over the next three years. You will need to show the following overall figures in the Exec Summary: Income, Expenditure, Outcome. List these in a grid and calculate them over the next three years. Forecasting your finances for the next three years isn't going to be an exact science so increase your first year's calculations by a reasonable percentage but be realistic. This is called a "Summatitive Table of Costs".

Income: how much money is coming into your business (sales, funding, loans, teaching workshops, services)

Expenditure:how much money has come out of your business (purchases, overheads, costs, travel, materials)

Net Income: how much is left after you have taken all your costs out of your gross income(profit)

On the same page as your Summatitive Table you will need to indicate to the reader that there is a comprehensive breakdown of costs at the end of the report. This will be in the form of an appendix.

Setting out the Summatitive Table.

You can set your costs out in two sections: CURRENT and PREDICTED. They should be listed in columns so that they can be read across from left to right.

The first column shows your business activity (such as sales, workshops, craft fairs, design services, commissions, paid employment, exhibitions etc)broken down into headings.

The next column should show a breakdown of the income for each activity.

The third column should show your expenditure.

The fourth column should show your net income.

If you are applying for a bank loan or funding don't be concerned that your Net income is 0. If you can prove that you understand your finances and that all money has been ploughed back into the business you should look, on paper, like a viable investment. However, if you are spending more than you are making or using your own cash "invisible money" to fund your business you will look like an amateur and not worth investing in.

In my next post we will look at your business products and services and your future vision for your business.

Business Plans for Art Businesses Part 1

"Fail to Plan
Plan to Fail"

In a previous post I said that I would be blogging about Business Plans and how to write one. Well, true to my word, here is the first of 3 posts on the subject. I have broken it up into sections to make a tedious task more palatable - after all, who writes business plans for fun?

Why write a Business Plan?
A business plan is a vital tool for any business, whether you are a new arts business or an exisiting business. There are two reasons why you should do this:

• to show potential funders, financial institutions, backers or partners that you have a viable business that is worth investing in


• as an exercise in analysing your business potential, finances, measure your current performance against future performance and, most importantly, high light any flaws or gaps in your business.

Your plan should show the Who, What, Where, How and Why of your business. WHO is involved (you, other businesses, customers/clients) WHAT you are doing and going to do in the future, WHERE you do it, HOW it operates and WHY you do it(and why people need it).
Your Business Plan will consist of information in each of the following headings:

• The Executive Summary (we'll deal with this in the last post)
• A description of your business (the easy part)
• Your Marketing Strategy (the fun part)
• Your team (only relevant if you are not a sole trader)
• Your Operations (where you do it and how you do it)
• Your Financial Forecast (the difficult part).

In my next post I shall be talking about how to write a description of your business - what it should include and how the layout of the business plan should look.

10 Tips for a Successful Arts Business

All self help books have magic number tips such as 10 good tips, 7 bad tips (how not to do something) and 3 rules to live by! So, in the spirit of the self help book here are my top 10 tips to starting a successful arts business.

Pinback Button by Button Empire

1. Carpe diem! In the words of Los Campesinos, If it seems like a good idea then it IS a good idea. Start researching how you can turn your art into a business. Get some good business advice from your local Business Link or visit a business consultant.

2. Be honest with yourself. Do you have a product that people will want to buy or are you making art for yourself? a lot of people say they love your work but would they be willing to part with their money to prove this?

3. Be willing to put in the hours. Being self employed is great, you can work when you want and there's no-one else to tell you what to do. Actually, being self employed can be very lonely and more demanding than working 9 to 5. Are you willing to stay late, burning the midnight oil when everyone else is at the pub?

4. Know your sums. Calculate the cost of everything you make, including your hourly rate and then work out your profit. Don't forget to work out your overheads and running costs. Keep accurate records and, if you are not hot with figures, go on a book keeping course. Try and live by the expression "look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves"

5. Know Your Competition. Find out what everyone else is doing - look at their strengths and weaknesses, find out how they market their art, compare their pricing and look at how you can improve your business on THEIR performance.

6. Know Your Customer. Who will your potential customers be? Who will you appeal to? Where do they buy their art? What kinds of galleries/shops do they go to? What are they willing to pay?

7. Have a sure-fire Business Plan. Business plans are boring but, if you need to borrow money or to further your business, then you will need one. And you should WANT one too - a business plan can help you plan for the future, work out the direction you want to take your business in and identify all your strengths and weaknesses. (I will be blogging about business plans soon).

8. Organize. This means sort out your studio and make it an efficient place to work. Sort out your schedule - learn to prioritise your time so that you are not wasting time gazing at art on the internet instead of making it.

9. Networking. It's all very romantic starving in a garret but sometimes you have to come out and meet people. You can network with Twitter and Facebook (easy) but you also need to talk to real people about your work. Visiting galleries and exhibitions is a great way to network - you are your art's ambassador.

10. My Year in Lists. Make lists. Set targets. Stick to them. Lists give you a raison d'etre, goals to work toward. Lists include Your Strengths/Weaknesses, Mailing Lists, List of Tasks, Shopping Lists.

Know Your Competition

Many artists and artisans sell on social selling sites such as Folksy and Etsy. These sites are great way to showcase your work but it is also quite difficult to get noticed amongst the plethora of other on-line shops. But you can use your competition to your advantage by doing some research on them and using this information to help you to devise your on-line strategy.

Firstly, do you know who your competition is? If you create a totally unique craft (such as My Furoshiki for example) it may not be obvious at first. If you are selling a popular item then you will find this type of research easier. I’m going to take myself as an example.

My direct competition comes in 4 categories:

1. Hand made fused glass, stained glass, blown glass and lampwork beads

2. Faux glass such as glass tile pendants and imported fake “murano” and foiled glass from China

3. Jewellery, including resin jewellery

4. Gifts ranging in price from £5 - £20.
Hand made glass is easy to identify as competition – we come in the same categories on Folksy and Etsy – and this also applies to jewellery. The competition I don’t like is the nasty mass produced foiled glass from China (BTW – if you buy it – the glass hasn’t been annealed in the kiln and can fracture at any time). It’s cheap, it’s nasty, it’s not durable and some people can be duped into thinking it’s hand made. Grrr! (Don’t get me started).

The most difficult to identify is the competition from similar priced items.

There’s that expression – “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” but your competitors aren’t necessarily your enemies, they can be really useful friends instead. I belong to a glass team on Etsy, the CGGE, and it has been one of the most useful things I have done there. We exchange ideas, learn from each other and promote each other too (treasuries, Etsy-minis, challenges and competitions).

So what information do you need to know from your competitors? Here’s a little exercise.

Select 3 shops that sell the same/similar products to you and look at:

Their pricing

Their descriptions

How many sales they make

How they market their craft

Which other sites they sell on

Their strengths

Their weaknesses

What makes them better than you.
You should be able to use this information to help you to identify any weaknesses in your business. You should NOT use this information to mimic your competitor or infringe their copyright or poach their customers.

What are you going to do with all this information?

Looking at your competitors can really focus your mind on what your shop is all about. It can help you to see how you can improve your product/presentation/shop by comparison.

Pricing – does your competitor sell their stuff for more than you/less than you/the same as you? Undercutting your competitor may be a bad move because you could be underselling yourself, cutting your profit margin or devaluing your work.

Now is the time to go back and think about the kind of customer you want to attract. Think about whether you are trying to attract the hand made buyer or the bargain hunter. (When I realised that I couldn’t compete with a lot of Etsy glass sellers on price I increased my prices by 10% and my sales increased).

Descriptions – how effective are their descriptions? Are they interesting to read, light hearted, straight to the point or basic? Re-assess your own descriptions but remember, original thought will attract more sales than copying – copying will attract bad feeling.

Sales – how many sales a month is each competitor making? Compare these with your own. You can match the number of sales to the quality of their craft/price of their craft and this will help you to anticipate the number of sales you should be striving to make. Working out basic averages can be useful here.

Marketing – how much marketing does your competition carry out on on-line? Where else do they market? How often does their name pop up on a Google search? Are they hanging out in the forums? What devices do they foster for customer loyalty? (Sales, BOGOFs, special offers, freebies).

Strengths and Weaknesses – your competitor may be strong in one area and weak in another. It may be that their product isn’t very good but their prices are competitive. They may create lovely crafts but not know how to promote themselves.
What makes them better than you? Find it out and fix it!

If you can’t beat ‘em… Competition is great – it keeps us on our toes and helps us to evaluate what we are doing. It also helps us to move away from a saturated market or spot a gap in the market too. By getting together with your competition you can support each other, promote, share ideas and compare. Creating a team on Folksy Teams or Indiepublic is a great way to start.

But if you want to beat the competition too take time to do thorough research, identify the information that’s relevant and apply it to your business. I hope you noticed that I didn’t once ask you to analyse their actual product. You don’t need to copy your competitors’ items to be a successful seller.

Glassprimitif

Your Chance to Win...

Sign up to our January Newsletter before 5 January 2010 and you will be entered into a free draw to win this beautiful blue bubble dish from Glassprimitif.



About our newsletter: there are articles about arts business, features on different artists, updates and useful links too.
The next newsletter will be "SHOWCASE" the gallery edition with information for artists wanting to exhibit in a bricks and mortar gallery.

And the winner is.....

Glitterysah has won the selection of glass christmas decorations. Congratulations, Sarah.

Mini Masterpieces

These days it’s something of a cliché to look at a piece of contemporary art and think that it’s no better than the work of your 3 year old, but what do you do with the latest masterpiece that said 3 year old has just produced? Stick it on the fridge door, file it away for posterity, or even put it in the bin after a decent interval? Artful Kids is a newly established business which seeks to present a child’s artwork at its very best, so that it can take pride of place on a living-room wall, or make a lasting, personal and unusual gift.
The person behind it all is Jude Drever, who was originally trained as an artist, but spent many years working in museums and galleries before having a family and being inspired by the artwork of her small children to try and liberate kids drawing and painting from the fridge door or kitchen drawer.
A range of different styles are available, but one of the most popular so far, has proved to be the Gallery Style Posters shown here, where a child’s artwork is presented as a poster advertising an artist’s exhibition. Professionally framed, and available in a range of sizes, this displays a child’s name prominently, and yet does not look out of place on the wall of a smart interior. A careful editing process takes place to ensure that the original artwork is presented at its best.



To find out more, or see some of the other styles offered, visit the Artful Kids website Or visit the company blog, Artful Adventures for a range of features dedicated to children’s art, including tutorials, featured artists, news and longer articles.

Zur Designs

Our previous guest writer is from Zur Designs. Here's a little bit about her.

"I have always wanted to design jewelry, learn metal fabrication, and work with gems and semi precious stones. I started with beads and then went to wire sculpture and chain and now am learning how to work in silver and gold. I live in one of the most beautiful places in the country, the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. Nestled in these mountains through all the seasons of the year, inspires me to create pieces that I hope all of you can enjoy. I love, love, love Swarovski Crystals. They add a touch of elegance to any piece. I also like the rough natural stones, and nothing adds a touch a class more than some beautiful potato pearls in any color!"

Find Zur Design on Etsy and Facebook.

THe AIB Newsletter

After a lot of faffing about and a steep learning curve (hey, who said we were good at everything)? Artists in Business has launched our Newsletter.

What's in it then? Well, we're glad you asked. There will be articles about arts business (naturally), features on different artists, updates and useful links AND if you sign up before December 1 2009 you will be entered into a free draw.

What's the prize? A selection of fused glass christmas decorations courtesy of Glassprimitif will be sent out to one lucky winner.

What's the catch? There is none. We will not send you spam or sell your details onto a third party. You can unsubscribe at any time (but we hope you won't.

How do I sign up? Just type your email address into the box on the right hand side of the page here and wait for the confirmation email. We will send you regular emails (but not too regular - we don't want to be a pest)!

Taking a Pound of Flesh....

In my previous post Artist/Gallery Agreements I talked about the gallery precentage on sales. This can vary from 20% to above 50%. How does this affect you as the artist?



Whoever sells your work for you deserves to get paid for doing it. Whether they are acting as an agent or a bricks and mortar gallery/shop they will need to be recompensed for their services. This usually takes the form of a percentage of the sales cost. Percentages can vary wildly and you may feel a bit shocked at the gallery who adds 60% onto your wholesale price. This may take your £25 print up to a whopping £ !

Is this fair? well yes and no (but mostly yes)
Forget about the percentage at the moment. If you are selling your work through a gallery you need to sell it at the right price - enough to cover your materials, overheads and make a small profit - enough to make it worth the gallery adding a percentage without overpricing the item. If a gallery asks you to reduce your costs so that they can add their % and still be able to sell the item then this is not the gallery for you. (Pricing your work is a subject that will be discussed in the future).

So, you are happy to sell your hand pressed lino prints at £80 a print and the gallery is adding 50% to the price - retailing your print at £160.
If your reaction to this is "I could sell this for that price myself!" then the bald answer is "Go on then - why are you wasting the gallery's time?"
If your reaction to this is "that's way overpriced, they'll never sell it!" you need to ask the gallery the following:

• Does the gallery think that this is a competitive price for your print?
• What type of customer buys this style of art?
• Are they confident that they can help you to raise your profile as an artist and bring sales?

It's not in the interest of a gallery to make the work overpriced and unsaleable. They know their customers and their tastes, they know the value of art and they are not in the busoiness of ripping people off.

Why take a percentage? Everyone has to eat. Galleries have their own overheads, publicity costs, staff wages and maintenance charges to pay.

When taking a percentage doesn't work.

• When your work is selling at another local gallery for a lower price. Undercutting a gallery that could possibly bring you more sales is like shooting yourself in the foot. Better to choose WHICH of the galleries you would prefer to sell through.
• When you agree to sell your art to someone who has seen it in the gallery but doesn't want to pay the percentage, thus depriving the gallery of the opportunity to broker a sale and, consequently their fee. You have had their services of displaying your work in their gallery for free and they didn't get any payment for it.

If you are unhappy with a gallery because they can't sell your work at their retail price then don't do business with them. Simple As.

Artist/Gallery Agreements

If you submit your work to a commercial gallery then some time in your life you will need to sign an agreement.




What is an agreement?It's an undertaking between you and another party - possibly a gallery, shop or someone who contracts your services as an artist. The purpose of the document is to agree to certain obligations by both parties, to decide who is responsible for what and to set out exactly what is expected from both sides. It is wise to set out an agreement before you commit yourself (or sell your soul)!

Who will write the agreement?
Usually it's the person/gallery who will be selling the artist's work or employing their services but, if one is not forthcoming you can always devise your own. It's fairly easy but you will need to make sure all eventualities have been covered.

Here's a scenario. You are taking your work to a commercial gallery and they have agreed to display your work, sale or return, for 3 months. Think about what you would like to see in an agreement by looking at the following questions.
Who owns the work?
What do you want them to do for you?
What should YOU agree to?
What are the hidden costs will you anticipate and who will pay them?
What percentage of sale should you agree?
How and when will you be paid?
Who will terminate the contract if it's not working?

Before writing or signing an agreement consider these three things.
Be Fair: gallery agreements are a two way street. Don't make unreasonable demands of them.
Protect Yourself: Make sure you know exactly what they expect from you. Write a contract where they can't make unreasonable demands of you.
Make it Harmonious: you want to keep up a good working relationship with the gallery. You both want the same thing - to sell your work.

Here is a list of what a good agreement should contain. Let's unpick them as we go along.

• Sale or Return. Most galleries don't buy your work outright but will sell on your behalf. Any unsold work must be returned after the end of the agreement.
• Gallery percentage. Galleries need to be paid for selling you work and will claim their fee by taking a percentage. This is usually between 20 - 50%.
• Payment. Some galleries will pay you by cheque, some by BACS. Make sure the agreement states whether you will be paid monthly or when the total sales has reached a certain figure.
• Ownership of work. You own the work the entire time it is in the gallery. The gallery may ask if they can photograph the work for publicity purposes. It's good to add something about copyright into the contract.
• Costs. The agreement needs to be specific about who pays for costs including postage and delivery, return of your work, insurance and transportation.
• Packaging. who is supplying this?
• Damage. Faulty art work must be either replaced or the customer refunded. Some galleries will have a time scale that customers can return faulty goods. (Returns might not apply to earrings).
• Commissions. Galleries may agree to pass customers direct to you or liaise with you regarding commissioned work.
• Time Scale. Agreeing a length of time that the gallery will display your work. (4 weeks, 3 months, 6 months).
• Publicity and Display. Gallery agrees to keep your work visible for the entire time of the agreement. Gallery will publicise your work as much as is reasonably possible.
• Delivery/collection of your work. If you are not bringing the work yourself then you need to agree how it will be posted/ delivered and who will bear the costs.

When you sign an agreement you are agreeing to certain terms that you shouldn't break. Trying to "bend the rules" can be really irritating, not to mention unprofessional. For example:
Racing into the gallery on a busy day asking to take the stock for a craft fair that weekend (but I'll bring it back on Monday, honest)!
Calling to say you have had a better offer from a nearby gallery so you will be collecting your work before the end of the contracted date.
Agreeing to commissioned work, brokered by the gallery, and not telling the gallery so that they lose their % on the sale.
Complaining about the % taken - you agreed to it!
Criticizing the way your work has been displayed.
Complaining that the metal looks tarnished - you are quite welcome to come in and polish it yourself.
Making sub-standard work and then feeling aggrieved when the gallery calls to say that your necklace fell apart in the customer's hands.
Asking why the gallery hasn't advertised your work in a magazine or gallery catalogue. They will do it if you pay the costs!

The agreement should be signed by both parties and dated. Both parties need an original signed document to keep. If you are not happy with the terms of the agreement then DON'T SIGN IT! Instead try to negotiate with the gallery. The best way to keep a harmonoius relationship with a gallery is to talk to them and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Soon I will be posting about Exhibition Contracts which are slightly different and writing about how and why galleries take a percentage of sales.

Partnerships - Made in Heaven?

In my post, Do YOU Have What It Takes?, I stated that I would be talking about Business Partnerships in a future post. Well, that time has come!



Why should you start a partnership? What should you look for in a partnership? Who is the ideal partner? How do you sever a partnership?

There have been many successful business partnerships (just think of Marks & Spencer) and being in a partnership has its advantages:
differing strengths and skills
spreading the financial burden
spreading the risks
moral support
stronger business "clout"
but sometimes partnerships can go wrong for a whole host of reasons so, if you are embarking on a partnership, think about it very carefully.

Most sole trader partnerships start through friendship or a common interest. It could be that you were at art school together, you are related, she/he's your best friend - but, quite frankly, this is not the best reason to go into partnership and can end in tears (yours probably). After the initial euphoria of "Yay! We're going to make lots of money and be a success" then cracks in friendships and relationships begin to show. Most reasons are:
one of you is doing all the work
you both have very different ideas of how the business should be run
you share the same strengths and the same weaknesses
you are sick of seeing each other
you are too competitive with each other

"My first business partnership was with my next door neighbour - we made salt dough and had "parties" a friends' houses, selling wall plaques and christmas decorations. Our biggest seller was our 'bride and groom' wall plaque which we made to order, copying the outfits that the couple wore on their big day. It was fun making the salt dough and selling it and, although we were only making pin money, it gave us something else to talk about rather than just the kids.
"We had a break from salt dough but then a huge christmas fair was looming and our stocks had dwindled. My partner/neighbour reminded me of this but I was pig-sick of making Little Bo-Peeps and Three Little Pigs and my response was "I NEVER want to see another piece of salt dough again"! Fortunately, she felt exactly the same so we called it a day very amicably". Janet.

That was a easy enough arrangement to get out of. The partners hadn't made any huge financial or emotional commitment, one wasn't more successful than the other, there was no resentment built up in the relationship. But, if you are already committed to starting a partnership with a friend or relation does it stand up to the following checklist?
You both have the same vision or goals
you both put in the same commitment in time
you both have defined roles
your partner will bring different strengths to the partnership
you have worked out the financial commitment of each partner
you have regular meetings to plan and catch-up
you have agreed time apart.

The best arrangement is the water tight arrangement or partnership agreement. This document, drawn up together, will iron out some of the issues/problems that will rear their heads at crucial moments. Your agreement should include the following:
Defined roles and reponsibilities
Record of accounts and financial input
Profit sharing
Tax commitments
Liability
Reporting Back
Dispute Resolution
Termination of Partnership
It all sounds rather complicated - after all, you were only planning on making and selling your art together. Why should you bother with all this? Well let me break it down.
Roles and Responsibilities.
Write a list of your strengths and weaknesses. Who's the financial wizard? Who has the interpersonal skills? Who is the computer whizz-kid? Who has the most "connections"? You might both be really good at something and not at something else. How will you plug that skills gap?
Recording Accounts and Financial Input.
Who has overall responsibility for balancing the books? You can agree to keep your accounts separately or one person keeps them or one does the petty cash and one the budget.
Profit sharing.
Whether you are both putting up 50% of the money into your business or a 30% - 70% split you will need to agree the financial split of profits. Let's say, for example, you are both printing hand made scarves and bags using your screen printing equipment in your studio - you would not expect to share the profits on sales 50-50. You need to agree the share of profits, in writing, before you go into production.
Tax Commitments.
We all need to pay them. Make sure you have both registered with the tax office before you embark on your partnership. State in the Partnership Agreement that you are responsible for YOU OWN tax debt and not your partner's.
Liability.
In the UK creditors can claim your personal assets if your partner runs up any debts - even if you didn't know about them. You both have equal responsibility to the debt, no matter how unequal your financial contribution has been. (Don't go into partnership with a bankrupt or someone who has known debts, no matter how much you like them).
Reporting Back.
Agree to regular meetings in your Partnership Agreement. Whether this is monthly or weekly, make a commitment to meet up on paper. You can agree to have two kinds of meeting: a Planning Meeting and a Financial Update Meeting. The Planning Meeting to discuss what you are going to achieve in the following week/month/year, what needs doing, what problems you have had, whether you are meeting your achievements or goals. The Financial Meeting is so that you both know what your financial situation is, what you have spent, what you need to spend, profit/loss. Even if only one of you is keeping the accounts you both need to understand them and share this information. If the tax man comes calling ignorance is no defence.
Dispute Resolution.
Those niggling little tensions are building - they need to be resolved BEFORE they become a torrent of accusations adn recriminations "you ALWAYS do so and so" or "you NEVER do so and so". By writing a Dispute Resolution you are stating that every effort will be made to resolve conflicts within the partnership.
Termination of Partnership.
Before you even start a partnership you need to decide how it will end. you might agree that a partnership can be wound up at any time and that either party can terminate the agreement. Or you may need to set out a timetable of, say, a month or after all financial commitments have ben paid back.

Once you have drafted the partnership agreement find someone to check it for you. This may be a solicitor or business adviser, either at your bank or at your local small business centre. Then you both need to sign and date it and keep a copy each.

"I was selling art at local shows and fairs when I met another artist who I got on really well with. Her work was very similar to mine and we decided to exhibit together and run workshops too.
"The partnership worked well at the beginning. I learned a lot about selling from her (she could sell snow to eskimos) and she was very ambitious with her business - she made anything seem possible. But there were niggling irritations on both sides - I sometimes resented her success and how she "took over", she resented my children coming to shows and that family life stopped me from committing fully to our partnership.
"I am not a risk taker nor will I borrow money I haven't got - she was both of these. She had a real entrepeneur spirit and was always buying the latest gadget or tool that she saw as an "investment". I'm so glad that we didn't pool our finances and kept our business interests separate as this made it easier to part company. I later found out that she had huge debts which I could have easily been liable for.
"Since then our artistic lives have both taken different routes - I sometimes read about her new ventures in the press and she appears to have made a success in her chosen field. I'm so grateful that she taught me how to be customer-friendly and how to promote myself but I wouldn't choose to go into a partnership with a friend again". Rachel.

This post has been about partnerships on a small scale but there are also partnerships with banks, other businesses and sponsors that hasn't been discussed. We will be returning to the subject of partnerships in the next post.

Selling Art/Selling a lifestyle

One of the most effective ways of viral marketing is the blog and I have talked about how to be an active blogger in a previous post.

An advantage of using Blogger is that you can "follow" blogs that interest you and also be visible on the blog you are following as long as they are using the FOLLOW widget (and they don't have hundreds of followers - or you become a face in the crowd). But the most popular blogs tend to fall into three categories:
resource blogs
funny blogs
lifestyle blogs.
resource blogs are the kind you follow to keep up to date with the latest art trends, markets and business (like AIB). Here are some more:
The Graphics Fairy



Art News

Funny blogs have a cult following. Who can predict that they are going to be successful? Here's my favourite:
F U Penguin



and life style blogs are very popular with women. I believe this is because we would like to subscribe to the life that's being portrayed. More women buy lifestyle magazines than men - particularly interior design and gardening. Look at the popularity of Martha Stewart and designer Kath Kidston. I have been looking through my favourite blogs list and I really enjoy reading about people who have orchards, grow vegetables, own french ateliers and live in rural places that I may never visit. Here's some of my favourites:
Blueberry Park
Pamel Angus
Patchwork Butterfly



So how can you use this type of viral marketing to sell your art? By combining the three popular blog categories into one blog you are satisfying a wider audience than you would if you concentrated on one style of blog. You may already have a website selling your art and your blog can complement this by showing your more "human" side as an artist. You can also blog about the area where you live, the things that inspire you and your daily life. Selling the "life style" is more about the types of images you show such as your garden, your home, your pets (if they are cute) and, by combining this with stories about making art you have a great piece of viral markting.

And finally, just a personal gripe of mine. I don't like blogs that regurgitate the latest images from home style magazines or crafts magazines just to group them into "themes". This is lazy and unoriginal blogging (but that's just my opinion). Enjoy!

How much effort will you put into on-line promoting? This week Anna, the person behind Widget the Sock Bunny, shares some of her tips for successful viral marketing. It's well worth the read!

"Viruses are big in the news at the moment and spreading his own online version is Widget Sockbunny – a fuzzy bunny-shaped infection travelling with growing speed around the world.




"You will have heard the term ‘Viral Marketing’, it sounds technical but really the concept is a simple one. Viruses spread rapidly from one person to the next, the more people who ‘catch it’, the more people it will spread to. To sell online you need to put out little feelers wherever you can, forever spreading, trying to ‘infect’ as many people as possible, trying to be remembered and talked about, or, if you prefer, catching a vibe of something being passed around.The easiest way to illustrate it is to tell you how I sell my sock bunnies online – using a bunny named Widget.
"Widget did not exist until I discovered a 365 project on Flickr.com. One object, one picture a day for one whole year. I was already selling the sock bunnies online and building up recognition in the craft forums such as Folksy, so I grabbed this marketing opportunity and chose a bunny. I named him Widget and began to take pictures. When I post the days’ images in the photo pool people see them. If they like what they see they can see all my other pictures too. In my profile are links to everything I do including diary blog for these Widget photos – Widget’s Year - and another blog for the other bunnies living at The Warren. I created an environmental concept for them, a warren, nestling in a sunny corner of my original company Half an Acre. Luckily it all seemed to fit! People liked reading about this little world and kept coming back to ‘check in’ on what was going on. Global Bunny travels around the world with her little suitcase sending back news and images, Geocache Bunny comes out on walks with me and my family (geocaching.com). All these pictures are posted into the appropriate Flickr group pools for more and more people to see. Widget even collects ‘sea glass’ so I can add pictures of him with his collection to the Sea glass Lovers group pool! All this is blogged about too. When blogging it is vital to post as often as you can, at least 3 times a week, to generate a ‘happening’ feel.





"When anyone buys a bunny they receive a printed card inviting them to send in stories and pictures to this blog. This makes the blog interesting and tempts the readers to want have their own bunny. Flickr is vital. I get on average around 120 views of my photostream each day. Being ‘seen’ is essential too. I looked for all the groups dealing with socks, bunnies, sewing, rainbows (for Rainbow Bun!), anything vaguely applicable, and joined them. Spreading pictures of Widget and his friends anywhere and everywhere. It is important not to spam. It has to be relevant or you will annoy the very people you want to draw to your shop.
"I gave Widget his own Facebook profile and, ignoring the fact that you need to be a ‘real’ person to register, I then set about ‘friending’ people! I already knew a load from promoting Half an Acre and I sent friend invitations to ‘friends of friends’. I found out that people give pets their own pages and that meant bunnies! I also sent requests to any other ‘sock toys’ out there. To date Widget has just over 300 friends – generated in around 5 months. Every time I post it shows up in the news feeds of all those 300. I made a ‘Send-a-Bunny’ application using pictures of Widget and his pals and send them out to all my new ‘friends’. The whole of Facebook can use that application and therefore see from where it originates. Widget has joined Postcrossing.com. He has his own postcards, with a cute picture on the front and subtle blog link on the back. Next on the list is The Toy Society where I’ll be leaving bunnies in bags around the place with a big label saying ‘Take me home’. Reaching more people and drawing them in to the whole concept. Everything leads back to one central point - my shop on Folksy.





"Give people inspiration, a new idea, something to talk about, smile about and eventually news will spread, the virus feeding itself as it travels. It takes lots of time and dedication but it does work. The bunnies are spreading like ….. bunnies!"

Know Your Customer

Do you know who your customer is? Do you know their tastes and shopping preferences? Do you know when and where they like to shop? Being able to identify who, and identify with, your customer will help you to plan an effective marketing strategy.



There are six types of potential customer who browse the hand made selling internet sites.
The “buying only” customer
The “relationship” customer
The impulse buyer (that’s me)!
The collector
The bargain hunter
The Hand Made supporter

Let’s look at these customers more closely. (Please note that these are generalisations – there’s always potential customers who don’t fit the profile).
1. The Buying Only customer doesn’t have a shop of their own. They may not make regular purchases on hand made sites and probably don’t frequent the forums often either.
Positive point: they are here because they like to shop.
Negative point: it is difficult to build an on-line relationship with this customer.

2. The customer that you have a relationship with (by that I mean you are on chatting terms) is usually a seller too. This customer may be a familiar name in the forums and on other promo sites.
Positive point: this customer is easy to reach through forums, chat rooms and promotions.
Negative point: selling may be more of a priority with this customer than buying.

3. The Impulse Buyer may be shopping for a variety of reasons: boredom, the urge to spend money, saw it – liked it, chatted with you and liked you.
Positive point: anything might catch their eye, your item could be in the right place at the right time.
Negative point: they don’t linger long and rarely make a repeat purchase from the same shop.

4. The Collector is looking for something specific – it may be a particular style or craft.
Positive point: If you have what the collector is looking for then you have found the perfect customer.
Negative point: collectors avoid consumables such as soap, food and clothing.

5. The Bargain Hunter is looking for – yes, you guessed it – a bargain. Sales items, novelties, low cost jewellery are attractive to this customer.
Positive point: good news if you make very affordable items.
Negative point: bad news if you are a high-spec artisan.

6. Have you taken the “hand made pledge”? This customer has and will buy because they support hand made.
Positive point: if you are an applied artist making hand crafted items it’s all good.
Negative point: if you are selling vintage or supplies this is not your customer.

Of course, your customers will be a mixture of all of these. How many of these profiles do you fit into? I am no’s 2, 3, 4 and 6.

Here's a short exercise for you to do: Take a couple of minutes to visualise the type of person who might buy your craft. It’s easy to say, EVERYONE but that doesn’t help to define your market/target audience. Think about their age, sex, ethnicity, social class and background. Do you think your customer is just like you? Are they the people you WANT to sell to? Are there other types of people you would like to reach?
Now think about the types of people who wouldn’t buy your craft and the reasons WHY they don’t buy your craft. It doesn’t matter if you are making assumptions, you won’t offend anyone if you keep this in your head!

Researching your existing customers. OK. This is going to take a bit longer than the previous exercise. Take a look at your existing customers and try to find out the following about them (without behaving like a stalker):
What else have they bought from other sellers?*
Is there a pattern to their buying habits? Do they have certain tastes?
Are they social networkers?
Have they bought from you before?
What do they do socially? (gigs, theatre, pub, sport, high street shopping)
You can find out an awful lot about your potential customers by talking to them. We social networkers love to talk – that’s why we are on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, chat rooms and forums. Just by talking we can share ideas, tastes, trends and predictions.

* I’ve just realised that, unlike Etsy, we cannot track the buying profile of buyers on Folksy who are not sellers too – rats!

Market Research can work. I always thought that market research and customer questionnaires were a pointless pain in the *rse until I started working in a gallery. A carefully worded questionnaire can give valuable insight into the profile of your customer and help you to plan your Marketing Strategy. Of course, we have to be careful on Folksy not to spam customers or badger them with lengthy customer feedback forms but, invariably, the Feedback we receive via folksy is inadequate and doesn’t really tell us what we want to know. Potential customers, and also buying customers may, however, be willing to answer one or two questions that can really help you to understand how to market your craft. You might contact the customer after a sale or ask in the forums. Remember, open questions give you so much more information than closed questions.
Here are a few examples:
Where did you find out about my shop?
Is your purchase for you or is it a gift?
Do you regularly buy X?
How does this item compare to the high street?
What other crafts do you like to buy on-line?
What comments would you make about my customer service?
Would you shop here again and, if not, why?
It’s fairly easy to build a profile of your potential customer (you can also research strategies to attract buyers who don’t fit the profile) and it can be fun finding out too. In a future post I will be talking about marketing yourself using the research that you have found. It would be great if you could comment on this blog post with more insights, advice and ideas on customer profiling.
Thanks for reading.