Vianza Blog

After dabbling in music and sciences, Melissa Schooley dropped out of college to put together an art portfolio and attend the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. She’s been potting full time since 2005 and is currently making functional porcelain servingware.  You can befriend her on Facebook, Twitter or follow her adventures on her blog.
 

What is your more prized creation - the coolest thing you've ever made, with your own nimble hands?

By far, my most prized creation is a teapot that I made that has mini headlights. When you tip up the pot to pour the tea, the headlights come on. Fun and functional all at the same time!

What is the worst piece of business advice you've ever been given?

I would have to say this involved bringing a new line of work to a wholesale show before I had worked out the kinks in production. I hadn't produced any of the pieces in any great quantity, and it was at the show that all the bugs come out in new designs. What a nightmare! It created a very stressful year for me and as a result, I'd highly recommend taking at least a year to try a new line in a retail setting before introducing it to wholesale clients.

What was the biggest entrepreneurial epiphany of your career?

As silly as this may sound, it would probably be the fact that I'M the boss. When I finally understood that I could say no to certain opportunities and requests, and that it was ME who was in charge of where I wanted to take my business, I suddenly felt a lot more in control and much less stressed.

Give us your top 3 indie artisans/designers to watch.

Avril Loretti, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Hand + Shadow, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Suite One Studio Ceramics, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

What's your best tip for strengthening your relationship with your retailers?

Be organized and communicate! Retailers are busy and have a lot on their plates. When I see buyers at a show, I like to have previous orders handy in case I need to reference them. I also like to talk about the work with them and how its being received in their shops. They are on the front lines, so to speak, so I take their feedback seriously. What do they like or not like about specific products, what pieces are selling the best, which ones aren't moving, etc. If I can help my retailers sell more work, all the better for my business.

If you could offer one sage snippet of wisdom to aspiring designers, crafters & artisans, what would it be?

Step outside of your comfort zone! Don't be afraid to try things that scare you and don't be afraid to take risks! The one thing that every, single, business person has in common is failures- products that flopped, shows that were a complete disaster, etc. The one thing that every successful business person has in common is that they didn't let the failurs stop them. They got up, brushed themselves off and changed their approach or tried something new.

Thanks for sharing, Melissa!

Sarah Von is a Vianza contributing columnist and interview wrangler.  If you follow her on Twitter, you’ll be privy to all sort of tweets about small business, good ideas and, um, cheese.

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We at Vianza are a bit obsessed with collaboration + co-creation.  We think the best products are when makers + buyers work together to create something that will delight their customers.

“Co-creation is about creating new products & services working in conjunction with another skilled individual or business, showcasing  a combined vision, which is bigger than the sum of the parts.”

- Mita

How to start collaborating

- If you’re a designer and you don’t know where to start, we covered the three ways to co-create.

- If you’re a retailer, Piper wrote tips on collaborating with the designers you carry here.

- Check out these tools we use to collaborate.

- Want to create a private label line for your shop? Start here.

Get inspired - Modish has a brilliant series that highlights collaborations.

Do you collaborate with designers, retailers or customers to create any of your products?

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Do you ever find yourself saying “Oh, I’m not an artist, but I sell other people’s work”?  As retail store owners, we may not actually be artists but we certainly have an eye for design and a talent for finding what our customers love.  So why not expand on that and work with your artists to create something special and unique for your customers?

At the end of the day, you know your customer best!

Collaborating can be as simple as asking the designer or artist if a particular item can be made in a different color or as complex as creating an item together.  Not only do you get to flex your creative muscles, but you’ll also create something exclusive to your store.  If your customers are anything like mine, than they love knowing that what they’re buying is something unique and can’t be found anywhere else.  If you think about it, that’s why our customers shop indie stores or shop local.  They’re looking for those special items. 

And what’s more special than something you helped create just for them!

To give you an example, here’s what I did over the holidays.  I had been looking for stocking stuffer gifts for the store and wasn’t having much luck finding “the one”.  I knew I wanted to carry sachets and small cosmetic bags - but I couldn’t find that special design. I decided to email one of my favorite artists to see if she would be able to create something for me.  Lo and behold, she was more than willing to do so and with a little direction from me as to color and pattern, she created these striped sachets & bags for my store.  They fit the store perfectly (after all, they were created with my store colors in mind - even I couldn’t resist them - I ended up keeping some for myself!)

The best way to start collaborating is by having a conversation with your artists.  Start by asking if they would be willing to create an exclusive product.  Once you know they’re open to the idea, you can start tossing around thoughts and ideas as to what to create. 

Don’t be afraid to let your inner artist come out to play!

Have you considered collaborating with your artists?  What would you create?

Images:  1. Collaboration between Pigeon Toe Ceramics and Shanna Murray

2. Collaboration between Yorktown Road and one sydney road

Piper Toth happily traded the corporate world for the online world when she opened her online boutique,one sydney road. She authors the blog of the same name where she waxes poetic on the crazy roller coaster ride that is entrepreneurship!

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Today’s guest post is by Jane Hamill, founder of Fashion Brain Academy. Jane teaches apparel and accessories designers how to start and grow a profitable business - even if they flunked math and hate selling.  Get her FREE report "How to Find Fabrics in Small Quantities and NOT Get Ripped Off in the Process" at www.fashionbrainacademy.com.

1. Know what payments to accept when.

If you’re selling online to consumers, it’s OK to use PayPal. If you’re selling wholesale, you will need a credit card processor.  You cannot expect boutiques to use PayPal - and it looks unprofessional.  To accept credit cards, I recommend you check out Square. It’s the coolest invention that you can use with your smart phone so you can accept payments easily and simply. My clients swear by it.

2. Create an elevator pitch.

Sum up what your line is about and how it BENEFITS the consumer in a simple speech – 30 seconds or so.  Practice it again and again until it is refined and you are truly comfortable with it. Remember to focus on them and how you can help, rather than just talk about you and what you do. If you can’t sum up what you do in one compelling sentence, you haven’t worked hard enough to get to the nugget of truth. Keep working

3. When you sell wholesale, get the boutique’s credit card information

 when they place the order.  DO NOT just automatically give them Net 30 terms (which means they get 30 days to pay).  When you’re ready to ship their order, call the store to confirm the amount, then charge their card BEFORE you ship the box.  If you can’t confirm the credit card, don’t ship the goods. You may have to keep after them to get approval but it’s worth it.

4. Don’t spend all your time trying to get new customers.

I realize this sounds strange. What I mean is this…Focus on selling your current customers more, rather than getting new ones.

It costs more to make the first sale, right?  It costs you in time, energy, money, and just hustle. But once you have a customer who likes and trusts you, the sales come easier.

5.  Make a terrific first impression.

When you ship the FIRST order to a boutique, include a double of one item that they ordered as a little bonus (easier to do with accessories). 

This has 2 benefits:

(1) the owner thinks “Wow, what a nice company to work with” and they won’t forget you, and

(2) you now have the store owner wearing your product – other people will see it, ask about it, and you’ll sell more.

I owned a boutique for over 14 years and I can count on one hand the number of vendors (OK, besides my own line) who gave me something free! And you know what? I’ll always remember their names and appreciate the hook-up. 

Do you have questions about selling to boutiques? 
Ask in the comments!

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Kerry Winfrey lives in Columbus, Ohio, where she bakes, crafts, and reads too much. She writes about young adult books for Hello Giggles and blogs at Welcome to Ladyville.

While Columbus, Ohio might be best known for its rabid football fans, it's also home to a vibrant artsy, crafty, independent community. Some of the best shops in town embody that spirit.

Thread on Grandivew

Run by two sisters, this “bohemian chic” boutique offers designer denim, lovely dresses, and chunky jewelry. Check it out if you’re looking for designers you can’t find anywhere else in Ohio.

Wholly Craft!

Wholly Craft! is the go-to Columbus destination for handmade jewelry, clothing, art prints, zines, and more. Whether you’re looking for a tote bag to show off your Ohio pride or some unique stationery, you’ll find it at Wholly Craft! They even offer classes in knitting, crochet, and yarn-spinning.

Sew to Speak

This teeny-tiny store is packed full of the prettiest fabric, patterns, books and notions in town. Sew to Speak carries organic cotton, Japanese imports, and of-the-moment designers like Denyse Schmidt and Lotta Jansdotter.

Tigertree

Josh and Niki Quinn stock their store with clothing from designers like Dear Creatures and Fred Perry, as well as eye-catching home décor items, adorable greeting cards, and delicate jewelry.

The Attic

Reasonable prices on carefully curated vintage furniture, jewelry, and clothing. You’ll find t-shirts for under $10, flasks, cowboy boots and soy candles all under one roof.

Sarah Von is a Vianza contributing columnist and interview wrangler.  If you follow her on Twitter, you’ll be privy to all sort of tweets about small business, good ideas and, um, cheese.

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Can your brick and mortar shop be described as the best kept secret in your town/city? Would you rather be described as the most well-known shop? Of course you would, but how to go about getting that moniker? Think about your shop as more than a place to buy stuff, but more as a destination by throwing events to draw the public in.
 

Here are some suggestions for new approaches to bringing customers into your shops.

 
Organize trunk shows with local designers who will set up for an evening in your shop. Your shop will get a portion of the sales (usually 50%) and as a bonus you can require that the designers send out a notice to their own mailing list.
 
Think about having weekend musical entertainment, along with some wine and nibbles, of course. Obviously you'd want to choose something that would be a good fit with your clientele, but some ideas include: a jazz guitarist, singer/songwriters, an acoustic indie band or a classical trio. Aspiring musicians are always looking for places to play. A good place to start looking would be the local university.
 
 

Image Credit: Sireneflux

 
Also, consider having events like a fashion show, “girls night out”, poetry night or open-mic night.
Host off beat entertainers like a sketch artist, palm readers, burlesque dancers, belly dancers, etc.
 
Put together how-to events where some of your local artists/crafters/designers come in and offer a basic tutorial on their area of expertise.
 

Image Credit: craftivist collective

 
By the same token, organize demonstration nights where your artists come in and demonstrate how they make their work.
Partner with local sororities, roller derby groups, dance troupes, theater groups, and craft mafias for fund-raising nights.
 
Organize planned shopping nights with other local businesses for holidays and other special occasions, e.g. Valentine's Day shopping night or a Twelve Days of Holiday shopping. Each business can offer a discount or other promotion and include entertainment, door busters, promotion gift bags and more.
 

Image Credit: StyleLine Magazine

 
In the same vein, plan sidewalk sales on those big event weekends in your town/city.
Or consider setting up a booth at those larger community events...like, community days, founders' day or homecoming events.
Think of your shop as an art gallery and plan “openings” for special new lines that you add.
 

If you are going to be planning any of these or other events, you will want to get a e-mail list together. Every time customers come into your store, give them an opportunity to sign up. Constant Contact and iContact are two services I've used in the past to manage my e-mail marketing lists.

Feature image credit: LIFE BY TAVIN

Jen Wallace shares her indie life at Indie Fixx where she writes about making, creating, cooking, learning, playing, loving, and pretty much anything else that strikes her fancy.
 

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If you're a retailer, either online or bricks and mortar (or both!), no matter how well you plan and manage your inventory, you're going to have a problem.  You will, undoubtedly, discover one product that just doesn't move.
 
Instead of slashing prices and cursing the loss, try some of these tips:

“- Feature the item on your website’s home page.
- Pitch the item to magazines, blogs and local media.  Be creative and offer suggestions for the item.  Is there a holiday coming up that this item would make a great gift for?  Pitch it!
- Create a newsletter showing all the ways you can use the item.”
 

-Piper Toth
 

“Try changing the location of the items in your display first to see if that will help spur some interest.”
-Carol Shroeder, in Made You Look!

 
 
The psychology of pricing is fascinating. Did you know that studies have shown that “when the prices were listed with the dollar sign, customers spent less. Conversely, when the dollar sign was absent, they tended to spend more.”

If you are going to lower those prices, do it slow, because:

 
“According to a study conducted by Kenneth J. Wisniewski from the University of Chicago, when the price of margarine dropped from 89 cents to 71 cents at a local grocery chain, sales improved by 65%. But when the price fell two cents more to 69 cents, sales jumped by an astounding 222%! Two pennies are worth a lot.”
-Psychology Behind the Sweet Spot in Pricing, Fast Co.
 
 

What do you do with a product that’s just not selling well? 

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This is a three-part series of posts looking at the nuts & bolts of inventory.  You can read Part 1 here & Part 2 here.

We’ve talked about the ins and outs of buying inventory in Part1(in a nutshell, be conservative & don’t overbuy.)  We then discussed the importance of keep track of your inventory in Part2.  But what happens when, even though you’ve been careful not to load up on inventory, you still aren’t able to sell an item?

You’ve done the research, you have a feeling that your right people would just adore this item as much as you do.  And, okay, maybe you’ve fallen in love with this item.  With excitement, you list them online and then...nothing.  They just won’t move.  Has this happened to you before?

Before feeling that pinch of anxiety, know that there are things you can do. 

The first thing is to realize that you have some important data now on what will or won’t sell.  Analyze it...is the item something that customers want to be able to see & touch?  Is the item heavy and shipping is now too expensive?  Is the item itself not in the price range that is typical for your customer?  Keep in mind that this will help you make future buying decisions and that’s always a good thing! 

The next thing to do is to get creative - brainstorm all the ways in which you can move this item.  From the easy (put it on sale) to the more intricate (pop up shop), there are lots of ways to generate interest in a particular item. 

To give you an example, one of the things I was excited to sell were candles - let’s just say that I am a candle fanatic!  Well, wouldn’t you know it - they were a slow mover.  But who doesn’t love a candle, right?  Once I got over the emotion, I really thought about it.  I looked at the questions I would get from customers and they all seemed to fit under one sentiment...”what does it smell like?”  Even though I had a description on the product page, customers still wanted that up close experience.  Perhaps it’s a matter of describing the scent in a different way - through images or memories.  Or maybe trial sizes are needed so that customers can get samples to test.

Remember - be creative.  And realize that at the end of the day, you may have to make that decision to get rid of that item.  You may love it but if it’s not selling, it’s not selling. 

Some ideas to get you started on moving merchandise:

- Feature the item on your website’s home page.

- Pitch the item to magazines, blogs and local media.  Be creative and offer suggestions for the item.  Is there a holiday coming up that this item would make a great gift for?  Pitch it!

- Put it on sale

- Hold a pop up shop with a local store so that customers can see the item in person.

- Create a newsletter showing all the ways you can use the item.  Customers love that!

- Get testimonials from people who have bought and love the item and post these quotes on the product page.

How do you move products? 

Tell us in the comments!

Image via Creature Comforts 

Piper Toth happily traded the corporate world for the online world when she opened her online boutique,one sydney road. She authors the blog of the same name where she waxes poetic on the crazy roller coaster ride that is entrepreneurship!

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This is a Guest Post by Kate Gatski. She and her husband have been full time artists for nearly 10 years. Kate was raised by a full time crafter of 30 years. She is sharing her secrets in a project called, “All Craft. Real Income; A Recipe for Making your Art Pay.”

It’s 7am. You wake up and get the coffee rolling. Your grab a mug and sip. About 12 minutes later, you settle in at your desk. There’s a timer there and you set it for 30 minutes.

You write a thank you note, scan your email (reply to anything that takes 3 minutes or less) and do a quick “like, like, like” on facebook.  Ding!  Write down any lingering thoughts (figure out a price for that custom life sized antelope head). Move on. Make something.

What does it take to support a family of five for 10 years with art & craft?

What does it take for craft to pay all its own business expenses, all living expenses including insurance and retirement, fund business growth and make a profit for future business (and fun) opportunities? It takes about 1 hour every day. 

It takes letting go of archaic ideas and a full embrace of three things

1. Planning

2. Seeking opportunities and

3. Relating to your people.

There is a recipe. It is about developing a daily practice. It is less about specific actions (in the beginning) and more about your effort. Eventually your actions will flow perfectly in sync with your plan.

How does it work?

Take a specific amount of time, I recommend 30 minutes to 1 hour each day. You will write a plan (if you do not have one already). You will ask yourself questions like, “What do I want my craft to pay for (retirement, new house, travel)? How much do I think it will take? Do I enjoy being around people? What motivates me- creative challenges, recognition or independence?”  Your plan will detail your dreams and include lists of possible actions.

Having a plan is not a revelation to you.
Make one.
Keep it nearby.

Now, connect with your people. In the beginning, we used good old-fashioned mail – a postcard, a newsletter, a catalog. These days, we’re going digital. No matter the method, reach out and relate. Think about what is it about you, work or your life that would be useful to someone else? Offer tips, inspiration and bits of humor. Make a small effort towards this end every day.

Now, seek a new opportunity.

This is a practice. It might be a simple as doing a google search.  Instead of waiting for things to happen to you; you are making them happen for you. You will soon be able to evaluate a new opportunity it in about 60 seconds. Does it fit your plan? Does it have future potential? How much time will it take?

A steadfast commitment to these three things (planning, opportunities and relating to people) will pay.

There will be up and down days. Some projects will take many days. Refer to your plan, remain diligent and when the timer ding’s – Move on! Make something.

Image credits: Kate Gatski

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You've got the products, you've got the website and you've got the traffic, but still customers aren't biting...and you're not sure why!?

 Have you considered the quality of your product images? It doesn't matter how awesome a product is in person, if you can't represent that to customers, they just aren't going to shop.

As a blogger, time and time again I am contacted by shops pitching their products to me, and too many times I'm disappointed by the quality of the photography in those pitches. It's downright frustrating. And, I've felt this disappointment as a customer too. I know we all have.

So, how can you make sure that your photography is showing your products in their best light?

Here are some DOs and DON'Ts and examples of the best practices below each tip.

First of all, I cannot stress the importance of lighting. Natural light is better and so too is avoiding harsh shadows.

image credit: Makool Loves You

Show products in use to give customers in use.

Most importantly, it makes it easier for customers to imagine adding your product to their lives. It can also add some context for the item, especially for things that it may be difficult to tell what it is, e.g. is it a bracelet or a necklace? Photograph clothing on a model, a tea set on a table with tea and crumpets and letterpress stationery on a desk with a pen.

image credit: YOKOO

Get creative with your angles. Don't just shoot your product head on. You want to offer as much detail as possible for customers to fall in love with.

image credit: Kristiana Parn

Include a variety of photos for customers to look—an in-use photo, a close-up and several showing different angles or to show special features.

image credit: Ferntree Studio

Use a macro setting to show more detail.

image credit: nestdecorating

Consider staging your photographs and including props for visual interest.

image credit: Three Potato Four Shop

If shooting products in a traditional studio setting, use consistent backgrounds or make them artfully different, e.g. all white or all patterned fabric.

image credit: rubygirl jewelry

Above all else, do not use dark or blurry photos or photos where clearly the color is off. If your photos did not turn out, try again another day. It will make a difference.

image credit: vadjutka

Finally, if you aren't a good photographer, consider hiring a pro or get a talented friend to help you out. Or investigate working with a student or new photographer who wants to build up their portfolio. Also, bartering goods and services for photography services is always a good option.

Feature Image Credit:  Ink & Spind

Jen Wallace shares her indie life at Indie Fixx where she writes about making, creating, cooking, learning, playing, loving, and pretty much anything else that strikes her fancy.

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