Another thing that discourages new artists from approaching a store is the idea that they need lots of support materials to "look professional". They worry that they need business cards, or a catalog. Do they also need boxes? And hangtags?? What about a brochure??? Or a website??!!
The reality is, these things make your life, and the buyer's life, easier. You WILL want them down the road. But you don't HAVE to have them to get started.
All you really need to approach a store is a great product, some idea of the price, and a way for the buyer to contact you again when they want to reorder.
Let's run through some of the common support materials, and how to get them.
* Do I need business cards?
Not really, but they are so cheap and such a basic marketing tool, why not take advantage?
Print your own by computer, buy simple ones at Staples, or order ones with full-color photos of your work for under $60/1,000. One source is www.gapco.com, a company I've dealt with for years. Many other on-line sources are now available.
Some artists feel their business cards should reflect their creativity, and that's a nice idea. But first and foremost, your business card should be LEGIBLE. And it should clearly communicate something about you and/or your work.
I did the experiment at a HUGE craft show one year--hundreds and hundreds of exhibitors. I ONLY took business cards from artistis whose work blew me away. I made notes on the back of their work & what I loved about it. When I got home, I went through the cards. Except for a few stunners, I could not remember or visualize a single artist or their work--EXCEPT for those that had small photo images on their card, or some other triggering image or comment.
I learned my lesson. ALL my business cards now have actual images of my work. In fact, full-color business cards are so cheap now, my next step is to have several sets, each with different designs on them--one for my wall hangings, one for my jewelry, and one for my sculptures. OR one for each of my trademark animal artifacts. I haven't decided yet...
Use a readable font (no 6 pt. fonts, please!) Put all your contact info on it, but don't sacrifice readability for thoroughness. Test them on an older person--like, someone over 40. I'm serious! Around age 40, our eyes just don't read small type very well. You want people to be able to EASILY read your contact info. For the same reason, avoid "cute" and "fancy" but illegible fonts.
Use them liberally. Hand them out like candy. You'll be surprised how many people will show up years later clutching a business card or postcard you gave out then. They cost pennies or less, and you want them to be in as many potential buyers' hands as possible.
* Do I need a fancy brochure?
Again, you don't NEED one. But they’re a nice touch, both to leave with the store owner and to provide for her to hand out to customers or buyers. They can be simple and inexpensive. A brochure is a great way to have your artist statemnt and a paragraph or two about your process or inspiration in one place for the store owner's file.
In fact, simple and cheap is best when you are just starting out, when you are experimenting with product lines and still thinking where you want to go with your business.
My first brochure described a business I didn't even want to pursue a year later. I'm glad I didn't spend a ton of money on them. My second brochure was a little blurb about me and my work, with contact info, printed in three columns on regular cardstock. I cut them apart by hand. (Okay, I used a paper cutter.)
As your business grows, and your work becomes in demand, consider having a fancy brochure printed. Collectors love to have a nice brochure to go with their new piece of your work. But hand them out generously! Make them work for you before they become dated and have to be printed again.
* Do I need a catalog?
Many artists go years without a catalog, especially if they are dealing with mostly local stores. They show up every month or so, or they call to see if the gallery is low on stock, and just run over a new batch of goods. If they have a new design, they bring it along, or call to see if they can show it to the buyer.
If you are starting out with one “thing”, and need to send something for a store farther away to order from, then a postcard or photo of that thing with a price list and order form can work just as well.
Many artists start with a very simple “catalog” consisting of line drawings of their products and a price list. This works if you have specific designs you use over and over, perhaps with variations in colors/sizes, etc. Once the buyer sees one, he has an idea of what everything else looks like.
Once you have a few basic designs you, use a copy center to your own simple catalog. Here’s my first catalog: I went to a copy center and got permission to arrange my jewelry on the color copier scanning bed. I ran a few dozen copies. This cost either 50 cents or $1 a page.
I hand-numbered the items and added a single printed page describing each item with the price. And an extra page about my business, return policy, terms, etc. and a simple order form I made on my computer. This actually worked quite well. I continued to use it as I added new products and saved up money for more “real” catalog pages.
My next catalog was a one-page four color page produced for me by Megacolor. I've MegaColor for years, and have been very happy with them. My contact is John Maasic (jmaasic@megacolor.com) I enjoy working with him, he's helpful, not pushy, and loves dealing with artists.
This one-page sheet is called a “sell sheet”; many options and variations are available. They can function as a catalog, an update to a catalog, or as a brochure.
I ordered the minimum quantity (2,500) with about a dozen jewelry designs on the front with item numbers, my contact information, and no printing on the back. It looked just like the color copy page but much nicer. By leaving the back blank, I was able to customize my accompanying text pages on my computer.
I had a retail version and a wholesale version. I could change the prices and improve the descriptions. For awhile, I printed the backs directly on my computer, but the glossy paper creates a build-up on printer rollers, so a lot were damaged. Now I just add plain paper additions and staple everything together.
This has worked so well that I just keep adding pages as my product line grows. When I no longer want to make a product, I just mark it as “discontinued” on the text pages.
Megacolor also produces other catalog versions. Their prices are almost always unmatched in the industry, although more presses are getting on to the bandwagon now.
CD’s do not work well as a catalog yet. Too many things--the buyer, the mood, the CD, and the computer--have to be in the same place at the same time. In fact, a supplier just sent ME a CD catalog and in two weeks, I haven't been able to find the time to look at it.
But website catalogs are increasingly popular, especially if buyers can purchase on-line and not delay.
* Do I need order forms? Invoices?
You can print these as needed on your computer. I used to simply type them out and print them. (Now I use Quickbooks.)
Or use store-bought forms. Have a rubber stamp or labels made for your own contact info and terms, if you like. (Use a cheapo label company like Currents to make address labels with your company name and your name. You can even get your phone number or website printed on them.) You will keep a copy, the buyer will keep a copy. You can use a third copy as a packing slip, if you are shipping the order later.
Multi-part forms save time, but you want, you can also just write up duplicate invoices, or ask the store owner to copy the original. You’d be surprised how many have copiers.
* Who does the display stuff?
Don't let this issue stop you from approaching a store! Get in there and let the buyer get excited about your work. Most stores have a slew of display stuff already. So unless your work is so unusual, it's going to need a special display, rest assured they already have jewelry cases, card racks, nails for hanging framed prints, etc.
If you feel your work is best displayed a certain way, you can suggest that. If it's an unusal item that needs an unusual display treatment, it helps to have that display provided. You can offer them as an incentive with a minimum order ("When you buy 24 widgets, the display unit is free!") or ask the store to buy the display. This obviously works best if the display is small and inexpensive!
Providing a display for your work can be an incentive for owners to order more. When they notice your rack or holder is low on product, they know it's time to call you to order more.
Otherwise, for most products, the store owner will have plenty of display fixtures on hand. I found stores to be so individualized in how they handled it, I no longer provide any special displays.
Caution!!: Make sure the display does not attract more attention than the work!!! You'd be amazed how often this happens. One artist had more inquiries about the hangers she used to display her painted silks than the silk hangings themselves. Bummer.
* What about boxes or special packaging?
The more “sell itself” your work is, the better a store owner will like it! Self-mailers for items that could be sent through the mail, built-in wrappers (gift bags, etc.) will add to your product’s appeal.
If your item is an unusual size--something that's not easily put into standard-sized gift boxes--then it's good to provide the boxes yourself. I know a woodworker who always provides his own boxes, with his name imprinted on them to boot. But it’s NOT NECESSARY by any means. The store usually has their own store packaging, usually with their logo on it, and most prefer to use theirs over yours.
In short, don't let lack of packaging hold you back. And ASK if they would like packaging or not.
* What about hangtags? Gift cards?
Again, you don’t have to have these. But they are inexpensive to buy or make, and help individualize your product.
Gift cards (a card that can be put in a box with your work) or hangtags (tags that attach directly to your pieces) tell about you the artist and your process. They can offer care instructions for wearable items such as jewelry, clothing, fashion accessories, etc.
Gift cards can also elevate the item to “gift item” level. A friend in the biz told me years ago about a nifty little product--I think they were small models of exotic tree frogs. They were packaged in beautiful "envionmentally-friendly" boxes, with a beautiful little gift enclosure card telling a story about the frogs, their habitat, and noting that a portion of the profits were earmarked for some worthy non-profit group. He said, "The artist turned a $10 widget into a $40 gift item..."
* Do I have to have a website?
No, you don't have to have a website to sell your work. Some kind of presence on the internet is becoming almost a given. But it doesn't have to be a big thing. It doesn't even have to be a website.
Even a single page is enough to have your contact info, an image or two of your work, your artist statement or a short article about you and your work available online.
Consider starting a blog. The costs of having a blog hosted run from minor to...nothing. A blog can be where you discuss the process that goes into your art, where you share your studio with collectors, or even introduce new work. If someone loses all your contact info, if they know your name, they can google you and find you. (We'll talk more about what store buyers DON'T want to see on your website or in your blog...)
Please don't postpone doing other critical steps because you don't have a website. An artist who made beautiful baby clothes didn't have any labels on them. Not her name, not a care tag--nada. Yet she was hoping to market to stores. When I asked why she didn't even have a label that said "Handmade by Blah-Blah"--a HUGE selling point--she said, "I don't have a website yet, so I don't want to invest in labels til I do." I pointed out that if she even just put her NAME on the labels, she could be googled. The selling point of expensive handmade baby clothes is just that--A real person made the garment. Customers want to know that the handmade garments are made of nice materials and they want to know how to wash them. The last thing they care about is if you have a website.
There you have it. All of these support materials can indeed improve your sales and marketing efforts.
But you don't HAVE to have them to get started. You can develop them gradually as your business grows.
