Wow! Its been a while since I last wrote on this blog…….
About 4 weeks ago, I threw my back out just sitting in the car driving home. I was off my feet for about a week. I was in way to much pain to write a blog. And if I did, it would have been to complain about the doctor office not being able to schedule me in for a few days. Or, the fact that I had to go to Urgent Care and wait 4 hours to be seen, while sitting in the most uncomfortable plastic yard chair I have ever had the privilege to sit in.
On the bright side, during that time, we were received and invitation to participate in an Art Walk on April 19th sponsored by the Scottsdale store that is carrying our pieces. How exciting! Nineteen (19) artists were going to display and sell their artwork on the sidewalk of the strip mall. Only rule….cant sell the same stuff the store is carrying.
At first, we were excited to be asked. Then, the reality set in. We need to create some pieces to sell. With my back hurting, I wasn’t going to be able to make anything. Luckily, we had three weeks to prepare for the show.
Go Lady Vols
However, the following week (April 6th through the 8th) was the Women’s Final Four and we had tickets in Tampa. I made sure to pack my pain and anti-inflammatory pills just as a little insurance. I was going to enjoy the games, drugged or not. And, I did! Awesome games! In case you don’t know, Tennessee’s Lady Volunteers won the title. That gave them back-to-back wins! Eight titles in all.
The Saturday before the games, I stood in line for two hours waiting for the Lady Vols autograph session. My back was feeling pretty good. The funny thing is….I live in freakin hot Phoenix, Arizona…….and traveled all the way to Tampa, Florida to get a sun burn. It didn’t feel hot and it was cloudy and breezy. Who knew? In Arizona, you know when your burning………..you feel it.
Thursday, April 10th
My back is back to normal. Feeling good, feeling inspired. Now its time to make some glass! But first, we ponder this……………
What do we make?
What will they buy?
Do we advertise?
What kind of advertisement?
We decided to make a diverse selection of pieces ranging from cabochons to business card holders, oil diffusers to wine bottle stoppers. We were busy every night.
Now we turn our attention to marketing. Marketing is very important for any business.
- Business Cards
- Website – ETSY (www.diroglassstudio.etsy.com)
- Brochure – with website, email address and picture of the variety of pieces
- Post Card – invitation
Last year we went to the Glass Craft Expo in Vegas. All the glass artists had these beautiful postcards made up with colorful pictures of beads and sculptures. So, we made a postcard displaying some of our pieces on the front and the address of the Art Walk on the back. Using Publisher, we were able to put something fairly professional looking together. However, we opted to have Kinko’s print them up on glossy card stock. The price was not too bad.
April 14th
The week of April 14th, we handed our postcards out to all of our friends and family. They loved the card and pledged to be there. Then we panicked!
What if nobody shows up?
What if they all show up?
What if they don’t like our stuff?
What if they buy everything?
Every night we worked late into the night to make more pieces. Bottle stoppers, hair bands, fan pulls, small bowls, small trays, sushi dishes, business card holders, night lights, pendants and cabochons. Did I forget anything? Oh yeah, oil diffusers and trivets.
Friday, April 18th No Sleep
It’s the night before the Art Walk. What about the display? We had bought some pretty black satinish fabric with colored speckles throughout. Our plan was to cover the 6 foot table with it. However, we didn’t plan out the actual display.
We had some boxes in the garage that we stacked and taped together to form tiers under the fabric. It worked really well. This way we could maximize the space and display all the various pieces unobstructed.
We set everything up and then took a picture of it. That way we could refer to the picture instead of panicking when we were trying to set up.
April 19th ArtWalk
The Art Walk didn’t start until 2PM.
We go there at 1:30PM. Some of the artists were already set up. There were painters, photographers and a couple of guys playing the guitar and singing. We set up as quickly as we could. Nervously, we kept referring to the photo we shot of the display. This was a real time saver.
Our First Sale at 1:45PM
Our first sale! A coworker of mine showed up with his wife and flowers. That was the sweetest thing ever! I was so touched. And to top it off………..they bought a wine stopper and a pendant.
Several friends and family members showed up throughout the four (4) hours we were there. They remarked about our creativity and actually bought our stuff. In fact, some requested special order items.
It was a success! I was feeling pretty good about being an artist. Then Diane reminded me. We can’t count on our family and friends to buy from us all the time. We need to get strangers to buy. That will be the real test.
How do you get a stranger to buy your stuff?
Marketing?
Networking?
Hmm. Our work has just begun.
