This post is not out of desperation, but rather explanation...
As you'll soon note and if you had noticed from my prior post major changes are happening here at Faith Works. Having read through about eight or nine articles concerning pricing (thank you Etsy.com) I decided it was time to put that resource to good use. Even when I was selling on Etsy I rarely went through their blog, despite it being chockful of good pointers from the staff and myriads of sellers. But having recently re-thought where I stood with my business endeavors I decided it was more than high time.
First beast to tackle...pricing. Like some dread ornery dragon pricing one's work can be super difficult for an artist. If you have read through articles this point is usually touched on, as is that of most artists underpricing themselves. Now yes I bring it up here but I also go into some of the important points that are part of the reasonings behind these issues that don't necessarily get covered. Sure as an artist I underprice myself...but why. Obviously the only way to fix it is to get to the source otherwise I'll continue whatever habit is causing it.
I think for me the biggest issues is the way in which I, and many other artists, think about their work. Knitting for example. It's been around quite some time, lots of people in lots of countries do it. With the plethora of information available between libraries and the internet both via written texts, pictures, and YouTube videos it's easy enough to learn. Just get a stranded fiber (it doesn't even have to be yarn) and two knitting needles (or pencils, pens, chopsticks even) and go to town. For the knitter, you know how to do it so it doesn't seem like that big a deal. It's not that hard frankly. But you can't simply look at your artform from the perspective of someone who knows how to do it...to quote one of the articles ' "You are not always your target market." ' After all, chances are if you can do it you would rather than paying someone else to do it. Sure this doesn't promise that you wouldn't as a knitter buy someone else's knitting. Maybe you really like that sweater or shawl or cardigan and don't have the patience, skill, time, or resources to make it yourself. Or perhaps you just would like to support them and don't mind buying it simply because it's easier. Regardless, if you have a decent amount of experience in knitting you know how long it takes to do a large piece like that cardigan by hand.
The other portion of it comes from considering that that garment in the store was likely mass produced, likely by some machine or at the very least for ridiculous cheap labor. Chances are the person who makes the sweater you see hanging on the rack didn't do it strictly by hand or from scratch. The fiber was made synthetically, machine processed into fiber, which was put through another machine to make the fabric, and possibly a final one to sew. What could add up to 80 actual man hours with the use of machines and assembly line processing takes a fractional amount of that time. So of course that sweater is only 20.00-25.00, that had you made it start to finish could have realistically cost twice that. Mind you even many handmade crafters don't tend the sheep, sheer, spin, knit and then sew every thing they make, it's still a good deal more work than what a machine can do. So in essence you really can't compare the amount of work put forth between the two.
So it comes down to the fact that I, as an artist & crafter, get paid for what you don't/won't/can't do. There's nothing wrong with this, there are plenty of things that the average person doesn't do or knows little about and the purpose of any training or education allows someone to do it. So as long as it gets done by someone yourself or someone else it's fine.
In general my items are not for the faint of wallet or quick fixers. Walmart and Target serve those needs. I make fine quality, heart felt gifts be they for yourself or someone else. When you buy from me you get an experience, not just a product.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Major Re-Vamps...
The story I'm about to tell is a rather detailed and gets farther into the mind of the artist than you may be expecting. But part of the allure of dealing with an artist is that they are in fact a person. With hopes and dreams, trials and tribulations - the spice of life...
Since the birth of my son life has slowed down a bit, in all areas. My production, including filling an existing order and taking on new ones has slowed to an extreme crawl it seems but for good reason. If you're a parent, especially a SAHM (stay at home mom) you know why. Kids are a handful at any age, but newborns even more so. No sooner are they tended to than it seems you are tending to them again. And that is with them healthy. But I'm coming back, slowly but surely.
My time away has served a dual purpose though. Sure it's allowed me to adjust to this new small person around me, it's also put life into perspective and work. During my pregnancy I have had a very hard time working. The only work I've managed to be able to muster the strength to do is that which deals with my art and healing center. And even the work done there has been so so. Normally a super industrious person (note the late hour of this posting) coupled with my insomnia makes me super productive at times. For my very Type A (at times) personality that is quite attractive. My eyes glaze over and I drool hungrily at the prospect of getting even more done in a day. It has also allowed me to do some much needed reflecting and brainstorming. Both of which I had put off severely and to my own detriment now that I look at it.
While my store has been in existence since January of 2009 nearly all of my efforts have been focused at the creative aspect of it. From innovating designs, creating them, and spending time describing and photographing. Don't get me wrong, there has been a business element worked on, including noting inventory, pricing, and what not. But not nearly as much as I should have been. Most notably the financial aspect of my business is more than a bit lacking. I have severely underpriced myself and just not taken certain things into account that if I were working elsewhere would be noted. I straddle halfway between hobby and business. Working creatively as much as business, yet financially as much as a hobby. I have neither taken note of the amount of time I put forth into anything. Or considered what I ought to be paid hourly or my overhead (which thankfully is very little at this point). And now I see how I have put myself in a hole over it.
So many changes are going to happen, pricing is being reworked, and I plan to make use of more of my resources (such as the blog option on Artfire), coupons, sales, featured items, and some updating of policies as well as the addition of some new products.
Since the birth of my son life has slowed down a bit, in all areas. My production, including filling an existing order and taking on new ones has slowed to an extreme crawl it seems but for good reason. If you're a parent, especially a SAHM (stay at home mom) you know why. Kids are a handful at any age, but newborns even more so. No sooner are they tended to than it seems you are tending to them again. And that is with them healthy. But I'm coming back, slowly but surely.
My time away has served a dual purpose though. Sure it's allowed me to adjust to this new small person around me, it's also put life into perspective and work. During my pregnancy I have had a very hard time working. The only work I've managed to be able to muster the strength to do is that which deals with my art and healing center. And even the work done there has been so so. Normally a super industrious person (note the late hour of this posting) coupled with my insomnia makes me super productive at times. For my very Type A (at times) personality that is quite attractive. My eyes glaze over and I drool hungrily at the prospect of getting even more done in a day. It has also allowed me to do some much needed reflecting and brainstorming. Both of which I had put off severely and to my own detriment now that I look at it.
While my store has been in existence since January of 2009 nearly all of my efforts have been focused at the creative aspect of it. From innovating designs, creating them, and spending time describing and photographing. Don't get me wrong, there has been a business element worked on, including noting inventory, pricing, and what not. But not nearly as much as I should have been. Most notably the financial aspect of my business is more than a bit lacking. I have severely underpriced myself and just not taken certain things into account that if I were working elsewhere would be noted. I straddle halfway between hobby and business. Working creatively as much as business, yet financially as much as a hobby. I have neither taken note of the amount of time I put forth into anything. Or considered what I ought to be paid hourly or my overhead (which thankfully is very little at this point). And now I see how I have put myself in a hole over it.
So many changes are going to happen, pricing is being reworked, and I plan to make use of more of my resources (such as the blog option on Artfire), coupons, sales, featured items, and some updating of policies as well as the addition of some new products.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Coming together?
I reserve this blog specifically for things about the business, but nothing overtly personal. It's not a matter of not being the full me all the time so much as a desire to compartmentalize. If you're interested in my personal thoughts as an artist I have a blog just for that, which at times includes rants even...
It's true, while I don't really want to admit it, that I haven't invested as much time or effort into growing this business - or it's sister company. While my products and services are good, great even marketing and putting myself out there just isn't my forte. This occurred to me as part of the reason for the mediocrity of my success. Sure I sell things, sure people like what I sell, or my work, but how many people (who know me personally) even know what I do? Sure the few who know me exceedingly well and talk to me often have likely heard me talk about it or even been on the phone/messenger with me while I've been working on something. But I know a lot more than just those and honestly for the sake of getting my name out there it should be one of the most commonly known things about me shouldn't it? Yes.
In that light I have noticed that a lot of things seem to be coming through lately. While I can't say that the decision to focus more on the business aspect, rather than just the creative, of my business has landed me this sudden influx of consumers other types of things have been coming through. Such as this article about using one's blog to get business. There have been a handful of other things, such as new contacts via Facebook and LinkedIn, new followers on Twitter and with Google+, and likes to my pages and website. All "baby steps" in the grand scheme of getting out there and reigning in success.
So do you have any tips? What's worked for you? Looking forward to hearing from you and thanks for tuning in! :D
It's true, while I don't really want to admit it, that I haven't invested as much time or effort into growing this business - or it's sister company. While my products and services are good, great even marketing and putting myself out there just isn't my forte. This occurred to me as part of the reason for the mediocrity of my success. Sure I sell things, sure people like what I sell, or my work, but how many people (who know me personally) even know what I do? Sure the few who know me exceedingly well and talk to me often have likely heard me talk about it or even been on the phone/messenger with me while I've been working on something. But I know a lot more than just those and honestly for the sake of getting my name out there it should be one of the most commonly known things about me shouldn't it? Yes.
In that light I have noticed that a lot of things seem to be coming through lately. While I can't say that the decision to focus more on the business aspect, rather than just the creative, of my business has landed me this sudden influx of consumers other types of things have been coming through. Such as this article about using one's blog to get business. There have been a handful of other things, such as new contacts via Facebook and LinkedIn, new followers on Twitter and with Google+, and likes to my pages and website. All "baby steps" in the grand scheme of getting out there and reigning in success.
So do you have any tips? What's worked for you? Looking forward to hearing from you and thanks for tuning in! :D
Sunday, August 7, 2011
August Updates!
I'm a bit late as this should have been done last month and for this month a week earlier but having a baby has decreased the amount of time to "spare" we have available by a drastically large amount and much more than I had anticipated. However, I'm getting back into the swing of things and have caught up on a number of things and will be finishing several things up this month *fingers crossed*. Throughout July I was unable to get much of anything done project or business-wise unfortunately.
Some new improvements to Artfire's site have allowed us to make coupons and to help celebrate that and our holiday this month we'll be taking 30% off all our throws for the month of August. We also will need to visually revamp the site and some of the layout and outlook as several viewing options have changed, some positive, others not so much (IMHO).
In our queue we have a number of projects but first and foremost is a back order for a pair of armwarmers. After that we have a few "charity" projects (a gratitude shawl for a mentor, a plastic bag holder for a roommate, a rug for my sister). What's left over are things that were already present and really it's all a matter of what we'd like to work on first and what we can work on.
Only a few months ago we had implemented a new schedule which has been so far serving us. While four hours just doesn't seem like a lot of time the steady work on a few projects has given us headway.
For the remainder of the month our goals are just to keep plugging away marking things off our queue and bring back some old items we haven't offered in awhile (like our bath salts) and perhaps bring some new herbal products in...
Some new improvements to Artfire's site have allowed us to make coupons and to help celebrate that and our holiday this month we'll be taking 30% off all our throws for the month of August. We also will need to visually revamp the site and some of the layout and outlook as several viewing options have changed, some positive, others not so much (IMHO).
In our queue we have a number of projects but first and foremost is a back order for a pair of armwarmers. After that we have a few "charity" projects (a gratitude shawl for a mentor, a plastic bag holder for a roommate, a rug for my sister). What's left over are things that were already present and really it's all a matter of what we'd like to work on first and what we can work on.
Only a few months ago we had implemented a new schedule which has been so far serving us. While four hours just doesn't seem like a lot of time the steady work on a few projects has given us headway.
For the remainder of the month our goals are just to keep plugging away marking things off our queue and bring back some old items we haven't offered in awhile (like our bath salts) and perhaps bring some new herbal products in...
Sunday, May 1, 2011
May Updates!
It's that time again...the first of the month calls for a brief recap of the previous month's goals and an overview of what is coming up this month!
Near the end of the month we started some armwarmers that had been on our queue for awhile for lack of having the proper sized needles to start. Lo and behold we got them done and whipped them up in a few days. It was definitely a learning experience as most of our knitting in the round has been composed of hats with bulky yarn. Working the smaller needles (size 7 versus a size 13) was interesting. Then to our surprise (and thanks to Facebook) we sold those armwarmers before they were even finished! (And we had been doubting the possibility of that due to the hideously bright color they were...)
We also had something to say on our thoughts about being green as an artist/business.
Our Artfire posting goals have waxed and waned, some days we've met the quota others we haven't. But with about half of our stock listed we can't complain really. Stocking that store has also allowed up to revamp some of our descriptions of things and save them (we lost them all from previous listings) and we've placed them on our store's official site (which you can also order off of).
As for our queue....In an effort to better organize and use our time wisely (as the business owner also runs another separate business with it's own store among other things) we've been following some advice from Flylady about working from home. We revamped our project list which at this point is upwards of 70 projects (with a few marked off...):
However, with each one we mark off it seems another 5 or 10 jump right on (that's okay though, we like to keep busy!) But what's currently underway and what you can look to for updates on our Facebook page and in our photo albums are these:
Perhaps most importantly that happened in April was the new institution of a work/personal calendar for the artist. While we are the industrious type we tend to get bogged down by a lot of projects, eg distracted, and sometimes will only work "willy nilly" on things. While this isn't atypical of artists, it's annoying to get virtually nothing done and really a pain in the butt with the level of productivity we'd like to accomplish (we're literally doing something from 6 am to midnight 7 days a week!) So far the schedule, while it looks ridiculously monstrous and daunting, is doing a good job of keeping us on task. We can't say for sure or not if it's making the artist's insomnia worse but there is definitely more structure in our day!
So what's in store for May??? Working on a few projects, keeping up with our new schedule, and many orders we hope! We're glad you stopped by to see what we were up to and look forward to making your acquaintance!
Near the end of the month we started some armwarmers that had been on our queue for awhile for lack of having the proper sized needles to start. Lo and behold we got them done and whipped them up in a few days. It was definitely a learning experience as most of our knitting in the round has been composed of hats with bulky yarn. Working the smaller needles (size 7 versus a size 13) was interesting. Then to our surprise (and thanks to Facebook) we sold those armwarmers before they were even finished! (And we had been doubting the possibility of that due to the hideously bright color they were...)
We also had something to say on our thoughts about being green as an artist/business.
Our Artfire posting goals have waxed and waned, some days we've met the quota others we haven't. But with about half of our stock listed we can't complain really. Stocking that store has also allowed up to revamp some of our descriptions of things and save them (we lost them all from previous listings) and we've placed them on our store's official site (which you can also order off of).
As for our queue....In an effort to better organize and use our time wisely (as the business owner also runs another separate business with it's own store among other things) we've been following some advice from Flylady about working from home. We revamped our project list which at this point is upwards of 70 projects (with a few marked off...):
However, with each one we mark off it seems another 5 or 10 jump right on (that's okay though, we like to keep busy!) But what's currently underway and what you can look to for updates on our Facebook page and in our photo albums are these:
- Nicole L's Scarf
- Nicole L's Hat
- Hellenic Reconstructionist Altar Cloth
Yea we know it doesn't look like much, but we also only have 7 hours to do any work a day (and only 4 of those are allotted to this business) and generally our project work is 1 hr/day/project (otherwise we'd overdo it!) There are also a number of other projects - which we won't mention here - that are done not for profit or in trade for something else - you can note those on our blog that explores the scenes behind the art with the artist.
Perhaps most importantly that happened in April was the new institution of a work/personal calendar for the artist. While we are the industrious type we tend to get bogged down by a lot of projects, eg distracted, and sometimes will only work "willy nilly" on things. While this isn't atypical of artists, it's annoying to get virtually nothing done and really a pain in the butt with the level of productivity we'd like to accomplish (we're literally doing something from 6 am to midnight 7 days a week!) So far the schedule, while it looks ridiculously monstrous and daunting, is doing a good job of keeping us on task. We can't say for sure or not if it's making the artist's insomnia worse but there is definitely more structure in our day!
So what's in store for May??? Working on a few projects, keeping up with our new schedule, and many orders we hope! We're glad you stopped by to see what we were up to and look forward to making your acquaintance!
And as a special gift to all who actually read our blog, we have a major holiday this month, we're offering a 15% off coupon on your entire order if you place it in May! Use coupon code - B3LTAN3 - in your message to the store when you place your order!
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