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| Set of 4 - 1inch Art Magnets in gift tin Copyright (c) 2011 - Jessica Snowden |
For the last year I've been working hard at creating gift items out of my artwork. I started doing artwork for two reasons. 1) To de-stress....drawing always helps me withdraw into my own mind to think things through. 2) I wanted to build a portfolio of images as I'd love to be a published children's illustrator one day. I'm not currently going toward that arena at the moment, but it's still high on my list of life's goals.
My artwork has gotten attention as being colorful, whimsical, child-like, smile provoking, and fun. I like that. My purpose, overall, is to do something that inspires other. I want to bring products (whether artwork and gifts or writing) to people to make them remember a happy childhood memory. Creating gift items; greeting cards, jewelry, boxes, etc., gives me an avenue to show my artwork other than just paintings or prints.
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| Art Gift Boxes and Mini Canvases Copyright (c) 2011 - Jessica Snowden |
Over the last 8 months, I've had a strong pull to sell my items at local shops. I was given a fluke chance in the current store I'm in, a consignment account I got before Easter. They carry my jewelry and have been very helpful on telling me what sells best. This experience is valuable for many reasons.
You see, when you set out to start a business, you do everything you can think of to be a professional. You work on best ways to build a product. Packaging and marketing ideas get worked on and then reworked again. Everything you do is to fine tune the way customers view your business. But, there is only so much you can do with ideas and research.
Sometimes, your best bet, is to just get out there. You need to get away from your desk or studio and just talk to those people who are your customers. Now for me, my direct customer is the shop owners. They, in turn, sell to their customers, my product. If they don't think my product fits into their shop, they don't buy from me. Simple. That's what happened to me today.
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| Art Gift Tags with various images Copyright (c) 2011 - Jessica Snowden |
A shop that I've admired for a few years, am a customer of, and I considered my "holy grail" of shops, said "No". I had my appointment this morning. I worked hard for weeks, creating a "sell sheet", an "image sheet", an order form, and then a brochure. I fine tuned my packaging. I created samples of all my current products. I was ready and thought I had a great chance.
After walking in, I started putting my items I had so carefully packed, out on the counter and talked to the owner. She thought they were cute and chatted with me about the Holiday buying season (apparently I'm a bit late...which I knew). She enjoyed what I showed her, however, she said it "wasn't a good fit with her shop". I was bummed. I felt like I did all that work for nothing, not to mention that her store was the one I really really wanted to be in.
But I had talked to myself earlier and thought of "worst case scenarios". I figured that if she did say "No", I had a lot to be proud of. First of all, I did "get out there". I did make the call to go in and talk to her. I did make a catalog of my products and a brochure to give to shops. I did come up with pricing for wholesale and consignment. I did make samples with packaging that I can work with (and possibly fine tune).
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| My "booty" of samples to bring; Magnet sets, gift boxes, key chain, pendants, earrings, mini canvases, gift tags, and greeting cards. Copyright (c) 2011 - Jessica Snowden |
She told me to call in late February for the springtime. She told me what her customers are looking for in products. She told me the type of packaging that works well in her shop. All of this was such valuable information that I wouldn't have known any of this if I hadn't called. She didn't turn me down cold. She said "here's the reason" and "maybe you can work on this" and "this is what I know sells". All things that, if I had researched it, would've taken me forever to find out.
So, I look at this as a golden opportunity that simply didn't turn out the way I originally wanted. But, I've got my samples....I've got my catalog and brochures...and I have a whole list of shops in my area that I can walk into and see if my products are a good fit for them. Because, sometimes the only way to really know is to just go for it! So, get out there!
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