[GEP]

To anyone who is interested, on my blog now I reveal my thoughts about one of my secret weapons for selling pottery:

http://www.goodeleph...alespeople.html



EDIT: Does anyone else have any "secrets" to share? They can be things to do and things not to do.

Mea

[clay lover]

Mea, thanks, I think you are spot on with this idea. I have a friend who is very successful with the larger trade shows and I have travled with her to help out and learn what I could. She has names and use cards for everything she sells and baby, does she sell ! It's as if people don't know what to do with a piece they are looking at, and when she gives it a title or name like 'Brie Baker' bingo !, it's sold.

I have attempted to take this idea and put it to work in my booths. I printed peel and stick lables with info on them and did see sales improve, altho I wish I had developed as good a tag as you have.
I'm not the greatest on the computer, use something called 'Printmaster Platinum. I have transfered my business card to that program and printed some tags, but not all my pieces are tie-on friendly, so often I don't know where to put the tag.
Do you tag smaller things ? How do you keep from having a booth full of tags?

I have considered a stand up sign beside a stack of small similar items instead of tags , all same size, but different glazes, sort of. instead of tagging each piece. What do you think? Of course that means the info doesn't go home with the buyer.....

[Chris Campbell]

Another good add on is a small bio card so people can include it with the gift or galleries can offer it to someone who wants to know more about you. The ones you give out can have all your contact info but the ones provided to galleries should not ... They do love it when it is custom printed with their gallery's name and contact info for future sales ... if you do that you can be sure they will hand them out.

[Mark C.]

Your hang tags are very nice.At least the one on the mug you sent me in our trade.
I have a few things that I do- one is I put a business card in every bag no matter what the item is from a single spoon rest to a canister set.
I get them for just over 1 cent apiece in 5,000 lots from Vista print. My card is a four color run on card stock.I cannot make a card myself for this price.
The other is ( I learned this from a fellow potter years ago) if they do not have the cash or check or credit card I give them the bagged up work and mail me payment
This is a powerful thing as folks just do not see trust anymore. I have a few customers for life from this. I have never had them not pay. My thought is the work is done I'm onto new work and its their problem to keep track and pay and it works beyond belief.
I also have the non contact bios at my galleries as Chris mentioned
Mark

[akin4843]

Mea I love this! Like you, I am also getting my education in graphic design. I think this is a wonderful idea to combine two art skills. It makes the work feel more complete and screams to the buyer "Buy Me!" If I may ask, are you still working as a graphic designer? If so, how do you juggle to two professions? I sometimes feel torn because I am putting all my effort and money into school for G.D. but also want to do pottery. I want to do both and be successful with both but not sure if it's even possible.

[Matt Oz]

I make various lighting products, which is difficult to demonstrate, so I include a descriptive card with each item showing it lit.

Here is a whimsical but still informative one for my TV lamp.

[GEP]

clay lover, the only items I don't tag are my small elephant figurines, because I agree the tag is too big for the elephant! So for them I use a small tent card, similar to the idea you are considering. But you bring up a good point about tag design ... you don't want a customer to see a booth full of tags. I would say less is more, but then again my work is very minimal, so I think the better advice is to match the tag design to your work's personality. I really like Matt's humorous card for the TV Lamp, the work is humorous so it fits!

akin4843, I worked as both a designer and a potter for many years. For a while it felt like having two full-time jobs, but I would definitely do it that way again. Now my pottery business provides a livable income. I currently do one design project per year, for a client I really like, but I am in the process of recommending another designer to take over the account. Stay in design school, the education is worth every penny. It's much easier to earn a living as a designer, it takes a lot longer to develop your pottery skills into a viable business. So having another profession to support yourself in the meantime is a smart idea. And as you can see, having good design skills will help you brand and market any type of small business.

Mea

[Arnold Howard]

GEP, on 09 June 2012 - 08:36 AM, said:

Does anyone else have any "secrets" to share? They can be things to do and things not to do.

Mea

If you print your own hang tags in large quantities, you will save time by having a print shop cut them out for you. We have a large paper cutter at Paragon in our print shop. It is wonderful.

I love the hang tag idea. I buy pottery at a gallery in Garland, TX as gift items. The pieces never have a hang tag, and as a buyer, I can assure you that people are curious about you, the potter.

People are accustomed to nice quality printing. Even the cards that I find on my doorstep for lawn mowing are printed in full color on heavy card stock. If you print in large quantities, let someone else print them for you. A little computer printer can never compete in cost with offset printing.

Sincerely,

Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com

[GEP]

Arnold Howard, on 11 June 2012 - 09:14 AM, said:

GEP, on 09 June 2012 - 08:36 AM, said:

Does anyone else have any "secrets" to share? They can be things to do and things not to do.

Mea

If you print your own hang tags in large quantities, you will save time by having a print shop cut them out for you. We have a large paper cutter at Paragon in our print shop. It is wonderful.

I love the hang tag idea. I buy pottery at a gallery in Garland, TX as gift items. The pieces never have a hang tag, and as a buyer, I can assure you that people are curious about you, the potter.

People are accustomed to nice quality printing. Even the cards that I find on my doorstep for lawn mowing are printed in full color on heavy card stock. If you print in large quantities, let someone else print them for you. A little computer printer can never compete in cost with offset printing.

Sincerely,

Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com

I was surprised to read on Art Fair Insiders that there are lots of festival artists who print their own business cards on an inkjet printer, then refuse to hand them out to anyone who doesn't make a purchase! What a short-sighted strategy, when the cost of commercial printing has become so affordable.

My favorite online printers are VistaPrint.com and PrintingForLess.com. VistaPrint is the cheapest (though beware when you order for them, they try to trick you into signing up for monthly subscriptions of services you don't need, just say no!) PrintingForLess.com has the best quality while still being very affordable, with excellent customer service and no trickery.

I still print my hangtags on my home laser printer, because I put a different hangtag on each of my pottery designs, therefore the quantities are too small to save money with offset printing. If I ever decide to design one hangtag for all of my pots (not a bad idea) then definitely I would have them printed commercially.

To answer the question you left on my blog, which is my most effective hangtag?

Enormous Coffee Mug
For serious coffee freaks, you know who you are.

I regularly see people read the tag, smile, then say "I'll take it."

Mea

[nancylee]

Mea,
What kind of machine do you use to make your tags? Do you use the cricket or another cutter or a computer program? Thank you Nancy

[GEP]

nancylee, on 30 June 2012 - 07:18 PM, said:

Mea,
What kind of machine do you use to make your tags? Do you use the cricket or another cutter or a computer program? Thank you Nancy

Nancy,

I use InDesign to design the tags, though I think you could use any layout or word processing software. I print them on my regular ole laser printer, then cut them with a manual paper cutter.

Mea

[nancylee]

GEP, on 01 July 2012 - 09:52 AM, said:

nancylee, on 30 June 2012 - 07:18 PM, said:

Mea,
What kind of machine do you use to make your tags? Do you use the cricket or another cutter or a computer program? Thank you Nancy

Nancy,

I use InDesign to design the tags, though I think you could use any layout or word processing software. I print them on my regular ole laser printer, then cut them with a manual paper cutter.

Mea

Thanks for sharing Mea,
Nancy

[Red Rocks]

GEP, on 01 July 2012 - 09:52 AM, said:

nancylee, on 30 June 2012 - 07:18 PM, said:

Mea,
What kind of machine do you use to make your tags? Do you use the cricket or another cutter or a computer program? Thank you Nancy

Nancy,

I use InDesign to design the tags, though I think you could use any layout or word processing software. I print them on my regular ole laser printer, then cut them with a manual paper cutter.

Mea

What kind of stock do you use for these hang tags?

Thanks

[GEP]

I buy cardstock for my hangtags from JAM Paper ( http://jampaper.com ). They have nice big selection of paper and cardstock. The one I use is called Genesis, and it comes in a few different earthy colors.

Mea