BEING KNOWN FOR SOMETHING:
your signature counts.
by Lj Bury.
Linda J. Bury is Executive Director of Lj Bury's Art Business
Advisory. Ms. Bury began as an artists' rep over ten years ago and discovered
that artists and galleries had a tremendous passion and love for art but
an overwhelming need for business and marketing skills. She has been a consultant
and seminar leader for the art community for the past eight years. Ms. Bury
can be contacted at:
703-430-8167 or in the U.S. at 1-800-343-3444, or LjCon@aol.com, or please
write to her at 21310 Wind Rush Court, Suite 34, Sterling, Virginia, USA
20165.
You are unique -- your competitors believe they are unique
-- and you are both probably right. The important difference is in clarifying,
defining, and understanding where you are unique in comparison to your competition.
The more successful craft artists I know have a clear sense of purpose and
understand the importance of finding their niche, becoming expert at it,
and monitoring their competition almost obsessively.
When asked, "Exactly what is it you do, and why do you do it?"
what exactly do you answer? These are the first questions I ask my clients
when they call for advice. Here are some of their responses. A client in
San Francisco says, "I always loved art, so I decided to open a gallery
in the Bay area." An artisan in Phoenix proudly announces, "I'm
an excellent artist. I create for the discerning public." A potter
in Georgia shyly responds, "Well, I guess I make clay pots. My friends
say they're good enough to sell." And my favorite answer comes from
clueless in Chicago, "Uh, what do you mean?"
Not only do these answers reveal a lack of focus, they lack a sense of identity
and purpose as well. Clearly, not all the responses I receive are like this,
but the number that are is distressingly large. These folks are suffering
from FOD, the field of dreams syndrome, and I affectionately call them FODDERS.
Why should a buyer come to you? If you don't have a ready answer, or worse,
if your answer is "because my work is good," then I smell a FODDER.
There are hundreds of good artisans. What is special and unique about you?
And why is that important?
The craft business boomed in the 1960s and 1970s, but declined slightly
in the 1980s. Now in the 1990s, it is seeing a tremendous resurgence. So
much so that the growing number of craft entrepreneurs are now having to
go through the increasingly competitive "jurying" process in order
to participate in many of todayís craft shows. These shows draw hundreds
of thousands of visitors and generate millions of dollars in sales. Eager
buyers who say they are tired of the cookie-cutter items are happy to patronize
artists and crafters who have something unique and interesting to sell.
And a growing number of galleries are offering fine crafts, not just to
offset their recession-ridden sales, but because they are listening to what
these buyers want. The demand for quality craftwork is great. The competition
is greater. It is essential that your craftwork meets this demand, and that
it be distinctive.
FINDING YOUR UNIQUENESS
Craftwork by definition means one-of-a-kind. Frankly, my refrigerator door
is full of one-of-a-kind artwork (albeit my motherly instinct says it is
masterly), do not confuse that with uniqueness. Witness the many pottery
items on the market. Each may be one-of-a-kind, but how many are truly distinctive.
Did the potter develop a new style or technique, introduce a new material
into the clay, or use the wheel in a way that no one before has tried? This
does not mean you have to be a craft-inventor of sorts, but it does mean
finding a market-niche for your work that can be distinguishable
from others.
A friend and colleague of mine started her career as a potter. She is now
a well-established artist making a handsome living at it. I asked her how
she developed her signature pieces. "Not overnight," was her first
response. "I believe," she said, "that uniqueness comes from
solving problems. I set out to be an expert on the wheel. I solved that
problem. Then I became obsessed
with the problem of throwing small to large. What happened was I began to
develop these wonderful hanging shapes from the rounds. They hung in different,
almost sculptured shapes, and I became known for these." She offers
this advice.
"Begin by isolating the problems you have with your craft and ask for
solutions. For example, you may work with silver or gold. You can cast it,
but you can also weave it. Then ask yourself, which do I like? You may decide,
woven. Then, you ask, combined or just white gold, or rose or, whatever.
So, at each level you are problem solving. Continue isolating. Learn the
options of your craft. In pottery, don't dabble. Learn a specific technique
like Raku, or slab work, wheel, porcelain, low fire clays, lustre wear,
sculptures. . . Keep asking questions, do I like it, what compels me, do
I have an affinity for a certain style, discipline or technique. Amateurs
dabble in all types. Isolate a skill or technique. Become the best at it
and that will be your signature."
Some crafters become known by discovering what's hot and trendy. They ask
themselves what are people into? Health? Diet? Games? The environment? Nature?
One of my clients has a passion for Mother Earth. She developed a series
of greeting cards, paintings, sweatshirts and posters with Mother Earth
motifs and added her own lines of poetry to each. She capitalized on
her unique style and created buyer interest and a market niche. Another
craft artist successfully took advantage of the game craze by using his
woodworking skills in designing intricate and elegant wooden puzzle boxes
with secret compartments. And another creates striking art depicting historical
Western subjects. He is best known for his bronze sculptures of noted early
American Indians, using what some say is the lost art of wax castings. Each
of these artists not only became known for their individual work and style,
they successfully found and cultivated a loyal market base.
DON'T BECOME A COPY CATTER
A warning about copy catting. Being influenced by another artisanís
work is an excellent way to experiment and grow. You might be influenced,
for example, by the Japanese design principle of creating beauty with simplistic
design. You may decide to integrate the Japanese curves and angles in your
own pattern, but copying the work can be a disaster, even embarrassing.
A case in point. A well-known New York potter copied Hamada and exhibited
at the Allentown Festival. He applied Japanese symbols to his work called
Sagriffito (etchings in clay). A group of Japanese visitors gathered at
his booth and began to giggle.
"What made you choose those symbols?" one visitor asked.
"I found them aesthetically pleasing, so I incorporated them,"
the potter replied.
"Well, do you know what they mean?"
"No."
"They mean %#@$%&*."
"Uh, I'll remove them immediately."
More disastrous than not being known for something, is letting your signature
become known for copy-catting.
PROMOTION MADE EASIER
Once you have your signature, promoting your work becomes easier. Now you
have a discriminator, one that sets you apart. You have a positioning advantage.
Next, people need to know about you. This is what promotion is all about.
The goal is to develop loyal repeat buyers, and perhaps collectors. Once
you have done that, you have growth potential by virtue of referrals. But
first, you need a promotion plan. Being an artisan today does mean learning
basic business skills. Your art is your business. Here are some guidelines:
1. Target your market. Who wants what you sell? By keeping track of your
buyers you can easily begin developing a buyer profile. For each name on
your list identify as much information about them as possible. For example,
list their age, economic status, where they live, vacation and work. By
doing your own demographic research, you will begin to answer the question
who is likely to buy what I sell. That is your target market. Once you know
what your typical buyers are like, you can begin finding more of the same.
2. Get the word out. Find effective, low-cost ways to promote yourself.
The best method is word-of-mouth. Get referrals from your satisfied buyers.
Tell everyone you meet what you do. Go to as many art and craft shows as
you can. This is a good way to become known and to monitor your competition.
Join organizations whose members may be potential buyers, such as the Chamber
of Commerce, local professional, political and, if you are so inclined,
religious organizations, and health clubs. And by all means, become an active
participant. It's good for your art business and it's good for your community.
3. Develop good business relationships. Become known to as many in your
field as possible. Build a respect among your peers as reputable, reliable
and honest. Network at craft shows and art fairs. Encourage your business
associates to spread the word about what you do. Nothing ruins a reputation
faster than being bad-mouthed by your business contacts.
4. Design a professional image. If you want to be taken seriously, then
you have to take yourself seriously. Create a positive impression. Develop
a name and logo for your business. Order business cards and stationery.
Design a brochure. Get a telephone answering machine and record a business
message, not a family missive. None of these need to be costly, but they
should be effective in establishing you as a serious professional craft
artist.
5. Be fiscally responsible. Learn basic financial skills. You may have an
accountant that handles most of this, but on a day-to-day basis, you are
the one responsible for your income and expenses. There is nothing more
frustrating than finding out at the end of the month, quarter, or year that
your expenses are way out of control. Inexpensive resources and help are
available to guide you in controlling your money and hopefully profiting
from your efforts. One source is your local library, your bookstore is another.
_____________________
The words my clients hear ad nauseam from me are, "Make
your signature count for something. Create something that no one else can
in quite the same way." Easy? Not always. But the rewards can be great.
The more known you become as an expert or pioneer in your craft, the easier
it will be to attract interest, attention and most importantly, buyers.