Hello everyone – happy new week (sort of since it’s already Tuesday)! Between being a mom, going back to school and moving, I don’t seem to have enough time in the day to do everything that I want to do. Oh why, oh why do we need to sleep at all? It seems so frivolous to lay unconscious & prone for a good 5-8 hours a day (more if you’re one of the lucky ones). With that said, and realizing my limitations, I resigned as fall show marketing chair for the Colorado Potters Guild a few weeks ago. I just can’t manage to find the time to squeeze in one more obligation – though I haven’t gone cold turkey. As web-mistress for the guild, I agreed to continue in said position and am also doing the online marketing component by delivering event notifications to local online calendars, magazines, newspapers and am establishing a social networking presence. I just don’t have time to cold call and do all the press releases etc.
The Colorado Potters Guild Facebook fan page
As a marketing tool, Facebook just can’t be ignored by businesses, individuals and non-profits. It represents viral marketing at its best like the old Breck shampoo commercial – “I told two friends and they told two friends, and so on…”. While the Colorado Potters Guild’s Facebook page is in its infancy, I think the venue has potential. Today, I am super excited today to learn that I could add our Vertical Response Email Invitation sign up form directly on our Facebook page. I have the sign up form installed on our website – but being able to add it to Facebook should help us attract new invitees who are interested in handmade pottery.
Do you have a Facebook page set up for your business? Do you want to know how to add an opt-in email form to your site? In the search pane, type in “Static FBML” and then click on the application. Once you are on the application’s page, click on the link in the upper left that reads “Add to my page” → then a pop up menu will appear prompting you to select your page → after selecting your page, go to your business page and click on the link under your profile photo that reads “edit” → from here you click on the “static fbml” application and click edit → copy and paste the code given to you from your email marketing company → save your settings. Once you have saved the code, go back to the main page and click on the + sign at the top of your page and from here you can add the tab for your form. Voilà – I’ve tested my form and it’s live. If you use Vertical Response, they have a video tutorial highlighting the process – not hard to do and it took less than 15 minutes to set up.
Meanwhile I have a quiz for which I need to study, a paper to write (luckily I like writing) and am past due for my morning run which means I have to sign off.
Have a great week,
~Cynthia
Three of my water color crayon drawings from 2007 served as the inspiration for my stamps.
Just for fun, I modified one of the projects in Printing by Hand by Lena Corwin to make some original stamps to print on fabric using only some craft foam, chip board and blank canvas tote bags. The original project called for using acrylic blocks on which to attach the foam, but I didn’t have any acrylic and found some chip board instead. I do recommend using something heavier like acrylic or wood since the chip board is pliable, but it worked in a pinch.
Meanwhile, I spent the last couple of days setting up a little website for the Pearl Street Potters….
Pearl Street Potters
The group is comprised by 12 members (myself included) of the Colorado Potters Guild who have banded together to sell our wares at the Old South Pearl Street Farmers Market every Sunday, now through October 25th. The website has a map to the market and includes a calendar when each artist will be participating. I’m currently signed up for July 12th and August 2nd – see you there!
Have a great weekend,
Cynthia
Colorado Potters Guild e-invitation (click to enlarge)
As the web mistress for the Colorado Potters Guild, I volunteered to handle email invitations and internet sign-ups for the Guild’s e-communications. I researched a lot of different software applications and companies that could tackle the job into the future before settling on Vertical Response for a variety of reasons including ease of use, cost based on use and not monthly fee, variety of applications, and the fact that it’s web based. The first 500 emails are free to send after which the service costs anywhere from .03¢ an email to .01¢ depending on size of list – the larger the list, the cheaper the cost per email address). The Guild’s email list is less than 100 strong right now – but our snail mail list is 6,000 – 7,000 strong.
One of the goals for the next few years is to move away from mailing out invitations and to rely more on web marketing - imagine the cost savings of a .01¢ per email sent versus .42¢ to send a postcard in the mail twice yearly ($60 versus $2520 for 6,000 invitations sent – not including post card printing costs). The trick lies in getting people on our current mailing list to switch to email invitations. We do not currently advertise any other events, though we might begin opening the studios on First Fridays and other local events.
I’m learning that there is a down side to e-marketing though – based on Vertical Response’s statistical data tools, only 46% of the people on our email list have actually opened our invitation. That means that the email newsletter is ending up in people’s spam folders and might not even get looked at. I’m going to add a disclaimer on our website to please add our vertical response email address to folk’s address books so that our invitations don’t end up as spam – since these are people who want to receive an invitation. I hope to talk to people at the Guild’s sale next weekend in person to explain why they might not have received an e-invite.
Hand-built butter dishes
Meanwhile, I’ve continued making work right up till Friday – but alas, the time has come to stop and switch gears. I need to load the kiln and get this work bisque fired so that I can glaze on Monday, fire on Tuesday and inventory/photograph on Wednesday.
Flower printed box
I don’t have 105 pots (allowance per guild member), but I have made about 60 buttons to fill in the gaps. Whatever doesn’t sell, will make it’s way to my Etsy Shop – which I will empty of pots for the show next weekend. The jewelry will stay in my shop since we aren’t allowed to bring any to the Guild’s sale…yet.
Meanwhile, I thought I was going to buy a new computer this weekend. My daughter has been home sick and yesterday, she spilled a full glass of ginger ale on my laptop’s keyboard. Not healthy, non? Unfortunately (or fortunately), my geek instincts took over and I quickly flipped the computer over to allow it to drain, unplugged it, took all the guts out and waited 6+ hours before reassembling it. With bated breath, I was half disappointed that it booted right up, faster than before. Since I had it disassembled, I took the opportunity to clean everything with compressed air – no more crumbs, hair balls or dust anywhere. My daughter was very upset, thinking that I was going to be really upset with her – but hey, it’s just a thing right? Dang, no new computer…but my files weren’t lost either!
Have a good weekend,
~Cynthia
P.S. If you have a e-marketing solution that you’d like to share, let me know – I’d love to hear about what services and companies that you use to get the word out about events.
Art Biz Coach, Alyson Stanfield, just released a short, but powerful video of affirmations as a tool for artists and craftspeople to use to respond to today’s belt tightening economic climate. This is an uncertain time period financially and politically that has the potential to play with artist’s psyches in crazy ways and affect pocket books. The video includes a variety of art work in different media and I’m humbled that Alyson asked if she could include an image of a set of my nesting bowls in the video.
Nesting bowls
When times become difficult, it’s a natural instinct to batten down the hatches and abandon seemingly frivolous pursuits to get a “real job” that offers a steady predictable paycheck. In my opinion, that is counterintuitive to living a fulfilling life and I think that if what you do is your calling – whether it’s pottery, painting, metal smithing, printmaking, photography – or even accounting, car mechanics, cooking, teaching - now is the time to make a deeper commitment to yourself and your art (and I write that with respect to all professions – there’s an art to everything). I am not discounting being able to pay your bills, visit a doctor, being able to put food on the table and a roof over your head either; but letting the squirrels run amok in your brain is not the answer.
Rather, now is the time to get inventive to satisfy all needs and wants! I know it’s worth it because I spent 15 years too long in a 17 year career with an airline that strip mined my soul and made me miserable – all for a steady paycheck and benefits. The more senior members at the airline called it “the job with the golden handcuffs.” Ouch. I have committed myself to my chosen path and I’m so much happier – just ask my family. My solution to the economic times is to evaluate my market, find ways to save money on supplies, tools and equipment, economize kiln firings, making smaller less expensive work in addition to more experimental work, looking at advertising & marketing message, and even trying to make my work better while not compromising my path or values.
It can be tricky to accomplish, but not impossible. In some ways, my husband, daughter and I have already accomplished the tough work to weather leaner economic times years ago when I left my job after the events of 9-11. We’re now planning for the moment when he will voluntarily leave his job to do something else. It’s exciting and full of endless possibilities.
Another one of my favorite blogs is written by musician and public motivational speaker, Christine Kane – check out this post on whether it’s time to shrink or expand for a bit of inspiration and whose message goes hand in hand with Alyson’s affirmations.
Visit Alyson Stanfield’s website for information on workshops and subscribe to her blog for great tips and information about the business of art, a topic about which artists often learn the hard way.
Meanwhile, I’ll be spending the day glazing work for the Colorado Potters Guild Fall Sale and Show that opens on Thursday evening. I fired my last bisque load yesterday and think that I’m going to glaze everything just in time.
~Cynthia
P.S. It’s come to my attention that a few emails sent to my address sometimes bounce and is returned to the sender as undeliverable. I think I’ve taken care of the problem now, but if you receive a similar message, I can be reached at cynthiaguajardo at gmail.com (substitute @ for at)
