Social Media for Artists: Twitter

Next up in our series on how to use social media to grow your business is Twitter. Now, Twitter seems like it is of little consequence until you start to notice the big buzz around this little micro-blogging service. Part of the appeal of Twitter, as you'll see, is the small amount of effort required to stay connected to your hand-picked audience of followers.

Twitter is a micro-blogging service which allows you to send quick, frequent updates to the question "What are you doing?" You can update by using the Twitter site or your cell phone. When you send an update all of your friends, or followers, see what you're doing at that very moment. In turn, you get an often-updated stream of your friend's answers on your homepage.

The real usefulness of Twitter lies in the ability to quickly scan many of the replies and find that which interests you. Also, your audience of followers will hopefully find your updates equally as interesting.

Your updates on Twitter are called 'Tweets'. Here are some things that are good to Tweet about:

1. New Blog posts on your website

2. Specials and coupons

3. Interesting travel updates

4. Anything!

Yes, anything. But - you should keep in mind that your audience is following you because they are interested in your work and Twitter will be most effective for you if you stick to talking business with a little bit of personal information thrown in (not your Social Security card or anything - perhaps a morsel about your favorite movie!) Twitter works to connect you with an audience of potential customers and helps keep you fresh in their mind.

You can find Twitter users interested in specific crafts or arts by using the Twitter search engine:

http://search.twitter.com and type in a keyword to see Tweets about any topic!

So go ahead and get Tweeting - and add ABI while you're at it, okay?

You can follow us here: http://twitter.com/artzbusiness

Coming soon - Facebook and Linked-In!

Social Media for Artists

Social Media is a term that is all the rage these days. Social media includes services such as Twitter, Facebook, and blogging.  For artists,  it may not be immediately apparent how social media can assist a business. However, by leveraging the power of social media artists can reach new audiences and new customers online.  

This series of posts will explore which tools are the most relevant for artists and how to use them. 

First up - we'll talk blogging. 

Blogs are places where artists can showcase their latest work and day to day activities by posting updates. Popular free blogging platforms include: 

Wordpress

Blogger

1.) Sign up for a blog with a name that reflects your artistic brand. For example, our blog name is artsbusinessinstitute.blogger.com - which is easy to remember and reflects who we are. 

2.) Make the blog look like your brand. 

Your blog should look and feel like your brand. For example, if you use trees and the color green on your product cards - then your blog should also contain trees in the header image and the color green should be prominent. 

3.) Writing your blog posts 

You want to gain an audience for your blog and connect with people who want to buy your products. Blog posts can be about many different things depending on your personal style. Blogs can be personal, funny, informative and show the human side of your business. Also, blogs are great places to hold contests or give coupons so your readers feel an incentive to read about your daily adventures. Blogs can also assist in telling your story and building a stronger brand which leads to better recognition and ultimately more sales. 

Here are some examples of effective artist and artist-related blogs which you can use as a guide to setting up your own blog:

Imogene

Jane Wynn 

Modish 

Next up - Twitter!

Fig's and Ginger Profile

Here at ABI part of our mission is to help artists share their story. One of the new ways that we are sharing stories is by publishing artists profiles on the ABI blog. If you are interested in sharing your story please email us at info@ArtsBusinessInstitute.org with the subject line "Profile".

The first ABI Artists Profile is an interview with Rhonda and Elijah from Figs and Ginger. Figs & Ginger is a husband and wife team making Eco-Friendly sterling jewelry. Each piece is made by hand and much of their work is inspired by the simple beauty found in forests, both imaginary & real. You can find them in select galleries & shops across the country and abroad. You can visit their website for more information about their works and mission at: www.figsandginger.com

Where are you from originally?
Well, Rhonda was born in Fayetteville, NC but grew up in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. I (Elijah) was born in La Jolla, CA grew up in Oceanside, CA but moved to Massachusetts. Now we both live in Asheville, NC and love it.

How did Figs & Ginger start?
Rhonda studied jewelry at Rhode Island School of Design and Alchimia in Florence, Italy. She's been making and selling jewelry since she was in college. About five years ago we got married and got really involved in the indie-craft scene. Rhonda had been making birds all through college, and a new design took flight (pardon the pun.) unexpectedly. We were a bit surprised when we started selling well. The foundations of our business are definitely based in indie-craft and a DIY aesthetic.

How did you two meet?
Rhonda had organized an art exhibit at a music festival I was playing at. It was raining the whole weekend, but with abnormal foresight I had brought an umbrella. Rhonda and I kind of knew each other through friends and I offered to share my umbrella because I thought she was cute.

Tell me about your workspace and why you chose those particular spaces.
We have a design studio in our back yard, and we work from home a lot. Obviously we work there because it's awesome to not have to leave the house in the morning. We also have a studio at the Phil Mechanic Studio in the River Arts District in Asheville. It's a cool building with nice folks who work out of there. It's really nice to have most of the business out of our house now.

What's a typical day like for you?
We wake up at 9ish and head over to the studio. Most days we have a Stephanie, our studio manager, working with us for a few hours. We work a good 8-12 hours depending on the day. Sometimes we head home and work a bit more online. Most days Rhonda is making jewelry and I'm working on promoting and shipping orders. Sometimes we bicker and then make up.


What are your biggest influences? Artists you admire?
Rhonda likes: Aster & Sage, Foundling, Jen Corace, Harry Potter Audio Book, and Mirah.
Elijah likes: Final Approach, NPR, The Book of Lost Things, and John Vanderslice.

Tell me about being eco-friendly
We consider our impact on the environment in every decision we make for Figs. We also try and be transparent about what we're consuming to run our business. It's important to us that we aren't just, "green" because it's good publicity. We want to be for real.

What's on the horizon for Figs? Any new projects or designs coming out?
We're working on some 100% recycled content wedding rings. Rhonda made a cute prototype that I love.

What's a project you'd like to work on in the next year?
We'd like Figs & Ginger to be more philanthropic. As a rule we give discounts to shops within arboretums or conservation based organizations. We're brainstorming about ways that we can give back to the earth more than we take. We're also giving away jewelry this month to people who plant trees and send us a picture.

If you had a chance to tell yourself one piece of advice when you first started, knowing what you know now, what would you say?
Stop sawing out by hand hundreds of tiny birds and fawns, cast them already! Or maybe, focus your product line.

You can visit their website for more information about their works and mission at: www.figsandginger.com

Economic Importance of Art

I just sat down at my desk after listing to a wonderful presentation on the newly released study on the Economic Impact of the Professional Craft Industry in Western North Carolina. It is incredible to hear leaders such as North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources Secretary Linda A. Carlisle, University of North Carolina – Asheville, Brent Skidmore, HandMade in America Geraldine Plato, The Center for Craft Creativity and Design, Dian Magie, Haywood Community College Meg White, Penland School of Crafts Jean McLaughlin, speak about the strong role the arts play in our economy. The art and craft economics have made a clear revival on the past few decades and it is time that we take hold of that presence. Jobs are becoming more and more scarce and it is imperative that the government leaders, community leaders and artists acknowledge the impacts of the art economy. This study shows in clear detail how WNC crafts people are contributing to the economy.

Here are a few detail from the report:
Estimated Total Direct Economic Impact of the Craft Industry in WNC. The total direct economic impact of the WNC craft industry is the sum of:
$31,478,262 the craft consumer tourism direct economic impact
$86,218,808 the craft artisan direct economic impact
$57,651,405 the craft gallery and shop direct economic impact
$11,779,124 the craft educator direct economic impact
$ 4,406,000 the craft organization direct economic impact
$15,000,000 the craft supplier and publisher direct economic impact
Therefore, $206,533,599 is estimated to be the total estimated direct economic impact for the craft industry in Western North Carolina.

28% of WNC Craft artists subcontract their work
79% of WNC Craft artists work from a home studio
21% of WNC Craft artists are over 65 years of age
70% of WNC Craft Artists are between 36 and 65 years of age
33% have lived in WNC over 30 years
8% of WNC Craft Artists are under the age of 30
16% of WNC Craft Artists have arrived in the last five years

Those numbers really show the importance that artists have in our economy and the study only show cases the WNC, it makes very proud to be able to say that ABI reaches over 1,000 artists per year providing them with the business education that they need to be able to produce their craft and have a sustainable living.

Full details on this report as well as details about grant resources for artists are listed at The Center for Craft Creativtly and Design.

What to do about wholesaling?

Well this question is becoming more and more prevalent. At ABI workshops it is common for artists to inform me that they do not wholesale and have been in business for 20 years without wholesale.

So why should they wholesale? Wholesaling brings a new element to your business. It allows you to reach an audience that you would otherwise never reach, create reliable income, receive professional feedback about your work and sharpen your business skills.

What are the downsides? It is another level of bookkeeping, it requires a different set of business skills and more customers to keep track of. What we see is that there is an entire industry built of the model of wholesaling. It is how products end up in stores nation wide. The craft industry is a prime example of this. You might be an artist living in the backwoods of Vermont and you can still have your work in 30 different states.

One way to start wholesaling is to exhibit at a wholesale show, however that has a pretty large learning curve. You can also start with a grassroots effort. The door-to-door salesman method, we here at ABI do not recommend this method, but that does not mean it doesn’t work.

ABI Wholesale Workshops The Business of Wholesale Relationships with Galleries, Teleconference

There are also online wholesale resources WholesaleCraft.com

There are several wholesale shows in the craft industry Buyers Market of American Craft American Craft Council American Craft retailers Association

Arts Business Boot Camp

Arts Business Boot Camp
March 7-8, 2009
Haywood Community College
185 Freedlander Dr.
Student Center/Auditorium, Building #1500
Clyde, NC 28721 (20 minutes from Asheville NC)

We are back from the Haywood event and happy to report that the event was a huge success. We had a total of 78 people attend, from Haywood Community College, local artist from the WNC community and quite a few folks who traveled from other states.

The event was planned to be a two presenter event, Milon Townsend and Nancy Markoe. At the last minute Wendy Rosen decided to join us to add her perspectives on marketing and trends. It was wonderful to have such a wide range of information and topics. I have posted the schedule below for a reference.

On Sunday we had a panel discussion about marketing trends. Wendy Outland, Wendy Rosen, Betty Hurst, Kimberly Miller and Elijah Wyman sat on the panel. The panel was full of opinions. It is very refreshing when the panelist have different opinions, it keeps us here at ABI objective and on our toes. Thanks to our wonderful panelist for providing us with their time and objective opinions.

Our next event will be in Mansfield PA on May 18th. We will have more information up on the ABI website soon.

Please feel free to post your thoughts on the weekend. We love to get feed back!

Schedule
Saturday March 7th, 2009
8:00- 9:00am.......Registration
9:00- 9:30am.......Opening Remarks, Wendy Rosen
9:40- 11:20am.......Pricing, Nancy Markoe
11:30am- 1:00pm......Relationships with Galleries, Nancy Markoe
11:30am- 1:00pm.......Creativity, Milon Townsend
11:30- 1:00am.......Web marketing Through Social Networking, Wendy Rosen
1:00- 2:00pm.......Lunch, Tour of Haywood Community College Craft Facilities
2:00- 3:30pm.......Creation and Evolution of a Wholesale Product Line, Milon Townsend
2:00am- 3:30pm .......Trends, Wendy Rosen
2:00- 3:30pm.......Display & Merchandising Techniques, Nancy Markoe
3:40- 5:00pm.......Vocabulary Voice and Vision, Milon Townsend
3:40- 5:00pm.......Finding Your Market, Nancy Markoe
5:00- 6:00pm.......One-on-One Mentoring

Sunday March 8th, 2009
10:00am- noon.......Salesmanship, Milon Townsend
10:00am- noon.......Trends, Wendy Rosen
Noon- 1:00pm.......Lunch
1:00- 2:30pm.......Keeping Up with the Economic Times, Milon Townsend
1:00- 2:30pm.......Display & Merchandising Techniques, Nancy Markoe
1:00- 2:30pm.......Trends, Wendy Rosen
2:40- 4:00.......Trends in the Market Place, panel discussion with local arts professionals
4:10- 4:30pm.......Closing Remarks
4:30- 5:00.......One-on-one Mentoring

Hello Creative Friends,

ABI is officially blogging! We are committing energy to creating an active blog. Why are we doing this? Our mission is to provide creative business owners like yourself with relevant business information. This is one way we are committing our efforts to help build the community of artists, gallery owners, boutique owners and the arts community.

We are going to use you as a resource to gather good content. Because who knows better about ABI will be periodically sending out emails asking questions and then reporting on that relevant information. Look for features such as interviews from artists, the latest from ABI and thoughtful articles about how to improve your business.

We are hoping that as we dive into the world of blogging that we can do a link exchange with you and keep up with your work, too.

We are very excited about entering this new world of blogging and hope you are excited to read our posts.

Sincerely,
Your Friends at ABI

Arts Business Boot Camp, Haywood Community College

Arts Business Boot Camp
March 7-8, 2009
Haywood Community College
185 Freedlander Dr.
Student Center/Auditorium, Building #1500
Clyde, NC 28721 (20 minutes from Asheville NC)

Dear Artist,

You are registered for the Arts Business Boot Camp, Clyde, North Carolina, March 7-8. The Arts Business Boot Camp being held in partnership with the HandMade in America and Haywood Community College.

When you arrive at Haywood Community College (map below) please park in the first parking lot on the right of Freelander Drive. The conference will be held in the main Auditorium Building #1500 and the workshop will begin at 9:00am on Saturday March 7th and 10:00am on Sunday March 8th. Please arrive 50-30 minutes early to register.

Due to the large interest in market trends and opportunities I am ecstatic to announce that we are adding Wendy Rosen to the roster of presenters at the Arts Business Boot Camp! Wendy Rosen, founder of the Rosen Group and the Arts Business Institute, she will be offering seminars on social networking and market trends.

The Arts Business Boot Camp is tailored for 3 dimensional artists, 2 dimensional artists. We are very excited to be able to offer you a wide range of topics each day. All of the seminars presented by Wendy Rosen will be held in auditorium number one, all seminars held by Milon Townsend will be held in auditorium number two and all seminars presented by Nancy Markoe will be held in auditorium number three.

The full schedule is listed below for your convenience; you can choose your own path each day of the workshop. You are welcome to switch seminars through out the workshop. I recommend choosing your path before you arrive at the workshop.

If you registered in advance for a mentoring session, please check the list at registration. The time slots are subject to change, so please confirm your time slot on the day of your mentor session. Please be prepared for your mentoring session 5 minutes before your scheduled time.

As you can see, we have a busy schedule ahead of us! We’re glad you’re here, and hope that this weekend will put you on your path to Growing Your Business. If you have any questions, look for a faculty or staff member to point you in the right direction.

Enjoy!

Sincerely,
Meghan D. Bunnell
Executive Director
Arts Business Institute
877.ABI.5771


Map of Haywood Community College

Mentor Sessions
(To have a one-on-one 15 minute mentor session, you must register on the ABI website)
Please arrive 5 minutes early for your mentor session. During this time you will be able to set up your materials. Please bring a portfolio of your work, marketing materials and anything you would like the mentors to review. Printed images are suggested; we will not have slide lights, so slides will be very hard to read. We prefer that you bring images and not the actual pieces.

Schedule
Saturday March 7th, 2009
8:00- 9:00am.......Registration
9:00- 9:30am.......Opening Remarks, Wendy Rosen
9:40- 11:20am.......Pricing, Nancy Markoe
11:30am- 1:00pm......Relationships with Galleries, Nancy Markoe
11:30am- 1:00pm.......Creativity, Milon Townsend
11:30- 1:00am.......Web marketing Through Social Networking, Wendy Rosen
1:00- 2:00pm.......Lunch, Tour of Haywood Community College Craft Facilities
2:00- 3:30pm.......Creation and Evolution of a Wholesale Product Line, Milon Townsend
2:00am- 3:30pm .......Trends, Wendy Rosen
2:00- 3:30pm.......Display & Merchandising Techniques, Nancy Markoe
3:40- 5:00pm.......Vocabulary Voice and Vision, Milon Townsend
3:40- 5:00pm.......Finding Your Market, Nancy Markoe
5:00- 6:00pm.......One-on-One Mentoring

Sunday March 8th, 2009
10:00am- noon.......Salesmanship, Milon Townsend
10:00am- noon.......Trends, Wendy Rosen
Noon- 1:00pm.......Lunch
1:00- 2:30pm.......Keeping Up with the Economic Times, Milon Townsend
1:00- 2:30pm.......Display & Merchandising Techniques, Nancy Markoe
1:00- 2:30pm.......Trends, Wendy Rosen
2:40- 4:00.......Trends in the Market Place, panel discussion with local arts professionals
4:10- 4:30pm.......Closing Remarks
4:30- 5:00.......One-on-one Mentoring

Topics Description

Pricing, Nancy Markoe -- Pricing mistakes – selling your product for too much or too little, is the single greatest cause of business failures. Learn the formula to use in order to earn enough money to maintain an acceptable standard of living while accommodating your artistic inclinations. Price your work for profit!

Relationships with Galleries, Nancy Markoe -- Developing a successful relationship with a gallery is a two-way street. Discover what galleries expect from their artists, and how to make reordering easy for them. Find out how they mark-up your work, and why.

Display & Merchandising Techniques, Nancy Markoe -- The art of displaying works that enhance their special qualities and lead to sales. Creating the environment - details to ambiance.

Creativity, Milon Townsend -- Discusses 40 specific ways to access what should be a regular, everyday tool in the arsenal of every working artist. Seen as ephemeral, it becomes so. Seen as essential, useful tool, it becomes that, instead.

Creation and Evolution of a Wholesale Product Line, MilonTownsend -- Illustrates the power of working within established categories as a means to direct market access. Explains about breadth and depth; design evolution; discontinuing lines/items; price ceiling; selling in multiples; price points; many other points.

Vocabulary, Voice, and Vision, Milon Towsend -- Discusses the development of an artist's work, through the steps of vocabulary - the basic elements of artistic language; voice - the way that the artist chooses to use these vocabulary elements; and vision - the point at which one begins thinking in the language of art, and ideas come full-fledge to the mind. How do we help this process along?

Salesmanship, Milon Townsend -- Being a dynamic craft seller takes practice. Learn the methods that will help you improve your sales with all kinds of customers.

Keeping Up with the Economic Times, Milon Townsend -- Changing and adjusting your business model allowing you to continue to survive and new make exciting work.


Social Networking & Internet Marketing Beyond Facebook -- Learn how internet networking sites and online marketing can leverage your access to experts, galleries, corporate commissions and even museum acquisitions.


Trends: Staying Ahead of the Curve -- From product design and social experiences to the changes in the marketplace. Explore the source and nature of trends, how they impact your business and the work you create.

Visiting Artists Program

Dear Visiting Artists,

You are registered for the Arts Business Institute’s Visiting Artists Program held in Philadelphia, PA at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The Visiting Artists Program is held in partnership with the Buyers Market of American Craft.

When you arrive at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, please enter using the Market Street and Arch Street entrance. Take the escalator and follow the signs to the Buyers Market of American Craft located on the second level. Registration will be set up in the foyer in front of Hall A. The Visiting Artist Registration will be held at Exhibitor Will Call. At registration you will receive a binder with supplemental information provided by the faculty to reinforce the topics that they will be presenting.

All of the workshops will be held in Room 201A of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The Visiting Artist Lounge will be in room 303AB on the third floor. The lounge will have resource materials as well as a wonderful view of the show floor.

If you would like to be considered for the group mentor session with Wendy Rosen, please submit 4-5, 300DPI or less, 3-5", images of your product line to artsbusinessinstitute@gmail.com by February 9, 2008. 2-3 artists will be chosen and mentored by Wendy Rosen in front of the group. The artists will be chosen on a basis of image quality and product line.

As you can see we have a busy schedule ahead of us! We’re glad that you’re attending, and we hope this weekend will help you Grow Your Business of Art.

If you have questions regarding the upcoming event, please feel free to contact me.
Enjoy!

Sincerely,
Meghan D. Bunnell
Executive Director
Arts Business Institute
877.ABI.5771

info@artsbusinessinstitute.org
www.artsbusinessinstitute.org

Mentor Sessions
(To have a one-on-one 15 minute mentor session, you must register on the ABI website)
Please arrive 5 minutes early for your mentor session. During this time you will be able to set up your materials.
Please bring a portfolio of your work, marketing materials and anything you would like the mentors to review. Printed images are suggested; we will not have slide lights, so slides will be very hard to read. We prefer that you bring images and not the actual pieces.

Full Schedule:
Visiting Artist Schedule
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13TH
10:30am-Noon Wholesale 101, Bruce Baker
1:00-2:50pm Booth Design, Bruce Baker
3:00-4:00pm Mentoring Sessions with Experienced Gallery Professionals
4:00-6:00pm Tour of the Buyers Market Floor

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14TH
10:30am-Noon Relationships with Galleries, Nancy Markoe
1:00-2:30pm Pricing, Milon Townsend
2:40-3:40pm Ins and Outs of the BMAC, Panel Discussion with BMAC Staff
3:50-4:50pm Mentoring Sessions with Experienced Gallery Professionals
4:00 – 5:00pm Visiting Artists Meet and Greet
5:00-6:00pm Tour of the Buyers Market Floor

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15TH
10:30am-Noon Group mentor session with Wendy Rosen
1:00-2:30pm Impacts of Wholesale Panel Discussion with Experienced BMAC Artists
2:40-3:40pm Mentoring Sessions with Experienced Gallery Professionals
2:40 – 3:40pm Visiting Artists Meet and Greet
3:40-6:00pm Tour of the Buyers Market Floor
6:00-9:00pm NICHE Awards Reception and Ceremony


Friday, February 13th, 2009 Wholesale 101, 
Bruce Baker
10:30am – 12:00pm

Now that you know the benefits of wholesaling, Bruce Baker will lead you through the basic steps to prepare your business for the wholesale marketplace. This session will cover the basics of building a production schedule, staffing, designing a dynamic booth display, and how to create contracts and order forms.

Successful Booth Design, Bruce Baker
1:00 – 2:50pm
Display and lighting can make or break an exhibit. Booth displays need not cost a fortune—creativity and resourcefulness are what count. You will learn to design a display that complements your work while being led through the many possibilities of construction and lighting techniques.

Individual Portfolio Reviews

3:00 – 4:00pm

Sign up for a 10-minute individual portfolio review with Buyers Market staff. Space is limited and advance registration is required.

Visiting Artists Meet ans Greet
3:00 – 4:00pm
This time is designed for you to have a chance to mingle with the other Visiting Artists attendees. Spend an hours looking over the materials and discussing business strategies with the other artists.
Guided Tour of the Buyers Market Floor
4:00 – 6:00pm

Join Visiting Artist program leaders for a guided tour of the Buyers Market of American Craft, featuring interviews and Q&A sessions with select exhibitors. Tour groups are divided by medium so Visiting Artists get the most out of the tour experience! 


6:00-8:00pm The BMAC Happy Hour After the show, join your Buyers Market friends for a special happy hour! The Happy hour will be held at the Field House, 1150 Filbert Street (inside the Convention Center complex) Enjoy this opportunity to network with fellow exhibitors and buyers. Mix and mingle, and order up a drink from one of our special guest bartenders. Present your BMAC badge at the hostess stand to get a wristband good for BMAC Happy Hour discounts: $3 domestic draft beer; $5 house mixed drinks; $4 house wine; 10% off food orders. See you there!

Saturday February 14, 2009 Relationships with Galleries, Nancy Markoe
10:30am- Noon
Developing a successful relationship with a gallery is a two-way street. Discover what galleries expect from their artists, and how to make reordering easy for them. Find out how they mark-up your work, and why.

Pricing, Milon Townsend
1:00-2:30pm
Pricing mistakes – selling your product for too much or too little--are the greatest causes of business failures. Learn the formula to use in order to earn enough money to maintain an acceptable standard of living while accommodating your artistic inclinations. Price your work for profit!

Ins and Outs of the BMAC, Panel Discussion with BMAC Staff
2:40 – 3:40pm
This time will be designated for you to ask questions and get answers directly from the BMAC staffers.

Individual Portfolio Reviews
3:50 – 4:50pm

Sign up for a 10-minute individual portfolio review with Buyers Market staff. Space is limited and advance registration is required.

Visiting Artists Meet and Greet
4:00 – 5:00pm
This time is designed for you to have a chance to mingle with the other Visiting Artists attendees. Spend an hours looking over the materials and discussing business strategies with the other artists.

Guided Tour of the Buyers Market of American Craft
5:00 – 6:00pm

Join Visiting Artist program leaders for a guided tour of the Buyers Market of American Craft, featuring interviews and Q&A sessions with select exhibitors. Tour groups are divided by medium so Visiting Artists get the most out of the tour experience! 


Sunday, February 16, 2009
Group Critique with Wendy Rosen
10:30-Noon
Wendy Rosen, the President and Founder of The Rosen Group and author of Crafting as a Business, will be mentoring two of the Visiting Artists in a group setting. This will be an exciting opportunity to hear what one of the leaders of the craft industry has to say about an artist's line of work.

The Impacts of Wholesaling, Panel discussion with experienced artists
1:00-2:30
Join a panel of established artists for an informative discussion on the impacts of wholesaling. Topics will cover the fundamental differences of retail shows verses wholesale shows and how incorporating wholesale affects your business financial. Get the inside answer to your questions from established artists.

Individual Portfolio Reviews
2:40 – 3:40pm

Sign up for a 10-minute individual portfolio review with Buyers Market staff. Space is limited and advance registration is required.

Visiting Artists Meet and Greet
2:40 – 3:40pm
This time is designed for you to have a chance to mingle with the other Visiting Artists attendees. Spend an hours looking over the materials and discussing business strategies with the other artists.

Guided Tour of the Buyers Market of American Craft

3:40 – 6:00pm

Join Visiting Artist program leaders for a guided tour of the Buyers Market of American Craft, featuring interviews and Q&A sessions with select exhibitors. Tour groups are divided by medium so Visiting Artists get the most out of the tour experience! 
 


Lorton

Dear Artist,

You are registered for the Business of Art Conference, Lorton VA, January 17th. The Business of Art Conference is being held in partnership with The Workhouse Arts Center at Lorton.

When you arrive please enter though the front entrance of Gallery W-16; registration will be in the main lobby. The conference will begin at 9:00am on Saturday, January 17th. Registration will open at 8:15am; please arrive at least 30 minutes early allowing time to register.

Parking at the Workhouse Arts Center at Lorton will be behind Gallery W-16. The schedule is listed below.

We will be handing out packets of information at registration for all attendees.

As you can see, we have a busy schedule ahead of us!

We’re glad that you’re attending, and we hope this weekend will help you Grow Your Business of Art. Enjoy!

Sincerely,
Meghan D. Bunnell
Executive Director
Arts Business Institute
877.ABI.5771
www.artsbusinessinstitute.org

Location
The Business of Art
January 17, 2009
Workhouse Arts Center at Lorton
9601 Ox Road
Lorton, VA 22079
Click here for map of the Lorton Arts Center

Schedule
RELATIONSHIPS WITH GALLERIES
9:00am-noon
Developing a successful relationship with a gallery is a two-way street. Discover what galleries expect from their artists, and how to make reordering easy for them. Find out how they mark-up your work, and why.

LUNCH
Noon-12:30pm

PRICING
12:30-3:00pm
Pricing mistakes – selling your product for too much or too little--are the greatest causes of business failures. Learn the formula to use in order to earn enough money to maintain an acceptable standard of living while accommodating your artistic inclinations. Price your work for profit!

SALESMANSHIP
3:10-5:30pm
Being a dynamic craft seller takes practice. Learn the methods that will help you improve your sales with all kinds of customers.