Wholesale Matters

Leaving Las Vegas

Finally back in the office after an exhausting but productive trip to a wholesale craft show in Las Vegas. The show afforded us plenty of time to talk with our current exhibitors and meet quite a few artists new to wholesale.

The top two things they needed to know? Pricing (nearly everyone was priced too low), and lighting. Some artists had no lights in their booth at all -- we recommend one booth per linear foot. So, if you have a 10 x 10 inline booth, you need at least 10 lights. More to come on these two issues...

In the meantime, stop by the websites of some of the artists we met who are new to the wholesale marketplace (be sure to tell them I sent you!):

Waterside Studio

Julia Terr

Erin Lambers - Pottery that Speaks (Erin will be showing at the Buyers Market this summer)

Fuzzishu

Anarchy Furniture Products

The Glass Station

Breidenstein Design

Recommended blog posts

I am on the tail end of getting ready for a business trip to Las Vegas tomorrow, so here's a rundown of some recent blog posts I've found interesting:

• The post and subsequent lengthy comment discussion on old vs. new craft at Imogene.
• Luann Udell's insightful post on dealing with children in your booth at retail shows.
• This interview with ceramic artist Diana Fayt on design*sponge.

Top 25 (75, really) Arts Destinations

AmericanStyle magazine, published here at our company, has released its annual list of Top 25 Arts Destinations. The list is actually three lists - 25 small, medium and large cities.

Read the article here and plan your next vacation!

What do you do when the power is out?

Most of the power in our office is currently out, a not-so-rare occurence in our renovated mill building. It presents a regular challenge for us... how do we keep a staff working and occupied while they can't use computers or phones?

Right now, we have folks stuffing envelopes, reading trade magazines, cleaning their desks, filing, and holding meetings. The outage affords us an opportunity to focus on those things that often get overlooked in our day-to-day work.

Consider taking a voluntary "power outage" half-day once a week to take care of those neglected tasks.

How Green are you?

Earth Day is this Saturday... and the green movement is all the rage.

Here at the Buyers Market, we're taking baby steps, but trying to move forward.

We've recycled in our office for several years, and will introduce recycling bins at the show this summer. Last summer, we initiated a plan to put our exhibitor kits online with some success, but had to revert to mailing paper kits for February. We'll make another go of returning to online kits this summer in a manner that works better for our exhibitors AND reduces the amount of paper we produce and send out.

What steps have you taken in the past year to make your business more environmentally-friendly? Can you share these actions with your stores and galleries so they can pass the information onto their customers?

Mother's Day Reminder

It's just a few weeks until one of the year's gift-giving holidays - Mother's Day. If you've got gift-appropriate items in stock, now is a great time to call or email your galleries to see if they need anything.

Beyond Etsy

The April Market Insider is now posted at www.americancraft.com -- this month's issue provides an in-depth look at how emerging artists can move their business forward.

Some Monday entertainment

A friend on Facebook sent me this video:

Building a mailing list from scratch

At least twice in the past week, an artist told me "But, I don't have any galleries" in response to suggestion that they send a promotional mailing.

If you're brand-new to wholesale, you may not have any stores or galleries that are selling your work, but that's no excuse not to have a mailing list.

Some tips on building a mailing list from nothing:

- Google artists who have work that you consider complimentary to yours (type, price point, etc.). Often, artists will list their retailers on their website, with ADDRESSES.

- Add the stores and galleries in your local area that might be appropriate for your work

- Visit the websites of appropriate membership organizations, such as the Craft Retailers' Association for Tomorrow, Museum Store Association, the Retail Jewelers' Organization, the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers (really!). Many of these associations will list their members' store locations.

Spread the word - online registration is open!

Online buyer registration for the Buyers Market of American Craft officially opened last week... send all your stores & galleries to www.buyersmarketonline.biz to register today!

In other exciting registration news, more than 800 companies pre-registered at the February show for this summer's show, putting our current registration numbers at more than four times what it was last year at this point.

Smithsonian Craft Show

A number of us will be visiting the Smithsonian Craft Show tomorrow. If you're in the area this weekend, it's a not-to-be-missed show -- among most prestigious contemporary craft shows in the country.

I'm particularly excited about seeing the the work below (left to right: Andrea Janosik, Leora Brecher, Lindsay Feuer and Frederick Warren):

Intelligence Gathering

At the close of a lengthy conversation with an exhibitor about a wide range of topics, we briefly discussed setting goals and managing expectations at the show. I suggested that in addition to having an "order-writing" goal, he needed to consider 2-4 additional goals that he could work on during the show (because, really, once your in your booth, there's very little you can do to affect your order-writing goal).

It reminded me of an excellent article in last December's Exhibitor magazine about gathering information on your competition while at a show and using that information to improve your own business.

Whew! Back on track.

For the small handful of you who were losing sleep over our absence... we're back!

We've overcome former employees' credit card billing issues and a general lethargy on our end to resurrect Wholesale Matters, which once again will bring you the latest and greatest information on the Buyers Market of American Craft, wholesaling, and other art business topics.

Stay tuned for regular updates!