Wholesale Matters

Friday blog round-up

Spent the morning chaperoning three-year-olds on a field trip, so I only have time for two today:

For those of you who are not yet aware of the proposed Orphan Works Act and its serious implications for artists, I urge you to follow the blog of Tammy Browning-Smith, a lawyer who specializes in legal issues for artists. Also pay a visit to the Orphan Works Opposition Headquarters website for more information.

And, because they are so few and far between, I wanted to link to one of our retailers' blogs, especially since Amy and Jae had such big news recently.

Friday blog round-up

Just two this week, mostly because I found both of them so valuable:

Nicolette Tallmadge describes - in perfect detail - her experience as a Visiting Artist at the Buyers Market this February. (If you're interested in attending the August Visiting Artist Program, drop an email to meghan@artsbusinessinstitute.org.)

Over at Modish, Jena offered some excellent insights this week on how to craft an effective pitch letter/email to a blog or any other member of the media.

Blog posts on business

This week's blog post round-up focuses more on thinking about your business rather than your art. Enjoy!

• Rick Segel (one of the seminar speakers at this summer's Buyers Market) applies some of "Life's Little Instructions" to running a business in this post.
• Ideas for growing your small business during an economic downturn on the Just for Small Business blog.
• And, while not a blog post, an article from Exhibitor Magazine on reducing material handling fees... timely given the recent posts here about managing freight and drayage.

Handmade vs. Big Box

I know it isn't Friday, but I couldn't resist posting a link to a fabulous blog post at Modish comparing scarves from big box stores (Banana Republic, Anthropologie, etc) to their less expensive but comparable handmade counterparts.

Friday blog round-up

I'm not off to a business trip this week, but suffering from warm weather Friday laziness. Here's a rundown of some recent blog posts I've found valuable:

Art business coach Alyson Stanfield's discussion on how she divides up her marketing time.

These ceramic gift ideas for Mother's Day from Modish.

All sorts of insights from gallery owners Faythe Levin and Kim Kisiolek of Paper Boat Boutique & Gallery.

Have a great weekend!

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.

A Hot Topic

The response to the most recent installment of Market Insider has been fantastic!  In case you missed it, we launched the first of a three-part series on why artists need to blog (in fact, it's entitled "Why Every Artist Needs a Blog." 

At the end of the article, we asked artists to tell about their experiences blogging.  So far, we have 16 comments, and links to a lot of blogs that are new (to us).  Go and read the comments, check out how other artists are blogging, and tell us about your own blog (or ideas for one).

Next month's installment will focus on in-depth tactics for marketing your work and your blog.  Stay tuned!

Craftcast with Alison Lee

A few months ago, Wendy did an phone interview for Craftcast with Alison Lee, a fantastic podcast for artists.  In the interview, Wendy goes over her Top 10 Business Mistakes for Artists list and talks about a few other goodies.  Plus, if you're not already receiving it, there's a special offer for NICHE magazine.  Click here to listen!

Alison has interviewed a number of people in the wholesale craft community, including Bruce Baker, Robert Diamante (a craft photographer), and former NICHE Award winner Elise Winters (which is how I originally came across Alison's website).  Alison is also an  accomplished jeweler herself.

And, while we're on the topic of podcasts, have you ever checked out Nicolette Talmidge's Crafting Voices? Wendy was interviewed on one of Nicolette's first podcasts, along with Joanne Hildt of Pinnacle Gallery.  The interview was recorded right after the summer 2006 Buyers Market.

(And for those of you who don't know who Wendy his, she's the founder & president of The Rosen Group--which runs this blog.  Read her bio here.) 

Dennis Stevens on Talk Shoe

Dennis Stevens of Redefining Craft will be hosting an online call-in talk show on April 8th.  Click here for the details.

As some of you may recall, Dennis was our guest emcee at the 2007 NICHE Awards ceremony.

Jewelry, Beading and Blogs

If you're a jeweler, then today is your day!  Here's two interesting blogs for your perusal. 

The first is Tammy Powley's Jewelry Weblog.  Tammy maintains the about.com Jewelry Making web site, and is both a freelance writer and a Ph.D. candidate in "Text & Technology" (one of my favorite subjects) at the University of Florida.

Not only does Tammy provide comments on and links to articles of interest for jewelers, but her website contains a TON of links to other resources--including international ones as well.  What makes her site particularly helpful is how Tammy categorizes her posts.  Known as "tagging," this has become a very popular way to make blogs easier to read and navigate.  Basically, it allows the reader to pull up only articles in the category(ies) that interest them.

The second jewelry gem for you today is Jewelry and Beading blog.  This blog is also written by Tammy, but its readers seem to be more engaged based on the number of comments on each post. Take, for example, this discussion on the age-old debate of art vs. craft (will it ever end...do we want it to?).

Enjoy!

Wholesale Craft and Blogs

For several years now, the online world has been a-buzz with blogs (I first started reading and using them around 2002).  By now, they're actually quite commonplace and have even become a nearly essential part of a business' marketing mix. 

Blogs allow a business to project an "insider's view" of the company, providing information through a more personable channel.  Some blogs (like this one) encourage community by allowing readers to comment.

Despite the tremendous amount of possibilities that blogs have, it seems to me that the wholesale craft community--both artists and buyers--have generally not taken advantage of this often free marketing vehicle. 

Enter Greenjeans in Brooklyn.  Owners Amy Shaw and Jae Kim use their blog for a number of purposes.  First, they use it to talk about what's going on in their shop, new and featured artists, to brag (in a nice way) about their PR achievements, and to wax philosophically about the world of craft. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Amy's been blogging for about 2 years and has covered a wide variety of topics.

Now, Amy's writings on craft are going to be included in an anthology of essays about the relationship between craft culture and contemporary art.

We have a few links to the left of some craft blogs we read, but I'd love to know if more artists and retailers connected to the wholesale craft community are blogging.