Niche Marketing was the part that I was really looking forward to, but while they had good speakers who talked about the niches that they were able to break into, there was not a whole lot of information about how to go about establishing yourself in your niche or really much on marketing at all.
The first presenter was Hilary Pfeifer with her alter ego Bunny with a Toolbelt.
I got this image off her etsy page. Super cute custom cake toppers. (Plus it made me think more about persuing the wedding niche with my copper cone boutonnieres.)
Then there was Emiko Oye who makes jewelry out of legos! Also delightful.
She had some good information to share:
- You want good professional quality photos.
- Balance your exhibition work with your production work. People will see your big exhibition work and maybe can't afford it, but might be inspired to buy something from your production line. (I thought this was great advice and definitely something to try to remember, because I know I can get so caught up with one or the other depending on my current situation that I will forget entirely about the other for a while.)
- Be accessible. Be online, but also in galleries - you will get a lot of exposure online, but people also like to touch the work, try it on, and see the craftsmanship with their own eyes - things that you lose on the web.
- Get involved in your community. You'll make great connections for future opportunities.
Then there was Deb Stoner who found her niche in eyewear.
Her advice was this:
- Teach what you know. Become the expert in your niche. (Hers is a great niche because there are only about two other people known for making custom art eyewear, period.)
- Curate a show. (Now this is not really realistic for emerging artists like myself, I think you have to be rather established in your field to even consider this as a possibility, but I could be mistaken. Please correct me if I'm wrong here, and I'll get in on that!!!)
- In addition to doing work for jobs (for money), make time to do what you love. It will keep you interested and it will keep your work and your teaching fresh.
So definitely some good advice from some very interesting and talented artists, but not a whole lot of info on making your work fit into a niche. So I found this blog posting 4 Ways to Make Your Products More Niche, and I think there's some good information in there as well.
So check all that out, and I'll be back later on to share some info about photographing your work. Until then, thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment