Prepping to Sell Wholesale

One of the things that I want to work on while I am in LA (besides tickling my niece and nephew) is starting to build a wholesale business for my own primary artwork--my jewelry. I am streamlining my line of jewelry focusing on what I create myself from my own designs in Precious Metal Clay, and then having the designs cast in fine silver in multiples so that I can have an inventory of my line of jewelry.

I have the first steps done. I chose some basic pieces to have duplicated, and that went very well. After the duplication of the silver pieces, I still need to polish and finish them before assembling them into the finished jewelry. I am finishing that this week, and then I will look for places here in LA that might be interested in carrying my work. This is a whole new venture for me and I am pretty excited about it. As you know, I have been looking for new sources of revenue that are related to the main business of selling art through the gallery and I wanted to get into the wholesale business myself first and then after experiencing it, be able to recommend it to our member artists.

I have decided to work on face to face appointments first and then work on other forms of reaching retailers. I think this way I can learn what people are looking for and what they like and dislike about my work. Then I can adapt my style to better fit their needs.

Tomorrow I will finish the assembly. More on this topic later.

Uneventful but Weird Flight to LA. . .

(Maple creamer and teapot by Tracy Shea--now in our gallery)

I flew to LA this morning via Continental--and I do have to say that everything about the arrival at the airport and getting on the plane went very smoothly. The security at the airport was pretty strict. I had to go through three different lines to get through to the gate but the lines were fast and efficient. Bravo to Cleveland Hopkins airport. I even managed to get a coffee at Starbucks before I got on.

The flight was full but I managed to get an aisle seat midway down the plane with a college age girl in the window seat. No one was in between us. Now here is where it gets a little weird. College girl--CG for short--never looked at me, never spoke to me--it was if I was invisible. Very hard to miss me, in my opinion. CG first covered herself up with the airplane blanket over her head, pulled down the shades around her, and curled up her feet. She stayed that way for a least an hour. Next she bent down from her seat to pick up something by her feet--still with the blanket on her head, mind you--and stayed in that position for over an hour. For a while I thought she might be dead. Then she moved again--blanket still in place and laid her head down on the table from the seat in front of her. At this point, I was really worried that she was very sick, not breathing, or totally psycho and would attack me any minute.

About an hour before the flight was over, I put my book on the empty seat next to me, got up to stretch my legs. When I came back, my book was on my seat and she was lying down on the two seats. At that point, at least I knew she was still alive. CG was the most unusual fellow airline seat passenger that I have ever had. Luckily I didn't have to call the paramedics--she sat up at the end of the flight with her headphones in her ears and did get off the plane.

The weather here is HOT! Yes, with a capital H O T! I spent the day relaxing with my sister and her family. It should be a fun and interesting week here.

It's a Matter of Trust

As we go about our daily business, so much of what we do is dependent on different degrees of trust in other people--their honesty, their agreement, their cleanliness, their willingness. When we eat in a restaurant, we trust that the employees are clean and sanitary. When we hire an employee, we trust that they are telling us the truth about their background and their willingness to work. When we buy something from a store, we trust that the company has properly represented the item that we have just purchased.
Unfortunately, we cannot assume that everyone is trustworthy. We all know what happens when we assume anything. People have to earn our trust and it is hard not to be cynical. If the last 4 people I hired lied to me, why should I put my trust in the next new employee. Yet, on the other hand, if I don't at least give them some trust, they will be offended and resent my attitude and perform in a less than stellar manner.
Therefore, we have to dole out our trust in small increments, until the person in question has proved that they deserve to be trusted. And what does Murphy's Law tell you? As soon as you fall in love with your new car and pay off the last payment on it, something will happen that needs repair. The trick is, separating honest human error from unprofessional behavior. After all, haven't we all missed appointments, slept too long, or messed up? But, shouldn't our newest salesperson be actually getting some sales and calling on accounts? Just what is he up to anyway? And they wonder why we pay them commission instead of salary!
Of course, they probably don't trust our word anyway. So how do we earn that?

Running an Art Gallery is like Running a Business. . .

(fused glass bracelet by Jennifer Szalkowski)

because it IS a business. Not all folks understand that. Every artist that I deal with is a vendor or contractor in my business and I am the dealer or distributor for them. And we need to advertise and market just like any other business and we rely on steady sales to stay in business.


In order to continue to build this process, Lake Erie Artists Gallery is jumping into the wedding business. We are going to link with Today's Bride Magazine both in print and online. (http://www.todaysbrideonline.com/) and offer special services to brides and bridal parties. We are featuring the artists in our gallery who can make a special and unique gifts and additions to any wedding.


But it goes beyond just weddings--Lake Erie Artists Gallery is highly recommending an online registry that can be used for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, or just because. The registry is called http://www.thethingsiwant.com/ It is easy to use--if I can use it anyone can! I tried it out and it works well with most websites and makes is simple for even the most clueless friend or husband to know what to buy you that will truly make you smile.

Wow! What a Big Weekend!

Earrings by Kim Monaco
Hope you are all holding onto your hats because this weekend is a whirlwind for Lake Erie Artists Gallery. It all starts off with the Friday with the Artists Event (every Friday through October) in Tower City from 10 am to 4 pm. This week we have 7 artists participating.
Next event on the list is the opening for Laurel Herbold's one woman show inside our gallery tomorrow night from 6 to 8 pm. This is free and open to the public. Laurel's work is really great--don't miss this fun event.
On Saturday morning, we will have our regular booth at the Shaker Square Farmers Market from 8 am to noon. That is always fun and relaxing. And yummy!
Saturday evening from 6 to 9 pm, Lake Erie Artists Gallery will be hosting the Bike Imitates Art opening at the gallery. This is a collective art opening to help raise funds for the Velodrome project. The exhibit is curated by Anna Gerrodette.
So lots to choose from and Mother's Day coming up on Sunday! Better hurry to get a unique gift for Mom! See you this weekend!

Crazy Busy but Productive. . .

Do you remember the old spinning tops that you pulled a string and let it go? That is what the last week or so has felt like for me and it is only the beginning.
It is really very exciting to be at the beginning of so many new projects for Lake Erie Artists Gallery.
Our wedding services have been launched--more coming soon there.
We have a very active event calendar.
We are beginning to wholesale our products.
We are growing by leaps and bounds--in April our hits on the website jumped from 1700 to 3400.
We have a new shopping cart on our online store that is availabel for use.
We are doing lots of networking and outside shows both here in Cleveland and in other areas of the country.
And we have a new wonderful Friday with the Artist Program Fridays through October at Tower City.
We are really growing! Come join the fun and see what we have to offer this Friday at our opening for local freelance artist Laurel Herbold. For more on her work visit her website www.laurelherbold.com. The opening is 6 pm to 8 pm on this Friday May 9.

Art Show Season Has Officially Begun. . .

Today both my daughters and I spent the day at Moreland Hills Elementary School in the Orange School System. Most of you probably don't know that I went to Orange schools from 5th grade on so the campus is very familiar to me, and my parents still live in Pepper Pike. However, the building the show was in did not exist until a few years ago. The school is brand new and really nice inside. Valeri Furst, who coordinates the show every year, once again, assembled a very nice group of artists. This show is somewhat early in the season, and is only one day, AND is only in its fourth year, so it still hasn't built up as large a reputation as I think it will over time, therefore even though I had a nice number of sales, most of them were fairly small, but I did get a lot of great exposure and a chance to market the gallery. And market the gallery, I did. I had a great time and plan to do the show again next year.
For those of you who would like to find Lake Erie Artists Gallery at an outside show before then, I will be at the Shaker Square Farmers Market the next two Saturdays (barring any more thunderstorms) and at Coe Lake in Berea for the Mayfest the last weekend in May.
We also have an art opening for a wonderful local artist, Laurel Herbold on Friday, May 9th from 6 to 8 pm for a one woman show of her work at the gallery. Please come and say hi!