Adapt or Perish: The Covid Edition

 

One thing I've learned in the Time of Covid is that I could really stand to up my online game up. I try, but there's just so much I don't know! 

Like a lot of artists, when I first started selling online, I kinda thought it would be easy-peasy. List the items, then watch the sales roll in! As we all know by now, there ain't no free lunch for nothin. Getting a website is like opening a store in your basement; nobody is gonna know it is there unless you get the word out. That's where I really need help. 

Luckily there is a solution to not knowing much about a thing you need to know, and that is learning about it. I've been meaning to get this book for a while now: Guide to Marketing Art & Crafts Online. Milly Welsh, the author, is a friend & the webmaster for the Maine Pottery Tour.  

I skimmed through it briefly upon arrival - it is absolutely packed with helpful information - enough, even, that I felt a little overwhelmed. I took some time to digest it, reminded myself that I don't have to do everything, then started reading again. As I said, there's tons in there, but let me share a couple of bits that I found especially helpful: 

• In the section Make Your Customers Repeat Customers: 
  Provide a great unboxing experience....Sellers who do this right make opening their packages part of the experience. Some examples of improving your unboxing experience are: packaging your products with branded materials inside, including swag (think pens, stickers, & otehr useful items with your branding on them), you can even decorate the outside of your boxes with stickers or graphics.
• On photographs for retail sites: Show your product in use
  (Honestly that makes sense & it's something I almost never do. Look for that to change!)
• On Keywords: One thing to consider is that you probably won't be able to compete right away for highly competitive keywords. I'm pretty good at SEO, but even I wouldn't necessarily go after a really broad term like "pottery." Instead I might go after a really specific keyword like "Pottery Coffee Mugs" (because even a term like "coffee mugs" is likely just oing ot be a little too competitive.) 
  Again: makes sense! But I wouldn't have thought of it. 

There's a section on keywords generally & how to use them, a big section on Etsy. You may remember that I hate Etsy (at least as a seller) but I know it's a good option for many people, especially if you are just starting online sales. Milly also explains the strengths & best uses of the various social media platforms, how to use Google Analytics, how to create a Facebook ad, and ways to drive traffic to your website. 

If you, like me, are looking for ways to expand your online sales in these pandemic times, I really recommend it. It's $20, + $4 shipping, at this link.

New Book!

Glaze: The Unltimate Ceramic Artists Guide to Glaze and Color
Kate Doody & Brian Taylor

I know Kate Doody and Brian Taylor from my Watershed days; Brian was a resident and Kate, summer staff. They were kids then (or seemed so to me...) but now they've gone and written a book! Can't wait to check it out.. Looks like potentially a great resource for students and more experienced potters alike.

It's a Fine Day to Mix Glaze

That's not a thing that you'll hear me say too often, but circumstances have conspired to make this the perfect glaze-test mixing day:

1. I have my new digital scale to test out!  It's a 7001DX, which I got at bigceramicsstore.com; it was only about $50 with the shipping. (If you click the link it's about 3/4s of the way down the page.) Since it has a 7000 gm capacity, I think it will speed up my glaze mixing considerably, and offer fewer opportunities to screw up a whole bucket of glaze without even realizing it until I unload a kiln full of ruined pots. Not that that has ever happened to me, but it seemed like only a matter of time, when I had to weigh out ingredients in several increments.
2. Val Cushing's  handbook arrived in the mail today; you would not believe the wealth of information in this spiral-bound volume. I'm so excited to read through it I can hardly sit still! Professor Cushing offers this book for $28, which includes shipping; you can get your copy by sending a note and a check to:
   
   1497 Water Wells Rd.,
   RD 1, Box 236 Alfred Station NY 14802,
   607 587 9193
   
   And - icing on the cake - Professor Cushing signed my copy! He says he likes the name Fine Mess Pottery. :) The book is also available at Amazon, if you prefer to shop electronically.
3. I have a test firing coming up with Liz Proffety, a mid-coast potter I met through a Watershed event. Liz fires ^6, I fire with soda: together we are like chocolate and peanut butter. Two great tastes that taste great together: Cone 6 soda! I plan to use the Cushing handbook to re-formulate some of my glazes to see if firing to a lower temperature will work for me. As always, I will share my results here. 

Look at the time! At my latitude, daylight hours pass quickly this time of year, and it's well to make the best of them. 

Thursday Inspiration: Maureen Mills

Maureen is also on the faculty of the New Hampshire Institute of Arts, and author of the great book Surface Design for Ceramics, which I use often in coming up with demonstrations for class.

500 Teapots Call For Entries

I found out about this a bit late for myself: I have teapots in process but there's no way they will be finished, never mind photographed, by the upcoming deadline for entry into Lark Books planned 500 Teapots publication. But it might not be too late for you! Check it out here.
The deadline for submission in April 20th; you can submit up to 4 entries.

Lark already has a 500 Teapots book, with which you are probably already familiar. I would so love to be in the new one! But I guess I'll just have to wait for volume 3.