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| | | Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 19 February 2009 19:15
Posts: 5, Visits: 8 |
| Hi experts, lots of great advice so far, thankyou all very much.
I am wondering if you have any advice about contacting shops or galleries about stocking my work. Like many creatives I am happiest in the studio making and find it really difficult to approach people/businesses. I am sure like many people out there this is part of the difficulty/challenge of being self employed, the neccesity to do many roles, not just the ones you enjoy. I am painfully shy and any advice/tips/strategy would be very useful.
Thanks
Lizzie |
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| | | Forum Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 04 April 2009 14:37
Posts: 28, Visits: 121 |
| | I don't know about getting stockists in particular, but I do know about doing things you don't like. I think all creative types, and most people in general don't like selling themselves. And it is much harder to sell yourself, than to sell somebody else. But when it's only you, there's no one else to do it, so you just have to grit your teeth and do it. And no sales, means no business - it's as simple as that. Sorry, couldn't offer more useful advice - except to say that most people are really nice, and although you may have to suffer rejection, most people are good about it. And it's great when you do have success. You may have to play mind games with yourself eg I will make 5 cold calls every morning before I have a hot chocolate and look at Facebook - or whatever. |
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| | | Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 05 March 2009 20:28
Posts: 7, Visits: 44 |
| Hi Lizzie
Of course we all have to do things in business which we enjoy less than others. However, without giving yourself excuses sometimes looking at the broader picture there will be tasks where getting some outside help makes the business as a whole more effective.
Purely from a legal perspective there are many different ways of doing this. Certain legal agreements would allow you to appoint another business (perhaps in a particular geographic area) to "sell" your work on your behalf. Of course you would have to pay that business a fee (probably calculated as a percentage of what they sold to stockists) but a well written agreement would mean you wouldn’t pay anything if they didn’t sell anything. However, with somebody finding stockists and doing the selling for you it would allow you to spend more time actually designing and making. A word of warning though don’t rush into anything until you have a written agreement so that each of you know exactly what they must do and what is expected of them.
Dependant on your area there may be college or undergraduate skills you can make use of. For example business or marketing students looking for work experience may be able to offer a reduced rate service for just a few pounds to make some initial contacts for you etc. You may even be able to get some work absolutely free if the students can use it as part of a project.
Antonia
Lime One Ltd
www.limeone.co.uk
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| | | Junior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 24 April 2009 21:15
Posts: 13, Visits: 28 |
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