Marketing Tips from Steven Jobs and Me

 

Apple CEO Steven Jobs was truly brilliant. He left many great quotes as part of his legacy, and here is one that stands out for me:

"We've never worried about numbers. In the market place, Apple is trying to focus the spotlight on products, because products really make a difference. [...] Ad campaigns are necessary for competition; IBM's ads are everywhere. But good PR educates people; that's all it is. You can't con people in this business. The products speak for themselves."

In contrast to this I also read the Etsy forums, which are full of advice on how to market your work. You know, you can Twitter and ban together as teams to dominate Front Page coverage and do a Feasibility Analysis and give your work away for free in order to attract attention. And yes, I've tried all these things and more at one time or another.

The sad reality of Etsy is that only 5% of the 290,000 sellers on Etsy are making over $30,000/ yr in sales. And in the face of this overwhelming failure, they are intent on marketing more, marketing better, and marketing different.

Not that marketing is bad… but as Steven Jobs says, it focuses attention on your products. So if marketing more, better and different  isn’t working, it might be time to focus on improving the products. For an artisan, good products don’t come from making what everyone else is making. Good products come from connecting to that adventurous inner desire to try something new, to master a technique, to innovate, to push something known into the unknown.

My rustic ceramic bowls, hand sculpted with vintage lace textures and up to 7 layers of glazes are where I'm currently pushing the boundaries on functional pottery.

Building a Body of Work

We fall in love first with the pure act of creation. From there we chose a medium, such as clay, paint, metalwork. The pieces we make for sale are a consequence of an inner exploration, and that’s the most fulfilling context for creation. If you follow this path, what you create is a legacy that is distinctively your own, as Jonathan Fields so aptly describes. What you get if you don’t follow this path is a frustrating, jealousy producing, creative dead end of finding objects that others have made and trying to make them. In this world there is a great deal of finger pointing and reading endless marketing tips, and seeing other creatives as competition. The most threatening people of all in this world are the ones who are successful. Frankly, it’s not a satisfying place to be, and if you are a creative person stuck in this world, get out now! Put your time and energy into building a body of work!

A body of work is a clear, recognizable  path that you are taking with your artistic exploration and creations. To build a body of work,  just pick one thing that you like to make that you can make well. Make that with one invariable quality, and several variable qualities. Your same quality might be same subject matter, size, color, or utilitarian function. For example, I made these casseroles last year:

 

 

Here are some variations:

I also took the casserole shape in this direction and developed Keepsake Boxes, which is a smaller version of my casserole form, without handles.

A body of work is a path that you forge. You end up in uncharted territory, making things that aren’t like other people’s work. You begin to respect and even like other creative people, and recognize those who have also forged their own path. The challenge now is to continue to progress, to continuously move forward.

Werner Erhard once said, “Any idiot can walk a path when shown one. But out here, there is no path. The path is made by your walking.”

That’s what I’m talking about!

Bohemian Beauties

I found 3 other Etsy artists working in Bohemian styled fashion. I love the whimsical, unique combination of textures and imagery. Each piece has an intentional aura all of its own. These are not simply things to be worn in appropriate situations. They are created to nurture the wearer in some unique way.

Valentine Hearts and Flowers earrings by Elysian Fields are made with vintage upcycled beads. It takes a lot of care and patience to comb through piles of discards looking for treasures like these. Some lucky person is going to get tons of smiles and compliments when she wears these reclaimed beauties.
Sacred Adornments has a stunning collection of jewelry with spiritual icons and religious medals. It was hard for me to select just one! Every piece she makes boldly uses many design elements without losing cohesion. In Sacred Journey Earrings, the smokey silver pearls and other silver components create unity.
Ixela's HOT CHOCOLATE scarflette has some crazy yarns! If you had told me that I was going to love something made with faux fur yarn, I would have given you the LOOK (if you have a teenage daughter, you may have seen the LOOK on occassion.) Ixela has won over a hard sell with me, and kudos to her for being a bold new designer. The elegance comes from a unique vision and great design.

If you know of other noteworthy Bohemian artists, feel free to leave comments. I showed you mine....

Bohemian Style

Today I discovered a category for my style of jewelry. What a relief. No more identity crisis. I'm one of those people who really love words, and when I can't quite describe something, it bugs me. I am making Bohemian style jewelry, or Boho Chic. It's an attitude of fashion that eclectically combines ethnic, or inexpensive elements with classic, luxury components. Bohemian jewelry uses natural elements and materials to emphasize the wearer’s connection to nature and the simplicity of natural things rather than artificial constructs. And finally, Boho jewelry is handmade, and often found online directly from the artisan.

So I read all this and think 'that's me!' I like this better than having to accept that my sun sign or Meyers Briggs or birth order or hand wrinkles define what I'm about.

Bohemian describes my home decor pretty well, too. It describes the way I live and think, but it doesn't describe my pottery, but oh well. Maybe I secretly want to live a bit outside of any one box anyway.