MARKETING

Which comes first? the chicken or the egg???

The product or the market???

As a designer and a craftswoman, I often find myself in the position of having to explain the way I choose to market the things I make. I have access to many markets. Lots of options - I can do art shows, juried and non-juried, marketplaces, wholesale to galleries and/or gift shops....

My peers fall into some general categories:

• The "artist" - one who finds selling something insurance people do.
• The "technique junkie" - one who gets bored quickly, and only makes just one!
• The "production liner" - one who makes things in parts by the dozens, and never really puts too much time into anything and not too much attention either.
• The "micro-manager" - who aims for perfection, and will continue to work on the same piece until it becomes so time consuming, that it is too expensive to sell.

We have a little of all of them in us, but have spent most of our time making things to sell.

Then, we have had to figure out how to sell our work.

One of the main problems we face as crafts people who make everything we sell, is having enough inventory. Our time is very precious. There is not enough time, and our work is physical - we stand all day with saws and sanders, hand planes, carving knives. We have to merchandise our wares, whether we are online or in our gallery showroom. We wear a lot of hats, and sometimes two or three at a time.

So, the upshot is:

You can find our items in our little shop at mile marker 34 on Highway 68 in Coker Creek, Tn

We make it a point to be consistent in our treatment of customers wherever you find us.

Designs by Baerreis

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