CONQUERING THE CREATIVE MARKETPLACE: Best Approaches for Cold Calling and Making The Pitch

From CONQUERING THE CREATIVE MARKETPLACE: Between the Fickleness of Business and the Pursuit of Design, Kindle, Print, Epub

REACHING OUT TO STORES AND GALLERIES

Although some jewelry designers may feel uneasy mixing art with business, for most it is a necessity. Yet, you do not have to sacrifice wonder for reality. Most designers sell their pieces, so recognizing the things about coordinating art with business become very important.

Typically, small stores and boutiques, websites and online sales platforms, and galleries will sell your jewelry, either outright, or on consignment. Their goal is to turn a profit, and they are at greater risk than the artist. That means their interests, in most cases, take precedence over those of the artist. It is the venue that displays, promotes, prices, trains employees to talk about your jewelry to customers, and keeps the pieces clean. Available selling-space is always limited. When your jewelry takes up space in these venues, it is an opportunity cost to the business — they lose the opportunity to carry someone else’s work which might be more appropriate to the setting, or might sell better.