1. Price point: The biggest driver of how your product will be seen is how much it costs. You want to set a price point that will cover your costs and ensure you are compensated adequately. At the same time, you need to make sure that your prices are palatable to your customers. Do some recon; go to markets in the area before your market and see what comparable work is selling for. If similar works are selling for less than what you are charging you need to consider a few things.  Can you afford to lower your price? Are there less expensive pieces that you can make that would better suit this clientele? If neither then maybe this isn’t the right market for you.  Listen to what people say as they browse your booth. If they are commenting on the price (too high / too low) take note of that and see if you can adjust your prices accordingly in the future
2. Display: How you present your work is going to play a major role in how it is perceived to your customer. How do you want people to see your work? Are you going for a craft show, small business, or fine art? If you are trying to appeal to the craft show crowd think of lots of simple, cute, low-price pieces. Display is important but not as important as matching the price point of your customers. Small businesses you should appeal to customers who are looking for quality and value. Having a good variety of products along with some high-ticket items is a good balance. Offer “deals” such as two for one or buy one get one half off. Cross-promote your products and try to upsell.  If you are going to fine art think about fewer, expensive pieces.  Leave the low and medium prices back at the studio and present only your big-ticket items. Invest in good quality displays (pedestals, acroterion). This crowd is looking for quality and isn’t generally thinking about price. So your display should reflect that.
3. Style: When you start out you may have a very specific style of your own. This could be subject matter, technique, color palettes, or detail. It is good to stick to your style as that is what will eventually set you apart from other artists. At the same time think carefully about what customers ask for. Are a lot of your customers asking for pet portraits? Try your hand at them. It may not be your passion but being able to give people what they want can pay the bills while you spend the bulk of your time working on the things you want to work on. As you work on these pieces you may gain new skills as well that you can then incorporate into your pieces. Try not to be too stubborn in what you are willing to create if it means that you are alienating yourself from your customers.
4. Marketing: this is something that is going to change constantly throughout the life of your business.  You may find that your social media posts aren’t getting much traction.  Look at what other people are doing, read up on what the people are saying is trending, and adapt your strategy accordingly.  Maybe Facebook is prioritizing lives or Instagram is promoting reels. Use this to your advantage. If you have money to invest in marketing spend some money on a campaign. Run a contest or a giveaway to increase engagement and gain followers.  The important thing is to try new things until you find something that works. Then, when that thing doesn’t work anymore, try other things until you find something new that works.  Rinse and repeat.

Learn to adapt your business to best suit your customer and you are on your way to being a successful small business. Remember, this doesn’t mean you change your style every time someone suggests something to you. You don’t need to chase trends or try to make everyone happy to be successful. But look for indicators of what is selling, what is working of others, and what you read online, and make adaptations as you go along to better meet people’s needs and wants. Have your own tips? Tag us @bz_furfur and, as always, stay unique.

The post Building a Flexible Art Business: 4 Key Strategies for Success appeared first on Burning with Purpose.

I spent years in retail selling other people’s products in big box stores and, to be honest, I was pretty good at it. Promoting the things other people create was “easy” for me. This was especially true if I knew about the item and felt strongly enough about it that I could back it.

The one thing I am not comfortable promoting or selling, however, is my own creations. 

“Impostor syndrome, also known as impostor phenomenon or impostorism, is a psychological experience of intellectual and professional infraudulence.”

Imposter syndrome is “the subjective experience of perceived self-doubt in one’s abilities and accomplishments compared with others, despite evidence to suggest the contrary.” Truth be told, I know I am good at what I do. My pieces are beautiful, the lines crisp (so much so that it is often mistaken for machine-made), and the painting is clean and vibrant. There are some pieces I am more proud of than others, especially on my more intricate works, but somehow when talking about myself something gets lost. Promoting my work feels so much like boasting and bragging. I subconsciously fight with the voice in my head telling me that being proud of my work is “wrong” and that humility is what I should be striving for. 

Unfortunately, being unable to promote myself is not conducive to a profitable business. Being able to promote yourself in order to attract buyers or customers or patrons is critical to success. Fortunately, I have Brian. He truly is my biggest supporter, advocator, cheerleader, and partner. We work very well together at markets because I can sit on the side and quietly burn, while he engages people. Networking events are a different story. I can’t go hide in a corner and wait for someone to approach me. I have to leave my comfort zone and engage with people myself. This is definitely a work in progress.

I met a metal worker, Jill (@JillMelyssa) at a coffee networking event hosted by The Guild Of Charlotte Arts (@guildofcharlotteartists). She makes unique, beautiful jewelry pieces. She asked me to attend a fashion show with her recently. As I work mainly with wood, it isn’t really in my scene, but I had never been to an art fashion show. The artist Jonay Di Ragno (@jonay_di_ragno) is a mixed-media artist, who works with canvas, acrylics, glass, clothing, and other media. It was a fun night, the art was beautiful and the fashion so unique. It was out of my normal networking circles, but I spoke to a few people and made some connections. I did not think I would be able to do that, because to me fashion and pyrography are in two different worlds. But I soon realized by talking with attendees that I was wrong. I burn on cotton and leather, which is wearable. Bags and purses can be made of wood which, also, I can burn into. I realized that there could be opportunities for collaboration. If I had allowed my self-doubt and fears to be dominant I would not have had the opportunity to expand my horizons and think about where that could take me.

Do you struggle to get out of your comfort zone? What is your success story. Tag us @bz_furfur and share it with us and, as always, stay unique.

The post The Art of Being Uncomfortable with Other Artists appeared first on Burning with Purpose.

As a crafter, I have taught myself many different skills. Various forms of fiber crafts: knitting, crochet, embroidery, Tatting (creating lace), and macrame. Jewelry making, watercolor painting (I am not so good at this one), diamond painting, and of course Pyrography just to name a few.

When I started the business in 2021, I knew I couldn’t do all the things I knew because it would be way too much, plus many of those crafts take time to make. Realistically, I also knew that the market was over-saturated with many of those crafts. So I had to think about what I wanted to focus on, what did I want to do? What would be my focus. I have always been someone who immerses themselves in whatever craft/art I have decided to teach myself. I had been wanting to try wood burning for a while. I had a pyrography pen for years and never really tried it. I knew if I wanted to give it a go, I needed to leave my comfort zone and try a new medium. I would have to step out of my comfort zone. Never one to back down from learning a new craft, I did some research, watched some YouTube, bought a book, and some wood blanks, and dove in!

3 years later, it’s 2024 and I know I have grown so much. In my art. So much so that I am trying to move into a fine art realm. I started with SVGs, and simple pictures – essentially coloring books/pictures on wood. I sold many pieces this way at markets, many of which prompted people to want custom orders. My goal, though, is I want to do fine art. I see the work of people I look up to and I strive for the realism, crispness, and emotions it evokes as well as the prices they command. So I have been practicing with more realistic pictures, practicing the patience and techniques required for a piece that will take hours if not days rather than a few hours. It’s uncomfortable for me as I like to “be done” with a project. I have in my head that I want to be done in 20 hours or fewer. It’s a conscious practice to focus on the current project, each line, and think about THIS project and how it needs to be created rather than the next one after this project. But I have started the transition and it feels less and less uncomfortable each time. I am confident at some point it will stop being uncomfortable altogether.

What have you taken on that was uncomfortable at first? Tag us @bz_furfur and, as always, stay unique.

The post The art of being uncomfortable creating your art appeared first on Burning with Purpose.

“Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.”

I am an artist.  It took me a long time to admit that to myself.  Before making this realization I would describe myself as crafty. Even after doing pyrography professionally for three years, it is hard to call myself an artist.  As an artist, I struggle to to decide if I should focus on making what I love, or what I think other people will love. If I make what other people will love I have to sacrifice my own desires, but if I make what I love I don’t know if there will there be a market for it.

“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down simply by spending his money somewhere else.” 

–  Sam Walton

I will often find myself trying to follow trends. Trying to understand what the customer wants and creating something that will satisfy them. At the end of the day making art is ultimately appeasing the customer.  This often means walking around markets and seeing what others are making or searching trending hashtags on Instagram to see what people are excited about. The problem is trying to follow these trends often means that my products are carbon copies of what is at everyone else’s table at the shows or what everyone else has on their website.

“Know what your customers want most and what your company does best. Focus on where those two meet.”

– Keven Stirtz

The best thing I’ve found to do is determine what you are good at that. Do your absolute best to create a unique product and talk to customers to adapt your style to match what they love. This may mean making some concessions to your particular style. This is not a bad thing.  If you can learn to adapt to your customers, ultimately, you will find a place where your talent and what he customer wants meet.

“To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. So do it.”

– Kurt Vonnegut

At the end of the day, it is important that you are making art that both you, and your customer, will love.  And, as always, stay unique.

“Ignoring what sells doesn’t make you a better artist, it makes you a starving artist.”

– Marie Forleo

The post The Customer and the Artist appeared first on Burning with Purpose.

The truth is I am, and always have been, an artist. It is not a title reserved for people who gather in galleries in SOHO. It is something that we are the moment we create something. This past weekend I participated in my second Art Walk in Monroe NC and it was a blast. In addition to meeting other fabulous artists, we were able to put my artwork on display without the added pressure of trying to sell. Rather it was an opportunity to just share my creations with the community. To witness people appreciate what I created and to enjoy the company of people who love what I do.

Sometimes we just need to slow down and let our art speak for ourselves. I hope you all have a chance to do the same with the pieces you create and, more importantly, I hope you all take the time to realize that you are artists. And, as always, stay unique.

The post On Being an Artist appeared first on Burning with Purpose.