Tag: Finer Frames

How to be Successful on Small Business Saturday

(In the Year of Covid 19)

This year has seen several unpredictable ups and downs for frame shop owners. One positive trend that has appeared to remain a constant is unstable world is consumers desire to support local. Many shoppers are seeking opportunities to shop small and support businesses in their communities. But how do you achieve successful results for Small Business Saturday while keeping your staff and customers safe?

I’ve put together a list of marketing ideas for framers to capitalize on the shop small movement. Here are some ideas to consider that go beyond in-store promotions.

Be Unique: Shoppers appreciate the uniqueness of small shops, so don’t feel like you have to compete with the big retailers. Be yourself while you show off what makes your business unique. Find creative ways to tell your story through videos on social media, merchandising in your store, and project photos to inspire custom framing.

Offer Referral Program. Invite customers to help your business grow by offering a referral program. Happy customers want to see your success and are willing to write on-line reviews and refer friends. Offer free upgrades, bonus discounts, or accumulate points for future perks. Google My Business allows you to share a link to write a review. Include the link in an email inviting customers to support your small business.

Partner with a Non-Profit. You can help your community and build good-will by highlighting a local charity for a Small Business Saturday promotion. You could collect donation items or share a percentage of each sale for food banks, animal rescue organizations, senior or children’s programs. Choose one that is meaningful and share your reasons in a short video to your social media platforms.

Live Broadcast. Build an audience of new buyers by broadcasting a Facebook Live video. Be.Live is an easy to use way to schedule and create your live broadcast. Keep your focus by creating a list of talking points highlighting custom framing ideas, gift ideas or other items from your shop. Customers can get a look at your shop from home, then schedule an appointment, purchase on-line or answer any other call to action you include.

Say Thanks. Small Business Saturday gives you an opportunity to say Thank You to the customers that have made your business successful. Send a note in the mail. Offer $20 off their next custom framing order. Call your top 20 customers to just say thank you. Offer small gifts to in-store shoppers. Show your genuine gratitude and grow customer loyalty.

Join the Movement. American Express started the Shop Small movement 10 years ago and provides support materials for small business owners. You can register your business on the Small Business Saturday map and request free marketing materials here: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/shop-small/

The Art of Marketing Workshop

 

Sunday, November 4 is going to change your art business forever.

The Art of Marketing one day workshop is designed for artists & creatives wanting to leverage up their art business and make more money. Learn how to create a business plan, plus a marketing and social media strategy to earn customer attention and grow your art business. Breakfast and lunch is included.

REGISTER ON LINE

AGENDA | Sunday, November 4, 2018

9:30am – 10:00am Continental breakfast is served

10:00am – 12:00pm Hope is Not a Strategy

Learn how to write a solid business plan to turn your hobby into a money-making business. Includes practical advice for identifying your ideal buyers, branding your business and maximizing your product mix to earn loyal customers. During break-out work session you’ll start the groundwork for creating a solid business plan.

12:00pm – 1:00pm Lunch & Learn

Better Phone Photos Quick-Course by pro-photographer David Day. Get expert tips and tricks for improving your product photos for your website and social media including lighting, composition and which editing apps to use for the best success.

1:00pm – 4:00pm Maximizing Your Marketing

How to attack the market with a winning marketing plan and social media strategy to earn customer’s attention. Get creative ideas for marketing your business using traditional and new media without spending a lot. Learn which social media platforms are the best, when to post and what to say. If you’ve been wondering how to harness the power of social media, you can relax. I’ve done the work for you.

All sessions take place in the Gallery at Finer Frames located in downtown Eagle at 164 E State Street.

The cost of the workshop is $99 and includes your workbook, breakfast and lunch. Sign up on line today.

Register Here

Have a question? Email me or call Finer Frames at 208.888.9898

3 Steps to Writing a Strong USP

So, if I asked you What make your business unique? What would you say?

The common answers I hear from frame shop owners all sound much the same. In fact most small business owners list similar attributes about their business. See if any of these sound familiar.

  • We have the best service
  • We offer the best selection
  • We have the best price

If these statements are even close to your answers to that question, please take my next comments with the respect they are intended. These are NOT unique!

It’s surprising when I ask a business about their USP how many don’t know how to answer that basic business question. The trouble is, if you don’t know, how do you expect a customer to know?

Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is what sets you apart from your competition and is the cornerstone of your marketing plan; it’s what make you different and what makes you better. It must be clearly defined. It must be easy to explain, and it must be true!

How do you know you have the best service? Can you point to stellar reviews? Do you have glowing customer testimonials? If a customer can’t see it, they’re not going to believe it. Besides, everyone says they have the best service.

Before you can begin to sell your product or service to anyone else, you have to sell yourself on it.

Writing a Strong USP

Pinpointing your USP requires some hard soul-searching and creativity. It begins with a clear understanding of what your customer wants. Here are some exercises to help you identify your USP.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. It should always be about the customer… ALWAYS! Knowing what your ideal audience wants and understanding how your product fits their need is the key. Take the time to list every product you sell in one column and beside each, write the specific customer problem it solves. You should plan on spending 20 – 30 minutes doing this exercise. At the end, you will have a clearer focus on what your customer is really buying.

Size up your competition. To really know how you measure up in your customer’s eyes, you should research your top 3 competitors (both locally and online). Take a good look at where they advertise and their marketing message. Then write down how you are different in ways that matter to your customers.

Be unique! The best way to stand out in a crowded marketplace is to be unique. You can identify an under-served niche market, win top design awards, or offer high-end restoration, the point being don’t be like every other frame shop out there. Maybe your business fits several market niches, so write a USP for each and pick the strongest one.

A real world example. Describing these exercises is one thing, but after reading this article, I want you to come away with a specific idea on how to write your USP and how to use it. So I offer you this. In my shop Finer Frames, our primary USP is “Design driven preservation framing”. This clear and concise phrase lets customer know that our specialty is good design and we focus on art conservation. I have this memorized and share it when I introduce myself at networking event. My employees know it and so do my friends and family so they can use it when referring my business. Your USP can become your tag line on your email address or sign on your door.   Use it correctly, and it becomes the cornerstone for marketing message and how to talk to customers.

Need help defining your USP? I’m happy to help you discover yours in Week 4 of Recharge Your Business on line marketing training program for framing entrepreneurs. Learn more at rechargeyourbusiness.com

What Happens in Vegas is Explained Here (kind-of)

I just wrapped up a week in Las Vegas at the West Coast Art and Frame Expo where thousands of framers get together for learning, camaraderie and over indulgence (it is Vegas after all). This annual trip to the desert is something I look forward to each January. After the craze of the holidays, a few days away is always a welcome reprieve.

If you happen to be surprised that 1. picture framers even have a convention or 2. that four thousand plus framers come from all parts of the world, let me assure you friends, the dream is real.

First off, I was there to work, not play, although I did manage to do both. I presented 5 brand new classes. *Note to self: don’t ever commit to creating 5 new classes again. To my relief and amazement, all of my classes were sold out. Standing room only.

Just look at these happy people getting ready for my wisdom. They were here for my Fundamentals of Frame Design class. I also taught Recharge Your Business, on business strategy and Building the Buzz, event marketing class. As a bonus, I taught 4 quick courses in the Wizard booth on the trade show floor.

I am so busy, I rarely have time to walk the show floor, I did manage to squeak out a few minutes to sweep the show. The first stop was my friend Andres at House of Mercier, a Peruvian company that specializes in custom leather-wrapped frames. We shared one of the most important frames of my career this past year. If you missed the January issue of Picture Framing Magazine, you can read about the project here: http://finerframes.com/leather-cabinet-frame/  

As a picture framer, you’ve got to forgive me for getting nerdy here. But check out these frames!!! Yes, they really are THAT BIG! This is like frame porn. Oh Roma, you never disappoint this frame lady.

One of the highlights of the show was to see three fantastic frames we created on display in Tru Vue’s booth. If you think framing customer’s special items is stressful, imagine framing these for shipment across the county for scrutiny by the best framers in the world. Yikes! Happy to report the frames made it!  This was part of TV’s new Boot Camp Retail Makeover contest of which I am part of the prize. Framers, register here.

My team also worked on building extraordinary frames for the Wizard booth. We built 5 new projects this year that they added to last year’s frames. I love the Eric Clapton album! Emily does too… can you tell?

It was great seeing my newest graduates from my Recharge Your Business program. This has been a project 10 years in the making and there is nothing more satisfying that seeing others soar. Congratulations to Gilded Moon Framing and Finishing Touches Picture Framing. You guys rock!

 

 

 

It was an action-packed week for sure, but we managed to squeeze in some fun. I toured the ancient Samurai warrior exhibit at the Bellagio Fine Art Museum. Michelle and I visited the famous Fremont Street and may have had a cocktail or two. Have you been? This is a place that cannot be explained, it must be experienced… just make sure your medical shots are current.

In case you missed WCAF 2018, I’ve posted a video of one of my Wizard classes on YouTube. Go check it out, leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!

FOR ARTISTS: 7 Tips for Applying to a Gallery

I’ve talked to many artists that come in to Finer Frames looking for help in selling their artwork. So many that I thought it was time for an intervention. In fact I bet I’ve spoken to thousands of artists over the years. It’s my passion to help artists and this is an issue they apparently don’t teach in art school; how to apply to a gallery. As a gallery owner, I have had plenty of artists stop by without an appointment.  Most times, its unexpected, disruptive to the day’s work and rarely leaves me with a positive feeling about the art or artist. Some encounters leave me wondering, “What were they thinking?”.  So, if you are an artist looking to show your work at any gallery, consider these tips before applying to any gallery.

  1. First of all, do your research. Visit the gallery and do some basic recon to see if your art would be a fit. Check out the gallery’s website too. See what types of art and artists are featured. You’re bound to gain a lot of insight into the gallery’s vibe and whether or not your work complements their aesthetic.
  2. Call for an appointment. Unsolicited visits and emails by eager artists are rarely welcomed by busy gallery owners. Please don’t show up unannounced and expect to earn a spot on the exhibition calendar.  Ask about their application procedure, whom you should speak with and when would be a convenient time to meet with the director.
  3. Don’t show photos on your phone. For the love of all things good, do not pull out your cell phone and start scrolling for an elusive picture of what’s promised to be your best and latest work. I can’t tell you how many times this has happened. It’s unprofessional and tells me the artists doesn’t take my time or their work seriously.
  4. Flash drives & disks are risky. Expect some hesitation from the gallery when presented with a potentially corrupted flash drive or disks and asked to plug into their computer.  It wouldn’t look too good if you inadvertently brought down the gallery’s computer system.
  5. Advertise your brand. As an artist, YOU are a brand. Be ready to sell yourself with a professional business cards and even a brochure. Use a site like Moo to add photo of your work, website and social links to your printed marketing materials.
  6. Quality counts. To put your best foot (or frame) forward include a picture of the framing along with the artwork. Make your photos the best they can be, because quality counts. Consider having professional pictures taken of your artwork. Good lighting and high quality images can make a big difference.
  7. Make a statement. Your biography should include your education, exhibitions and awards and your artist statement should explain your work in a few sentences. The gallery, and ultimately the buyers want to know why you created the work. Make it meaningful. If you need a little help telling your story with a killer artist statement, check out an online generator like Artybollocks

Takeaway: Remember that galleries that will only take you as seriously as you take yourself.

If you’re interested in applying for representation at The Gallery at Finer Frames, now is the time to apply. We review submissions each November and schedule exhibitions one year in advance. Details can be found on “In the Gallery” tab at FinerFrames.com

Click here for the Gallery Application Form

Application Deadline Extended to November 10

Apply for 2018 Exhibitions by November 10