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My 2K FB 'likes' Thank-you letter ^_^

Well I had a pretty cool day yesterday. I am just about a week away from my first anniversary of starting Lemon Drops Art. My FB page reached 2 thousand likes and I created my first ever 'tutorial' (I'm still uploading said tutorial...this part takes forever apparently but I will post a link when its all finished....that is, if I haven't slipped into a coma waiting for this thing to upload. In which case please send coffee!)

I wanted to share with you guys my "Thank You" post from my fb page. Here we go:

Yay...!!! Today Lemon Drops Art hit 2000 LIKES!! You guys are just amazing and I LOVE you! This comes just 5 days from the first anniversary of Lemon Drops Art! How cool is that? (It's cool right? I'm not just being weird like 'OMG OMG 2K OMG!' ) So... I have been trying to think of what to say to all of you in a way that expresses my gratitude for you and your support in my first year on this way cool adventure.

I could say I am humbled by your support, I could say I never thought I'd be looking back on the past year and realize just how far the LDA has come. I could mention that the friends I've made and the talent I've met on our art forums are absolutely top notch and I can't wait to see what the next year holds, but what I really think I want to say is thank-you.

Thank you for bearing with me on my first few fumbled online auctions. Thank you for graciously answering all of my relentless questions throughout the year. Thank you for allowing me to blow up your walls with 500 pictures of the same art piece 'just because' I wanted to be sure I got the best angle/light/color & the planets were aligned properly. After all, I work for like, ever on it and I want to show it off damnit!

Thank you for being you. I couldn't be here without you... Well, ok... I 'could' but it would be very lonely... and I would have waaaay too many little creatures in all of the nooks and crannies of my house, which would probably lead to my husband wanting a divorce because he couldn't cope with so many little 'eyes' watching him from every where in the house, and that would cause me to be destitute seeing as I spent ALL my monies on art supplies! Which might lead to my daughter dropping out of high school to get a job to help mom pay the bills and turn to a life of stripping because it was easy money and the next thing you know I have grand babies before I turn 39! *YIKES* So thank you for not making me a 38 year old destitute divorced grandma! Ya'll are the best!!

Whats the BEST part of a 2K Likes day???? DUH! FREE-STUFF!!!!! Every person who likes/ comments on this post between now and Friday at 7pm EST Will be entered into my 2K drawing for this little Unicorn! She is super-sweet =)  I haven't given her a name yet, so if you're bored (not sure how you can possibly be considering this post is a MILE long) leave a comment with name ideas. If I chose the name you post, I will also send you a 'free-beeeee' unless you win the unicorn, then I will send you the unicorn  XoXo~ Alicia 

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This week’s blog is focusing primarily on how I price my polymer clay sculptures for sale. It isn’t an exact science and I’ve played around a lot with it. I have found that pricing my art fairly and within market value range is extraordinarily important.  

I really shot myself in the foot when I first started out. I waaaay over priced something to someone who very easily could have been a long-term client. Big mistake. My problem?? Was ignorance.

It was right around the time that lots of local people were seeing my work and I was tinkering with the idea of charging more than just the cost of materials. A lady saw my work and she wanted a logo made. {She owned a business of her own} She explained what she was looking for, we brainstormed and she seemed to love my ideas. She wanted to own the rights to the artwork and put it on all of her apparel. She asked me for a price, and I told her I would think about it and get back to her. Sounds pretty good so far doesn’t it?

On the drive home I spoke with my husband and told him of the opportunity. He being married to me thought as highly of my work as I did and saw first-hand how much effort went into them. He saw how many sketches I did before I ever put paint on the brush. He told me that I should look online and see what people charge for exclusive rights and logos. Still sounds pretty ok right?

This is where it goes wonky. I wish I could blame it on bad fish or temporary insanity, but nope. It was me being me. Darn it. I looked up logos and exclusivity.  What I found was an agency in New York who had created logos such as Nike and Abercrombie and Fitch. So those logos cost somewhere in the range of 4,000.00 to 10,000.00. I was blown away. I showed my husband and did a little dance around the living room. {Seriously… can I just blame the fish?} When I spoke to this lady again, I brought up what I had seen. Keep in mind I never looked past that one page. I never once checked out local artists, or even stopped to consider the fact that the lady I was speaking to was not any different than you or me. She was an everyday lady trying to be in business for herself, doing what she was good at. I sometimes wish future me could go back in time and slap past me.

{Deep breath…} I told her what I had found, and what ‘people were paying’. Not once did I actually give her a quote. But by bringing it up, the damage had been done, absolute and irrevocable damage. Fish anyone?

I have since tried desperately to regain them as a client even offering ‘freebees’ but to no avail. I had stepped outside of the trust circle. I had to accept what I had done and learn from it. It was a tough lesson and completely avoidable, had I done more research before biting off more than I could chew.

Ok. So, here is what I have so far, and so far it seems to be working for me. I am borrowing several bits and pieces that I have learned from others and adding a few changes that I have found that work very well for me. I want to share this with you in the hopes that you are able to figure out a pricing system that not only works for you, but also for your clients. They can be hard to come by. So we, as artists, want to take very VERY good care of them. We want to be able to explain why our art costs what it does. Just in case we are asked. At some point…they always ask. {insert wink}

 

EXPENSE    {we must count our expenses. This is okay. Don’t feel bad, because this is a business and people do understand and even expect it} 

Let’s say my monthly expenses are 1000.00, I divide that by 4{weeks}=250.00 I divide that number by/40{hours} giving me a base rate 6.25 per hour. {This number will vary depending on your expenses.} If your monthly expenses are higher and this is your primary source of income than you will have to adjust your expense rate. If you are just beginning to build your business and you have help or additional income to help you with your expenses then you can be a little more lenient. Your base cost should be this number and you should build the remainder of your piece’s cost from there

  • {rent, electricity, gas, etc, I add my etsy/paypal/advertising fees into this amount }

 

Materials {always pay attention to what you use and how much. This will give you a great idea of what it takes to produce your art, and in my case helps me to avoid wasting}             

  • {clay, glaze, metals if you’re making jewelry, paints, resin…etc, glass eyes I buy or resin eyes I make.

One standard sized sculpted figure typically takes me 1 1/3 block of Sculpey Premo clay. These are between 2.77-3.00 each {depending on where you are-I don’t account for sales or promotional costs because I can’t guarantee I will always be able to get them at that price} if I gloss the piece, I add .30, if I paint it or do detail work with the paint I add .30 {Remember this is just materials and not time.}

  • Sometimes I will add little ‘trinkets’ to my pieces, for example miniature items or charms. These are things that I will make in batches. For example, it’s Valentine’s Day, and I have made a bunch of chocolate covered strawberries to add to figures. I can make a batch of 25 strawberries from one block of clay. So I will divide 3.00/25= so each strawberry will cost me .12 to make. The chocolate costs me .04, the headpin for the strawberry charm costs me .03 and the lobster clasp for the charm costs me .11  do you guys see where I’m going with this?

Let’s review what we have so far…

Say that I make a standard sized figure {glossed and painted} with an accompanying charm

4.00 + .30 + .30 + .30 = 4.90 {just materials} add that to your ‘expense’ 4.90 + 6.25 = 11.15

Let’s say that minimum wage is 12.50 an hour. I want to pay myself at least 12.50 an hour for labor. Add this to the amount above:

11.15 +12.50=23.65 Multiply this amount x2 and that will give you the wholesale price of 47.30 this is the base amount I must charge to by the skin of my teeth justify all other expenditures.

Theoretically for retail price it is the wholesale x2 so 47.30 x 2= 94.60

Ooooh… but here is where it gets a little sticky, because the more time it takes you to create a piece the greater its value, right? Not necessarily. I have not yet been able to charge what I am calculating retail to cost to be. I auctioned a piece off, and got close. In the meantime, wholesale lets me stay in business. Replenish what I have used and hopefully put money back into my business.

When I am trying to figure out what to charge, ultimately I have to take into account….’factors’ {seriously, that should be a four-letter word.} “What is a factor?” These are those annoying little things that effect what we can charge vs. what we want to charge.

Some examples of factors would be: Competition {take a look around you… see what some artists are getting for their work. I’m not referring to Picasso or Dhali… but you and me. The little guy with the great big dreams {encouraging look of…encouragement} Find work that is similar to yours. If you are using an internet based storefront, browse around and check out the other stores.

Don’t look skin deep. Really get in there and see if they are making sales. There may be one person charging 150.00 or higher for one piece but if they are only selling 1-2 pieces a month. This is not the way to go, for me at least. On the other end of the scale, there may be an artist selling pieces for 10.50 and has 100 sales in a year. Still not going to cut it, I mean great for them =) but I personally want this to be a monetarily successful business, so I want to find out what people are willing to pay for what I have on a consistent basis.

I’ve looked all over at everyone I can find… I’ve checked out as many online stores/sales that I can seek out who carry anything even similar to what I have. I write to the artists. It is probably one of the most educational and simple things I can do. Most of them are extremely helpful. Only twice have I run into artists who are so fiercely protective of their methods they’d sooner plaster their eyes closed than to give me information. But no worries, life goes on. I fell in love with the majority of the artistic community and I want to pay it forward.

Back to competition. I’m not going lie… there are a couple of people out there who can’t have their stuff up for 5 minutes before someone snatches it.. I’ve seen customers have bidding wars over their art... I’m talking 3-400.00 for one piece! This is my goal…seriously.

I know it sounds terrible but on more than one occasion I have just been beside myself wondering ‘why aren’t these same people wanting my stuff and paying that price? My art is just as nice as theirs.’ The answer is semi-simple. These people have worked their tushies off and in the process gained a fan-base {nothing but respect for these amazing artists} we’ll get into that later… back to factors.

Buyer’s Remorse… that’s an icky one. The more money a person pays for something, the higher their expectations, as they should be.  If they buy something from me and this ‘something’ shows up at their door in anything less than perfect condition, then the buyer will lose faith in me and I will have lost that customer for life. You don’t want this to happen. Word of mouth can go a long way, especially in the art world.

No worries!! Your talent and beautiful artwork captured their attention. So much so, they gave you money for it and that is a wonderful thing! Now it is time to capture their hearts. Because this is an area that we can really shine!  There are so many little touches you can give your packages for very little expense, and this can mean the difference between one time buyer and repeat customer!! There are lots of factors that can apply. It is up to you to figure out which ones will impact you/your business the most. In the long run, it will be the little things that keep people coming back. Be sure that you don't skimp on the little things. Take the time to talk to people who have questions. You never know who you are talking with or what connections they have. If you make a great impression, chances are they will get your name out there. That is exactly what you want. 

When I package my pieces, I use gift boxes. I get them in bulk either from the dollar store, or www.Uship.com great shipping stuff in bulk by-the-way. I decorate my gift boxes, something simple like glitter-tape that color coordinates with my business cards, a ribbon or seasonal fun from the dollar store… I love the dollar store… I add fun tissue paper and a personal hand-written note, and ‘TA-DA!’ It feels like a real treat when they are opening their packages. What a nice surprise for them! I like opening gifts..Don’t you?

I don’t add the cost of the shipping materials to the purchase price of the piece itself. I add it into the shipping cost. I add the box < 1.00 depending on where I get it, .05 for the tissue paper {if I get a box of 20 from the dollar store} .05 for the ribbon or glitter tape. It is inexpensive for me. It is a little extra effort on my part, but this is what I want to do. I am sending a small part of my soul that I created and I want the new owner to treasure it as much as I do.

I hope this is helpful to those of you who are struggling with the idea of pricing your art for sale. For me, this venture has been a most humbling journey. I hope that in some way you will have benefited from my mistakes, and found this material useful. Your feedback is always welcome.

Remember, you are a beautiful and creative soul, truly a gift among people. Here’s hoping you all have a wonderful week full of fresh ideas and inspiration.

As always, until next time,

XO ~Alicia, LDA

 

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Getting started... Creating LDA

     For me, beginning my own business was something I sort of 'fell' into. I was feeling pretty lost over the summer. My art has always been a kind of 'blankie' for me, so I began to draw again. For fun one day my daughters and I went to the craft store and bought a block of clay to come home and play with.

Wow, it was like finding a new land to explore. We played that night, mostly just to see what we could come up with. After a few hours in between making dinner and getting the girls off to bed, I realized that no matter where in the house I was, I wanted to have that little wad of clay in my hands. 

I sat down and got to work. Trying one thing after another. I played and folded, squished and molded until I created, what I thought to be an adorable little horse. The next day I showed my husband and girls. It was so exciting to see little 'creatures' seem to come to life as I molded them. 

I was sometimes overly excited to show them to people. I wanted to hear their feedback and what improvements I could make. People really seemed to like them, enough to pay me money to make them one. At first I was just happy that someone else wanted something that I had created. But these gifts started to add up. So when someone would ask for one, I would only charge them enough money to pay for the materials to make a creature for them. It was great for a while. It wasn't very long before I realized this was something I could really bury myself in. I went to local boutiques and offered them samples to have in their shops. I posted on FB. I made a page dedicated to my art. Then I got frustrated with the lack of interest. "what happened? I thought. "Wan't this the way it is done?" I took the page down. Beginning to get depressed that I had not become an overnight success. I had not realized that the people that are out there making a reasonably decent amount of money, have been doing this for years. I had wanted it pretty much right away. 

I researched names on the computer. I thought of so many. It really amazed me to see just how many names I thought were original only to find out they were already taken! I wracked my brain for days. I would pester my friends with various examples to see what they thought. It wasn't until one night that I was up particularly late working with my clay, I set it all aside and decided to go to bed. Somewhere in the middle of the night I thought up the name LemonDropsArt or LDA. It was perfect and exactly what I wanted. I was afraid to look. There were a couple of things but nothing that matched exactly. It was so close...I had to check if it was too close. I asked an attorney {the one I'm married to} We looked deeper into it and it was available {insert cheesy smile here} I decided it was a good idea to trademark my name and so I filled out an application, a pretty lengthy process but relatively straight forward. You can find/fill out an application for your trademark at www.uspto.gov Viola!! The LDA was born.

 I had business cards made and left them EVERYWHERE. I opened a shop on Etsy, and waited. For the time, my big sister was my biggest customer. She bought just about everything I could make. I started putting things up on ebay, and waited. I would check everyday and see...nothing...Finally I decided to 'take a walk around Etsy' I Favorited one lady's shop, who made similar creatures to me. I messaged her just to introduce myself. I looked at her shop even deeper and realized she had SEVERAL sales under her belt. "LIGHT" I asked her what her secret was. {This was the first correct thing I had done during this whole thing} She was WONDERFUL. I am still one of her biggest fans and we still keep in touch =) She taught me about patience. She shared with me her trials of when she first started and it was because of her, I opened a new FB page for my art. I no longer focused on how many people my posts were reaching. I was focusing on the content of my posts. Gradually more and more people were taking notice. Then one day *message* One of my figures sold to someone who WASN'T related to me! I was so excited! "I did it!! I did it!" I told myself all the way to the post office. 

There I realized a whole new set of expenses and issues. What is the best way to send my creatures? Which service is best? What about packing materials. I soon realized the serious lack of a well thought out plan. I sent the item off to it's new home and drove home with a mixture of euphoria and anxiety. 'Am I charging enough to compensate myself for the materials to make the figures and the cost of packaging and shipping them? I definitely wasn't adding in the time it took me to create something. Because honestly, at the time I think Michael Angelo could have finished the Sistine Chapel faster.  I had to recalculate everything. 

I had to really think about this. What should I  charge? What is reasonable?  I have yet to figure out exactly what is right. In fact there may not be a 'right' but I think I have at least discovered what is fair. I am finding that people want fair. They want to know they are getting something wonderful for their hard-earned money. They want to know that they are not being taken advantage of. People are you, and me. I put myself into their shoes and looked at it from that point of view. Taking into account my costs, and now I am able to account for time. {Since I am getting much quicker and improving on my skills} It isn't perfect yet. When I write to you again, I will share with you the formula that I found. It is really a wonderful way to calculate what I spend vs what I charge.

I am still new to this and I am by no means 'supporting' myself yet, but I have patience and I push myself everyday to learn more and to improve my skills. I cherish every tidbit of advice I have been given so far. 'Shoestring budget' is how I refer to myself. I love that phrase and I got it from one of my heroes Heather Wells {you can find her on youtube} 

My sculpts have come a long way from the 'rough little horse' in the beginning, and I am inspired by all of the other artists out there. There is SO much I still need to learn.  

I hope that I will create some form of impact on the world through art, in some way. Thank you for reading =) 

Until Next Time, 

Alicia 

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