New Experiment for Online Sales; Starting to Work Towards the Fall Shows
Time to get this show running again!
As I started to talk about previously, one of my goals for 2023 was to improve online sales for Alchemy Stones. Taking a leaf out of my wife's art endeavors online, I think it is time to produce some lower priced items that people can easily afford, and because they're lower price they invite being purchased in multiples.
Smaller finished stones. Sorry about the fuzzy picture...
So I'm developing a separate online version of our best sellers at shows and events which are small 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch stones that we sell for $6.00 each.
Is it really worth my while to take the time and effort to sit down and create $6 items? Absolutely! The objective here is to get things into people's hands and once they have a first-hand feel for them — just like it typically happens at shows — it is more likely that some of the larger pieces will sell, as well.
It may not happen right away, but "repeat buyers" is the name of the game.
Stones picked up during our recent trip to the Washington coast
During our recent trip out to the coast one of the things I was really on the lookout for were fairly consistently sized smaller stones that I can use precisely for this purpose. I managed to collect about 50 of them and that's going to be my starting point for this experiment.
I suppose you could argue that 50 times just $6.00 each is only $300.00 and how could that possibly be worthwhile? But that's okay. At this point I am just looking to stimulate some sales.
As for the time factor, once I get in the groove it only takes me about 5-6 minutes to paint each one. I'm also going to be able to save time with the listings because I am just going to list them by "dominant color," but without actually photographing every single stone individually, and creating a separate listing.
I see quite a few creative sellers on Etsy do this with "similar multiples."
Meanwhile, it's also time for me to get started on the work I will have for sale for The Fall and Holiday season. As mentioned last time, we just signed up for another show in November and an important part of creating a successful event is to have plenty of good items available for sale.
After all, "if you don't HAVE it, you can't SELL it!"
My wife's and my own work are becoming more and more intertwined, and we are even contemplating "rebranding" ourselves simply as "Sticks and Stones" purely for the purpose of doing shows. I'm the one who paints on stones and she's the one who builds Miniatures with sticks. Seems like a Worthy idea!
Stay tuned for more!
Thanks for visiting! Feel free to leave a comment, if you feel so inspired... engagement is part of what makes Hive such a cool venue!
If you enjoy painted rocks, do check out The Hive Rocks Project and help spread the word about Hive, while also being creative!
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