JPD Mom

I'm a Little Big Techno

October 7, 2008.

I spend a good amount of time on my computer in my office or at my studio at home.  I am not so sure I could function without my email or the Internets (heh heh you know what I mean?) that I use daily, okay….hourly...or more like checking email every five or um two minutes (yes I am checking as I write this).

I am always blown away when I meet someone that either does not utilize their computer.  I then find myself talking real slow when I interact with them.  Whether it be the checking files from home with GoToMyPC, checking emails at the park with my blackberry, shipping labels done on line, my digital camera, Twitter (follow me k?), voice mail, Photoshop, writing this blog, Facebook (okay snuck that in, not really for work), Linked In, really need I go on?

If you are not willing to embrace your inner-techno-nerd I say, "Shame on You!"  You want to just sit in your studio and hand paint every product you ship out?  Maybe take orders off your fax machine? Really? Hmmmm, doth protest too much no?

Are we going to Market?

August 18, 2008.

I get emails, I get phone calls I get questions....and I answer them.  Last week I got one more:

"Dear Jamie,

I have just recently started selling my artwork wholesale and I have been approached about maybe taking my things to the Dallas Market.  This is a dream of mine for my art to be in stores all over the place, but I am nervous about making that jump.  I get concerned about being able to keep up with the orders with two small children....."

Melissa Fischer of Fischtale Designs

Dear Michelle,

Moving On Up

Here is the thing, you either sell wholesale or you don't.  You need to jump in the fire, or not.  You won't know until you try, and I think you know that my response would be "Go For It".  I started with my first account with a three year old and a six month old - and I can say my kids lives did not suffer.  I painted on my kitchen table, I packed and wrapped the products and I hand delivered orders once a week to local stores.   My kids are fine, were fine, I raised good kids.  I worked during naps, I worked late at night, I made it work - you can make it work. 

A Show Room

I think the fact that someone wants to represent you is wonderful, finding a representative can be hard.  I had to search for sales reps, I never had one pursue me....okay one did, but NOT when I first started out.  Showrooms are good at selling and if you find a Representative that is passionate about selling your products - even better.

I would not worry too much a bout an explosion of orders, I have found that most companies that are in a show room grow slowly and pick up stores one at a time.  The only ones that grow in huge leaps and bounds are few and far between.  Being in a showroom does not usually mean overnight success, but if you get it - good for you.  The less selling I had to do the better, it left me time to create art and new products.  Realize your talent, and move forward with a rep - selling direct is hard, selling to stores is even harder.

A Missed Opportunity

Here is a little history about me and about my missed opportunity, and how I let my one chance pass me by.  I have always drawn cartoons, from a young age I have kept sketch books, made comic books, drawing all the time.  And, I have loved me some Walt Disney cartoons.  I have purchased the books, I have studied the animation, I was obsessed with Disney.  There is not a movie that was made by Walt Disney that I did not see.  My husband even took me for our first real date to Disneyland - I was hooked, I mean come on Disneyland! 

So, about a year into my stay at The Learning Company I got a call from Disney Interactive.  A head hunter had heard of me (me? he heard of me??) and wanted to see MY work, they wanted me to send MY portfolio and MY animation reel, someone had actually given them my name.  Do you know what I did, I said no thanks.  I said I did not want to leave the Bay area and move to Southern California.  I  called my husband and he said, are you crazy?  This has been your dream...call him back.  I did call the head hunter back and he was like, "oh, uh okay I guess you can send your stuff." 

I never got the job at Disney, I never heard back from them.  I got one chance and I passed, I blinked.  You only get one chance, and I blew my one chance.  If you do get a second chance, then go for it!  Most people do not get a second chance, but if you do - go for it!

Trust Yourself

So, the question you should ask yourself,  is more about whether you trust yourself and whether  you can handle the possibility of more sales.  Or, better yet are you ready for success?  You can succeed if you put your mind to it, and if you can't do all the art yourself, then you will hire more people to work for you.  Or you will figure out how to manufacture your products and make a larger profit than hand painting. 

I hope you took the jump, I hope you decided to take the risk.I never said no again, I have been asked by many a large company to sell my products and I have NEVER said no.  Having other opportunities missed, I have had some fall through the cracks, but never have I said no. 

Don't be afraid of success, be afraid of complacency. 

I look forward to following your success and ventures into wholesale accounts and new stores. 

Take care,

Jamie

 

Useful Tips & News

July 7, 2008.

I have been painting my fingers to the bones.  I had two huge deadlines this past week and to scramble to create a very large handful of prototypes - to say that I was stressed, would be an understatement.  Only time will tell whether any of these designs are going to see it to the market place or be accepted.  So, since I am missing blogging but can focus, I am getting some information out:

Support for the Mom Entrepreneurs

I got an email about a week ago about a support group for entrepreneurs that were mothers.  I joined and am excited to see what the group has in store.  It seems to be growing on a daily basis and I would like to think  it is going to be a great resource for many a business woman.  Here is the quick blurb:

The online Mom Entrepreneur Support Group offers tips, advice and resources for managing our daily hectic lives.  Members are invited to share their stories and advice on juggling motherhood and running a company.  They can also upload educational articles and other information they feel would benefit o other mom entrepreneur members.  In addition, the group is strictly moderated.  A list of rules has been established in order to keep members on track with the mission of the group.  If you are a Mom Entrepreneur and interested in joining us please click here and apply for membership.

The first topic was regarding getting work done while the kids are at home and everyone threw in ideas, inputs and suggestions - other than my suggestion that consisted of hiring a baby sitter or turning on the TV.  But, then again my children are older and I am not in the infant stage of raising them, or the infant stage of my business. 

Free Leads, or Publicity for Your Business

If you do not mind a few emails a day listing what stories reporters are writing, this is a great tool for you.  You can join the group here and the emails will start and start soon.  The email has a quick list of about 35 leads, and if you fill the need for one you can shoot out an email to the reporter.  I have not found a lead for me yet, but I figure it can't hurt and maybe today's email.  Another one I found, Role Mommy through the Silicon Valley Mom Blogs I write for, and it is a little more "focused" and manageable.  I belong to both.

Great Blogs We Should be Reading

While I was sleeping, er painting some blogs popped up, or I found some blogs while I was supposed to be painting, but I was goofing off...yes, that is more like the way it happened. 

If you need some inspiration and like to see what Shelly Kennedy has been up to since closing her wholesale division of Drooz Studio you can go here.  Make it a point in checking out her Flickr account -she has the most amazing photos....and looks like she throws the best parties! 

Another pioneer in the children's industry has also started a blog - Kelly Rightsell.  I have been a huge fan of Kelly's since the beginning and it nice to get a behind the scenes peek at her art and her family.

Lastly I have been following the humorous blog of a woman that makes t-shirts - Baby Brewing, hysterical, laugh out loud t-shirts.  Her blog is just as amusing, but be warned - you will laugh out loud and snort when reading.

News

Okay, so here goes.......I AM GOING TO BLOGHER!!!  I know right? Crazy?  Well, not so crazy it is going to be here in San Francisco and all, so how far will I have to drive? Twenty minutes tops?  I will hopefully figure the whole Twitter thing out so I can post, or I will blog at night.  I am looking forward to meeting some of my favorite bloggers and get all inspired about blogging.

Picking a Contract Apart

April 15, 2008.

To sign contracts or not sign contracts, now that is a good question.  I have signed many a contract in my day and no I am not an attorney, or an expert - these are  just a few things that have worked for me.   Some business owners believe that contracts are bad, and that they are all controlling, you'll sign your life away, etc.  I think they are good - they protect you, and the company you are going to work with.  Getting it in writing is a good thing, for everyone, and for the record, ALL contracts are up for negotiation.....ALL of them. 

Never assume that this contract is the one to die by and that you must sign and agree to all that the company is asking.  I have found that almost everything is up for debate, especially if you can state your case clearly (read without emotion).  If I find a section of a contract is ridiculous....er, I mean I disagree with it I will argue my case with facts, not emotinal out bursts.

I think with any contract you will want to sit on it for awhile, chew on it if you will.  I found that what sounded assinine and ass-back crazy when I first read, sometimes made sense after a few deep breaths and um a drink or two (kidding, no really drinking and signing contracts is a baaad idea).  Responding to an email or a contract for that matter in the "heat of the moment" never ends well.....I think I might have touched on this before.  Here are a couple "sticky" sections of contracts I have run into:

Exclusive Designs

This tends to get everyone all riled up and frothing at the mouth at the mere suggestions of exclusive designs.  Artists and authors alike tend to run for the hills at the mere mention of this, and I have been known to do the same.  Some contracts will demand that you create exclusive designs only to be sold in their store.  At first this sounds terrible, awful, you would never want to let them do this.....or maybe?  What if you were to create 5 exclusive designs? Or just two to try out the channel?  Could you create two designs - maybe just adjust the color on two of your best-sellers,  that you know will sell well.  Can  you negotiate some sort of exclusive arrangment with your product line? Or one product? 

I suggest you consider this as a possible "good thing" before giving them the hand and screaming NO (again, I may have done this).  Exclusive designs can mean a number of things, so ask questions.  How long do they own the designs?  Are they paying for them?  Can you re-work one of your old designs (psst, get out that best seller)?  What kind of coverage, PR or marketing will they do for your "exclusive creations"?  Will they give you credit, list you as the artist?  Could they license your art for a year to use on their product?  Could this get your products seen by millions of eyes in tons of stores? 

I work with large companies and I have done, and will continue to do exclusives.  I also have been paid to do them, and sometimes I have not been paid.  You may want to look at the big picture, the long term investment and the possible partnership for years to come.  For the record,  I have also said no to some exclusive designs.  This is strictly a personal decision, and I know some artists are adamant about not doing this - for me I feel, heck I am creative I can think of something else to do.

Exclusive Sales

Now....if we are taking exclusivity, like their website/catalog/physical store has ALL your  products and you can NOT sell them anywhere else.  Or better yet you can not sell them direct, not even list them on your own personal site.....uh ya that would be a NO.  This is a bad idea, a bad business decision and an overall losing situation for you.  I would never agree to this, and you can quote me on this.  If this were in a wholesale agreement I was signing I would strike this and say I refuse this, no matter what the circumstance was.  I have been asked to do this and I refused - in most cases (all but one website) they were okay with this.

This "All or Nothing" contract is put in place to intimidate new artisans and to try and lock them into a contract that they can not break.  Even some sales representatives have been known to try this manuever.......it just reeks of intimidation.  I would not trust a company that did this.  I would give them the benefit of the doubt, say no and wait and see - let them be the one to explain this. 

Mistakes, Bloops & Blunders

Some contracts have strict guidelines and requirements for fixing errors, and they may assume the worst of us artisans.  If you run into some sort of crazy demand, just state your case, and don't agree to it - because you will make a mistake some day.

There will be mistakes, sometimes by me, sometimes by the customer and sometimes the sales channel that sold our product.  I would like to think (and brag) that we never make mistakes - we ussually catch them before they go out the door.....but sometimes we do screw up.  When we do make a mistake, we first apologize, next we make it a priority to get it done ASAP and out the door.  We do not believe in charging for this - it was our mistake, and we need to make it right.  And....if the customer needs it by a certain day, then by golly we ship it two day or overnight and eat the cost.  I believe good customer service is really important - especially these days.

Now, let's just say that the customer or the channel made the mistake, and want us to replace it. We will try and get it out quickly, and we will be understanding and sympathetic.  However, they will pay for the replacement, they will pay for shipping, drop shipping - we will not eat the costs for the "wrong" product (note this is why we put this in our wholesale documents).  This is not negotiable, most of our products are personalized - and we can not re-use your son's birth certifcate with the name Nebulon Zolar (you think I am kidding, we did get a Nebulon!).

In some rare instances it is both our faults, a mis-communication, or just a big times "OOPS!".  We work with the channel or the customer to make sure we are both happy with the outcome.  We can split the cost, we can let them pay for shipping, or work out an agreement.  I never try and blame the customer, I too have made mistakes when ordering gifts - and if we made an error to boot - it just feels better to "work" with them and move on.  We have even had breakage (I know shocking since all our products are ceramic) and had to file a claim with our carrier.  Again, we need to get paid, and get a new product to customer.

Can You Include a Brochure?

Some companies ask that we include some literature or invoices with the products we drop-ship.   We consider any addtions to our packaged product "kitting".  Kitting can include any of the following things; sticker on box, post card in with order, gift message, invoice included or even gift wrapping.  Some channels ask us to put their name on the return address even.  These things are all fine by me - it is branding for their company.  I seriously don't mind it one bit.    I think this is good business, and shows that this company (that is selling your products) know how to market their company to the consumer,  market your products - they know how to get the next sale.

Some artisans balk at this, they even flat out refuse to do it.  I don't know why.  It really only takes a small amount of time to ensure the customer knows where they purchased the product.  And, hopefully if they like it they will go back their and buy your product again. 

However, as easy going as we are about kitting we will not do everything asked of us.I do not allow the boutique to claim they created it, or put a sticker on my product saying where it was purchased.  When I was a "newbie" I was not minding this as much - I just wanted sales.  Now I feel that they can and should get the sale at the end of the day - but give me some credit as the artisan who made it.  We have spent our money on branding, PR, marketing, heck key words alone.....give me the credit I deserve.

The End of the Day

I believe it all boils down to how you want to run your business and whether you want to work with large companies.  Everything in life has a trade off, and if working with larger companies means giving up some of freedom - so be it.  I am willing to do it, I actually prefer the larger companies because they are ussually established, flush with cash, get PR, have marketing and advertising dollars and ussually pay on time.  You may enjoy working with the customer direct, or small boutiques, or craft fairs - just what you want to do with your time.

Not every contract is cut and dry, good or bad, black and white.  Some contracts you will have to really question, read thorougly and even have an attorney review before signing.  I would like to think that I have always (ya right!) made well thought out decisisions.  Just don't assume the contract is non-negotiable, and to quote my husband, "You don't know the answer until you ask the question." 

A Dear Jamie Letter....

February 15, 2008.

I swear I am trying to keep up with the blog, but this cold has knocked me out for sure.  Apparently I did not get it as bad as everyone else in my neck of the woods and I am STILL coughing and a sneezing.  So, lazy (please read very busy) me thought I would answer Joy's question:

"I am a relatively new manufacturer and on my first solicitation of a showroom, I was picked up....however....the showroom owner made me rush to get my product to Atlanta for the January gift show because it's the biggest show of the year, blah, blah, blah....after the show was over I had only two orders.  I did not make my money back from the shipping and basically no profit...NOW....it's time to pay my second installment for the $75 showroom fee, but there are no sales coming in and I want out of the contract...is this normal?"

Oooooh, tough one, okay I am going to be honest with a little of what happened with me and my company and then some thoughts.  I like to always ask the person, "Do you want my advice or do you want me to agree with you?" Since you asked and I can not get this computer thing to talk back.....I shall give advice.  Just so we are on the same page:

If You Wonder "What is a Show Room?"

A Show Room is a place where your products can be on permanent display (vs. a temporary display when you exhibit at a show) with the representatives that are representing your line can have stores, websites, catalogs, come and see and touch your products.  It is like a retail store for retailers to find new products.  Usually you will have some collateral, or catalogs to go with the product line and it will all be placed together in an attractive setting.  The show room can charge a fee, and will get at least 15% of all sales - sales for the stores they pick up for you.  There are show rooms in all the major markets - San Francisco, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Texas.....I think that is it.

If you get a good sales representative they will go after stores for you, they will show your line to large department stores that you may not be able to get into.  It can be a good thing and well worth the money also if you want to get your products into the hands of people in other states - states you do not plan on exhibiting at.

Hidden Fees And Store Samples

We do work with show rooms, and our products can be found in a few show rooms around the country.   We have had good experiences and bad ones.  Maybe the next post I can tell a few tales about what we experienced.  Here are a few fun facts about show rooms:

• You will send samples to the show room and you will pay to ship the samples.  The samples are still yours, they are on loan to the show room.  They will not pay for these samples.
• You need to send some collateral; post cards, catalogs, line sheets - something that the possible customer (retail store) can take away with them.
• You will pay a 15% fee on everything they sell for you - every store they pick up for you.  The fee is for the initial opening order (usually it runs from $200 to thousands, depending on the product line).
• You may be asked to pay a rental space fee for them to exhibit your line in the show room.
• You may be asked to pay a fee when they have a show, this can be quarterly or twice a year, depending on the show room and the location.
• Some sales representatives do not have show rooms, they just travel from store to store to try and sell your products to the store.
• You will sign a contract and agree to not solicit any stores in the territory they cover.  This can range from just one state to possibly five states.

Would You Please Cover Your Butt

If you are going to have your products in a permanent show room, now is a good time to get those wholesale documents finished.  The documentation should state shipping costs, wholesale costs, product descriptions,  minimum opening orders, re-orders - put it in writing.  Shipping costs should be set up as soon as you start a business.

Show Rooms can be great if you want to get your products into other parts of the country and if you do not like calling on new stores.  Some good show rooms have named accounts that they continually go to year after year with their product line.  It helps to make the Show Room an ally of yours, work with them, help them better sell your product and take their advice.  We found that show rooms that carried our "non-personalized" products did better than ones with only personalized products. 

I personally like the show rooms I work with - but I wish I picked up more stores from them. Some of our super-large accounts that I have, I would not have without the show rooms I am in.  These department stores would not even consider my products, had I not been in a show room.

In the End

I would say that after only one "show" you do not have a real feel for whether the show room is a  good fit for you.  I would stick it out for at least a year so you have a good idea of how much the cost of acquiring sales is - because it can be expensive.  Picking up two stores and you just got in the show room is not that bad.  It is only been one month and getting out of a contract this soon does not seem like a wise decision.

You may want to consider calling the show room and seeing if they could waive the fee, or ask to speak with another company that they represent - to get a feel for the success of the reprentatives there.  It may be that even though January is "the show" your products may do better at the July show, or at a smaller apparel show.  It is important to note that paying a fee of $75 to be in a show room is much cheaper than the $3000 it would cost you just to rent your own booth.  Or if you want to spend your time emailing and calling stores - instead of making products, then maybe a show room is not for you.

To put the costs in perspective you may want to remember running a business costs money - starting a business costs lots of money.  There are so many hidden costs that you probably did not even think of when you started out.  The saying, "It takes money to make money" is so true - especially with a small business owner.  You may not make the money back right away, but you need to ask yourself if it is worth it?  Is the show room a good show room? Have you sold anything else?  All sales from the stores that the sales rep picked up need to be included in the "is it worth it?" questions.  And it make take months or even years till you see the benefits.     

Ask The Magic Eight Ball.....and some Winners!

January 31, 2008.

Um, I would like to know where January went?  Really, I know I was a ranting and a raving how I hated this month, blah blah - it was bad.....but where did it go?  I just turned around and saw my holiday cards were finally put away and BAM it is February.  I have to say I have no idea what I wasted the last 30 days doing either - no really, not a clue....and now I need to have 22 hand-made valentines made by February 4th.  Oh, and my lovely off-spring are home sick with fevers....nice.

Carrie Sommers of Sommer Designs asked a question on an earlier post, "One thing I'd like addressed is - how and where to do you find the wholesale customers, other than exhibiting at a trade show?" 

Research, Research, Research

I would not suggest a trade show at this point - if you check this post out you can see how much money you would need to spend to make it profitable.  Not to say it may not be worth it down the road, but when just starting out - sales calls don't cost much.  If you know a store that you like you can call them and get the buyer to at least listen to your pitch.  I was lucky, the first store I approached said yes - but others I had to ask over and over, and over.

My advice to you is to do your research, and you can start in your backyard.....well, um not  literally, maybe down the street.  Start with shops in your neighborhood that look like they might sell your "type" of product.  Find stores that have similar (not the same) product and call them, or send an email, or put a mailer together.  Once you have some confidence, then you can move out of state - again, Google is the best tool for this.  Local stores will probably breathe a sigh of relief, since they will have you near by, and shipping will not be so costly.

Most stores these days have great websites, or at least store front images and you will know if the store 'looks' like a store you would like to sell your wares.  This takes a lot of time, and you will need to follow up.  Do not get frustrated when you have ten doors slammed in your face.....just move on and think 'that was not a good fit'.  If you stick with the mantra "I can not be everything to everybody" you will not feel so bad when  store says no. 

Lastly, tell people, put it on your blog, put it on your site (note to self, I should have these up on my sites).  One of our largest orders we got from samples was due to a friend of my husband's who lives 1/2 way across the country - she saw a cute store and sent me an email to approach them about sales.  Oh, try and develop a thick skin (hard for us creative types, I know) and do not take it personally, when a store declines.  I always think of a conversation my then 4 year old son had with his Dad while walking to nursery school;

Grant, "Daddy see that girl up there""

Daddy, "Yes, what is her name?"

Grant, "Ginger"

Daddy, "Is Ginger your friend?"

Grant, "Not yet... but she will be."

Ladies & Gentlemen (okay there were no gentlemen) We Do Have Some Winner's

 Step right up and claim your price....hurry these prizes are going fast!  I know a tad bit confusing that I have a Circus Plaque photo - but I did not have a ring leader's painting to show you, these are the Martini Coaster Winners.

The sooner you email me your address the better - here are the winners for the Martini Coaster Give Away:

Carrie S, Aurelia, Cecilia, Jody, Jen, London E (who commented twice, now do you really need me to send two sets?), Maggie, Debbie P and Lisa - congratulations and thanks for taking them from me.  I actually have 3 sets left - anyone else want them?  Comment? Email? You can do anything, I may just go start flinging them at my Fed Ex and UPS drivers when they arrive to pick up our shipments.  Don't make me do it, I swear I will.

Married to an Entrepreneur - Darin Lentzner

January 30, 2008.

So.....I have officially run out of entrepreneurs (I am a tad short, but when I get the interviews from them I will post, I have two left), and um my husband said he would be interviewed.    Okay I did not run out, but I am a tad short of twelve.  At first I thought he was kidding when he suggested I interview him, and then I thought it would be educational to see how he views my life.  And for the record these are not the exressed views of JPD Mom, or me, just my husband - so be kind, just in case he is not....

He gives an interesting perspective on what it is like to be married to one of "us".  I was afraid to read his and answers when he first did this for me, I am relieved that though he is honest, I do not come out looking too crazy, or anal or uh, too stressed.

I do have ten, maybe more - winners for the Martini "we are totally mocking you Jamie" coasters - I think I have twelve sets....so I will anounce the winners tomorrow.  I apologize for not doing it sooner, but I was on a vacation (sort of) and did not have the best coverage.

I give you the husband and "biggest supporter" behind Jamie's Painting & Design, please meet Darin Lentzner:

My husband, My backbone

My initial thought when you started Jamie's Painting & Design was that you were crazy - our  daughter was only about 5 months old and our son was barely out of diapers.  Knowing how you do not like to feel out of control, and that you believe that you need to be personally see every task to completion, I was not sure that you would be able to handle it mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Ch-Ch-Changes

The challenge early was trying to get your business of the ground, while bringing our kids through those early development stages.  For any business to succeed you need to give all your available time and energy to ensure the success.  As our children have gotten older, and are now firmly established in Elementary School, your available mind share towards the business has grown.  In addition, you made a  commitment to establish the infrastructure for a successful business (structure, processes, and a commitment to the customer).

You are in a better position today for expansion of your business lines.  An example of this is your current drive to build a licensing portfolio*.  While you are actively working on this, the rest of your production continues with out skipping a beat.  Your brand is running on it's own by picking up more stores.  Your existing channels are coming back to you for more products, themes, and exclusives.  And your direct customers are coming back to you for repeat business.

Your Role in the Business

When you started the business, I was the accountant, shipping clerk, production, sales and cheerleader.  Or course I had full-time job, so these tasks were my late evenings, and weekends.  This was tough because as your channels grew, so did your orders, making my "work days" (and yours) longer.

As your business started to grow, your father started to become more involved, learning the production side, and reducing my workload.  In addition, you were able to hire people to do the shipping while you developed your sales skills ( you have done a great job learning a process that is not just related to art).  finally, I was about a year late in asking your mother (she is an accountant by trade) to take over accounting.  After 3 years of managing your business financials, I was fast becoming a fish out of water.

Today I am still your biggest fan and cheerleader.  However, my contribution to JPD is in the background as your editor (sometimes), and your non-emotional voice of reason.  I do back fill on production, and shipping when needed.  Now, I am completely removed, as it should be, from the accounting side.

The Worst Part of My Job

My least favorite part of your job is seeing you deal with channel partners who have no idea what they are doing as a business.  When I see them think that their orders are the priority, rush to judge who is at fault for an error and then don't say thank you when they realize you had nothing to do with the problem.

The Affects on Our Home Life

Early on the business was our home life.  All business functions were conducted from our home.  Fed Ex came every day for pickups and deliveries.  We had employees coming through the front door of our home, the side garage door into the studio.  Let's face when you work out of the home, you never leave the office.  Now, with your business in an industrial park for over two years, our home life is home life and family time means spending time together and with with our children.  We have that needed separation, so that kids do not grow to resent your business - because it is overwhelming to the family as a whole.

The Importance of a Supportive Husband

Supporting your decision to start your own business came naturally (not sure why a husband would  not be supportive at the beginning.  You had always said that you did not want to be a full-time stay at home mom, who could possibly lose her identity in her children.  What made it easier for me as time went on was your commitment to building your business for the long-term, and to try and make a "quick buck".  You had a vision, and you wanted to apply your talent to bring joy to children.

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Phew, he did not make me sound too crazy.  This is him, um ya to the right - we are STILL in the snow.  I would not be where I am today with out his unconditional support.  It looks like someone is enjoying himself.....

*Well, guess the cat is sort of out of the bag, I had not mentioned licensing yet.  I will let keep you posted on this - we have (as in ME have) begun working on expanding this part of the business.  Our first products will be available....next week!  And you know I can not keep a secret, so I will keep you posted.

Ask And You Shall Receive

January 24, 2008.

Deciding what to charge for your product is a very tough thing for any entrepreneur to do.  I mean, this is your "baby" you are putting out there for all to see, all your blood, sweat and tears wrapped up in that thing.  I have touched on this before, and I am sure I will talk about it again.....with the economy down and gas prices rising - prices are going to have to increase.

Jennifer Sauselein, owner and artist of Titania & Puck asked in the comment section, "How did  you finally decide what to charge for your products in terms of retail/wholesale pricing?"

Wholesale vs. Retail*

*Just for the record if you sell a product wholesale to a sales channel, the sales channel has the power to double or even triple the price.  I know this can be hard for artisans to understand, but it is the way it works.  We worked with a number of gift catalogs a few years ago and not only did they triple our price (we sold for $10.00 and they priced it at $30.00) but they also waited 90 days to pay us.

Those that sell direct and those that sell wholesale have their own opinions on the subject.  Some are very adamant about NOT going the wholesale route for fear of losing the rest of their profits to a sales channel, others refuse to sell direct.  Truth is I do both, I have always done both.  I make no apologies for it and I am happy with my decision.  That being said a few things that would not have happened, had I not decided to sell wholesale:

1. I would not have my products featured on the Ellen DeGenneres Show, The CBS Early Show,   ABC's Extreme Make Over Home Edition, The Wall Street Journal, Country Living Magazine, The View from the Bay, The San Francisco Chronicle.....need I go on?
2. I would not have had the opportunity to work with so many amazing entrepreneurs that agreed to re-sell my products.  My products are sold all over the country.
3. I would still be hand painting my products, alone in my garage/studio and invoicing and delivering or shipping products all alone.
4. I saw my sales double year after year, due to wholesale, not direct.
5. I never would have had the advertising dollar, the customer base, or the knowledge to grow my business year after year doing it direct.
6. You would never know who I was, or care to read this blog.

This is just me - but this is the truth and I can say it is the secret to my success (or over saturating the web, you pick!).  Wholesale has put me on the map - direct sales are great, and I tended to be a hit at certain parks ("oooh were you the one that knows Vicki Bodwell?")  I come from the Software/Gaming Industry and I used to work with some amazingly talented artists and designers.  Now I might not have always got along with them (shut up, I know shocking  you thought I was soooo easy going), I still had respect for them and it was a very, very creative environment to work in. 

The last company I worked for had over 200 employees (if my memory serves me right) at our Fremont campus.  I would interact with 15 to 30 people on a daily basis.  I like interaction with people, I like to talk and I like to work with lots of different people from all over.  I like feedback, I like developing products with input from others - working in a vacuum does not work for me.

The Price is Right

Oh, figuring out what to charge can be a tough thing - but not really when you look at the facts.  My  husband forced me to do this with one of our latest products - it was not a fun process, let me tell you.  It is painful to look at these numbers, let me take you on a journey and show you what I mean.*

*And know I made these numbers up for argument sake, this is not what I do, or what I pay - but really, raw goods cost money!

• The raw material you put your art on (wood, canvas, ceramic tile, toilet paper): $3.00
• Any added "details" like ribbon, rhinestones, glitter, etc. : $1.00
• The paint you use (acrylics, oil, spray, water colors, finger paints): $2.00
• The time it takes you or your artist to make it (let's say 1 hour): $10.00 an hour (this would be a $20.00 an hour job if you live in California or New York)
• Packaging you have around your product (it has to be shipped or delivered): $1.00

For arguments sake you are already out $17.00 for making the product and that is minus profit.  So do you double that and sell it at $34.00 wholesale, meaning it will probably retail for $65.00 or $70.00?  Those would be pretty good margins right?  But wait, what if you find competitors selling the same "type" of thing for $50.00?  Ore even $40.00?  Is that company taking less profit? Are they buying in bulk, saving 1/2 of the raw materials you bought at the local craft store?  If you think your product is really worth $70.00 but no one is willing to pay for it....I get it, I know how hard you work on it, but um, you have to see what the market is willing to pay.  I believe that the store owners, catalogs and website owners deserve the other 50% they get for advertising, stocking, and marketing your product (but again, that is just me).

The best advice I can give is you need to do your research and charge what others are charging.  Now if you say no one does what you do, or has anything like what you have - my initial response is really, um that is doubtful - no idea is original, even I know that.  I am sure you can find something similar out on the old Internet (pssst...use Google).  If your  margins are anywhere  from 30% to 50% or higher-you are lucky.  If you are in the camp of "not charging enough" then you need to charge more.  Go find ways to save money, on inventory, raw supplies, shipping, salaries - do something.  Go on line - buy in bulk, buy your raw goods wholesale too - that craft store is ripping you off!

The Past

I started off charging way too little for my products, I was so not paying attention to margins.  I was also doing everything and not paying anyone so I was like - woo hoo $80.00 dollars!  Now that was waaaaay back in the day, and I have learned, oh I have learned my lesson.  Selling on line and selling all over the country and seeing what others (just  a few at the time and no ceramic letters even existed back in 2002) were selling personalized products helped me price my products.  Then as I got more savvy I started to look at all my costs and realize I had to raise prices and I could not get by on $4.95 for shipping and handling......another blog post (I strongly believe in - handling fees!)

If you would like more information on this topic, you can get a great book at Amazon - it should help.  Or, well you know - shoot me a comment and give me some feedback....you know how I love that!

Advice for Small Business Owner

January 11, 2007.

"We are ready on camera one, standing by, we are live and on one - two - three - you are on the air!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, this investigative reporter has had the good fortune of visiting Jamie's Painting & Design this afternoon.  We are here to tell you the secrets, the tricks of the trade, the tools she uses to crush her competition.  I welcome you to take a tour of this company and learn how you too can be a mulit-gazillionaire like this little lady" (ha ha ya right, just seeing if you were paying attention!

I am envisioning a Ron Burgundy type from Anchor Man.....hence the little painting I whipped out this afternoon, his quotes were so in my head as I was um, painting.  Not the best use of my time I know, but it only took 15 minutes...anyhoo, I have some advice for those starting a business, or growing  it, or just curious, I hope it helps.  I am hoping to keep listing things that worked, and even touch on what did not work (yessss, I have a long list of things I did wrong too!).

Do You Google?

Do you exist in the blogophere? The internet?  Anywhere?  The yellow pages?  Trade Magazines? Newspapers?  TV Shows?  Is your company out there?  How do you know?  Seth Godin reccomends you try this out, and I agree - google your name and see what comes up.  I would take it a step further and  google your company name and see if you show up. 

If someone is looking for your company on line they should be able to find you very easily, but this is not the case for all companys.  Some companys I can not find, I just type in the company name into google and the website does not even come up - how can that be possible?  This is one of the easiest ways to market your company, get exposure and be found....you DO want customers, fans and reporters to find you, right?

I don't know much about hard coding, buying key words, organic search, or anyalytics - I hear these words and my eyes glaze over.  But, I have been using google regularly for years - and I have found some interesting (I am so lucky it has always been good) blogs, websites, even articles I was quoted in by doing a search.  I have also found websites with errors, I have found discontinued products and even some great reviews on my products, and kind words about my blog.  You can easily get your name out there by doing a number of things:

You can get your name, company name and blog by commenting on other blogs.  If you  commented on my blog, then search your name you will come up, with all of your information.  Search engines are tracking blogs at an amazing rate these days - don't be afraid to comment. 

Do you ask other company's to list your company name? Your name?  Do you ask your customers to write a positve review on your company?  Do you submit your products to popular e-zines, blogs, trade magazines?  Newspapers? Yes, this can take time, and yes it is worth it - I bet that is how you found this blog.  I never took marketing or business classes - but I do know to succeed you have to be able to be found!

Go on people - get your company and your name out there.

Isn't Your Baby on a Schedule Yet?

If you are a small business owner and especially a mother - get on a schedule.  It is just like when your baby was 2 months old and everyone was telling you to get that child on a schedule, children like routines - so does your business.  It makes you productive, it makes you run like McDonald's - and it gives your customers an idea of what to expect.

We are big on schedules - we make our tiles on Thursday, every Thursday that is what we do.  We  ship on Tuesday and we ship on Friday.  We ribbon tiles on Monday, we do shipping labels on Friday, we kit all of our orders on Wednesday, we invoice after we ship - that would be Wednesday morning.  I have told my channels these things, I have told my customers, my friends, my children's teachers my "schedule".  Everyone that works here works on certain days, certain hours - very boring, possibly - but predictable.  Now, yes during the "Holiday-Crazy-Pull Your Hair Out-Oh my Gosh ANOTHER Order" time of the year we adjust the schedule and we all work over time.  This has also given me the freedom to take time off, volunteer regularly in my children's class and NOT miss important events.

If you are doing everything yourself, you need a schedule worse than a company with employees.  Trust me on this - try getting on a schedule for a week, a month - it makes life that much easier.  How will you know when it is time to hire employees?  Order supplies?  If you just run a fire drill around every order (been there, done that - for one whole, okay almost two years) that comes in you will never grow, you will never expand and you will probably cry alot (you know I been there!)

Do You Want the Whole Enchilada

If you are going to sell wholesale - you need some documentation to go with your products.  I am very anal, over-organized and detail oriented - so this has never been a problem for me.  I do not know what other companies do - I just know what has worked for me.  I find that the more information you give, the less dumb.....I mean interesting questions you will get.  When writting up wholesale documents, at the very least do include the following:

• Your contact information
• Your requirements; do you take cash? Checks? Credit Cards? Is 30 days net okay?
• What are your turn around times - be HONEST!  You need to know what you can do
• What do they need to do to carry your line?  Pay for samples? Carry inventory?
• What is shipping costs?  Make sure and check this out - we lost our shirt our first year.
• Do you take RUSH orders?
• Do you take custom orders?
• How shall they describe your product  - if you dont' tell them they will make it up!

Our wholesale documents are very detailed, with tons of information about what we will and won't do, what we require and we list all of our product descriptions.  I have been told by some it is over kill, but do know I don't get many questions, it is all laid out  for the buyer to see.

Can We Play Telephone?

Get a seperate land line - I can NOT stress this enough.  Get a good phone system, and especially a proffesional voicemail system.  You do not want to have dropped calls, voicemail that comes in three days after the fact, or a dead cell phone.  If you run your business off your cell phone um, you wont' be listed in the Yellow Pages, you will NOT be listed in information - come on now!  You do not want to get a call from a big sales channel while you are at Johnny's baseball practice - you just don't.  A separate line for the business is key - it is the difference between a real business and a hobby.

If anyone else has any little nugget of information, tips or tricks....drop me a line, give a comment, I would love to know more.....information is GOOD!

 

Working in a Small Business

November 6, 2007.

A good friend of mine suggested, or demanded (kidding) I give some photos of a "Day in the Life" here at Jamie's Painting & Design.  It sounded like a great idea until no one wanted to be in the photos that I took.  Everyone sort of ducked and made me promise to cut their faces out...sheesh.

So this little photo tour of Jamie's Painting & Design is going to be missing some parts, please feel free to use your imagination - everyone was a model in a past life, we are all VERY good looking:

Sweets & Treats

I usually don't start buying snacks, fruit and candy till after Thanksgiving - a little pick me up when you have tiles coming out of your....well you know.  I don't know what happened this year, but I just kept buying snacks, and drinks (no not THOSE kinds of drinks), and more snacks - and then Halloween candy showed up at our local store in like August....had to get me some of that!  Anyhoo, if you were here working these would be in the break room for you, along with fruit, soda and water in the fridge.

Stocking Products

This is our first entire year of having some products that are not personalized.  We try to keep them in stock so that they can just be ribboned (I know not a real word) and shipped.  We have started adding stock to our weekly duties, slowly but surely we hope to have enough stock ready to go at a moments notice.  These coasters, ornaments, gift tags and frames are just waiting to be ribboned and assembled.

Assembling the Products

All of our products need some sort of assembly, oh wait not the plates.  We love when we get those orders - take the order, make the plate, make the shipping label, ship it.  Everything else needs ribbon, or backings or rhinestones glued to it.   With over 251 different product designs and ribbon choices to go with that - we need someone that knows all our products.  I am so lucky to have a family friend (retired) who I have known my whole life to own the 'assembly' of our products.  And did I mention fast?   I have not timed her yet, but she has been known to ribbon, rhinestone, glue and back over 200 tiles on any given day.

End of the year, our poor ribbon is a mess.  This is only a third of the ribbon we have ready to use on our products.  We have two other similar ribbon holder thingies on the other side of the ribbon section.

Shipping Our Products

Our shipping department is not state of the art - but it is organized.  I can still remember when I was in our garage at home and using a garbage can full of Styrofoam peanuts and a coffee can to fill up our boxes for shipping.  Things have changed for sure, and for the better.  We ship twice a week, giving us a schedule and the ability to RUSH orders out at a moments notice.  

Our shipping clerk is also a family friend (retired), and he does a great job with a capital G.  He catches everything - I mean every little nick, every spelling error, every ribbon color change...not that we ever make mistakes!  He is our Q & A Department also, and signs off on every order we ship.

Office Work

After we ship the products our amazing book keeper extraordinarie takes care of the billing.  Oh did I mention she also processes the orders, makes shipping labels, is our buyer and kits all or our drop ship items.  If you have read this blog you will remember I used to wear myself many a hats - and I still do have a tad too many on any given day.  However, this wonderful person has taken many of them off my plate....head I mean head.

Our accountant takes care of our bills, managing our accounts, and paying people (most important job out there).  She is also our resident "Efficiency Expert" - if it can be done better or faster she will find a way.  She is always looking at ways to make work easier - and she loves procedures.  Oh ya, um did I mention she is my mother, that wild and crazy gal is also an anal organized freak...and I mean that in the nicest way.

  So there you have it a tour of this wonderful place I call work, or home, or life...whatever I call it.   I would not be where I am without all these amazing people I work with - I could never do it all - it does not a village people, but it does take some fabulous employees to succeed!

 

An Internet Retailer's thoughts on Plagarism

October 18, 2007.

Working in this industry I have had the good fortune of meeting some amazing women, and follow some amazing blogs.  I always thought I was an island and that no one went through what I was going through.  The truth is that no one that lives with in a ten mile radius was doing what I did - there are hundreds, if not a thousand of women all over the country doing it.  It is comforting to know that I was not the only one storing bubble wrap and shipping boxes in a room in my home.  I also like to know there are other artists out there that have paint on every single damn sweat shirt they own (sad but true).

I started working with Rosenberry Rooms way back in Spring of 2005.  Since I sort of uh, deleted some old emails I have no idea if I submitted our products to her or she found us.  Two and 1/2 years later I am happy to say that Susie Fougerousse, the owner and founder is one of the good guys....er, dang I mean girls, gals - women?  Sheesh - whatever she is a great lady to work with!

We have been lucky to have had much success with Rosenberry Rooms and we share a very similar philosophy about our customer service.  I am thrilled to talk with Susie on the rare occasion (when she is available - she has three small children) to catch up on things.  She always seems to put a positive spin on things, like I said - one of the good guys!

Susie was kind enough to share some of her thoughts on plagiarism, copying and staying original -  of course (wouldn't ya know?) she looked at it in a positive way:

1. There is room in this vast market for many creative, talented and hard working people to participate.

2. It is important to try and stay original, because consumers like to find something unique, be it a product or a store.

3. That being said, there are so many common themes and business ideas that form an umbrella under which we all work, that we often need to differentiate ourselves in other areas, such as service, business methods, marketing and presentation.

4. To be successful, we need to concentrate on strengthening our businesses, keeping our focus ahead, and not spend too much time looking over our shoulders.  In the end, looking over our shoulders hinders our success more than our competitors do (This is something my husband makes SURE I do, because he knows that I am such a worry wart and have had too many sleepless nights pondering this).

It is very easy to get distracted, heck it's Thursday afternoon and I am blogging instead of updating the photos on my website.  I hope to use some of Susie's thoughts and try NOT to get bogged down, depressed or down right negative on the topic.  I said I hope...we all know I will be putting my cranky pants on again....I just hope it is not for a long time!

Going the Extra Mile

October 16, 2007.

Sometimes when I go back over these old blogs I think I only write about customer service...oh and uh that other thing I am STILL writing about.  Great customer service is what makes good companies great.  Until I owned my own business I did not notice these things like I do now.  These days, in my old age I will go and seek out those that go the extra mile, over and over again.

When we pick up a new sales channel, or get a direct order I tell them we take customer service very seriously.  I explain we put the customer first.  We try very hard to remember, to give special treatments and to reward past customers, and do favors.  They will remember when you DON'T do something nice.

Do You Know Your Customers?

This past weekend my husband and I took a little mini-vacation to Southern California - for his 20 year  high school reunion.  We had a lot of fun....one of us might have had too much fun one night.  Not wanting to drive 6 1/2 hours all the way home, and grabbing one extra night alone without kids we reserved a room in Paso Robles.

We stayed at a brand new hotel, two weeks old.  When we were sitting in the waiting area, waiting for our room to be ready the chef came up to us and wished us a happy anniversary.  We thanked him and both looked at each other like we just entered the twilight zone. Darin thinks he might have mentioned we were taking an extra day for our anniversary (it's end of October), when we checked in, or reserved the room-but does not even recall when he told them.

Next we get our room, go up to the room and sitting in the living room area - not only a bottle of wine chilling from the area, but a nice card wishing us a happy anniversary.  Again - we looked at each other and talked about how great the customer service was.  They did not need to do that, but they definitely went the extra mile in our opinion.  Not a big deal I know - but it was a very nice way to end our little trip.

How Much does Thank You Cost?

The bartender had given us a map of the wineries - she circled a few that were her favorites and told us we had to stop there.  She was super nice and helpful and we figured  - we don't know the area, might as well take her advice.

The first winery we stopped at  - poured us some wine then asked us how we found out about the winery.  I said the bartender recommended the winery, she loved there wine.  The woman behind the bar immediately got on the phone, asked to speak to the bartender, asked her favorite wine and told her she was sending her a bottle.  She grabbed a bottle - handed it to us and asked us to deliver it to her to thank her for recommending the winery.

Now neither of these stories are unique - but to me they are.  Or maybe I had too much wine....no kidding.  I could not get over what amazing customer service - everyone went the extra mile.  How great a company could you have IF everyone went that extra mile?  If everyone took two extra seconds to thank someone, offer something or acknowledge a special event?

Be Remarkable

We we will rush orders when we can, we will give discounts on multiple orders - we will replace broken tiles, we will help customers save money on multiple orders shipping costs.  We will work weekends, we will stay late - we will fix problems, find ways to improve.  I do not know any other way to run a company.  If you want some other creative ways to improve on your company check out Seth Godin's blog - HE gets it! 

I think Maya Angelou says it best, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

7 Reasons Why I Love My Email (and you should too)

September 9, 2007.

I love email, no really I do love my email!!  I swear, I mean this with all my heart - I am not like those other fickle email users, that are hot and cold on their email accounts.  When I hear someone bashing email, or saying I am addicted to it - I tell them to shut-up, thank you very much I do NOT have a problem.....and if I had a problem I would stop, I can stop anytime I want to - but I don't want to...sorry I uh, was starting to rant a bit.  Anyhoo -  I think all small business owners should embrace this part of technology (email) and work it!

1. Paper Trail

I always have a paper, that would be ....email trail of the correspondence I have sent to my sales channels, my accountant, my ex-employees, my landlord - everyone.  My email NEVER deletes emails without asking, it  saves all of them - and I can go back years and years to PROVE I did send the information.  This is invaluable way of communicating with people that do NOT like to be reminded of what they promised us, or they do not recall (bi-polar) what it means to sign a C-O-N-T-R-A-C-T, or that I kept notes, or those that do not USE EMAIL!!  (sorry yelling again).  Forwarding emails (forwarding a handwritten note or fax is not as easy) to people is a better way of saying, "See I told you so!"

2. Communicate Any Time or Anywhere

I can communicate with anyone and everyone at all hours of the day.  When else can I go over our meeting agenda or finalize the copy for our newest website ramp?  5:00 a.m. in the morning of course - and NO ONE wants a phone call from me at that hour, I need more coffee!  Doing clerical and office work from home in my pajamas is great and I would not have that liberty with out email (and I use GoToMyPC - worth looking into if you do have a small business OUT of the house).  I appreciate the ability to check all accounts, orders, emails all from the luxury of  my home office.  If you do not have a way to check email remote - get one immediately!  If email is down or Internet is down I use blackberry, wireless, or the website to download emails.

3. Not Now & Not Interested, But Thank You

I never, ever want to squash someones dreams.  However, I do NOT always want to be there mentor, mother, best friend, bank account, life coach or therapist.  I find it best to let those stalkers I mean uh........people down easy and Email is the best way!!  Please, do not get me wrong, I love to help, the blog is to help, I answer all questions, but it is easier to get to the point, answer quickly - and hit send.    It is so much easier to send and email to communicate why you can not give them your list of over 200 stores and all your company secrets to a total stranger, or why I can not design there website for them (I did not design mine, how could I design yours?), or give them Oprah's phone number.....  I love that I can communicate with NO emotion, cause, uh.......well I may have oh a wee tad bit of some of that!  And I can empathize, I have been there  - needing help, not knowing where to turn - I get but I am busy.  Case in point I spoke with a fellow entrepreneur for over two hours one day - I could not get her off the phone - and IF I had used email....well I would have those two + hours back.

4. So Many People, So Little Time

I can send out an email to all websites with information, I can let bedding catalogs I am available for exclusive designs.  The physical stores (those with email accounts) can be informed of new products, specials and price increases.  The Distribution List is a small business owners Best Friend - it allows us to communicate with everyone at once.  So, uh how could I do that by phone? Or Mail?  That is right...........I can NOT - Email rules.  I have one for Friends & Family, one for Direct Orders, I have one for every segment of my company - I bet some of you are going "duh...." but trust me, not everyone uses this handy little gadget (read I did not till my husband said I was wasting time re-typing emails in over and over, and over....)

5. Tracers on Email 

Did you know you can send an email to Oprah and find out if she actually got email and opened it?  You can send New Product placement emails and find out that they actually DID get your email - even though they keep telling you they did not.  Email is fabulous like that!  You can also trace when the email was opened, so you know when to follow up.  When I leave a voice mail, I have no guarantee the person even got the voice mail, or let alone listened to it.  I have been known to actually just press delete when a certain family member calls to talk.....so I know that I am not the only one! 

6. Organization - Folders

I am a bit of a pack rat when it comes to email.  I save all correspondence....except that one I keep getting that says if I send this email to 20 close friends I will get great luck, or money or something.  I have every sales channel in a separate folder, with correspondence, changes and orders saved.  At the touch of a key I can go in and check an order, or find a missing order, or find out we did NOT get that order.  I even keep folders for possible stores, press, blogs, supplies, materials - everything so that I can track it easily.  Each of my employees has their own folders too - just in case I need to find an old email or re-send some information.

7. I Get Email on My Blackberry

Any working mom that wants to be connected at all times to work and home - get a Blackberry.  I swear it is the best thing (other than my i-pod) that my husband ever got me - he is so romantic!  I can stay connected when I am out and about to everyone in the office, any sales problems, any new store inquiries, any press ('cause they usually need your information like, yesterday).  This is good and bad, as I have stated earlier....but I would say the good far out ways the bad.  I am able to check both my direct email account and my orders email on a daily basis - gotta love technology!

So, there is my love letter to email - if it ever crashes I do NOT know what I will do.  My family will need to have me committed for sure.  The convenience of writing an email - or giving someone the easy way out - done by email to me - makes the sting a little less painful.  When we got dropped from a magazine article, when we got  dropped from a catalog (it does happen) I got it in email - that way I did not need to gravel, uh swear or cry on the phone.  I was able to compose myself and send back a kind email wishing them good luck, not the um first words that came into my mind.....and honestly a lady should NOT say those words....

Do I have Style or What?

Style?  Hmmmm.....that could be in the eye of the beholder, or that could just be something I am sometimes lacking.  I try, really I do, and I work the black color I swear.  I have been known to kick it up a notch with some fancy-shmancy out fits, yet um, these were not those times:

The Tale of Two Shoes

Yes I was a mere 23 year old out on a date with a rakish, dashing young gent.  He was quite well off (so he said) and took me to a party at a mansion.  I was a nervous wreck and in a mad dash to get out the door I reached in my closet and grabbed shoes with out looking.  What I chose to wear was one black suede shoe with a large gold buckle, and on my other foot I chose a brown Eal skin loafer.  Hmmm, not the best to grab shoes in the dark.....I was not stylish.

The Damn Navy Dress

You would think by the time I turned 27 I would be a little more sophisticated.  Alas, I attended my husbands 10 Year High School Reunion in a navy dress, with a large white nun collar, white tights and white pumps......yes I said white pumps.  The year was 1997 not 1987 and I was in Southern California with 200 blond bombshells in sun dresses and strappy sandals and about 95 degrees outside.  I did not fit in at all, not to mention I was sweating and had blisters on my feet...again not SO stylish.

Turquoise

I thought it was all the rage back in 1986 when I discovered liquid eyeliner, and oh did I discover it.  I decided that turquoise would be MY color and I owned, I lived it I um........I wore it every where.  I literally wore that darn turquoise eyeliner (top and bottom lids in case you needed a visual) for about 4 years............Not until someone in the dorms at SJSU kindly suggested that my poor eyelids might be happier in a deeper shade of say brown did I give up the love of the turquoise.  All together now...so super stylish

So....when it came to develop a style for Jamie's Painting & Design I was all over it.  And I mean all over it.  I owned it, I lived it, I loved it and I basically scrapped everything I ever knew so that I could make this style work.  This I could do.

A Style Guide - a style guide is something that every company should have.  Having worked in animation I was all too familiar with them.  I am using it in the broadest sense of the term, and I am also adding in rules that a particular company or 'character' a company may have.  If you were to decipher the style guide for Warner Bros. cartoon characters you would easily figure out the rules or guides.  Who does not know that Bugs Bunny always wins, he is always sarcastic, and he he always looks at the camera and says, "What's Up Doc?"

The JPD Style Guide

1. Every piece of artwork has a black line around it.  A dash dot, dash dot sort of black outline
2. Our products use a very specific black curvy stylized writing for small type
3. Our artwork is cutesy, simple with small black dots for eyes and smiles
4. Cartoony(not a real word I know) would be the way to describe our products - animated and childish or child like.  Sophisticated we are not.
5. Bright colors, we like to use bright colors
6. Theme based, our products are very theme based

You may read this and think why would you make Art Rules?  Why not do whatever?  Why not actually open your self up to all kinds of art?  Being a professional artist I could do that, I could duplicate, replicate or make up all and any kind of art style that I chose.  I have seen this done too.  Yet it would be very hard for some other competitor to come in and copy me right now.  My style is set, it is there, it is almost five years old.  I own this style if you will.  I am not bragging, it is a fact, if someone came in and started painting like I do then others would think it was a JPD product, or confuse it with our products, our brand.  I have had this discussion and argument with other business owners and it is seriously a hard thing to describe...

Now there are always times to possibly break the rules, and there are times when a request may come in from a big time company that lets us bend the rules.  But I said bend, I did not say turn, break or actually ignore our rules.  Recently we were asked to do 5 prototypes for a bedding company - using their styles as reference.  I made five prototypes and used there bedding as a jumping off point - not  to copy, yet I owned it, I made it my own.  I actually improvised and just used the bedding as a launching pad or a basis  for my designs if you will. 

One time when I broke my own rule was designing Trading Cards.  I thought I could make these part of our line of products.  I wanted to let parents or customers alter the skin tone and hair color.  I wanted to let them change the school or team colors with these products.  I also decided (wrongly) to make the characters or the actual artwork realistic, not cartoony.  I broke one of my own rules. 

And if these were pulled out as a separate product (the are in our Name Plaque  family).....they would be considered a very bad product.  They did not sell well, they did not meet our standards for a successful product.  I believe it is because we, uh...I did not do what my customers expected.  To this day company's have no idea that these are our products.

I'm Your Biggest Fan!

So...I know, I know I have already spent another recent blog blabbing about the greatness of the marketing guru known as Seth Godin; I am an avid reader of his blog, I just devoured one of his books and am on to the next; I find myself quoting him, and when speaking with others I often scoff, "What do you mean you have not heard of Seth Godin?" And then I realized  I was talking to my daughter's nursery school teacher.  By the time I tried to engage my poor husband in a marketing/advertising debate I thought.........I um, may have a bit of a problem.  I may need to venture out and read something else. 

Yet, I feel the universe had a different idea - I just got the latest issue of Entrepreneur Magazine and quickly started reading it cover to cover.  You will never guess who was a featured in an article?  Go on.....guess!  Guess! Guess!  GUESS!  Yep, my hero, Mr. Godin, the Marketer with the Mostest......he was interviewed about knowing when an Entrepreneur should either cut their losses or keep going, you can read about it in his new book The Dip......Okay um, I really do have a problem. 

Anyhoo.....

First what I love about Seth Godin is his honesty and ability to look at the world of marketing, and marketing your product different.  He sites different ways companies have succeeded and failed marketing their products.  He  tells, if not dares you to become that purple cow, become something that stands out from the pack.   If you were driving down the road and saw a purple cow that would make you stop.  How do you become that purple cow though?  One way was to find your Sneezers: 

Sneezers -  Sneezers are people that spread an idea.  They find something new and they tell their colleagues, friends, admirers about a new product or service.  They are the ones who launch and maintain a products success, or ensures it has legs.  If you are going to rise above the pack you need some Sneezers.  These days they can be writers of blogs, E-Newsletters, E-Zines, Celebrities, Moms, Columnists, Oprah, Dog owners, Donut eaters - all depends on the industry. 

A Sneezer has to be someone who not only likes to tell others about a great product or service, but they are considered a credible source.  They need to be someone people listen to and tend to follow, or take advice from.  Someone who is influential in there groups, an expert in the given topic.  If the crazy lady that walks around my neighborhood with no pants on (true story) tells me about a new restaurant I won't uh, be so ready to eat there.  Yet my good friend who is a brilliant cook and eats out all the time.....you get where I am going with this?

If you are lucky enough to have found some Sneezers, congratulations! You should ask yourself these questions though:

What are you doing to keep them happy? 

Do you listen to them? 

Do you cater to their needs? 

These Sneezers are your most important customers.  Love the Sneezers....cater to your sneezers! 

When you try to sell your product to everyone, you water it down, dilute it.  You will not be an amazing product when you try to sell to everyone.  Sneezers will ignore you.  Think of what a mediocre fast food restaurant In-N-Out Burger would be if they kept adding items to the menu.  They would not be a Purple Cow in a sea of other cows.  People will drive for miles just to eat a burger that is "Animal Style", but really will they drive for miles to get another chicken sandwich?

We have been in business for almost five years.  I have been asked on many occasions to put my art on canvas and sometimes wood.  I refuse.  It is not that I am a dumb business woman - but that is not what Jamie's Painting & Design is about.  You could not call it a ' ceramic keepsake' or a 'long lasting ceramic gift' when it was painted on canvas.  Long lasting - means my artwork is on the tile F-O-R-E-V-E-R.  And again, I ask there are SO many other artists(or one in my opinion, really must I go there again?) who do it SO well, why would I want to enter such a crowded area?   

At last count on one of our channels websites there were 12 different artists creating canvas artwork.  I can easily point you to ten more that are on other websites. Ceramic wall art..........there is one.  Numero Uno, an Island, you know the song from Sesame Street, "One of these kids is doing his own thing..."

Go ahead pick some advice...it's free!

I got to give out advice two times last week....one time it was even asked for.  Well maybe a tad bit few more times i gave it out for free; like the bagger at the grocery store that threw cans on top of my tomatoes; and the woman the cut me off in traffic I gave her a little unwarranted advice of where she could put that finger she was flipping at me; oh, the best was the advice to my four year old daughter that she should always wear pants OVER her underwear...

Anyway this is the tale of two kinds of advice, Business Advice and Personal Advice.  One of them was not really um asked for...you can uh...guess which one I bet.

1. Business Advice

A friend who is a fellow business owner and a good friend called me at the end of the day, she was having 'one of those days'.  She just wanted to commiserate about things, she was tired, plain old tired of doing it all.   I empathized for sure, and I agreed with her, having seen the sad and lonely side of being a sole proprietor.  We did not talk for long, and I did not feel I helped her at all.  After a night of sleep and a couple conversations with my husband I decided I should call her back.  I called her the next morning, and said, "Okay I have thought about what you said and I want to know, do you want my advice or did you just want me to listen to you?"  She said, yes she did value my opinion and she did indeed want my advice.

I told her not to worry about best sellers,or margins, or anything but be true to what her company was based on.  She started to say 'yes, but (my favorite saying) that is not even close to our best seller'.  My response was well figure what you want to do - and do that.  Either let someone else do the "other things" or stop doing everything.  And I threw a quote back at her that she told me years ago, "You can't be everything to everybody". 

Whether she decides to take my advice or not is not the point.  She had called for and asked for advice, not just someone to agree with her.  I hope I helped her. The conversation would have gone very differently had I just blurted out advice during our first conversation.

2. Personal Advice

My sister was not happy about something and she started to tell me about it.  She was just relaying the story and asking if I agreed.  Well, I guess I put my "I'm going to give you advice" hat and I agreed and then gave some advice, then some more....then kept talking.  She (to her credit) said I am not ready to hear that, and that is not what I want to talk about right now.  Then she turned away and kept talking and saying, I do not want to talk about it,  and maybe later I will ask  you.  So as I was leaving the room I then decided to put on another hat, "I am your Big Sister that will Push Your Buttons" hat and I said something.....not nice, not true and not what I meant to say. 

Ah...ya well she blew up at me, she got really mad at me.  I yelled back - a big nasty crying fight with very hurt feelings, hers mostly (Sibling fights are the worst and sometimes nastiest - we know each other oh too well). 

Well the damage was done, I tried to explain what I meant and I tried to calm her down.  I apologized and apologized over and over.  She was really mad at me....um did I mention that already?  I know I deserved her wrath, whether it was true or not it was not warranted and I am kicking myself even as I write this.  In fact I am still trying to pry my size 6 shoe out of my mouth, since firmly planting it there Saturday afternoon.

Problem is I broke cardinal rule number one, I never asked if she wanted my advice.  And...after she TOLD me she did not under any circumstances want any of my advice, I then blurted it out anyway. 

When I worked in computer animation, and on the computer for like 10 hours a day, I started to get some crazy thoughts.  It was usually at the end of a project and after pulling 12 or 14 hour days I would get pretty punch-drunk tired.  I would drop things a lot and say things I should not (lack of sleep and stress-induced deadlines will do that to me).  Anyway, after screwing something up I would always in my head think CTRL+ Z, sometimes I would even say it out loud or type it in the air, hoping by some miracle that I could change history......

CTRL+Z, CTRL + Z....

Marketing 101 for JPD

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Originally uploaded by mama_lentz.

I have been reading, and reading Seth Godin’s blog (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ ) and I even bought two of his best selling books. He is a marketing guru, agent of change (uh...he has that in his bio) and an entrepreneur to boot. He talks about great products, he recommends we change the way products are marketed and is against the way we USED to be market them, he makes you think….

For the past few weeks I have been struggling with what to do next, and how to do it. I have thought about it for quite awhile, discussed it with key employees, complained to poor hubby and yes I have even blogged about it . Growing a small business can be daunting, and challenging to say the least. When you are not the founder of a multi-million dollar start-up (uh…that would be me I am referring to) you do not always have the connections, the contacts, the marketing budget, the advertising budget…or most importantly the cash you need.

However….I am very, very creative, a bit artistic if I don't say so myself (did I mention humble?), and have been called crafty a few times (don’t call me crafty) and I can paint:

We are very excited to introduce our very first marketing campaign for 2007 (see photo) to drive more direct sales: Sandwich Boards and Arrow signs!

Your children will love listening to their tunes and dancing around on a street corner with these signs. What a fun way to spend your Saturday! We made the signs small and light weight for little hands to hold.  We even designed some special smaller ones for your toddler to hold.

We are taking applications immediately for any children that need a job this Spring Break…*

*Sunglasses, sunscreen, iPod and/or music not included. Check if your desired street corner is still available. 12 and 8 hour shifts available, plus weekends off!

Happy April Everyone!

Advice.......Do You Really want It?

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Originally uploaded by mama_lentz.

January 30, 2007.

Riddle: What does everybody have, nobody really wants, but they always ask for it?

Advice

People don't ever really want your advice, they just want you to validate the decision that they already made. Okay, once in a blue moon they may really want advice, but they ussually won't take it. 

That's a picture of my Mom, she loves to give advice, sometimes I actually do ask........but, uh, not always.  Who's Mom does NOT give advice anyways, isn't that there job?

I always fall for it too, someone asks me one of the following questions monthly if not weekly:

1. Can you give me some advice on how to get press?
2. What do you think of my idea?  What would you do with it?
3. What do you think of my prices?  What does wholesale mean?
4. Can you give me advice on how to start a business?
5. Why don't you make this....?  Why not?  Can you help ME make it?
6. How do I get all your sales channels? 

I just jump right in, start talking, details, descriptions and lots of, "If I was you...." .  Now why would I continue to do this after this scenario has played itself out dozens of times I ask you?

Read the following from a conversation last year, and one the year before, and two at a trade show, and an email after a press segment, and so on and so on:

Hi I love your work, I found you on the  internet, or I read about you....., blah blah blah....I have this idea for a product.  Or I can't seem to sell this, can you help me out?  Or how would you go about selling this? (mind you these are strangers, people I do not know, have never met, who want to set up phone conversation, or email correspondence)

Cue, long pause then I ask if they really want my advice.........."YES! YES!"  They say.

So, I try and drive them to this blog, and then I might suggest a more narrow product line, start researching on the web, check out competition,  show friends, family, anyone.  Start selling to local stores, do craft shows, mothers club events, school fund raisers, church bazaars.  Or I might say you have 13 different products (true story) what are you selling?  Who are you selling to?  Who is your customer?

Then they go into a long discussion about why everything I just said is wrong and it always starts with my favorite, "Ya, but...."

So....what is the moral of the story?  I have no idea, because I am pretty sure when I get a call next week about a great idea that a Entrepreneur can not get off the ground I will jump at the chance to talk to her.  In fact, I know I will.  I still love the idea of another Mom (or woman) that is willing to risk it all on this one idea.  I get excited for them, I get caught up in the conversation......even if they did not really want my advice at all.

And, like I stated earlier, no one would give me the time of day when I started.  I remember everyone viewed me as competition, no matter who I spoke with.  So, even if I view you as competition, or brilliant I will take you call, I will answer any questions I can, I will speak the truth.........even if you don't want to hear it.

Consider yourself warned......

Be Over Prepared

November 5, 2006.

So, I may have written about this before, but it is such an important aspect of being an Mom and an entrepreneur.  I would like to say that I am ALWAYS prepared....but I am not:

• Last week we ran out of tiles and had make an emergency order
• For three weeks we have been waiting for one color of ribbon that was back ordered
• We had no batteries for our camera to film my daughter's Halloween Parade
• When our Printer could not use the lay out for our new brochure I had to scramble and back track to get another Printer involved
• When presenting quotes for a new component of our websites I forgot to get two second quotes (Accounting demands three quotes)
• Painting flowers in my daughters NEW room take not one but at least five coats of paint due to the dark coloring of the walls....
• Had to have a clock and two pillows for daughters room shipped over night
• Finished my son's costume hours before a big Halloween Party

However, I am getting very prepared, even over-prepared for a first ever event, gulp, I am going to be interviewed for a local TV show.  The film crew is going to film my children's rooms (hence the expedited shipping) and apparently interviewing me about Jamie's Painting & Design.

I am almost prepared (I think) I still have a thousand things to do before the interview but this I have done:

• I have to talked myself while driving about what I think they may ask me <check>
• I had my husband video tape me (oh how painful to watch myself and hear my voice) <check>
• I know the show backwards and forwards (what TIVO is for) <check>
• The rooms are touched up, spiffed, pillows fluffed, vacuumed, adjusted to death <check>
• I have researched the interviewee <check>
• I have asked for advice from other entrepreneurs <check>
• Taken advice from our publicist (bold colors bad, dark colors good) <check>
• And I have started a mantra "s-p-e-a-k  s-l-o-w-ly" <check>

And if all else fails I will tell a knock knock joke my son taught me....no I am kidding.  I feel pretty confident about the interview, my stomach IS doing sumersaults as I write this though.  The last thing a friend said to me when we spoke on the phone last week keeps ringing in my ears, "DO-YOUR-HOMEWORK". <CHECK>

And it Always comes back...

October 31, 2006.

The irony of this post is how I started my day...I read my news in the morning on www.cnn.com every day.  I always quickly scan the articles before logging on to my check email.  Today an article about Oprah giving away $300,000.00 caught my eye so I read it.  Unless you live under a rock you probably heard she gave $1000 to 300 people (oh not to forget Bank of America sponsored it too) insisting they must do something charitable with it, and then document it on there new DVD recorder.  I thought it was a great idea, and am anxious to see the show...then went on with my day.

So....today I got not one but two emails back confirming we were in two articles regarding 'giving back'.  Being the media savvy entrepreneur I always reply to emails from journalists or magazines looking for information for an article, or just sending some company information to an editor.  So, I did not think twice of sending out two separate responses to two separate requests on charitable things we did.

Let me back up a second, and mention we give back to the community, to victims of Hurricane Katrina, terminally ill children, families on EMHE (another blog), church functions, charity events, sponsor sport teams, etc.  I feel as a business owner it is my duty to give back.  I also feel blessed, lucky to have such success and damn it it feels good to help people.

I am happy we did give back, and I am happy to get some free publicity - I actually  hope it inspires others to give back too.  And I do agree with Oprah, who said, "I can honestly say that every gift I've ever given has brought at least as much happiness to me as it has to the person I've given it to," (Amen, Oprah and psst.....call me!)