Wow! That was a great talk. Thank you, James, I feel rejuvenated 
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Is that the ābuying from meā bit? I canāt find a āmeet the makerā section. Thanks
You can find and edit your Meet the Maker profile from your dashboard, Zoe, or by logging into your shop and going to https://folksy.com/myprofile
Hereās a (very impressive) picture of where you can find it. Iām hoping we can introduce an improved Meet the Maker page that will be better signposted and allow you to add images (and maybe even videos?). But in the meantime itās definitely worth filling in to tell people more about yourself ā things like how (and why) you make your work, where you work, how you learned your craft and what inspires you.
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Ooh great! I will have a look at that. Thanks! @folksycontent
Thank you for posting this. It is very timely for me as I have just embarked on a Textiles degree course with the Open College of The Arts. It requires deep thinking about your work processes and issues surrounding art and craft, and this will be an interesting and thought-provoking talk to write about.
I found this very interesting and engaging @JamesB - thanks! Iāve had similar thoughts myself.
Iāve spent the last year learning so much from having a Folksy shop, and being in this community. Iāve soaked it all up, all the tips and the information! Iāve sold enough work on folksy and locally and at art fairs that Iāve built up a pretty good idea of what people want to buy. But the most exciting sales have been the ones where people have said to me āI want this because YOU did it, and Iāve followed your progress and I love it. I canāt get work like this anywhere else. I want all your paintings but this is the one I am treating myself to.ā
Cool or what! And thatās what I want more of, because not only does that sort of stuff feed your soul, but it also commands a price. I think artists CAN inhabit this landscape, at least Iām going to give it my best shot. Iām interested to see how this could relate to a more conventional retail space, but hereās my idea:
So what Iām doing is being rather quiet on the Folksy shop front, while I work on my series of paintings. Iām doing 20, all the same size, in a coherent series. Because making a body of work feels right. On high quality eco wood panels, ready to hang. All originals. No prints. Expensive. (But worth it!). Photographed I hope by Yeshen Venema (iāve been saving up for all these materials and to pay for his pro services!!!). I aim to create a buzz about them in every media way possible and launch them all at once on Folksy. And hopefully it will work.
When theyāre gone, theyāre gone. Forever! And then Iāll paint some more.
I hope it will work! Some days i think i am mad, but most days I am just head down, painting. And now i have told you all, i must go and get on with it! (Iām half way through).
Trudi
xx
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Really interesting and am looking forward to our new meet the maker sections which will tie in with Jamesā talk and help to build our brands. i will be updating my present MtM section today. thanks.
Really interesting- especially the thought that, in order to succeed, we should spend 50% of the time we spend making on āmarketingā and developing the story behind our workā¦ As we are just starting out, this is really thought-provokingā¦
I think that everything you have online is somehow part of your ābrandā and portfolio.
I absolutely agree that everyone may not be interested in a āstoryā but bear in mind there are some that are, and there are also others who might be retailers looking for shop stock and journalists searching for products to feature, so it makes sense to have all your background and personal info up to date so the percentage of people who are interested in it, can find it easily and be inspired by it.
EDITED: just to add, after watching the video, I think itās the element of finding your niche which is most thought-provoking @folksycontent. You can find many people I am sure who are as technically good as each other when it comes to creating their products, but what would make each individual person stand apart is the niche they are looking to occupy.
So the biggest learning for me, is to find either a subject i can specialise in (e.g. animals, flowers, buildings etc), or a sector (e.g. children, mainstream or beach hut lover!!) and then to really hone and develop my own style.
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I was looking at the website of a coffee shopā¦it says that their coffee is hand-craftedā¦
Oh dear!
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The beans are might be hand picked, sun dried then hand ground I suppose.
They were referring to the way the coffee is made at the coffee shop. Not before. I just find it interesting how the terms are now used.
I bet then they use those big machines and they donāt hand grind those beans lol. Funny if it wasnāt so sad 
That was very interesting to listen to. I nearly fell off my chair at the mention of Ā£32k a yearā¦I wishā¦I donāt even get Ā£2k a yearā¦my profit last year was Ā£556
I know a lot of people say put your prices UP but I have tried this and the result is getting NO SALES at allā¦
I have tried many different tacticsā¦small paintings, large paintingsā¦it makes no difference.
For people to get into that price bracket they really have to live in London where people will pay more (I knowā¦I lived in London for 50 years!)ā¦Now all I can do is paintā¦list and hopeā¦
And it isnāt for the want of tryingā¦I have online shops elsewhere and I feel that my work is reasonably good and not rubbishā¦
The people that make that kind of money are few and far betweenā¦which is sad.
Eileen, I raised my pricesā¦sold nothing and so have had to put them down againā¦sighā¦ Have just noticed the shop selling coffeeā¦has it been reported?
oh Iāve not seen it best to just go ahead Brenda and report it found it and a second shop
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Challenging trying to decide what my niche markets are and pricing.
Words that stood out for me are
LUXURY ARTISAN UNIQUE SPECIALNESS DIFFERENTIATION STORY
I think another key message for me is related to story making and stroking behaviour. I need my customers to know that my art and craft stands out from the crowd and this will rub off on them.
Listened to this twice! Great to see your unique face James.
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Pinned to my folksy info board for future inspiration and advice,
many thanks
Suzzie x
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I loved that, it was really interesting. I agree with the over use of āhand madeā by big manufacturers. I keep hoping that the general public donāt fall for it, I know I donāt believe the advertisement by a certain sofa manufacturer portraying itself as a cosy little work shop with only a handful of staff!
I must try and take more workshop pictures the trouble is I get so carried away with making, that I forget to take pictures.
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