Using Facebook Deals to Promote Your Art Fair Booth

Techno Obsessed Felt Badge Pins by sunflowerexpress

Back in November, Facebook announced the release of Facebook Deals, a way for businesses to offer customers discount codes and/or a rewards programs via the Facebook check-in feature. If you've noticed a square-shaped yellow icon on the pages you follow in Facebook, those are Facebook Deals. For businesses, here's a great introduction to using Facebook Deals via allfacebook.com. For customers interested in learning more about finding and claiming deals, click here. One item of note: deals are available via the latest Facebook app on the iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone 7. Blackberry users, such as myself, are out of luck. The best work around I can think of is to check-in with the place before heading to the destination, printing, and bringing the claimed deal with you to the destination. Any other suggestions on redeeming Deals with a Blackberry?

We're experimenting with using Facebook Deals in two different ways:
1) Studio pick-ups: Customers can purchase items via our Etsy shop, save on shipping by picking up the order from our Bridgeport studio, and now save an additional 10% on their order when they check-in with Dolan Geiman upon arrival at the studio. While this application of Facebook Deals would not be appropriate for home-based artists and crafters, if you work from a commercial location (perhaps a studio by appointment only), this might be an option to consider. For help claiming your business with Facebook Places click here.

2) Art fair booth The second way customers can claim our deal via Facebook Places is when they check-in with our page, facebook.com/dolangeimaninc, upon visiting our booth at any of our nationwide art fairs. Upon checkout, customers will present the screen on their mobile phone showing they've checked-in and the discount will be applied.

Again, use of Facebook Deals would require an artist or crafter to claim their business via Facebook Places so this opportunity is best-utilized by those with a commercial studio location. Furthermore, the idea of Facebook Deals is that individuals search for Deals around them in a particular neighborhood or zip code using the Places search function. Obviously, our business based in Chicago will not show up as a Deal when we're doing an art fair in Atlanta. However, the spirit of the program is there and it's an interesting experiment in mobile interaction. Plus, I'll be curious to watch how growing trends like mobile food trucks incorporate this sort of discount and/or loyalty program into their social marketing platforms.

We're still familiarizing ourselves with both Places and Deals so other pitfalls and obstacles of using Deals in this way may develop. But what do you think fellow art/craft fair vendors? Is this something you'd consider using?

Apply to the East Nashville Arts Fest

As many of our art fair friends know from Facebook, we're proud to be helping launch a new art & craft fair in Nashville, Tennessee this spring: the East Nashville Arts Fest May 22-23, 2010.

Our motivation behind helping launch this show is three-fold:

• To see the launch of a hip, but quality fine art and craft fair to inspire and engage the creative community of East Nashville and its surrounding neighborhoods
• To provide an opportunity for artists and crafters to introduce and sell their work to a supportive community of art buyers
• To fill a gap we recognized in the type of arts festival being produced in Nashville
  

With all the reasons in mind, we approached a friend and arts fest producer, Maria Mariottini of grazia productions in Chicago about organizing the show. Maria visited Nashville back in October, met with a number of individuals and businesses, recognized the same need for a show in East Nashville, and decided to dive in and produce the show this spring. Go Maria!

Applications for the East Nashville Arts Fest are currently being accepted online at graziaproductions.com
Here is a direct link to the PDF application. The application is quick and easy, just a paper application and a few artwork samples. Questions about the East Nashville Arts Fest can be directed to Maria at info{at}graziaproductions.com.

Here are just a few of the confirmed artists for the show:

• Melissa Banks - jewelry
• Alex Leopold - painting
  
• Nancy Deal - jewelry
• Lisa Norris - mixed media
  

A first-year show, we appreciate everyone's support in spreading the word about the show. We're looking forward to a fantastic debut event this spring. Get your honky tonk on!

Leads/Resources: Websites for Artists from Patron

Traveling around to nationwide art fairs, we're always a little amazed at the number of exhibiting artists that do not have websites. Mind you, we realize we're a little younger than the average art fair exhibitor and Dolan has the added benefit of a full-time business and marketing partner (and an aspiring tech head to boot). But we've found our website to be so critical to the success of our business I cannot imagine making a living from this profession without some sort of online presence. For those of you weary about developing a site (we knew that cost and maintenance are huge concerns), take a moment to consider Patron. We met owners Karli and Clay at the Broad Ripple Art Fair and promised a post here on our blog to spread the word about their web design services. Karli and Clay are friendly, approachable, and down to earth people. Their focus - designing websites for artists and members of the design community. Patron's most basic level of service offers a 3 page, 6 image website for absolutely nothing. Website hosting is even included and all websites are editable using familiar, word-processing style tools. Members of the creative field can also customize more sophisticated websites, each with WSYIWYG editor, HTML editor, FTP access, photo galleries, and a sitemap manager, for an additional fee. The website editors mean you'll be able to easily update your site, even while sitting in your hotel room after an art fair or event. This summer, Patron also plans to implement shopping cart functionality into their professional web package ($24.95/month) which would be a great option for selling prints and other multiples in between shows.

Patron's straight forward website is definitely worth a look: getpatron.com. If after reviewing the information you still don't see a website in your future, at least take a moment to read this blog post from owner Karli. Karli discusses various ideas for developing an online presence using free social marketing sites. In my mind, the very fact that Karli is promoting all these other options for developing a web presence beyond Patron, demonstrates Patron's sincere interest in serving the arts community and helping its members excel with their busineses.

Take a peek and let us know what you think.

Leads/Resources: Call for Artists

A couple artist opportunities for our blog readers...

Tomato Art Fest - August 8, 2009
East Nashville, TN | website
hosted by Art & Invention Gallery
a free, costume-friendly event with tomato-themed artwork from nationwide artists and other tomato festivities
Early Bird Application deadline - June 1

Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Holiday Art Fair - November 20-22, 2009
Madison, WI | web page
hosted by the Art League of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art
application deadline - May 31
a juried holiday art and craft fair taking place in MMoCA galleries and public spaces as well as Overture Center for the Arts

Leads/Resources: Creative Communities

For the countless artists and creative entrepreneurs running small businesses out of their homes, the wonders of self-employment can also have a down side: the isolation of working from home. For the two of us, self-employment has been a little easier because we at least have each other to bounce ideas off, brainstorm, sympathize, motivate, and inspire. Yet even for us, the long works hours and travel schedule have made us feel disconnected from our community at many times.

If you're feeling a little disconnected or just want to exchange ideas among a network of creative peers, here's a list of creative community sites we've bookmarked in recent months:

1. The Design Order: A brand-new site, The Design Order's tagline, "meet. share. create", is a great summary of the site's mission: to provide an online community for designers via a blog and forum. Stimulate discussion by posting to the site's Forum or apply to become a regular blog contributor.
   
2. Art Fair Insiders: A networking site for art fair artists, members each have their own profile page and can participate in the site by posting blog entries, new forum topics, artwork photos, and upcoming fairs/events. Art Fair Insiders was created by Connie Mettler, editor of ArtFairCalendar.com.
3. Byhand.me: ByHand.me was featured in our last Leads/Resources post and offers users the ability to participate in the site's blog, forums, clubhouses (similar to Etsy Teams), a video theater, and even offers a chat function between online users.
4. Indiepublic: Similar to the othe sites, Indiepublic offers individual profile pages, a blog, a forum, photo and video pages, and member-driven groups. Indiepublic also helps promotes members via a marketplace, gift guides, and indie contests.
   
5. Modish Biz Tips: Though a blog and not a social marketing site, Modish's creative business blog is such a treat, we had to add it to the list. Just by actively reading and commenting on the blog, you're instantly connected with a whole network of individuals reading, thinking, and brainstorming about the same issues that you face as a small business owner and creative entrepreneur.

Leads/Resources: Byhand.me A Tool for the Hanmade Community

One of the great challenges of Etsy is getting exposure for your shop among the hundreds of thousands of talented sellers. Yet another challenge is connecting this Etsy shop (or preferred creative marketplace) with all the other online profiles you maintain into a unified online presence. To help address these struggles , M. Adam Kendall (Infinite Vision) has developed an interesting new resource for the handmade community, ByHand.me. ByHand.me's mission is to "put the personal back in handmade" with a series of community-driven tools for both the buyer and seller focused on solidifying one's various creative profiles into one central resource site. ByHand.me is part of an exciting new breed of "creative community" websites (as we are labeling them in our delicious bookmarks) we've seen sprout up over the last few months. Most important, ByHand.me is a FREE online community.

Benefits of registering and becoming a ByHand.me co-op artist include:

• Artisan Directory: summarize all your different online locations into one central directory, from your Etsy shop to your Flickr photos to your Twitter update page.
• Artist Spotlight: create a visual collection of your work (or the work of others) from different handmade venues (Etsy, Artfire, 1000Markets, etc.). These spotlights can then be reposted and promoted throughout the blogosphere.
• Blog Space: Wonder if anyone is reading your artist blog? Get more bang for your blog! When you publish to your byhand.me blog, the post appears on the byhand.me front page and is tweeted by twitter.com/byhandme. You can also repost the entry to your regular blog with a few quick clicks.
  
• ByHand.me Forum: meet and discuss issues relevant to the handmade community
• ByHand.me Clubhouse: similar to Etsy Teams, gather in groups based on location, interest, medium, etc.

A list of equally great features for the buyer is available here.

Probably our favorite feature, though, is the ability for all registered users, buyers or sellers, to create handmade wishlists and then e-mail these lists to other people. As the handmade movement continues to gain momentum, more and more individuals will be creating wedding and other gift registries focused on handmade products. The ByHand.me handmade wish list allows you to solidify your favorite products across seven popular handmade venues into one central wish list. You can also import your Etsy favorites in just one click. Sure there are wish list sites that allow you to pull products from any site, but it's fun to build a wish list alongside like-minded buyers and window shop for handmade works as you go along. Perhaps users will be able to suggest other sites they would like integrated into the wish list program as the site develops, maybe? Our suggestion would be to integrate with Supermarket.

So, check out ByHand.me and let us know what you think. You'll most likely be seeing a Dolan Geiman profile on the site in the coming few weeks. While your poking around, also check out the Shop ByHand blog written by Adam Kendall's wife Rebecca.

PS: Are you a blog focused on arts business and marketing, Etsy tutorials, or other biz-minded matters in the handmade community? Have you written articles on this topic? Drop us a line so we can be certain to bookmark the articles and blogs here.

Leads/Resources: Advertise on our blog or elsewhere via Project Wonderful

For those of our fellow Etsy sellers, bloggers, entrepreneurs or all of the above - if you haven't become acquainted with Project Wonderful yet, now is about time!

Project Wonderful is an ad brokering service that makes buying and selling advertisements fair, quick and incredibly convenient. Using an 'Infinite Auction' system (starting at just a penny!) to determine who has garnered ad space where and when, Project Wonderful matches your business with similar sites - introducing you to new promotional opportunities and allowing you to diversify marketing your site/product on new and sometimes unexpected avenues.

You may notice on the left-side column of our blog that we've opened up advertising space beginning at the low-low price of, well, uhm, Free! 'below the fold' and 3cents 'above the fold'. The pennies we get from selling space goes towards buying space somewhere else out there on the WWW...

Sign up for Project Wonderful and discover how you could be advertising on countless sites right now!

Also - be sure to check out this post by Timothy Adam Designs, which has plenty more information on Project Wonderful, as well as other Internet-marketing tactics. It's a terrific resource!

Happy Selling!

Leads/Resources: Check our Bookmarks Lately?

Did you know that we are bookmark fiends and regularly add artist resources to our Delicious account? Consider bookmarking our bookmark page - delicious.com/dgartist.

Leads/Resources: Etsy and Google Analytics

After receiving a fair number of e-mails in the new year pertaining to art business and marketing related questions, it's clear it's time to beef up efforts with our Leads/Resources blog posts. This month, Etsy announced that sellers can enable Web Analytics for their Etsy shops via Google Analytics, allowing sellers to track statistics like page views, peak viewing times, referral sites, and popular content. Here's a list of resources we've found to help Etsy sellers setup and use Google Analytics:

1. Sweet Figments: Tutorial for setting up Google Analystics with photos
   
2. Timothy Adam Designs: writes a blog with regular features devoted to Etsy selling and marketing tips. See his Forums post with links to many Google Analytics tutorials. Also check out his video explaining uses for Google Analytics posted about here.
   
3. Living Good at Liv'n Good Jewelery: check out small business marketing tips including recent posts helping Etsy sellers understand functions like Site Overlay, Visitor Overview, and Traffic Sources
4. Unofficial Etsy News: some interesting commentary on Etsy's introduction of Google Analytics via the Unofficial Etsy News site.
5. How to use Google Analytics (general): a compendium of more general tutorials devoted to the Google Analytics beginner.
   

An Education in Silk Screen

Butterfly silkscreened panel paintings by Dolan Geiman

Silkscreening is plenty fun and we've often been asked to provide instruction on the matter. While we'd love to do so, it would probably involve some sort of web conferencing live from an art fair. For something a little more straightforward, we are devoting today's post to local silkscreen/screenprinting classes. Did we miss something? Please let us know in the comments section.

The good folks over at 32nd & Urban gallery are holding in-depth and hands-on 5 session practicums on silkscreening beginning in late October. The classes are for adults of all skill levels interested in silkscreening for any number of project purposes - art, design, fashion, you name it! At only $100 for the entire course, this is a great opportunity to learn this multi-purpose practice while supporting a terrific art-space here in the Pilsen/Bridgeport area! Download the class overview and an application or send them an e-mail for more information: thirty_second_urban@yahoo.com

Screenprinted concert poster by Steve Walters

Steve Walters at the indie-rock oriented Screwball Press also offers one-on-one sessions at his studio. Steve is a local legend and certainly an expert on the subject. Click here for more info.

In addition to silkscreen classes, the Caro d'Offay Gallery also holds classes on painting and lumetype - some of which the gallerist acts as teacher for. Click here for a full roster of available classes.

Also be sure to check out what's offered at the Lillstreet Art Center - they've got an incredible space up in Ravenswood and offer more classes for both adults and kids than could possibly be named here.

Finally, we've got to mention our friends in Northwest Indiana at Uncle Freddy's Gallery. While not offering silkscreen courses, they offer a regular roster of dynamic art classes. Instructor/co-founder Tom Torluemke is a nationally-acclaimed artist and the opportunity to learn from Tom is truly something to experience. Join Uncle Freddy's newsletter for regular updates on upcoming classes.

Bird X Bird show

Joe Aiken, Love Crows, 2007

If you can’t tell, we’ve always had a thing for birds - which is only part of the reason why we love Bird X Bird, a non-profit organization in Minneapolis, MN, that holds an annual art-show to benefit the Audubon Center of the North Woods (ACNW) and the Eloise Butler Bird Sanctuary in Theodore Wirth Park.

Each year, Bird X Bird invites artists from all over the world to produce original artwork based on naturalist’s observations and avian data, collected by the ACNW, posted on the Bird X Bird website. An exhibition and silent auction of all the original artwork is then held in October, complete with live music and plenty of food & drink! Good fun for all!

Margi Grill, As the Crow Flies, 2007

The Bird X Bird website also serves as an archive of all the work that has been produced for the show – check it out to see some pretty great work.

And if you also happen to be a bird-minded artist and are interested in participating, they’re open to considering new submissions! Contact the project’s artistic director, Cynde Randall, for all the details: cynderandall@centurytel.net

All images c/o Bird X Bird

Green Team: Museum of Sustainable Style: Call for Entries

Pivot is a local Chicago boutique dedicated to eco-fashion (so lots of gorgeous apparel made with organic cotton, bamboo and soy) and in early October they will be curating an exhibition titled 'The Museum of Sustainable Style' to be part of Fashion Focus Chicago 2008.

Take a look at Pivot's website: pivotboutique.com and buy us something, will ya!

Right now they are holding an open call for work to be included in the exhibition. They are looking for fashion garments, jewelry, furniture and design objects -- this is a great opportunity for all you green fashionistas to get your work out there!

Be sure to email CONNECT@MossChicago.org soon in order to receive an entry form -- they're due September 1st!

Commercial Space in a Green Warehouse

Just a quick note for today to let everyone know that the final two units in our commercial building are now available for rent. The first unit is 600 sq. ft. and the second unit is 900 sq. ft. Called the Chicago Sustainable Manufacturing Center, this green warehouse is the first sustainably renovated industrial building in the Bridgeport/Stockyards area. Heat, electricity, and DSL are included in the rent and the building has a common break room/kitchen area, green roof, loading dock, freight elevator, and concrete floors. Join us and a small community of artists, designers, and bike mechanics in this building. See the craigslist post or contact John Edel (773) 387-8873 with interest or questions. Learn more at bubblydynamics.com.

DG News: Weights for Sale

Just a quick note for all you art, craft, and festival vendors using E-Z Up tents. Don't get blown away this summer and fall; we have four heavy-duty weights for sale on craigslist. We only used the weights once and due to space limitations in our van decided to switch to a different weight type. These weights are heavy-duty and will certainly help weight down more lightweight tents like E-Z Ups. Please call 773.247.3775 or e-mail us with interest or questions.

Learn more about the E-Z Weights we have for sale >>

Tip of the Day: Craft Fair Deadlines

• ART STAR CRAFT BAZAAR - May 31/June 1 (Philadelphia, PA) - apply by April 8
• DEPART-ment - April 25-27 (Chicago, IL) - apply by March 24
• RENEGADE CRAFT FAIR (Brooklyn, NY) - apply by April 4

Calls for Artists

We've received a wealth of e-mails in the new year pertaining to calls for artists, so many I decided to highlight a few here versus posting them all to our Art Tip of the Day section.

• Artist-in-Residence program at the Seven Below Arts Initiative at The Barn, a historic property near Burlington, Vermont - visit website
  
• Juried Art Auction benefiting Inspiration Corporation with chance to win a $200-$300 gift certificate from an art supply store and a private consultation with either gallerist Carrie Secrist or artist Peter Mars (100% proceeds to Inspiration Corporation) - download registration form
• Art Futura - a juried exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center (50% to artist | 50% to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago's Art Therapy program) - visit website
  
• Call for entries - 24th annual American Craft Exposition at Northwestern University - apply through Juried Art Services

On the Etsy front, here's the latest addition to our Etsy shop, Constellation Souvenir.

Constellation Souvenir, 3-D mixed media

available on Etsy

Here's the story behind the piece, quoting Dolan:
"The winter sky, for all its cold and cloudy days, is often clearest when night settles in. It's like a giant T-shirt soaked in indigo, studded with rhinestones (at least in my world). Thinking about the stars in the night sky and how I so often miss them made me want to make up my own permanent, yet ever-changing constellation. Using patterns from vintage wallpaper and rescued wood from the alleyways, I painted and printed, cut and collaged until I came up with my very own constellation interpretation. All you have to do is connect the dots in your own way. It's sometimes a bird, sometimes a river, sometimes a locomotive, sometimes, just a beautiful collection of stars."

Art Fair Merchandise for Sale

We just posted a couple items to craigslist. Art/craft/antique/DIY vendors take note! If interested, please give us a ring at 773.278.5698,

*Nurit 8320 credit card machine - $100 - view post
*EZ-Weights canopy weights - $100 - view post

Art Fair Equipment

After receiving a number of inquiries about the equipment we use at art fairs, we thought we'd do a quick vendor list. If we're missing anything, comment and we'll add it to the list.

• Canopy: Flourish Trimline Canopy 10 x 10
• Walls: Propanels: Pro Panels
• Print bin: Propanels: Pro Print Bin
  
• Credit card machine: (recently purchased) VeriFone Vx610
• Checkout bin: The employees at Ikea were using them to hold supplies in each of the different departments. We asked if we could purchase one and somehow convinced an employee to sell us one. This was a couple years ago. I've yet to find a good replacement. Anyone know where to find a 4-drawer rolling cart/chest that would be good to transport to shows?
• Chairs: (current) Director chairs purchased from Dick Blick (desired) Director chairs purchased from Hollywood Chairs
  

Leads/Resources: Calls for Artists

A short and sweet list of Calls for Artists synthesized from e-mail submissions, CAR, and the NYFA Classifieds.

1. 2008 National Art Premiere at the Elmhurst Artists' Guild Gallery in the Elmhurst Art Museum - October 31, 2007 deadline
   
2. Moss Rock Festival (for work influenced by nature and/or using recycled materials) - November 3 and 4 in Hoover, AL - September 17 deadline
   
3. Craftland 2007 in Providence, RI, an annual holiday sale celebrating the handmade object and the people who make them - August 31 deadline
   
4. 2007 Winter Arts & Crafts Expo at the Evanston Art Center - September 17 deadline
5. Drawing Center Viewing Room: Curated Artists Registry - open submissions
6. This Urgent Moment: An Open Call for New Art & Design - Artists Wanted (Brooklyn, NY) - deadline September 21, 2007
   

Leads/Resources: Chicago Arts PR/Marketing Links

Over the past month or so, it seems the print and online magazine world is exploding with new Chicago event e-mail newsletters. For those of us in the arts world, this is good news, providing more opportunities than ever to market arts-based events.

Here is a quick list of Chicago e-mail newsletters, new and old, that will include art or design-based events. Help expand the list and assist others with arts PR and marketing by adding comments to this post.

E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

1. 10 Things To Do This Weekend - Crain's
   
2. ChicagoArt.net
   
3. Crumb - Centerstage
   
4. Daily Candy Weekend Edition - Daily Candy
   
5. Flavorpill CHI - Flavorpill
   
6. Gen Art Pulse Chicago edition - Gen Art
   
7. Hot List CS - CS (Modern Luxury)
   
8. Marquee - Chicago Magazine
   
9. zingrecsCHICAGO - zingmagazine

ADDITIONAL WEBSITES

1. Apartment Therapy
   
2. Bad At Sports
   
3. Chicago Artists' Resource
   
4. Chicago Magazine Coda
5. Chicago Magazine Home - Events Page
   
6. Chicago Reader
   
7. Gapers Block
8. Newcity Chicago
   
9. Sharkforum
10. Spaces.org
11. Style Chicago
    
12. Time Out Chicago