287 – Best Art Show Display Tips for Craft and Handmade Artisans with Amy Amdur of Amdur Productions

Gift biz unwrapped episode 287.

Let me be you.

I'm going to show you how I would talk about your

work Attention.

Gifters bakers,

crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.

Whether you have an established business or looking to start one.

Now you are in the right place.

This is gift to biz unwrapped,

helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.

Join us for an episode,

packed full of invaluable guidance,

resources, and the support you need to grow.

Your gift biz.

Here is your host gift biz gal,

Sue moon Heights.

Hi there.

It's Sue And welcome to today's episode being that it's now

October. That means all eyes are on holiday sales.

Black Friday is only a few weeks off and in the

past, that's what kicked off the shopping season.

I'm sure you've seen that that's changed over the years and

this year more than ever.

I don't know about you,

but I'm already well into buying my holiday gifts.

All reports are pointing to this being the biggest online holiday

sales season ever.

And if you're still waiting and thinking about turning your handmade

products into income,

it's actually not too late to get started and make some

extra holiday money through Facebook shops.

Listen, you don't need a website shopping cart or any of

that yet.

It's the perfect place to begin and test the waters.

If you will,

with selling your products,

check out my setup and sell in Facebook shops program to

make this happen.

I take you through step by step,

how to get your shop up and running,

and then how to attract people to buy from you.

But time is running out to gain traction for the holidays.

So stop this podcast.

I give you permission and sign up now.

Gift biz,

unwrapped.com forward slash Facebook shops is the link to go to,

to learn more moving into our topic for today.

Now e-commerce is one thing,

but there is still nothing like being in person connecting one

on one face to face with your customers.

Yes, we've been challenged this year with making that happen,

but we've been inventive despite the odds.

You found ways that you could do it today.

I want to introduce you to a woman who's been producing

in person events for 37 years.

Let's just say she's a top notch pro.

We're going to be talking all about in-person shows what makes

for a good exhibitor tips on how to best display your

products and more,

make sure to stay until the end because Amy reviews what

art zipper is all never heard of it before.

Stay tuned.

Let's get into the show today.

I'd like to introduce you to Amy Amador,

the founder of Amador productions over the last three decades.

Amber productions has produced hundreds of art shows,

fairs and festivals,

and has worked with thousands of artists.

These events,

approximately 20 a year throughout the greater Chicago area,

give artists and makers a place to show and sell their

work. Amber productions also runs free online art seminars,

covering all aspects of showing and selling art,

both in person and online.

This is combined with art zipper.com,

an eCommerce site where artists and art makers can show and

sell their work 365 days a year.

Amy, welcome to the gift of wisdom wrapped podcast.

Sue, thanks so much for having me.

I'm so happy to be with you and your listeners today.

I am thrilled that you're here and I've actually had you

in the back of my mind for a while.

I've really wanted to get you on the show.

So I'm glad we're doing it today.

Yeah, absolutely.

Perfect. Let's start off with a question.

That's become a tradition here and that is to have you

describe yourself by way of a motivational candle.

So if you were to think of a candle by coloring

quote, that would speak to who you are,

what would your candle look like?

This might be a kind of out of the box,

answer to that,

but my candle would be clear.

It would be there's an artist who does our shows,

Greg Semanski he's a candle maker and he creates these beautiful,

clear candles.

So my candle would be clear because when the flame of

the candle is lit,

there's this luminescence to the candle itself.

And I love that you can also see the world through

the candle,

but it's just brighter.

So it was kind of a metaphor for me that that

candle would just kind of light up everything that I looked

at and the quote,

I think it would say lead by example.

I really take that to heart,

not only in my business life,

but also as a mother,

I have two children and I always try to lead by

example because I think that is really the strongest way to

set an example for other people.

So don't follow what I say,

follow what I do,

type thing.

Exactly. So I have to tell you,

I have two of his candles.

Oh, I love them.

And they're not cheap,

but they're so pretty.

They are beautiful.

And he,

to me epitomizes something really special about an artist that he

is always creating something new.

And with artists and art makers,

we may know what sells and that's okay.

It's good to have what cells.

It's also good to challenge yourself and be open to creating

something brand new from time to time,

A hundred percent.

Did you like art ever since you were a little girl

or did you gravitate into the whole arch?

Yeah, that's a great question.

There's a really funny story.

And it's a true story.

And when I was little,

when I was about four years old,

my mom,

we grew up in Highland park,

used to go to the grocery store and she went to

the butcher and then she went to a dairy store where

she got milk and cheese and things like that.

And I would go with her because it was a long

time ago and I would just,

I, she slapped me everywhere and I'd go.

So when she would go to the dairy store,

I used to stand outside cause it was a kinder,

gentler time and five-year-olds could just be left outside.

And I would look in through the door of an art

school that was right next to the dairy store.

So if I knew my mom was going to the dairy

store, I always wanted to go and I would watch the

people paint on easels.

I loved the smell of the paint.

It must've been oil paint and turpentine.

I loved it.

And I would just stand there and mesmerized until she would

call me to go back to the car.

The summer I was five turning six.

I convinced my mom to let me take painting classes.

And my mom,

God bless her.

She found a place in Highland park and I was enrolled

in real painting school if there were kids classes.

And our very first day was,

it was all plain air,

you know,

painting outside.

And our first day was going to the Highland park beach.

And my first painting was of sand water and a single

sailboat. And I still have that painting.

And what I did after I painted the sand,

I took actual sand and I pressed it on where the

sand should be.

That was my first painting.

Oh, that's adorable.

So I've loved making art since I was little.

And it's just stayed with me my whole life.

That's really interesting in doing this podcast now for all five

years, over five years at this point,

I like asking this question just to see how people have

come to what they're doing now.

And so often it's something that was started in their childhood,

either cooking with a grandmother or just the love of the

outside and flowers are to your point painting.

It's amazing how some of those childhood memories and like that

to me,

it feels like that's your soul because when you're a child

you're so innocent,

right? It's your pure love of things that come out Exactly.

Right. There's no ulterior motive.

Right. And you were able to turn it into a whole

career. So how cool is that?

Yeah. And I never knew that was going to happen.

Seriously. I went to school,

I was a dancer and a choreographer and I did make

art, of course,

you know,

while I was in college and took art classes as well.

But I wasn't an art major.

In fact,

I was a social policy major in the college of arts

and sciences.

I went to Northwestern,

but I also went to the school of the art Institute

where I took studio classes.

So it wasn't until I was working.

And I was working with my,

my dad was a real estate developer and he was redeveloping

downtown Highland park.

And so I was there wearing little suit every day,

going into the office.

This is when I've been doing this for a long time.

So this was a long time ago.

And when we were getting ready to open up this project,

which is called port Clinton square in downtown Highland park,

I said to my dad and to his partners,

what are we going to do for a grand opening?

And they said,

you handle it.

So there I was pretty much fresh out of college,

given the job of creating a grand opening for a shopping

center in a downtown.

And so I thought I needed something that was going to

bring people to this brand new place and give them some

reason to walk around and kind of investigate all the twists

and turns of this new shopping center.

And I thought of painting footsteps down on the ground.

You follow the footsteps.

And I thought that was kind of lame.

And then I had this idea that if I had artists

and I had art booth set up in different places,

people would go from art booth to our booth.

And I had always loved art shows ever since I was

little, I never thought of doing one myself,

but it just came to me that this would be a

great thing to do.

So I talked to a family friend,

her name is Rita price,

who I knew was an artist and a printmaker.

And she did art shows and she told me what doing

a jury show bent and how to get artists.

And she gave me some basics from her perspective.

And that became my very first art show called the poor

Clinton art festival.

And we started with 40 artists and that was 37 years

ago. So Freaks me out because I remember when port Clintons

Oh, okay.

Well, there you go.

And to think that it's that long ago.

Yeah. Crazy.

Yeah. It is crazy.

That is crazy.

And At time,

because I wasn't involved in the craft and art and handmade

community yet,

but at that time,

were there other shows going on,

like there are now,

or was it kind of a random event that would pop

up here and there?

Well, all I remember from growing up,

there was a show at old orchard,

the shopping center.

And I remember a show in Lake forest.

Those are the only ones I remember as a kid,

but then there were shows going on at that time,

like the gold coast,

art fair and the old town art festival I think was

going on.

But our festivals were not as plentiful as they are now.

And it was kind of different times.

The idea of going to events and outdoor events wasn't as

popular as it has become.

They juried shows right from the beginning.

Well, my show,

I drew it from the very beginning and I have to

tell you that until this lady Rita price told me what

jury was,

I didn't even know what that meant,

but I did look and I did do something called jurying,

which are listeners,

especially the new listeners.

What that means is that you have a group of people,

of art professionals who look at the work and then give

points is how it's done assign points to artists.

And then the people with the highest scores are the ones

invited in.

So I did it from the very beginning and now most

of our shows are juried.

And we typically ask for four images of the work and

one of what the display would look like.

And even when we do our made our indoor art maker

shows that we hold usually in the winter,

we still do it.

Some people may say,

well, why do you jury a show?

And it's just to have a sense of what the art's

going to look like and why the display or booth booth

shop is just to understand the kind of space needs someone's

going to need.

And when I'm actually laying out the show,

I want to make sure that it makes sense to put

one artist after the other.

So I wouldn't necessarily put two jewelers next to each other.

I'd probably go jeweler and then maybe a Weaver or maybe

someone who's working in ceramics and mix it up and want

there to be a nice variety.

And I want people to really stand out at the same

time. So that's what you're saying is,

and that's why that the display or the boot shot's important.

And that makes it a really rich experience for both the

exhibitor and then the person going through the attendee of the

shell. Right.

And why it's really important.

So is that ultimately my goal is that artists sell our

company is based on the mission statement that we give artists

a chance to show and sell their work at the events

that we create.

So ultimately I want artists to sell and we don't take

a percentage.

That's not our formula,

but I know that the better the artists do,

the better the show is going to be for everybody.

Yeah, it's really gratifying to me.

We just did a show in Barrington this past weekend.

And we did an art walk and I love hearing that

the artists tell me,

Oh, this is my best show ever,

which I heard a lot of this past weekend.

And given the times we're in that means even more because

I know that that's going to help the artists pay their

mortgage, put food on the table,

take care of their bills.

And while not all artists are doing art full time.

There's some people who have a full time job and kind

of do this as a gig,

but there are more and more people who are trying to

make art their full time living.

And I want to be able to give people a chance

to do as well as possible.

Get the shows that we run.

Absolutely. I want to talk about specific shows today,

but I want to do that in a couple of minutes,

but I am just going to say this here,

because we started talking about it a little bit in the

show that I just attended a couple of weeks ago,

I was asking some of the artists how they felt the

show was going,

given the situation we have here and all,

and every single one of them said they were doing really

well. So that's a little feedback for you.

That's great.

I'm so happy.

Two questions I'm thinking about for juried shows.

Does it cost more to go into a jury show?

Well, typically there is a jury fee associated with a show

and it depends on the show,

what the fees are.

So like we were doing these little Wrigleyville art markets.

I think it was $10 to jury in that show.

And what that does that covers the cost to a third

party who we use,

who is like a third party portal for the jurying.

They're two big companies who do the jurying,

who you work through.

One is cultured art services,

that's juried art services.

And the other one is application.

And they both charged the jury fees actually go to pay

the third party portal as well as the fees associated with

running the jury.

So some of the other shows are a little bit more

and it just depends what the jury fee is,

but there is typically a jury fee to cover those costs.

Okay. And then there are also awards associated.

We do awards.

I really like awards on a regular year when we have

a full normal show.

We like to do awards and I'll tell you,

it again,

comes back to the idea of helping artists sell.

I have found that there are times that the public is

a little undecided if they're going to buy something or not.

And when they see that award ribbon up in that artist

booth, it kind of is an endorsement that this is someone

who's really worthwhile and it I've seen it help sales.

And it also,

you know,

we want artists and art makers to receive recognition from their

peers and to know,

Hey, you're one of the top dogs in this show when

you're working all the time by yourself,

like art makers do,

they're usually loners.

You come to the shows and it is really nice to

be recognized for what you're doing.

So that's another reason I like giving out the awards.

I agree with you.

I'm smiling over here is you're saying that I also think

it's really nice for an artist then to be able to

go back and put that on their website or talk about

it in some way,

they've been recognized by a jury of their peers,

right? Like a professionally.

Exactly. So from an organizer standpoint,

what makes a good,

That's a great question.

I have a lot of years of experience to call on

to in answering this.

What makes a good exhibitor is someone who is open to

coaching. And after I've been running art shows and art fairs

for about,

Oh, I don't know,

15 plus years,

I'd seen thousands of artists I'd seen.

I've probably seen millions of images,

whether it's in the old days,

they were actually 35 millimeter slides.

Now, of course they're all electronic images,

but I've seen a lot of images.

And I try and draw on that to coach people,

to things that I know that work and do a lot

of free webinars.

I'll be doing them this winter in the off season to

coach people on those very principles.

So for example,

I could say to somebody,

your images are great,

but you would do better if you had four images of

your work that relate to each other.

So a good exhibitor is someone who's kind of open to

that coaching and listening.

They may or may not do it,

but who's open to it.

And at our events,

I try to go and I do.

I go booth to booth,

spend time with every single artist and coach them on the

best way to not only show their work,

but how to talk through and sell the work.

Because that's something you don't learn in art school or you're

in art class.

So the ability to sell is something that usually has to

be learned and to know how to talk about your work.

And even this past weekend,

we had this wonderful new photographer at the show and her

work was spectacular,

but she really didn't know how to talk about it to

the public.

So I said,

her name is.

I said,

Mashama let me be you.

I'm going to show you how I would talk about your

work. And you know,

so I like coaching people to get them to the next

place. Again,

it's ultimately,

so they have success.

So someone who is open,

I think of a photographer,

Mark her,

she's a photographer.

He takes an old image and old archival photograph.

And then he'll go to the same point and he'll rephotograph

it. So think of Michigan Avenue,

he has an old photograph of Michigan Avenue,

a new photograph of Michigan Avenue,

and then he blends them together.

So it's old and new at the same time when he

came to us two years ago,

I wanting to do our shows.

He knew nothing,

but he was so open to coaching.

He's now doing very well.

He was open to ideas and that's really important.

So let me summarize here and make sure I'm capturing what

you're saying.

So the two overall themes,

you've talked about the way you're representing your product with booth

development and display.

Correct. And then also how you're talking with customers about what

you make.

Exactly. They're really important.

You can have great work,

but if you don't show it the right way or talk

about it the right way,

you're not going to reach the same levels of success.

And when I say success,

I mean,

generally people are doing this to make money.

And while that's not the only reason people make art,

really, my dad used to say,

farmers would rather plant than leave their fields.

Unplanted because the idea is that artists are passionate about making

the art,

whether they're painter doing wearables,

making candles,

you know,

making body products,

hampering products,

the people who we come across,

the artists,

the crafters,

the makers,

they are passionate about this.

This is what they love.

The crochet is they love to crochet.

And the knitters love to knit the weavers.

Just thinking about someone.

I know who's a Weaver.

She is happy as all get out.

You're putting eight to 10 hours a day at her big

floor loom.

And this is what people are passionate about.

So I just try to help them go from there to

the highest level of success that I think that they can

have by helping them with showing and the actual selling of

their work.

It brings up a thought to me that I agree with

you. People are so passionate about what they're making and their

happiest place usually is in their creative studio with whatever that

encompasses. Exactly.

It's not necessarily out at shows,

talking with people It's hard.

And a lot of artists tend to be introverts and they

express themselves through their art.

So it's easier for some people,

and it's a lot harder for some others,

but I found over the years that as long as they're

open to it,

everyone can learn how to show and sell their work.

So we give our listeners something tangible to take away.

Could you share with us a few mistakes that you've seen

that could be advice for people who are doing not some

of these upscale juried shows,

but even local craft shows or farmer's markets or church bizarres

even what mistakes have you seen from the exhibiting and that

you would advise people to watch out for?

So I summed that up in three words,

reduce the variables,

reduce the variables.

So we want the attention to be totally on whether it's

candles or ceramics or jewelry,

whatever they have,

whether it's a table,

you know,

eight foot table or a 10 by 10 booth,

it doesn't matter.

So how do you reduce the variables?

Well, I'd say where's something that's not calling attention to itself.

So if you have a shirt and it's a green Bay

packer shirt,

and you're in Chicago,

this would be taking too much attention away from what you're

doing. Oh yes,

it would Now.

And I'd see this mistake made in variations all the time.

So I'd say,

so reduce the variables.

Let's get rid of that.

Let's just have a solid color shirt or a solid color

dress, or certainly if you're making clothing wear something of yours.

So that's one reduction of variables.

Another is someone who let's say it's a eight foot table

that you have to work with.

And you're a jeweler trying to have a cohesive body of

work. You don't have to show everything in the world,

try and have work that relates to each other.

You know,

when the public is going from tent to tent or booth

to booth or table to table,

it's a lot of visual stimulation.

So if you can have a cohesive body of work,

it will help the public focus on your words.

So that's really huge.

And another way to think about this,

and I say,

and this applies to a jury situation,

but if you were to give me four photographs of your

work, and let's say I had 50 artists and I was

to shuffle up everybody's cards and I threw them up in

the air and fell down,

I should be able to put back the packs together so

that I know like Sue,

if you were a jeweler,

you know that I would find your work.

And that is cohesive enough that it fits together by design

or by material.

That there's something that connects Grabanski who we mentioned earlier.

The candle maker,

his work,

obviously these clear candles with different things set in,

you know,

his work would fall together.

So reducing the variables is a basic one of my 10

commandments. Did you say there were three?

Yeah. Well,

so that's one of them.

You said the packer shirt and then also the display cohesive

display. Yeah.

Cohesive display.

So the display is important and how you display also will

help you sell better.

So putting some time and attention into your display is really

important. And so here,

the next big thing,

that details matter details,

matter how you price your work,

where you put the price tags,

how you do these little details is important and how you

show your work is important.

So details matter.

So let's say you have jewelry and you have an eight

foot table that you're showing and selling off of.

Well, let's start off with a good base,

a good foundation.

I like a black fitted table skirt that goes down to

the ground.

And why I like that.

Whether you're in an indoor church show,

for example,

or outdoor on the street show,

it gives you a place to hide things.

When you have a fitted table store and they cost like

12 or 15 bucks,

you can get them online,

fits around the table,

goes down,

you can hide things underneath,

put your backstock underneath,

and it gives you a good foundation then for whatever you

might do on top.

And it's also really practical.

Cause when you have a black tablecloth,

for example,

you can just throw it in the Washington.

Perfect. The next time it doesn't get dirty.

So looking at the components of your display,

and of course it gets more complicated as you get into

a bigger space,

like a 10 by 10,

but still that's a basic to me as having fit a

table covers.

How do you feel,

Feel about the display items?

So not the artwork,

but like using a crate or the,

So the prompts are great,

but we have to make sure just like the packer shirt

that it doesn't take attention away.

And I've seen some times where the props are.

Unfortunately the thing that gets the attention.

So your props should be there to show off the work,

but should really not get too much attention themselves.

So if you're going to have props,

let's say they're all going to be weathered wood.

For example,

make them all weathered wood.

Oftentimes people have too many different types of props.

I've seen jewelers have black stands,

white stands and velvet stands some other things.

And it's such a jumble,

but if we reduce the variables and if we have,

let's just say,

all the props are going to be black or they're all

going to be white,

just pick a color and just have consistency in your props.

That's a really,

really good move.

And you will know if people are commenting more on your

props than on your art,

then you know that it's time to reduce the variables and

dial that one down a little bit.

I always say that you need to make your product,

the star.

Absolutely. So that is a mistake that a lot of people

make. I see it time and time again.

And it's not that the artist isn't art maker,

isn't trying,

they're trying,

they're trying too hard maybe.

Well, we just need to kind of do a little redirect

on that.

What would you say?

This is a challenge that I know a lot of people

who are listening right now,

have they make a lot of things,

their creator,

and maybe they're making things that are disconnected.

So perhaps they're customized ornaments,

but they also knit.

And by the way,

they also do pie.

Sorry, Here,

Amy's answered to this question right after a quick break.

Yes. It's possible.

Increase your sales without adding a customer.

How you ask by offering personalization with your products,

wrap a cake box with a ribbon saying happy 30th birthday,

Annie, or at a special message and date to wedding or

party favors for an extra meaningful touch.

Where else can you get customization with a creatively spelled name

or find packaging?

That includes a saying whose meaning is known to a select

to not only are customers willing to pay for these special

touches. They'll tell their friends and word will spread about your

company and products.

You can create personalized ribbons and labels in seconds,

make just one or thousands without waiting weeks or having to

spend money to order yards and yards print words in any

language or font,

add logos,

images, even photos,

perfect for branding,

we're adding ingredient and flavor labels to for more information,

go to the ribbon print company.com.

So a really good question.

So if you're in a space like a 10 by 10

tent, have the luxury of that kind of space,

then separate things.

So one area is going to be your knitting and other

as your ceramics and another would being whatever else you do.

I think that that works really well because not everyone may

like all those things.

So maybe someone's just really looking for ceramics.

They're gonna easily hone in on your ceramics and focus there

and you'll ultimately sell more that way as well.

So just separate an affair,

working off an eight foot table and separate them as much

as you can and different sections of the table clap.

Okay. Let's talk a little bit about the season that we're

in right now,

where we still have the virus to contend with.

Now there'll be people who will be listening to this after

that, but I really want to talk to the current situation

because I'm a proponent Amy of live being able to see

people in person,

especially artists,

because that's what connects you so much to the art and

potentially making a purchase.

You know,

the artist,

you love the artist,

you learn about their story.

And so you first off want to support them.

You're willing to pay more and you get a piece that's

one of a kind,

and you have a story that you can bring forward about

the product and the artist and all of that.

But people have concerns about the shows these days.

And as I was telling you in our pre chat,

I wanted to come to one of your shows.

First of all,

cause I know you're a professional with this,

but I wanted to share the experience with everybody just to

understand how a show could work during this time to get

people to feel comfortable that maybe they would want to exhibit

right now,

too. So can you share with us a little bit about

what happened to you because your whole livelihood are these productions?

Well, a lot of it,

a good portion of it,

but how did that evolve to what I saw a couple

of weeks ago,

which was a fabulous event?

Well COVID and I look forward to people listening to this

in the future and not really knowing what we're talking about.

Yeah, for sure.

I hope it's just a distant memory,

the summer of COVID,

it's been very difficult and we've dealt typically like our core

Clinton show in that Highland park or a gold coast,

art fair in Chicago feature more than 250 up to 300

exhibitors. So now we had to pivot because governor Pritzker has

mandated how many people can be at a gathering.

And we have to think about life safety.

So what we did is we created a series of events

called art walks that would happen outside because we know that

when you're out in the air,

studies are showing that that's healthier environment than being indoors.

So we decided all of our art walks would be outdoors.

And then we worked with different municipalities to find out what

their comfort level was on size.

So in some communities,

it was 25 exhibitors and insomnia.

It was 50.

In some places,

they said 25 people in at a time public coming in

to see.

And at some places they said 50.

So working with all the different rules,

we created these art only events that did not have food

or beverages for sale didn't have live music,

which we usually always have.

Didn't have a youth art area.

So they were art,

only events where the public would come in and they would

need a time to reservation.

And we used a system called eventbrite.com.

So people would have a time to reservation hour that they

could come in.

We took people's temperatures and we're still doing this protocol.

Now we take their temperatures when they walk in and then

we set a unidirectional,

like a single path that people follow so that all the

people are walking in the same direction.

We indicate that with arrows and signage,

and then we put each exhibit,

each booth,

we spaced it at least 10 feet,

12 feet,

sometimes 15 feet from each other so that there was nice

spacing. And we call these event artful mindful,

socially distance events,

and we've done five so far the summer.

We have three more still to go.

We've got coming up in October.

We have Bayshore,

which is in Wisconsin.

And then we've Wheaton in Illinois.

And we have closed the season with Glencoe,

Illinois. And we also have hand sanitizer stations all over the

place. And artists have hand sanitizer and artists are asked to

do as much cashless transaction as they can to avoid touching

cash and to have transfer tables.

So if someone buys it that you just set it down

on the table and the public picks it up from there,

we actually have 49 points to our COVID plan.

And this is to keep the artists,

my staff and the public is safe as we possibly can.

So it's been a time of real trailblazing.

I can tell you.

Yeah. I also found it interesting.

Only one person or one family group could be in a

booth at a time.

So if there was walk in exactly,

you could be in there.

And then if you were with another person,

for example,

you guys could be in there together.

Talk to the artist if the artist was also in there,

but then anyone else who wanted to come in would have

to wait.

Thanks. So I thought that was smart.

And I also felt just observation wise,

Amy, you'll have to tell me if this is indeed true,

but I felt like some of the booth setups were a

little bit different.

Like I was talking to one person,

an artist who you could walk into the front of their

booth, but they also had things on the side.

So people who needed to wait,

didn't just pass them up and go to another booth.

They could look on the outside when normally those would have

all been inside the booth.

Exactly. So by spacing the artists with 10 to 12 or

more feet between them,

it gives especially 2d artists,

a chance to show their work on their outside walls or

a jeweler.

I think of Dana Reed,

she's a jeweler out of Highland park.

She did a really nice three counter setups.

So people can come up from the front or each side

and no one actually walked into her booth and it was

really good.

It was open air,

lots of air circulation.

She had a back wall only,

and it gave her three selling sides.

So she could have one person on one side,

someone unrelated on the other.

So she was actually able to have three different groups looking

at her work at any given time.

And is that different than what she would normally do?

Yes, it is.

And so we've seen a lot of that and it actually

gives the artist,

the art maker,

more display space as well,

because if you're in a tight show and you're wall to

wall with the next artist,

you have no choices.

So here,

those people who wanted to be able to have triple counters,

or I even saw there was someone named Dan Hedblom,

he works on copper and he did something similar where he

was showing his work on the outsides.

And what he did in the middle of his booth is

that's where he had his storage,

but it was behind panels.

So you couldn't even see it.

So some really creative solutions to this,

Definitely a couple other things,

just in terms of the experience that I've heard both from

your show.

And then also from my community,

some of the people who are here who are doing shows

right now first is that it's kind of nice because there's

more of an even flow of people coming through because you're

only letting a certain number of people in at a time.

So for an exhibitor,

it's just paced nicely.

They're always busy there aren't the lags,

but there's a nice flow of conversation from start to finish

of the show.

Exactly. And we saw that starting early in the season when

we started doing these art walks and especially at those events

where people had to wait in line until our capacity went

down, we have to wait for a few people to leave

before we let more people in is that instead of just

walking through the show or walking down the middle of the

show, people actually looked at every single exhibit.

And I thought that was just great.

And so what artists are telling me is,

even though the crowds are not same sizes,

not as large as what they've been in the past,

it seems to be a more qualified group of people coming

in who really want to look at art.

And we've been messaging the public that this is the time

it's very important to support art makers.

And it is,

it's always important to support our makers,

but it's more important now than ever.

I look at artists and art makers as micro businesses.

And when I say that they are a business,

they may be working from their studio or their spare room

or their basement.

It doesn't matter where,

but they are making art and they are selling it.

And there are a lot of programs that are out there,

not a lot,

but there are some programs out there to support small business,

but not all micro businesses are being supported.

So we've been messaging to the public that this is a

really important time to support art makers.

And I believe that's true.

And I think we see sales artists are reporting to me

that they are selling very well right now it shows.

And I'm so happy about that.

Yeah. I've heard the same thing.

That's a delicate question for me to ask someone.

I don't know.

So I wasn't really asking a lot of people at your

show, but what I've heard from my community is the feeling

is that a lot of people are going with the intention

of buying or they're not really planning to go.

You know how sometimes art shows are something to do in

the afternoon because it's available and it's in my downtown or

the community right next door.

But there are more used the word qualified earlier.

The intention is more to purchase than just to Exactly.

They are making the same,

if not more money with fewer people walking the show.

I think that is absolutely true right now.

So happy about that.

Yeah. Yes.

And what do you thinking?

I know we can't project the future,

but how are you feeling in terms of when we get

the vaccine and all of that?

What do you think the future?

Well, that's funny.

We had a staff meeting this morning and I was talking

about it.

and we are hoping for the best.

We also know how to run these smaller streamlined art walks

if we need to,

but we are putting our 20,

21 schedule together now.

And we are hoping for normal return to normal life,

especially with the outdoor shows.

I love hearing that from you.

You don't think it will be a hybrid a little bit

between both.

Well, it may be and something that we're doing and we've

launched this a few years ago is we have launched arts,

zipper.com and what art zipper.com

is, is our eCommerce platform.

And it kind of rides along with the shows.

And this year when we couldn't run the gold coast art

fair, which was really sad because the show is such a

kind of landmark in the world of art.

And it was the 63rd annual event this year when we

couldn't do it,

we ran the gold coast virtually and we ran it on

our arts for platform.

So our zipper is,

if you think of other art commerce sites like Etsy,

for example,

it's the same idea,

except a little different.

And with our virtual festival,

we wanted to give the public a chance to experience artists.

You consume with an artist,

so you could talk to them and you could watch art

demos live and was really exciting.

It wasn't an in-person show.

And I agree with you that in person is exciting and

you get to the public,

gets to have a relationship and hear the artists talk about

their process.

We try to replicate it with gold coast.

Virtual site arts at foresight does it's free.

There's no cost for artists,

art makers or makers of any.

When we talk about beauty and bath,

and then that category,

there's no charge.

There is a commission that goes back to the site to

keep it going.

But we wanted to really promote that now,

because there are also artists who may have health situations,

which don't allow them to be out in public right now.

And we're trying to think really broadly about how can we

provide opportunities for everybody.

So our arts zipper.com

site is an eCommerce platform for everybody.

And so that's something else that we have and that we're

going to continue to work on and fine tune and develop

as we go forward.

So the future,

I don't have a crystal ball.

I wish I did,

but I'd rather be optimistic than pessimistic and have some backup

plans in my pocket in case we need them.

Yeah, I'm right with you.

And I think if this hasn't shown us anything,

it's how much,

just as a human,

you want contact with people now that we can't have it,

we're seeing that we want it.

Absolutely. And I think that here,

especially in the Northern climates,

like us summer,

we live for summer and maybe we hibernate a little bit

in the winter,

watch a little bit more TV or do what we need

to. But winter is also a great time for art makers

to be creating.

And during the early parts of the quarantine,

I said,

be creative.

This is a time to be creative.

So looking forward to it and we will figure it out

together. And you're right.

The public has as much a need to see art as

the artists have to make it art soon as the soul.

And we're going through a hard time and art will continue

to be part of our healing.

Yes. I agree with that.

Totally. I know that there are going to be questions from

my audience about art zipper.

Can you go into it just a little bit?

If there was somebody here who's like,

Hmm. I wonder if my product should be there.

What should they do to check it out?

Walk me through a little bit of how that works.

Okay. So,

well, all you have to do just to see the site

is go to art,

zipper.com and you'll see there on the home page that we

have all these different categories that you can be in.

And in fact,

I'm just going to do that while I'm talking to you.

So we have a category called wall art.

So that's pretty much anything that can go on a wall

2d or 3d jewelry.

We have a sculpture category objects.

So a lot of people fall into objects,

especially in crafters and makers.

We have a section on glass wearables,

and then each of those categories has dropped downs.

So if you don't see where category fits in,

I mean,

we even have a category called paperweights platters and plates and

objects, floor rugs,

toys, candles,

and soaps.

Mixed media is always for someone who doesn't know where they

go. I say it makes media as a place to go.

So you can always just email us info at dot com.

And we're happy to get back to you.

And I also do some webinars and I will this winter

repeat and launch some new ones on how to be successful

selling online.

And that's a little different than selling live in person because

your images have to do all the talking for you.

So I talk about what makes for a good image.

How does the image South?

And it's also when you're selling online and a lot of

people are looking at this as an option these days,

your description and your title become really important because they're part

of the way you're communicating this piece and also having really

good quality images.

So make sure that your lighting is good,

that everything is in perfect focus so that it really communicates

as best as possible.

The beauty of your pieces.

Yeah. We've talked a lot about this in terms of product

names and descriptions also,

as it applies to search.

So all of that we've talked about before.

Another question on our zipper,

I don't mean to keep you laboring the point,

but I am in the listener's head.

So I know that they're going to be asking this,

do you then supply if they were to come and show

their product on our zipper,

is there already a checkout system established?

Oh yeah.

So it's a totally secure payment plan over the lines that

we have.

And then the arts zipper site cuts a check to the

artist within 30 days of the sale.

So Pretty turnkey in that respect,

It's turnkey.

And a lot of people are using it now because we

are marketing it all the time.

And we're doing heavy marketing for holiday this year heavier than

usual, just because we want artists and art makers to sell

really well.

This holiday season probably marketed heavier than someone could market their

own website.

So of course,

artist should have their own website,

but the advantage of being on a site like art zipper

is that you're benefiting from the size of it and all

the marketing that's going into it.

I'm so glad that you talked about this in terms of

our zipper being an option for people.

In addition to a website,

we're also now talking Facebook shops a lot here.

And just because you have one online presence doesn't mean that

you won't have several because audiences all come from different places.

So having multiple options coming in your same product,

but you're presenting it and representing it in multiple places is

only gonna make you stronger as a business.

So if his listeners,

if you think that this is something that could work for

you, please go over the site is beautiful.

So go over,

look around,

maybe support a fellow artist.

And if you're interested,

definitely reach out and see if it could work for you.

Let's talk a little bit more on two things,

Amy. First,

what about your classes?

Where can we learn about when those are?

will be posted on our website,

which is amateur productions.com.

That's a M D like David,

you are then the word productions.com.

They're usually Saturday mornings and they're free.

And all you have to do is sign up and the

sign up super easy,

just directly on our website.

And there'll be everything from the how tos I call it

art Fest one Oh one.

We have pro level.

We have selling online images.

I have an advanced selling course on how the things that

you and I spoke about suing how to really sell your

work. And we even have figured out how to have a

mock jury.

So if you want to know,

how would your images be seen by a jury?

One of our webinars is just a mock jury.

So you can hear comments from other listeners on what they

think. And then I also identify tips on how you can

take your images to the next level.

And I actually indicate that through some computer magic,

using some special tools,

I have to show how things can be improved.

So they're meant to be game changers and to shorten the

learning curve.

A lot of times,

the more you do shows,

the more you figure it out,

but right now let's make it easy for people.

So I want to pass on these tips and just get

people. I want to teach them the tips.

So we call them a lot of tips and tricks.

Love it.

Well, I'm intrigued already.

I'm sure our listeners are as well.

Then Andrew productions.com

which is the coming year.

And we will be accepting applications and doing jury over the

next few months.

So even though it feels like just end of summer,

it's actually the time to be thinking about next year.

It will come before we know it and we'll be back

into the season.

And it's Just for local artists,

either. Even now with the restrictions that we have.

I just want people from California,

people from here,

Florida, exactly.

Maybe New York,

like all over Coast to coast,

come to our shows.

And over the years,

I think we've even had artists from Alaska and Hawaii come

in for our shows.

God bless them for that.

And most of our shows have people who are from the

Midwest, but yeah,

there are those people who do travel and this is their

lifestyle. And some of your listeners may be in that group.

So you can be from anywhere to do our shows.

I've also talked to some of the artists who are at

your show,

who come here and they just stay for a month because

when you're fully scheduled,

not this summer,

but hopefully next summer,

then there's a show every single weekend Most,

well there is you're right.

we'll be starting.

Our lead show.

Next summer will be the Northbrook art in the park.

And then Barrington is Memorial day weekend.

And then we just flow through every week we have a

show or a fair,

and some of them are more fine art.

And some of them are more all encompassing.

And there is a show for everybody,

whether it's are prominent of art in Arlington Heights or Wheaton

Artwalk or Valparaiso,

we do that one in Indiana.

All special shows.

If you work in the Botanic themes,

the Chicago Botanic garden art festival is for you because that

show requires that the art be somehow related to Botanic themes.

So that enables someone.

I know she actually works with dried flowers and presses them

and puts them between glass.

That would be your like bats.

That would be a great show.

Is that the one that dad Botanic gardens it is,

is it your show?

Yes. I didn't know that.

Oh yeah.

We do Whitefish Bay in Wisconsin.

That's a good general show for everybody.

Art Fest,

Michigan Avenue.

That's in July.

We do showing Glencoe art at the Glen printers row,

which has this really cool area of Chicago.

We do a show in Evanston Lincoln Shire,

the big gold coast show.

I mentioned poor Clinton as the Highland park show.

One of my favorite shows is the third ward art festival.

It's in Milwaukee in what's called the historic third ward.

We do the millennium show in Chicago.

We'll do a show up North in deer park,

the Bayshore art and artisan fair.

That might be really good for your listeners when you're a

maker and you see art and artists unfair,

that is a code for saying,

Hey everybody,

whether you're a maker,

you're doing wearables candles,

pampering products.

That's a great show for you.

And then a whole bunch of the art smart seminars going

pro live image reviews,

selling online virtual RFS.

We got something for everybody.

Okay. Give biz listeners.

I'm sure you did not catch all of that,

but I did then it's in the show notes.

So just jump over to the podcast episode,

show notes for this show,

and you'll have all the links.

I'll have everything there ready for you,

and you can see which show is best for you.

I'll also have the link for art zipper.

Of course.

So lots over in the show notes for this episode,

Amy, thank you so much.

This has been so enlightening and interesting to speak to you

as the one behind the scenes and what we should be

looking at.

I really appreciate your expertise and sharing with us today.

Thanks for being on the podcast.

Oh my pleasure,

Sue. And if you or your listeners have any questions,

you can always reach me@infoatamateurproductions.com

and I'm really happy to converse or email back and forth

with people.

I have been my pleasure.

Thank you so much.

Wasn't it interesting to get insights into events from the organizer

point of view,

as I told you in the beginning,

not many have the perspective Amy does given all the years

that she's been at it,

and it's obvious that it's such a passion for her.

You can hear her love and commitment to artists even after

so much time,

make sure to check out her free classes,

art zipper,

of course,

and maybe just maybe one her live events is for you.

That would be really exciting because we'd possibly have a chance

to meet in person face to face you and I,

as you're doing the strategic planning,

a final reminder to consider how Facebook shops could fit into

the plan gift biz on wrapped.com

forward slash Facebook shops is where to go.

If you want to know more about my mini course,

$27, I mean,

seriously, it's a no brainer on to my little teaser about

next week.

The hot topic,

always this time of year,

of course,

the upcoming huge holiday selling season.

Our eyes are on just that right now,

selling and making and shipping and all the things overwhelm and

stress are part of that equation too.

Let's face it.

Most of us are exhausted by the time the holidays finally

get here,

barely able to even enjoy it.

What if things could be different?

What if you could bring in and fill all those orders

and also be in the spirit of the season.

So you can attend your parties or zoom calls with excitement

and anticipation versus exhaustion.

And one more thing on your to do list.

Cheers to that.

Thanks so much for spending time with me today.

If you'd like to show support for the podcast,

please leave a rating and review.

That means so much and helps the show get seen by

more makers,

a great way to pay it forward and now be safe

and well.

And I'll see you again next week on the gift biz

on red Podcast.

I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook

group called gift is breeze.

It's a place where we all gather and our community to

support each other.

Got a really fun post in there.

That's my favorite of the week.

I have to say where I invite all of you to

share what you're doing to show pictures of your product,

to show what you're working on for the week to get

reaction from other people and just for fun,

because we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody

in the community is making my favorite post every single week,

without doubt.

Wait, what,

aren't you part of the group already,

if not make sure to jump over to Facebook and search

for the group gift biz breeze don't delay.