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Small Business Tools
#1

Small Business Tools

I have a small business selling hand painted oil paintings (mostly 36x48 and 24x36) That are usually copies of other artists or "familiar styles" (And no, no one forges someone's name). When you have oil paintings hanging in your place, you would never again consider getting a print.

My model works on keeping a tight inventory and sending guys out with heavy duty easels to nice strip malls or outdoor malls (Town Square for Vegas people) and displaying to foot traffic. I found an app on Squareup.com that seems to be the best deal going for processing credit/debit cards when your business is mobile. Theres an attachment you put on your phone to swipe the card (or you can type it manually for a higher fee, %3.75 + 15c) and then they sign the phone with their finger (has to be touch screen). My sales have doubled day to day once this was done.

Anyone else have any tips? Greatly appreciated.

Btw, below are some of the paintings I sell.
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#2

Small Business Tools

-Set up a website...you can do the cheap way and use wordpress with shopping cart plugins or you can hire a designer...

-You need social media....why not develop a channel on youtube showing how your products are brought to life and how guys take it to the streets?
-it will build trust
-educate
-give you immediate feedback in the comments
-allow you to spread the word by way of internet
-facebook, twitter, and Vimeo are all good options

-look for cross selling/up selling opportunities...why not sell the easels and deliver it to the customers to put the photo's on?

-look into providing classes for couples....ppl are always looking for things to do outside of the boring dinner date, movie, bar, lounge, park b.s.... you can title it "take a brawd painting"..
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#3

Small Business Tools

http://www.e-junkie.com to sell digital goods via Google Checkout and/or Paypal. Automates everything.
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#4

Small Business Tools

Thanks Fellas, def helpful advice. Here's a few more.
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#5

Small Business Tools

If you need help with your website, let me know. I have some experience and can definitely help you get started.
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#6

Small Business Tools

http://www.absolutearts.com allows you sell and promote your paintings. i've used it successfully many years ago

flickr.com is a great image hosting platform and an excellent promotion tool
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#7

Small Business Tools

cool paintings, dude
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#8

Small Business Tools

Quote: (03-06-2011 06:14 PM)maestrobaires Wrote:  

cool paintings, dude

That last set are reproductions of Fabian Perez, his stuff sells like it's nobody's business.
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#9

Small Business Tools

Quote: (03-03-2011 11:36 PM)Fisto Wrote:  

My model works on keeping a tight inventory and ... processing credit/debit cards when your business is mobile.

Do you rent vendor space? Are your product sales seasonal? Could you rotate stuff, selling holiday decorations, school supplies, and other stuff at appropriate times?

I don't understand the tight inventory. Do you lack money for inventory? Or are you just able to sell more with a smaller, simpler selection of paintings? Could you get paintings cheaper if you bought twice as many? Can you find cheaper suppliers (China, Ebay, etc.)?

Could you demand-discriminate by charging more for some paintings? You could randomly mark-up some. Or watch what the older, richer people buy, and mark them up. For example, you might charge more for pretentious artsy ones, and less for childrens' paintings. You could charge extra for frames, and less for the student-specials without frames.

Who buys paintings, and why? More importantly, what else do they need? You might make chump change on paintings compared to furniture, interior decorating, painting, landscaping, etc. In other words what is the market, and what do they really need?

Maybe your real gimmick is the efficient point-of-purchase technology. Where else could this be applied? Think about new college students or airport travellers with credit cards but no cash. Think about concerts and events with t-shirts or other items. Imagine selling umbrellas in the rain, or souvenir photos, or other impulse purchases.

What are all the other vendors doing successfully? What is the career path of a successful vendor?
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