Being a market manager...what a learning curve!

I'm an artist and have always wished that I could just create and not have to market my work. That's no way to sell your work though, so I've had to learn the hard way. Now I find myself in the strange position of doing nothing but marketing!

Just recently we volunteered to start up the Peace & Love market at 1000 Markets . I have a fellow manager to help, Deb of Baubles Buttons Beads  and we also had the design and marketing help of Mem at Mem's Pocket Palette . Once we got approval to start the market process it was just the three of us working on it.

We spent hours on the phone. Deb had a full time outside job and Mem was setting up a second shop of her own and squeezed in working on the markets banners and collection photos.

I did a lot of the grunt work at the puter as we set up the home page, policy and about page, forum and collections. We brought in Lee of Abelee's Handcrafted   to take care of the blog. We started strategizing on marketing as we brought the founding members in.

We then added JJ of Painted Bull  to act as another sales manager. Some of our strategy was to keep our merchants informed of all the steps we were taking. It really helps to know what the plan is and how it will promote your business. Besides that we've networked, twittered, stumbled, joined groups, joined webrings, blogged, set up a sister website as a portal (thanks SiteKreator for sponsering our site!) , contacted people to link into us, responded to hundreds of messages and emails, set up meetings with web consultants, studied up on search engine optimization and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

We've done all this in 3 weeks...from approval to begin, to where we are now. We are at the top of google searches for peace love market and peace love fan club. We've had 172 hits in 72 hours on our fan club site. It's not massive, but really good for a brand new website. 

Granted, it's a full time job for me and the rest of the Golden Team. But we have enthusiastic support from all our merchants and, thankfully, understanding families. I cannot believe all that we have learned in the last three weeks! And the best thing of all is that I just love being a market manager...it's a time thief, that's for sure, and sometimes we're all running on empty, but it's ever so rewarding and will only get more so as our merchants become successful. 

Next on my list? Time management!

Sue
http://www.1000markets.com/shops/ninedragons

Building the Peace Love Fan Club site using SiteKreator

I'm really excited to announce the creation of the Peace Love Fan Club  http://peacelovefanclub.com - a sister site to Peace & Love http://peacelovemarket.com , with special thanks to the generous sponsorship of SiteKreator, who donated a feature rich website. 

I've had a personal website with SiteKreator for several years now, so I have a little experience with their interface. It's a WYSIWYG program that makes everything so easy that I sat down and finished this website within one day! And we're talking tons of stuff here...loads of pages, photo galleries, a forum, widgets and html code and behind the scene stat tracking.

Not only is it gorgeous but it's really a cool site for our Peace Love Fan Club...where they can tell stories from the 60's and 70's and even upload their own photos...all while listening to a special playlist of favorites from that era. Ease of click through to check out all the products at our market is super too...and if they use the pop out feature of the playlist they can groove while they shop :)

So if you're in the market for a great website (or want to have a little fun) check out peacelovefanclub with a dot com ... see you there!!!

Sue
http://www.1000markets.com/shops/ninedragons

First Weekly Artisan Feature for peacelovemarket !

Well, hey...our very first peacelovemarket artisan feature!!! I'll be choosing a different member each week, and like picking a name from a hat it will be whoever happens to show up first in our revolving merchant shop list. So...let me introduce you to the work of WB Eckert ...an artist whose work I greatly admire.

Let me backtrack a moment....

Our products in the peacelovemarket are based on the 1960's and 1970's and bikers were a huge part of the culture then too. It was all about the freedom of the road and living life in the moment to the musical roar of a V-twin engine. Any biker chick worth her salt was a royal queen on the back seat (and sometimes in the driver's seat...heh, heh) and this limited edition print titled One Hot Ride Foxxxy pretty much captures the feeling of just why we were Queens of our biker world...we were HOT!!!!  Nuff said!!!

Stepping away from the hot mamas...let me introduce you to Bill's graphic side...this original painting Arc Flight capitalizes on his feel for 'flow' and color...when I look at it I'm am darn near hypnotized by the feeling of eternal motion and continuation.
I'm going to leave you with my favorite painting here...I just absolutely sigh in contentment every time I see this limited edition print of Solo . Do you not just feel an absolute connection with this ethereal sea being? Can you feel what it would be like to forever float in Mother Earth's beautiful womb? See...art isn't about just painting what you see...it's about capturing what you feel and sharing that with others. 

I'm just going to leave it here with a big thank you to Bill for sharing that. Please be sure to check out the WB Eckert shop to see more of his work and take a moment to drop into our special market to see just how his work flows with all the other merchants in Peace & Love http://peacelovemarket.com

Peace!
Sue
http://www.1000markets.com/shops/ninedragons

Our Wearable Art Market feature for this week focuses on Caroly

n Tillie .

I must confess that I never thought much of the idea of eating raw fish, but lately a little sushi bar next to where I buy my deli products has caught my eye. I found myself entranced by the lovely colors and groupings...each offering looking like a miniature piece of art. So I can totally understand how Carolyn came to the decision to use sushi as the inspiration for her gorgeous jewelry!

I can totally picture myself wearing this Nigiri Bracelet but since I actually found the courage to buy some of that lovely sushi (and found it to be DELICIOUS) would I be able to resist wanting to lift my arm to my mouth throughout the day???

The color in the Toro Earrings are a sheer delight...crisp, clean and highlighted by a frame of frosty silver...yum!

This last piece Forged Ebi (shrimp head pendant) just tickles my fancy too...can you imagine all the attention it would get???

Sushi...eat it, wear it!!!

Sue
http://www.1000markets.com/shops/ninedragons

Ok...you all have encouraged me to continue with this :) Remember they are _my_ philosophies, and may not fit all...  

- Harleys are for girls, too. To ride, to drive, to build, to just plain have fun on.  

- We can't do what we want, get what we want, be what we want all the time. We can strive to do as much as possible and hope we are able to get what we need.  

- Encourage and support yourself as well as others.  

- Everyone is different but many of our feelings and goals are the same.  

- Opinion only matters if it is sought.  

- If you believe it is right, it is. For you.  

- Stand for what you believe in - with action.  

- For your whole life there will be those who try to tke advantage of you - be wary.  

- Sex is an act of procreation that all animals are compelled to do. It is not love.  

- Parents are rarely who we need them to be.  

- We should be the parent we needed, to our own children.  

- Regret is a waste of time. Move on. Improve. An honest apology is a worthwhile use of time. Once.  

- I believe there is a force greater than me. I don't believe it is called god.  

- I feel I should be good because I feel it is right  

- I feel I should learn and grow because I have been given that capability.  

- I should enjoy what I have been given. Learn from what I haven't been given. I should work to enrich what I have.  

- There is a reason for everything in nature. Just because we haven't found ours, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Think - if our job was to be caretakers (of the earth) then we haven't done very well.  

- Balance in all things is important.  

- Everything has an opposite.  

- There are too many laws.  

- Anyone can learn if they desire.  

- Ears have to be open to hear. And mouths shut.  

- I was a willful child. A rebellious youth. I have found true love. Happily in pursuit of my artistic talent. I am honest. Loving. Caring. Kind. I have lost my way. Found it. Lost it again. I believe I know what success is. It is doing the best you can with what you have. Failure is a step to success. We all die. It matters to no one in time. History only leaves a few names. And Mickey Mouse is as famous as Mona Lisa.  

- A good mood is an open door for other to walk into.  

- Positive leads to positive.  

- Your life's path can change in an instant. Remember that on bad days as well as good. 

Well...that's it! I'm thinking I might have learned a few things over the years, so it was all, good and bad, worth it :)  

Thanks for bearing with me!

Sue

http://www.1000markets.com/shops/ninedragons