Lessons

Lesson Info

Craft Show: Bird of Virtue

I am linea oliver I am the owner of a bird a virtue I make men's and women's jewelry and I am based in san francisco and plastic tell me a little bit about your technique because before we get into the really heavy questions I mean I think the very first thing you notice when you approach your booth is this is not your grandma's jewelry it's not it's pretty modern actually um and I use modern means to do it too I use a laser cutter to cut the wood and then I hand painted and I layer it together and the pieces are all two to four layers of different types of hardwoods and stick all right so what does this product mean teo you why laser cutting why these detailed designs what about this is special to you uh well I have had a well my career is quite varied a master have a lot of different things but but whatever that saying is you know a lot of different things but maybe not a lot about it any more trade yeah yes there we go maybe some anyway um I used to do graphic design and thiss was j...

ust kind of like out of aa knowing how to use illustrator and so I make all my designs I sketch my designs first and then I put them into the computer and then I cut him on the laser and the laser I mean because I'm such a kind of an o c d details person the ladies there is perfect for that because it's incredibly detailed and it can just you know it can get in the most infinitive tiniest of little details and and it's much easier I mean I wouldn't be able to do that by hands can you tell me about the very first time you used a laser cutter? I was about a year and a half ago and it was a bit disastrous probably you know I mean, I've been holding this skill for quite a while now but and I think I put ten thousand hours and they say that you're an expert once you've done ten thousand hours of something so I think I've got that now but um yeah, I made these like big plaques and and things were catching on fire you know, like it seems that aren't pyrotechnic but yeah and they were right I mean, the designs have changed so much over the course of the last year and a half of my friends even tell me you know, they're like I can't you know it's great to see the progression of your designs as well so that is a great compliment okay, so real quick before I think we've got somebody who's got his eye in a pure work these braille piece though the actual virtues siri's here tell me about this and what this product has meant maybe to an individual customers they're a story you have about somebody who's purchased this product on dh reported back tio yeah actually I get a lot of people tell me especially with the word courage for some reason and the word balance as well um some people I remember in chicago they bought for their daughter who was starting to go blind and she was starting to learn braille and she was like a I don't know she's yeah she's thirteen or something like that but they wanted to give her courage tio you know, go along and there was another woman that a lot of the stories unfortunately sometimes our sad stories to you like she had a baby that was blind and she was going through that whole thing and so I hear kind of like a lot of drama from these but it's just you know then when I had a lot of sales of the love one for valentine's day so it's it's cute he asked fantastic so I'm gonna let you start helping this customer chef here and then we'll touch base with you again in just a minute alright, alright I love them all thank you, but I'm really drawn to the middle one oh yeah so these are made of walnut wood and all of the jewelry is on gold filled in sterling silver we're going to try them on if you like and those are its three layers of what other just beautiful here how long they take to me it really varies per piece I would say on average and forty five minutes or so yeah, welcome you already had that e oh yeah that's one fits well in your hair there yeah, I absolutely have to have those. Yeah. Hey, um and magic it closes well oh yeah? Which one? These ones are made of cherry wood also on gold filled to on dh these three layers as well little turquoise in there too as going also have those in another color combination below if you're interested you like torquay's like tio? Yeah let's twist was arrested there no way that one's not hanging right let's see maybe it's strange that one's not hanging quite a swell listen, the weight there very well may be it's getting caught mr I think I like the other ones better ideo there a little bit lighter as well. I think just with holes in them but are you saying but again and again and I'll let you finish up with lynn in just a moment but I want to point out some opportunities but I think you missed your past of seller but I know that but this is a great learning opportunity people so first and foremost, I want to say, I think, you know, you should no have right on the tip of your tongue, what's the value of having jewelry made out of such an unusual material. People are really used to metal jewelry, right? And yeah, not everyone sporting such awesome hearing, this awesome customer here, so I would lead with the material in this case, not just what it is, but why that might be valuable to your customer, you know? And and that could be something as simple as it's, not your everyday material. When you wear a pair of earrings that are made out of what wear a necklace that's made out of wood, you're guaranteed your jewelries trying to stand out in this customer clearly likes her jewellery and stabbed out, which I am all for another thing that, as she's trying on you can ask him basically, why she's shopping today on dh in terms of jewelry, the easy thing is, is their oven event coming up? Do you have a specific outfit you're looking to match some jewelry with? Because then that helps you make more guided, you know it helps you guide your customer through your booth. Essentially you've got a lot of inventory going on here, you've got a lot of different types of pieces, which is great. Except that it could be overwhelming to a summer you know, I know I saw you looking like oh my gosh. Okay, well, is there something else I want to try on? Is there something else here that I'm interested in and so by you kind of engaging her? Why she's shopping today around hopefully around those kind of specific questions you can work into guiding her toward a product that you think is going to be best for her. Yeah, yeah, and then feel free also told those stories that we started off with you know, I asked you about your first experience with laser cutter I asked you about experiences with the braille necklaces. You know, you can always kind of volunteer those stories as a way to break the ice with a new customer. Okay, makes sense. Yeah. All right. I have one question if it makes if well anyways, so I tend to organize things. I try to organize things by colors because you saw organize things by style. But then I thought, well, somebody's just peeking they're only going to see like, one little snippet yeah, but it still feels like it's overwhelming. Yeah um and this is I would say this is not an area of expertise for me, but I mean, I'm I do like the way you have things by color, I shop by color a lot and I like to see that kind of organization. Yeah? How do you like to shop by color by style? Uh, I liked I actually don't like it when everything's all together in the same color. Okay, because it's it's, the contrast that attract me and that's a great hands or two. You know, I think this is probably something you just need to experiment with. You know, a couple shows one way. Switch it up the next time and do a couple more shows and see what kind of response you get. Do you notice people being drawn to a particular area of the booth? Do you notice them picking one thing up from one spot, moving it to get a better idea to compare and that could give you some real direction. I think there's, often with questions like this there's no right or wrong answer it's a matter of experimentation and figuring out what works best. Do you want to point out something that everyone at home which is parts of the details behind your booth and one of them is your hearing display? This hearing display is pretty brilliant, and of course it can leading matches the rest of the brand and I think that's thank you there you would have done a great job but even something as simple as these clips as necklace hangers also works really well because it kind of ties into the industrial nature of the brand as well. So even if you you're not a laser cutter and you're not going to make a custom earing stand I think just thinking about your overall brandis that I can tying that into your booth is a great way to bring some attention to detail on dh partly tell the story of your brand right in your booth even if you're not you know speaking that story yeah yeah any other questions that you know if you have any questions you say something yeah when you have holes through your earrings, huh if you can hang them you can see through them yeah that will really attract people yeah there's nothing I don't know what it is about when you and you can see through it it's just like the coolest experience yeah no, I yeah, that was the inspiration for the yeah, I would love it. Yeah, thanks. Yeah that's something people will thank you shopper and say a holiday I think you know, this is just a really great collection and we're pretty excited about it and if you don't mind I want to say thank you again teo melody for those of you who don't know melody she is our co founder creek swanson's wife so thank you I do want to ask a question about a place for people to contact you people online notice that there was no place to sign up for a newsletter or collect customer information here on your table well, there is an email me but on my website but I mean here but yeah here physically business cards oh yeah oh, you mean my sign up list yet it just didn't get printed before today that's the only reason that you have your table ready yeah, awesome but very good observation yeah, people are learning yeah, I wanna point out kenneth schooling and ipad and I think I pads are eh? Fantastic tool for crasher boost yes you want to keep your eye on them? You don't want anyone walking off with your ipod but you know, giving people away to opt into the list really? Yeah, anyway and immediate way. Thank you. That was but what I really want teo is so much better than you know, a sign up list you know, in a pinch for sure that's the way to go but these tools that we have now that so good yeah and you know, business cards are great. Yeah, you wanna have business cards on your table that business cars put all the onus on your customer for coming back and finding me when you get there information, of course you can go find them and that's huge yeah question about that is do you always when do you hand out a card to somebody on ly if they ask or do you go about oh no you know something that I would volunteer especially what customer who's come through and tried on a couple pairs of earrings or you really got your fingers up in the necklaces are they touch your stuff the more likely I would be to hand them in I found the gas carter at least offer us definitely and I go through a lot of you know I bet you d'oh right? Because just like we were talking about earlier today it takes you know, seven to ten times for people to see a product before they're really comfortable buying, generally speaking so if this is the first time they've come across your boots, they're going to most likely need to see you again before they're ready to buy yeah, awesome well, if I can read off some comments of what people are saying in the chat room, I've had a great idea this is from virginia who says plus it could be a way to display more of your work for our side shows yeah even show model pictures on it model pictures that's great that's great okay, this is a question that several people are asking so I just want to address the subject do you let people try on your hearing's at trade chosen so I mean that clean them e have alcohol swabs perfect yeah that's something that I've noticed some customers are comfortable with some makers are comfortable with and some are not I think do you think cleaning is important but you know, if you're at all not queasy about letting people try on your stuff I think is a huge selling white that always having a mirror mirror always multiple mirrors in the act yeah a za buyers of shopper I definitely well I can look at all this and say I love it love it love it I love it I tried this one all intimate aware again I definitely want to see it on yes, absolutely cool let's see oh that's a great idea from virginia as well I have many move cards teo give out to people even if they don't buy anything they're a little like a little bookmark with my details. Yeah, those new car's blue cards are fantastic because they're not traditionally business card shaped which means they stick out which is what I also love about lana's cards being square with same thing this card is from stand out in a in a pocket full of these cards from a craft show, so you know obviously that only works until everyone yeah, but for now it's a great tip