KamaraLarryStudio's February Goals

[KamaraLarryStudio]

I am going to be extremely busy with school this month, I am taking two classes for my certificate in conflict resolution and a law class which will count towards my law school elective units, while also trying to organize my office and craft room so I am not sure if I am going to have time to work on shop and business related goals this month but I am going to make them anyways. So here it goes...

This month I am hoping to:
-order business cards
-upload 5 more pieces on to Society6
-create listings for prints of my artwork. (Goal 25 new listings)
I am excited that in my shop I will start offering prints of my original paintings! I am going to start with 8x10 and 11x14 and offer more sizes as I go along, however, I need to find the time to actually list them and update my shop policies for prints.
Once I get them up this will probably triple the amount of listing that I will have in my shop, increase my visibility, and hopefully increase my sales along with it! :)

I am hoping that I will be able to pay for my expenses while I am in law school through my art so that means seeking out other opportunities that I either have not explored in the past, or that I need to take a second look at with fresh eyes. I just have this feeling like there are possibilities and opportunities out there that I am not exploring so this year, little by little I am hoping to begin exploring new directions and to keep growing as an artist and entrepreneur.

I wish you all well this month and hope that February will be great for us all!!! :D

[Former_Member]

Wow, you DO have a busy month ahead of you, don't you?? Your coursework sounds fascinating (I work in the international and public affairs library at Columbia and process a lot of course readings on conflict resolution, anti-terroroism, etc.) Good luck with your classes!

Also, that's great that you'll be offering prints. You could have just one print-listing per size, but offer all your paintings in that one listing -- at least to start with, and then as you have time, spread them out in to different listings. Maybe.

Have you joined any of the specifically art-oriented teams here on Etsy? I be there are quite a few, and that other successful painting and print shops would have a lot of pointers...

Have a great February!

[KamaraLarryStudio]

@ Emma. The one thing that I am grateful for what keeps me going is that the classes and reading are all very interesting. I am learning so much about effective negotiation strategies, causes of conflict, avoiding misunderstandings, reasons why conflict escalates and the importance of active listening, etc. which will not only be useful later on but is useful in my everyday interactions in business, family and friends. It is especially useful in international and public relations as you know. I was reading about an international women's conference where women from different countries and religions were invited to come together and begin to rebuild communication and relationships between their respective countries. It was amazing that people who's countries are at war were able to come together, find common ground, and begin to work together to formulate a plans for their organizations to work together in reducing regional conflicts.

Thank you for your advice about the listings and teams. I am a member of a few art teams but they are mostly just about promotion and not advice but I am going to look into other art teams that might be better suited for that.

[NikkisFunFinds]

I think prints should sell well. I hope you sell enough to provide the $ support you need.

[Former_Member]

Kamara, that doesn't surprise me to hear about that women's conference. Though it's certainly a stereotype, I do think there's something to be said for the notion that women tend to be able to focus more on things like education, communication, public health, etc. without getting as caught up as men do in things like dominance, competition, warmongering, etc.

Random question for you (and other shops). How do you have SO MANY admirers? I'm always surprised to see ratios like this (a thousand or more admirers but not that many sales (yet!)), given the ratio of my own admirers to sales.

Anyway, I hope your February is going well!

[KamaraLarryStudio]

@Emma, it was actually a conference that one of my professors for my minor in Women and Gender studies, attended. She continually publishes works on the subject and attends many international womens conferences. She provided us with some of the transcripts from one of the meetings. There was actually lot of conflict that took place between the Women who attended, but it also created a forum for the women to express and discuss their political, environmental and human rights issues. There were specific moments during the conference where women did come together on the issues, there were 2 women in particular who's countries were are war, one's son died and the other lost most of her family, there was so much anger and hatred that they felt and expressed to each other but during the conference, however they had a moment of understanding that while their countries were fighting they shared more similarities than differences and both faced loss and neither supported the political issues that their countries were fighting against. They were able to see each other as individual people and not just their respective nationalities. They were the ones who made a commitment to work together on one particular issue and continue communication since they were both already separately heading and organizing groups that were basically working to fight against many of the same issues.
Which would not have taken place without the neutrality of the mediator to help them actually discuss the issues and they reasons for their anger rather than just expressing the anger that they were feeling.

As far as your question about the admirers, I do not know how I have so many admirers? They have just been steadily increasing since I opened my shop but I do not know what I am doing exactly to get them. I think many shops fav other shops to get favs back or to gain exposure and views for their shop.