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DirtRoads

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About DirtRoads

  • Birthday June 1

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    https://www.dirtroadspottery.com

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    Edinburg, MS

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  1. Just out of the kiln.    Pushing this free form more.    And larger pieces. 

    sharon2.jpg

    1. shawnhar

      shawnhar

      Nice! I really like the glaze on this one

    2. DirtRoads

      DirtRoads

      Ty.   It's layering of ready made glazes.

       

  2. People help find that smart person that came up with this idea! It was someone here.
  3. Showing the size compared to a mug. Could get a better picture. Having a photographer come here next week and get a few shots. Part of the deal is that I never post a price with any of this work. I'm not even saying this is worth the price I will be getting either. Or that this work is even "special". We agreed to them have 4 to 5 pieces in stock. And me supplying about 20-25 pieces a year. Wouldn't be making a living and I'm not giving up my other line. But, it's a new venture for me. Oh btw, both of these pieces sold now. 2nd check being mailed. They will be delivered next weekend. I want to search and find the person here that gave me this idea so I can properly thank them.
  4. ^^^^ This. And they will pay more from certain venues. I couldn't get these prices on my own.
  5. Someone on this board once gave me the idea of having a "gallery" line in addition to my production line. I've sold a few higher priced pieces since that time. For me that's $200 - $450. Ok, I am going with this interior designer in Atlanta. They will just put my pieces in houses they do and add the price, itemized. The deal is that I will do hand built only for them. At the moment, they only want 2 colors, both white matte with accent colors. Currently they get a 30% discount from places like Restoration Hardware. They are just adding one piece per house, and are taking a 30% commission, at a price that is way way above what I would ever mark my items here. I'll post a picture of the first sale I made. I picked Atlanta because my family travels to Atlanta at least once a month. I've leaving 4 or 5 pieces with them and they will send me a check upon sale. They just mailed me a check for this item (check to avoid cc fees) and it will be delivered when someone goes to Atlanta. I'm confident this is a trustworthy source, due to the houses I've been in that they have done. I have agreed to just sign the items Sharon A. Grimes (no Dirt Roads). And I will do a small bio poster to put with the work and a website SharonAGrimesartist.com for their exclusive promotion. I will refer all calls to them. Let me go take a picture.
  6. Tell me about galleries and your experience. I've been approached about the more expensive pieces in my line, which are $200 and up. That I am marketing under my name "Sharon A. Grimes" and not Dirt Roads Pottery.
  7. I had a selling site for jewelry on Shopify and found it extremely easy to use. And I had a product line (A-Z) that needed 26 variants. And it worked well. This was about 3 years ago. I gave it up because my in store retail price points are close to wholesale and it was just too much trouble for the dollar amount of revenue I was getting I got on average 10 sales a day and 30 sales a day in Nov/Dec. Consider 3/4 of my line was $5. AND 75% of my store business is in Nov/Dec. Shopify was easy to set up and update. It was mostly "advanced word processing". Knowing a little about HTML was helpful. And there was some use of "Liquid". Which I had never used, but it was pretty basic (trying to remember ... think it was almost the same as HTML. Overall, a very positive experience with Shopify.
  8. ^What Clay17 said. Several years ago I ran a vendor mall. Several people I know have spaces in vendor malls now. I just looked at a space in Florida about 3 weeks ago. In Mississippi, Florida & Alabama, the vendor mall is required to charge and collect sales tax. If you don't add it to a sale, you have to calculate it and deduct from your gross sales price. Oh yeah, I was once in a vendor mart in Pigeon Forge, TN. They had to collect sales tax there too. Percent was 15% and we paid rent on the space Your credit card company will 1099 you at the end of the year. Here, the vendor mall is required to 1099 vendors. The 1099 here is also turned over to the state of Mississippi (I know this for fact). Might be that way in other areas that have a state sales tax. I see sales commissions at 15% around my area. The spot I just looked at in Florida charges 20% plus 3% credit card processing (if customer pays with credit card). Plus paying rent for the space. If you took other currency like cash or checks, there is something about banks now reporting anything over $600. Not 100% sure how this is reported. My top line is calculated from the sales reports on square. I put ALL sales on square. I use Square as a POS and enter checks and cash in addition to running my cc's. The state of Mississippi requires a sales ticket or record of your sales. Square only 1099's on the credit cards. I look at end of month sales on Square and turn this in to state of Mississippi. At the end of the year, my accountant uses this amount as my gross operating income, which is verifiable from my sales reports. You have to watch taxes from both your state and federal level. YOU HAVE TO MATCH State & Federal reported incomes.
  9. Yeah I ordered 4000 lbs back in November and didn't get until February. They were out of something ... I want to think they said Magnesium? Funny, I was like Mark and had just around 1000 pounds when it came in. However, this year I have ZERO employees in the back. Plus I'm supplementing with slip casted wares (like mugs and vases). I'm going to make do with this 5000 pounds for the year. I will be cutting back but have raised prices. Not running a "production" side business now, it's more supply based. Customers are willing to pay more and I continually remind them I am 65 now, and won't be doing this forever. And they are buying "extra". I tell them "if you see something you really want, get it now." Oh I use Laguna stoneware #65, hard mixed to 7.5. I think normal is 6.2. Really have enjoyed my Laguna clay and glazes over the years. Cheers to that company! Really excellent service.
  10. ^ this yes and maybe .... "are just not cut out for the "actual WORK" side of things ." A pottery business is a lot of WORK. And there is "opportunity costs". I don't really let myself think too much about this ... i.e. "could I have made more money doing something else". This is one of the reasons I went so heavy into importing jewelry to add to my pottery line. It has definitely evened out my time/profit relationship. Strangely, I really like doing the pottery now. A couple of years back, I mostly tolerated it because it was always somewhat profitable. You have a differentiated product, with high margins, that you have absolute control over. I'm finding myself enjoying the making now (well no production employees ... wish I had done this years ago).
  11. Actually a customer brought it in. I didn't say anything really. They were just pin holes, not like Min's piece. Thanks for sharing that btw. Very interesting. I haven't had pin holes in years. Literally years. Corrected those, once upon a time. Just wondered if this was some aspect of art I didn't know about. A lot I DON'T know about "art", seeing as I am all about functional wares. If I had a piece that looked like that particular piece, I would smash the thing. They told me it was on serve ware too but I told them that wasn't possible ..... it wouldn't be food safe. As of late, I've had another customer wanting "copies" of the other potter. Probably because they stopped wholesaling. And if you use slip casted bisque ware, well all the pieces look the same, because they ARE. I just ignore these people and don't answer the question. As I told them, I would put out some white rabbits tomorrow (we had sold out of sets that "matched".) I avoid being publicly critical of anyone's work. But tbh, I still am puzzled at those pin holes. Yeah, I think they must have been going for an artistic effect. I'm rethinking these slip casted pieces. I did 100% hand building before (some wheel about 7 or 8 years ago). But they are just so easy and fast to do .. quick money. Sadly, half my customers don't know the difference. I never even made mugs much before getting the slip casted mugs. I'm not really pushing myself out as an "artist". I really only look at the financial side. But always up for learning, which is why I questioned this.
  12. I just saw a rabbit from a well known potter that had lots of pin marks on it. I mean lots. This person told me all their pottery in that certain color had those "holes". Not really "marks" .... but holes, you know the kind you get when your glaze is off. Would anyone really want pin holes on purpose?
  13. You can accept Apple Pay on Square. Even some other payments, I think Cash App. When someone asks we just enter and ppl tap their card or phone and it works. So far, haven't had anything that didn't work with Square. I like Square. Seems price competitive and they charge a straight 2.6%. No difference on reward or corporate cards. Those reward cards are really high with some CC businesses. My business is about 70% CC and 30% cash. We enter both on square for tax record keeping. oh yeah Square has 25 cents transaction fee ... on less than a certain amount I think it's 35 cents.
  14. I wouldn't call that disrespectful. And yeah those people get a lot more hits and following than I get with just a few pictures I post. BUT, I do get some customers come in for items or send someone to get items. I certainly don't put MY photo there :). And I do have a free standing retail location that allows me to push people to the store. What I do like is that you can post to instagram and FB at the same time, just taking pictures with your phone. Around Valentine's, I posted everyday. I make it a point to post at least 3 times a week. My last post was Saturday. I'll post more when it gets closer to Easter. My last post on FB got over 4k views and I didn't check my Instagram. I get some hits on Instagram. I have considered getting a gorgeous "influencer" to partner up with me on Instagram for my jewelry. All of my pretty nieces have married and live away now. I would do it for jewelry, not pottery. But yeah, being photogenic is probably key to be at the top. I don't work on my Instagram much but use it in conjunction with FB. Social media is a supplement to my free standing. I'm finding it more successful this year, than any previous year. But it mostly reaches current customer base but a few new customers have filtered in. And as we speak it is free. (I expect this to change)
  15. ^ I had 2 responses to this: LOL (out loud) and secondly agree. This question is ALWAYS on the board. I'm agreeing with GEP that you have to be assured the "advisor" has actually reached financial viability in a pottery business. My experience (going into my 13th year) is that there seems to be very little middle ground. Either people are successful commercially or they are not. I've seen quite a few get started and even talked to some people in my area. Most people don't stay in this for the long haul. I use a format that I see less often. I do 2 shows a year and have a free standing location. I have had up to 8 employees, and am now down to only 1 plus myself. Actually I make about the same profit. One thing I did three years ago was adding slip casted wares to my hand building pottery line. I buy these slip cast wares from an outside source and it decreased my clay production needs. It's a nice supplement. Also, I have a full jewelry line that I have 1 full time employee that stays in sales area and makes jewelry and waits on customers for pottery and jewelry sales (and a small hand crafted fragrance line that I make as my "hobby"). I like this business 200x more with no employees in the production process except myself. just got in a 4K pound drop of clay from Laguna and will use all of it this year. In previous years have used more than 10K pounds. Not sure how much I will use this year ... probably will get one more 4k drop. In answer to your question, I don't do any online. But I've had other businesses before this and was pretty comfortable in the mechanics of establishing a destination retail business. I am a firm believer in capturing 4th quarter gift sales. Half my yearly sales are in Nov/Dec. I'm not sure I'm the best example for recommending channels. I do some consulting but could easily have enough clients to do retail consulting full time. I am always going to say "retail". But I'm not 100% sure this is a good strategy for most potters and I turn down any consulting offers for any arts and crafts businesses. Social media, at the current time, makes it easier to drive customers to a retail location than it used to be. (however, FB and Instagram have implemented changes and may well introduce more that limit the cost effectiveness of this promotion). I've written an extensive analysis of channels somewhere in these forums. I am very pleased with the financial viability and profitability of my business. I will say the ROI (return on investment i.e. equipment, materials, location set up), is exceptionally high. The biggest draw back is the ease and consistency of duplication. I see duplication more successful in slip casting than in hand building. I've had less experience with wheel work, as I dropped it years ago to keep up with the demand for my hand built wares. Avoid hiring employees until you have your process and sales channels worked out. I am also going to suggest that you approach wholesaling very cautiously. I've always thought one should choose between wholesaling and retailing. I have done wholesale in my jewelry line but have stopped because it was pulling me in 2 directions. Cheers. Hope I get to see the survy. Sharon Grimes/Dirt Roads Pottery
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