Business Matters - What's in a name: Primary reason to buy

For today's naming post, I'd like to tell you about one piece that I sold that I think sold mainly due to the name and not necessarily the design.

It is a sweet story. Earlier this year I heard from guy in Australia who wanted to buy the piece "anyone can fall in love". He asked if I had any available and would I be able to express ship them to Oz. I told him I could make one for him and send it over in a couple of days. We actually had quite a few emails back and forth re. the size of the piece, the gender of the piece, the different options for mailing to Australia etc etc. He was very friendly and we chatted easily by email......so one day when I was about to mail it off, I asked:


"So is the recipient already in love with you?"

Yes - a little bold, but I did say he didn't have to answer and I was just curious....

He responded straight away and said I was welcome to ask and he understood my curiosity. He then went on to tell me that he was fairly certain that they had fallen for each other but neither of them had said it yet. He felt they hadn't said "the words" because he was shortly leaving to go traveling for a few years - plans he had made before they met....

He was to leave soon and it was her birthday coming up - so he wanted to give her "a final special something to remember us by" and the necklace would do the speaking for him. It seemed like it didn't feel right to part having verbally expressed what he felt - but the sentiment of "anyone can fall" in love, expressed it instead.

Not sure where the guy is now - but I hope he is enjoying his traveling and not missing his "friend" too much. And I hope my necklace said the unspoken. And yes, I did include the name of the piece in the gift box. Good luck A.

Who said selling online is impersonal! I love these types of connections with my customers. But it all came about through the name.

Do you have any good naming stories to share? Are you having trouble naming a piece. Let's try figuring some out......

Business Matters - What's in a name: Storytime

The voting last week to name my new piece resulted in a win for "hanging out". To be honest, I'm quite pleased with this as I have it in mind to do another one with the first person hanging onto someone else and then calling it "hanging out together"....


Some of the name suggestions got no votes and we did get a couple of new suggestions including "swing up to the sky", "anyone can trapeze" and "topsy turvy". Thanks for voting and your suggestions. Interesting to see how different names appeal to different people....

In the naming post today, I want to look at stories. Does the name of your piece hint at a story behind it?

There was a recent article in the Economist all about contemporary jewellery. The author wrote about how jewelry nowadays is more about ideas than the flaunting of wealth, with storytelling as a key element so that the wearer can be seen as "buying a bit of the artist's brain".

So do our creations' names suggest a story? Would a potential buyer look at the piece and its name and write their own story or try to find your story in it?

When I think of my pieces, I suppose that calling this necklace "Birdcage" is very lame! It doesn't suggest anything. It's just a bird cage. Guess I need to do something about that....

Maybe it would be better to call it "I know why the caged bird sings"...... or "you can cage the bird but not the song"...It adds a little intrigue and....while people may not search for an item with that name, as long as it is tagged/keyword "birdcage", then it still should be found....

What about "in safety's keeping".....That does conjur up more than one image....or is suggestive of a story.. I think it does ....






And how about "Atlantis" by my friend Fabienne from Easterya This conjurs up lots of underwater and seaside stories for me...looking in rock pools for starfish and other creatures.....





So I'm going to check over my names this week and see if I can offer up a bit more of the "artist's brain". Join me! Come on all you "flat" namers - instead of "leaf earrings" or "shell necklace", get creative in naming and suggest a story too....

Business Matters - Stuck for a name?

For this week's "naming" blog post, let's think about what to do if you can't decide on a name. It may be that no name comes to mind, or as is often the case with me, too many names come to mind!

In these situations, one of the easiest things to do is to enlist the help of others. It's good to see what others think when they see your piece, and maybe you won't end up choosing one of their titles, but it might spark off a new idea of your own....Yes, it may seem obvious to ask your family or friends, but why not spread it wider.....and use your blog or forums on marketplaces or social networks or twitter or......?

A couple of times now I've put up pieces here on my blog and asked readers to vote on the poll and choose their favorite name. It's a great way to find out about your piece and what others see in it, and also your audience. If you run a competition for someone to choose a name, it's nice to offer a prize, like I did with "chrome-o-somes" - or else you can put up a poll of your choices and see which is most popular or if another sparks some interest....

Let's try it with a piece I finished off today. While I was making this piece I had a name in my head for it but now that it's finished, I don't think that suits it. So let's take a poll....

So here's my latest piece - an "anyone" figure - so maybe that is in the name?...or maybe not?....and he/she is hanging upside down on a swing:

I won't tell you what I was thinking but I'll put up a poll at the top of the blog in the sidebar and I hope you'll vote on your favorite name or add another of your own choosing in the comments section here.....

Here are some suggestions from me:

Swingtime
Hang in there
Hanging out
Want to hang out?
Swing low
Look at life differently
Anyone can fly
It don't mean a thing (if it aint got that swing!)

Please vote at the top and we'll see what the most popular is.....and what I learn from it! Or else if you come up with something better, then I'll make you something as a prize!!!

Why not try it on your blog this week too - and let us know so we can join in!

Business Matters - What's in a name: Full-time or part-time name?

Last week I mentioned why I thought names for pieces you create are so important. If you want to sell online, every piece really needs a name but I wonder how many of you just give your pieces part-time names?

While you may list the name online, do you also show the name of the piece when you do a show or when your pieces are in a gallery? When the piece is being seen "live" do you take it's name away and leave it untitled?

I think a lot of people do and something is then lost. Maybe it's just the logistics of having these small printed names on display with your art and ensuring they won't blow away - but I encourage you to make your names full-time.

I don't do many shows but when I do, watching people react to the name of a piece is great. They come up and look at the jewelry, but then they notice the words! And then they try to put it all together and see why I named it that way. Then they smile and start talking to me.

So then what about when people buy pieces from you? Do you include a little card with the name of the piece on it? I didn't used to, but I found people would request that I did this. They are buying because the piece and the sentiment behind it means something to them - so why not remind them of it's name as it's all part of it. I don't send names with all my pieces but for those that are more meaningful, I do - like "you are the missing piece" or "special delivery".

A fellow metal clay artist friend Sue McNenly has found a way to name her pieces that always means the name is "full-time". She's just started framing her pieces and the title then is written on the mat. The two of us find we have lots in common in our styles and backgrounds and decided recently that we were twins separated at birth. You'll see the similarity in her work and their names!

Here's the first one: Be Home for Dinner


And Picture Day

"Picture day" was a traumatic day once a year for Sue when she was a little girl. It was the time when she and her sisters would have their "proper" picture taken and meant they had to sleep with hard rollers in their hair the night before!!!!

To see more of her work, go to her blog or website.

So tell us all. Are you a part-time namer or a full-time namer? More on this subject next Wednesday.

If you would like me to feature your work in this series of "naming", please let me know. I'd be happy to show how you approach this.

Business Matters - What's in a name: Why name a piece

For the next few weeks for my Business Matters posts on Wednesdays, I'll be discussing the idea of naming our creations. I look forward to your input too!

If you've seen any of my work, you'll probably tell that I'm a big fan of naming. So to start off this series, let's look at "why name a piece"?

Imagine...."oh what a sweet baby. What's her name?" ...
"Untitled".

or think about cars.....Car manufacturers spend a lot of money coming up with simple (in most cases!) names that give off a certain impression when people mention it...think of what "mini" conjurs up or "beetle" or "magnum" or "440"....Each name appeals differently to different people...and while the name might not make you buy or not buy that car - it has a big influence in initially grabbing your attention.








"Stuck on you" or"frog necklace"

So too with your art/craft. Naming a piece is the first verbal communication opportunity you have with a viewer or buyer. Why throw that away by using "untitled" or a bland name.

People buy art and handmade items because it stirs something within them and the title of a piece can really work towards pulling the viewer in and seeing it from the artist's perspective.

It also shows that the artist has bothered to spend some time considering a title...they thought their creation was worth that effort and I think that comes across to the viewer.

We were recently in Madrid and went to the Reina Sofia Museum of contemporary and modern art. Looking round, I felt kind of let down when the pieces were "untitled". I understand that some people think this leaves interpretation of the piece to the viewer, but it was also a lost opportunity when I could have had the chance to learn something more of the artist and understand their thinking when they created the piece...........And then there were those pieces which had a title that seemed intriguing or odd to me. With those, I looked closer and spent longer, trying to find meaning in that title and consider where the artist was coming from in naming it that way. The title was a grabber for me and made me stop and consider the piece in greater detail than I would have otherwise.







"Special delivery" or "mailbox necklace"

So until next week when I'll talk about how to choose a name, why not try to spend just an extra minute on choosing the name for a new piece, considering the impact this can have on viewers and potential buyers.

I would like to feature other artists' creations in this series and look at the choice of names or help choose a name for a piece. Please let me know if I can feature some of your work.