I’m always on the lookout for different ways to market a business, and I discovered something really cool at my ophthalmologist’s office recently. One of doctors had created a PowerPoint featuring optical illusions, fun quizzes, etc., that plays on the wall of the lobby in the office building. The idea was expanded, and now each exam room includes a picture frame that has several hundred slides encompassing not just the fun things but also testimonials about the practice. This got me thinking about ways we could adapt this idea to quilt businesses. Here are some:

1. The first thought that comes to mind is with product demos in booths at shows. You could have several frames running at the sides of your booth. Of course, that’s in addition to your own demo to draw customers into the booth.

2. If you are a pattern designer and don’t demo in your booth, you could have the frame running with pictures of quilts made by your customers from your patterns. Nothing spurs a purchase like seeing how your quilt pattern can be made in multiple colorways, especially your favorite. I’d love to see this with bag patterns.

3. As my friend and longarm quilter Erin says, quilters travel in packs, so she always has extra chairs in the studio for the friends traveling with her clients. She could create a slide show of herself at work on her longarm and include shots of quilts that she has completed and any ribbons she has won, along with customer testimonials.

4. Art quilters could use this concept with a gallery show. Imagine slides showing you at work, slides of your work that isn’t in the gallery, and slides showing your work hanging in happy customers’ homes with their testimonials.

5. Shops could find lots of ways to use this idea – demos of new products that have arrived, samples from the classes on the schedule, covers of new books, fabrics on order. Imagine putting together one of pictures you took at Quilt Market focusing on all the new products you ordered.

6. Those of you who do craft shows could use the ideas that I have for art quilters: a slide show of you at work, photos of quilts or other products that you’ve sold, photos of your work in your customers’ homes. It’s great to offer people a picture of how your product will look in their surroundings.

I took a quick look at digital picture frames online and found them ranging in price from $30-$300, depending on size of the frame and all the extras, including the ability to add audio. I hope some of you will add this idea to your marketing toolbox and share your experiences with us.

The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership and join here.

Quilt Market, the quilt industry’s premier trade show, took place in Minneapolis May 21-23. Minneapolis always seems to welcome us with warm weather and this year was no exception. Thursday, I think the temperature was in the low 80s. Here, in no particular order, are some of the things I discovered at Quilt Market:

1. Quilters Newsletter and Quilts Inc. presented the latest results of the Quilting in America™ 2010 survey. This is the sixth in a series of studies done since 1994 with the intent of measuring the amount of time and money quilters spend on their hobby in addition to profiling the key segments of the market. Some findings: Estimated dollar value of the quilting industry is $3.58 billion. Total quilters in the U.S. now exceeds 21 million. In 2010 dedicated quilters spent a total of nearly $2.5 billion. The dedicated quilter has $8,542 in quilting tools and supplies and owns on average $3,677 worth of fabric. Watch for more details on the survey findings in the Summer issue of The Professional Quilter.

2. Demos are becoming more popular and with good reason. Demos sell. If you don’t demo, here’s an idea I saw in the Thangles booth – use a digital frame to play a video. While the sound was low, you could watch what was happening. It’s another way to engage your booth visitor. MB Hayes with Thangles credits Fabric Café with the idea.

3. Do you want to keep your rotary blade sharp? Try The Cutting Edge ruler system from Sullivans and Pat Sloan. The ruler features full see-through, non-skid frosting and a unique red grid system that highlights the 1/2 inch marking. What is most unique about the ruler is it has an inlaid diamond powder edge that continually sharpens the blade that runs against its edge.

4. Ruffles, ruffles and more ruffles. Michael Miller Fabrics introduced white, raw-edge ruffles, cut on the bias at 3 inches. To showcase the idea, they had a tuffet made from ruffles. And, once I saw the ruffles here, I was seeing them lots of places, particularly on patterns.

5. Clover introduced a new wrap ‘n fuse piping. All you do is cut your fabric, wrap it around the piping, press to fuse and when cool, you have instant piping. It comes as small as 3/16 inches. Clover also introduced a line of eco-friendly bamboo handled notions.

6. Lots of wonderful fabrics: Rue Saint Germaine, Robyn Pandolph’s new line from RJR; an organic cotton line from Kauffman; Ricky Tims’ new Oodles of Doodles line from Red Rooster; Timeless Treasures‘ Tonga Treats, 2.5 inch strips and 10 inch squares from its Tonga Batiks line;  a color wheel line from Avyln; wonderful new pieces from Kona Bay, Moda, Benartex; Clothworks, Northcott, and others. We are so lucky to have this much quality fabric to use.

7. Kaufmann has released an ipod app that’s a quilting calculator.

The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership and join here.

During a recent trip to Cape May Point, NJ, I went to a local crafts cooperative with some wonderful work. I remember my days as the quilt/fiber artist at a fine crafts cooperative outside Philadelphia. It’s a great place to sell your work, meet your customer and gather marketing information.

Whether you sell your work in a cooperative or in a booth at a show like Quilt Market, here are some tips to help you increase sales:

1. Set an intention or goal for the show. Is it to make a certain amount of sales, to get your patterns picked up by a distributor, to test a new product? When you are clear on your intent, you’ll be more focused, and your results will show that.

2. Establish eye contact with show visitors, smile and engage them in a conversation. Ask questions that will lead to an answer that is not yes or no. Share something of yourself and your product. Your customer is buying you as much as she is buying your product. And, I’m sure you’ve been to a show where the craftsperson sits on a chair in the corner of an empty booth. Of course it’s empty; no one feels welcome to enter! Get up and greet your customer.

3. Qualify your buyer, i.e., separate the browsers from the buyers. Quilt Market is filled with what I call “the entourage,” quilters who want to see what Market is all about. And, I love quilters who want to become involved in our industry; they keep our industry vital. However, while they may have some influence or be the buyer of the future, they are not the decision-maker today. I’m not saying to ignore them or be rude. You can engage them in a conversation, only find out who makes the buying decision and try to get to that person.

4. Have plenty of handouts and brochures. Not everyone is ready to make a decision when they first meet you. Some like to take materials back to the hotel room and compare before buying. Be sure to bring an original of your handouts in the event you need to get copies during the show.

5. Have a way for people to contact you later. At the cooperative I visited in New Jersey, all the artists had business cards; none had a web site noted on the card. Many times, I’d like to peruse the artist’s web site and see what other work she might have. Not all your buyers will purchase while they are in your booth or even at the show. Make it easy for them to see your product line.

6. Keep up your energy. If you are doing multi-day shows, it’s easy to get run-down. Have healthy snacks and water in the booth. Try to stick to your regular sleeping routine, something I find hard to do at shows. If your energy is zapped, it will show in your results.

Hope these tips add to the success of your next show. And, feel free to share your tips with our readers.

The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership and join here.

Attending the Friendship Star Quilters show over the weekend reminded me of the variety of reasons quilters have for entering shows. For many,  it’s a chance to share what they’ve accomplished with others.  It’s a chance to support your guild’s efforts, and for many guilds this is what pays for lectures and workshops.  For teachers, it’s a wonderful opportunity to share what their students have accomplished. If you are a professional, it’s a chance to get your work seen by a larger and potential buying audience or to increase your exposure in the quilt or art world at large. For some entering a local show is a stepping stone to a larger show.

Do you remember the first time you entered a quilt in a quilt show? I do.

I was a member of the Charlotte Quilters Guild in 1977, and several of us decided to enter our work in the annual NQA show, which was held at Georgetown Visitation Prep in Washington, D.C. Of course, it wasn’t enough to just enter, we had to go to the show. It was very exciting stepping into this larger venue. I remember that my grandmother met me at the show. I was thrilled she could see my work, and she was quite impressed with all the variety of quilts. (Of course, she did cast her viewer’s choice for one of my quilts!)

Of all the reasons to enter a show, though, I think the best is the opportunity to grow as a quilter and an artist. Why do you enter shows and how does this stretch you?

The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership here.

It is definitely spring in my yard, and it is so welcome after what I would call an excess of snow. Here’s the magnolia tree that is right outside my office window.

Last weekend was busy quiltwise for me. On Friday I stopped in at the new AQS show in Lancaster, PA. It is the new convention center, a nice facility filled with three floors of quilts and vendors, as well as a satellite location about a mile away. Shuttle buses ran between the buildings and parking areas. Practically the first vendor I ran into was IAPQ member Lisa Reber of Dippy Dyes. Lisa does wonderful hand-dyed fabrics and was thrilled that three of the quilts in the show featured her fabrics. They also worked wonderfully in Woodland Lei from Pacific Rim Quilt Company, which is shown in the back on the left. And, she was wearing her IAPQ pin!

For the first year of the show I heard lots of positive comments, and the quilts were wonderful. I know first hand that the bus situation needs some work – we waited too long for it to arrive – and I heard that Bonnie Browning was riding the buses to get ahead of any complaints. Way to go!

Following the stop at AQS I headed off to Bird-in-Hand where I was the guest speaker for the weekend at the Quilt Professionals Network. I had a wonderful time with this very talented group of quilt professionals. Saturday I taught my three-hour Quilting Passion to Profit class in the morning and then in the afternoon I shared my Open House: Quilt Studio Tour slide lecture. Don’t you just love to see how other quilters work? On Sunday I presented my Time Management (Mastery) for Quilters program. Along with educational opportunities, the weekend included plenty of networking time, and it was a joy to reconnect with quilters I’ve known over the years and also meet new professionals. Thanks QPN for inviting me!

And, during my three-hour class, we discussed selling benefits vs. features. One of my examples included buying if you think something will increase in value, and I shared the story of a gnome I have, only I couldn’t remember the artist. It’s Tom Clark and I purchased this because he created this gnome in honor of my cousin Gene McEver. He’s actually a first cousin, twice removed, and was an All-American football player at the University of Tennessee, in addition to being a coach at Davidson College, the home of Tom Clark. This collectible gnome is named McEver and is now retired. Here’s my gnome:

On my way back home, I fit in a stop at the Lancaster Arts Hotel to see an exhibit of Sue Reno’s quilts. Those of you have been to my booth at the old Quilters Heritage Celebration will remember that I always featured one of Sue’s quilts in my booth. This exhibit showcased quilts Sue made to celebrate the old Watt & Shand department store in Lancaster. This Beaux Arts building was transformed into the convention center. I’m a fan of Sue’s quilts and it was a real treat to see this collection. I did have a hard time picking a favorite! If you get a chance, make time to visit the exhibit.

Ann Hazelwood
American Quilters Society; $12.95

This terrific little collection of tips is broken into sections for the quilter as a student, tools, designing and working styles, stash savvy, techniques, quilting, finishing touches and show etiquette. You’ll find something to use or pass along. But the best advice, as Zena Thorp says, is “remember that it is YOUR quilt.”  Here’s a link if you’d like to add it to your library.

• First and foremost, read the rules. Read them more than once and contact the show coordinator if you have questions.
• Determine if your quilt is eligible for the show. Some shows may require membership in an organization; some may require completion of the quilt within a certain time period.
• Determine the correct category for your quilt. Read the rules for definitions of categories. Some shows disqualify you if your quilt is in the wrong category.
• Meet the deadlines!