PLEASE ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF,

I’M A MAN OF CLAY AND GLAZE

PUSHED MUD AROUND FOR SEVENTY YEARS

OR TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND DAYS.

Robin Hopper is a man of many parts, mostly worn out, rusty or dysfunctional, due to a lifetime of excesses! He started working with clay at the age of three and is still doing it over 70 years later. His lengthy, peripatetic career as a mudpusher has included side trips into working as a Professional Actor, Stage Designer, Property Maker, Stage Manager, Stage Carpenter, Grocer, Greengrocer, Jazz Musician, Teapot, Wine and Beer-Bottle, Trumpet, Trombone and Bugle Player, European Travel Guide, Founder of Several Clay/Art/Craft Organizations, Alchemist, Geologist, Primatologist, Linguist, Ornithologist, Botanist, Ceramic Historian, Educator, Author, Garden Designer, Lecturer on Japanese Garden Design, Laborer and Star of Stage, Screen and Potter’s Wheel!

Monday, February 13, 2012

PRICING AND MARKETING

MONDAY, 13TH FEBRUARY, 2012

LAST WEEK'S BLOGS WERE MAINLY ABOUT DESIGNING, MAKING AND PRICING A RANGE OF REGULAR DOMESTIC WARES, USING THE EXAMPLE OF MY OWN EXPERIENCE OF DOING JUST THAT IN ENGLAND BETWEEN 1959 AND 1967, ONE YEAR BEFORE I FINISHED AT ART SCHOOL AND ONE YEAR BEFORE MOVING TO CANADA.


TWO-QUART  AND SIX-QUART CASSEROLES

JUST ABOUT THE ONLY WAY OF SURVIVING AS A POTTER AT THE TIME WAS TO DO A RANGE OF WELL-THOUGHT-OUT AND WELL-MADE FUNCTIONAL WORK.  MY  RANGE REGULAR RANGE GENERALLY INCLUDED ABOUT 35 DIFFERENT ITEMS WHICH WERE ALL MADE  IN FIVE VARIATIONS OF GLAZE, COLOR AND DECORATION. THERE WAS NO EXCUSE FOR PEOPLE NOT TO BUY FROM THIS RANGE OF WORK. I STARTED MARKETING MY WORK IN AN ORGANIZED WAY. MY PARENTS HAD A FAMILY GROCERY BUSINESS, SO I LEARNED HOW BUSINESS WORKED VERY EARLY IN LIFE, PROBABLY ABOUT FOUR IN AGE. ON MONDAY MORNING I WENT TO THE BANK WITH MY MOTHER TO DEPOSIT THE TAKINGS FROM THE PREVIOUS WEEK'S SALES.  VARIOUS SALESMEN WOULD STOP BY AND MY PARENTS WOULD ORDER STOCK OR THEY WOULD ORDER BY PHONE. THE GOODS ARRIVED, WERE PRICED AFTER CHECKING OUT THE COMPETITION AND PUT OUT FOR SALE. THE FOLLOWING WEEK IT HAPPENED ALL OVER AGAIN. IT SEEMED A PRETTY SIMPLE CONCEPT. SO I DECIDED WHERE I WANTED TO SELL MY WORK TO BY MAKING MY ROUNDS OF ALL OF THE GALLERIES AND BOUTIQUES THAT SEEMED LIKELY. I KNEW WHERE THE ONES WERE IN THE SOUTH OF ENGLAND.  I GOT MYSELF ORGANIZED AND FOLLOWED THE PATTERN OF THE GROCERY SALESMEN.


CHEESE DISH, TEAPOT AND TWO-QUART CASSEROLE



LARGE AND SMALL JAMPOTS

SINCE I DIDN'T HAVE A CAMERA, I HAD IMAGES OF MY WORK PROFESSIONALLY PHOTOGRAPHED IN BLACK AND WHITE ( THE IMAGES SHOWN ON THE PREVIOUS FEW BLOG POSTS. I MADE INTO A PHOTO JOURNAL WITH DESCRIPTIONS AND PRICES.   I WROTE TO THE OWNERS OR THE GALLERIES FOR AN APPOINTMENT AND WENT TO THE GALLERY WITH THE PORTFOLIO, MET THE OWNERS AND DISCUSSED THE WORK.  IF THEY WERE INTERESTED, I HAD SAMPLES IN THE CAR THAT THEY COULD SEE, TOUCH AND ORDER FROM. IF THEY LIKED WHAT THE SAW, THEY MADE AN ORDER FOR DELIVERY FOUR MONTHS HENCE. IF THEY DIDN'T LIKE WHAT THEY SAW, WE WASTED NO MORE  OF EACH OTHER'S TIME AND I MOVED ON TO THE NEXT STOP ON MY LIST. WHEN I HAD AS MANY ORDERS AS I FELT I COULD FINISH IN FOUR MONTHS I DELIVERED THE WORK AND THEN MADE A CIRCUIT IN THE MIDDLE OF ENGLAND AND DID THE SAME THING OVER AGAIN AND ONCE AGAIN IN THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. MY ORDERS TOOK ME A YEAR TO COMPLETE, AND I THEN STARTED THE CYCLE ALL OVER AGAIN.



BEAKER MUG AND SMALL COFFEE MUG


FLUTED BOWL

THESE SIMPLE PRICING AND MARKETING METHODS HAVE WORKED WELL FOR ME FOR AT LEAST 50 YEARS. IF YOU WANT TO BECOME A REAL PRO IN THE FIELD YOU MIGHT FIND THEM VERY USEFUL.


COFFEE FOR ONE, COFFEE POT, CUP AND SAUCER, CREAM AND SUGAR

STARTING TODAY, I AM HAVING TO CUT MY BLOGS BACK TO THREE PER WEEK, ON MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY.  I HAVE FOUND THAT I JUST CAN'T FIND TIME TO DO ALL THE OTHER THINGS THAT I CRAM INTO MY LIFE.  MY FRIENDS TOLD ME THAT BLOGS ARE EASY AND FAST TO DO!  MAYBE IF YOU ARE A SUPER SWIFT COMPUTER NERD, FAST TYPIST AND PHABULOUS PHOTOGRAPHER, BUT I AM NONE OF THE ABOVE, AND AM CONSTANTLY STRUGGLING TO GET THE POSTS DONE ON TIME. I WRITE THE POSTS IN THE BELIEF THAT I'M HELPING PEOPLE WITH THEIR CONTENT. MAYBE I'M MISGUIDED IN THAT ASSUMPTION BECAUSE THERE IS SELDOM A COMMENT, QUESTION OR REQUEST FOR CLARIFICATION.







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6 comments:

  1. smartcatFebruary 13, 2012 at 4:18 AM

    I personally read your blog every morning. I find them interesting and instructional. It's understandable that you have to cut back on postings.

    May I suggest that everyone follow gz's suggestion on her blog? Drop a pebble (o) to show that you have stopped by.

    ReplyDelete
  2. jffolliesFebruary 13, 2012 at 5:13 AM

    I don't comment beause you are so informative and precise I usually don't have any questions. This is just to say thank-you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. CyndiFebruary 13, 2012 at 6:46 PM

    I would say the same, Robin, as above comments. You are doing much work to help all of us. Your information and pictures are instructional, informative, and historical. Thank you for the effort in all that you do.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Margaret BramptonFebruary 14, 2012 at 5:09 AM

    Just to say 'thanks' for your blog posts. I was interested to see you had been to Croydon College. I lived in or around Croydon for several years. I've never visited the art college but I did teach in it's neighbour-Croydon College. I taught Child Care and Education and decide that wasn't for me.
    I wonder if they still have a ceramics department in Croydon.

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  5. gzFebruary 14, 2012 at 9:45 AM

    Your blog is well written and a help and inspiration to all- we're all here, just a bit busy. like you! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. RachelFebruary 15, 2012 at 8:42 AM

    I try to read your blog every other day but with my schedule I generally end up reading 5 days or so at a time during a well earned coffee break. I am of course, enjoying it immensely, and can only imagine how much time it takes to write and select the images. In essence, you are writing a new book with illustrations, at the rate of a couple of pages a day! That is no small feat and is fascinating reading! Thank you Robin!!!

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