Painted Bull Gallery

Monday, March 16, 2009

New Direction Going Forward

So what is my happy news...

Please see the following links for more information:

Coming Soon to 1000 Markets!

1KM's new "Cooperative Market" is in the making...the Promotion/Marketing is the "product theme" of the new market that I will be managing. It is a cooperative effort between the artist who are members of the Market.

Here is the plan...The shops on 1000 Markets all have quality items, and the 1KM site is very pleasing to look at. What the "Idea" of this Co-op market would be is a combination of all different kinds of artisan products, that will appeal to many people who appreciate quality and the time it takes to make these products. Instead of just one shop marketing itself, all the shops within the market will focus their marketing for the whole "Cooperative Market."

One person can only do so much for their own shop, if we got together and all promoted the Co-op market...this will be utilizing all the individual shops within the market to bring customers to the "Cooperative Market" site on 1KM.

When many get together to promote the entire Co-op Market, it creates a sense of urgency and excitement. I know that this concept can be a success.

I have 11 years of experience with retail sales. Seven of them as a Manager and Regional Outreach Coordinator for Chico's in Sanibel Island, the company has its HQ in Fort Myers. This was back in the early 90's when Chico's was building and expanding it's company. I was fortunate to be involved with the company at such a crucial time because the whole "Chico Culture" as it was called was a very specific form of retail sales. It was more about the experience of shopping at a fabulous looking store that sold amazing quality stuff.

The 1000 Markets venue itself is going for a more polished look, and since it is a juried site, the focus seems to be more on creating a visual experience as well as shopping for Artisan Products... there is a different feel about the site. I feel the "market" idea is a fabulous one...These markets can be utilized as a selling tool.

There is a huge opportunity with this "market" concept that I think some are not truly grasping....the ability to shop using a "Market" brings a group of potential buyers that already are a "focus" or target market. Instead of being one individual shop among many, the market brings a group of us together and give us something to build on. The Market is like an athletic "Team" in the true sense of the word...even though there are individual rewards (ie your shop sales) the success of the "team" also depends on the effort that the individual puts into the "Team Events."

That is what I mean by this being a working market...a business market...the possibilities are endless.

I will be working on developing a cohesive plan for the market and flesh out the various forms of participation that would be required to join this market. This "member cooperative participation" must be distinctly understood by all future members of the market.

I will be posting more information regarding this market on this thread, as well as here on my blog, so please be sure to check on the progress of what I hope will become a sort of flagship market on 1000 Markets. It will be a bold and active member participation market that I think will really make a difference and become a powerhouse of talent for the 1KM site.

This is the beginning of a beautiful day and productive future. Thank you all so much.

-JJ & Painted Bull

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I love this idea, it's very exciting. I belonged to a cooperative food market for several years when living in NYC and again in Cleveland. It worked extremely well.
I'll be watching and looking forward to joining.

PaintedBullShop.com said...

Claudia Jane, I am so delight to see you are excited about this. It is post like this that keep me going.
-JJ