Letter-A-Day Campaign

Whew! It's been a wild few weeks.

When I tell people about the progress I'm making on the new weaving business they say things like, "Wow! This is happening so quickly for you. You must feel very lucky!" Yes, I do feel lucky. I also see the wisdom in the phrase "Luck favors the prepared." You may remember that I was looking for production work to sustain me while I develop, produce and market my own line of handwoven goods...

Thanks to many people believing in me, I got my production loom at the end of February. Not being one to count my chickens before they've hatched, I wrote several versions of a prospecting letter, but didn't send one out until I actually had the loom set up and ready to go. But as soon as it was ready, boy, oh, boy! I started an all-out campaign to get work with it.

This campaign was multi-pronged. Each day I went scouring my notes for the weavers I had met at crafts fairs and weaving guild meetings and logged their contact information into the Daylite contact management system. I then went looking for professional weavers that I hadn't met yet. I started sending out one contact a day: an email, a phone call, a letter. My goal was to find production work that would support me so I can reduce the hours at my day job, and eventually quit it altogether and make a solid living from my craftwork.

And then, Lady Luck stepped in. After sending out about 50 letters, I got a phone call from a weaver up in Oregon. She wants me to take over a large part of her fabric production so she can focus on making garments and selling them. This is exactly the scenario I've been wishing for. And, as luck would have it, she was the second person I had reached out to contact. She just happened to be out of town so the letter sat on her desk for a while before she opened it. I guess the spirits just needed to see me do all that extra work to make sure I was serious.

To make things even sweeter, it turns out that this is the exact scenario that *she* was wishing for as well. After years of weaving, she is ready to step back and let someone else do a bunch of the fabric production. She just needed to meet someone who is dependable and motivated. Call it coincidence if you like, but I know that there's a greater force at work here. Many people have said as much since I focused on starting a weaving business last year. "Some things are just destined, and your weaving is one of them," said one of my friends.

I am gratified to see that he single most important factor in securing this contract was my loom choice. That part is not a coincidence. I talked to about a dozen professional weavers to help me decide which loom to purchase. Every single one of them said essentially the same thing, “If you’re really serious, you’ll get an AVL Loom”, “I couldn’t make a living without my AVL”, etc. This new contract is possible because I chose a 60” AVL dobby loom. In order to minimize chances for error, my new client will do all the setup work. She warps the beams, threads the harnesses and sleys the reed. Then she lifts those parts out of her loom and gives them to me. I drop them into my loom and weave the cloth. There’s very little chance for error, and we’ll work with a lot of feedback for the first month to squash the errors that can still creep in.

So, if you were looking at my calendar and thinking about coming to my open studio day next Monday, I’m afraid it's cancelled. I'll be taking a four-day weekend in Oregon to visit the Wolf Creek Sanctuary and pick up a carload of supplies for the first few hundred yards of this big weaving job. I'll take lots of pictures of the experience and post them here for y'all to see.

Dreaming of a Business?

Dear faeries and friends,

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The last time you heard from me I was trying to raise funds to purchase a production weaving loom and start a new business. Well, I've done it! I sold many of my possessions. Dozens of people each loaned me a small amount, a few people bought my weavings, and I got the money that I needed. I don't have the successful business yet, but I have no doubt that it's coming. After almost a year of working and waiting, the power's in my hands now.

Along with paying back the folks who helped me, I'd also like to make a personal investment in the community that means so much to me.

As I figure out how to turn my passion into a vocation, I'd like to share my journey with y'all. I know that there are faeries out there who've dreamt of doing what they enjoy and making a living at it. Well, what better time than now? We are a richly creative tribe.

Let's come together in a new circle of faeries helping faeries figure out how to build a healthy livelihood by following our passions.

I don't have all of the answers by any means. Nobody does. I am learning, though. As I figure out the secrets of web marketing and get my wares produced and into galleries, shops, and exhibits, I'd love to swap knowledge with others in the tribe. Some of you have gone before me, some are following in my footsteps, but we can all learn from each other.

I have a few specific skills to offer the community:
1. Idea editing. Sometimes you just need to bounce ideas off of someone else who can help you sort out the ideas worth pursuing from the ideas with potential problems that you are too close to see for yourself.
2. Business plan organizing and editing. Let me help you figure out some of the details you will need to think about before you start moving forward. A well-researched business plan is crucial to finding out whether your idea needs a little work or a lot - BEFORE you start spending your energy on it.
3. Marketing. How do you get the thing that you do in front of the people who are looking for it. Maybe I can help you brainstorm some ideas and actions that you might not have considered on your own. Again, I'm no whizz at this, but the more eyeballs the better, right?

How can we make this happen? Drop by my website, look at my calendar of open studio days, and contact me to set aside an hour or two on one of those days. http://blossommerz.com/calendar

I look forward to hearing from you!

Finding a Job is a Full Time Job

The economy is in a sad, sad state. Everyone knows it. Reading trade rags of the apparel industry, I see the same thing again and again... Customers aren’t willing to spend. Retailers have curtailed stock purchases and are CERTAINLY not picking up new lines. Manufacturers have scaled back production. Suppliers are left with warehouses of unsold materials.

But, that’s all on the consumer-level retail side of things. Analysts say that we’ve never seen a recession bad enough to seriously impact spending on the very high end. As a cash-poor startup, though, I can’t see myself cracking that market. Not only will it take time and money to develop products, but it will take time and money to effectively market my wares to the purveyors who have customers in that market.

Meanwhile, I tick away the days in a job that barely makes ends meet, and I’m thankful for even that much. To make a living in an easier and more pleasing way, I want to weave for an established weaver. To find them, I’m been sending out prospecting messages every day: emails, phone calls, and physical letters. Not only has it become a full time job, it has thoroughly taxed my ability to track all of the prospects and their status.

Thank goodness for a piece of business management software called Daylite. You can read my review of it HERE. Because of this incredible program, I have actually been able to maintain contact with the people that I need to without pestering them or forgetting them. That said, I still have yet to secure a contract. There are a couple of things in the works, but nothing is certain.

So, if you could use the services of a weaver, or know someone else who could, just drop me a line or forward on my resume, available HERE.

415-794-0714
blossom@blossommerz.com
870 South Van Ness Ave. San Francisco, CA 94110

Looking for Production Work

The time has come at last! I’ve got the production loom up and running and need to start it paying for itself. While I develop and market my own line of handwoven items, I’d love to make ends meet by weaving for other designers.

This loom makes production efficient enough that I can weave custom fabrics at reasonable prices.

Here are some people that I envision weaving for:
• Production weavers. Spring and Summer craft show season is coming up, and I’ll bet there are a lot of craftspeople trying to get ready. Let me help!
• Clothing designers. It seems like it would be an advantage to have control over every aspect of the design including the cloth itself. Or just let me design and create one-of-a-kind accessories to accent your line.
• Interior designers. I can weave custom items like throws and pillow covers or create a custom upholstery or drapery fabric, weaving 40 yards at a time, up to about 56” wide.

If you could use the services of a weaver, or know someone else who could, just drop me a line or forward on my resume, available HERE.

415-794-0714
blossom@blossommerz.com
870 South Van Ness Ave. San Francisco, CA 94110