How I started to be a potter. 11th month. May 2021
Hi there, I am Kate, beginner potter. This is an article about the 11th month of me doing pottery. You can check the previous post here.
This month I tried to make some video content and develop my Youtube channel, also I created a TikTok account and made some Reels in Instagram. Moreover I made planters, cups, sushi sets and chess. Basically, this month for me was more devoted to marketing, ideas for further development and promotion.
Firing
Products
I’ve been making few sushi sets and chess this month. Also I made 2–3 cups of each color for my shop to have enough goods in stock. I also tried to make small planters for the house plants.
And also I’ve updated shop with some new cups.
Glazes
I tried to test one crackle glaze using a simple recipe which I found. But the glaze turned out without cracks on the stoneware clay I use.
It only cracked on the porcelain. It drips heavily with a thick application. I don’t think I will continue to experiment with this glaze soon. I have not yet been able to find a recipe for crackle glaze that would look good on the cups with cone 6 oxidation firing.
I am also working on a new white glaze to replace Heath Ivory, which I currently use. But I didn’t enjoyed the result, because it looks more beige than white and doesn’t have any interesting effects. Maybe I’ll work on it later. I like Heath Ivory glaze, but for some reason it behaves inconsistently in my firings. Sometimes it looks great, and sometimes too thin and transparent, although I try to dip the pot for the same time during the application process. When it is applied in a thicker layer, it usually runs.
Sales
Two months ago I’ve started to sale my products and this month was good for me. I sold 17 items (3 sushisets and 14 mugs). Now sushi set is the most popular item in my Etsy Shop, it has more views and favorites than mugs and plates. I think because the competition is not so big as with mugs and plates. Here you can find the links to my YouTube video “Making a Ceramic Sushi Set Part 1” and “Making a Ceramic Sushi Set Part 2”. The second popular item was the Malachite Green Mug 400ml on Black clay body. Here is my Malachite Green Glaze recipe.
Also this month I had an opportunity to tell the neighbours that I do pottery. In the Netherlands, there is the King’s Day holiday. On this day, there is a tradition to open flea markets on the street. Due to the COVID-19 measures, large markets were canceled, but there was an opportunity to go out in your front yard and sell some products. Many neighbours were interested in the cups, I handed out some brochures, business cards and sold 3 cups.
Promotion
I started developing my YouTube channel. For the last two months I have been trying to record some videos. This month I posted these four videos:
Subscribe to my YouTube channel if you are interested in how I make pots.
I also started a TikTok and try to upload short videos there, which I duplicate in Instagram.
In Instagram I have more than two thousand followers now, but most of them are other potters or people who are engaged in other handmade or just people who know me in person. I don’t know yet how to attract real customers with Instagram.
Also the reach of my posts has been falling lately. As far as I understand, my posts are not shown to some of my followers now. And I also stopped seeing the posts of some people whom I follow, I see only 5–6 new posts per time, although I am subscribed to 500 people.
I think the reason is in this new Instagram algorithm and how they show the feed. But maybe I need to be more active and produce more content. Basically, the fall began after I didn’t publish any posts for a month and didn’t like any posts of other people. So I am currently trying to use Reels and publish more videos, as I can see this is the best way to show the content to new users in Instagram. So Instagram for me now looks more like a place where I can share my experience with a lot of cool potters, find an inspiration and lots of support but not a real sales platform.
Also I applied to open an Instagram Shop, but Facebook support answered me that “Your account does not meet our Commerce Eligibility Requirements”. After discussion with support, it turned out that the reason is that I don’t have enough followers on a Facebook Page. Although their rules clearly stated that it is enough to have the required number of subscribers on only one platform (either on Instagram or on Facebook). I created my Facebook page recently, just to create an Instagram Shop. So I am trying to promote my Facebook page now. First, I tried to publish posts regularly and signed up for some pottery group, but very few people subscribed to me. So I paid for Facebook ads for promotion. I have never paid for the Instagram promotion, but maybe this is the only way in our reality with a new feed to find real customers on Instagram if you have only online business. Therefore, I will try to apply to open the Instagram Shop again when this option will be enabled for me, because currently it’s not possible to reapply. And if I manage to open an Instagram Shop, then most likely I will try Instagram advertising. So I will calculate some marketing budget now. Let me know if you had some Instagram promotion experience.
I have also printed out brochures about my store this month. I put them in parcels along with the business cards. Moreover, I gave them out on the King’s Day. I also have a small Etsy Shop with my posters and I started sending my pottery business cards and brochures in the orders there.
Long Term Plans
Now I am reading how to register the business in the Netherlands. I read in several articles that according to the law you should not pay taxes if your income doesn’t sell under 10,000 euros a year. But there is a lot of information that I am currently trying to study.
After the official registration of the store, I want to try to participate in fairs. Here in the Netherlands street fairs are very developed and I want to try to visit one in my city. Perhaps this will happen somewhere in the middle of summer.
I also started thinking about developing my own website. This project is not developing very quickly, while I am at the stage of choosing a platform and thinking over the site architecture. I plan to launch the site in the next six months. The main goal of the website for now is to keep the shop and blog in one place. But I’ll probably keep Etsy shop anyway.
Next month, I plan to register the business in the Netherlands and find how to take part in fairs. I’m going to start developing the website. Also I’m planning to make cups, sushi sets and planters. And maybe try to study some new shapes if I have enough time.
Here you can check my instagram account and YouTube channel.
Thank you for reading 🍯 ✌
