Yesterday I got up early and drove 2 hours to Girdwood
http://www.girdwoodchamber.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi and guess what? I was not scheduled to work! So I drove around looking for a place to pitch my tent instead. Girdwood now has
No Camping signs all over town because of the partyiers from the last Forest Fair. Rumor is they found a lady floating in the river 2 days after the festival.
I drove to Hope, Alaska which was a 45 minute drive. Buddy and I went for a 5 mile hike on a beautiful trail in Hope on the other side of the Cook inlet. There was a sweet little campground for $14.00 a night, but I hate to pay to pitch a tent. It seemed safe with a camp manager but that was a long drive back so after searching I decided to sleep at the gallery in the mini gallery room off to the side. With an air mattress, sleeping bag and a pillow I'm right at home. Problem is there was a big controversey about my sleeping at the gallery last year. Some said; whats the big deal, and others said; it's inappropriate and not covered under their insurance. So I snuck in after 10:00p.m. and got up at 6:00a.m. packed up my gear and went for a walk until opening time. Still I will probably hear about it. While on my walk to the coffee shop I spied a big black bear about 150 yards from me in a residentual neighborhood. Finally after all my walks I finally saw a bear.
I am at the laundormat this computer and internet access is costing me .15 per minute and some register sign keeps popping up and robbing me of time because I cannot type when it is on and guess what there is no one to complain to, gurrrr.
In the gallery there are people from everywhere, Buddy the schnauzer is my greeter, he puts everyone in a good mood. I wanted to talk a little about selling art. In the past I sold cars and I was good at it always the number 1 or 2 salesman, I made a good living for many years. I came to Alaska to live my dream and become the artist I always wanted to be. I am fortunate to have realized that dream. Problem is when it comes to selling my own art, I am not that aggressive sales person that I used to be. It's perhaps so much of my self is tied up in what I create, which is just silly, yes I created it but it isn't me.
There are 4 steps to the sale; the greeting, the permission phase, the objection phase, this is where it gets dicey, they say things like; it costs too much, I don't have anymore room for stuff, there is no room in my luggage are common objections. This is where I fall down I assume they are just lookey lews and do not really want to buy. My job tomorrow is to get to the bottom of their objections try to answer their concerns. The final step is to ask for the sale! Hey whats the worst that can happen? If I have done the first three steps the ABCs then asking how would you like to pay for this, or so would you like to take this home today, or it would make a wonderful gift for your mother-in-law, do you need a box, or how would you like this shipped? It should be a no brainer.
Oh look .47 cents or 3 minutes left and I'm all done.
