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Rita Vali | Episode 1103
Rita Vali creates joyful pottery that blends modern design with a mid-century vibe, inspired by her love of the intricate details she finds in nature. Rita makes her pottery with others in mind, as she believes people are connected through the use and display of thoughtfully hand-crafted objects. Rita’s career as an artist is made full by teaching various classes where she shares my craft.
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How important is it to simply network? To get your name out in various places?
Networking is always good because it brings opportunities not just to get your work out in the world but to do other projects or teaching opportunities. I still think the best way is meeting the people. People that buy art like the connection of knowing about you a little bit.
Does the education process of showing process videos of your work play a key role in your online presence?
I wish I knew the answer, I mean I get the most watches, I mean sometimes it is a ridiculous amount of those. Sometimes I see who those people are and I think they just want to learn which is great because I teach and I am happy to share anything I know. As far as converting them into sales I am not so sure.
How do you take the step to asking people to be a part of your email list?
Well back in the day it was just a notebook sitting there by the cash register. And now it’s, Here’s my card go to my website. And I have run a few gimmicky promos but they don’t feel right to me. Mostly it is just word of mouth, like you said, reverberating out into the community from events.
So you will offer incentives?
I’ve done it a couple of times. We tried a few of those and they never feel really great with me because as a consumer myself on the other side I don’t love gimmicks.
How do you keep your customers engaged?
Probably through my sporadic emails, the events I do, and invitations to events. I do ship so I get a fair bit of business through my website and through Instagram via my website. But the bulk of it is local. I live in a populated area so people can show up to my events and support me.
How important is a speedy response to either questions or order fulfillment?
I think it’s important. I know as a consumer I appreciate it. And I kind of pride myself in trying to communicate with people when they reach out to me whether it is a question about a piece or the safety or a custom order or a teaching questions and whether they should take one of my classes or something like that. As a small business owner I think really good customer service keeps really good pr with people that reach out to you. It sets us apart from the big companies. No chat bots on my website. (laughter)
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Contact
Instagram: @ritavaliceramic