Maker Doing Some Marketing | Emily Daley | Episode 681

Emily Daley | Episode 681

Emily Daley is a ceramicist working in Philadelphia. Emily makes functional pieces that are whimsical and feminine while being sophisticated and elegant. Emily uses her work to amplify her own voice, often calling attention to issues she cares about or bringing light to dark areas of her life through humor and sparkles.

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Have you taken the time to think about who wants to buy your work?

I have. Yes. I actually took a business workshop class not too long ago and learned a lot of things that use that kind of rhetoric. The business jargon.

And so how do you go about finding those people?

Well, I think websites like, you know, even though we hate it, Instagram helps. And Etsy has a lot of benefits in that way. I mean I have been weighing getting a website versus getting an Etsy for a long time. Etsy has a lot of interesting analytics that can help you see that kind of information. But I feel like for me what I have done, which isn’t necessarily the right thing to do, but I kind of imagine that all other people are just like myself and I think I market to me.

You feel like you are your perfect audience?

No. But I think my interests and my aesthetic and not my finances (laughter) are similar to somebody who would like my work.

Do you have to take photos persuasively?

Definitely. I think photos are the most important part of selling your work. I feel like it’s one of the most important parts of being an artist and that sucks. It’s something that you kind of have to come to terms with. I feel like I learned a lot about that in college where they are very like…I don’t want to use the word strict, but very into making us photograph and document all of our work. Our professors used to say, If you are not going to take photographing your work seriously then why even bother. It’s a rough world out there, you know, especially now with Covid and the restrictions and you can’t really go to galleries much anymore. The majority of people are going to see your work online if they ever do see it. That’s how they see your work.

Do you feel that that is a discipline that an artist must learn if they want to grow their business?

I think so. If you are trying to do the majority of your sales online through websites like Instagram where it’s so heavily photo based, definitely. I think that is something that is really hard to come to terms with as an artist because a lot of times what we are trying to say with our art is more important than the photograph of it. A lot of art can only be properly interpreted in person, like textures and weight and things that can only be experienced in person.

There are some theories of marketing that say give, give, give and then ask. How do you balance out the giving on Instagram to where you can then justify asking through Instagram?

I think that is a really interesting point. I actually never heard that before. I don’t know if I am behind on things but that is really interesting in the context of my hand, because I paid for the surgery through GoFundMe and a lot of my donors are my Instagram followers and people who like my content and want to continue to see me make work. So that was really heart-warming. So yeah, balancing that give, give, give, and ask for money for my surgery…it was, I don’t know, I think jsut taking it seriously and it’s almost like you treat your followers like they are your buddies, you know?

How do you make sales, but not be salesy?

I didn’t really talk about my marketing technique in depth, but I am not a professional. I see myself as an artist first and foremost. It is very hard for me to formal and have hidden motives or agendas… I am surprised how many people try to take advantage of artists. So I want to base my marketing with being honest and open through my Instagram. So I try to put myself forward and be authentic and personal.