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Framing your Profits - part 1 of 1

by Marilyn Sholin Published 01/10/2006

Framing is not just a profit centre for my business, it is also a passion! I have always loved frames and framing and have spent many hours picking just the right frame for the right image.

I want my clients to enjoy their artwork as much as I enjoy creating it. It's important that they frame it and when I deliver it, it's ready to be on display immediately. There are too many wall portraits sitting in closets waiting to go to the framer because I failed to sell a frame to the client.

The profits from framing are both in dollars and in the satisfaction of having the final input as to how my work is displayed. Here are a few tips and tricks to selling frames that have worked for me in the past and continue to increase my profits.

The first one is easy and small. When I do my sales presentation, I have already worked up a small piece of art of one of my clients' images that I love. I do it in Painter IX, but it can be a wonderful photograph also. I put it in a frame and keep it hidden. The moment of showing this item is most important. I never show it right away. Wait, be patient and work your sales presentation and let them place their entire order first. After you have their order, added it up, but have not added the sales tax yet, take it out and present it as your favourite image and one that you couldn't resist finishing and showing to them. The reaction is always huge. They not only buy it on the spot because they can take it home immediately, but they will also order extras for gifts and for Dad's office. The sizes I usually use for these are the 5x5, 8x8 and 12x12 because I also can print these myself quickly on RED RIVER watercolour paper, rip the edge and put it in one of EXCEL's new float CPP frames and they look gorgeous!

For large wall prints I have been going with a simplistic method of framing. I am not pricing each frame separately any more. I am offering the frame for the print or canvas at one price. I have put together a selection of these frames for them to choose from.

Some cost more, yes, and some are less. But it makes it very easy for them to make the decision. They no longer go by price, but by the frame that looks right and that creates an easier decision. I have found that the less the clients have to decide, the faster the decisions are made. Of course, I also give them my professional input as to what would be the best frame for the artwork. After all, I am the professional. If I have not been to their home, I always emphasize the importance of framing for the artwork, and not for the decor. This is a basic decorating rule. If I have been to their home and know their decor, I attempt to compromise a match to their home with the artwork.

These are just a few of the ways I sell framing. EXCEL's selection is unsurpassed and there is nothing they don't have that I want. Their mouldings are the high quality my clients expect from me.

If you want to learn more about how I sell and market, please come to one of my workshops, Convention programmes or seminars. This is a topic I cover in depth at my programmes.

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1st Published 01/10/2006
last update 09/12/2022 14:54:25

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