107. Tips for Running a Product Based Business

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Katharine Watson sells original art, goods, and prints through retail, wholesale, licensing, and custom design. Katharine’s work has been featured in Vogue and Martha Stewart Living, and she has worked with companies such as the Metropolitan Museum and Chronicle Books, among many others. Katharine prides herself on running a small-batch, one-of-a-kind operation at every turn.

Katharine studied printmaking in college and began to appreciate the art form as a way to bring her designs to everyday goods. After graduating from Kenyon College, Katharine took an internship at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. She soon launched her eponymous brand, originally headquartered in the one-bedroom apartment she and Joe shared.

In this episode, Katharine discusses advice she provides to artists who want to go full-time with their side job, selling at markets, her biggest lesson learned, how she developed her style, why she created workshops, pitching, pricing, tradeshows, and tips for working through the comparison trap.

• When asked by artists when they should quit their job, her advice is to only consider quitting if you can’t do you full-time job and your side job anymore or until your side job is making more money than your full-time job
• Biggest lesson learned is to read all contracts closely and pay attention to the fine print
• Discusses how she expanded her product line (prints, notepads, art, etc) and how studying what people were picking up while shopping her booth helped with her decisions
• Don’t start pitching stores for wholesale until you are familiar with your brand and pricing
• If your work is not selling well it might be that it is priced to low

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Katharine Watson 

Website: katharinewatson.com
Facebook: @KatharineWatson
Instagram: @katharine_watson
Twitter: @katharinewatson

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