Handmade Street Smarts: Teaching and Business
Monday, June 21, 2010 at 1:37PM 
My semester is officially done. I graded the last of the exams, wrote the last of my papers, and submitted everything that needed turning in. It feels absolutely amazing to be "done." (Even though a grad student's work is never complete!) This will also present me with the first opportunity to craft origami without everything looming large over my head. I am excited, but I do have to admit that learning to teach and learning to run an online shop have a lot in common with one another! I never realized how my teaching skills could help me be successful in other ways.
1. Be versatile. Different people learn in different kinds of ways. This was a hard lesson for me in the beginning of my teaching career. We would all like to sit back and think that we know the best way to get information across to our audience, but the truth is that both teaching and selling handmade require an amazing deal of versatility. Different people are receptive to different kinds of promotion. Some care deeply about your descriptions while others will only pay attention to your photographs. It is crucial to be a well-rounded individual when it comes to both.
2. Students understand visuals faster than they understand text. When I teach, I inevitably resort to having a powerpoint at all times. However it is rare when I have slides that are text heavy. Usually, I try to create powerpoints filled with gorgeous images to draw in their attention. After all, in Art History, the image is at the center of everything. However this also is true for selling online. For the most part it is your visuals which will keep people clicking in your shop. Bright colors, clear images, detailed photography--all of these things are extremely important (as we all know!)
3. Repetition can be a good thing. This is my general rule of thumb with blogging, but I have also found it extremely important when teaching. Before the course begins, I try to identify four or five themes that I want students to come away with. Let's be honest--they will forget most of the small detail-oriented factoids that they are forced to regurgitate on exams. However, if you are consistently reiterating these themes, then hopefully they will understand and use those larger ideas long after the course has come and gone. Branding your items is also very similar! If you have a slogan, a logo, or even a target audience you need to constantly reiterate them so that people not only remember, but can identify you with a certain set of qualities. They may not remember specific items, but they may have a general sense of what you sell and what you stand for.
4. Kindness goes a long way in the classroom. I treat my students like peers and after reading my evaluations this semester, it seems that this is one of those things that they really appreciated. I like to sit next to them in a circle as opposed to talking above them, I like to engage them in conversation both in and outside of the course, and I make myself available for help and clarification online and in my office. After my first year, I feel like I am really starting to reach out and I know for a fact that they recognize this. Having a shop online is not enough if you aren't willing to put yourself out there in the virtual world. People want to get to know you and by making yourself available and treating your potential buyers with respect, then you will find yourself going farther and doing better.
I am so excited that I successfully closed out my first year of teaching with a bang. I will surely enjoy my origami-filled summer, but it has taught me a lot of invaluable lessons about how to connect with other people. I hope that I can continue to do this for a very long time.
Past Installments of Handmade Street Smarts
Credit: Photograph by MsDotty on StockExchange
