At a time when jaws were agape over Farrah & Cheryl, I had Marie. Because of her, I bobbed & conditioned my hair, worked harder on my smile, & took up figure skating. I also committed to perfecting the sassy comeback with my brothers. #BrunettesInAWorldOfBlondes, #GoingCoconuts
Last summer, the initial delight I felt in seeing my sketchbook drawings on a digital pillow template inspired a new design business in 2018 called Pen Jar Productions.
Now my quirky line drawings are on totes, tees, scarves, and, coming next month, enamel pins! (In these politically-charged times, more of us are wearing our values on our lapels).
Here’s a tour of my studio, where it all happens.
Print-on-demand technology that offers freelancers, like me, automatic fulfilment and shipping has been around for several years, but I only woke up to it in 2018.
ICYMI: here’s an Instagram Stories video I made explaining how my pillows go from a sketchbook drawing to a finished pillow:
As we move into 2019, the things that used to be background noise in my life — benchmarks, brand recognition and break-even points — have taken on a new urgency.
In search of answers to my marketing and accounting conundrums, my podcast lineup has expanded to include:
In the end, though, customer feedback is the best way to learn. Here are the seven things my customers taught me in 2018:
Offer smaller tote bags
I’m tall. Six-foot-one tall. So when I decided to add totes to my mix, I sourced a bag that fit the length of my frame.
I forgot to think about how the bag length would work for a petite woman. Isn’t everyone 6’1″?
Then I met Amanda. She lived and worked on the Toronto Islands last summer.
I was wearing my merch one evening when she stopped me and asked if she could slip my ferry tote over her shoulder.
“I love it!” she said. “But it’s too big for me.” I hesitated. No matter. She pressed fifty bucks into my hand and the next time I saw her she modelled the workmanship of her city-side tailor, who lopped off two inches from the top of the bag and the handle. Et voilà!
At the 2018 Algonquin Island Association Christmas Boutique. It’s blurry, but you get the point.
A woman named Rochelle came up to my table and gravitated to my chiffon scarf featuring scarlet chrysanthemums. “Can I try this on?” she asked. And off she ran to the ladies room to play with knots and flourishes.
Last week, Rochelle emailed me with some positive feedback and advice:
Hi Alison, Just wanted to let you know that I am enjoying your (my) scarf. You know, your name, signature, initials should be somewhere on your beautiful work. Everyone and anyone should know that it’s a Garwood- Jones artwork. (not that there is anything lacking in your business approach, I just think you’re being modest)
Lovin’ it. Thx.
Rochelle from the island sale.
How can you not appreciate honesty like that?
On my 2019 To Do list — Fire up PhotoShop and start adding PenJarProductions.com to the corner of every design file on my Shopify site. That’s how you scale, baby!
When you’re a one-woman show handling design, marketing, and sales, it’s easy to overlook the obvious.
Put a face to your business
“People like to meet the maker,” Kyla Walker told me not long after I became an artist partner with Notion, the folks who print and ship my merch (see Kyla in the Instagram Stories video above).
Building an online presence for your business is key. And while Facebook and Instagram ads are still effective, they’re not enough.
You need to put a face to your business and talk to folks, one-on-one, about what do and why you do it.
I researched the craft fairs I could afford to take part in this year and became a craft lady retailer at two: The Ward’s Island Gala Weekend and the aforementioned Algonquin Island Craft Fair. We’ll see what 2019 holds.
Charge what you’re worth
As my business grew, the leads started trickling in. That’s good! Several people inquired about custom pillow designs — “Will you draw me and my boyfriend?” asked one. “I’d love a portrait of my grand piano!” said another — all the while expecting me to charge the same price as the pillow designs I can scale, like my Toronto Island Ferry Pillow.
When I earnestly explained that a custom portrait for $20 (my average artist markup) is not a sustainable business model, they all walked away, except for one.
These customers taught me that when you inquire about a custom anything (scarf, pillow, tee), you’re buying the original pen and watercolour art, not just the swatch of cotton that it comes on. Some get it, some don’t. You keep pushing forward.
Note to self: no freelancer can afford to operate like Fiverr.
Sometimes the requests you get as an illustrator can make you feel like a dancing monkey with a tip cup. Source: Getty Images.
Hire a business coach
Technically, this wasn’t a customer tip. But I gasped in surprise when I found out that entrepreneurs I know have had, or still have, a business coach to guide their decision-making. You can do that? I’m so used to being DIY.
As your business grows, I’m finding that it’s really important to understand the ins and outs of accounting, especially when it comes to tax time. If you don’t understand it while you’re small, you’ll be in big trouble as you get bigger, if you get bigger.
Head coach Pat Summitt talks to Shanna Zolman #1 of the Tennessee Lady Vols during a break in the action against the Michigan State Spartans in the Semifinal game of the Women’s NCAA Basketball Championship on April 3, 2005 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
It’s personal
“My father was a ferry boat captain on the Sam McBride in the 1940s.”
That’s what one woman told me when she saw my Toronto Island Ferry Pillow at a craft fair.
Although she wasn’t a sale, she gave me something more valuable. My pillow, she said, brought back a fond memory. I miss my dad too.
I’m starting to gather a lot of these kinds of stories. Yesterday, Teresa, a customer who has one of my “Joe The Reporter” throw pillows perched against a wingback in her home, emailed me to explain why this illustration resonated with her,
Ask for context shots
In the age of social media, customers are only too happy to share how your product looks in their home.
Again, trying to juggle all aspects of my business, I initially forgot to ask for the photographs.
Many customers sent pictures to me pretty much as soon as my packages landed. And, if they didn’t, I now knew to ask them for home decor shots.
To everyone who supported and cheered me on in 2018, my sincerest thanks for making this new adventure so worthwhile.
My newest comic: an update on women’s progress through the current shit storm. Always remember: “Art should not be about impressing others. Art is about engaging in a candid dialogue with yourself.” ~ Dan Rather
If you are a social media user in 2018, do yourself and your friends a favour and be adaptable, patient, proactive, and hopeful. And share some of your professional failures on LinkedIn. In an Insta-perfect world, people are looking for ways to better connect with and learn from each other.
In turn, they gave a packed audience a “state of the nation” on digital marketing, including the ramifications from the fallout from data breaches and how algorithm changes on Facebook and Instagram are forcing us to rethink ways to better reach our target audiences (hint: Reddit and Pinterest are both experiencing a boost).
Photo: Pinch Social
If you couldn’t make it, I hope this round-up helps you understand where we are taking technology, and where it is taking us:
10. B to B storytelling works best on LinkedIn Publishing (its baked-in blogging platform) and the LinkedIn newsfeed. Salesy B to C posts fall flat almost every time. ~ Goldie Chan, Top LinkedIn video creator.
Photo: Goldie Chan
9. A play button is the most compelling CTA on the web. If “content is king,” then the king of content is video. “Today, video is the most effective way to communicate what’s important to you; it makes your audience feel much closer to you and your ideas than any written post ever could,” says Jason Hsiao co-founder of Animoto.
PS: just don’t shoot poorly-lit talking head videos at your desk. Get out in the field. Mix it up. LA native Goldie Chan (above) shoots her Influencer Tips videos at Disneyland. Often in costume. What’s your angle?
Photo: Jason Hsiao
8. Pre-scheduling cut-and-paste content is out (sorry, Hootsuite and Buffer). Why? Because viewing behaviour differs across platforms. As Hsiao reminds us, we go to Facebook for updates, Instagram for inspiration, Twitter for what’s current, and YouTube for education. All of this requires different headers and CTAs.
Photo: Alison Garwood-Jones
7. Not ready to be a social media activist? Fifteen-year old Hannah Alper, who calls herself a member of the “massacre generation” (as in mass school shootings) says, “one person, one action, and one moment can make a difference.” It’s never too late to use your voice. Let the good take back social.
6. Instagram has an organic reach of about 50% (versus less than 1% on Facebook). It is still the platform with the highest engagement. But with the recent departure of founders, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, further rejigs, unfriendly to users, are only a matter of time. Get ready to adapt again.
5. If you are still waiting for people to find your website, stop it! Take your message to where the conversations are already happening on social.
4. Create for mobile: Square video is currently the most effective format for viewer engagement. The verdict is still out on the rising popularity of video shot in vertical/portrait mode (à la Instagram Stories and IGTV). Whatever aspect ratio you settle on, be sure to add captions because 30% of viewers are watching your video on their phones with the sound OFF.
3. Diversify your social media strategy. “Consider new options outside of Facebook and Instagram,” says Aletta Brandle, The Globe and Mail‘s Social Media Strategy Lead. Reddit has the highest time spent of all the social media platforms at an astonishing 11 minutes/day. But you need to understand how Reddit works before you wade in, says Brandle. Before you advertise, join some conversations. And don’t push your brand. “If your content survives on Reddit, it will survive anywhere,” says Brandle. If you want to find out how her first Reddit ad campaign played out, her blog is an excellent resource for her A/B testing.
Photo: Social Media Week Toronto, 2018. Brandle is in the centre with the striped shirt.
2. Pinterest was built for people who want to discover a product. So why aren’t you there? “Users on Pintereset are further down the sales funnel than on any other social platform,” says Brandle. “50% purchase after seeing an ad.”
1. “We need to regain conrol of our data and our attention to fix our slide into a dystopian world.” ~ Ramona Pringle, CBC contributer, Associate Professor, RTA School of Media, Ryerson University.
A while back, I made a bunch of ink and watercolour drawings with a film noir feel. I couldn’t decide if I was growing a cartoon strip, or just testing out a new sketchbook and pen? I still don’t know. This is as far as I got:
I couldn’t let go of what I had created. When I started placing my drawings on pillows and laptop skins, I thought my reporter (a guy I called “Joe”) was such good reminder of the march of time and technology.
I decided to make quick video about Joe.
Joe fits perfectly in an environment with a lot of books, paper, pens, and memories.
If you would like to give him as a gift to a friend or loved one, meet me over at my shop, Pen Jar Productions. Go to Pillows > “City Living,” or find Joe under “Tech Accessories.”
Click on image to play my video greeting, or click here.
An email I sent my contact list on November 1st:
Top of the morning to my friends, family and work colleagues:
For those of you who haven’t heard from me since high school, here’s what’s new: I cut my hair, became an art historian, unbecame an art historian (too academic), pivoted to journalism, let my silver highlights show, wore all black, rediscovered colour, said goodbye to steady journalism work (thanks internet), and hello to content marketing (thanks internet). And when Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPad back in 2010, I rediscovered my childhood love of drawing —first through apps, and then with real paper and paint sets. Art stores are my candy aisle.
Instagram has been a great way to stay in touch with a lot of you through all of our iterations (several of you are getting in on marijuana and bitcoin). Thank you for your enthusiastic feedback on my various comment threads as I explore the possibilities of illustration. It’s because of you — Greg G, Terry L, Isabelle V, Ken H, Caitlin C, Sarah P, Eden S, Martin, W, Maureen J, Gini D, Valerie S, Donna P, and Rona M, to name just a few — that I’ve been able test the market for my ideas, and offer the kinds of illustrations and designs you’d want to live with in your homes. You are my very first customers and cheerleaders, and I am so appreciative.
I made this short video to show you what I’m up to in my sunny apartment. Five months ago, I opened an illustration studio called Pen Jar Productions (read: I added another Ikea desk]. From this simple post, I’ve been making designs for pillows, phone cases, laptop skins, tees, totes, and silky scarves. Hence, my tag line: From My Sketchbook to Your Home™️. I don’t print them myself. A cool POD manufacturer named Notion does the printing and shipping for me.
If you would like to get occasional updates from illustrator me, please feel free to sign up for my Pen Jar Newsletter. Here I will occasionally share new seasonal designs, highlight craft fair appearances, and offer special discount codes for subscribers. You have the option to unsubscribe whenever you want (I take no prisoners).
Click on image to subscribe
Now that it’s November 1st, our minds are gearing up for the hunting and gathering of gifts. I know people scratch their heads to come up with original ideas for Christmas, Hanukkah, and the 14 other religious and pagan holidays celebrated in the month of December. And just when that’s over, there are birthdays and Valentine’s Day to think about. The longer you’ve been in a relationship, the harder it is to impress. I’d like to help in that department.
To the first 100 people who sign up for my Pen Jar Newsletter, I am offering 10% off your first purchase. A Discount Code to follow.
Alison has been blogging since 2009, and drawing for much longer. Society Pages looks at how technology challenges and shapes human nature and creativity, among other things. It isn't always pretty.
Amanda’s 
At the 2018 Algonquin Island Association Christmas Boutique. It’s blurry, but you get the point.
Sometimes the requests you get as an illustrator can make you feel like a dancing monkey with a tip cup. Source: Getty Images.
Illustration by Alison Garwood-Jones
Photo: Social Media Week Toronto, 2018. Brandle is in the centre with the striped shirt.
