The 11th Educational Seminar was very

successful. Many framers walked away

with valuable information that will be

utilized in their shops. The Educational

Seminar is a weekend full of knowledge,

networking, and a boost of positive

energy fueled by new and innovative

ideas.

Nelson’s was proud to welcome five

outstanding guest speakers. These five

local framers willingly shared their ex-

pertise and personal experiences to bene-

fit others in the framing industry.

Scott LaFontsee, Underground Studio,

presented a spectacular seminar on Mar-

keting Momentum. He stated that it is

essential to take one piece of an advertis-

ing effort and broadcast it into at least

three different medias. Scott and his

staff take every opportunity to expand on

and project forward all of their hard work

into a burst of advertising. Whether dis-

playing an awesome shadowbox, hanging a

piece in someone’s home, community

presentations or attending a local board

meeting; each opportunity can be photo-

graphed and made into a postcard, flyer,

article and so on. Scott stresses the impor-

tance of being community centered. Get

on the board to your local museum, be

involved in your downtown associations,

donate or speak at your local schools, be a

part of artist organizations, get involved

with interior designers, display your cus-

tomers pieces. Share who you are with

each person you touch. Personal relation-

ships are essential. Show the world that

you are visual. Use colored business cards,

create vibrant postcards, flyers, and bulle-

tins. Scott even works with his bank. He

invites the bank to bring their clients to his

2010 11th Educational Seminar a huge success!

CHOP TALK-JULY 2010

The seminar came to an end and all traveled to Nelson’s Juke Joint for a fabulous BBQ grilled up by Frank from Karlin. Over-

looking Traverse West Bay’s breathtaking view, the room filled with a positive energy as friends reconnected, networked and

relaxed.

Sunday began with a stunning view from the Top of the Park as the fog wafted gently across the bay. Intense Round Table dis-

cussion began covering everything from Z-gel to where to find flag cases. Gregg Carner and Andy Thomas were the brave me-

diators. A hot breakfast and pots of coffee were enjoyed by all.

gallery yearly for a wine and cheese

party. He also requires them to do a

yearly mailer in with their statements,

and requests no checking or loan fees

for his business.

Each piece of your frame shop can be

used to promote yourself. Open up

your creativity and toss around some

ideas. Even bad ideas can generate the

best idea.

Tim Sykora, Marshall Framing, dem-

onstrated a workshop on manipulating

finishes. Basically, don’t be afraid to

play with the moulding. Each piece of

moulding can be changed to create a

whole new look and feel. Use different

stains, waxes, paints and varnishes on a

raw piece of wood to create a unique

design all of your own. Take an

existing moulding and add a wash, or

paint over it, then rub some of the paint

off with turpentine for a different look.

Tim manipulated his frames on his shad-

owbox for the Print Frame Competition.

One of the mouldings was chained to the

back of his truck and dragged down the

street to create a distressed look. A great

way to jazz up old moulding that you

have stored around your frame shop is to

give it a facelift and create your own

work of art. Relax, play and have fun.

Andy Thomas, Artists Market, showed a

power point presentation on Facebook.

Over 300 million people are on Face-

book, creating an unbelievable free re-

source to advertise your frame shop.

Know what you are doing before you set

up your facebook page. Keep your per-

sonal facebook separate from your busi-

ness facebook. Andy suggested setting

up a time each day to manage your face-

book account, this may require time in

the morning and at the end of the day.

Your customers will post messages and

opinions on your wall, it’s important to

respond to each one. Keep it profes-

sional! Personal information regarding

your life and daily routines should stay

on your private facebook. If you receive

a negative post. Respond to it. Work it

out online to show other customers how

you resolve concerns or problems. Make

it yours, personalize it, interact with your

customers, post pictures of their framed

pieces of art, have weekly specials for

your facebook fans only. This is a great

opportunity to release upcoming events

or happenings at your frame shop. Andy

had a contest on facebook where all of

his fans had to vote on the best piece of

framed art. He had posted pictures of his

framing jobs from his customers and

they all voted on which they liked best.

It is a very interactive way to keep your

customers connected to you as their fa-

vorite frame shop.

Patrice Marquardt, Marshall Framing;

Rob Gulf, Knollwood, and Andy Tho-

mas, Artists Market were our energetic

leaders on a workshop entitled,

“Objections at the Counter”. This was

an interactive workshop in which resolu-

tions to objections were brainstormed

and discussed.

There were four parts to this workshop;

Identity, Details, Education, and Atti-

tude (IDEA).

Identity: Every frame shop has a certain

“feel” to it. You, the framer, creates that

“feel”. Make your shop represent your

personality and special talents. Fill your

walls with examples of your work, your

awards, your local artists and photogra-

phers. Show off your education and

experience.

Details: As far as details, add your own

special touch to each piece, make it

unique to your specialized talents. Be

professional, wear white gloves when

handling their artwork, make sure your

work counter is clean and free of clutter,

introduce your employees, always greet

the customer warmly the minute they

walk into your shop. Have a toy box to

engage young children in right away so

the parents can relax and focus on fram-

ing their piece.

Education: Post your CPF, certificates

of completion, awards, articles on your

shop, brag about the knowledge and

continued education you have acquired.

Attitude: Have a confident attitude.

Trust in yourself and your abilities as a

framer. Do not apologize for your pric-

ing, you are a “custom” picture framer.

Be excited over the piece they have

brought in to frame, show them several

different lay outs, point to examples on

your wall or your portfolio. Make your

customer feel comfortable and impor-

tant.

Objections: The number one objection

that surfaced during this workshop was

the cost of the frame job. Simplify

your sales by having a simple price

break down on your frame samples,

categorized them by $10, $12, $14, and

so on per foot by using a colored tag.

That way you can always be informing

your customer as to what price range

they are getting in to. Start with the

most expensive and elaborate lay out so

that you can gradually decrease the

price which makes the customer feel

like they are getting a deal.

Increase your profits by upselling. Use

props on your counter, for example, a

good museum glass display; show ex-

amples of faded mats to upgrade the

customer to museum glass to protect

their art. Bring on beautiful suedes,

linens and rags to really “pop” the print.

Any frame shop can take a poster from

a basic metal frame and upsell the cus-

tomer to a beautiful wood frame with

double mats and even throw in a fillet.

It’s all about selling yourself with con-

fidence. People will pay more for

something they really want, show them

the best and you will increase your

profits naturally.

Seminar cont’...

PRINT FRAME COMPETITION WINNERS

Nelson’s Print Frame Competition was

outstanding, with 17 entry’s this year; our

highest ever. There were two levels of

competition, Expert and Novice. Each

piece was judged based on the following

criteria: First Impression, Technical

Evaluation and Design and Creativity.

The competition is a great way to “get

your feet wet” and prepare for the larger

PPFA Competition that takes place

around October. Nelson’s provided the

print and one free wood chop for each

entry.

The print was called, “Barbed Wire

Blues” and was donated by Michael

Monroe who is a self-taught wildlife art-

ist. Michael has received numerous hon-

ors including Michigan Wildlife Artist of

the Year, Michigan Habitat Featured Art-

ist and Minnesota Whitetail Association

Artist of the Year. His work was featured

on the DNR Endangered Species print,

chosen as the Michigan Duck Stamp win-

ner, the Ducks Unlimited Stamp & Print

winner and received numerous Best of

Show awards. Michael’s paintings have

also graced the covers of over 200 maga-

zines and been featured on dozens of tele-

vision programs.

His illustrations have filled

the pages of over 15 chil-

dren’s books. He and his

wife Colleen, wrote and il-

lustrated the book, “A Wish

to be a Christmas Tree”.

Michael has been called on by the White

House for several projects. In 2002 he

was asked to create an Easter egg to rep-

resent Michigan. In 2007, Michael was

personally chosen by the President and

Mrs. Bush to create a series of fifteen

paintings to be featured in the White

House Holiday Program. The original

paintings were hung in the White House

for the Christmas Celebration, and are now

part of the permanent White House gal-

lery. Michael was called upon a third time

by the White House to hand-paint 1,000

Christmas ornaments for the President and

Mrs. Bush to be used as personal gifts to

friends and dignitaries.

A special thanks to Rob Gulf and Ruth

Yheulon, our PPFA judges for the PFC.

They had quite the undertaking as each

piece was stunning.

A Press Release was done for each Print

Frame Competitor. The responses have

been great! Framer’s were recognized in

their local communities and many ob-

tained frame jobs as a result.

If your local paper did not publish your

Press Release, please let Yvonne know.

EXPERT LEVEL NOVICE LEVEL

Gregg Carner, 1st Place

Brink’s Custom Framing

Patrice Marquardt, 2nd Place Marshall Framing

Charles Robinson, 3rd Place Bird’s Custom Framing

Expert Honorable Mention

John Barlowe,

Frame Shop Art Gallery &

Gifts

Diane Iglesias,

Artistic Framing

Lisa Mandeville,

O’Connor’s

Georganna Monk,

Friar Tuck’s Gallery & Frame

Frank (Larry) Pettinga,

The Framery & Gallery

Andy Thomas,

Artists Market

Novice Honorable Mention

Louise Barlowe,

Frame Shop Art Gallery &

Gifts

Garth Frounfelker,

China Township

Cindy Schwedler,

Shoreline Custom Framing

Jenette Weaver,

Art & Decor

Linda Wells,

Bird’s Custom Framing

Sue Welty, 1st Place Art & Decor

Tim Sykora, 2nd Place Marshall Framing

Debra Hunt & Kurt Millbaugh 3rd Place

Reneaud and Co.

Print Frame Competition

Equipment for Sale! Equipment Needed!

Morso Chopper DK8900 w/right arm extender, $600. Call Gary or Kathy @ 517-456-8640 or 1-800-980-8640.

Corona SM series 4262 Sight Mount Heat & Cold Vacuum Press 46”x66”x7’, $1,500. C&H Oval Master 789A Matcutter + extras,

$200. Mini Mitre hand operator Fillet Cutter Chopper #4693, 40” measuring arm, $200. Misc items. Call Gary @ 231-334-3476

or email garymacaddino@yahoo.com.

Fabulous Frame Shop for sale, $199,000 or rent @ $1,700 a month all inclusive + taxes. Or rent to own. 815 sq. foot with 100’ of

wall space. Set up and ready to go. Call Kellison @ 231-526-1122 or email kellison_@mac.com. Website to see building is gra-

hamre.com look for 118 E. Main St. Harbor Springs under commercial property.

DeWalt Model DW703 compound mitre saw w/10” metal cutting blade, used 2 hrs. $200. Call Don @ 269-428-5030.

NEEDED: Tower corner sample display racks. Call Marsha @ 1-906-863-4000.