BIRD CARVING PURCHASES

As we are all well aware we've all been through the worst recession in a very long time, we're told that a recovery is in full swing and things are back to where we started pre-recession in 2008. As an artist who relies mainly on making sales I take this with the proverbial "pinch of  salt"? My work is, I know, a luxury item, and at the top end of the art spectrum, but even then I can assure everyone that based on an hourly rate that I probably work on, or possibly below, the minimum national hourly rate of pay. The important thing to me is not to make shed loads of money (won't happen till I die!) but to provide a piece of fine art, something that buyers can appreciate owning and looking at on a day to day basis and enjoying, as much as I enjoy creating them. Over the past 18 months working as a professional carver I've lost count of the enquiries regarding purchasing a piece of my work, and apart from sales made and commissions ordered I know that it's not so much the price of my work but finding a lump sum of money to purchase and lay out the cost in one payment, and of course I totally understand the dilemma. The most used quote I can use from potential customers is "I totally understand the price for the amount of work and love that's goes into your work but...." and so the story goes! 

To try and help potential customers, I am quite willing to offer, you the customer, the opportunity to purchase a piece of work and split the total cost over a monthly or weekly payment option, eg. if you have a special occasion looming, birthday, anniversary, retirement etc in August this year why not split the cost over a 3 month period? I, as an artist, am still selling goods like any other business and know exactly what a help it is to have the opportunity to buy goods without having to find a lump sum of cash. Due to some recent enquiries I felt the need to make people aware of this option and let everyone know that this opportunity is available, with a lot of followers on Twitter and friends on Facebook this is the only way I can give a full account of this offer, and I'd also like to say thanks to all the people that closely follow and make superb comments about my work, especially my "work in progress" posts! 

Many thanks Terry

Twebirdcarver v Royal Mail

As many of you will know by now I have a possible issue with Royal Mail which is pending, and at the moment I'm awaiting a decision regarding a damage claim regarding my "Robin" and "Nuthatch" carvings? basically being smashed, and then being told that my packaging doesn't conform to their guidelines? they obviously have expert bird carving packaging technician on site? If the decision goes against me I do not plan to roll over and let them potentially put me out of business,  and I  have spent some time today deciding the best plan of action to try and get some kind of support from you my followers by retweeting to your followers and so on, to basically get some momentum rolling?
When decision comes through, and no doubt it'll be negative? I plan to write a letter back to them covering all aspects of my claim, I then intend to use the letter as a blog which will be  tweeted with Royal Mail twitter account name and #businesscull and RT included in the tweets? Obviously I'll then post the tweet as often as needed and hopefully get it retweeted by as many people as possible?
I know it will probably get a bit monotonous but we all know its only a click to execute? I've never had to do anything like this in the past and not even sure I'm going about it in the best way? good suggestions will be looked at? I do know that I've worked a 100+ hrs a week to get the business to this point since last September and I'm not prepared to be bullied by the big boys! I hope you can support me in this quest?

Cheers Terry

The Badger Cull

Well what a week it's been since my last blog! I've never seen so many tweets about one very controversial subject, the Badger Cull! There have been numerous petitions going around on Twitter and I've signed them all and retweeted  them. In my opinion there are no arguments about this subject? it just shouldn't be happening? fact! My personal feelings are that we could have probably put a bit more clout and bolstered the numbers a lot more if there was only one petition? and I think that the one petition, in my opinion, and the one I think most people would associate with is @BrianMaySaveMe. The man exudes his love and passion for wildlife, and after watching him this morning on BBC1 News you could see the pain this issue is causing him?, and I have no doubt that there are thousands and thousands of people in this country that feel the same, unfortunately not everybody follows Twitter and Facebook and will not have seen the sincerity and  passion (and hatred towards the governments decision on this issue) people have shown about the murdering of these beautiful animals. The one thing I do know from the past 2 - 3 days is that we can't and won't give up the fight against this barbaric decision? If you've taken time out to read this article thank you
and if you have any thoughts on this blog please let me know via @televeritt.
Many Thanks Terry Everitt

This book is a brief look into my world as a wildlife artist, or bird carver as I'd rather be called. It describes the strong feelings I have about the good and bad sides to inheriting a talent and how it's affected my life in the past 40 odd years of my life. It follows the path from my early years drawing and painting birds, and the change of tools and medium to reach the point I've reached today as a carver. Also I've briefly covered the different stages I went through with variations of my "Naturebox" before finding the products I now make. Included is a very short, but never the less, easy to follow "work in progress" piece which will be far more detailed and in depth in my Instructional Manual which will follow shortly. I hope you enjoy this brief look into my life and work, and that I might have inspired you to maybe have a go at woodcarving? it's a wonderful hobby to have!

I'd like to take this opportunity to say thanks to Dave Lyons at Raven Crest Books for all his help and patience in putting this book together.

Best Wishes and Happy Reading Terry Everitt

THE CHANGES IN MY LIFE

Two months ago I knew nothing much about Google rankings, blogging and Twitter? I'd heard the words many times but didn't really understand the way they worked in helping your business. I joined Ipatter, a business media platform where you can interact with other businesses in your area, again not really knowing the best way to use it, but I persisted in all areas in posting comments and directing people towards my website and showing them the quality of my work. As time passed by I became more confident in using these platforms, and I remember 2 - 3 weeks ago looking forward to reaching 50 followers on Twitter, searching on google for any sign of links to my website, thinking to myself , has all this time and effort I've been putting into this been wasted? do I need some kind of tutoring in marketing in these areas. I watched the way others used these sites and gradually learnt bit by bit, I now have 76 followers and been on the opening pages on google, how things have changed.