Slow weekdays transformed

NEW UPDATE: a fun and unique weekday event idea below!

An empty Tuesday afternoon is your best inventory, not your worst.

For a lot of customers, a quiet Tuesday is the best version of your studio: no crowded tables, no wait for the restroom, no noise drowning out an afternoon with a friend. Staff can spend more time with a first-timer instead of bouncing between tables and the POS.

Your quiet hours come with real upside — more space, more attention, more calm — and you should put it in writing instead of hiding it.

"Visit the studio without the Saturday crowd." "Walk in anytime before 4." "Come as you are — wiggly toddlers included." And "Older siblings in school? Tuesdays are perfect for time with younger kids." Yes, it's a very specific invitation. And yes, there are many people who can paint on weekdays. And yes, you need market directly to those people. Who? Read on ...

Who's free on weekdays and how to reach them:

• Moms and stay-at-home parents: their window is once school drop-off is done and before pickup starts. Promote these more "kid friendly" hours (versus busy Saturdays with limited seating) in your emails, website and social posts. Share info in local mom Facebook groups or mom groups (a good customer posting on your behalf goes a long way). Host a bi-weekly story time or activity for toddlers.

• Empty nesters, retirees (55+ communities), and nursing homes: the younger side of this group is mobile, social, and wants to be active — reach them through your emails, website and social posting. Offer a standing bi-weekly/monthly class or a featured "piece of the week," and collab with a neighboring coffee shop to pair painting and coffee (same goes for wine and wine tastings!). These ladies are often still working, so promoting they book their own ladies night after work, or you host a monthly outing, is perfect. For nursing home residents, work directly with the senior center or activity director to book a monthly outing, van and all. Each visit is a new piece to paint. It could be more logistically feasible to go to them monthly. Work together to plan the most beneficial outings for their residents.

• Office teams: a short email to HR or an office manager with a simple per-person group package, followed by a phone call, can work — but cold sales pitches can be hard to close.

  
  

  What's better? Look for ID badges on people stopping in for a pickup or strolling through the studio on their lunch break. Those IDs mean they work for a larger company (a bank, insurance company, or tech firm - or simply in a large building with lots of other businesses!). And are they stopping by in scrubs? They (obviously) work in the medical field: dentist, pediatrician, hospital, elder care, vets. All of these businesses have budgets for team development, but they don't know you offer it unless you tell them. (And these corporate and medical folks may not realize how simple it is to plan a visit with their colleagues! Make it easy for them: have a flat rate per person for a few standard "office-friendly" pieces like mugs and pencil holders.)

  
  

  Two steps to book weekday team-buildings:

  
  

  1 - Look for ID badges and scrubs.

  
  

  2 - Your approach will depend on whether they're picking up or taking a quick look around, or staying to paint.

  
  

  • It's a pickup or look-around: "Oh!" — looking at their badge — "where do you work?" ... "Did you know we host team building outings?" Then hand them a marketing piece — a flier, calendar, business card — with your website and how to book. Briefly tell them what's involved. Think of it as your team-building elevator pitch: brief, concise, and stirs up excitement and emotion in the customer, leaving them thinking, Of course I'd love to have a company outing here!

  • They're staying to paint: You probably don't want to interrupt while they're picking pieces and getting settled. The team building talk is perfect for when you're checking on them. "I saw your name badge — where do you work?" Then you can go into a little more detail about your offerings (think a slightly expanded elevator pitch). When they're at the POS checking out, make sure they leave with info on booking. Better yet? A contact in their HR department, or a name to reach out to in the office.

  
  

  Sharing your team building pitch likely won't book the outing on the spot, so be sure to get their name (easy if they're picking up) and/or company info. Note all the info you can get from them — from how they plan outings (where was their last outing?) to who plans them. It's helpful insight!

  
  

  Finally, follow up. Use the info you have and call or email promptly. Strike while the iron is hot! You have to plant ideas in people's minds. Don't stop marketing your weekday angle. What's obvious to you is often not even a consideration to someone browsing your shelves. Plant the seed, and then care for it until it blooms.

  
  

  Seriously, who doesn't want their company to take them to your studio to paint?!

• College students have the loosest weekday schedules of anyone — a gap between classes, a free afternoon, a study break that needs more than just hanging in a dorm room. Meet them on Instagram and TikTok, and partner with a nearby dorm, sorority, or student organization. Sororities host outings often! Get to know your local college students and plan an open house at the beginning of the school year to introduce them to your studio.

• After-work groups and young professionals: from about 5 to close is perfect to market as an easy, low-key alternative to happy hour. Pair up with a nearby restaurant or bar for a paint-then-dinner combo.

• Thanks to Covid, many people will be forever working from home. Sure, some companies have called their people back in, but for many, their work schedule looks different with hybrid hours, flex hours, and even four-day work weeks. Often these people aren't tied to an office for work, meetings, or breaks — giving them the time and freedom to get out and spend it somewhere else.

Weekday ideas

• Technique classes: a rolling, casual class between 11am and 2pm to learn a simple design, brushstroke or tip.

• Collab with a neighboring restaurant. Discounts aren't necessary, it's just an opportunity to amp up your exposure by teaming up with another small business to promote a morning or afternoon out.

• I'll say it again: you have to plant ideas in people's minds. What's obvious to you is often not even a consideration to someone browsing your shelves.

Your slow hours should not be invisible; to the right group, at the right hour, your studio is perfect.

A quiet weekday isn't empty. It's unclaimed.

***

NEW UPDATE: I visited my library's annual Art Supply Swap and was WOWED! I brought in supplies I no longer needed, and left with new (to me) supplies!

This could work really well in your studio as a one-day weekday event .. especially on those slower weekdays in September and October!

Note about the photos below: I loved the idea of separating the different supplies on tables (and with signage!), but I think each table could have been organized better. Using all the boxes you get from orders, grouping items together may help prevent supplies going everywhere and falling on the floor.

Why?

✔ You are in the arts

✔ You have the tables and the space

✔ You have an active audience

✔ Your customers very likely dabble in some form of creativity in their own homes

✔ You customers have art and craft supplies (of some sort) they no longer need

✔ The idea of free art supplies is enough to get people in your door

How could it work?

→ Create a clever name for your Art Swap and start marketing it to your community at least a month ahead of time.

→ Have a list of what supplies (or categories) are accepted and what isn't. The library had a TON for the 'sewing' category - including a sewing machine! Consider limiting options and or what you accept. The library had brand new/packaged supplies as well as gently used supplies. (They didn't 'provide' any of the supplies, they were all donated from the community.)

→ Plan the drop off day/times: either the day before the event or the day of. I brought mine to the library event just as it had started and added the supplies the tables.

→ Fill A Bag: it's a good idea to limit what people take. The library provided a brown paper bag; when there was 30 minutes left, it was a free-for-all and people could take as much as they wanted.

→ Since people will be in your studio, and if you leave a few tables free, make sure you let everyone know they can stay and create!

→ This is all about your community: an opportunity to gather and celebrate the arts we love AND draw in new people! Make sure you encourage everyone to pass the word along: social posts to share, emails to forward and QR codes to scan for more info.

→ Art teachers and lower school teachers: they can always use some extra supplies and, on the flip side, may have supplies they're not using and would love to free up storage space. Be sure to get the art swap info to all the teachers in your community!

→ All leftovers were donated to a local organization.

→ To clarify, the library event was called a swap, however, it was open to everyone to stop by and pick up what they would like, even if they didn't bring anything in to swap out.