Wanted Explaining Framing in One Minute

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AnneL

AnneL

SPFG, Supreme Picture Framing God
Joined
Jul 11, 2001
Posts
15,946
Loc
Wautoma, WI USA
Gary belongs to a business networking group sponsored by our local chamber of commerce. Each week, each of the members gives a one minute talk about some aspect of their business or some event they have coming up. This week, Gary wants to talk about framing but he's really not involved much in that part of the business so I told him I'd help him put something together.

So, if you had just one minute to explain to a room full of people about framing, what would you tell them? What visual aids would you bring?
 
Print two 8x10s of a pretty bride and groom. Stick one smack against the glass in a cheesy narrow dollar store frame. Frame the second one in multiple mats, fillets, Museum glass, really nice custom frame.

Ask: which one would you rather hand down to your grandchildren?
 
Framar said:
Print two 8x10s of a pretty bride and groom. Stick one smack against the glass in a cheesy narrow dollar store frame. Frame the second one in multiple mats, fillets, Museum glass, really nice custom frame.

Ask: which one would you rather hand down to your grandchildren?
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Make sure to make the cheesy one a different printed tone to show fading/wear. If possible, make it stick to the glass. Take a lighter and a metal trash can. Then, at the end of his presentation, explain that if they find the lower quality treatment to be satifactory they are basically destroying the artwork. Then light the crummy piece on fire, slam it into the can and walk way shaking his head in disgust. Go rock star on em.
 
Oh, forgot to mention, he needs this by Friday first thing in the morning and I don't have a lot of time to put anything together for him. I would love to send samples of without frame, with just a frame and framed and matted but don't know if I could pull it off by then
 
Four sticks of wood and some paper put together with consummate skill and an artistic eye.

There, you only need ten seconds. :p
 
Let's come up with analogies:

Good custom framing is like-

1. fine jewelry. It will be treasured and passed from generation to generation.
 
DIY Picture Framing:

frames.jpg


Professional:

ArchFlexibleFillet04.jpg


Questions?
 
Baer Charlton said:
DIY Picture Framing:

frames.jpg


Professional:

ArchFlexibleFillet04.jpg


Questions?
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I like the professional, of course except that I would have matched up the pattern in the corners and the legs.:popc:
I guess that's what makes us "professionals".
 
“We provide a bespoke/custom picture framing service”

…….”show an example”

Beyond that I would say nothing more…..if some of the audience cannot get what a picture framing service is……..do you really want them as a potential customer !!!

This is an occasion that the KISS (keep it simple stupid) principle of selling has a huge advantage….

Gary will be remembered for being focused and a no nonsense speaker, he will be remembered way after some of the long winded speakers have had their say…

Give him a stack of business cards to hand out….
 
I have had to do some of these speaches before. They are a great opportunity to get new customers.

Custom Framing is not just slapping a border of color around a picture and putting it in a frame, it is the opportunity to take your treasured memories and turn them into stories that you can hand down to your grandchildren. Proper framing turns a wall of photos into a wall of conversations. It can take a room from being pretty to being beautiful.
Matting and framing is not a piece of paper and four sticks of wood. It is housing which protects your artwork from dirt, dust, acids, and even bugs. Frames that you just slide your photo in, normally do harm to your photo. Their backing is normally cardboard, which yellows and becomes brittle with age, because of its acid content, and everything touching that backing will be damaged by the acid as well.
If you feel something is worth being hung on the wall, then it is worth protecting it with proper framing.
If you caom back from a trip with pictures, and want to hang a bunch of them on the wall, won't they look even better with some objects from the trip? Don't you want people to come in, and ask about your trip? Proper framing can make a few treasures tell their own story.



Choose an aspect that will affect your listeners. Most don't know they need to protect their art. But if you get them to see that their artwork is not just a bunch of pictures, but the story behind the photo, then they might see a need for getting framing done.

A picture might be worth 1000 words, but don't you want those words to be nice? And not... "Oh, look... acid burn!" or "Its fading." Or even, "Why did you frame that?" Help your artwork tell its own story with custom framing.
 
neilframer said:
I like the professional, of course except that I would have matched up the pattern in the corners and the legs.:popc:
I guess that's what makes us "professionals".
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No choice here Neil, stock 5x7 photo frame..... custom mat and fillet with MG.

It's my "Go from $12 sale to $80 sale with scrap"
 
Framing: said:
“We provide a bespoke/custom picture framing service”

…….”show an example”

Beyond that I would say nothing more…..if some of the audience cannot get what a picture framing service is……..do you really want them as a potential customer !!!
Click to expand...

Gary is a professional adult. Using a word like "bespoke" is meaningless to 99% of the
world population. 99.99% of which wouldn't even care what the meaning is. The point
of the presentation is to get more customers, or in other words eschew obfuscation.

A one minute talk needs to be focused and directed to the person in the audience.
So the use of obscure linguistics self defeating.

And for what it's worth, another superciliousness is the term "spot-on".....
I love watching people's reaction to that term as they start looking for the spot on
which article of clothing.
 
Framing: said:
Gary will be remembered for being focused and a no nonsense speaker, he will be remembered way after some of the long winded speakers have had their say…
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Well he's been part of this group for months so it's too late for that. By now they know that when he gets on a roll, you just have to cut him off! :shutup:

Sue, that is what I was looking for but haven't been able to get my thoughts together. Thanks.

Baer, I happen to like bespoke! It makes perfect sense for Dermot who is Irish to use that phrase. 99% of the people in Dermot's area would understand it and Gary and I both understand it being big watchers of British TV shows where it is also used. Unfortunately, 99% of Americans would have no clue.
 
No problem Anne. It is just a few things I remember saying in a speach I gave in my college speach class. (I got an A.) I just wish I still had my speach. I would share it with you.

And yes... I got new customers after that class. :D

Just remember, you and not talking to other framers. You are talking to people who go on vacation, have families, and just might have lots of things they didn't even know could be framed. It's the story that is important, and we are story tellers.

Help that 1000 word photo become worth a million.
 
Framing: said:
“We provide a bespoke/custom picture framing service”

.
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I used the words….. “bespoke / custom” …..with the expectation that Gary is a smart guy and would use only one of the words which would be best suited for the audience he will address…..

The fact that anyone needs me to spell out my intention about the use of the word or words……worries me …..
 
AnneL said:
Well he's been part of this group for months so it's too late for that. By now they know that when he gets on a roll, you just have to cut him off! :shutup:

.
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Ah yes……. even better still…… what an opportunity to surprise them and be very very focused and keep it very very simple……it is a fantastic chance to use the KISS marketing method….

Believe me this is one of those marketing opportunities that the less said the better

The very best of luck for Gary tomorrow…..
 
Easy Dermot. I loved your advise and I'm the one who matters since I started this thread. In my head, I was hearing it with an Irish accent. :D

The point of the presentation is to get more customers, or in other words eschew obfuscation.

A one minute talk needs to be focused and directed to the person in the audience.
So the use of obscure linguistics self defeating.
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I'm snickering at this. Gary is dyslexic so sometimes things come out a bit muddled when he speaks. He doesn't have to use obscure linguistics to create obfuscation, he does that with normal everyday English.
 
AnneL said:
Easy Dermot. I loved your advise and I'm the one who matters since I started this thread. In my head, I was hearing it with an Irish accent. :D

.
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I’m with you Anne…….I knew you would understand what I intended by the two words and which to use…. :thumbsup:

I have what some have described as a mid-atlantic accent…I regularly get asked where I’m from…..when I say Ireland…..I generally get a surprised look…..and the comment ….”Oh I thought you were American” :smileyshot22:

It can be fun in our house sometimes when Jean and the kids start kidding me about how I pronounce words….. :shrug:
 
My own is midwestern. I've never been able to do any others. Some people all it takes is a few hours in a new place and they are talking like a local whether they mean to or not.

Jean has a lovely accent. I loved listening to her in that video clip you had of her recently.
 
If he really does only have one minute, I hope I'm allowed the liberty of 'Cliff Noting' Sue's great suggestion:

Susan May said:
Custom Framing is more than just slapping a border of color around a picture and putting it in a frame, it is the opportunity to take your treasured memories and turn them into stories that you can hand down to your grandchildren. Proper framing turns a wall of photos into a wall of conversations. It is also a housing which, if done with quality materials, protects your artwork from dirt, dust, acids, and even bugs. If you feel something is worth being hung on the wall, then it is worth protecting it with proper framing.
Click to expand...

Just that might still be too much, though. With only one minute, the KISS method surely is a wise approach. The gist of it should
be that you offer a wide range of custom framing options, have many happy clients, and that you're willing to help people find the
right solutions for their framing needs. He probably won't have time to explain any props, but if he holds up a nicely framed photo
while he talks, without even explaining it, should be enough. Seeming friendly, concise and approachable are the main things.

Bear in mind that his audience might include folks who have no interest in framing heirlooms but do want to frame decorative
art for their office walls. They'll want to feel comfortable approaching him on this, and showing only a tricked out, 'everything
goes' frame job, with all the bells and whistles, could cause someone to assume their project isn't fancy enough for you.
 
i did a similar things years ago with a group called BNI. If it is similar, you a telling these businesses about you so that they become referrals for your business like you are for all the other businesses in your group. because they are all business professionals. show them the difference in framed certificates, be it a university degree, or business certificate. they might look at the cheap version and think they need to get that same thing off their wall, in case someones in the group sees it. and get if framed with you
 
He said it went really well. I had him take a family portrait I framed as a display for the studio part of the shop and a picture of a fishing fly I framed for Gary as a gift where I put the actual fly below it in the frame.

There are 2 of these groups sponsored by our chamber and he belongs to both. They meet every other week on alternate weeks so he'll be giving the same talk to the other one next Tuesday.

iFramer, that is exactly what these groups are like. They've been really good for out business. So far we have picked up photographing all the sports teams at a large high school north of us and several family portrait sessions from them. It has been just the boost our business has needed. Now hopefully, I'll get some framing too.

And thanks for the suggestion on the diploma. We have a few of those framed here he can take with.
 
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