For small businesses looking to take their products to market, distribution is key.
Different industries have different rites of passage to get their products in stores, but the main thrust is always networking.
Johanna Fisher, a designer who began her Providence-based Gimmick Jewelry four years ago, started getting the word out by doing "exactly what you’re told to do in business classes."
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She put together a press kit with photos of some of the jewelry she had made and sent it out to about 30 magazines, stores, press agents and showrooms.
"I was really lucky," she said. "It fell in the hands of both a press agent and a showroom and they picked me up right away. They had connections in Japan, and that brought in some money, and then came the trade shows."
Debora Dormody, founder of Pawtucket-based If’n Books & Marks, said tradeshows have been a successful arena for her hand-bound books. Her representative, Ellie Garber, has taken her products to such outings and gotten If’n Books in stores in almost 20 states from Connecticut to California.
"She’s a fantastic person who graciously balances her relationships with her clients (the stores) and her artists (the manufacturers)," said Dormody of her distributor. "She meets with store buyers throughout New England as well as showing my work at the big New York International Gift Fair."
Ben McOsker, a co-owner of the Providence record label Load Records, said he uses upwards of 10 distributors to get his records and compact discs to record stores all over the country. The relationships are both formal and informal, he said.
"Basically, I approach them, send them a package and accompany it with a wholesale price sheet," he said. "After that you call. At this point, hopefully, it’s matched by significant press, touring or word of mouth so the distro is psyched."
McOsker usually sends out sample CDs to magazines months before he approaches distributors, and the bands on his label will tour to promote their albums.
"I have a decent social life with ‘distros’ (distributors) and talk with folks from each of them quite a bit," he said. "I bake them Christmas cookies, (and) stay at their houses when in town."
McOsker said he deals with multiple distributors to maximize exposure.
"In terms of finding distribution there are too many," but, he said, "the idea is to find the good ones (which are) the ones that pay on credit terms."
Fisher said after she achieved a certain level of success, she wanted to stop distributing through showrooms and decided to deal directly with the stores herself.
She said the showrooms placed demands upon her that were not consistent with the way she wanted to run her business.
"They always have to have something new, and a lot of the other things they were selling were trend-driven," she said. "I wanted to be consistent."
"It’s the fashion industry and it’s a cut-throat dog-eat-dog world," she said. "I had positioned myself so I no longer needed them, but going with somebody who will distribute your stuff is a great way of getting in the door if you can do it."
