250 episodes
Wheel Talk Ryan Durbin & Becca Otis
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- Business
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4.8 • 109 Ratings
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Ryan Durbin (@rdceramics) & Becca Otis (@5linespottery) share their experiences as potters, makers, small business owners, and creatives. Becca is a full time studio potter, while Ryan is a full time website developer and part time potter. We'd love to share our ups and downs along the way as we build our skills as makers and small business owners in an honest, informal manner. We hope to bring you helpful tips we've learned over the years, learn from each other, and share expertise from a number of guests with you also. Please join us for some Wheel Talk!
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#246 - Let's talk preorders
Ryan & Becca chat about preorders today! We cover a few pros and cons of doing a preorder, what we've preordered before, what we'd like to preorder in the future, and customer considerations when receiving an online preorder. Enjoy and good luck if you're planning to preorder anything this year.
Resources
Join the waitlist for Ryan's future Bookkeeping Workshops
Listener Questions
On this episode:
- Taxes/keeping track of income/expenses @dirtboyceramics
Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking about on a future episode. Send those through Instagram @wheeltalkpodcast or email us at wheeltalkpodcast@gmail.com.
Sponsors
L&L Kilns - The durable kiln that potters trust to fire evenly & consistently. Find your L&L kiln at hotkilns.com
Support the show on Patreon for as little as $3 per month: https://patreon.com/Wheeltalkpodcast
Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery
Visit our website:
www.wheeltalkpotcast.com
Wheel Talk YouTube Channel
Support the show -
#245 - Pricing your work pt 2 & presenting at NCECA with Heidi Fahrenbacher from Bella Joy Pottery
Ryan & Becca welcome back Heidi Fahrenbacher from Bella Joy Pottery for third time to chat all things NCECA and catch up on Becca's pricing. They recap how NCECA went for them as demonstrators & presenters, what makes the conference so overwhelming, dig into Becca's pricing and sales since we last met with Heidi, and hunting apparently. Stay tuned for the next appearance when we dig more into Ryan's pricing and sales with Heidi. Enjoy everyone!
-----Find more about Heidi's business below-----
Instagram - @bellajoypottery
Website - https://www.bellajoypottery.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/bellajoypottery
Wheel Talk #219 - Pricing your work effectively https://wheeltalk.buzzsprout.com/539026/13732526-219-pricing-your-work-effectively-with-heidi-fahrenbacher-from-bella-joy-pottery
Wheel Talk #91 - Things to Be Happy About https://wheeltalk.buzzsprout.com/539026/8520636-91-things-to-be-happy-about-with-heidi-fahrenbacher-from-bella-joy-pottery
Tales of the Red Clay Rambler #469 Heidi Fahrenbacher on her formula for pricing https://www.talesofaredclayrambler.com/episodes/469-heidi-fahrenbacher-on-her-formula-for-pricing
Listener Questions
Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking about on a future episode. Send those through Instagram @wheeltalkpodcast or email us at wheeltalkpodcast@gmail.com.
Sponsors
L&L Kilns - The durable kiln that potters trust to fire evenly & consistently. Find your L&L kiln at hotkilns.com
Support the show on Patreon for as little as $3 per month: https://patreon.com/Wheeltalkpodcast
Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery
Visit our website:
www.wheeltalkpotcast.com
Wheel Talk YouTube Channel
Support the show -
#244 - Road trip home from NCECA!
Ryan & Becca are heading home to Cincinnati with Erica & Jessica from Richmond, Virginia after attending NCECA 2024. Enjoy the events that made this week special and some of our key takeaways as we get home, rest up, and get back into our studios soon. We hope to see everyone in Salt Lake City, Utah for 2025 and Detroit, Michigan for 2026!
Follow Erica at @erica_irene_k and Jessica at @overbrookclay on Instagram to see what they are up to.
Listener Questions
Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking about on a future episode. Send those through Instagram @wheeltalkpodcast or email us at wheeltalkpodcast@gmail.com.
Sponsors
L&L Kilns - The durable kiln that potters trust to fire evenly & consistently. Find your L&L kiln at hotkilns.com
Support the show on Patreon for as little as $3 per month: https://patreon.com/Wheeltalkpodcast
Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery
Visit our website:
www.wheeltalkpotcast.com
Wheel Talk YouTube Channel
Support the show -
#243 - Getting better at in-person shows
Ryan & Becca are getting excited about NCECA, which just concluded at the time of this release, before answering a listener's question about gauging the shows they're selling at. Sandrine's in her second year of selling and wants to make sure the shows she's looking into are good fit for the potential customers out there for her. We get into how you should think about the shows you choose, improving little by little by comparing to yourself only, and planning for selling outside your home state regarding taxes. Thanks for listening and best of luck for everyone preparing for the show season ahead!
Listener Questions
On this episode:
- 1. Last year I kept hearing that sales levels were down compared to past years. It was my first full year so I didn't have the comparison. Do you feel that it was down?
- 2. I've been selling primarily at a farmers market and a few local themed markets (Halloween, Christmas, etc.). This year I'm looking to expand into other venues in hopes to increase my sales. Do you think that juried events tend to yield better sales than non juried? And would arts festivals also be worth it?
- 3. Other markets mean traveling out of state. How do you deal with sales tax?
- Sandrine from @frenchfrogpottery
Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking about on a future episode. Send those through Instagram @wheeltalkpodcast or email us at wheeltalkpodcast@gmail.com.
Sponsors
L&L Kilns - The durable kiln that potters trust to fire evenly & consistently. Find your L&L kiln at hotkilns.com
Support the show on Patreon for as little as $3 per month: https://patreon.com/Wheeltalkpodcast
Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery
Visit our website:
www.wheeltalkpotcast.com
Wheel Talk YouTube Channel
Support the show -
#242 - How we started & where we're going
Ryan & Becca share some stories today about how the podcast started and how it's changed over the years. We also get into how we see it progressing into the future and some dream scenarios we may see come to fruition at some point. Thanks for continuing to listen!
Listener Questions
On this episode:
- How did the podcast start? How did we manage it early on & plan for discussions? Where are we now with it and how do we feel about it? Did we have plans long term for it & what opportunities do we see for it in the future? @sipor.ceramics
Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking about on a future episode. Send those through Instagram @wheeltalkpodcast or email us at wheeltalkpodcast@gmail.com.
Sponsors
L&L Kilns - The durable kiln that potters trust to fire evenly & consistently. Find your L&L kiln at hotkilns.com
Support the show on Patreon for as little as $3 per month: https://patreon.com/Wheeltalkpodcast
Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery
Visit our website:
www.wheeltalkpotcast.com
Wheel Talk YouTube Channel
Support the show -
#241 - Setting boundaries on social media with Melanie Westheiden from Swell Ceramics
Ryan & Becca are joined today by Melanie Westheiden from Swell Ceramics. Melanie shares about her business’ evolution from a home studio to brick and mortar, preparing for the holiday season, setting boundaries on Instagram, & shifting her body of work. Thanks so much to Melanie for taking the time to share with all of us.
-----Find more about Melanie’s business below-----
Instagram - @swellceramics
Website - https://www.swellceramics.com/
Listener Questions
On this episode:
- Do y’all have any insight on making passive income (stickers/merch) for your pottery business? Is it worth the time and money, or is it a complete waste? My pieces take an insane amount of time to create, but I don’t want to make plain ol’ mugs or pieces out of the fear I’ll lose my audience. So I was looking at possibly going the merch route. Any advice? Hopefully this makes sense! @punchypottery
Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking about on a future episode. Send those through Instagram @wheeltalkpodcast or email us at wheeltalkpodcast@gmail.com.
Sponsors
L&L Kilns - The durable kiln that potters trust to fire evenly & consistently. Find your L&L kiln at hotkilns.com
Support the show on Patreon for as little as $3 per month: https://patreon.com/Wheeltalkpodcast
Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery
Visit our website:
www.wheeltalkpotcast.com
Wheel Talk YouTube Channel
Support the show
Customer Reviews
A perfect listen for long studio sessions!
At first the length and format of this show seemed long to me, and then I turned it on while throwing and trimming… and my opinion totally changed!
I love hearing longtime potters chatting / talking shop, and hearing from others they bring on as guests is also great. Thanks you two for doing this! It makes me feel less alone while working in my home studio space!
- @dianesanfilippo / @dianeceramics on Instagram.
I always learn something
As a newbie I alway learn something new on the podcast. Listening has turned into a Saturday morning ritual while drinking my morning coffee. I love to new 2 hour format!! I like ver the interview with Link Henderson, so informative.
This week I learned why beer steins must be very smooth on the inside. I’m always learning something.
Makes me a better potter!
I’ve been a Wheel Talk listener for years so this review has been a long time coming! I will never understand the people who give this podcast anything less than 5 stars because the runtime is long. Well, buckle up for this review, buddy.
I freaking love this podcast. Becca and Ryan have a wealth of clay and business experience that they willingly share for FREE with all of their listeners. Moreover, they’re generous with their time and energy outside of the podcast as well. They’re quick to answer any question with thoughtful responses and advice. This podcast has given me more great tips, tricks, food for thought, and encouragement than I ever could have expected.
Like many listeners, I work alone in a home studio, and Becca and Ryan have become like my studio-mates. Their banter in the beginning and throughout each episode is welcome background conversation and regularly makes me laugh. It’s been a joy to follow each of their journeys through the clay business, and their ups-and-downs and topics of discussion have helped me become a better potter and businessperson.
Thanks for everything you do, Becca and Ryan! Never change! And to the jerks who give Wheel Talk less than 5 stars, honestly, get a life. Don’t you have something better to do?
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