Business of Antiques is Now on Substack
Merry Christmas - Antiques Diva´s Gift To You!
Technically this photo is not Christmas, but was taken at an event I did this October at The White Barn with @FickleAntiques in Round Top, but to me this dining room epitomizes everything I love about the holidays: gathering with friends and family. In Italian there is a word which describes this scene perfectly. Festiggia: to celebrate or to feast.This holiday season I wish you days filled with Festiggiaring!
Life is lived in seasons. Seasons of growth, change and rest. Seasons of failure and success. Seasons where you slow down or charge forward.
One of my new projects is our #ChiantiClubHouse where Antiques Diva clients taking buying tours in Tuscany (or enrolling in ¨hybrid¨one-on-one business coaching) can stay Casa Mia B&B style for FREE to enjoy la Dolce Diva. #inquirefordetails On site - I will be opening a TO THE TRADE Wholesale Antiques Warehouse - which you can shop ONLY BY APPOINTMENT. We will host Restoration Workshops and Lampshade Making Courses and you might just be invited to dinner in the vineyard. Don´t worry I am not leaving Venice - I will just be dividing my time between the land and sea. The pic on the left is Chianti - and on the right is the Christmas tree at the Piazza San Marco.
I am up to my chin hairs in Fortuny (the fabric, not my cat) planning decor for each room of the simple country house, which is set on a gigantic vineyard amid vines and olive trees. My colleague Laura and I have spent the last month planting 100s and 100s of bulbs so that in the spring we will be bursting with blooms. While planting the aromatic garden - rows of oregano, sage, rosemary, and thyme. You plant flowers in the autumn because the energy goes into growing roots not blooms. In those times no one sees the growth because it's below the surface. In the spring, however, the plant flourishes because of its solid foundation. Sometimes when you think you are not making progress that is when the biggest progress is actually happening.
At The Antiques Diva & Co we help clients grow. For the last two decades, we have provided solutions for the problems antique dealers face. In our one-on-one business coaching, on our European Antique Buying Tours, and through our International Shipping Liaison Service, we help antique dealers increase their profit margins. And - our Christmas Gift to You - is that we are now offering even more solutions!
Let Us Help You Grow!
INTRODUCING OUR DIGITAL ANTIQUES DEALER TRAINING PROGRAM
While our one-on-one personalized business coaching for antique dealers is the best way to fast track your antiques business to profits, we understand that some clients are looking for a more cost-effective way to learn. Enter stage right - our Digital Program. We cover 8 sections of topics in over 50 videos + 10 live webinars.
YES - COUNT THEM 50 VIDEOS. You watch me age before your eyes in this EPIC conglomeration of videos. You should see the Blooper Reel. We help with everything from the nitty gritty of Administrative Maintenance and Day-to-Day of Operations. We teach you How to Sell Antiques. We help you find Your Niche & Select Your Point of Sale. Plus, Implement a Warehouse Management System. You learn How to Receive a Container as well as How to Safely Ship Antiques. We examine Pricing Models, How to Photograph, How to List Inventory Online as well as Sales Cycles. We dive into Social Media & Marketing and explain how PR can be best for your business. This is a comprehensive introduction to the Business of Antiques. To make the program more inclusive we also offer 1 free hour of business coaching 1-on-1.
JOIN OUR FREE WEBINAR January 10th at 10am EST to find out how we can help you achieve your antique business goals in 2025
RSVP TO RECEIVE WEBINAR LINK
email toma@antiquesdiva.comWe are currently offering an entry discounted price for the Digital Antiques Dealer Training Program while we work out the kinks - I am an antiques dealer not a tech person, remember - for $999 - This price WON'T LAST.
Now as much as I love this comprehensive online digital program - if the pandemic taught us anything it is that there is NO SUBSTITUTE FOR REAL LIFE.
Get Ready To Be Diva-Ed - that's short for Diva Education.
You are Invited to Join our Antiques Dealer Educational Retreat in England March 9-14, 2025
If rolling out a digital course is NOT enough, we are also doing our 2nd annual Antiques Dealer Educational Retreat in ENGLAND - Join me and my colleague Gail McLeod, VP of Antiques Diva and founder of Antique News & Fairs
9-14 March 2025
Stay tuned for an itemized day by day itinerary - but suffice it to say it will touch up on some of the topics mentioned above but offer something more. Community.
Sharing your goals with others has been scientifically proven to increase the likelihood of achieving them because it gives you accountability, support, and feedback. But you have to be careful who you share your goals with, otherwise, you can get bad advice, lose confidence, or receive unhelpful judgment from others.
Photo from the NYC 2019 Retreat we did in NYC
In this England Retreat we will bring together dealers at different levels of their career and with different strengths and weaknesses. Each member can lend their strengths to the group and work on their weaknesses. The group will serve as an educational resource giving you behind the scenes real life answers to your intimate questions. Sharing as well as receiving is a key element in the program: Sometimes it’s easier to have clarity on other dealers' problems and this gives perspective and opportunity for self reflection.
Plus, you are learning while we stay in a kick ass private home, an Elizabethan Manor House near Ledbury on the Welsh border, culminating in a private event with the Bath Decorative Fair - one of the leading antique fairs in the UK and will be bringing in MULTIPLE BBC Antiques Roadshow experts and celebrities in the trade to help with the training.
BOOK BY Jan 15, 2025 and Receive the EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT
3800GBP
Antique Dealer Restoration Course in the South of France.
As part of our continuing effort to teach you we are releasing our 2025 dates for Restoration Courses in the South of France. We teach you the basics you need to know to restore those broken arms or legs on chairs, to touch up the paint or patina when an item has been bumped or dumped and to repair gilt on mirror or picture frames. We are teaching you to address the most common problems you face as an antiques dealer.
March 16-19, 2025
April 27-30, 2025
May 11-14, 2025
June 1-4, 2025
Sep 21-24, 2025
Last but assuredly not least - You are invited to our Champagne Brunch at the Paris Flea Market If you are coming to Paris for Deco Off or Maison Objet, make sure to mark your calendars for January 19th 10am-1pm because you´re invited to our 11th annual Champagne Brunch. RSVP for details and to hear about the exciting NEW LOCATION!
If you have managed to read this far along in the newsletter you are officially a rock star as this was not a short one. As a small reward message me if you want to receive an invite to a google calendar that adds to your agenda the Important Dates for TRADE Fairs in Europe & UK so you can more easily plan your 2025 sourcing travel and gives you Monthly Business of Antiques Tips for achieving your Business Goals.
I’m leaving for Budapest for Christmas - make sure you are following me on Instagram, @RepublicofToma, to see personal travel pics. And hope to see you in the new year! To find out more about the Business of Antiques follow along @TheAntiquesDiva Instagram or subscribe to our podcast The Business of Antiques - next season dropping soon.
Happy Holidays,
Toma
CEO - The Antiques Diva & Co
www.antiquesdiva.com
