You've heard me say it time and time again - Dreams Do Come True. But have you ever wondered How? What goes into making your dreams a reality? When I discuss the trajectory of my career from writing a blog about where to buy antiques in Europe to launching a 1-woman business to becoming a global empire with antique buying tours in 16 countries - I simplify things and say that the secret to my success was putting one stiletto clad foot in front of another. But what does that mean?

Every day I took - and continue to take - one step forward. While that seems easy to say in retrospect - trust me - when you're in the trenches - it's difficult to even know where to start! The first step is the hardest. It all feels... overwhelming. Okay, let me get real - I am 11 years in the business - and I still get overwhelmed! But what I've learned when I feel overwhelmed all I have to do is ONE MIT: Most Important Thing.

It's my #LifeHack. Regardless of any situation - personal or professional - I can always do One Thing. And that One Thing leads to the next thing.

If you want to start an antiques business - Don't think about STARTING an antiques business. That can feel daunting. It can feel overwhelming. Instead, think about LEARNING HOW to start an antiques business.

Make Learning About Starting An Antique Business your One Thing You Do until it leads to the next step. If you want your Dreams To Come True - I challenge you to set aside anywhere from 10 minutes a day, to 30 minutes 3 times a week to do research on starting your business. Set a date on your calendar with yourself and make it a priority to LEARN how to be an antiques dealer. Treat it like school. Buy a 3 ring binder. Buy a notebook. Save a folder on your laptop.

To get started on the 1st day you might simply want to google and read an article on how to be an antique dealer. The next day you might want want to read an interview with an antiques dealer on how he got his start. The 3rd day you could research local antique shops. One the 4th day look at your calendar and schedule visits to local antique malls and fairs. You don't have to go to the shops or fairs. Simply make a date to put them on your calendar.

Day 5 and beyond I want you to start a Pinterest board with various antiques you would like to sell. Dream Big. I want you to start defining your style. If money were no object what would you WANT to sell? This is going to take more than one day - it will be a continual thing you work on as you build your fantasy inventory.

Create a list of your favorite antique dealers and then continue to add to that list. One one day you can choose one antique dealer you like and define why you like them. Articulate why and what. This will lead you to determine how you can do it too.

You need to understand what type of antique stores and inventory you're drawn to. You're figuring out what type of antique dealer you want to be when you grow up. And once you know what you like, let's talk money. How much are these antiques selling for? Get yourself familiar with prices. You don't realize it but you're building your business plan. Getting started starts with one step.

Did you notice the domino effect of what I've just done? Each step you take ORGANICALLY will lead you to the next step.

• Don't choose 20 things to do in one day.
• Simply choose 1 thing.
• And the next time you sit down to do research, choose the next thing.

The key point in making progress in pursuing your dream is to continue to advance - one step at a time. Your dreams come true when you do the steps...

Toma is in Venice with antiques industry icon and legend Olga Granda, someone she admires and who makes things happen. This podcast was recorded over lunch at Terrazza dei Nobili - we apologize that it's a bit difficult to hear - but well worth the effort!

Meet Olga C. Granda: Cultural Entrepreneur

Olga began antiquing as a child traveling through Europe with her father, an antique dealer. Growing up in Miami, Olga left home at 14 to train as a ballet dancer and fell in love with the art and history and travel. After her early career in dance, Olga joined her father in his antiques business Alhambra Antiques in Miami for 14 years. Olga is an expert in European art and antiques and earned the respect and admiration of dealers and clients worldwide for her keen eye and exceptional taste. Fluent in four languages, Olga's career merges 21st-century technology with the arts, both visual and performing.

In around 2007 and the early days of blogging, through Toma's blog The Antiques Diva she met Olga and her blog Dancing Through Paris in around and they met in Paris at the Mercanteinfiera Antique Show a few years later.

Olga's experience as a dealer fueled her drive to pursue her own point of view and create new trends in the antiques industry as the Founder and Chief Operating Officer of The Highboy, an online antiques marketplace for exceptional antique and vintage furniture, art and decor.

Today Olga is a cultural entrepreneur and the Artistic Director and CEO of Sanctuary of the Arts, an artist-led institution created for the purpose of healing, empowering, and uplifting.

Talk to you soon,

Ciao Ciao

Toma Clark Haines, The Antiques Diva

Also check out The Antiques Diva here:

• The Antiques Diva & Co: Antique buying tours and sourcing services in 16 countries on 3 continents
• Antique Dealer Training Program: Antique dealer training and mentorship & services for new and experienced dealers
• The Antiques Diva Furniture Collection by Aidan Gray: Reproductions using classic design mixed with modern materials
• Republic of Toma: Custom jewelry designed by Toma, inspired by her love of antiques and travel
• The Business of Antiques: Podcast on making your antiques business sexy, modern and fun...and PROFITABLE!

When it comes to marketing your antique business you need to identify your niche and communicate what makes you different from all the other antique dealers out there. Why should someone shop with you versus someone else? You’ve got to Communicate Your Thing. In marketing terms this is your USP - Unique Selling Point or Unique Selling Perspective.

When you’re running an antiques business - you need to be SAVVY about communicating your message.

You need to BE SPECIFIC. Every single antique dealer I knows has a USP - find yours and COMMUNICATE IT!

There are a lot antique dealers. That’s a lot of people doing the exact same thing. When you sell antiques you’re selling a story.

​Your Unique Selling Purple

What's your purple - your story that is uniquely you?

The first thing you need to look at as an antique dealer is your personal story. People buy antiques for the story.

And not just the story of the antique but also the story of the people who they buy antiques from.

What I want you think about is WHAT EXPERIENCE CAN YOU - or do you already - OFFER YOUR clients that you're not communicating? What's your Unique Selling Point?

• What part of your story is so remarkable and unique that people will continue talking about you when they walk away from meeting you or following you on social media.
• The next part is communicating your USP skills.
• Then get personal - Everyone has a thing. Very few businesses are one-of-a-kind.

Unless you can pinpoint what makes your antique business unique in a world of homogeneous competitors, you cannot target your sales efforts successfully. One way to figure out your USP is start is to analyze how other companies use their USPs to their advantage.

Listen to the USP podcast for more ideas, stories and inspiration on how to identify and communicate YOUR USP: Unique Selling Point!

Talk to you soon,

Ciao Ciao

Toma Clark Haines, The Antiques Diva

Also check out The Antiques Diva here:

• The Antiques Diva & Co: Antique buying tours and sourcing services in 16 countries on 3 continents
• Antique Dealer Training Program: Antique dealer training and mentorship & services for new and experienced dealers
• The Antiques Diva Furniture Collection by Aidan Gray: Reproductions using classic design mixed with modern materials
• Republic of Toma: Custom jewelry designed by Toma, inspired by her love of antiques and travel
• The Business of Antiques: Podcast on making your antiques business sexy, modern and fun...and PROFITABLE!

Toma talks to Jason and John of Madcap Cottage on The Business of Antiques Podcast, recorded at Venice's famous Gritti Palace. They discuss the importance of diversification in income streams, how the entire industry has changed and candidly discuss their solutions for increasing their profit margin.

Jason and John are two of the smartest strategists in the industry and are setting the design world on FIRE!

Talk to you soon,

Ciao Ciao

Toma Clark Haines, The Antiques Diva

Also check out The Antiques Diva here:

• The Antiques Diva & Co: Antique buying tours and sourcing services in 16 countries on 3 continents
• Antique Dealer Training Program: Antique dealer training and mentorship & services for new and experienced dealers
• The Antiques Diva Furniture Collection by Aidan Gray: Reproductions using classic design mixed with modern materials
• Republic of Toma: Custom jewelry designed by Toma, inspired by her love of antiques and travel
• The Business of Antiques: Podcast on making your antiques business sexy, modern and fun...and PROFITABLE!

Okay People: We are going to Get REAL on today's The Business of Antiques podcast.

You might say, We’re getting naked. Which given I’m recording this episode in Berlin Germany seems appropriate. My company The Antiques Diva is actually a German enterprise and I’m at headquarters to make sure all is right in the world. Now Berlin happens to be home of the Burlesque. So somehow saying We’re getting naked in Berlin feels appropriately inappropriate.

Okay - we are keeping this PG - which means we are not totally naked but definitely we are stripping down to our Spanx. I LOVE Spanx. Let’s face it, I’m curvy girl. I’ll never be a waif. Even at my thinnest times I have curves. Boobs. A waist. Hips. It’s either a curse or a blessing depending who is talking about it. So when Spanx came out I was THRILLED. They are the perfect solution to my figure flaws (or assets).

BUT you have to be thinking what in the world is Toma Thinking - What do Spanx - and support garments in general - have to do with The Business of Antiques?

Everything.

Because at The Business of Antiques I’m making you look at your Antiques Business in a Whole New Way. You’re not just building an antiques store - successful antique dealers build a brand.

And one of the most impressive brands I’ve come across in a long time is Spanx.

Color tells a story. Why did Sara Blakely choose the color red to reflect her brand? What colors speak to you and tells your brand's story?

Listen to to the podcast What's Spanx Got To Do With Antiques? to learn how sharing your authentic story can help you build your brand and take your antique business to the next level.

Talk to you soon,

Ciao Ciao

Toma Clark Haines, The Antiques Diva

Also check out The Antiques Diva here:

• The Antiques Diva & Co: Antique buying tours and sourcing services in 16 countries on 3 continents
• Antique Dealer Training Program: Antique dealer training and mentorship & services for new and experienced dealers
• The Antiques Diva Furniture Collection by Aidan Gray: Reproductions using classic design mixed with modern materials
• Republic of Toma: Custom jewelry designed by Toma, inspired by her love of antiques and travel
• The Business of Antiques: Podcast on making your antiques business sexy, modern and fun...and PROFITABLE!

Kelli Ellis is well-known across the design industry. Her most recent venture as VP of Industry Relations for EU, UK, and US of Ronati where she supports dealers of antique, vintage, and one-of-a-kind pieces around the world with technology and tools to help their businesses thrive.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Kelli to talk about a slew of serious topics from her new role with Ronati - the e-commerce manager that's about to Take the Antiques World by Storm - to her recent move to Barcelona - and the question we all want to know… which brand of red lipstick does she actually wear? Spoiler alert - It’s Mac Ruby Woo. In fact, Kelli and I compared perfumed notes over our pucker power and discussed plans for the future as well as how we get what we want out of life.

Kelli Ellis is an interior designer, lifestyle expert and lifelong traveler who represents the epitome of livable luxury and casual international style mixed with rock star glam. Kelli is well known on TV and radio: you’ve seen her designs featured on TLC’s Clean Sweep, HGTV‘s Takeover my Makeover, Celebrity Holiday Homes, House Hunters Renovation, and productions of Value Booster’s, Move or Improve, and The House Therapist, and watched her design homes and offices on Bravo’s Real Housewives of Orange County; as well as her own shows on The Design Network, Design Therapy, and Mid Mod: Then and Now. Her celebrity and discerning clientele benefit from her extensive world travels, adding dramatic artwork and antiques to create unique havens.

Talk to you soon,

Ciao Ciao

Toma Clark Haines, The Antiques Diva

Found out more about Margaret Schwartz at Modern Antiquarian

Also check out The Antiques Diva here:

• The Antiques Diva & Co: Antique buying tours and sourcing services in 16 countries on 3 continents
• Antique Dealer Training Program: Antique dealer training and mentorship & services for new and experienced dealers
• The Antiques Diva Furniture Collection by Aidan Gray: Reproductions using classic design mixed with modern materials
• Republic of Toma: Custom jewelry designed by Toma, inspired by her love of antiques and travel
• The Business of Antiques: Podcast on making your antiques business sexy, modern and fun...and PROFITABLE!

Welcome to our new sponsor, Ronati

We are kicking off the New Year by tackling that topic of INCREASING YOUR SALES! And to do that we need to start with Marketing for Antique Dealers.

Marketing is the #1 way you can increase your sales.

I want to debunk myths about websites that I hear Antique Dealers say:

Antique Dealers will often tell me they don't need a website because they sell on Instagram or at an antiques mall, antique fairs etc.

Let me tell you something…

People are more likely to do business with a company they trust, and a website is the first place they go to check out who you are. Even if you have NO intention to ever sell on your website - you need a simple website just to show you exist.

Approximately 30% of all consumers won't even consider buying

from a business that does not have a website.

Selling Antiques is a very visual and experiential product experience.

Learn more about marketing for antique dealers by listening to the full podcast, including:

• How - and what marketing to outsource
• Visual marketing tools
• Social media marketing
• Content marketing
• Video marketing
• Local SEO
• Email marketing
• Podcasts

I'm super excited to introduce our new sponsor for The Business of Antiques Podcast, Ronati. Think of Ronati as your personal data entry and stock management team. Everything is tracked for you, uploaded and updated from a single location. Ronati is the first inventory and marketplace management tool built specifically FOR AND WITH dealers of vintage, antique and one-of-a-kind pieces in mind.

It's been in design and testing mode with antique dealers in both the US and UK for over a year. Ronati's eCommerce Manager is an all-in-one inventory and marketplace management tool. If you'd like to try it out for free, head over to www.Ronati.com/businessofantiques to activate your free trial program with no obligation and no payment information required. There are a limited number of these free trial programs, so be sure to reserve yours before they're gone.

Talk to you soon,

Ciao Ciao

Toma Clark Haines, The Antiques Diva

Also check out The Antiques Diva here:

• The Antiques Diva & Co: Antique buying tours and sourcing services in 16 countries on 3 continents
• Antique Dealer Training Program: Antique dealer training and mentorship & services for new and experienced dealers
• The Antiques Diva Furniture Collection by Aidan Gray: Reproductions using classic design mixed with modern materials
• Republic of Toma: Custom jewelry designed by Toma, inspired by her love of antiques and travel
• The Business of Antiques: Podcast on making your antiques business sexy, modern and fun...and PROFITABLE!