Where To Start Selling Your Art

When I first began selling my art publicly, I contacted local community councils.

They always had some form of festival market or art fair going on at regular intervals. This way I could show case my art to people looking to buy art in my local area.

I was not interested in “exposure” for the sake of exposure. I had done the whole “exposure” thing putting paintings in cafes etc – but realised after some time it really was a waste of time and energy. It’s a consistently inconsistent way to sell art.

What a lot of artists fail to realise is that “Art is not bought – Art has to be sold”

What that statement really means is that you have to “sell yourself” and represent your art by interacting with people.

You have to “Stand in front of your art”.

This is particularly true if you have not established yourself as “well known” in your state, province or country for that matter, and don’t have anybody representing your art for you.

It’s these festivals and art fair events that I honed my selling skills.

The biggest tip I can give is… talk to people about them.

Additionally, while people are buying something they ultimately like (i.e. your art) what they are really buying is a piece of you – a feeling, something that will make them “feel good” about themselves and their surroundings.

That is all successful selling really is – an exchange of energy, emotion, feeling, trust and well being.

So with all that said, in order to get your art out there, YOU have to get out there.

You have to talk to people. You have to interact. You have to wear your bulletproof “criticism” suit and mingle… with art in hand.

Another thing some artists failed to realise (and I saw this a few times) is that they would organise a stall at an art fair to try and sell their art, and sit on a stool for most of the day… then feel rejected because they didn’t sell anything.

It’s not hard to realise why.

They didn’t interact – they failed to express interest in other people.

If you express genuine interest in people I can fairly much guarantee that you are going to sell your art at these types of art fairs and festivals.

Don’t try to sell your most expensive pieces of art. Its more than likely that people don’t know who you are so keep your prices at the popular “impulse buyer” range and under – Approx $400.

Wait until you gather some speed then what you will find… is that people who have bought your lower priced art will often come back and buy more expensive pieces.

This is why I really emphasise to my newsletter subscribers to “take names” and develop a relationship with potential buyers through direct mail, email or social media. But provide some form of value to them while they are not buying your art – sounds kinda counterproductive but it really does work.

Marketing Material

Have some business cards made up for these types of art functions.

Make sure EVERYBODY you talk to leaves with something that has your name on it regardless if they bought a painting from you or not. But make sure it is only people you talk to because…

A lot of people who are just passing through will use the “have you got a business card” as a way to escape your stall. It’s their polite way of saying “I’m not really interested”.

So the point is, don’t waste your marketing material on people unless you have had some genuine interaction with them.

If you shared a conversation with somebody, make sure they leave with either a business card (you can get cards made up and shipped to you quite inexpensively through Vista Print – www.vistaprint.com.au) or some form of marketing material.

As you begin to gain some momentum doing these types of shows, start to incorporate other forms of marketing material if it is in your budget.

For example…

Got a video camera? Film yourself producing one of your paintings. Put some music to it and get 20 copies made onto DVD (easy to do on your own computer) to hand out to people who visit your art stall.

Keep the video short – no longer than 4 minutes. Don’t bore people – inspire them. Give them just enough to want to know more about you and want to contact you.

Tell people you do commission work.

Doing commission art can really help to develop your disipline as an artist, because it inspires you to work to deadlines.

Don’t be spooked by commission work. Don’t rely on it but don’t be afraid to do it when you are just starting out. After all, what is the worst thing that can happen? If the buyer doesn’t like it, don’t take his money and sell it to somebody who does at your next art fair meeting.

I’ve had this happen on just one occasion and ended up selling the painting for more (but only just a bit more) at an exhibit. It wasn’t that the original buyer didn’t like the end result; there was merely a breakdown in communication half way through the project.

I’ve written a report based on my experiences with doing commission work – if you want to know more you can grab a free copy at…

http://www.caku-art.com/commission-art.html

Promoting Locally

If you want to promote and let people know where you will be showing your art…

Contact your local community newspaper or lifestyle magazine and tell them you want them to do an article on you and your art.

Don’t think you have enough to say?

Tell them what inspires you to paint. Tell them your views on your community and express some of your thoughts about the people who live there. People will read it and think “What a groovy person, great community spirit – lets go look at her art… oh it says here at the bottom of the article….”

Get the picture?

Make sure the article has something at the bottom that directs people to either…

A: your next art fair showing

B: A web site or a blog.

C: An exhibit you have arranged in your community on a particular time and date.

In regards to galleries, consider visiting my site and reading the post about approaching an art gallery. It is a bit too long for this post.

But anyway, back to this…

Just remember to talk to as many people as you can – interact.

You’ll do well if you get yourself out in the public and listen to people. It may sound like a real odd thing to do or unfamiliar way to sell art, but believe me it really works.

And the best part is… if you like yourself and you like people, it really is quite easy to do – and you’ll sell some art as a result.

Hope that helps you out…

Power to you and your art!

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Selling Art On The Internet – “Your Website”

I often receive emails from fellow artists with a request to critique their website design and layout along with questions about the best way to go about selling art on the internet through their site.

In regards to critiquing websites, I can only really offer suggestions from a marketing point of view. Although I am an artist myself, I don’t really classify myself as much of a judge when it comes to good design. My motto is to keep it “simple” and make it easy for your visitor to navigate.

In essence, I think your artwork has to do a lot of the talking. Therefore, you shouldn’t need to put too much time and effort into creating a website to impress.

The Internet is essentially an information resource. A website is nothing more than a tool to help you operate your business. Your website is your online real estate and it’s main purpose is to communicate to your target audience.

If you have a website with flashing lights and over creative “hard to read” font, it’s really no different to having a bricks and mortar business and welcoming your potential buyer dressed in a clown suit.

So the real success behind having a web site is in how well you generate targeted traffic, how well you communicate to your visitor, and then how well you can build a relationship with them.

I always suggest that each artist should have a website that showcases their work, then a separate blog that allows them to add lots of content. The idea with a blog is to keep a running dialogue of content that helps to summarize who you are and how you do what you do.

When it comes to keeping a blog – just be yourself. That is what people really want to see and hear.

At the end of the day, your art will be bought because someone likes it. Most people won’t want to know about you and your life on an intimate level. But for those people who are interested in your artwork, they will be more inclined to hang around your site and blog if you provide interesting content – not to mention good artwork.

When it comes to selling art on the internet from your website; if people are not familiar with you or your work, then you need to help build their trust and confidence in you before they even consider purchasing any of your work.

Consider creating your own newsletter for your site. That way you can send out updates on a monthly basis and build a relationship with your subscribers.

Don’t feel restricted to sending out just text emails either. Use video and audio to show more of your personality and your artwork.

So when it comes to building a website for selling art on the internet, focus on your ability to communicate to your audience. Don’t get caught up in trying to build a site to impress.

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When Enough Is Enough

Art is a funny thing. This painting above, “Partnership” I sold very quickly. The thing is though; I deliberately left a spot on the painting as unfinished.

Cheeky?

Perhaps.

But this unfinished area is not actually visible to the person who fell in love with the painting and purchased it. In fact it was not visible to a lot of people who looked at the painting when it was exhibited.

I wanted to test the theory that no piece of art is actually ever finished. It is only really finished when you are still working on it well past the point of it feeling wholesome. In other words if you are still working beyond that “sweet spot” then you are more than finished, you have probably over done it.

The “over doing it stage” was something I experienced a lot some years ago. I would constantly work well beyond the point where I should have actually stopped.

With some of those earlier works, my time would have been better spent just writing “I am struggling” on the canvas (wink).

I once read somewhere that Picasso felt a painting is never supposed to be finished.

So in other words, he probably believed that if you set out to finish a painting then it really isn’t originated from who you are because you adopted a starting point and a finishing point – you went in with too much expectation.

Art is not about time or completion but merely an extension of your voice.

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A Little More Conversation

When I first started exhibiting my work, I didn’t really interact much. I didn’t completely engage myself in any real conversation with my prospective buyer.

Admittedly, I was a little preoccupied with making sure that I was organised. In other words, I was a little over anxious. A little nervous I guess.

So I was a preoccupied with…“does my stall look okay? Oh shit, I didn’t sign that painting properly! Oh no, I really shouldn’t have had that last coffee, as now I have no-one to relieve me while I go to the loo…”

But after a couple of showings I quickly loosened up and engaged in some great conversations. I remembered someone said to me long ago that people are not nearly as interested in you as they are interested in themselves.

So I simply put that piece of advice to good use and sold a bunch of paintings as a result.

Off course there were plenty of people I had conversations with that didn’t end up purchasing any of my work. But it was interesting to note that quite a few contacted me weeks, even months later about buying my art or wanting something commissioned for their home.

People will buy your art because they like what they see. But in some cases, if you are not receptive – as I wasn’t when I first started because I was futzing about and getting distracted – then it’s unlikely they will approach you to express interest in purchasing your work.

After I settled into the whole art of selling your art, I began approaching people with an emphasis on who they were, rather than the typical “Hey let’s talk about my painting” type of introduction.

I knew that if I could get someone talking about him or herself, they’d be more susceptible to wanting to know more about my art.

Essentially, I made the conversation all about my stall visitor and a lot less about my paintings.

While this is a good way to go about “not having to sell your work,” it is also a great technique for the shy artist, who is not yet completely confident with exhibiting their work. The answer is to talk less about your work and steer the conversation to being about your visitor.

It takes the spotlight off  you, makes you feel a little more comfortable and allows you to get to know more about the person you are dealing with.

The more you can get your potential buyer to open up about themselves, the more will be revealed about what they like and don’t like.

It’s through doing this I discovered many people actually wanted something that had not yet been created – so right there was an opportunity for suggesting commission work.

The main point is to talk to people without any expectation of a sale. I have spoken to so many people and never made a sale. But I have had some amazing conversations.

Some conversations have been absolutely hilarious. Some are sad. Some are truly weird. Some are a little confrontational. Some are too political. Some people are drunk, loud and talk a whole bunch of nothing. Some people are so quiet and incredibly difficult to engage in a conversation. Some conversations have been with some of the most interesting people I have ever met.

But it’s through these conversations that I have been able to understand the person who is interested in my art. It’s more inspiring to delve into the lives of your customer, client or collector than it is to talk about your art all day long.

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Selling Yourself

A few years ago I spent a few weeks selling my work in an open-air exhibit in the city.

Each week as I was setting up, I would watch one artist put a few sold stickers on his work – at 8am before the crowd started arriving.

Why?

To indicate that he was a successful selling artist.

The sold stickers would help to persuade the public to perhaps consider buying his work because he was successful.

Sneaky?

Perhaps.

I have to admit that it was something I could never do, nor did I need to because I did quite well for the time I was exhibiting my work there.

By putting a sold sticker on a couple of paintings, that had not actually sold, was in his eyes a good selling point. He did sell some art each week. But I am not sure if it was because of the sold stickers.

Sometimes I would sell a painting before 9am. What I would do then is ask my buyer for permission to hold the painting for the rest of the day, and whack a sold sticker on it and leave it hung.

If the buyer lived locally I would even offer to deliver the painting as a thanks for leaving it on display – particularly if they did not want to hang around all day to wait for their painting.

The point I am trying to make in this post is there are many ways you can encourage the public to buy your art. One is through just being yourself and producing quality art.

The second is to “invite” people for conversation. I spend so much time talking to people about “them” at exhibits. I sell paintings as a result. I even sold a painting to a guy who’s wife whispered to me, “This is the first piece of art he has ever bought, he is totally not into art so you have done something right.”

It might have been because I spoke to him about him for half an hour while his wife wandered around the exhibit. Not to mention that my art is quite alluring (wink).

But the point is, you don’t really need to be tricky (i.e: using sold stickers before your painting is sold – regardless if it actually works) you just need to be “you” and people will respond.

Power to you and your art!

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Stomping On Your Fear Of Failure

I once read a quote that said something along the lines of…

“An artist can’t really fail, because to be an artist is a success in itself”.

So in other words, the decision to be an artist is quite a brave one. It’s quite a bold move. It deserves admiration.

Some believe it’s not really their choice to be an artist anyway… it’s  an obsession that can’t be controlled.

In regards to failure…

It’s my belief; that you can only really fail if you stop doing what you do.

Energy V’s Profit

Let’s move our thoughts from the common goal that many artists wish to achieve for a moment, and that is to produce salable art.

I think the ultimate reason why an artist may quit is because they did not succeed in reaching a certain level of energy in their art – and not because they can’t sell their work.

I have tested this theory consciously. I discovered that my greatest frustration as an artist was in the struggle to develop a good level of energy when producing a piece of art. It was sometimes a battle because the piece wasn’t going in the direction that I wanted it to. It didn’t inspire me; therefore it had no real level of energy.

I think this is the biggest personal fight an artist has to contend with.

I also discovered something else; I was looking at my art, as I was producing it, through someone else’s eyes. Right there is the biggest cause of failure – trying to produce art in accordance to someone else’s expectations.

Working through some other persons expectations and not your own could well be likened to working with a fear of failure.

Note: Some commission work is based on the buyers input. But if it becomes the buyers project, then you have a real challenge. Avoid getting stuck in any project that does not inspire you. To produce something that doesn’t really have your heart in it, kind of goes against the whole philosophy of being an artist.

Don’t Fear Failure

So how do you remove this fear of failure?

It’s kind of simple really: Relentlessly work at maintaining your natural expression without expectation of applause, money or fame.

The problem for a lot of us artists is that we tend to complicate things. We live in a society that has raised us to believe; that if we don’t see an instant return on our efforts then we obviously aren’t doing it correctly or were simply not cut out for our chosen duty.

The thing is… you can’t really fail as an artist if what you are producing on the canvas matches the message in your heart. You can only really be measured by your commitment, not by how many trophies or ribbons you have.

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Are You Sick Of Giving Your Art Away For Free?

Right from the beginning I have always tried to portray high value on my work.

When I first started out I was selling my work for $100 or less and sometimes more.

But even then I always portrayed a sense of value. By doing this I never really had the concerns of friends and family wanting a discount or even some of my work for free.

Don’t get me wrong; I have given a few of my paintings to family members as gifts. But I did this willingly without being “asked” for a freebie.

Value Your Work

By portraying a high value on my work, it helps to give the impression that it would be rude to ask for a free painting or even a discount.

Let’s face it, we love our friends and family and we would do anything to help them out. But that isn’t any reason why you should be at a loss (cost of materials, time and energy) just because dear old Auntie Martha is your auntie and would love it if you could give her one of your new paintings at no cost when you didn’t really want to.

I have a family member who has actually purchased 3 of my paintings, which of course now hang on the walls of his home.

The people who visit his home know that he paid for those paintings and a result this has made my work even more appealing.

I once had a painting that was hot off the easel (so to speak) and I sent a letter out to my collectors before the paint was even dry.

Within hours I had generated some interest from the people of my collector list and some very keen to buy the painting. At the time I happened to be on the phone to a family member and mentioned the interest I was having in this very painting.

She asked to see it. So I sent her my website link.

She rang me back within 2 minutes and told me NOT to sell that painting to anyone. She loved it, wanted it and was going to pay full price for it or even more if she had to in order own it.

Present Your Art Well

While I personally think I produce great art, I also “let people know that I produce great art” in the manner that I talk about and present my art (Confident? Arrogant? Perhaps. But you have to be a self- promoter in this industry).

This adds considerable intangible value to it. I make sure that family are aware of the value of my art. I’m not rude or arrogant about it, but I make it known.

Additionally, I never say things like “Gosh that painting didn’t turn out like I wanted it to. Oh well, I’ll have to try again” – at least not publicly (wink).

If you are prone to doing this you are essentially openly devaluing your work. Remember what rolls off your lips becomes your reality.

So if you are really disappointed by a piece of work, don’t just hand it over a family member for free if you don’t really want to. Paint over it and try again because if you do hand it over for free they’ll never really get to appreciate the value of your work.

Paying The asking Price

There are a couple of ways that you can begin to end the whole hassle of dealing with family asking you for a free painting.

Once way to address this issue is to tell them you are trying to build up a collection for when you have an exhibit.

However, tell them that if they are prepared to pay you for the painting, they will be essentially be helping you out with the costs associated to setting up an exhibit – therefore you can afford to be a painting short for your exhibit because now you have some money to cover to initial set up costs.

If for some reason they don’t see the same value in your work as you do and therefore do not want to pay your asking price, then explain the value they will be contributing towards your exhibit and how many people will potentially coming to view your work.

This could well give them sense of pride, especially if they love you, as they should.

So the big points to be remember here are…

Talk about your work in manner that adds perceived value to it. This will help your friends and family attach a monetary figure to your work.

Avoid giving your work away if you do not feel comfortable doing it. There is nothing wrong with giving a family member a gift in the form of a painting. But if a family member or friend asked for a free one, say yeah no problem, I’ll give it to you for free if you buy me the equivalent value in paint materials or a contribution towards some promotion or exhibit costs.

Also, hang your art proudly in your home.

If your art requires frames, then have them framed and hang them in your home. Some artists struggle with this because they constantly want to make adjustments to their work because they are looking at it so much.

By hanging your art in your own home you are essentially telling people that your work has significant value.

Be Your Own Fan

Avoid being an amateur commentator of your work also. If people say, “Oh that is a nice painting,” don’t say things like, “yeah its okay, I would have liked it to be a bit better in parts but it turned out okay”.

Tell them you agree with them and it was such a joy to paint, I can’t wait to get it out into the public’s eye.

By doing that you have added significant value to your artwork.

At times you can feel a little vulnerable because you have not yet “completely” established that reference value in your work.

So one point to consider is to keep busy with exhibiting your work. You’ll remove a bit of the domestic interest and expectation in your artwork and be able to focus more on the buying public.

It will get easier to say no when you have experienced some  sales. The reason for this is that you will have firm proof of the value of your work because the general public are  paying you for it.

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How To Stay Motivated

Determination + Desire = Motivated!

Back when I first started working with oils, I didn’t produce anything that was really impressive.

Some folk may have thought so, but I knew deep down that my work wasn’t that good.

In other words, I didn’t feel like I was showing much talent with my oil paintings – and knowing this could well have been enough to lose complete motivation as an artist.

But I had a real determination to one day produce work that I could look at and appreciate. I also had a desire to make art that could one day be sold.

I achieved both.

If you have a true hunger to be good at what you do, then you’ll discover that you’ll never really suffer from a lack of motivation.

If you have a real desire… a real fire in your stomach, then you’ll always be ready to move ahead.

The idea is to try and remove some of the unnecessary crap we tend to think about too much and simplify what we actually want.

Here are a few simple concepts I plant in my head and things I do to stay motivated with each new project:

1. Define the result I want
2. If I am a little apprehensive about how to go about it I have a couple of other pieces of work (physical or photo) on hand to refer to in order to maintain those “Ah-ha” moments I require now and then.
3. Have a working schedule. I have a set time for doing certain tasks. I sometimes almost yawn my head off when it comes to this kind of organising. But I really tend to slack off if I don’t have a system for doing things.
4. The whole time I am working I keep thinking about how good it will look when it is finished. Confident? Arrogant? Perhaps, but it sure as heck helps me to stay motivated (wink).
5. Play loud music that I really love.
6. Keep my studio modestly clean. Some artists are not fussed with messy studios. The problem I have is that if I walk into my studio and it is messy, I have tendency to walk right back out again and no work gets done.

All you really need to do in order to get or stay motivated is to define what it is you want. Then put a basic plan together to achieve it. Create a deadline and then simply go for it. It need not be any more complicated than that.

When I first started out I lacked motivation because I kept comparing what I was doing with other artists who had become quite successful. All this does is make you jaded. So what I recommend is work with your own purpose – it’s a great source of motivation.

Nobody can do what you do the way you do it.

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Perfection Can Be a Health Hazard

I discovered years ago that I suffered from this ailment many refer to as perfectionism. But at the same time I also discovered that while I was focusing on getting each project absolutely perfect, every other area of my life kind of suffered as a result.

I have been a musician for many years and spent many hours in a studio environment producing my own songs. The problem I suffered in the early days was this need for perfection in my music lead me to smoking a packet of cigarettes and drinking about 10 cups of coffee throughout a day’s session. On top of this I was hardly eating anything.

The worst part was though; I was very much unaware of what I was doing. I was in the zone, absolutely focused on one thing and one thing only.

My cousin visited me during a recording session one day and remarked, “This isn’t as much of a creative room as it is a killing room”.

Of course he was referring to the ashtrays of cigarette butts and empty coffee cups we left around the studio.

Additionally, I simply never had any time for anyone or anything else outside of my working environment because I had to keep working to get it right.

Get The Job Done Properly

I believe that with anything you do that is worth doing you have to work to get the job done properly. In other words, I don’t cut corners, don’t make excuses and I ensure that I get done what I set out to get done with an adventurous attitude.

But as for fighting for perfection, well… I really try hard to avoid getting caught up that mindset these days.

I discovered that behind my need for perfection actually stood a big fear that I was not really consciously aware of at the time. In other words, I was fighting for perfection based on a preconceived public expectation. Of course, there was no public expectation at all. But my mind was working in accordance to this “preconceived” expectation.

The problem with seeking perfection is that the harder you work to attain it, the further you move away from your real objective.

The best thing you can do is to really work hard at what you do. Be the best that you can be, but do it with a passionate mindset rather than a perfectionist mindset.

The new “perfect” is doing what you do with absolute passion and doing it consistently.

I make mistakes. In fact I think I have made more mistakes than anyone I know. But you can’t really hear the colour in a note if you are not allowed to make mistakes.

There is so much fun in striving towards discovery instead of perfection, so try to avoid looking for the perfect ending because it doesn’t really exist. Work hard at being yourself instead of working hard for perfection. It will show on the canvas too.

If you wait to reach the perfect moment you’ll never really get much done anyway.

The idea is to work as hard as you can and do the best that you can (challenge yourself) and chances are you’ll naturally get so close to being perfect that people wont be able to tell the difference (wink).

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