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Sell More Art using this Smart Strategy
Feb 3rd
By Carolyn Edlund
Artist Stephanie Paige uses a smart technique to sell her mixed media work. How this can help your sales, too.
Take a look at how Southern California artist Stephanie Paige shows her large scale mixed media artwork on her website. Visitors have the option of seeing her work in a traditional view, as shown below, but she also offers a professional photo of a room scene including the piece as well.
Rebirth 40" x 89" x 2", Mixed Media
See how effectively the room view helps to show the scale and impact of her work? Stephanie says her customers love it.
She says, “Using the images in a room setting has really helped my clients get a real good feel for what it will look like. I also have clients all over the world send me photos of their room wanting to see what it will look like before they purchase my work.”
Big retailers like Art.com have long offered this type of service on their sites. They know that showing art in it’s environment (as well as changeable wall colors, frames and mats) helps prospective customers visualize how the art could work in their own home or office, and can make a huge difference in closing the sale.
It’s difficult enough to make a purchase of fine art online, since it’s so much more “real” in person. Just think how this helpful technique could enhance your own art sales!
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Want Some Publicity? How Artists can Finesse the Press
Jan 30th
By Carolyn Edlund
Media outlets are hungry for stories, and artists make for good stories.
The general public is curious about the life and work of artists. After all, you’re an incredibly creative individual doing something they could only dream about. So you are in a strong position to be noticed fairly easily and get your story in print. How you go about doing it makes the difference in getting significant publicity for yourself and your art.
My advice to artists who want to get publicity (or sell their work, for that matter) is:
Remove barriers to the process and make it easy to say “Yes.”
Let’s explore how you can do this effectively to get media attention. Lots of it, in regular doses.
Know your story. You could write a press release that you are showing your work in such-and-such exhibition, which is the 14th Annual blah blah blah . . . and you may or may not get a mention in various publications. But that isn’t your story. Your story is real and authentic and it appeals to other people.
When you understand how to tell a compelling story about yourself and your work, you can use it to reach readers emotionally. What is fascinating about your work and your subject matter? What experiences have you had, and what inspires you? What huge, devastating mistakes have you made? How did you triumph over them? What do you passionately care about? Give your story careful thought and hone it thoroughly before you submit anything to anybody.
Become the story. When you really pursue press attention, you don’t just want a passing mention. You want to become the subject of a news story, to be interviewed by a reporter, and have great images of yourself and your work included to make it even more exciting and readable.
- When you submit a press release of a compelling story to suitable publications, and follow up promptly, you make it easy for them to say “Yes.”
- When you invite the reporter to your studio, or offer additional materials about your work, you remove barriers to their process.
- When you send them gorgeous professionally-shot photos of your work, and of you working in the studio, they will be thrilled that you made it so easy.
Submit to the right publications. What is your specialty? What themes do you work in? You could pursue local or national press, a niche publication, or even a trade journal. Where would you like to see your story published? Make a list, and continue to email press releases to them on a regular basis. Then, follow up consistently.
Kick it up a notch. Submit your images and information for other stories that will appear in publications by checking out their editorial calendar, and finding upcoming articles which relate to your work. Why should they include you? Because you did your homework, and you’re just the perfect fit for their article.
Become a source. You could hire a publicist, or subscribe to HARO and pitch your own story to the press when you find a request that’s right up your alley. Find an angle to relate your art, your passion and your story to their needs.
Write your own articles. Become a guest blogger to get exposure and create backlinks to your own website. Many artists trade posts with each other. Check out MyBlogGuest to connect to opportunities. And be sure to visit Jon Morrow’s GuestBlogging.com for great tips on using this technique to grow your visibility.
Persistence is key to getting results. They don’t happen overnight. Make your efforts to get publicity for your work and your art career a regular part of your schedule, and don’t give up. You will end up with a number of press mentions and articles that will enhance your reputation and your business.
10 Resolutions for Artists to Make this the Best Year Ever
Jan 18th
By Carolyn Edlund
Start 2012 with renewed energy and a resolve to make this your most successful year ever.
- Face the truth. Be kind to yourself, but honest. Are you satisfied with this past year? Were there things that went undone? You can’t change the past, but you can acknowledge where you are now, so that you can move forward and . . .
- Make a bodacious plan. Then, become accountable for it. That means you have to get really clear. Create a vivid mental picture of your big goal for the coming year. How does it look, feel, and sound to achieve it? This type of clarity and planning will help you . . .
- Step into action. Big goals might seem unmanageable. Break them down into smaller goals, on a quarterly, monthly or even weekly basis. Work backwards from your desired result and resolve to take action today. What can you do now to start the momentum? Today is the first day of the rest of your art career. And remember . . .
- Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Have you screwed things up? Yes, you have. No matter your level of education, chances are you took a few credits at the School of Hard Knocks. You remember well the lessons learned then, because you had the guts to take risks and try something new. You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to . . .
- Be true to yourself. If you want to sell your work, you have to understand your customer, and their interests. But you don’t have to try to become what you think they want you to be. Your inspiration comes from the heart and your creative mind. When you express yourself authentically, you will be fulfilled and happier with your work. One crucial part of that happiness is to resolve to . . .
- Give up the negative self-talk. You have the power to improve the quality of your art, become a better businessperson, and achieve success. The biggest thing holding you back besides fear is a negative belief system. Shed any tendency you may have to put yourself down or give up. Actively cultivate a positive mindset. Part of that is to . . .
- Hang out with the right people. The right people are those who support you, even at your very worst. Your true friends. Hang onto them. Unfriend the naysayers and the vampires who drain your energy, creativity and happiness. And then . . .
- Resolve not to be jealous of others. This one is tough because there is a lot of really great artwork out there and sometimes you feel small. Want to know a secret? There are many people out there who are jealous of you! It’s true. Most men and women commute to work each day to a job they don’t like, feeling unfulfilled and uninspired. The life of an artist is like a dream to them. So, smile and . . .
- Give yourself credit. What you are doing is hard, and you have to make your own way in a very competitive business. Most people out there couldn’t do it. But it’s also fun, challenging and rewarding. So . . .
- Be grateful. Why? Because you have the best job in the whole world. This is a marvelous gift you have given to yourself. Be grateful that you have the talent, inspiration and passion to follow your dream.
Now, go out there and rock your art business this year!
Holy Cow! How to Succeed at Selling to a Niche Market
Jan 10th
By Carolyn Edlund
Kathy Swift is a full-time mom, part-time cattle veterinarian and a jewelry artist – with a popular retail website specializing in cow art. She is a busy lady, which is why catching her for an interview means having a phone conversation with her while she is driving around in her truck (to the next farm, I believe.)
How did she get involved in all of these seemingly unrelated activities? She’s lived on farms all her life and loves the lifestyle and the people involved in “Ag” whom she describes as the best people on earth. At a friend’s barbecue, she met an artist and got into a conversation which intrigued her enough to start classes in jewelry making, which she fell in love with.
It seemed natural to make what she loved, which means cow-related jewelry for the most part. Her website Cow Art and More features the work of about 25 artists who also produce art and giftware for the bovine-inclined of the world. About half of those artists live on farms or ranches, so they have a direct connection with the theme.
Cow art is definitely a niche – and we love niche marketing! Kathy has great tips on how artists can grab more market share for their work by using some smart strategies to reach their targeted audience. Her opinion is that all artists have a niche, even though they may not realize it. Is your niche a theme, a medium, or a process? Then you have fans out there who are crazy about what you do. Your job is to find ways to reach out to them and promote your work.
Kathy recommends:
- Start with who you know. If you create work in a niche that you know and love well (like those cow artists who are living on farms and ranches), you are in a community of like-minded people. This is your first network. Let friends, relatives and neighbors know what you are doing, and reach out to them with your art, to help spread the word. And word-of-mouth is about the best recommendation you can get!
- Cross-promote with other artists. Yes, your niche has other people in it who create art and other wonderful things. Get to know them and create a strategic alliance where you can each refer business to the other. That’s one of the ideas behind Cow Art and More. Kathy’s frequent newsletters to her fans celebrate the gallery openings, awards and other news of her artists. They in turn direct traffic to her fun website which has everything a cow lover could ever want.
- Network like you’re trying to infiltrate the mob. Yes, that’s a quote. Kathy’s plan is to approach a group or organization within your niche in an authentic way. Show them that you are truly interested in what they care about. Build rapport and start relationships with those who respond to you. Eventually you can share your art with them, and since you are right up their alley, you will most likely get a very warm response. Which means you’ve successfully infiltrated!
- Give and you shall receive. She shared a story of how she spread the word about partnering with organizations which promote the future of farming. A big industry publication picked up on it and contacted her for an interview. Thousands of dollars in sales later, she is still raving about the tremendous boost in publicity and revenue that came due to her support of good causes.
Cow Art and More is currently seeking more work from artists in the US, Canada and the UK who are interested in joining her in offering a barn full of wonderful cow products to raving cow fans everywhere.
Why I Closed My Studio
Jan 6th
By Carolyn Edlund
I’ve been reminded lately of why I closed my studio – and painfully so. The joint in the thumb of my right hand is so sore that grasping even small things is uncomfortable, and turning a doorknob is agony. The arthritis in the base of my thumb is the latest remnant of a life spent in repetitive motion, during long hours in the studio using my hands as tools. Three years ago, the joint in my left thumb was replaced. After a few cortisone shots, the right one will probably be under the knife in the next year or so.
I closed my studio more than ten years ago. Besides general burnout from traveling all over the country flying to trade shows and driving to retail shows, my body had begun to give out. Twenty years of studio work. Leaning forward to paint and do close-up work, and hauling 50 lb. boxes of clay, tents and exhibit equipment had caused a lot of back and neck pain and sciatica. I knew my chiropractor on a first-name basis. And even though I’d hired studio assistants, the damage was done.
During my college years, a book came out that got a lot of students talking. It was called “Artist Beware.” Our chain-smoking ceramics instructor, who already had emphysema at the time, referred to it and called our attention to the dangers of silicosis and breathing dangerous fumes. We all had respirators; thank God I started out in my own studio with some safety gear. But I still wonder.
These days I see other artists are concerned about breathing toxic fumes, and the side-effects of solvents, which can be career-changing. I don’t blame them.
And so, after a couple of decades in the business, I decided to pack it in. In late summer of 2001, I started applying for jobs, thinking that it would take several months to get one. To my surprise, I was hired very quickly as a rep for an art publishing company. I had planned to go out of business at the end of that year, so I rounded up my studio helpers and parceled out the rest of our wholesale orders for them to complete while I started my new career.
On September 13, 2001, two days after the towers fell, I walked through an eerily silent airport and boarded a nearly empty, heavily-guarded airplane to San Francisco for job training during a watershed moment for my country and for myself.
It wasn’t a tough decision, at the end. I knew I was finished in the studio. We’d talked it over endlessly, and I have never regretted it. I had met not only my goals, but some great friends as well. I still see some of them and fondly remember others. But things had changed, and I needed to move on to the next chapter in my life. It was time to close the studio.
Featured Artist Leah Jay
