A Site for Emerging Artists
Posts tagged Business of art
Developing Clarity, Intention and Business Strategy
Dec 23rd
The smARTist Telesummit has been around since 2007, but I first heard about it earlier this year from Lindy Gruger Hanson who raved about her experience and how much she had learned. I contacted Ariane Goodwin, Ed.D, the passionate writer and art career coach who runs this learning extravaganza for artists, and we spoke on the phone recently.
The first thing we did was throw out the written questions and simply talk about her vision and her methods. She asked if I had read The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level
It is that cage that the smARTist Telesummit is freeing artists from – and shaking it up by taking the artist past their starting point, that exciting place where we make a few sales and realize that others respond to the art we feel so passionate about making. It can come as a shock to us to realize that as we were caught in the momentum, we were turning a corner and starting a business without knowing it.
An artist taking the leap from having a “day job” or other means of support, to a business and then a career, may feel unsure or even scared about marketing and the everyday tasks involved in the business world. They don’t have clarity or intention; their definition of “success” may be undeveloped or not defined at all.
The smARTist Telesummit helps artists create a path for their career. A Vision Questionnaire completed before the event establishes a benchmark from which the artist can grow. A private conference website with a forum – where artists share resources, stories and feedback from each other, as well as have direct access to Ariane – creates community and relieves the isolation so many of us experience. The question “What is Success?” could be answered very differently by the artists throughout their career life.
Historically, artists have existed outside the mainstream, and even embraced this mystique. It wasn’t until the 1970s and 1980s that “artist as businessperson” became a mindset and a model for success in the arts today. Now the next age is upon us.
Ariane says, “The internet has created a different universe with different rules of gravity. Things don’t fall down, they expand infinitely. If you don’t participate, you handicap yourself with self-imposed limitations. Online, every imaginable interest is available. There are millions of people, and you can find the exact audience that resonates with your art in ways never before conceived.”
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3 Ways to Increase Every Sale
Dec 18th
Do you want to increase your income on every sale of your art or handmade items? Here are three simple and accepted methods of marketing and selling to add value to your customers’ purchases and increase your own profits. Using these with a mindset of creating a win/win situation is your best way to gain repeat clientele and get business referrals.
Cross-sell – If your customer has a purchase in mind, offer them additional items as well. Here’s a classic example. You go to a bank to open a checking account. The banker offers you a savings account too, and asks if you are interested in opening a line of credit. This is cross-selling. You don’t have to be pushy, but offering more items that go together can make a lot of sense.
How can you cross-sell? If you work in leather, offering leather conditioner or cleaner is a nice touch for your customers who will appreciate your having such items available. Are you a painter? How about offering packs of notecards or postcards showing your art or even a book you have been featured in as an additional purchase to a collector. Make a list of ways that you can cross-sell in your particular business. Brainstorm until you have at least ten possibilities.
Up-sell – Your customer has a purchase in mind, and you increase the ticket on that item by either offering it with extras or you upgrade them to a more expensive purchase. Upselling exposes the customer to other options he or she may not have considered previously.
This technique is NOT a “bait and switch” tactic, which is illegal in the U.S. and is defined by Wikipedia as:
a form of fraud in which the party putting forth the fraud lures in customers by advertising a product or service at a low price or with many features, then reveals to potential customers that the advertised good is not available at the original price or the list of assumed features is different.
Here’s an example of upselling that makes a lot sense for artists: Rather than just selling a print, offer to mat and frame the print and ship it to the customer. Or, have pre-framed prints available for purchase then and there. Make sure you are paying yourself well for providing this kind of service. Customers love it. Pre-framed art is the fastest growing product type out there in the mass art market, and retailers know this. It also avoids having your customer get cold feet when they start wondering how expensive it will be to frame your work.
Bundle – Think of merchandising you have seen in stores. Winter hats are often bundled with gloves and scarves as a set rather than sold separately, increasing the ticket. It just makes sense. Do you make handmade items that could be sold in multiples or joined with other items in a gift basket for the holidays? Earring and necklace sets are a natural bundle. So are pillows, clothing sets and metal or wood utensils.
If you have art, why not sell pairs or threes, or even fours? If you have a set of 4 designs that would look good in a kitchen for instance, frame them all to match and sell the set to be hung together. A pair of prints with a wine theme would look great paired above a bar or in a restaurant.
You can break up sets if you like, but if you make the offer as a “bundle” and not separately, you may well find that the customer goes for the higher priced item, and actually is glad to do it.
First Birthday
Dec 14th
By Carolyn Edlund
On December 17th, this blog will mark it’s first birthday. The very first post, entitled “Own Your Identity as an Artist” was posted 12/17/09. My first interview was with Gilbert West of Start Looking, which is still one of my favorite places to check for videos about artists and their projects and ideas.
Since last December, Artsy Shark has been visited by more than 31,500 unique visitors, and averages 1,200 readers per week. After almost 200 posts, and with 361 subscribers, there have been 800 comments posted. There have also been 4,100 spam comments, caught by spam filter Akismet, (which I highly recommend!)
Artsy Shark also has 2,084 Twitter followers and 167 Facebook Fans
Thank you to all of the readers, wonderful guest bloggers, and professionals who agreed to be interviewed and give their heartfelt advice and business information to artists and craftspeople, freely and generously.
A special thank you to all of the Featured Artists whose work has graced these pages for the past year!
Submissions Now Open
Submissions are now open for readers who wish to be future Featured Artists. Please see the Contact/Submit page and submit your information exactly as stated. Submissions can get overwhelming. Thank you for your patience!
Bridging the Gap Between Making Art and Making a Living
Dec 10th
If you don’t know today’s guest blogger, Ariane Goodwin, then you should make it a point to do so. She is a connector and a “people person” who has sponsored the SmARTist Telesummit for the past several years. As a mentor for many artists, Ariane provides superb marketing and career advice. Plus, she knows everybody! So if you are looking for great information, check out the upcoming Telesummit (details below).
By Ariane Goodwin, Ed.D.
The dirty secret is that, for the majority of artists, using only one stream of income, like gallery representation, is never going to be enough.
Even up to a few years ago, finding one or two incredible galleries was a viable way to go. These days, however, everything is changing so fast. Daily, if not hourly, the online universe keeps speeding up, and artists need a new game plan where galleries become part of a larger strategy.
If you really think about, in a gallery you are one of many artists so the gallery can only spend so much time with you, and can only offer you a show once every 12 to 18 months. For another, galleries come and go like New England weather. This has always been true, and unfortunately, in the past three years this has been happening more and more.
Depending just on galleries is like putting all your eggs in one basket and then deliberately flinging it to the ground.
So, what’s an artist to do?
My recommendation… diversify. Create multiple streams of income, so when one is down, you have others to count on.
Easier said than done, I understand. First you need to know what options are even available, right?
What if you didn’t have to figure that out by yourself… what would that be worth in terms of time saved, frustration and confusion eliminated?
What if there was one place where you could learn exactly what you needed to learn about how to diversify which streams of income?
The key, of course, is that you have to know and understand your different options before you can assess if that option fits your art, or your art career goals.
- How different would it feel if you knew exactly how to sell your art to corporations?
- Or how to sell your art on that amazing virtual universe called Second Life? What if you knew How to License Your Art effectively?
- And what if someone even told you the specific steps to nailing a sale – no guessing, no worrying if you are speaking appropriately to a potential collector or buyer?
- What shift would happen over here on the Making A Living side of this bridge if you knew how to recognize a non-traditional opportunity and were all set to respond immediately to something called Vertical Markets?
- Connie Mettler of Art Fair Inisders, and one of the 13 speakers for this year’s smARTist professional development conference for visual artists, told me about an artist who had a thriving business that went belly up in this economy. On a whim, he decided to try an Art Fair and see what happened. A couple years later and he’s flying, says he hasn’t had this much fun in years and he’s selling art. What would change for you if you knew how to do that too?
- Not to mention how many artists have websites that they have spent a good deal of time and money on, and see zero return for their efforts – wouldn’t it feel amazing to turn that around? To learn exactly how to use your website as an art-marketing machine – and still keep the allure and aura that so many visual fine artists worry will disappear if they appear too commercial?
- And what about the Art Print Market – do you even know enough about it to make a decision? What if you had all the information you needed, including how to identify the best place for giclee prints to be made?
- And then, there’s the whole question about how to price your art so it sells. I have a speaker coming this year who has been researching literally everything out there on pricing and I promise what she’s going to give is the equivalent of a graduate level presentation on pricing your art.
This year, at the smARTist conference, there will be one speaker for each of these 8 streams of income, plus four more, each one invested in your success.
Speaking of success, serious professionals know that education and a level of professional awareness of their field as it changes from year to year, is essential. Artists who come to a professional development, art-career conference are making a statement that they value the making a living side of their art career in the same way they value making art.
And, honestly, if you don’t, who will?
Like any other self-respecting professional, you have to engage in ongoing education – not just for the skill of level of your art production – as critical as that is, you have to value and respect your art enough to make sure it sells, because selling your art is the ultimate honor – where it goes and lives with a buyer or collector and can engage, inspire, or simply exude beauty – it can fulfill it’s destiny!
Next step: click here to check out the all the smARTist Telesummit 2011 registration details. They are limiting registration to just 500 seats this year, to keep the level of community interaction high, so waiting probably isn’t the best idea.
Is an Art Residency Right for You?
Dec 2nd
Have you ever considered applying for an Art Residency? This type of opportunity can be a great experience – or not. Guest Blogger Joseph Cavalieri has been working in glass as a fine art form since 1997. Collected and exhibited worldwide, his work can also be seen on TV in The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special and in two issues of the Corning Museum’s New Glass Review. His MTA Arts in Transit public art commission is located at the Philipse Manor Metro North Station. To see more work visit: www.cavaglass.com.
Joseph Cavalieri
The Residency Dance
By Joseph Cavalieri
Within the last 2 years I’ve had three residencies in Australia, India and Scotland. Each arrangement was different and resulted in different outcomes. I’d like to share what I have learned artist-to-artist of how to make an art residency work best for you. If done the right way they can be inspiring, productive and a great boost for your career. If the wrong choices are made they make you feel secluded and empty your pockets of cash.
HISTORY
Residencies originated as organizations that supported artists one-hundred percent. They gave room, board, living expenses, and introductions, among other perks. Often the host was a private or non-profit organization, and received grants for supporting art. In return for their “support of the arts”, they improved the local community, added to their collection, and create a long-lasting relationship.
The term “residency” has changed over time. Now each are extremely different and offer varied arrangements. Some you may need to pay for the accommodations, travel and bring your own supplies. Read the fine print before spending the time on the application.
RESEARCH
Before you even start to research residencies you should have answers to very big questions about your work. What you are searching for as an artist, how you define success. These come under what we call a “Vision Statement”. It is the basic reasoning behind why you do your art. If a residency is in your vision statement, list what you want to get out of it before starting your search.
My “vision statement” includes teaching, inspiring other artists, and traveling. These are not first on the list, but they are an important element of my vision of being an artist. You may want a residency to be inspired by new surroundings and people, or a retreat to quietly continue your current work, or even to make contacts for future shows. Be honest and clear with what you want.
Think about if you can survive financially and mentally away from your studio for a month or two. Time spent at a residencies can result in you producing less work. It takes time to adjust and set up a new work space in a new environment. You may need to bring supplies or figure out how to buy them in a foreign country. These are all things you need to consider before applying. Remember, residencies should not be considered vacations. They are hard work, with a high level of socializing thrown in.
Window by Joseph Cavalieri
THE SEARCH
With the “vision statement” in hand you can now start your search. To save time, I have a list of residency deadlines listed by month, so if I am not accepted this year, I know when to apply next year. Apply about a month in advance, so you are showing recent work, but not working the night before. My top three web sites for searching include residencies are Wooloo, Café, and TransArtists .
A shortcut for searching residencies is to read CV’s of fellow artists in your field. Here you will find residencies they did in the past. You can also contact them for questions and advice.
Once you find a potential residency, search their site for the application form. If this does not exist, send them a short e-mail asking for the “guidelines for submitting an art-in-residency proposal.” No need to tell them about you or your work. Remember most of these organizations are non-profit and the staff has limited time.
IF A RESIDENCY IS NOT OFFERED
If you can’t take a full month off or is an organization does not offer a residency, you have options. A local college may be open to having you stop by as a visiting artist, even if they don’t have a formal residency program. Once you find the correct contact persons, send a clearly written proposal. Include the project, supplies, timing, and how you want to be reimbursed. Be creative – they may be much more open for a two day visit instead of two months.
SUBMISSIONS
Follow all steps as exactly as possible, and write your ideas out as clearly as possible. If this is not done they will trash the application. When asked for images of your work, I prefer to send a couple of close-up shots to show details. Consider how your work is best understood. To show scale and context you can show one photo including a frame or two pieces hung side by side.
I highly recommend incorporating community interaction into your project. Think about the host, having different artists come and go every year. If you have a connection with local people, it keeps a bond between them and the host, which is something the host may be wanting. Be creative with the proposals you are offering them. Write as clearly as possible – remember they are reading huge amounts of applications.
Window Detail - Joseph Cavalieri/ Residency Project
PAPERWORK
Once you are accepted, you need to do research and make as many contacts as possible before you physically arrive, so when you arrive you will have a group of people to work with, socialize with and (most importantly) ask questions of. Ask for any contacts your host has. Do a Google search or find local artist organizations and contact their members. E-mail a “letter of introduction” and simply invite them to meet you during your stay. I offer to share techniques. In turn, these professionals can help you find supplies, make gallery connections, help you get around, and even loan equipment. I never ask this in my initial email, it just naturally comes up after you get to know each other. This is one of the big reasons for a residency – to connect with the locals. Staff can help, especially if you want to meet instructors at a local art university.
Does the staff have contacts at local galleries and museums, or do they have contacts at schools and universities? You may want to do a demonstration or lectures at different organizations during your residency. If you want to do a lecture for, say a local college, try to get your host involved, so the students not only learn about you and your work, but see how this residency works and learns about the hosting organization.
Once you get to know your host well, ask if they have collectors who may be interested in meeting you and seeing your work. Don’t forget the press. Search out newspapers, websites and blogs before you arrive and send a press release on your project asking to have it covered.
BONUS
If you have extra time during your residency, you can propose a permanent instillation. This is a fine way to have your work remembered, seen by future visitors, and is good listing on your CV.
The types of residencies available are varied and numerous, depending on your area of expertise. It takes research and asking the right questions, while organizing your steps carefully. Once you get this done, you can have a stress-free time to create the project you set out to do without complications.
Featured Artist Leah Jay
