Knowing How To Sell Art

Knowing how to market art is not the same as making a living. In fact most artists will fail at making a living. Ultimately the ability to provide a steady and consistent income is not an easy thing.

I want to take you beyond the garbage “how to” blogs and analyze why artists fail. There is a systematic reason for this.

If we can for a moment remove the fact that art is an outside commodity, and its subjective nature, it is much like anything else. Where then are the pitfalls to avoid?

Selling Art Vs Building Support Structures For Artists

Most will spend a great deal of time focused on selling their art. Many artists will dive into social media platforms, gain followers, do art giveaways, generate a lot of activity, but it is shallow.

Once the motion stops the sales come to a grinding halt. What makes matters worse is that for all the effort, the revenue gained is barely worth the time if at all.

The problem is that the artist sees a tool as a support structure. In the end the tool required as much time if not more from the artist than they spent actually creating art.

A support structure is a system which works for you when you are not working. It continues to persist if your attention is needed elsewhere.

To further this line of thought, an artists support structure will or should consist of multiple parts. These parts will consist of different avenues of outreach, cultivation, and resources.

Each of these parts come together to form the structure of what allows an artist to succeed.

What Are Support Structures For Artists?

A blog, website, and online gallery should all interface as one leg or form of outreach. These tools aid in creating an art portfolio to fuel your marketing campaign.

Local community involvement through local businesses is another. Utilizing local galleries, especially arts centers within your town is a great outreach.

These are just three possibilities one can use to grow an art business. Yet lets look at what each of these have. You will notice a common theme among them.

Should Artists Have A Blog Or Online Gallery?

A blog, website, and online art gallery offer persistent presence if one has done their work well. This will require time, patience, and persistence to gain ranking and visibility.

While this piece is a long term marketing plan it also provides an anchor. It is the modern business card and provides a way for people to access you, buy your art, and refer you to others easily.

Platforms such as WordPress is great for online galleries. Do not let fear stop you if lacking in technical abilities.

In my mind if you do not have this then you are seriously holding yourself back. While this support structure will not generate immediate leads, with time it will become your greatest lead generating platform.

Art Networking With Local Business

There will be places in most towns that will allow an artist to display their artwork for sale. This is less about selling art and more about brand awareness (name recognition), referrals, and commission work.

The trick to allowing this to succeed will require some work. If the businesses are locally and privately owned this becomes much easier.

It is especially true if they are places like coffee shops, book stores, carry a focus on home decor, kitchen ware, or similar themes.

After you have developed a reputation with these owners, and only after they know you and are comfortable with you, it is time to work.

A gallery showing hosted at one of their shops or a nearby venue can allow greater exposure for you, their business, and draw in the local community. This kind of networking is about helping others succeed and building relationships.

This is merely one idea of many possibilities. Indeed it does require some basic skills in event planning. Yet it is ideas such as this which takes you from a business card to meeting people.

Your Local Art Community

It is obvious that you should be involved with your local arts community. Your town most likely has at least a county funded arts center. If not, begin something new with other artists.

Bring the art community together. This can be done in conjunction with the previous point of networking with local businesses.

You may be thinking that this would be counter productive to your needs. You would be joining in helping other artists be seen, perhaps even recognized more than you.

Because of this kind of thinking allow me to introduce you to the greatest reason why artists fail.

How Do Artists Fail?

Artists fail due to a lack of team building and networking. Allow me to make this point clear. You only have so much energy. You can only bare the burden so long on your own.

Everyone is so focused on how to get noticed as artists that they forget the human element. Your art is a piece of you, not a product to push.

Go ahead and sink as many hours into the social media trap as you like. You will stay on that hamster wheel until you run yourself dry. Ultimately you will burn out on your own getting no where.

Each of the above examples I have given you involve people. Real people that you can build relationships with and have a vested interest with.

While the blog and online gallery is not directly involving people, it still is a persistent resource. It works for you even while you sleep, that is if it is done well.

These kinds of support structures grow. The time and energy you invest towards people pays dividends. You are building a team, a network, and building your name with a reputation.

Alternative Resources For Marketing Art

In recent history the world has faced an unusual scenario which has become all too normal. We have been forced indoors and put into a place where social interaction is limited.

This is a nightmare for those who depend on face to face interaction to make a living. Here artists are included. We depend upon it more often than not.

We need to look at what realistic options are available in order to overcome this issue. Here we turn to technology in order to attempt to bridge this gap.

I will focus on how an artist should use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and your choice of conference calling such as Zoom. I will further drive the importance of a blog and online gallery as well.

Disclaimer:

Know that I am personally very weak in social media platforms. Why? I absolutely hate them for the time sink. At the time of me writing this, the last time I logged into Instagram was over a year ago.

Not everyone will use each of these, nor should you use them all. Time and energy for them is a problem.

My strength is my web platform. You will have a choice favorite to explore and discover which artists platform you will be good at using.

How Artists Should Use Facebook

Facebook is a unique platform and it is rather mature. I say it is mature due to the people who are on it are usually older. This is good.

Why is it good? It means they should have money! Added to this is the fact that people will typically spend more time interacting with a post on Facebook. This is due to how content is created and presented when compared to other platforms.

Here is your new local community. Friends, family, local businesses are here as well. This is your hometown online. You are taking what was in person and on the street to the next logical step.

Continue to network here with these same people. Continue to grow through these relationships. This can be done with creative ideas on how to build “packages” of goods to auction, sell, give away, and draw attention to these names.

How Artists Should Use Instagram And Twitter

I seriously use Twitter to just chat with people. Yet I do see its potential. The same would be true for Instagram. The goal here is less about followers or viral posts for art.

What I began doing some time ago due to my “chatting” is meeting and greeting artists abroad. I especially look for those who have art blogs, online art galleries, or have invested into networking.

I then will include them into my platform, reference their site to relevant material, and help build them if I can. There really is no better way I have found in getting to know artists that would otherwise be outside of my reach.

You need to be able to bring some kind of value to the table. So do they. It is a way that people can mutually benefit and also develop relationships.

Keep in mind the term “social” with social media. It should be social, especially when it pertains to art.

How Artists Should Use Zoom Or Similar Tools

If you have a large enough network through time, here is where some cool things can happen. You and your artist friends, as well as incorporating local businesses, can throw a Zoom party.

Have fun, develop an entertaining program, give people a way to unplug from the dreary world they are living within. Allow each artist to introduce themselves in turn and have a virtual gallery showing.

Allow each business to also have a plug. They may discover new opportunities and find new clients abroad they never imagined. All benefit through real relationships.

How Artists Should Use A Blog And Online Gallery

Here is where the rubber really meets the road. In the end this will become your real anchor. It will give you the greatest impact, advantages, and outreach. Yet it is also the slowest to grow.

Allow me to reinforce this. An art blog and online art gallery is the absolutely slowest thing, and most aggravating, to possibly grow. Nevertheless with this support structure you are in the major leagues.

Behind you will be those who wonder how you managed to get to where you are. Let me say, it comes with a lot of trial, error, and pain. Still, it is worth every bit of it.

I do suggest to stay away from Etsy or similar places. They have little to offer you. Nevertheless there are specific strategies for Etsy one can use if you have no other choice.

What does a blog give you? You have an unlimited resources for creating content that will always be relevant, can be updated to stay current, and will forever be allowed to rank so it can be found.

In other words once your work is done, published, and in public domain, it will not disappear. This is very different than social media where relevance and lifespan can last at best for a few days. Now you know why I like this platform better.

Twitter may allow only a few hundred characters per post. With an art blog or online art gallery you can publish millions of words that can always remain current. So which is more limiting in the end?

An online art gallery will allow you to sell your work globally if you so wish. No physical art gallery is needed, nor any art shows. Shipping is still possible even if one must remain at home, so you still win.

It allows for a constant point of contact, inquiries for any art related need, and is the best business card you can have.

Making A Living As An Artist

Making a living as an artist does not have to be impossible. I will not tell you that it is not hard. The artistic life will always be a royal pain in the ***. There is no way to change that.

Nevertheless it does not mean that it is impossible. The question is, how much endurance do you have? Can you go the distance where others would quit?

In our present time thinking outside of the box is a requirement, not an option. For art this is especially true. The key is to build structures which support the artist rather than focusing on selling art.

Each structure should involve people on some level. Your art blog or online art gallery can still incorporate other people by supporting other artists who are doing the same as you.

Marketing art has historically always been about people. Take the time to dive into art appreciation but then research the artist behind the art. Dig into their life.

What made these people successful? Was it a lucky break? Or was it relationships with an unyielding determination for doing what they loved? I will leave you to decide the truth of this matter.