Calling cards, takeaways, handouts, exclusives – no matter what you call them, they help your patrons understand your identity and keep them coming back. It’s all in the important details, the signature things that your supporters find surprising and endearing. Whether you are preparing for a vendor event, exhibition, or an online storefront, try to think about the extras that would make it special for your supporters.
Ideas for Calling Cards
- Packaging: Consider how you can elevate your packaging and delivery – customize the box (something patrons can use in case they need to move or ship the item), add a personalized and signed thank you note, emboss, gold leaf, and detail the package.
- Business cards: If you are going to go the extra mile and spend more on business cards, make sure that the concept aligns with your art. Although typically, a basic card size is all that is needed. Include your name, phone number, email address, and website. Remember to include white space to write additional details.
- Signage: Banners, flags, and table covers are always important. Consider the height, having things at eye-level can catch the patron’s eyes more frequently. Draw the attention to your art.
- Postcards: Believe it or not, some folks just don’t use the internet or email, try to make this an option for them. You want to be inclusive in your marketing. Even for those that are digital natives, receiving something of value in the snail mail can be a special occasion.
- Gift tags: Most art is purchased as a gift for others. Make it easy for them by not having to also have to purchase a gift tag, card, box, or bag.
- Return address labels: If you are mailing marketing or shipping artwork, you might want to add a unique identifier to the item. That way, the person doesn’t have to guess who or what they have received before needing to open it.
- Certificates of Authenticity: Your art is special. Share with patrons how special it is with a letter of provenance. It elevates the art and provides another means for patrons to remember you. Remember to include the item’s description and story, your contact information, and personalized signature.
It is especially important to think about things that have value beyond one use items. For example, stamp a business card with a unique qualifier for an online storefront discount. Gift bags and totes can be re-used. Certificates of authenticity can be saved and framed with the artwork.
Vistaprint
You already have your artwork and know your details. Try incorporating them into your takeaways. Vistaprint has a range of products and services that can help you do just that. Business cards, banners, flyers, and printing services are available. All products have a wide possibility of standard formats to customization. Wizards take you through the process and you can save details for later use and second print runs. Often, there are discounts for return users and special sales throughout the year.
Click here for more artist tips and discounted services
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Todd Hestand, Founder, Side Arts, is an independent artist and business adviser. For over eight years he has served as the Manager of the Corzo Center for the Creative Economy where he works with thousands of artists, crafters, and performers. His role includes individual consulting, teaching courses, and developing programs for entrepreneurially-minded artists. Click here to learn about consulting services.
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A majority of art is sold through a variety of online store platforms. You can choose any sales methodology you like. It depends on where and how you best reach your audience. You may have to experiment with several platforms and strategies before landing on the one that works best for you. There are many details and options to consider as well as new opportunities and platforms launching regularly.
Sales strategies
Email: Sometimes all you need is a large enough dedicated following. Try sending announcements of new works available to your email lists and provide them a means to buy (either by reply to the email or a payment processing form). Inform your audience about upcoming exhibitions, vendor events, and pop-up galleries.
Social: There are many ways to sell art through social network platforms. The challenging part is keeping up with the platforms’ ever changing features and algorithms. What may work today may not work tomorrow. Staying on top of the trends is important and can make a big difference with acquiring new patrons. For example – Try promoting new artwork for sale on Instagram. Provide a rich description including title, process, size, price, and inspiration. Add instructions for buyers – the first to comment with their email address will be sent a payment processing invoice (PayPal / Venmo). They have 24 hours to purchase the art. First come, first served after that. Update the description if the item is sold.
Web: You may want to consider selling through a web platform, using your own website, or integrating a web platform into your website. The benefit of having an online store sales platform that you manage is that patrons can purchase at any time rather than waiting for an email or post from you. This can often make a difference between an acquisition and someone’s lost interest. Keep in mind, just because your art is up on a website or web platform doesn’t mean that it’s the platform’s job to promote it. Promotion is still up to you utilizing your email and social networks.
Things to plan for in advance
Sometimes with an online store, it is best to jump in and learn as you go. Other times, a little bit of preparation goes a long way. You will rarely know everything you need to in advance because situations change from person to person. Here are a few things to consider:
Photography: A good photo of your work can inspire patrons to purchase. Most mobile devices have above-average photo capability, but stand-alone cameras and photo editing software can make your work stand out. Setting up a dedicated area or having a set process will be helpful.
Pricing: Research can help. Knowing your costs and time associated with creating your work is important. The most important aspect is always valuing your artwork for what it is truly worth.
Description: Each piece of artwork should have a unique and rich description including keywords and hashtags. This takes time to develop. Often, the story behind the artwork is just as important as the artwork itself.
Shipping: Visit your local shipping center (USPS, FedEx, and so on) in advance. Try to determine what materials you should always have on hand and what needs to be purchased on a one-off basis. If you anticipate bulk shipping, explore what discounted pricing is available.
Taxes and bookkeeping: You may want to consider consulting a certified public accountant to help understand what taxes to account for and how to do so. Determine if you need bookkeeping software to help keep track.
Shopify Online Store
Check out Shopify as an online store. It has eCommerce and point-0f-sales features including card-readers for when you are online or on the go. Set up your shop as a standalone or integrate it securely with your website. Ready made templates help your store look like it was designed by a professional. Run social media campaigns. Manage orders, shipping, and payments.
Click here for a free 14 day trial.
Click here for more artist tips and discounted services
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Todd Hestand, Founder, Side Arts, is an independent artist and business adviser. For over eight years he has served as the Manager of the Corzo Center for the Creative Economy where he works with thousands of artists, crafters, and performers. His role includes individual consulting, teaching courses, and developing programs for entrepreneurially-minded artists. Click here to learn about consulting services.
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What if you could do all your marketing in one place? Forget all the log ins, passwords, am I forgetting to do things? As an artist, wouldn’t it be ideal to have a total marketing service that does it all? Let’s be honest, perfect solutions rarely exist and one size does not fit all or else we would all be using them. Fortunately, there are a few services out there that bundle together several features that artists use together in convenient and efficient ways.
What is marketing?
But first and in order to understand what you may need, what is marketing? There is no single definition which applies to all.
One way to think about marketing is how you attract and retain those that might be interested in what you have to offer. This is different from sales where they are already interested and you negotiate a transaction involving a trade of money, products, or services. In both cases, the process is educational and transactional. Although in marketing, the action is suggested, while in sales, the action is explicit.
In marketing, the outcome is engagement or how often someone interacts with you. In sales, the outcome is financial whether direct (a trade of money for products or services) or indirect (a trade of products or services for a relative equally valued products or services).
One goal of marketing is to increase engagement (interactivity) in order to increase sales. Total marketing may be valuated based on the ratio of dollars spent marketing to net profit.
Marketing activities common to artists
You might want to think about marketing as asking for the least to the most amount of effort. Another way of looking at it is the least to the most amount of privacy given.
Most start with social media. Choose a platform or two with which you feel comfortable. Engagement is measured by the relative number of clicks, likes, and shares to your current number of followers.
Depending on your goals, having a website can help build a following. It can be a one-page landing page, a profile page on an eCommerce site, or your own dedicated art website. There are any number of ways to measure engagement, but a good place to start is the number of pageviews per month and, if there is an eCommerce section, the total sales generated from the website per month.
Social media and web searchability is good, but you are still at the mercy of the platform’s algorithms. Take control of your how and when your content is seen by collecting your followers’ email addresses. A great place to start is by sending a monthly newsletter. Email engagement can be measured by the average percent of your followers open and click through your emails.
Mailchimp Total Marketing
One total marketing platform that combines social media, websites, and email is Mailchimp. It’s a favorite among artists and crafters because it is relatively easy to set up, has clear tutorials, and they can pick and choose which options work best. It integrates with many other utilities, sales platforms, survey tools, social media ad management. There are so many great features that can be integrated, often in clicks or less.
Mailchimp has reports for measuring engagement and customizable email templates. They have flexible plans for growing your creative practice.
Click here to learn more about Mailchimp
Click here for more artist tips and discounted services
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Todd Hestand, Founder, Side Arts, is an independent artist and business adviser. For over eight years he has served as the Manager of the Corzo Center for the Creative Economy where he works with thousands of artists, crafters, and performers. His role includes individual consulting, teaching courses, and developing programs for entrepreneurially-minded artists. Click here to learn about consulting services.
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The d’Art Center in Norfolk, VA announces a call for artists for Strive, a national juried exhibition featuring art that highlights immigration in America and the long admired endeavor of obtaining the American dream. America was formed on immigrants seeking new opportunities, democracy, civil liberties, and religious and political freedom. The topic of immigration has been discussed in almost every news cast over the last two years. It continues to be at the center of much discussion and debate in the United States.
Click here for the application / registration
Deadline: 30 Jun 2019
Strive will feature work that depicts various topics surrounding American immigration throughout American history and in today’s society. It spans from those who initially came to the United States seeking the American dream (and those who currently are in the process of doing so today) to refugees looking for a safe haven. This exhibition is open to all 2D, 3D, fine art, and fine crafts. It is open to all artists living in the United States. You do not have to be an immigrant to submit work to the exhibition. This exhibition will be juried by Solomon Isekeije and curated by d’Art Center Staff.
Juror biography: Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Solomon Isekeije studied fine arts at Obafemi Awolowo University in the country’s Osun State. He studied sculpture with Agbola Folarin, printmaking with Bruce Onobrakeya, and wood carving with Lamidi Fakeye. Isekeije graduated with a Bachelors of Arts degree in 1992 and obtained his M.F.A. degree from Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University in 2002 with specializations in printmaking and mixed media. He is currently head of Norfolk State University’s Art Department. Isekeije’s works of art have been shown in juried exhibitions worldwide including Daegu City, South Korea, where he received the Distinguished Arts Award, and Tokyo, Japan.
The d’Art Center is Norfolk’s thirty-year-old art center. It includes working professional artist studios and provides a wide variety of exhibitions and programming open to the public. The d’Art Center is located in the NEON district of Norfolk. Strive awards: 1st place: $500, 2nd place: $300, and 3rd place: $150.
About d’Art Center
As Norfolk’s art center, the d’Art Center proudly serves the greater Hampton Roads area by connecting the community with the visual arts. A non-profit 501c(3), d’Art offers art education, programming, outreach, and events. Many of which are free and open to the public. D’Art houses studios occupied by professional resident artists working in a variety of media including painting, glass, ceramics, printmaking, and fiber art. Resident artists provide free, interactive demonstrations for the public.
Celebrating thirty years in 2016, d’Art was founded in 1986 at the College Place location in downtown Norfolk. Modeled after the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia, part of d’Art’s mission from the onset was to include working artists’ studios. In 2005, the d’Art Center relocated to the historic Selden Arcade, continuing a legacy as a vibrant arts organization. The d’Art Center remained at the Selden Arcade for the next ten years.
After the Selden Arcade suffered damage from an explosion in April 2015, the d’Art Center moved to the New Energy of Norfolk (NEON) Arts District. Currently across from the Chrysler Museum of Art, d’Art@Duke reopened to public in March 2016.
For more information, contact abradley@d-artcenter.org.
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Sometimes the task ahead seems a bit daunting. There is unfamiliar technology or risk in making changes that might have unintended consequences. That is when hiring professional freelancers with real world experience comes in.
The default is to go find a friend, but even that has risks. What happens if something goes wrong? Often, friendships can be seriously harmed. It’s even worse if the helper is a family member. Just to be on the safe side, it is best to steer clear of friends and family as contracted helpers. Rather, keep them as your personal support network.
Freelancer Strategy
Hiring freelancers is its new undertaking. With careful planning, risk can be averted. There are many qualified online networks that make the process more approachable. The first step is developing a roadmap for the work you want to do. First, define the goal you want to achieve with the work undertaken. Then, define the individual tactics needed to reach that goal. These things can include:
- Setting up a basic website
- Adding eCommerce to a website
- Integrating Google Analytics
- Setting up business email
- Designing web and print graphics
- Updating a resume or CV
- Photographing your work
- Creating and editing a video
Working with someone new can be stressful. You are giving them access to your personal work and online credentials. The benefit of using an online platform to hire freelancers is that there are contracts and procedures built in to protect you in the event of anything going wrong. They also provide rating systems so that you can find out how they have worked out with other clients.
When starting out with a new freelancer, another way to mitigate risk is to only give them a small job to do. For example, instead of hiring someone to rebuild an entire website, have them redesign one or two pages first. Instead of an entire re-branding update, start with a postcard or business card. If you like their work and they communicate well, then continue with a larger project.
Freelancer Networks
Get work done faster with Fiverr, and with confidence. Hire graphic and web designers, digital marketing experts, and music and audio professionals. Find any service within minutes and know exactly what you’ll pay. No hourly rates, just a fixed price.Payment is released to the freelancer once you’re pleased and approve the work you get. Fiverr is here for you, anything from answering any questions to resolving any issues, at any time.
Click here to get started with Fiverr
Click here for more artist tips and discounted services
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Todd Hestand, Founder, Side Arts, is an independent artist and business adviser. For over eight years he has served as the Manager of the Corzo Center for the Creative Economy where he works with thousands of artists, crafters, and performers. His role includes individual consulting, teaching courses, and developing programs for entrepreneurially-minded artists. Click here to learn about consulting services.
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Email is an important part of your social media strategy. It is often overlooked or neglected in lieu of the quick responses from social media networks. To keep it simple, think of email as part of your overall strategy:
Social media network > Website > Email
Collecting email addresses is one of the most important things you can do to grow your professional practice. Collect them at every opportunity – prospective buyers at an art fair, visitors to your website, corporate and non-profit contacts with whom you have engaged. It starts out slowly and grows exponentially over time. Here’s how:
First, just get started. That’s usually the hardest part. It can be a dedicated notebook where email addresses are collected or a digital spreadsheet like Google Sheets. It’s okay if there are duplicates or something is spelled incorrectly, that will be addressed later.
Next, pick an email marketing provider. Most offer entry level pricing based on the number of emails saved. Plans scale based on how many more addresses are added.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact is a great way to start your email marketing if you are a beginner or your technical skills are more advanced and you’re the type of person that loves tinkering with design, features, and apps. It has robust integration features for all kinds of other services. Plus, the reporting and analytics will give you a heads up about what is and is not working.
There are two more aspects for your email strategy: frequency and content. There are no set rules for either and the following are simply suggestions to get you started.
Frequency
Just starting out? If you have under 1000 addresses, once a month is a good start. Up to 5000, twice a month. Hit the 10000 mark, do what you want – weekly, twice a week, or whenever new content is available. The important part is being consistent. Start out by sending on the same day at the same time each month. Over time, you will figure out how to optimize your sending strategy.
Content
Show more than tell and give a clear call to action. Show images of new work for sale and provide a link or method to purchase. Tell a story by showing a series of pictures of a work in progress and describe each step along the way. Inform followers of where your work is being shown or sold including upcoming art fairs, gallery exhibitions, or other retail/wholesale events. Share something about you that informs your artwork – why and how – such as a recent trip or social activism.
The more emails that are collected, the more content can be sent. The more reasons there are for followers to click through to your content, the more likely they are to purchase or share your content with others (who may, in turn, become followers).
There is fine tuning in terms of segmenting the list, A/B testing, geo-location, and so on. Advanced users can explore to their heart’s content. It’s a learning curve, most users have an intuitive sense as to when to take it to the next level. First things first… just get started!
Click here for more artist tips and discounted services
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Todd Hestand, Founder, Side Arts, is an independent artist and business adviser. For over eight years he has served as the Manager of the Corzo Center for the Creative Economy where he works with thousands of artists, crafters, and performers. His role includes individual consulting, teaching courses, and developing programs for entrepreneurially-minded artists. Click here to learn about consulting services.
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Before getting started on a website, it is usually best to begin with understanding your goals, strategies, and tactics. Here are a few basics.
Start with defining your goal. Why do you need a website? What is it’s purpose? It could be a representation of your creative legacy that you control, a sales portal, or something else.
Once you have a goal in mind, you can start thinking about the strategy. What do you want to convey? Consider showing images of your artwork in a gallery, an artist statement, biography, and contact information.
When you know what you want to show, the next step is figuring out the tactics – how to get it done. There are a variety of website services. Some are do-it-yourself, others may require outside help. If you need help, there are freelancer networks at your disposal.
Website wireframe (how it is organized)
Page 1) Homepage: includes hero (main) image, name, navigation links (at top or side of each page)
Page 2) Gallery – includes 10-20 images with brief descriptions for each (title, size, medium, etc)
Page 3) Workshops
Workshop title with 2-3 sentence description each
Teaching service with 2-3 sentence description
Call to action – contact information (email, phone)
Page 4) Events
List of upcoming events
List of past events (keep this limited to the past 2-3 years)
Partner organizations (linked to their websites, if applicable)
Page 5) Contact
Contact information (Email, phone)
Bio
Artist statement
That’s it! Five pages to get you started. Before signing up for a website, editing the copy and images you want to have shown. You may need one image for the hero image on the homepage to be larger.
How to find help
I’m biased since I’ve been working on websites for a while, so I often think they are “easy and intuitive.” This is not always so. Even then, first hand experience is always helpful, especially when trying to explain something to someone else. Once your content is ready, give it a try. If you find it too confusing, by all means, stop and ask for help. I’ve organized the wireframe above to be the most helpful for a web designer. If you need one, try Fiverr – this freelance service offers web design help.
Click here to see how Wix can help get you started.
Click here for more artist tips and discounted services
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Todd Hestand, Founder, Side Arts, is an independent artist and business adviser. For over eight years he has served as the Manager of the Corzo Center for the Creative Economy where he works with thousands of artists, crafters, and performers. His role includes individual consulting, teaching courses, and developing programs for entrepreneurially-minded artists. Click here to learn about consulting services.
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This article is part of a series which is being expanded into a publication. The primary focus is Maximum Good, the changes we make that improve creativity, quality of life, and community. Click here to for the Introduction to Maximum Good. Follow along at sidearts.com/blog.
Self-visualization is thinking in advance about the most positive outcome can be before starting any new activity. Consider thinking about what it is going to be like when we finish, how we are going to feel, and what is realistic.
Consider the following
There is a range of ways that this can be done. Before starting anything new – any new work of art, our new job, or the beginning of our day – consider what outcome of this will make you feel good. Close your eyes for two minutes and think about how a positive outcome will feel.
One of the reasons why this is important to do is that most times there are obstacles that we will confront in new situations. It can be easy to give up when starting something new when faced with these obstacles.
Having a positive mindset going into the new task about what the final outcome is going to be is beneficial. If we think about the positive outcome before starting any new activity, then it is more likely that those obstacles will seem lessened. Try taking some time to think in advance.
Create an image. We can make vision boards made of of positive things which motivate us. These can be cut outs or hand made. We can use a work of art to focus on whether it is one of ours or something which inspires us, even if it is just an image displayed on our phone.
Try writing or reading daily affirmations. These are statements about positive beliefs about ourselves and our abilities. We can use the same phrase every day or try to vary them. They can be aspirational and read at a set time every day, usually in the morning. It can be note that says, “Today, I’m going to have a good day” kept near where we sleep so it is seen every time we wake up. Keep them someplace where we are most likely to see them.
The physical act of writing the same note daily can be helpful, too. It makes the thought process even more tactile.
Consider trying to write out our goals. What are they? What do you want to achieve? Sometimes the best thing is getting through the day ahead of us.
Exercise – Get started now
- Try a self-visualization technique before starting a new activity
- Create a vision board
- Write and read daily affirmations
- Write and read short and long term goals
- Search online for examples of other self-visualization techniques that you can do daily
Throughout the Maximum Good series, I will present several exercises. Some are going to be new for you and others will be familiar. Try self-visualizing success before you start any one of them give them. Try thinking positively about a successful outcome before we try each activity.
Think positively that you’re going to have a good day today.
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Todd Hestand is the Founder of Side Arts, as well as a classically-trained musician, singer, and artist. For over eight years, he has been the Manager of the Corzo Center for the Creative Economy in Philadelphia. The Center provides professional development support in the form of grants, courses, lectures, and individual consulting for creatives. For over eight years, he has developed programming and taught programs at The University of the Arts, Westphal College of Media Arts and Design at Drexel University, the Business Resource and Innovation Center at the Free Library of Philadelphia, and several Philadelphia area non-profit arts and community development organizations.
To receive updates on this publication and other resources, click here to create a free account on Side Arts.
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This article is part of a series which is being expanded into a publication. The primary focus is Maximum Good, the changes we make that improve creativity, quality of life, and community. Follow along at sidearts.com/blog.
Welcome to Maximum Good! This series is about professional development through community engagement. Specifically, how to use your skills and talents to best benefit yourself while helping your community at the same time.
My name is Todd Hestand and I am the founder of Side Arts, a content management service for visual artists and arts organizations. I am also a business management consultant specializing in marketing, operations, and supply chains for consumer goods and industrial manufacturing. In my role as the Manager for the Corzo Center for the Creative Economy, a Philadelphia-area non-profit, I work directly with artists of all kinds – disciplines, experiences, nationalities, gender identities, and ages – to help them realize their creative visions.
This series will review topics that many artists encounter as they learn how to market their skills and build their businesses. I have addressed these concepts frequently with my own clients. Together we have created solutions that benefit them, their bottom line, and their craft. Hard skills will include marketing, budgets, and contracts. Soft skills will focus on personal goal setting and understanding why you do what you do, and how you can move past personal roadblocks. Importantly, each of these skills will be tied to how you can improve your community for maximum good.
Themes throughout Maximum Good
- Change the defaults: what are the smallest possible changes you can make to your creative process that will have the largest impact
- Identify innovation: what unique characteristics do you have that will help you engage with your audience and improve your community
- Build positive habits: what systems can you build that, by automating the smallest possible tasks, can make risk so much easier to address
- Architect choice: how can you give your audience and community the maximum number of options of engaging with you so that they feel empowered
- Understand privilege: identifying what privilege is and how it impacts your work, show empathy, and act accordingly to address issues positively in your community
Things to keep in mind
I will be giving you tools that you can use and try out at your discretion. Some will be activities and worksheets, others will be thought experiments and case studies to review. All of which should be designed to be easily approachable. Keep in mind that one size does not fit all. Some activities may not be applicable to you. There is no set order to participate. You should feel that you can jump in anywhere that interests you.
None of these topics are presented perfectly. There is always room for improvement. Feedback and suggestions are welcome at mail@sidearts.com.
Follow along by subscribing to the YouTube channel and read more at sidearts.com/blog.
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Todd Hestand is the Founder of Side Arts, as well as a classically-trained musician, singer, and artist. For over eight years, he has been the Manager of the Corzo Center for the Creative Economy in Philadelphia. The Center provides professional development support in the form of grants, courses, lectures, and individual consulting for creatives. For over eight years, he has developed programming and taught programs at The University of the Arts, Westphal College of Media Arts and Design at Drexel University, the Business Resource and Innovation Center at the Free Library of Philadelphia, and several Philadelphia area non-profit arts and community development organizations.
To receive updates on this publication and other resources, click here to create a free account on Side Arts.
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MART is proud to announce their exciting new International Residency Programme. Hosting international contemporary artists, we are committed to supporting the production of high quality, experimental and challenging work. Through the residency we hope to encourage, process, experimentation and boundary pushing ideas.
Deadline: 26 May 2015
Resident Artist’s will benefit from:
- A dedicated, safe and comfortable work space
- Ideally located in vibrant area 20 min walk from city centre
- Working alongside another international contemporary artist
- Curatorial input from the MART curators
- End of residency exhibition or showcase, if desired
- Exposure through MART’s national and international network: residents will be featured on website (one of the largest online galleries in Ireland), newsletter, and social media
- Working in the context of MART’s established artistic community with 80 studio members
- MART’s supportive, friendly and vibrant ethos, with frequent exhibitions, events, and studio member crits
- Artist’s may potentially be considered for upcoming local and international exhibitions with MART and visiting curators
- Access to shared tools, audio & visual equipment
- Assistance from our onsite carpenter, electrician and technicians.
- Super Fast broadband.
- 24hr access and security
Newly converted stables situated in the heart of Rathmines, and alongside the iconic MART Firestation Gallery and Studios. Residents will be able to benefit from the central location and MART’s established reputation in the Dublin art scene, and internationally. The workspace is 6×6 meters, with large double barn doors, and access to kitchen area. In this residency two contemporary artists will work alongside each other in an environment of dialogue and support.
For more information, contact info@mart.ie.
