Lately, I have had a lot of conversations with people that are in transition. These are people who are either looking to transition from their current full time role into a new job, creating a new business, or marketing art. They are people who have been laid off by huge companies and trying to reinvent themselves in their career. Maybe you can relate.
Employer Expectations
What’s interesting about the people I have met is that many of them are working in their current position beyond the traditional 9 to 5 schedule. Nowadays, it is the expectation among employers that we will be there on our nights and weekends, ready and on call for any little problem that arises. The people I have met who have recently been laid off are working around the clock trying to find a new way to make ends meet.
Every day, we fall into the cycle of overworking ourselves in positions or situations that we never wanted to begin with. How do we find the time to get out of the job we accepted just because we needed to escape the financial hole we were in? How do we break the pattern of working all the time so that we can build the career we want for ourselves?
Why You Need To Take Time For Yourself
The obvious answer I hear a lot is time management; however, I think there is more to the story. I think a lot of people know how to manage their time. If all you needed to do was create more time in your day, you could. What stops so many of us from creating the time we need to create the career we want is the underlying fear that we are being selfish. We can be so afraid that spending that time on ourselves is selfish when we have families and day jobs that need our attention. How do you make that time commitment to transitioning to a more fulfilling career without feeling frivolous or selfish?
One of the main things that I recommend is to think about the value you bring to the table. Think about the importance of this career transition in your life. If you do not make this career change, what will happen and how will you feel? If you make this change, how will you feel then? What does this career change mean to you?
I met a woman recently who was so in love with the work she does that she wants to work in her position at her organization for the rest of her life. Her career is focused on a spiritually driven purpose that she discovered within herself. Imagine how devastated she would feel had she not taken the time for herself to find it. It is important not only to think about the value you can give to society when your work truly aligns with your purpose, but also to think about the consequences of not moving forward. When you are in touch with your value and the potential you have, you reinvigorate a sense of motivation.
You Have Value
Remembering your value helps you realize why you are worthy of taking ten minutes a day for your goals. Create some time for your job search or your business each day. The value you will see in yourself will grow. The more value you place on yourself, the more you will feel worthy of using that extra time for your future. That way, if anyone tries to call you out on taking a little time for yourself, you can confidently look the in the eye and say, “It’s only a few minutes. I am doing the world a favor by pursuing my calling and helping others with my heart-centered action.” The talents you have to share with the world are valuable to everyone, use them wisely.
—
Carlee Myers is the Founder of the Stress Less Company. She is an expert at helping people use art and creativity in order to find their passion again. As a firm believer in creativity, Carlee helps people find their purpose in life through a combination of coaching, creative expression, and experiential activities.
...
I often see people put an overwhelming amount of pressure on themselves, struggling to answer one question: What is my one true calling? I talk with people who feel lost in the confusion around finding that perfect job, business idea, or strategy for marketing art that is going to finally make them happy and excited each day.
It’s All Relative
We all have had that internal conversation with ourselves growing up about whether we should be an accountant or a fireman or any other job. Yet, as I was talking to my partner about a client, we got on the subject of soulmates. That’s when it hit me. So many of us have this “finding your calling” thing all wrong. Finding your one true calling, just like finding your one true soulmate, is not how real life works.
We seem to have these beliefs that there’s this one true position or job out there for us to find in order to feel satisfied. There’s one true person for us to fall in love with. We all have that urge inside of us to seek out the fairy tale ending where you find “the one.” The story ends happily ever after. However, I am a firm believer that we don’t just have one soulmate forever or one perfect job forever. I believe that you will find that you have a different soulmate or soul-career for different parts of your life.
In the span of your love life, you may have had your high school sweetheart and whirlwind college romance. In your professional life, you might have had your high school babysitting job, first college internship, and the entry-level position right after graduating. All of the different jobs you had helped you learn more about yourself, why you are on this planet, and about your past relationships. I am not a relationship expert, so I won’t give out any advice on your love life. However, when it comes to your professional life, your task is not to find your one true calling. Your only task is to find your calling for who you are at this moment. To do that, look for your purpose.
Find Your Purpose, Not Your Calling
Your purpose and your calling often get used interchangeably, but I believe there is an important distinction. A calling is a job, a purpose is the reason you are on this earth. Your calling will change because it is a specific position, but your purpose is vague and will likely remain the same.
For instance, my purpose is helping others. It led me to my current calling, starting the Stress Less Company and helping hundreds of people find work that makes them happy. Your purpose may be using math to solve the world’s problems. This could lead to a calling of being a NASA scientist or a financial analyst. The possibilities that exist within your purpose are endless.
Your Challenge
I challenge you to take the pressure of finding one true calling off of your shoulders. Instead, think about your purpose. Think about what traits and skills you uniquely have that can contribute something to the world. Think about why you are on this earth. Approach your career with your purpose in mind. All of the opportunities you have will lay themselves out in front of you for you to choose.
Your choice is not predestined for you. You have free will to choose one calling today and another calling two years from now. We each have a path ahead of us that is made up of different callings and that is okay. It is okay if we shift to calling after calling, it’s okay if we stay in one calling for years. What isn’t okay is settling for a calling that goes against your purpose. That’s why you’re here on this earth, after all.
—
Carlee Myers is the Founder of the Stress Less Company. She is an expert at helping people use art and creativity in order to find their passion again. As a firm believer in creativity, Carlee helps people find their purpose in life through a combination of coaching, creative expression, and experiential activities.
...
Why is getting to the root of procrastination so challenging? Why don’t we do those important things that need to get done? You know you have to do something but somehow it still doesn’t get done – like developing a strategy for marketing art. There are many reasons why we don’t do what really needs to get done. One of the key reasons that prevents us from taking action is that we don’t really know our ‘why.’
Why “Why?”
Why is this task so important to us? Mel Robbins, a prominent coach in the personal development world, has established that the reason that we don’t do things is because we don’t really know why we’re doing them to begin with. We might know of many ‘why’s’ handed down to us by parents, bosses, and society (such as money, status, and the fancy car), but we don’t know our own truest ‘why’.
Another key factor that influences getting to the root of procrastination is what creates our why – our core desired feeling. What is the core desired feeling that you want to feel on a daily basis? How does this core desired feeling affect your why? I spoke to a client this morning whose core desired feeling is ‘transcendental.’ In this instance, her why was about working on herself so that she can transcend and make a bigger difference to society through her writing.
When writing every day, getting into the flow and finishing a novel wasn’t enough. She had to write in her personal journal in order to understand herself so that she had something to transcend from. Her core desired feeling helped her create her why, which was vital for her to move forward with her goals.
Struggling with procrastination?
Next time you’re avoiding something, write down your main intention for the day. What do you want to accomplish or work on? Then write down three reasons why this task or project is important to you. You’ll move forward on this project or task because you’re connected to the ‘why.’
—
Carlee Myers is the Founder of the Stress Less Company. She is an expert at helping people use art and creativity in order to find their passion again. As a firm believer in creativity, Carlee helps people find their purpose in life through a combination of coaching, creative expression, and experiential activities.
...
The number 1 activity to get to the next phase of your career is networking. This ultimately boils down to connections and relationships. I am sure you’ve heard people say, ‘It’s all in who you know.’ Whether you want to get into an exclusive event or party, get that next job, or get that discount at a store, it’s all in who you know. This is why networking is important for joint venture partners, clients, and marketing art.
About Networking
Networking is usually an activity of going to an event, repeatedly giving your elevator pitch, and giving out your business cards. There is more to networking than just this! It is really about creating deep and meaningful connections with people we wouldn’t have necessarily met in an everyday context. The point of networking is to get us to that next phase of our career, which might be a promotion or to further build our business.
Networking is this vital tool that we often use incorrectly. A lot of the time, I’ve noticed that people go to events hoping to share what they do and see what they can get from as many people as possible. Unfortunately, this is not how deep and meaningful connections work. Establishing deep and meaningful connections will likely get you recommendations. Whereas with brief encounters, you’ll be lucky if anyone will remember or recommend you. Nobody likes receiving a sales pitch out of context. It reeks of a desperation mind set.
Recommendations
To get you into the next phase of your career, practice active listening. When you get to a networking event, enable the next person to have a platform to share more about themselves. Everyone is eager to speak about what they offer. You will stand out if you offer yourself as an active listener in networking spaces. Gather key information that will tell you if there is some synergy between the other person and yourself. Do they have a connection somewhere you’ve applied? Are they desperately in need of your services? Remember, you can guide the conversation based on the questions you ask!
To the next phase of your career:
- Get into different spaces with different people.
- Listen actively. You can do this by asking questions and seeing how you can help someone else. At the end of the day, the people you genuinely connect with will be more than willing to help you make the next move in your career.
—
Carlee Myers is the Founder of the Stress Less Company. She is an expert at helping people use art and creativity in order to find their passion again. As a firm believer in creativity, Carlee helps people find their purpose in life through a combination of coaching, creative expression, and experiential activities.
...
More and more people are joining the gig economy. That means developing a creative practice, marketing art, and working a regular job. 70% of the US population feel disengaged at work or they hate their jobs. If you’re part of this 70%, try this exercise. Reconnect to your job. Learn why you started working where you work in the first place. This exercise will completely change the way you view your job and the career path that you’re on. Give it a go!
Write A Letter To Your Employer
Tell them why you love them and why you’re grateful for having them in your life. This exercise might sound like a combination of cringe-worthy craziness, but it is highly effective in reminding you why you took the job in the first place. You don’t have to give the letter to your employer, unless you want to. Ultimately this exercise is for you! Here’s a suggestion on how to start your letter:
‘Dear [insert organization], I am so so grateful that day in and day out you pay for my bills…
At the end of the day this job, that you might currently loathe, is part of your journey. By writing this letter you are partaking in a gesture of acknowledging this in a way other than complaining about how much you hate your job.
When you first start a job, you may feel a sense of excitement, like you’re falling in love. It’s easy to see why you’re destined for this job in the bigger scheme of things. It might be a stepping stone for you to save more money or go back to school. It might be an entry level position for you to work your way up the ladder. Yet, as time goes by, it’s easy to see less and less of the bigger picture that you had envisioned for yourself.
Shift Your Perspective
What this exercise does is shift your perspective of where you’re at right now in your job. It can be written as a farewell letter. It can be written as a way to renew your commitment with your employer and/or the company you work for. It’s an effective way to gain resilience and get perspective on what your next move is.
—
Carlee Myers is the Founder of the Stress Less Company. She is an expert at helping people use art and creativity in order to find their passion again. As a firm believer in creativity, Carlee helps people find their purpose in life through a combination of coaching, creative expression, and experiential activities.
...
Productivity is activity that positively influences the trajectory of your life whether at home, work, or with personal projects like marketing art. Here are two tools you can use to be more productive, especially considering the many conversations that begin with, “Why don’t I ever get anything done?” or “How the hell did I even get here (without achieving what I set out to achieve)?”
5 Second Rule
The first tool was developed by Mel Robbins: The ‘5 Second Rule.’ This rule helps you launch into whatever task you need to get done and prevent procrastination. The idea is to count backwards from 5 and move yourself physically towards achieving the task. For example, if you’re struggling to get out of bed, count down from 5 to 1 and physically get yourself out of bed. Or, if you remember something that needs to be done, count down from 5 to 1 and write that task down on your to-do list. The ‘5 Second Rule’ is about helping you make that first move towards being more productive. It creates that forward momentum for yourself.
The Tomato Timer
‘The Tomato Timer’ is another great tool to help you be your most productive self. Traditionally, this tool is about setting a 20 minute timer where zero distractions are allowed. Yep, this means no phone, no Facebook, no cat videos. This means no distractions until you’ve completed the task at hand or the timer has hit 20 minutes. At the end of the 20 minutes, you get a 5 minute break to do whatever you want or need to do and then you go back to 20 minutes of focused work.
I suggest that you get a little more creative with your tomato timer. For example, I had a really long spreadsheet to update – something like 300 rows! So I made an internal agreement with myself. Do 20 lines at a time and take a short break to look at my phone, 20 lines, short break, 20 lines, SHORT break … you get the idea.
For those of you who have lunch breaks, the tomato timer is perfect for you. One day I dedicated 40 minutes of my lunch break to my own personal tasks. The agreement that I created with myself was that if I completed these 40 minutes, I get to take a 20 minute walk.
The tomato timer helps you manage your time because you know you need to complete something within the time allocated. The breaks give you space to fill your time with a sense of reward for your focus. There are even Tomato Timer Apps out there that you can use to assist you! This tool is really helpful during afternoon sluggishness where you end up mindlessly scrolling through Facebook (or mindlessly clicking through windows).
—
Carlee Myers is the Founder of the Stress Less Company. She is an expert at helping people use art and creativity in order to find their passion again. As a firm believer in creativity, Carlee helps people find their purpose in life through a combination of coaching, creative expression, and experiential activities.
...
Researching calls for artists is an important component of your strategy for marketing your artwork. It is challenging to figure out where to start. Sometimes this can feel overwhelming. To help build your confidence, break down your research into small actionable steps.
Bring The Opportunities To You
Set up Google Alerts for your location. Use this search string: “call for artists” + location. You may include “+ medium” to narrow the search if you for your specialty.
For example: “call for artists” + Cleveland + painting
Sign up for niche call for artists platforms. Find them by searching for: “calls for artists” + medium or + style or + relevant topic. Most niche platforms will allow you to narrow your search results to your preferred locations once you sign up.
For example: “calls for artists” + sculpture + “public art” = Americans for the Arts Public Arts Listings
Sign up for newsletters from your local Arts Council and state Arts Commission. These will include calls for artists collected from local non-profits.
Dig Deeper For Hidden Gems
Sometimes, when you find a call for artists posted publicly, it has already been filled. It’s important to try to get in front of the process not only to make sure you have time to apply, but also in order to have enough time to create the work or have enough inventory available.
Whenever you find a recurring opportunity, add the name and deadline date to a spreadsheet. Include the columns: Opportunity, location, deadline, contact information / URL, and a short description. Start checking for the yearly deadline and new information at least six months ahead. You could also create a calendar alert by adding the event deadline to your calendar and setting reminders in advance (3 months/ 6 months) which give you enough time to plan and apply for the opportunity.
Review call for artists content marketing platforms which offer a range of opportunities, such as Side Arts (our specialty is vetted and trusted call for artists with significant track records of success for artists), Zapplication (juried calls), and Art Fair Insiders (art fair specialists).
Check out their archives and forum sections for information and reviews of calls for artists which align with your goals and interests.
Side Arts only promotes new, active calls for artists – no duplicates.
- Use the Active category to see current listings.
- Use the Expired category to see listings which have passed their deadline. Find organizations which offer calls for artists in your area. They may be offering an opportunity, but not promoting it broadly.
- Use the other categories to refine your search by location, type of call, award amount, and so on.
Conclusion
When researching calls for artists, use free resources to bring the opportunities to your inbox. Join local arts listservs. Create a spreadsheet. Dedicate time once every three months (set up a calendar alert) to do original research. Make it a goal to add at least three opportunities to your list every month.
Next Step
Are you ready to invest in yourself and showcase your artwork? Apply to become represented by Side Arts, a leading agency connecting artists with exhibition opportunities. With limited capacity and a rigorous jury review, Side Arts ensures that your work gets the attention it deserves. Click here to learn more about how Side Arts can elevate your art career and provide you with exciting opportunities to display your talent to a wider audience.
Take the leap and step into a world of endless possibilities for your artistic journey with Side Arts. Don’t miss out on this incredible chance to share your passion and creativity with the world. Apply now and open doors to a bright future as a recognized visual artist. Click here to apply.
...
The tactics needed for marketing art and elevating your creative practice are different for every person. A one-size-fits-all guide that runs through the usual art marketing, eCommerce, website, social media, email, legal, and contract strategies may offer helpful components, but isn’t applicable to everyone. This is because artists and crafters come from so many varieties of experience, socioeconomic backgrounds, disabilities, and adversities to overcome. Express your unique visual art practice with help from Side Arts’ representation and custom visual artist certified one-sheets.
Marketing Art: A Fresh Approach
- Understand your instincts
- Define your motivation
- Set positive goals
- Develop a process
- Scale your efforts
- Analyze your results
- Network for opportunities
1. Understand Your Instincts
What is common in all artists’ journeys is that you FEEL a certain way about implementing these strategies. This is something that CAN be managed and adapted to having a positive experience with marketing art.
So rather than talking about the latest social media strategy, let’s start talking about how you feel about using social media to promote your artwork. Whether you are a digital native or technophobe, your instincts are at the core of how you use platforms to promote your work.
Being a digital native may lend to being over-confident about the potential results. Being a technophobe may undervalue what can be accomplished. It’s best to try to be somewhere in between. Here, it helps to be rational:
- You don’t know what you can do until you try.
- Even the smallest results can be a step in the right direction.
- Be exact and truthful when measuring the results.
The most important step: Before you begin to try something new or view the results of something you have tried, 1) imagine a realistic positive result, 2) remind yourself to accept whatever the results are, and 3) commit to learning something from them. This will help put you in the right mindset to try the next positive step forward for your creative practice.
2. Define Your Motivation
The best question you can ask is, “Why?” It’s a question that children learn early. They are relentless with it! Their young minds are processing so much information. Ours are, too, although we often don’t have the patience or time to work through the reasons. It’s important to keep asking why.
The Five Whys
Ask yourself: Why do you want to create and sell your artwork? Then, ask why you gave that response, then ask why again, and again, and again. Ask yourself why five times to get to the heart of the matter. It’s challenging to be that honest with yourself, but you may discover something important that you hadn’t realized before. This can help inform your creative practice in new ways.
Why can be a tough question to answer. If you’re having trouble getting to the root of the matter, try reframing the question with “What…” Such as, “What is it about this type of art that inspires me.”
The Money Issue
I know. I know. We all want to make money. Some of us more than others, and that’s okay, that’s your right. The important thing to realize is that money is the by-product (rather than the purpose) of a transaction. The transaction is what is important. You have something and someone else sees the value in it. Therefore, the transaction is an item exchanged for validation. How much money is assigned to that validation is an abstract construct.
What Is Your Motivation?
Ask yourself: What do you have to offer and what type of validation are you seeking? It is important to know the answers to these questions so that you know what and when you have accomplished something. You’ll be able to state your accomplishments clearly.
3. Set Positive Goals
Goals are important because they help you understand the work you have accomplished and provide direction for your next steps. How often have you said to yourself, “I just don’t know what to do next?!” The first step in answering that question is looking back to what you have already done.
Try making a list first. Break the list into two columns. One column for things you have tried which have worked and another column for things that haven’t worked or yielded any results. Put this list somewhere you can see it every day. Make a commitment to stop doing things that you know don’t work and start doing more of what is working.
SMART Goals
SMART goals are defined as Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Focus first on things that are working (80% of your time) and then on new things that you have not tried before (20% of your time).
Examples:
- Send out two email newsletters within the next four weeks. Try Madmimi, Mailchimp, or Constant Contact. Focus each on a new piece of work with a description and call to action to purchase.
- Sign up for a social media platform which you are not currently using (i.e. Tiktok). Post four pieces of content within the next week and measure engagement.
- Review your Google Analytics account for your website. Identify the pages which have the most visits. Update and/or republish these pages with new or additional content within the next week.
- Increase your email list by 20% in the next 6 months.
- Increase your sales by 10% in the next 3 months.
Projected and Stretch Goals
For each goal (try only one at a time), set a projected and stretch goal.
Projected goals are those based on past data. For example, if you normally attain 5 new facebook followers a month, try changing how and when you post and see if you get 7 new followers each month for the next few months.
Stretch goals go beyond your average projections, but not too far (add 10%)! Using the same example as above, try for 10 new followers per month.
Compare Yourself To Yourself
It’s easy to look at others with massive followings and sales and become discouraged. Remind yourself that they started out with zero followers at one point. Rather than comparing yourself to others, look at what you have been able to accomplish. You might be surprised that the difference in results from this year to last are extraordinary compared to the results from five years ago.
Remember to celebrate the small victories. They add up! This might be a good opportunity to spend some time checking your feelings. Review what you have accomplished so far and how they relate to your motivation. Update your list of things you have tried. Having trouble getting motivated? Try these productivity tools.
4. Develop A Process
There is no set path for marketing art as a visual artist, but there is a standard journey for customers. For the purpose of this guide, customers may be clients, patrons, buyers, gallerists, curators, or commissioners.
Attract, Engage, Delight
To attract an audience, you’ll need to put yourself where they are. Everyone consumes information differently and has preferences as to how they want to be contacted. Most are best reached by email. But before you get their email address, you may need to publish content on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or your own website.
Go where you think your audience is. If you paint, go where people expect paintings. If your paintings are about environmental issues, go where people expect to talk about environmental issues. Think broadly about your audience and their various preferences.
Engage with your audience. Educate them about why you do what you do and how you do it. This is more than a picture and one word description. There are so many ways to engage with your audience. Make a list that feels authentic to you and narrow that list down to three to five items. Use these consistently.
Artist engagement
- Show works in progress step by step
- Write a story and rationale for each piece made
- Do product reviews and demonstrations
- Film short videos of works of progress
- Studio selfies!
- Provide lifestyle stories, tell who you are outside the studio
Give your audience a delight that will have them sharing the experience with their friends. This may include:
- Personalized notes with each purchase
- Mini-print contests
- Fan appreciation give-aways
- Take your packaging to the next level
- Thank customers for at-home pictures of your work
Engagement Funnel
All of the above components fit within a art marketing engagement funnel. Think of it as a big letter “V” where the top is how customers find out about you and the bottom is making a sale. Not everyone gets all the way through the funnel. It is important that the top of the funnel is continuously fed with new people. Most funnels are structured from top to bottom like this:
- Social media – introduction
- Website – education
- Email – owned communication channel
- Purchase – validation
Once someone has gone through the funnel, they are likely to go through again. Encourage the process by acquiring testimonials and referrals. This provides additional content to promote and new people being fed into the top.
5. Scale Your Efforts
Once you know what is working, there are a number of ways in which you can increase your artwork marketing momentum. You may want to try repurposing content, paid media ads, and alternate art sales channels.
Repurpose content
Take the communication you have already developed and repackage it in a new way. These can be used for both engagement initiatives and value add sales applications.
- Create an ebook or art book out of your works in progress and final exhibit / at home images.
- Teach a class about your process
- Offer an instructional manual
- Offer special commissions based on current works
- Create monthly patron or student webinars
- Launch a podcast series (limited or on-going)
The key to success is using information and content that you already have with an established audience. They are likely to share with their networks and increase your visibility.
Paid media ads
Ads are most effective when they promote content that is already successful. Always point ads to your educational materials, rather than at a sales page. In turn, the educational material should offer a call to action that leads to your sales page. One way to think about this: “you have to ask me out on a date before you ask me to marry you.”
Value Add Applications For Marketing Art
You can obtain more information that informs your strategy of marketing art by participating in a variety of events. Getting live interaction directly from the source provides the best feedback. Remember that it is not just what they say, but what they do and how they do it that is important to recognize.
Other than direct art sales, consider participating in:
- Requests for proposals
- Grants
- Vendor events
- Platform sales
- Licensing
- Exhibitions
- Competition
Click here for more information on each of the art sales channels. You won’t know what works best unless you give it a try. Do what is best for your creative practice, time, budget, and community.
6. Analyze Your Results
Take a break, at least once a month, to look at some of the data you have gathered. You may learn something new about what works, when to do something, and who to focus on. It’s easy to look at the data and move on, but it’s more important to make a commitment to make the small changes it suggests.
If you have your own website, set up Google Analytics. It will help you understand what pages get the most traffic and where the traffic comes from. You can determine which pages to target for ads and which sources generate more leads.
Almost all social media platforms offer some analytic data on your account. On these accounts, it’s most important to make adjustments in terms of who is visiting and when.
When using email marketing platforms, like MadMimi, Mailchimp, and Constant Contact, keep track of how many people are on your list, what percent open your emails, and what percent click through from content in your emails to your links. Change the content and / or formatting of your emails based on the highest open and click through rates.
Remember to look back on data from a year or more back to see how much your creative practice has grown. Take a moment to reflect on how you feel about these changes. Are you comfortable with what you have done? Do you feel you need to be more proactive? It might be time to revisit your SMART goals, both projected and stretch. What, if anything, do you want to do differently? Make a commitment, write it down, and plan your changes.
7. Network For Opportunities
If you want your strategy for marketing art to elevate to the next level, then network for opportunities. Many artists have similar opportunities when it comes to setting up their creative practice. There are free website hosting services and website templates, social media platforms with analytics, Google Analytics data, Google suite for managing content, and scalable email marketing platforms. All of these are available and mostly accessible to artists and crafters equally.
Personal networks are unique to each individual. These relationships should be fostered with care. There are many ways to do so.
- Collect email addresses from anyone that seems interested in your artwork
- Connect with your contacts on LinkedIn
- Search for and connect with 2nd degree connections on LinkedIn that may have similar interests
- Volunteer at trade shows, exhibitions, and art and craft fairs
- Join a professional association in your field of interest
- Attend meet-ups
- Get Certified with Side Arts and join your local artist registries
Have a few high net worth contacts already? Ask them out for coffee once every six months. Set up a recurring reminder on Google calendar for each individual. Keep a few personal notes on each contact. Besides art, what are their other personal interests? You’ll have some easy talking points for each conversation. Ask how you can help them before asking for help yourself.
Marketing Art Strategy Conclusion
Try thinking about your strategy for marketing art as a process of deliberate practice. It’s not about doing the same thing on repeat, but understanding your feelings and motivations, focusing on SMART Goals, and making adaptations. That hard thing is sticking with something that may feel uncomfortable at first or making a change the data supports which goes against your preconceived notions. Small steps first.
Next Step
Are you ready to invest in yourself and showcase your artwork? Apply to become represented by Side Arts, a leading agency connecting artists with exhibition opportunities. With limited capacity and a rigorous jury review, Side Arts ensures that your work gets the attention it deserves. Click here to learn more about how Side Arts can elevate your art career and provide you with exciting opportunities to display your talent to a wider audience.
Take the leap and step into a world of endless possibilities for your artistic journey with Side Arts. Don’t miss out on this incredible chance to share your passion and creativity with the world. Apply now and open doors to a bright future as a recognized visual artist. Click here to apply.
...
Calls for artists are indirect sales channels for your artwork. How frequently do you apply to calls for artists and for what type do you typically apply? Where have you had the most success in generating the most margin on sales?
Side Arts can help. Learn more with our official guide, Marketing Art: A Fresh Approach.
Calls for artists include
- Requests for proposals – Commissions for your artwork
- Grants – Funds that are available for the completion of a project or growth of a practice
- Vendor events – Sell your own artwork at a rental space
- Exhibition opportunities – Agents sell your artwork at a relatively high commission.
- Competitions – Compete with others for a limited number of prizes
It is helpful to think of them in terms of both direct and indirect sales channels as they relate to the margin on your artwork. In other words, where do you get the most money relative to your efforts.
Margin By Sales Channels
In direct sales, requests for proposals, and grants, you are typically setting the terms of engagement. You know the inputs and there are specific results expected.
Vendor events rank slightly lower. This is because you cover the costs of the booth rental fee. More importantly, it introduces more variables that are outside your control such as rain, advertising for the event, and the attendence levels.
Likewise, platform sales, such as Etsy and EBay introduce flat and variable fees for including your work on their sites. Although they offer extra promotion services, they come at higher prices. Therefore, promotion, which costs time and money, is on you.
When utilizing licencing, the burden of promotion is now on the vendor to whom you have licenced your work. Since they do all the promotion, they take a much higher commission which reduces your margin considerably.
Exhibitions work the same way as licencing. The burden of promotion and sales is on the gallerist or curator hosting the exhibition. If they are not offering promotion and sales support, then it is simply a pay-for-play vendor event. The purpose of participating in an exhibition is to take advantage of the organization’s exclusive buyer’s lists which should align with the type of artwork you offer.
Lastly, competitions offer the greatest risk and least margin for your time and effort. You have no control as to how many others are participating, there are often fees to participate, and there may only be one winner.
Conclusion
Before applying for a call for artists, think through how best it fits with your goals and the risk you are willing to take. Make sure you know quantitative answers to questions regarding promotion, buyer’s lists, and commission percentages.
Most artists looking to grow their professional network and sales opportunities apply to 10-15 calls for artists per year. The average cost of applying is $25-45.
Next Step
Are you ready to invest in yourself and showcase your artwork? Apply to become represented by Side Arts, a leading agency connecting artists with exhibition opportunities. With limited capacity and a rigorous jury review, Side Arts ensures that your work gets the attention it deserves. Click here to learn more about how Side Arts can elevate your art career and provide you with exciting opportunities to display your talent to a wider audience.
Take the leap and step into a world of endless possibilities for your artistic journey with Side Arts. Don’t miss out on this incredible chance to share your passion and creativity with the world. Apply now and open doors to a bright future as a recognized visual artist. Click here to apply.
...
Pricing your artwork is an important component of your strategy for marketing art. Artwork pricing should not be an over-complicated procedure in the primary market. (Secondary market sales can be much more complicated.) If you are new to pricing your artwork, there is a formula to determine where to start.
Artwork Pricing Formula
- Start with the total costs of the materials used. Use the relative cost of only the materials used.
- Track the amount of time you actually spent creating the artwork.
- Multiply the number of hours by the rate you would charge per hour as a professional art consultant.
- Add the cost of materials and time.
- Multiply the result by a multiple based on your overall experience. This is typically between 2 (just starting out) and 10 (top of your field).
Price of Original Artwork = [Materials + (Time)(Hourly Rate)] (Experience)
For example, [$100 materials + (20 hours of work)($25/hr)] (5 years of experience adds a multiplier of 3) = $1800.
Pricing reproductions
- Highest quality (limited edition giclee prints or high-end reproductions) = 50% of the original price
- Mid-grade quality (limited edition reproductions) = 30% of the original price
- Low quality (one-off prints or open-ended reproductions) = 10% of the original price
Next Step
Are you ready to invest in yourself and showcase your artwork? Apply to become represented by Side Arts, a leading agency connecting artists with exhibition opportunities. With limited capacity and a rigorous jury review, Side Arts ensures that your work gets the attention it deserves. Click here to learn more about how Side Arts can elevate your art career and provide you with exciting opportunities to display your talent to a wider audience.
Take the leap and step into a world of endless possibilities for your artistic journey with Side Arts. Don’t miss out on this incredible chance to share your passion and creativity with the world. Apply now and open doors to a bright future as a recognized visual artist. Click here to apply.