Art Marketing – Help me sell my art!
If there’s one question artists ask me all the time, it’s “How much should I charge for my artwork?” In our artist marketing seminars, and in emails and phone calls from artists, I can hear the frustration in their voices. It’s like just knowing the answer to that question would solve all your marketing problems. They are not alone. We’ve all done the math of mental art at some point in our careers, especially early on…someone come up with a formula to set a price, figure out how long it takes, how much we can make in a day, multiplied. in a week, a month… we should all be rich by now, right? But there’s a problem with that formula because all these artists are focusing on the wrong thing.
Selling your art is NOT just about putting a price on your artwork. It’s all about creating a complete package where you and your art, combined, are more than just a number! And your job is to turn it into a single package.
You must present the “total package” to your customer. A professional-looking artist with a professional-looking studio and a professional attitude can command a much higher price up front than artists who simply try to focus on the price of their artwork and ignore everything else about their package. of marketing.
Let’s do it step by step.
1. Determine who is or will be buying your art.
What are you creating and who is buying it now? This group is your target market. This is the group you will focus on the most when presenting your art packet.
Never sold anything? It is not to worry. There is an idea in your mind of who would buy your art, so narrow down the number. Would your market be children? Young families? Thirty-something executives? NASCAR fans? dog owners? Focus on the people who are most likely to buy your art.
You are not your target market. Most people value what you do much more than you value what you do.
2. Focus initially on one area of art.
There is no rule that says that if you start by selling your pottery, you cannot switch to landscape painting. But you need to focus on one area initially. You can’t be everything to everyone. Many artists have “bread and butter” art products and expand into other areas as time, money, desire, or need arises. Concentrating on one area, initially, allows you to develop your art marketing skills with both your art product and your clients.
3. Determine your Unique Selling Characteristic
If all things are perceived as equal, then price becomes the main factor. Therefore, you need to educate your prospects so they know what is “unique” about you. What is special about you and your art? What makes your 11 x 14 oil landscape different from another artist’s 11 x 14 oil landscape? Having said that, we learned that “price sheets” are not given out. When a prospect compares your 11 x 14 art product to another artist’s 11 x 14 product through a price sheet only, you don’t get the opportunity to share what’s special and unique about you and your business! art!
4. Work on your confidence
A big part of what we do is essentially give artists permission to sell their art! Most have not been taught anything about what is necessary to represent themselves and their artistic product. Feeling good about selling your art starts with the premise of “I’m good at what I do and my art prices reflect that.” The “price/value ratio” in human psychology says that for most people, the more you charge, the better you are. But you have to believe it AND have the skills to share that positive attitude with your clients!
So forget about formulas and special tables to quote your work of art. Most of it is common sense. If people buy everything you offer, you’re not charging enough. If people haven’t bought anything from you, it may not be the price but how you present it.
Remember, it’s not the price you charge that matters, it’s how you price, your package, that makes the difference. So instead of keeping your art prices really low and not being a good seller of your work, raise your prices and learn how to present it.
by Mr. Theresa Brown