Marketing Art Requires Heart
Successful art careers happen to artists who have their heart in their business, and their business in their heart.
Treat Your Art Career with Care
A common trait of top selling contemporary artists is they put as much passion and importance into their business as they do into making their art.
"Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Thoughts are things! And powerful things at that. When they are mixed with definiteness of purpose and a burning desire, they can be translated into riches." – Napoleon Hill
In Part One of this series, we talked about the importance of making art that people want to buy. This part of the formula for success is simple or is at least simple to state. That is, use your creativity to make ever improving art that fascinates buyers into taking buying actions.
Part Two tackled the importance of time management. If you don't respect and value your time, no one else will either. The only way to make enough time to do everything you need done is by managing your time efficiently, as well as the time of those who require your time.
Marketing Art with Reason
Fine art sales are rarely bought on impulse. It can take seven to ten touches to create a buyer. In marketing art, you need to have good reasons for actions you take and messages you create.
Successfully executed marketing creates a continuum that accomplishes mulitple tasks. It begins with marketing messages aimed at getting Attention for you and your work, and through repeated exposure those messages turn prospective buyers' attention into Interest.
Intentionally focusing your efforts on creating a steady stream of marketing impressions to a targeted audience is how you transition a buyer's interest into a Desire to own your work. Desire, when stimulated by effective marketing for compelling products, creates Action.
Sales are the goal, and ultimate action, at the end of this marketing continuum.
Effective Marketing Creates Sales Opportunities
Sales are actions facilitated by your direct interaction with the buyer, or by you providing easy-to-use ordering tools on your blog or website. In person, for the greatest results, you always should make your best and biggest offer then shut up until the buyer responds. On your website, you need to provide prices and clear steps on how to buy, how the shipping will be charged and handled, and what your return policy is.
It Is Easier to Sell to a Warm Market Than a Digital Market
People are more likely to buy from people they like and know than they are from a stranger on the Internet. I believe many artists today put too much attention on pursuing sales via social media instead of working to sell direct.
I will trade one or two enthused face-to-face buyers, or a handful of solid personal relationships with referral possibilities, over 1,000 virtual people who will like, friend or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and so on.
Don't get the wrong impression, I like social media and believe it can be a great marketing tool. It just needs to be perceived with its proper importance to your art marketing success. With enough direct buying relationships, you can have a successful art career without using social media. Just keep in mind social media is not a silver bullet. It is just one type of marketing tool, nothing more.
Grassroots Selling Builds a Solid Business Foundation
In the next part, we will talk about the importance of creating a local/regional buyer base, and how to set up your business and marketing plans to connect with and capture your share of this important component to your customer base.
Salt Lake City Art Marketing Workshop Date Announced
If you want to get in-depth on the marketing ideas in this series, join me at a live workshop.
I will be bringing my "How to Get Your Work Seen and Sold Art Marketing Workshop" to Salt Lake City on Saturday, July 14. The hours will be 9 am - 1 pm. Registration and location information will be announced on this blog in a few days. Subscribe now to stay informed.
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