Art Print Issues by Barney Davey

In the Art Business, You Are Not Alone

Making it in the art business today is a challenge.

If you are noticing your art sales are slower, and you seem to work harder to get the ones that do occur, you are not alone. 

Of course, there is not much consolation in knowing you have company in your struggles to take your art career where you want it to go.

Art Business Success Was Never Easy

Likewise, it doesn’t do much for the spirit to understand becoming successful in the art business back in the good old days was never a walk in the park.

While the obstacles to getting ahead have always been there, it must be said that in no time in memory of anyone I know have the challenges been overlaid with sweeping industry changes and a wrecked, fragile economy.

It Is the Best of Times in Some Ways

For balance, it must also be said that the resources and tools for an artist to take complete control of their art sales have never been available before either.

Take Time to Take Stock of Your Situation - How Appealing Is Your Art?

If your work is not selling and you are doing the same thing you have always done, then you need to take stock of the situation. This is a time to be as brutally and fairly honest with yourself as you possibly can be. Here are some things to consider. Let’s start with talking about the commercial appeal of your art. This can be painful to determine, but unless you know the correct answer, you can waste time and energy trying to fix your marketing to no avail.

• Do you need a different approach to creating your art? Is your look or genre passé and in need of a new style?
• Have previously devoted collectors and galleries stopped ordering from you?
• Have you changed your look or style recently and found it’s not connecting as your older works?
• Has your work sold regularly in the past; but not so well now, or have you always had troubles finding willing buyers for your work?

You have to adjust the most basic things before you can address ancillary issues of why your art isn’t selling. It is a business, and you are a creator/manufacturer/supplier. If what you make is not in tune with what your collectors want, then you need to retool what you are creating.

How Effective Is Your Marketing?

If you are confident your art has the commercial appeal it needs to find a market for it, then you can look at some other aspects of what you are doing to get your work to market.

• If you are concentrating on the tradition markets, such as using galleries, you should be working at expanding your base. If you haven’t yet read Jason Horejs’ book "Starving" to Successful | The Fine Artist's Guide to Getting Into Galleries and Selling More Art, it is a most valuable reference to help you fine-tune your approach.
• Have you embraced social media with confusion, or have you jumped into social media splashing about with no real idea how you intend to make it work for you? Perhaps you are in social media due to pressure from peers and pundits, but have no desire or interest in it?
• Do you have a website that is fresh in content and professional in appearance? If you would never set out a sub-par painting or print, why would you accept a sub-par website to represent you worldwide?
• If you have a website, is it optimized for search engines and is it e-commerce enabled.
• What is the conversion rate on your site? Are you getting traffic, but no buyers?  You may want to delve deeper into web analytics and improve how you drive traffic to your site. You should evaluate how easy it is to make a purchase on your site.
• Are you coordinating your marketing, so you receive multiple layered exposures for your efforts? Do you time gallery shows with press releases, advertising, email blasts and social media planning? Are you working with media contacts to generate publicity around your new releases, or other newsworthy activities?

I could write a book on the above. In fact, much of what I recommend is covered in How to Profit from the Art Print Market, 2^nd Edition. There is a tremendous amount of free, practical advice on art marketing by just doing online research to find it. Right now, I am giving a free copy of How to Price Digital Art Prints, my new e-book, with every purchase of my paperback book

Do you have an active referral network?

More and more, I think an effective referral network is the key to success for artists today. Sure, you can gain recognition and online friends through social media and blogging. I encourage those plans because I believe they support your referral network. Besides local Chamber of Commerce, check out BNI, it is the world's largest referral network.

If someone refers you to someone who has already been touched by you through social media, publicity or other marketing, then your chances of success with them dramatically increase. When is the last time you asked for a referral? If you do not remember, or never have, you need to get started now.  As much as I believe in artists’ websites, online marketing and social media, none are more powerful than the people around you who love you and help you.

You Are Not Alone

The subject of this post is you are not alone. You have a established market. It begins with your family and extended family, and then it moves on through church, schools, hobbies, children, volunteerism and business networking. If you commit to asking for at least one referral each day, you will learn to increase sales in your favor more than any other single action you could do.

How to Ask for Referrals and Get More Clients

In this unsure economy, referrals are the best way to grow your business. If you think about it, you will probably agree some of your best sales have come as a result of personal relationships and referrals. By asking for referrals, you exponentially increase your collector base.

I see artists who spend time and money on all kinds of marketing; they put in hours on social media sites trolling for complete strangers to “Like” them, et cetera, but they don’t put any effort into referrals.  

I understand why. Many artists are not natural marketers. Or, perhaps they find requesting referrals an disagreeable task. It can be painful to screw your courage to the sticking point and ask in a confident manner something like, "Your interest in my art is truly appreciated.

"Would you help me let others know about it?   May I give you these business cards or postcards to pass to those you think would also appreciate my art? Or, if there is someone you would like to bring into the studio, or meet me at the gallery, I would be delighted to meet them.”

Of course, your collectors have their own business to attend, which doesn’t involve helping you find new buyers. However, if you have provided quality work and service, some will be inclined to help you, but almost nobody will unless you ask them.

So, put aside whatever is holding you back and make it a point to ask for referrals from every qualified source. You don’t have to make this an obnoxious pitch like those you get from misguided amateurs trying to recruit you on the latest multi-level marketing scheme. Rather, you can make it quite professional in how you present the idea. If you have an interested party, you move on green. If you encounter resistance or rejection, you stop on red. There is no pressure. It is either a yes or no. You are right either way.

Those Who Give Are Those Who Get

Start by looking for opportunities to make yourself into a referral machine that routinely refers business to others in your network. Simply, the more business you send to others, the  more they will refer to you.

Referrals are and should be a two-way street. Because an art business is not considered a Main Street business, you might consider mingling at the local Chamber of Commerce or other business networking opportunities was not a good use of your time. On the surface, that view is fairly accurate. Most people at Chamber meetings solicit business connections, not particularly artists.

Nevertheless, if your goal is to meet as many people as possible to use the contacts to help those in your referral network, you can have excellent results. You can read body language at meetings and see the back pedaling when an insurance agent or real estate agent is introduced. By observing, you can read the mind of the person who is thinking how long until I hear the pitch?

As an artist, you have a more unique product. Art has a certain je ne se quoi sex appeal about it that insurance, financial planning, dentistry and most other professions lack. So, you can use what should be a non-threatening conversation to learn more about the person you are talking with. Find out what their needs are, then refer them to people in your network.

Read Bob Burg's Endless Referrals book, and you will realize you don’t have to make building a referral network an entirely selfless task. You should have your elevator speech or 15-second pitch honed to perfection. Everyone you meet should know you are a visual artist who does (fill in the blank) in originals and fine art prints, that you are available for commissions and enjoy working with designers and architects, or whatever your relevant story might be. 

The point is while you look out for others  you are look out for yourself, too. As long as you maintain that fine balance and keep in mind that givers get, then you will find building a referral network the most profitable and productive marketing you do.

Related Post: Visual Artists - 30 Ways to Get More Art Collectors

What Does Your Art Business Look Like?

When you begin the act of creation, whether at an easel, behind a lens, or on a Wacom Tablet, you typically have a vision for how your finished piece will look. Of course, it is a work in progress, which means it will change as you continue to work on it and refine it.

As you start your artwork, you have a reasonable idea of what you need to accomplish with it. If asked, it is a picture you can communicate, even in writing, or sketches or both.

If you can't imagine what your art business will look like in the future, you are a traveler without a destination.

If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there. - Lewis Carroll

When it comes to your career, or art business, in order to be successful, you need to know how it will look in a year, in three years, in five years. - Barney Davey

You don't need a perfect plan; you just need a plan. To make your art business thrive, you have to invest in it. To build a collector base, you have to market and advertise to get them. Once you have found interested parties, you have to spend additional funds to keep them interested.

By creating a vision of how you want your art business to look, you give yourself clues on where you will look for new buyers and how much you can afford to attract them to your work. There is no cookie cutter method to create your vision.

There are many paths to building a successful art business.

If you examine the business model of ten or more top artists, you will get ten different ways to get your work to market. While some artists might have followed the traditional gallery method, others have dominated the better juried shows to become successful. These days, you find more artists building a successful business model by marketing online.

To Be Successful As An Artist, You Need Work That Sells, You Need a Plan, And You Need Action.

It's true some artists might have backed into success without having a plan to get there. But, it is a terrible way to go about the business. I liken it to the equivalent of not saving for retirement, but rather investing in lottery tickets hoping a monumental win to make up for lack of prudent actions.

How Do You Begin to Make a Plan for Your Art Business?

Start by writing everything down. Use a vision board, or mind mapping software to help you keep track of you ideas. The initial actions are not designed to nail down how you want future business to look.  Instead, use them to gain insights those things most appealing and helpful to you.

By going through this exercise, you can sort out what is most valuable, what is simply intriguing. There is a crucial difference. By honing in on what is required, you narrow down your choices. This allows you to discard many of those intriguing things that are usually a distraction. These things keep you from fully focusing on those plans and actions that will move your career higher and higher.

Your climb to success can be helped by surrounding yourself with the right people

You might consider creating an art salon group, or a mastermind group, or join one. While your vision is specific to your business and you, there are many other artists on similar, yet unique, paths. If you can find kindred souls who are willing to work together with you, you will receive a built-in support group.

It's not unheard of for such groups to morph into other bigger things for all involved. It could be a creative artist guild, an annual show, or a coop gallery. Leveraging the power of a group is a terrific way to boost your art business to new career highs.

P.S. Get My Best Deal Ever!

If having your work sold in the art print market is part of your plans, then I have excellent news for you. For a limited time, you can take advantage of the best deal I have ever offered. That is, you get more popular How to Profit from the Art Print Market, 2nd Edition book, and I will give you the recently published e-book, How to Price Digital Fine Art Prints, as a bonus. 

At only $24.95, plus shipping, for both books, you enjoy 33% savings. If you have already purchased my book, you can buy the e-book separately. Or, consider buying the bundle and giving the book to a friend or donating it to a library.

Why I Support the National Arts Education Foundation

Children Are Our Future - Visual Arts Are Your Future.

Visual Arts Skills are Life Skills.

Visual arts training makes a huge impact on more than learning to paint or draw. When it comes to creating a website, designing an energy efficient home, creating advertising and in hosts of other ways, those with solid visual arts education are better suited for success. 

Children who learn visual arts skills are more well-rounded and better prepared to succeed in life. 

 My Pledge to NAEF Is In Memory Of Mary Davey

If you have enjoyed reading my books and blog posts, or found inspiration in them, you can thank my mother, Mary Davey. Our home was filled with art books she collected. She managed to instill a love of art in a little boy who was much more interested in baseball and football than art. I carry that passion with me today. 

In the memory of Mary Davey, I have pledged $2.00 from the sale of every copy my new e-book, How to Price Digital Fine Art Prints to the National Arts Education Foundation (NAEF). While there are so many wonderful causes and charities one can donate to, it seems fitting and right to me to donate to an organization close to my heart and interests.

My mother, Mary Davey, was an elementary school teacher. She loved her work and her students loved her. Besides being a talented educator, she was an accomplised visual artist, who given the proper encouragement and support could have been a professional painter.

I'm sure it was the many field trips to the magnificent St. Louis Art Museum with her that gave me my own appreciation for fine art. She passed this along to grade school students as well. From her, they learned fundamental drawing skills and gained early appreciation for the beauty and wonder of art. 

Buy My How to Price Prints e-Book and You Make a $2.00 Donation

Or, Start Your Own Drive to Support NAEF!

If you want to participate, you can buy my e-book here on the right sidebar. If you want to make a bigger impact, consider setting up to pledge contributions from sales of your work to NAEF.

CONTRIBUTE TO NAEF

Donate today and make an investment in the future of visual arts education. Your contribution will help provide professional development for art educators, classroom supplies for innovative projects, curriculum development for art classrooms, and ground-breaking research in visual arts education.

Please make a commitment to the advancement of visual arts education by contributing to the National Art Education Foundation.

The NAEF Advocacy flyer tells the story why your support is needed and important.

 

Five Things You Should Know About Sanity and Success

Learn These Things Now to Avoid Learning Them the Hard Way Later

1. You Must Keep Getting Better
2. Some People Will Disappoint You.
3. Aid Will Sometimes Appear from the Most Unlikely Place
4. Keep What Is Important in Your Name and Under Your Control
5. You Have Choices — Use Them

Life is uncertain.

Life is full of tips and turns we can’t always control. People we meet and need to deal with can be difficult. Opportunities are coming at us all the time. If we are not prepared to accept them, they pass us by. Random things happen that seem unfair.

All in all, it can at times feel like life is out of control, if not downright crazy.  Here are five things I have learned that can help you be prepared for opportunity or preserve your sanity in the face of devastating challenging circumstances.

1.  You Must Keep Getting Better

It may seem sound simple, but it’s true. If you are not getting better while those around you are, then you are getting worse by comparison. To improve your artistic skills and your business skills should be a daily goal.

From my own experience, I’ve found artists will liberally spend on learning new painting techniques and then balk at spending $30.00 to buy a book or take a workshop aimed at helping them in business. I understand why. We all tend to add urgency in doing those things we like while avoiding things that are required, but not urgent, from our personal perspective. It this describes you, and your art business is not going as well as you like, then you need to reorder your priorities so that you put as much importance on your business as you do your creativity.

2.  People Will Disappoint You – Prepare for the Best – Never Discount the Worst

A promised show at a gallery never materializes, or comes at the worst time of the year for success. Buyers will return art, or show interest, but never call you back. Publishers will say they want to work with you and then keep you in suspense for months before sending a declining letter.

Some years ago, I put in hundreds of hours on a promising publishing project with an artist who was backed by a multimillionaire venture capitalist. I created a killer world class marketing plan for the project. It would have made all participating wealthy. The artist would have become a nationally recognized figure.  Ultimately, we had the plan, the financing and an artist with the talent, but not the temperament to let a world class enterprise build around him. The VC lost faith and pulled the plug. Had I taken the time to know the artist better in the early going, I would have seen the problem coming and bailed sooner.

If an opportunity is in front of you, and it appears worthwhile, don’t fall in love with it. Do what is reasonable to seize the opportunity, but also work out in advance the worst case scenario, which is what happens if it fails. Conceptualizing the worst allows you to accept it if it should happen. If the worst is more than you can bear, don’t get started. Don’t confuse being a realist with being a pessimist. You can be very optimistic and still know potential problems lie ahead. 

3.  Aid Will Come from Unlikely Places

If you are ready and confident and moving forward on your own strength, then you are a much better candidate for some unforeseen force to come into your life with surprising aid. Success and trust are powerful attractors.

You can’t write down provenance on a business plan, but I have seen it happen many times. This is where hard work and talent intersect at what appears to be luck. This is the polar opposite of point #2 above. It is never chance that an artist is invited to submit pieces to a museum, or to join a prestigious gallery, or is approached by a topnotch publisher with brilliant ideas and great contacts for promoting their work.

These things happen because the art is worthy, and the artist has succeeded on his or her own terms. When a door opens to a genuine offer that can elevate the artist’s work and career in ways no one saw coming, it nearly always due to the artist’s steady and consistently improving work on their creative skills and their marketing prowess. 

4.  Keep What Is Important in Your Name and Under Your Control

A perfect example of this is a domain name. Do you have a domain name, such as SallySmithFineArt.com, for your business? If you use such a domain name, and it is not in an account in your name, then you are setup for a severe problem. Never let a web developer, or anyone else buy and maintain a domain name for you in their account. A relationship can sour and your domain gets caught in the process, or is used as leverage to get you to comply with things you would not have otherwise considered.

If you are in this situation now, you need to take immediate action to get the domain in your own account.  If the current account holder balks, then you have identified a potentially critical control issue with that person.  Get the domain under your control, and then get better representation or partners.

It is not just domain names. The test is "the thing" more imporant to you than the person who owns or controls it? If you determine it is, then you need to assure you get it under your control.

5.  You Have Choices — Use Them!

You may sometimes feel like you are stuck, but you are not. You always have options. You may have to be patient with working out an alternative scenario, and not be able to apply your new plans immediately. But, you can put plans in motion to turn things around for you. You can choose to work to another kind of life or situation.

One thing you control is your attitude. You can choose to let things get you down, and to let troubling personalities in your life make you miserable. Or, you can choose not to let circumstances or people get you down. It’s easier to say than do, but still quite possible.

Whether it is what seems like bad luck, or bad people harshing your mellow, you can choose to not get caught in the drama such things often foster. Recently, I’ve had a water heater fail, and a pool pump fail, and a bathroom faucet need replacement. All were costly and unexpected repairs.

For a minute, I had a pity party about why so many things keep happening to me. But, then I chose to be happy to have the luxury of hot water on demand, and a swimming pool in the back yard.  The worst is some other bills will take longer to get paid than I anticipated. I can live with that.

Being happy is its own reward.

Go out. Be your best. Do your best. Be ready when good fortune comes. Don’t let misfortune ruin your outlook.

How to Price Art Prints

Knowing How to Price Art Prints and Giclees Is Essential to Success.

Last week, the How to Price Digital Fine Art Prints e-book was introduced to my readers.

The announcement indicated it was being used exclusively as a promotion for buyers of my popular book, How to Profit from the Art Print Market, 2^nd Edition. It also was mentioned the e-book would be available for purchase as an individual product at a later date.

At the time, I thought it would be less confusing to stagger the book bundle and the e-book separately. In retrospect, it seems simultaneously offering the e-book individually, and as an incentive for new book buyers might have worked better.

There is insight from this process for me. Perhaps some of you will gain something from it, as well.

When You Are In a Hurry, Take Your Time!

Just like many of my readers, I work full-time outside the art business. This is so I can provide affordable, reliable health care for my family. As such, everything I do for Art Print Issues, or new projects like the "How to Price Prints" e-book project, are done in overtime hours.

I was proud of going from concept to the finished product in just over a month. But, I also was eager to get it to market. Given there were ten contributing authors, there were many details to attend to bring this e-book to life. The intensity of the producing the project left little time and energy to design the best way to introduce the e-book.

There Always Is Time to Do It Right the Second Time

Because I was too eager to publish the book, I did not reserve enough time to reflect and solicit opinions on the what to do about launching the book. Normally, it's not that big of a deal. You have a product, and you put it out there. But, because this one had complexities such as being offered free in a bundle, and as an individual download, it required more time to finesse it than I put in.

It's not the end of the world. The book is available to purchase and download. Click Here to Order Your Copy Today!

Questions were asked whether the "How to Price Art Prints" e-book was available as a free download to previous buyers. Considering readers have freely benefited from nearly 500 blog posts here; it seems normal this issue would arise. 

The reasons previous book buyers should buy this e-book are:

1. There is no affordable way to fairly distribute retroactive free downloads. 
2. I am confident the book alone provides far more value than the purchase price to artists. 
3. Given there have been thousands of hours spent publishing posts to help artists be more successful, it seems previous book buyers who need the "How to Price Prints" e-book should not mind making a small purchase to receive highly valuable information.
4. It's an easy affordable way to show support for the practical advice and art marketing content published in nearly 500 free Art Print Issues blog posts over the years.
5. Giving back - see below

The NAEF Is My Cause!

A minimum of $2.00 from every sale, whether from the bonus book bundle, or from individual downloads will be donated to the National Arts Education Foundation.

Children are our future. Arts programs and budgets in our schools are under siege. When you buy the e-book, part of your purchase price goes to one of the most worthy organizations to support the arts in schools. You will soon see a sidebar link that will show you the progress of our donations.

Exploring Open Edition Art Print Market Opportunities

Art World News Reports on the Fine Art Print Market

The article here is reprinted with permission from the September issue of Art World News. The publication is must reading for visual artists, fine art photographers, art publishers and galleries. This is the first of two articles I wrote on the subject of how artists can benefit from working with open edition prints.

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Exploring Open Edition Art Print Market Opportunities

Reviewing the history the art print market reveals its growth has been fueled by both limited edition and open edition prints. In recent decades, the market divided into camps of limited edition and open edition print publishing models.

Whole cottage industries of art print publishers matured around one model or the other. When managed properly, both models have proven to be successful. This is due to mainstream art buyers rarely favoring one model to the exclusion of the other. Such openness fueled opportunities for both limited and open edition print business models.

Limited editions were borne from necessity.

When the first prints were made, printing techniques forced small print runs. For instance, because etching plates degrade with each press pass, only a small number of high quality prints are possible. The practice of numbering prints was a natural evolution. Art sellers instinctively realized numbered limited editions created a powerful marketing tool, one still used in modern fine art print marketing.

Although there are no limitations to producing very high quality digital prints, many artists and publishers, who have grown their business with limited edition prints, continue to use them to market gicleés. It is easy to understand why these marketers reject upsetting a profitable working model to move into open edition prints. Nevertheless, there are untapped prospects for them in the open edition market.

Massive Change Creates Chaos and Opportunity

Changes in the art print market over the past decade mirror other industries. Major factors include worsening economic conditions, changes in both wholesale distribution and consumer buying habits. Big box retailing, foreign imports, and the growth of e-commerce with its comparative shopping power and purchasing ease compounded the deviations. The speed of changes and widespread acceptance to them completes a picture of chaotic market disruption.

Changes such as these have closed the doors on old business practices while creating new ones. The swift shuttering of 135-year old Decor magazine and its once dominant Decor Expo Atlanta tradeshow is a prime example of how quickly a business can become irrelevant and obsolete. On the upside, artists and publishers are finding new ways to use the significant advantages of print-on-demand (POD) technology, social media, online galleries, personal websites, blogs and more to create new marketing opportunities.  

Print-on-demand Technology Forever Altered the Music, Book Publishing, Film and Art Industries

Smart art marketers use POD technology to meet consumer demands as never before. Although adopting the idea of offering open editions that come in multiple sizes has not come easily to some limited edition art publishers and galleries, it’s time they take note. The future is calling.

The success of Artaissance.com, a publishing company owned by picture framing manufacturing and distribution giant, Larson-Juhl, demonstrates how to take full advantage of POD technology. It encourages buyers to choose canvas or paper. Artaissance understands the importance to buyers of being able to order their art in the size they need to fit their unique spaces. This is a consumer benefit and sales and marketing opportunity rolled together. It’s no surprise the company uses www.ArtThatFits.com to promote its offerings.

Many of Our Most Revered Artists Have Leveraged the Art Print Market

There is a rich history of artists whose works made the case for the open edition print market long before the advent of digital printing. Imagine how the estates of such print market giants as Maxfield Parrish and Ansel Adams would have suffered, as would have millions of their art buying fans, had either chosen to sell strictly limited editions of their images.

The huge success of Art.com verifies art can effectively be sold via e-commerce. Since its business model is nearly all open editions, it also proves strong buyer demand for them. Interestingly, if you research top selling prints on Art.com, you find a mix of classic works by artists such as Van Gogh, Picasso and Monet along with contemporary pieces. This illustrates the interest in quality, both old and new and eclectic buyer tastes.

It's About the Art - Open and Limited Editions Both Sell Well

These observations confirm that quality compelling work, whether old or new, and whether an open or a limited edition, can always find a market. And, they further demonstrate consumers are less concerned about open versus limited editions than wanting to own and live with an image special to them. Limited edition digital prints are not driven by consumer demand. While limiteds offer sales support in a closing room, it is the art itself, whether original, limited or open edition that brings buyers and sellers together.

The achievements of Jen Bekman’s 20x200.com limited edition print online gallery attests to efficacy of the limited edition model.  An April 12, 2010 article on the FastCompany.com website reports, “Since its launch, 20x200 has sold more than 65,000 prints by both emerging and established artists, and in 2009, 20x200 received $885,000 in funding in a Series A round led by True Ventures.”

Marketing Decisions Are Personal Business Decisions Only the Artist Can Make

These are impressive results, especially given recalcitrant market conditions. Such success aside, the question remains whether the site’s accomplishments come at the expense of profits left on the table for those artists whose work would sell well for years to come in open editions.

Given there is ample evidence of potential success with both limited and open edition models, artists frequently ask if they can use the same image both ways. There is no consensus about this question. It’s an ongoing debate leading to a personal decision only the artist can make.

Why Should Visual Artists Be Saddled with a Business Model That Limits Their Income?

I believe visual artists should not be forced to accept artificial caps on the potential income from their works. There is no model in any of the other arts where artists’ works are limited. You don’t find it in films, books, music or theatre. Nor is there any “sold out” backlash when a book, film, or record sells millions of copies. Visual artists should not have artificially imposed limitations on their income when more profitable options are available.

Given digital printing dominates the print market, and has no constraints on endlessly producing pristine reproductions, the idea of using only limited edition digital prints seems arcane and not the best model for the print market in the 21^st Century. I believe artists can succeed with the same image in both limited and open edition prints, if done with honesty, integrity and transparency.

A Workable Model to Sell Both Open and Limited Edition Fine Art Prints

A limited edition of 100 prints in one size on one substrate, hand-embellished by the artist is suggested. This would serve gallery or collector demand for limited editions with full disclosure about open editions. Such an exclusive edition would create a collectible print edition and potential secondary market for the image.

Open editions of the same image could then be offered on a variety of substrates and sizes. They would be of stated lesser quality than the limited edition. Because there are no industry standards on how to manage such practices, artists and publishers need to be transparent with their actions, including publicly posting notices of their publishing practices. 

Reputation Management is the Key to Success Building Repeat Buyers.

How a publisher or artist manages providing full disclosure to all buyers of availability of both limited and open editions is crucial. Treating your buyers, prospective buyers, galleries and dealers with honesty, integrity, and consistency is how to succeed in the print market with open and limited editions.

Savvy consumers have easily available powerful research resources, leaving no room for shabby marketing practices. By the same token, if artists conduct their business in a way that exudes high quality and high integrity, they can build a business model that will allow them to profitably sell their images in both open and limited edition markets without losing sleep or collectors.

A second part to this series will appear next month. It will cover how open editions can affect an artist’s career and legacy. Readers will learn about the hidden costs in limited editions, and get details on artists who have had success being in both limited and open edition print markets.

How to Price Digital Fine Art Prints & Giclees

Art Print Pricing Is Used as a Tool by Successful Visual Artists  

There is powerful strategy in knowing how to price fine art prints and giclees. Visual artists who employ effective techniques in pricing their art careers create an advantage for themselves.

Having a proven plan to value your fine art reproductions is vital to profitably managing your art business. A problem for artists, up to now, is they did not have access to the best ideas and techniques for what to charge for their fine art reproductions and giclees.

A Brand New e-book Answers, "How to Price Art Prints?"

Visual artists and fine art photographers, will find the How to Price Digital Fine Art Prints e-book by Barney Davey an invaluable resource. It is a reference they will regularly use for guidance on to answer the puzzzling question, “How to price digital fine art prints and giclees?"

Small Business Owners Routinely Make Critical Decisions.

As with all entrepreneurs, you make daily decisions on numerous business-crucial questions. Properly assessing art values requires a confident decision on your part. Since it is one of your most important decisions, get your giclee fine art prints in the “sweet spot”  where they are neither “too high” nor “too low.” is essential. Dialing in the right numbers keeps you from losing sales at the high end and losing profits at the low end.

You will find this e-book loaded with insights from art marketing experts. When you tap into their knowledge, you will profitably begin to price your digital fine art prints and giclees for your greatest success.

Currently, This e-book Cannot Be Purchased. It Comes As a Bonus.

Your How to Price Digital Art Prints e-book is a free with your purchase of Barney Davey’s bestseller art print marketing book. It comes as a bonus download with purchased copies of How to Profit from the Art Print Market, 2^nd Edition.The book bundle can be purchased at www.BarneyDavey.com/bonus

Rather not buy the book bundle?

The How to Price Digital Fine Art Prints e-book is available for $14.99 now. 

CLICK HERE TO ORDER HERE FOR INSTANT DOWNLOAD!

Reposting: Should Artists Work with Galleries, Go Direct to Collectors or Do Both?

Last year, Lori McNee and I tackled the question whether artists should use galleries, sell direct, or work both channels. The question is one every professional artist must answer. And, they must answer it in the context of today's evolving art market where change is the most constant thing we know.

Because the need to understand the options remains great, I am reposting here the article that kicked off the series. It garnered lots of interest from our mutual readers. You can use the links in the post here to read the entire series.

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 In the art business, if you hang out online with your kind or tribe as Seth Godin calls them, it does not take long to find lots of interesting folks whose work you admire. Such is the case with fine artist and prolific blogger Lori McNee and me.

Through mutual requests, we decided instead of guest blogging for each other that it would be a fun experiment to collaborate conversation style keeping to a single art marketing topic. It was an easy choice to first tackle whether visual artists should work on getting into galleries, seek to build their own direct-to-collector distribution, or do both.

Barney:  Although it arguably is contradictory, I am in the “do both” camp. While I believe artists will enjoy many benefits by working with galleries, working exclusively makes artists too reliant on things out of their control. In year’s past, there were no options and the gallery system was stronger.

I do not advocate abandoning art galleries. However, in today's art market, well established art galleries can get blindly buzz sawed by circumstances beyond their control and wreak havoc to the detriment of its artists in the process. And, now visual artists have tools to sell direct as never before. In their own interest, I believe they should pursue them alongside galleries.  As entrepreneurs, artists must tend their art careers and art businesses. That means being aware of changes and making the most of them for their own sake.

Lori:  This is one of the most heated topics being debated by artists right now. In fact, this very subject has been the focus of conversation during the past two weekends on my visits and paint-outs with some very influential professional artists. This is what I learned:
•    Surprisingly, some nationally recognized artists have begun to abandon the gallery route in favor of studio shows, self promoted exhibitions and direct marketing sales.
•    The majority of artists, including myself, believe in a healthy combination of gallery representation and self promotional sales.
•    The minority believe in relying on galleries for their sole promotion and sales.

Here is the synopsis: Direct marketing is the trend for 2010-2011. Gone are the days when galleries could hang art and easily sell it off the walls.  In light of the challenging economic times, the art market has suffered and galleries have been struggling. Most prospective collectors do not have the disposable income they once enjoyed. Now when a buyer does decide to invest their hard earned money in art, the collector wants a personal connection or better understanding of the artist. Galleries and artists can now tap into the ‘direct marketing’ approach with the use of Social Media, blogs, websites, YouTube as well as artists’ receptions, arts/crafts fairs, etc. This new form of direct marketing is the wave of the future.

Barney:  Today, society’s quick acceptance of change affects every business large and small. For example, could Google have imagined a closed social network platform launched to find the best looking freshmen on campus would evolve into the most serious threat it has known?

Facebook, other social media and ecommerce have changed consumer habits affecting the business model of brick & mortar galleries. Another factor is the Darwinian effects caused by the collapsing housing market that pummeled all businesses providing anything for homes, including art galleries.  

Changing times require artists learn to be self-reliant. Fortunately with the available tools, this is the best time ever for visual artists to control their destiny and to sell direct. That said, I believe galleries serve an important role, are here to stay and should be treated with respect.  

There is a term called coopetition where companies compete on some fronts and cooperate on others. I believe this is the future for artists and galleries. On one side galleries need to recognize and accept artists will compete with them without accepting suicidal head on direct sales battles. On the other, artists have to bring more to the table than art that sells, i.e., a personal brand, a loyal following, a killer mailing list, media contacts and so forth. Creative concerned coopetition should be the key to growth and survival for artists and galleries.

Lori:  I really like the idea of coopetition.  Some galleries might be hesitant to warm up to this mutually beneficial new idea.  Therefore, artists need to be proactive in building trust with their galleries through open communication.  I see this as the natural evolution of the artist/gallery relationship.

Barney: Despite that we both agree a combination of working with galleries and direct sales is the best. I believe we also agree there is no perfect answer. Artists can still be very successful being exclusively with galleries only program, or vice-versa handling all sales direct to collectors. Obviously, social media can play a huge part in marketing an art career no matter what path an artist chooses to follow.  

Stay tuned. This conversation will get into social media and art marketing in our next installment, to be announced.

You can find the second installment, Visual Artist’s Challenge II – Balancing Self Promotion & Gallery Representation, on Lori's Fine Art Tips blog.

Five More Specific Ways to Use Affordable Prints to Promote Your Work and Earn Income

If you missed last week's post by Andrew Darlow, check it out here. Then read the following for more good ideas on how to create new income from affordable prints in a range of sizes.

In Part I of this article, I shared a number of suggestions for using affordable prints to promote your work and earn income. In that article, I touched on some specific examples that I've used over the years. This time, I will delve deeper and offer five specific things you can do to promote your work.

As in the last article, the primary target group for these tips are those who are currently marketing or selling “high-end” prints, such as original oil paintings, matted photo c-prints, gelatin silver prints on fiber paper, high-quality reproductions on canvas (a.k.a. giclée), or signed pigment inkjet prints on paper or canvas. That being said, anyone interested in using prints to promote just about any visual or performing art can benefit from the information.

1. Make Cards!

The two words above can be very powerful and profitable. Much like being chosen as an artist for a series of postage stamps, there is also a sense of prestige attached to having one's work on a blank card (as long as the quality of the card is very good!). The reason is because greeting cards are often chosen carefully by people who write their heartfelt words in them filled with emotion. Cards then become like a testimonial or endorsement for your work. It's a bit like forwarding a link to a friend of a beautiful photo or other art that you noticed online, but taken to a higher, much more personal level.

To increase your chances of being noticed, include a very small portrait of yourself and a short bio on the back of the card that explains that the image on the front is from a particular series of fine art prints.

The front and back of one of a series of five cards that I produced as part of a large print run can be seen here.

For even better examples, I recommend referring to the layout and text used on the backs of many of the cards distributed by nonprofit organizations for their fundraising efforts.

Cards are also ideal for use as thank you notes. If a collector purchases one of your prints, you might send a thank you note to him or her with a similar, but different image on the card. You might even send, as a thank you, a box of 8-12 cards and envelopes. For maximum impact, each card could have a different image on the front.

I generally recommend 5x7 inches as an ideal folded card size, primarily because it is a common size sold in stores, nice envelopes are available in bulk at a very affordable cost, and they can be mailed in the USA for the cost of a first-class stamp (currently 44 cents).

2. Donate Your Prints to Nonprofit Organizations

Nonprofit organizations conduct a lot of fundraising events. One of the most popular ways of raising money is by conducting a silent auction (there are many other names for it as well). In a silent action, the organization collects donations of goods and services from companies or individuals. Those items are then usually displayed on tables. Next to each item is a cup or basket. Attendees/supporters of the charity purchase tickets, and they drop tickets into the baskets for the items in which they are interested in winning.

I have helped raise funds for about 10 different organizations over the last 5-10 years through donations of an 18x24-inch signed Dalmatian print (reproduced at the top of the page). I've donated as many as five at one time, which was not difficult for me because they were already printed, and they could easily and inexpensively be shipped via a Priority Mail tube. In return, I was able to distribute printed materials, business cards, etc. at the event (either in-person, or the organizer put out the items on my behalf). Nonprofits will also often list companies and their websites on their websites.

Here's a related tip for protecting your prints while allowing the nonprofit organization to easily display your work: To help protect your prints inexpensively, and to make it easy for a promotional sheet of paper with your bio and other information to be inserted with the print (that's one more tip!), I highly recommend individually wrapping each print in a clear bag. Crystal clear bags are available in packs of 100 from Clearbags.com and in packs of 10 or 100 from FrameDestination.com. You might also consider framing the print(s), and in that case, I would recommend protecting the art with a see-through heavyweight bag, such as the GalleryPouch Gold bubble bag, produced by FrameDestination.com. Disclosure: I am not an employee of Frame Destination, but I helped develop the GalleryPouch bag with the company after I needed such a product for my large canvas prints.

3. Use Raffles/Contests to Help Promote Your Work

This tip is similar to the one above, but important to note because of the power of raffles/contests and other giveaways. If you give a presentation for a group of people, such as a camera club or civic organization, giving away affordable prints is a great way to collect e-mail addresses so that you can keep people informed of your upcoming workshops, seminars, projects, website updates and other events.

The best way I've found to make this work is to distribute sheets of paper during the event with a few lines on the top inviting people to write any questions in case there is no time for questions, or if they would just prefer not to ask their question in front of the group. Of course, you would need to be prepared to answer them after the event either via e-mail or phone (or via a group e-mail that answers all the additional questions that people wrote).

Below those lines, you would then ask them to check one or two large boxes next to two sections of text. One line has text that asks if they would like to be entered to win one of x number of prints, and the other line has text that asks if they would like to receive your updates via e-mail. I also always include a note that their e-mail will not be shared or sold.

This approach also works well anywhere you have permission to put a sample of your work next to a raffle entry box. Examples include trade shows, art installations where your work is hanging, retail stores, etc.

4. Use Prints to Get More Speaking Opportunities, and More Listeners

Speaking to groups of people, whether during an exhibition of your work, or at a school or other location, is one of the best ways to promote your work and yourself. However, sometimes camera clubs and other groups have a very small budget from which to pay speakers. A specific way to get paid appropriately for your time is to work out an arrangement with a group's leadership that allows members to pay in advance for a signed print that they can claim and have personalized following your talk. To spur sales and guarantee a certain number of attendees, a lower price can be offered prior to the event compared to the cost of the print purchased at the event.

On a similar note, you can contact a media outlet (local or international) and make a certain number of prints available during an interview with you (usually via a random selection of e-mail addresses from everyone who sends you an e-mail with a specific subject line). Or you can set up a special page on a specific website, such as www.andrewdarlow.com/xyzcontest. On that page could be an example of your work, a bio, and a form for people to enter the contest. At the same time, they could request to be added to your e-mail list.

5. Use Prints as Gifts or As Promotional Items

Affordable prints are a fantastic gift that can be used in many ways. First, they can be used as a promotional item that is part of a promotion when someone purchases your higher-end prints or art. They can also be used as a gift that is not disclosed, but which you send to collectors as a thank you for choosing one of your higher-end prints.

I've used affordable prints as gifts for many years. They are a fantastic way to say thank you to someone who really likes your work, or someone who helped you in some way. Like most art, framing an affordable print generally elevates the emotional and perceived value of the print.

Though a bit off-topic, framing your affordable prints with a mat is a great idea because you are helping people add your artwork to their life without any extra work (except maybe putting a nail into a wall!).

Five Ways to Use Affordable Prints to Profitably Promote Your Work

This week, I bring to you guest blogger of considerable renown. Andrew Darlow is a photographer par excellence, an author and digital imaging consultant. He is also sought after as a lecturer and seminar and workshop leader around the world at photo-related conferences, and for photography organizations. See his extensive and impressive biography at the conclusion of this post.

Kudos Humbly Accepted

First, I’d like to thank Barney Davey for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you on ArtPrintIssues.com. I’ve learned so much from Barney’s book, How to Profit from the Art Print Market, as well as his writings on this website and others. I greatly value the information and insight he has shared through many artist case studies.

In this article, I will cover some specific tips for creating affordable prints that you can start using right away, whether your specialty is painting, photography, sculpture, or just about any other visual or performing art. The word affordable means different things to different people, but in general, I would define affordable as having a retail price from $1-$100.

A Few Words About My Journey

Before I list my suggestions, I think a very short personal history will help set the stage. I’ve been creating and printing my photographic works for more than 25 years. As a child, I would experience the wonder of prints in family albums and the beauty of signed and numbered lithographs on the walls of my home by artists like Michel Delacroix and Edna Hibel. I even started my own personal art collection by filling the walls of my room with unframed posters of red Ferraris and Lamborghinis. My older brother opted for posters of Bruce Springsteen and Tom Seaver, as well as a few outstanding framed serigraphs of the New York Yankees from the late 1970’s World Series.

At about age 14, I started taking pictures and would order 3x5- and 4x6- inch photo prints from local photo stores, drugstores, etc. My first foray into darkroom printing was in high school, where I took pictures for my school newspaper and yearbook. In every case, whether output on thin newsprint or bright, glossy pages, I learned the power of the printed image. Since then, I’ve focused heavily on the art of printmaking, including teaching others how to make better prints, licensing my photographs to publishing companies, exhibiting my prints on paper and canvas, self-publishing posters and cards, and creating prints for my portrait photography clients.

THE TIPS

There are many ways to promote your work and earn income with affordable prints. Here are a few specific ideas to get you started:

Please note: The primary target group for the tips below are those who are currently marketing or selling “high-end” prints, such as original oil paintings, high-quality reproductions on canvas (a.k.a. giclée), matted photo c-prints, or signed pigment inkjet prints on acid-free paper or canvas. That being said, anyone interested in using prints to promote anything from a music band to handmade crafts can benefit from the information:

1. Distinguish between your “high-end” signed prints and your promotional prints.

In general, promotional prints should be inexpensive and easy to produce (only minor handling necessary), and they should not compete with your original artwork. To further distinguish promotional prints from “high-end” prints, I highly recommend clearly showcasing your name and the title of the specific work or series you are showing, as is commonly done in the poster market.

I’ve used this approach on multiple occasions, including when I produced an edition of 301 11x14-inch prints of the Chrysler Building. I used it in part to help promote my book, 301 Inkjet Tips and Techniques.

2. Decide whether you want to produce open edition or limited edition promotional prints.

This is not an easy decision to make, but in my opinion, affordable promotional prints are generally most successful when they are open editions (not numbered or limited editions). The other advantage of making them open editions is that collectors of your high-end prints will clearly see the difference between your high-end prints and your affordable prints. A specific line on your Certificate of Authenticity indicating that you reserve the right to sell promotional prints of the same image is also a good idea. Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and I recommend you consult one (or find out the laws in your state and/or country) if you plan to sell any art.

3. Decide on the size and quantity of the promotional print(s)

The size and quantities you choose for your promotional prints are important considerations. In the US and Canada, popular sizes include 8x10, 11x14, 16x20 and 18x24 inches. The reason to choose one of these sizes is because affordable frames can be found in any of those sizes, which dramatically reduces the overall cost to the buyer. Creating a series of promotional prints in the same size is also a good idea, as many people like decorating with similar themes and sizes.

For example, I created a series of 11x14-inch metal prints made by a company called MagnaChrome during a recent exhibition of my large-scale prints entitled: GRANDmarks – NYC. They were experimental and not for sale during the show, but I plan to make some changes and I may start selling them in the near future for about $85 each.

4. Decide how you are going to have your work printed.

There are many ways to create affordable prints, from doing it yourself using a quality inkjet printer, to doing a run of thousands of pieces in which the overall cost is high, but the per-piece cost is very low.

Continuous-tone c-prints are also generally affordable if you keep the size of the prints under 12x18 inches. Costco’s photo department is generally a good and affordable option (with the ability to order online and pick up in person), though the paper they use is thinner than most professional color labs. One of the best labs I’ve tested for photo prints is ProDPI in Englewood, CO.

Another option is to use a company that does “short-run” printing to produce promotional prints. Many photo labs now offer the service. I recommend looking for companies who use the HP Indigo or Kodak NexPress printers, as they produce outstanding quality with relatively low minimum orders.

Yet another approach is to find a company to handle print fulfillment for you “on-demand.” Some examples include art.com, imagekind.com and redbubble.com. There’s no cost to create an account. You just upload your artwork and start selling. In some cases, you choose your markup, and in other cases, there is a set markup.

5. Share a press run with one or more friends

Though not for the faint at heart, a press run on a large 4 or 6 color offset press can make it possible for you to create thousands of prints relatively inexpensively. By “ganging up” multiple people’s projects on a high-quality heavyweight acid-free paper, you can save considerably on the cost per piece, though it’s always possible that one artist won’t be happy with the results.

Watch for Part Two of This Article Coming Soon

Now that you know how to create your prints, in Part II of this article, I will cover specific ways to market your prints, both on a “hyper-local” level, as well as on a global scale.

Andrew Darlow Bio

Andrew Darlow is a multi-talented photographer, author and speaker. Some of the prestigious organizations that have tapped into his expertise include the Advertising Photographers of America (APA), The Center for Fine Art Photography, the Arles Photo Festival and the International Center of Photography (ICP).

His editorial and fine-art work have been featured in numerous magazines, including Photo District News, PDN Gear Guide, Popular Photography, Professional Photographer, Rangefinder, and Studio Photography magazine. His work has been widely exhibited and his prints are held in many private collections.

Darlow is editor of The Imaging Buffet (www.imagingbuffet.com), an online resource with news, reviews, and interviews covering the subjects of photography, printing, and new media. His new book, 301 Inkjet Tips and Techniques: An Essential Printing Resource for Photographers (Course Technology, PTR) was chosen as the winner in the "Photography: Instructional/How-To" category of The National Best Books 2008 Awards, sponsored by USA Book News.

For more information, visit the book's companion site at www.inkjettips.com. His newest book is Pet Photography 101: Tips for Taking Better Photos of Your Dog or Cat (Focal Press). For more information, visit the book's companion site at www.PhotoPetTips.com, and for 12 free tips from Andrew's book: 301 Inkjet Tips and Techniques, plus a PDF for selecting the right resolution for printing, visit www.imagingbuffet.com/newsletter.