4. Passionate about art and Profit

If you are an artist passionate about your art, you are in the majority. 

If you are passionate about art and business, you are in a rare and a fortunate minority who stand a chance at making a profitable enterprise from their creative expression.

If you are not interested in business and marketing, what are you doing here?

Personally, I find business just as creative and satisfying as painting.

I like marketing so very much that I dedicate every Monday to cooking up business and marketing strategies for other creatives.

In fact, it is my passion for business that fueled the creation of my upcoming online business course for artists, Making Art/Making Money. And, if I hear “starving artist” one more time I’m going to scream.

Think the artist’s and the entrepreneur’s personality profiles are incompatible?  Think again. 

The most successful entrepreneurs are highly imaginative. Think Steve Jobs.

The only subject Jobs studied in college was typography. The beautiful and elegant designs of all things Apple is a reflection of his keen interest in the Japanese Zen aesthetic.

5. Emotional Intelligence

The biggest indicator of success and happiness is EI (Emotional Intelligence). 

The good news about EI is that unlike your IQ (Intellectual Quotient), which you are pretty much stuck with, your EI can be elevated.  

Because art is personal, and rejection can sting harder, a high degree of EI is required to persist.

6. Ability to Focus

Last but not least. Since you will be shifting from creator to entrepreneur you need the ability to shift gears and focus.

Too many artists think that somehow they are separate. One painter I consulted with remarked about me, “You are an entrepreneur first and artist second.”  I replied. “Really? Actually, I am proudly both.” 

Each ability resides within me.  They are not separate aspects of myself with a hierarchy.  Jeez! I have my work cut out for me.

If you are a surgeon with your own practice you are an entrepreneur and a surgeon. 

If you are a plumber who owns his or her own business, you are an entrepreneur and a plumber. It’s that simple.  And it is possible!

So you must focus on the business side of your enterprise as expertly as you focus on the creative side. 

If you are serious about building a creative enterprise, you must pay the minimum price of admission.

First, the minimum price will tap some financial resources because you have to spend money on your business to make money. 

Second, the higher currency required comes from your internal resources. 

1. Cohesive and unique body of talented work

First things first. If you want to sell art, you’ll need some to sell. 

I always ask artists, “How much work do you have?”  and I sometimes get, “Oh, only a few pieces right now.” If that’s the case, it’s time to get back to the studio.

There is an old adage in retail, “Stack ‘em high and watch ‘em buy.”  I’m not suggesting that you can sell art just because you have inventory. 

I am emphasizing that you will need a credible amount of cohesive art to take advantage of sales opportunities and to confidently demonstrate your creative direction.

2. Productivity

You had better be productive. Once that inventory is sold you’ll need more to satisfy demand. 

If you suffer from creative blocks you’ll need to up your EI, (Emotional Intelligence) before you embark on a business venture to sell your art.

Don’t know how to balance creative time and business time?  Keep it simple.  Divide the day in half. Mornings are my business time, afternoons are my creative time. 

If I’m in high creative or business development gear this balance shifts.  Right now I’m mainly in business development gear because I’m promoting a new marketing program.

Note, there is nothing more motivating or inspiring to me than selling my art. I can’t wait to go make more.

3. Left-brain & right brain shifting ability

In Daniel Pink’s book a “Whole New Mind”, he breaks down our current economy, the “conceptual economy”, and he profiles the rise of the creative class.

When you delve deeper into the book he explains that the economic future actually belongs to those who can shift back and forth and integrate creativity and logic.  You’ll need both. 

I once heard a very left-brain colleague from the National Speaker’s Association say “I’m not creative.” My response, “That’s ridiculous, of course you are.  That’s like saying I’m not logical.”  It’s not an either or proposition, we each possess two hemispheres in our brains.

Tune in next week for the other three of six readiness factors for selling art.

Notice that I am heading this post with “Art Marketing then Art Sales?”

In conversation we hear “sales and marketing.” This is backwards.

It could be also be titled:

·      “Music Marketing then Music  Sales”

·      “Film Marketing then Film Sales”

·      “Photography Marketing then Photography Sales”

You get the picture so follow the yellow brick road.

1.    Identify your unique value proposition and target market

2.    Create a marketing strategy

3.    Execute a sales campaign

4.    Rinse and repeat

Creatives must start by defining a unique value proposition and target market and then a sales campaign to execute each strategy.

Step 1 -  Identify your unique value proposition and target market

For example a fashion photographer who I was coaching identified his market: fashion boutiques in San Francisco that have eCommerce sites.

This is a very specific market with an ongoing need for fashion photography.

Now he could start the conversation with his prospects by showing them his portfolio and resume and all of his credentials and blah, blah, blah.

But as I’m always telling the creatives I coach, “It’s not about you, it’s about them.”

Step 2 - Create a marketing strategy

So he led his conversations by quoting a client, “Since working with Cody, our web sales are up 200%. His photography pays for itself in the increased business we see.”

Bam!  That’s what I’m taking about!

See how the truth is the best marketing strategy?  So that endorsement formed the basis for a marketing strategy to a target market of fashion boutiques.

Why have a handful of fashion boutique cleints when you can have a bunch?

But we are just getting started.

Step 3 – Execute a sales campaign

• The sales campaign consists of walking door to door to each boutique to find out if they have an eCommerce site and to determine who the decision maker is for hiring a photographer.
• Then this photographer has to contact the decision maker and relay his unique value.
• The sales execution is not for the weary.  It requires persistence.  Why?  Because it’s a numbers game.  Prepare for 99 nos to every yes.
• It takes great courage to believe in yourself and that is why sales people must build their self confidence and fuel their motivation.

Step 4 - Rinse and repeat

Once you have completed executing a sales campaign you must examine its effectiveness, then  rinse and repeat.

The point of this post is to simply outline the logic of the sequence that many artists have confused.

It is ten times easier to believe in yourself when you a logical have a plan.  Without it your efforts are backwards.

Selling art is a numbers game.

Much like painting.  You have to paint a number of paintings before you get a good one.

In the last post, we reviewed the first few steps in qualifying a buyer.

1.   Build rapport

2.   Get an up front agreement

3.   Uncover their pain

Assuming that you have a motivated buyer, here are the next steps follow.

4.   Determine their budget.  No matter how motivated they are they must have the dough. So find out.  Ask them, “What is your budget range?”  If they already know the price then you can move on to the next step.

5.   Confirm that you are dealing with the decision maker.  Are they going to make the decision to buy or is there someone else who will be involved in the decision?  A partner, a colleague? Ask.

6.   Now you have qualified the prospect, ask for the sale.  This is an often overlooked step because artists what to avoid rejection.  Here are some questions you can ask to move your prospect towards a final decision.

·      “Do you feel like you have enough information to make a decision?”

·     “I’m ready to get to work if you feel that you are ready to commit. What do you think?”

·      “I’ve enjoyed talking to you and I’m ready to draw up the agreement. How about you?”

Don’t skip these steps.  If you follow this proven sequence your sales results will improve. Don’t get discouraged.  Like all artistic endevors, sales requires practice to improve your skill.

Relax.  Build rapport. Ask questions so that you talk less and listen more.

I’ll admit.  Selling art can be a very difficult endeavor.

But I never let my frustration outweigh my gratitude for the opportunity I have to earn my living through my art.  This is bliss.  Yet it wasn’t always this way.

I’ve had to struggle and work hard to get where I am.  And I’ll have to continue this to get where I aim to go.

Every time I make a sale I am grateful.  Very grateful.  And I express this very clearly to my patrons.

In fact, I stay in touch with them each year and express my gratitude by offering them a small gift such as calendars or note cards.

Notice, I’m not giving away original oil paintings or fine art prints. These are thoughtful, affordable, and tasteful tokens.

I recently sent a patron a small package of note cards.  I had no attachment or expectation of a response.

To my delight she asked if she could purchase a custom order of these note cards.  My investment in a small gift resulted in an immediate $2000 sale.

Again, I wasn’t attached to the outcome. I considered this a gesture of good will and simply a good customer relations practice.

Good will is very important because most of my business comes by way of referrals.  Outside of my website, I do not advertise my art.

What are you grateful for?  What patrons have supported you? What can you give to express this?

Give and receive freely. Practice gratitude.  What you focus on will multiply.

When is an artist ready to sell their work? An art gallery owner or art representative will determine this based on an artist’s answers to a few questions:

1. How much similar art work do you have in inventory? Art representatives will want to know if they can come back for more.
2. What other art galleries do you work with? They’ll want to have a monopoly on a certain geographic area for your work and want you not to work with anyone else in that market.
3. Do you retail your work through art galleries for more than you sell to art collectors directly? This is a no no.  If you have done this, then it demonstrates a lack of integrity because you are willing to undercut your art representative and compromise the value of your own work.
4. Do you have a website that displays your retail price or allows visitors to purchase online? Again, many art galleries not going to like this because you are eating into their market.
5. Do you accept commissions? It’s easier to sell your work if you are willing and able to do custom work and to deliver it on time.
6. Have you given your art away as gifts to your friends or family? They’ll want to know if you value your work or if you have compromised its value by gifting it.
7. What retail price do you want to sell your art work for? You need to know the answer.  That’s not their job to determine this and it will demonstrate your professionalism.  You’ll receive 50% to 60% of the retail price.
8. Do you make art full time or part time? If you make art part time, how much do you make?  What is your part time job?  The catch is that you can be judged as a hobbiest for making art part time.
9. And here’s the kicker question?  How much work have you sold your art for  for how much? If you haven’t sold anything you are far less appealing.

My answer to the question, When is an artist ready to sell their work? Anytime you have a buyer.

When you build your own market, you have control.  No one can claim a monopoly on a market where the terms are consignment, a common practice that is unethical at best and illegal at worst.

Am I slamming art galleries and or art consultants?  No.  I’m just relaying the questions that I was asked when I worked with art galleries.

Once I realized that I could develop ongoing relationships with my collectors, keep control and all of the money, I stopped working with art representatives.

When is an artist ready to sell their work? I’ve found that I’m always ready to sell my work.  But a representative may be involved in selling another artist’s work.