How To Sell Your Art and How Not To Sell Your Art

---

I just received a weekly update from one of the artists enrolled in my private mentoring program. It may sound familiar to you. By the way, I’m phasing out my mentoring program to focus my attention on The MAKING Art Making MONEY Semester so that I can have a greater impact. Here’s what she said.

I realize that, after I reach out to prospects and when they do not get back to me I feel chicken to reach back out to them and I assume it is a price thing and not a deal or not an urgent need of theirs.

I feel I do not want to bother them or be too pushy by calling and saying what’s up?

The first thing that strikes me is that she did not “level the playing field”, more about this in a minute.

The second thing is that she thinks that she is being a “bother” instead of remembering that she is on a truly worthy mission.

This mission offers her prospects an opportunity of a lifetime.

Trust me I’ve heard plenty of artists whose missions ring hollow because they are self centered and or inauthentic. Her mission is grounded in her soul’s truth.

There are two big problems here. Boundaries and attitude.

These two things will make or break an artist.

Let’s start with boundaries because it’s always a good place to start.

Selling is not manipulation, its simply a guided conversation.

There are eight stages that you must guide the conversation through.

If at any time you discover that you can’t solve your prospect’s problem, you end the conversation and move on your next prospect.

You are in control. It’s your job to set clear boundaries and expectations.

The eight stages of selling art are:

1. Building rapport.
2. Leveling the playing field.
3. Exploring the problem.
4. Determining the budget.
5. Determining if you are speaking to a decision maker.
6. Asking for the sale.
7. Delivering the goods.
8. Asking for referrals.

I’m not going to go into all of the stages of selling art; it’s too much for a single post. I delve into each stage in the Selling Course, one of eight courses in The MAKING Art Making MONEY Semester.

Here’s how you “level the playing field”. You say,

I’d like to ask you a few questions and give you an opportunity to ask me any questions.

If at the end of this meeting it looks like we have a good fit, could we both agree on what our best step is and when to take it?

That’s it. That’s exactly what you say. Easy.

Had this artist “leveled the playing field” she would have:

• not been left hanging or feeling like a “bother”.
• taken control of her time by not leaving herself open to the endless back and forth of chasing a sale.
• known at the end of the last meeting if this person was really a prospect.

Better to know sooner rather than later that someone is not a prospect. Then you can just take them off of your list and save yourself precious time and energy and move on to someone who will buy.

Next it’s about attitude. Her attitude is stuck in her old mindset.

She’s clearly forgotten her mission and she’s still trying to sell, draining her confidence.

All she has to do is determine if she can help her prospect by solving their problem and share how she has solved the problem for others.

If she’s not talking to a qualified prospect, so what.

They will very likely be inspired by her mission and tell other people. They may even refer her to other prospects.

Referrals make for the easiest sales because if you are referred to a prospect they already trust you, shortening the length of the conversation. 

The formula for selling is simple. People buy from other people who they know, like, and trust. Relationships equal revenue.

If your offer does not solve their problem, and or there is no budget, just move on to the next prospect.

If you don’t know how your art solves a problem then you have a much bigger problem that you must solve before you even try to sell your art.

You must master the first five realms of building a creative enterprise. Selling is the sixth realm of eight, iterative, sequential realms.

Have you been left hanging on a big sale? Share your experience below.