Let's Brainstorm

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of having lunch with my new friend Ann Jenemann, a plein-air artist from Cincinnati. Ann and I got to talking about the marketing and selling of art, and how it's been changing, especially since the arrival of the Internet. Ann told me about an interesting web-based program in which people subscribe to an online service that sends them a new, inexpensive reproduction once a month to hang in a frame on their walls. When they get a copy of a painting they really like, they can then go back online and purchase the original. That's a really unique concept!

That got me thinking... Whoever thought this up has created a successful innovation in marketing art because they've tapped in to some important trends in our society, like: 1. People are shopping online, even for art. 2. People--even people with money--like to try things out before they make a big financial outlay. 3. People enjoy constant change.

Okay, so let's brainstorm. What do we know about consumer behavior in 2011, and how can we creatively apply that to the sale of art? What lessons can artists glean from the methods other producers are using to market their products? Ideas? Thoughts?

Why Self-Promotion Is Not An Imposition

This past weekend, I spent a lot of time with some artists talking about marketing, especially about the feelings and emotions involved in self-promotion. A few artists expressed concern about overdoing it, which is normal since nobody ever wants to come across as too pushy or arrogant. But one woman even mentioned that she feels like she’s imposing on people when she contacts them to request things like press coverage or gallery representation. While I respect her viewpoint, I encouraged her to look at self-promotion another way: Done right, we’re actually doing editors and gallery directors a service by letting them know we’re available.

Let’s look at things from their point of view:

Newspaper, magazine, and website editors, as well as TV and radio producers, have to find good stories to publish. Finding stories that will engage an audience is hard work. So imagine how happy and appreciative they will be when you send them a proposal about a compelling story – your story – that meets their needs! Your local news media editors will love it when you contact them and say, “I’m a local artist who is doing something really interesting in our community.” Likewise, how-to art magazine editors love it when you contact them and say, “I can write a feature that will teach your readers an exciting new technique I’ve developed.” When you present an editor with a specific, useful idea that will truly be of interest to their audience, you are doing them a favor and saving them a lot of work.

The same is true of gallery directors. They are always looking for new artists whose work they can sell because it will appeal to their existing customer base and attract new customers with similar tastes and interests. So, if you’ve done your homework and think that your work will complement the work already being sold in a specific gallery, you should contact them. A gallery director will be thrilled to meet an artist who is a good fit for the gallery and its customers.

By now, however, you’ve probably deduced that the secret to success is to present the right proposals to the right people. It’s not enough to simply contact every editor and producer with a general request to be featured. You need to see a connection between your story and their audience, and then help the editor or producer see that connection. Similarly, you should not contact every single gallery around, nor should you contact a gallery just because it’s successful and well-known. Be selective and contact only those galleries that are selling work similar to yours in a comparable price range. Then, in your cover letter, explain specifically why your work would be a good fit for that gallery.

In short, you’re not imposing yourself on people when you contact them with professional proposals because they always have the right to say no. Rather, if you’re giving them something they need to accomplish their business goals, you’re doing them a service. Everyone wins.

Marketing Insight

Wow! I'm doing some research for my upcoming workshop on marketing for artists (see the description to the left for more details), and just came across a surprising new statistic. Remember how marketers used to say it required at least 5 contacts before you captured someone's attention with your marketing? Statistics now show it takes between 9 and 27 messages to capture someone's attention! We're so bombarded with marketing messages that we've become very adept at tuning them out! Good thing there are now more vehicles to deliver those marketing messages than ever.

Marketing Tip

Like me, I'm sure you've found yourself in a situation where you're talking to a new acquaintance who says he or she would love to see your work. Wouldn't it be great to have several examples at your fingertips to show off on those occasions? Well, here's one easy way I just discovered.

I used a website called Shutterfly (http://www.shutterfly.com/) to make a photo book. It was super easy, not very expensive, and it looks great. Basically, I uploaded a bunch of pictures of my paintings into my private account within Shutterfly. Then I laid them out in a little 5 x 7-inch, 20-page book. There are dozens of different layouts I could choose from for each page, and I also got to choose the background colors, type styles, and borders. In addition to my paintings and bio, I included a few favorite quotes and a poem.

The cost for this size, with shipping and handling, was about $15 for the single copy of the book, so it's probably not something I would give away to potential clients, but it's certainly a nice way to carry a portfolio in my purse. A larger version would also make a great coffee table book (how many artists can say they have their own coffee table books? everyone!) or a fabulous thank-you gift for a repeat collector.

Opportunities and Audiences

Thanks to the Internet, there are now countless opportunities for us to share every thought, idea, and action with others. Believe me when I say, venues like Facebook, Blogger, and websites are so seductive, and you can easily squander (yes, I confess, I've been squandering!) away countless hours with any or all of them. But given that we're artists who want to and should be spending most of our time painting, we have to ask ourselves what we're really accomplishing with these activities. In my opinion, it all comes down to purpose. Who are you trying to communicate with, and why? 

I think it's pretty much understood by now that your website should be your professional presence on the internet. This is an opportunity to show off your work to potential collectors/buyers/customers (call them what you will). And yet, I still come across the occasional artist's website that includes a page about the grandkids. I would recommend keeping the professional stuff and the personal stuff separate, and using something other than your website (like a social networking site) to share all the fun stuff that goes on in your personal life. One other tip: I don't think it's necessary to include every painting you've ever done on your website. Approach your choice of paintings much as you would curate a show -- 20 or 30 of your best pieces ought to do it.

Blogging, Facebooking, and Twittering are different animals, however. The lines between personal and professional can become blurred even more easily... unless you decide up-front what your purpose in using them will be. If your objective is to communicate with buyers, once again, you've got to keep it professional. You'll probably want to stay focused on how and why you create your work, and mostly you'll want to show only your best work. 

Or maybe you want to create a forum (like this little blog right here) in which you can communicate with your fellow artists. If you know your audience is only going to be fellow artists (which is possible with Facebook, which gives you the power to control who sees your page), you might even use it as a forum to solicit feedback and advice. If your purpose is social networking with the possibility of using it to promote something to your fellow artists on occasion, such as a workshop, you can probably also get a little more personal (like me sharing my painting block a while back). But still, the totally personal silly stuff should remain elsewhere. 

Now, if you just wanna have fun, I strongly urge you to restrict that to a Facebook page. All of the other formats allow anyone to have access to the material you put out there. With Facebook, again, you can control who has access to your page, bio stuff, and materials. Restricting the personal to this private forum will allow you to maintain your professional image everywhere else.

My personal decision is to use my website and Twitter to attract potential customers, the blog for artist-to-artist stuff, and my Facebook page for a free-for-all of personal and professional stuff. (Translation: if you want to see pictures of my cats or my recent weekend in St Louis, friend me on Facebook.) If a possible collector should come across my blog, I won't mind because there isn't anything on here that I'd be uncomfortable having anyone see.

Why is it important to keep things categorized like this? I can think of several reasons. First, there is so much stuff out on the internet that you'll still have to promote your website or blog or social networking page if you want people to find you. Therefore, it's a good idea to be clear on who you're going to promote to so that you use the most effective means. It'll also help you deliver what you promised when your viewers/readers -- be they friends or strangers -- arrive at your site or page. And finally, clarity of focus also helps you control how much time you're investing in any or all of these venues.

Communicating through the internet is so fabulous, and I'm convinced that it will be THE art marketing tool of the future. We just have to be smart about how we use it.