The Artists Business Lounge
Art Business Coaching for Visual Artists
Want More Art Sales?
‘Selling’ isn’t the only way to make sales.
Making a sale is about so much more than saying “do you want to buy this?” (or worse “please buy my art”, or even worse, “please buy my art because I need the money”). Artful selling conversations and posts are only part of the equation.
To attract sales and earn income you need to spend time on ‘income-generating activities’ to open up sales. Sales come about because when people are ready to buy and they are already familiar with your work and they think of you, or your work is presented to them at just the right moment in just the right way for them to want to buy it.
In this post, I share some of those income-generating activities. These are all part and parcel of attracting sales and having a profitable business.
To grow your sales try incorporating some of these into your regular ‘work week’. These aren’t things you do just once and never again. Consistency and repetition are key to consistent sales
Here is the list of 14 things you can start doing to open the doors to more sales.
1) Email your list regularly so you and your work stays front of mind. At least monthly. Include a call to action (CTA)
2) Make it easy to buy – on your website on your social posts etc it should be super easy for someone to see something they love, click a button and pay you (or if your sales are always through a gallery, they should be able to click a link or button to continue straight to your representing galleries website/email to continue the sale process).
3) Reach out for relevant opportunities that increase your visibility – noteworthy art prizes, magazine call for submissions, contributing art to high scale public causes (especially causes you and your audience care about), be a guest on a podcast, write an article, be interviewed for a magazine, contribute to someone’s blog etc.
4) Ask for referrals from your solid contacts i.e. “would you be willing to share?”
5) Follow up any outstanding leads or enquiries
6) Get to know more about your audience – use polls and engaging questions on Instagram, make an offer on your social accounts using storytelling to engage, do a short survey
7) Follow up with any buyers for testimonials, images of your art on their premises and use these
8) Update your website so that it’s user friendly and easy to navigate and regularly freshen up the Home page and shop pages with fresh work
9) Check and reply to any social media messages and comments – make this a daily practice
10 Attend any networking opportunities – events, galleries, arts organisations – and make contacts (remember to introduce yourself using your first and last name so you will be more easily remembered, and ask people about themselves, share contact details, or organise follow up appointments as appropriate to the situation) BTW if you don’t like the word ‘networking’ use ‘connecting’ or something that feels better
11) Keep in touch with any representing gallery or agent to refresh the work they have and to keep building the relationship (keep yourself front of mind)
12) Introduce yourself to relevant contacts – galleries, licensing, interior designers, curators and so on. Build relationships and make yourself available for opportunities.
13) Create an event – like an open studio, or you can come up with an event like ‘en plein air picnic with the artist’ – and invite people to join you. This can include your mailing list, but also followers, contacts, personal friends and collectors, even neighbours or work contacts (if you have a day job)
14) Build your confidence so you can more easily and regularly do the things listed above. (As Richard Petty remarked “Confidence is the stuff that turns Thoughts into Action.”)
I encourage you to try some of these. Add one item that interests you to your daily or weekly plan, try that and then add another and keep going.
This is not an exhaustive list. You can be quite inventive in your activities that lead to more sales and more income and you may well have some suggestions. What other things do you do to encourage sales?
Cheers
Amanda
Some Ways to Work with Me:
Join The Artists Business Lounge Success System, our bells and whistles group program where we cover all things art business.
Join the Reclaim Your Creative Confident Self 6-week program if you could do come help with your self-belief
Work with me one-on-one to develop a strategy and plan to address your specific needs.
Book a complimentary ‘Let’s Chat’ call or send me an email at support@theartistsbusinesslounge.com