Connect with another artist or crafter who has a similar or a complimentary product. Your handcrafted wooden wine rack would be compatible with hand-painted and decorated wine glasses. Your folk art paintings would be complimentary to decorative furniture.
Sometimes it’s easier to work in tandem when you’re involved in something rather foreign such as promotion. The two of you could become marketing buddies. You can brainstorm about ways to promote your products and share in the actual work. You could travel to shows and fairs together. You might stop at gift shops and other appropriate outlets along the way and see if you can arrange for some consignment agreements.
Promotional ideas don’t normally come easily for those of us with an artistic bent. So I suggest that you be observant. What are other artists doing? What’s selling and where? Study the way other artists display their arts and crafts. You can learn a lot by watching others. But I also want you to act on your own ideas.
A New York artist, Jenny Krasner, went out on a limb and tried something quite unconventional. She got tired of being an unknown starving artist and opened an art gallery on the street. Yes—she set up shop on a busy street corner in her town and she began to sell her art. In fact, she is no longer starving and no longer working her gig on the street. This wild and crazy activity created just the exposure and the buzz that she needed to jumpstart her career as an artist. What gave her the courage to do such a thing? As she said, “The worst that could happen was nothing and that was already happening.”
Here are 10 additional ideas you can adopt to help promote and sell your art:
1: Donate your art. Have you ever been to a benefit auction? The objects that are auctioned off either at a silent or a live auction are given very good exposure. I recommend that you find out about some of the upcoming events to be held in your community and ask if they are seeking donations. Sometimes the items to be auctioned are publicized in the newspaper and/or included in a well-circulated catalog or on the organization’s Web site.
2: Develop a mailing list. Collect business cards from everyone you meet—especially those who express an interest in your art. Periodically, send out flyers, brochures and/or notices announcing an upcoming show or a new line of product. Never underestimate the value of a good mailing list.
3: If you’re an illustrator, locate magazines and books that use art similar to yours. Contact the publishers with samples of your work and a resume. You might land some freelance work with several publishers.
4: Design a spin off—or a related item that you can sell along with your original product. Spin offs create greater opportunities for sales. Your specialty might be watercolor paintings. Have prints made, make note cards from your paintings, make Christmas tree ornaments or coffee mugs. Maybe you enjoy crafting and painting doll furniture, add birdhouses and just watch your sales increase.
5: Offer your art on consignment. Most artists dream of having their work hung in galleries nationwide. And this could happen for you. In the meantime, consider offering your paintings and other art objects for sale through appropriate retail outlets. This might include gift shops, pet stores, bookstores, Christian stores, kitchen stores and/or toy stores.
6: Get exposure. Maybe your bank has a rotating art display. Find out what it takes to have your art accepted for display there. Approach corporation and hospital administrators and offer paintings for their lobbies. One pizza parlor in my town hangs photographs by local photographers. And they sell, too. Some cities have money earmarked for art displayed on city property. Inquire at your city hall and see what opportunities are available and how to participate.
7: Get involved. Start an art appreciation project for your city or lobby to have an art element added to a project that’s in the works. This is just one excellent way to build name recognition.
8: Send press releases to magazines and newspapers. If you don’t have news, make news. Start an art class for homeless kids. Present a workshop for local seniors. Or expand on your talents by adding teaching to your resume. You’ll earn money while getting your name and your art out there.
9: Write articles for magazines and newsletters. Surely, you can write on some of the techniques you use with your art or a phenomenal new marketing idea that has worked for you. Write about what art means to you or even profile other artists and include your bio at the end. Sell your idea to a magazine, get exposure for your work and earn a little money while you’re at it.
10: Explore catalog sales. Find catalogs that are conducive to your art and contact them about including your paintings or other items. Here’s when it comes in handy to capitalize on your most well-received technique or painting. Transfer this painting or a series of paintings onto coffee mugs and coasters. I mean, how famous is the mad blue bird? You see it on all sorts of items and it’s always advertised in catalogs.
Continue researching, studying and experimenting. When you hit on something that works, build on it. When it isn’t working, alter it. It is hard to make it as an artist, but it is not impossible. In fact, art is big business. I wrote an article a few years ago featuring Cheri Blum, Suzan Riggsbee and Joy Marie Heimsoth. All of these artists have licensed their art to companies who create various items from their designs. All you need in order to become licensed is talent, an endless supply of artwork, excellent promotional skills and a good licensing firm such as Wild Apple Licensing http://www.wildapple.com or C.P. Licensing Corp. at http://www.cplicensing.com.
What does it take to become a success through your art? One photographer says it is promotion, promotion, promotion. He suggests starting at home. Join local organizations and get involved in community events. He says, “By putting yourself out there in a positive way, you’re opening up opportunities to promote yourself and you’ll be surprised at how this can sometimes lead to newspaper publicity.”
For one artist, becoming successful means taking risks. She says, “You must be willing to fail—to take no and then to start again.”
Resources for working artists and crafters:
http://www.artistresource.org
http://www.artbiz.com
http://www.artbusiness.com
http://www.craftmarketer.com
Artist Interview
Because we’re focusing on promotion for artists this month, I conducted the following interview with artist, Susan Alcott Jardine of Green Door Editions. Learn how a real working artist promotes herself and her work.
Q: What sort of art do you do? Who are your customers/clients?
 
A: Oil, acrylic & some mixed media on canvas. My subject matter ranges from landscapes, gardens, florals, and cat art. I also paint other critters. My style leans toward the whimsical. Many pieces are close to children’s art.
 
Also, I publish Limited Edition Giclees on Somerset Rag Papers and Canvas featuring some of my original paintings. And I produce note cards. My company is Green Door Editions.
 
My collector (customer) base began with my Christmas card list, high school and college theatre reunion lists and lists of my former and my husband’s current business associates. It has expanded to collectors who’ve signed my guest book at shows, to friends and family of existing collectors.
 
I’ve also sold wholesale to an interior decorator and a home decor shop.
Q: What book, Web site and/or newsletter would you recommend for artists who want to earn a living through their art? What has helped you the most in promoting/selling your art?
 
A: My recommendations would be:
Art World News (trade)
Art Business News (trade)
Décor Magazine (trade magazine for frame shops/galleries)
Art Calendar Magazine
Artist/Writer Jack White’s books on art marketing.
http://www.jackwhiteartist.com
http://www.senkarik.com
(Jack also writes a column for Art Calendar.)
Q: What do you think is key to selling one’s art? Seriously marketing what you have to offer or developing art objects based on what people want?
 
A: I believe it is a combination of both. Ultimately, like the writer who connects with their readers, we want to connect with the viewer—touch something in them emotionally. As Jack White would say, “touch their heart.” Remember, most purchased art goes into people’s homes.
Q: Specifically, how does an artist learn what art objects or products would sell?
 
A: Again, over time, you learn from feedback and your own instinct. I don’t publish prints of all my originals, as some are growth experiences for me in honing technique, experimenting with new applications. I try to think, “Would this piece be something someone would want to display in their homes?” “Does it have appeal?”
Q: What is your most successful promotional tactic?
 
A: Three years ago, I started pre-holiday mailings to my existing collectors only. I offered them substantial savings on prints and shipping. As a thank you for their support, I include a gift of our Collector Six Pack Note Cards with their orders. My Holiday Collector’s Only offer expires December 31st.
Q: List three or four other methods you’ve used in order to sell your work and rate each one as to how successful they were.
 
A: In order or importance: Direct Newsletter Mailings, Word of Mouth, Artist Receptions/Exhibits and Open Studio (This will be an over-time promotional event, as many people had never seen the work in person.)
 
Q: Are some promotional ideas better for some types of art and not for others? For example, attending craft shows might work for some art products and not others. eBay might be lucrative to some artists and not others.
 
A: I would say yes to craft shows working best for craft art (i.e., folk art, wood and glass art, ceramic art, jewelry, certain types of sculpture.) Most of these are for outside fairs, shows, etc.
 
I don’t have first hand knowledge about eBay, but have heard it has been lucrative for artists selling objects and prints.
Q: What are some of the promotional ideas you’d like to try—writing articles for magazines to promote your art, teaching, getting a Web site, getting a major manufacturer to sanction your designs…? Why do you feel these are good ideas and why haven’t you implemented them, yet?
 
A: Next year, I would like to try a spec article showing the progress of a painting, from original references, drawing, projecting to canvas, work in progress and finished piece. I would do photos along each step of the way. I hope to submit it to The Artist’s Magazine (F & W Publications). If the piece isn’t accepted, I can use it on my website and/or newsletter to give the reader/viewer an inside view of the process.
 
I would love to have my website re-designed by a professional art website designer (I did my own). It would look a lot better. I’ve already had a quote from the designer who does Mikki Senkarik’s site; however, my resources are limited to the initial cost. Hopefully, in the next few years, I may be able to afford it.
 
I signed this year with an art rep to submit my brochure (which we did at the beginning of the year). The rep does mailings over a 2-year period to over 700 royalty art publishers. We’ll see how it fares. The commercial art publishing market, like the book publishing market, ranges from small, middle, large corporate national and international publishers. It is a highly competitive field and follows national economic trends.
 
Most art sales are not what they were pre-9/11. Commercial art calls many, but few make their sole living from it.
 
In the next few years, I would like to develop a book with my work.
 
Everything goes in steps…each, contributes to the whole in marketing ones work. I am a sole operator here…painter, copy writer, bookkeeper, shipper, errand runner, etc., as I do not yet generate enough income to hire anyone to help. All of my sales go back into the work and marketing.
Q: Would you recommend certain types of promotion for certain people—depending on their comfort zone or would you suggest that artists become more aggressive than they, perhaps are comfortable with?
 
A: Yes. Everyone is an individual. You can learn by observing, reading, attending marketing workshops, viewing gallery exhibits other artist’s websites. See what others are doing.
 
Start small and build a flexible plan to take you through 3 – 5 years. Keep reviewing. Learn what works best for you. Learn from your mistakes. Try to keep some sort of a budget. Everything keeps going up: artist supplies, office supplies, printing, postage, etc.
 
Remember, “Art is not a necessity. It is a Want.” It will come last on the average household budget. Be aware of the economy. Don’t give up any day jobs, unless you have spousal support, until your work gets to a profit. It may never.
Q: Who are the most successful artists you know—what do they produce and what makes them successful: personality, perseverance, promotional abilities, their products?
 
A: Jack White and his wife Mikki Senkarik. Jack has been earning a living as an artist for 30 plus years. He has also written several books on art marketing. His wife Mikki was a medical textbook illustrator for about 15 years before solely earning her living from her fine art. They work as a terrific team.
 
Q: What would you advise an artist who wants to earn a living with his or her art?
 
A: Find your niche, your style, your voice. Develop what you do and start small. Network with other artists. Join an artist’s co-op involving people you can learn from and exhibit with. Take it a step at a time. Pick a charitable organization that you believe in and donate a piece of work for their fundraisers. Implement some of the above marketing ideas.
 
Enjoy what you do. Make time for your life, family, friends and life’s mishaps that happen to us all. Hope for the best and never stop growing.
View Susan Alcott Jardine’s work at: http://www.greendooreditions.com.
needs writers in all regions of the U.S. Contact Tod Riggio, editorial@woodshopnews.com. http://www.woodshopnews.com is gone. Yup, another periodical related to culture and the arts just evidently couldn’t get “no respect.” is not accepting submissions, either. is temporarily closed to submissions, as well. is closed to submissions until further notice.