In the Art Marketing Minute Podcast, you’ll learn how to sell your art, how to market your paintings, and everything else you need to know in order to have a successful art career. Each episode answers questions from artists by host Eric Rhoads, author of “Make More Money Selling Your Art,” publisher of several art magazines and newsletters, and author of ArtMarketing.com. 

In this Art Marketing Minute, Eric Rhoads explains if it really makes a difference to invest in higher-quality frames for your paintings; and why, if you’re doing any amount of marketing, you should understand the basics of copywriting.

Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 93 >

 

Submit Your Art Marketing Question:

What questions do you have about selling your art? Email Eric today at [email protected] (include your name and where you’re from) to hear your question answered on an upcoming Art Marketing Minute Podcast.

FULL TRANSCRIPT of the Art Marketing Minute:
DISCLAIMER: The following is the output of a transcription from an audio recording of the Art Marketing Minute. Although the transcription is mostly correct, in some cases it is slightly inaccurate due to the recording and/or software transcription.

Announcer:
This is the Art Marketing Minute with Eric Rhoads, author of the Amazon best selling book, “Make More Money Selling Your Art.” In the marketing minute we answer your questions to help your art career brought to you by artmarketing.com, the place to go to learn more about marketing. Now, here’s your host, arts magazine publisher, Eric Rhoads.

Eric Rhoads:

In the marketing minute I try to answer your questions. Of course you can always email me [email protected]. Tell me your name and town please. Here is one from Frasier Lee in Williamsburg, Virginia. Frasier says, What are you going to talk about framing? I struggle with spending money on frames. Does it really make a difference in selling paintings? Frasier, I think you already know the answer to that you wouldn’t be asking the question. But I don’t mean to belittle you not saying that. But Frasier, I’m going to be in your town in Williamsburg, Virginia. This fall we’re having our figurative art convention and Expo there. Maybe you should drop by. There’s going to be some great framers there too. By the way, the answer to your question is yes, of course it makes a difference. If you’re paying a lot of money for a painting, and you live in a high end home, you don’t want a cheap frame staring out at you and chances are you won’t even buy it if it’s in a cheap frame. Your house is filled with quality furniture, quality draperies, you don’t want something cheap looking on your walls. Now, there are cheap looking frames, and there are cheap frames that look good. You just got to find them. There are some great looking low price frames out there. And I got to tell you the story I think I’ve told this story before but there’s a gallery in the south that had a painting that sat in the gallery for a year the gallery director said I was getting ready to send it back to the artists but i thought you know what, I think it’s the frame. So he took it to his framing guy a guy who charges like 15 $100 for a frame put it in this beautiful elegant frame, put it back on the wall and tripled the price it sold the first week it was the frame framing makes a difference now you may or may not want to spend 15 $100 or 20 $500 on frames but I know people who do it and it pays because remember frames are kind of like cars you know cars are the frames of our lives and if you’re in a fluent person and you’re driving a Mercedes or a Porsche or Bentley or a Rolls or something those are the frames of your self esteem and same with your house and your front door and that big house and you’re you know you got a lot of expensive paintings in there you don’t want them in cheap frames so think about that framing is about self esteem but you’re working good frames and by the way we’ll see you in Williamsburg hope you’ll drop by figurative art convention we’ve got some amazing people coming in for instance Nikolai blow Han who is the top figurative painter in Russia taught at the academy their greatest art school in the world. And then the other greatest art school in the world our Yes, there are maybe two maybe three john Michael angel from the an angel Academy and Florence is doing a pre convention workshop and also on stage. So since you’re going to be in Williamsburg anyway, just walk across the street and come on and see us.

Okay, here’s a question from Tom Powell in Utah. Tom says I’ve heard you talk about headlines and copywriting. I do copyright all my work, but I’m not sure what you mean by headlines. Well, Tom, two things. There’s two kinds of copywriting, copywriting, as you’re thinking it is copywriting your work for legal copyright. That’s one kind of copywriting. What I’m talking about is copy writing, writing, copy, copy, meaning text to help you sell copy usually means selling copy, copy is selling text. So for instance, there might be a headline and a copy or text in an ad for a website. Words really matter. They’ve done all kinds of tests about this, showing a product in an ad is usually not enough. You need a headline to stop them that says, you know, stop moisture in your house today. If somebody’s got that problem, they’re going to stop and look at that. So people who do advertising and people who do what’s called direct marketing, where their email marketing or where they’re sending things in the mail, they study this, and I’ve read dozens of books, I’ve attended lots of seminars, I bought lots of courses to learn how to write. I’m still learning every day, but every word matters, and you got to get attention. That’s why I think words and headlines and copy are so important in your ads in your emails, your newsletters, whatever you’re writing about, you need to make sure that you’ve got good copy. Now this may or may not be for you. But let me give you an example. Let’s say you’re sending your email newsletter and in the subject line. One Version says my latest newsletter, another subject line says how to make your art collection worth more money. Which one are you going to open if you’re an art collector, you’re going to open the second one because you want to know how to make your art collection worth more money. And plus, you know every artist that send something out, there’s they’re sending something out. It’s about me, right? Here’s my latest newsletter. Well, who cares about your latest newsletter? Tell me so Something that’s in the newsletter that’s going to benefit me that I really want to read about. I don’t know, if I want to read about you, you’re assuming I want to read about you. So chances are, the second headline is going to get more opens, because it’s about the reader. It’s about benefit to the reader. So always be thinking about that. Headlines matter in a lot of places, subject lines, if they don’t open the email, they’re not going to read the email. If they don’t read the top line, they’re not going to read the second line. If they don’t read the second line, they’re not going to read the third line. So crafting your messaging very carefully, really matters. This is all proven science, and things without good words don’t get great response. I mean, even the Bible in the beginning, right.

Well, this has been the art marketing minute with me. Eric Rhoads. My goal in life is to eliminate the idea of the starving artists to help your dreams actually come true. So if you want to submit questions, simply email [email protected]. And to learn more about marketing ideas, you can visit Artmarketing.com. Thanks for listening.

How to Submit Your Art Marketing Questions: What questions do you have about selling your art? Email Eric today at [email protected] (include your name and where you’re from) to hear your question answered on an upcoming Art Marketing Minute Podcast.

> Visit EricRhoads.com (Publisher of ArtMarketing.com) to learn about opportunities for artists and art collectors, including:

  • Art retreats
  • International art trips
  • Art conventions
  • Art workshops (in person and online)
  • And more!