Each week, Eric Rhoads answers two art marketing questions from listeners like you during the Marketing Minute Podcast. Browse the marketing minutes here to learn tips on how to sell more art.
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 advises if you should ever pay to get into a gallery, and what to do if a hot lead seems to suddenly disappear.
Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 18 >>>
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 0:02
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 0:23
Thank you Jim Kipping. And thank you for joining us today. My goal is to eliminate the idea of the starving artists. So let’s get right to today’s questions. So here’s a question. This is from Kim cast in Cape Elizabeth main. As an artist, Eric, should I be paying to be in a gallery? Well, this is a loaded question. We hear from a lot of galleries that charge artists to be in them. Some of them are legitimate. Some maybe not so legitimate. You got to do your homework. You want to talk to the artists look on the website. Talk to the artists they feature too. They sell work, do they market their artists? What else are they doing for you? Is it worth doing? You know, what does it end up costing you ultimately, can they be trusted? It boils down if they work or not work, you know, are they selling or not selling. Now there are some legitimate pay for play galleries that people go into that work. But keep in mind if your work is ready, you really should be able to find a gallery to represent you who will take a commission and sell your work on consignment, usually that’s 50%, sometimes less depending on the stature of the artist. The goal here remember is to sell art and for selling art, nothing beats getting into a really good gallery with experienced salespeople a client base of collectors so they can help build you up. And a gallery who’s advertising and promoting themselves and their artists You know, that’s what you want to look for. You can also look for a local artist Co Op gallery might be a good place to start. So you pay by giving your time you know by working in the gallery part of the time But you’re not putting money out of your pocket. The question I always wonder is if I’m putting money out of my pocket, if I’m paying you, you know, what’s the likelihood that I’m going to have you sell my art? So I think that’s a good question. Thank you for asking it.
Eric Rhoads 2:13
Next question comes from David Terry, of Jacksonville, Oregon. I know David. David’s a fabulous painter and a fabulous commissioned painter, and he did my portrait. So David says, I have a prospective client call about commissioning a painting of his granddaughter and had great conversations about it, but all of a sudden, nothing. I followed up with an email saying I look forward to working with him, but I’ve had no response. What’s next? Well, you know, people tend to run in hide when they don’t want to deal with something. So there’s something in this discussion that went wrong. If somebody shows interest and then disappears, chances are he or she liked your work. They liked what they’d seen on your website. And so maybe the problem Was price. And so I think what I do is I’d phone him. And I’d say this Listen, you asked me about a commission for your granddaughter, and I’ve heard nothing from you. So I’m guessing maybe my price was too high. But I’d really like to find a way to do it. That’s a win win. Could we sit down and meet in person, no obligation. Let’s see if we can work something out. I won’t be offended if the price is too high, but maybe we can come up with an idea. All right, and then try to get him to meet with you. If you invest time in somebody. chances are they’re going to give you their money, right? So ask him to bring his five favorite photos of his granddaughter, and then also anybody else you might want to have painted, bring some photos of them, then you meet with them. And you say listen, show me the pictures before you even talk prices to them, show me the pictures. And you look at the pictures and then you say okay, I want to pull out some of my paintings, and you show them paintings. In your portfolio of full body paintings, you know, head to toe you show three quarter you show portrait you show You know, just neck above and so on. And then you show different styles and you say, okay, which of these do you like? Which of the ones do you not like, which are the ones you know, are have the feel that you’d like to see hanging in your house, and so on, get him engaged, get him to start talking about it. Well, I like this, I don’t like that and start writing that stuff down. Now that he’s engaged, he’s more likely to do it. Now. After that. You can just say, Hey, listen, we’ve kind of talked about this, but the elephant in the room is probably the price. I you know, you disappeared on me, which I’m thinking is probably my price was too high. What What do you really want to pay? And just be quiet, don’t say anything and say what he wants to pay. And he’s gonna say, Well, I really didn’t want to embarrass you and I didn’t want to make you feel like your stuff wasn’t worth it. But I couldn’t possibly pay that much money to say, Oh, that’s okay. I understand that this happens all the time. What do you want to pay? And he’ll say, Well, I’d like to pay this or somewhere in this range. And you could say, well, that’s great. More than I, you know, this less than I normally would get, and but maybe we can figure out a way to get there. So, you know, you might say like, what if I did this one and did one other at the same price? You know, if I got two Commission’s I’d be willing to lower the price for that or, could we compromise and not do such a big portrait? Could we do a smaller one and we can come in at your price? Look for something like that. And chances are you’re going to get it and chances are they’re going to be happy and you’re going to be happy because you have it now. You have to make the decision. Do you want to violate your pricing and sometimes we all have to do it and sometimes, you just can’t have to make that call. So I hope that helps.
Eric Rhoads 5:40
Well, this has been the art marketing minute with me, Eric Rhoads. My goal in life is to eliminate the idea of the starving artist and 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.
Remember to Submit Your 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.
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 shares advice on focusing on one medium and style versus several, and how to develop a small town’s market for art.
Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 17 >>>
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 0:02
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 0:23
Thank you Jim Kipping. And thank you for joining us today. My goal is to eliminate the idea of the starving artists. So let’s get right to today’s questions. Here’s a question from Lydia Fellard of Poway, California, Lydia says I like urban sketching, watercolor and sometimes oil. Do you think I should concentrate on one medium to get excellent at one style and one medium? I think if you’re asking the question, you’ve already answered the question. I first off, I can tell you that I love to dabble in a lot of things. So I did I dabble in watercolor. I do. soil, I play with pastels and do it a little bit of sculpture, you know, it’s, it’s fun, I also do a lot of drawing. But in terms of what I’m presenting to my gallery, if this is about selling artwork, I’m trying to establish myself as an oil painter. And that’s what I want to be known as. And so I think that excellence in whatever you’re doing comes first. So master something get really good at it. It doesn’t happen overnight. So even though you may want to continue to do urban sketching, or watercolor oil, pick one of those things that is your thing that you become known for. Because you don’t necessarily want to confuse the audience. Now you will have artists like Susan Nicholas Gephardt who just mentioned that she does pastel she does oil, and she doesn’t both really, really well. And so she’s able to kind of walk that line but you just got to be ready to know what you’re capable of. You also want to make sure that you kind of get known for whatever whatever it is. Do you want to get known for you know, that could be portraits. It could be landscapes, it could be a certain type of landscape. But you don’t want to confuse the market too much when you’re first getting established. As you’re more established, it’s probably okay a little bit, but I remember a story about a lady who contacted me and she was advertising her portraits. But when you went to her website, all you saw were her landscapes and you had to really dig deep for the portraits, it just didn’t make a lot of sense. So you want to just make sure that you’re congruent. A lot of artists are doing multiple mediums. Some of them are selling well in both or three, but pick something that you can be really good at and get known for collectors and galleries look for excellence and consistency and you don’t want to confuse them. Right.
Eric Rhoads 2:46
Okay. Next question is from Robert ward of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. How do you develop a small towns market for art? Small Town, his town has 35,000 people well You know, a lot of people don’t know about art. Art is an education process. You know, there are a lot of people that I’ve helped turn into collectors just by exposing them to art. And a lot of people who pick up art magazines have become art collectors. So I think the idea is just get your art out there, you know, wherever you possibly can, there are people who are going to see it, they’re going to like it. And you know, so it might be an exhibit at a local gallery, it might be an exhibit in a local restaurant. I think the idea is you want to get people thinking about art. If you want to develop a market for art, then you probably want it to be more than you. You want to develop a little artists community, maybe figure out how to put together a bunch of artists and get get your own little gallery together so that you can put your work out there together, make sure the quality is high and then look for options for local art shows, art in the libraries of public institutions to showcase these artists because of the more Even though it seems counterintuitive, the more people are interested in art, you know, they’re not all gonna love your art but they might love somebody else’s are but you want to get people thinking about and learning about and growing and developing art and of course, anything you can do to work with a local community. I spend my summers near Saranac Lake New York and they’ve done a great job in the arts community by developing a little local gallery. They’ve developed a little Community Arts program. They’re doing a lot of our planning our events once a year and things like that. And so this is a way that you develop the community, get the community thinking about the arts, turn your area into an art destination, so people who maybe I don’t know how far you are from another bigger city, but maybe people will come to Cape Girardeau from Chicago to see the art there. You know, and so, look for ways to work with the merchant associations, local Chamber of Commerce do events that can be showcased in an effective way to develop your market All right, said help. You know, there are a lot of people even in a town of 35,000, people who can comfortably afford to buy art and so get to know the people, local business owners, local doctors, maybe put your art in the hospitals, you know, there’s a lot of things, a lot of ways to establish yourself and get out there. Social media gives you the opportunity to target locally and you can also, if there are a little local magazines, a local community magazine or something, you can get your art in there and start getting people thinking about it. You know, they got to see it. They got to think about it before they buy it.
Eric Rhoads 5:31
Well, this has been the art marketing minute with me. Eric Rhoads. My goal in life is to eliminate the idea of the starving artist and 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.
Remember to Submit Your 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.
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 the best practices of sending a newsletter to your network, and the psychology to consider when pricing your art.
Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 16 >>>
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 0:02
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 0:23
Thank you Jim Kipping. And thank you for joining us today. My goal is to eliminate the idea of starving artists. So let’s get right to today’s questions.
The first is from Mark Montserrat, in San Francisco, California, specifically, what goes into a newsletter? And realistically, how often should I send it out? Well, first off, you want to be consistent. You always want to send it out consistently. I think you want to be at least monthly. And you probably want to say send it the exact same time every month. So it’s consistent. Everybody knows they can look forward to it. That’s the easy part. Now what about newsletters. Well the problem with newsletters is they’re all about you and you may be interested in you but you’d be surprised how many people are not interested in you. So you’ve got to have something in that newsletter that people are going to be excited about reading that they’re going to learn from now learning something from you or about you may be part of the element now, john MacDonald’s probably got one of the best newsletters I’ve ever read, because he’s, he’s targeting artists in that particular newsletter probably so they’ll come to us workshop or buy his amazing video, but you he’s always talking about new concepts and he’s basically writing a chapter of a book with every newsletter and every one of them is really valuable. So when you know when I’m deleting the literally hundreds of newsletters that come to me every month, I can’t read them all. And I know a lot of your collectors and a lot of other people feel the same way. They’re they’re gonna open the ones that matter to them. So you want to have information, not just about you, but things that are compelling. What can I learn from this? What’s interesting in our art marketing in a box, we actually pre wrote a year worth of newsletters and it’s got information in it about, you know, art history and some things they can learn about artists and things that just kind of make it a little bit more fun and exciting, then you can still put that stuff about you in there, but don’t necessarily lead with it, but put something in there. That is telling your story. vividly explaining the story behind a painting or a trip or something that you’ve been doing. And trying to make it interesting be entertaining, because if you’re not entertaining, if you’re boring, nobody’s going to want to read it right. So don’t be boring. Last consider not sending it by email. That Sorry, I know that sounds crazy. But you know, it’s so easy to delete email. You know, if you have 50 or hundred people on your list, it’s not a big deal to send by mail, you’re printing, you’re getting big, rich, colorful images. And if it’s really well done, people don’t want to throw it out. So you might want to consider that. We’re having really good luck with direct mail again lately because nobody does direct mail and More so everybody else does email. So this is a good thing to consider doing.
Next question is from Penny markley in Winthrop, Maine and whenever that is somewhere in Maine, obviously, she says nothing is more puzzling than pricing. I hate pricing prices. Our prices below $10,000 a negative. And should prices be posted on a website? Well, you know, there’s a I’ll answer the last part first prices on a website. Yeah, probably. A lot of people don’t do it. They want to make people call but a lot of people won’t call if they these days you’re used to being able to get the price. I had a gallery tell me he debated this. He put the price of a sculpture on it was $650,000. He came in the next day. He came in one morning and there was an order and a wire transfer for $650,000 waiting for him somebody bought the sculpture. So that’s why having the price is a good idea. That’s going to turn some people off but it’s going to turn them off anyway. If it’s surprised they don’t like The idea about pricing is there’s a lot of psychology behind it. It’s very emotional low price send signals of poor quality. Now, price is also dependent on size, right? So a smaller painting is going to be a lower price and a bigger painting. So low price in a smaller painting doesn’t necessarily send poor quality signal. There was a lady who came to attention one time an artist told me that he she said, How much is the painting? He said, it’s for she wrote him a check for 40 40,000 handed in the check. He said, Ma’am, that’s mistake, the painting is $4,000. And she said, Well, it must not be very good. She ripped up the check. So depends on who your market is. You got to know your market know where you’re selling your art. The Environment Matters. I mean, if you’re selling at a flea market, you’re not going to sell expensive paintings. If you’re selling in a high end gallery, you’re going to sell expensive paintings. Because you’re in the environment. You know, it’s kind of like I always make the analogy is you don’t sell a Mercedes or a Bentley in a flea market. Because there’s nobody there who can afford to buy it. So you want to put that Bentley in a place where you know, people can’t afford to buy it, where are the affluent people hanging out. And that’s the same thing with art. And that’s why great art galleries can do a lot of good because they already have lists of these people, they have contact with them, they’re coming into the gallery. So lots of books out there on pricing, I highly recommend you pick some up, because you can learn a lot about pricing and the psychology of pricing. So I hope that that helps a little bit. There’s probably a ton of other things that could tell you about pricing, one that comes to mind is the, what’s called the lock comparison. If you have a great big painting in a gallery, let’s say it’s a 30 by 40 or 40 by 50. And you’ve got a very high price on it. Suddenly, you’re considered to be a high priced high valued artist by the person who sees that especially if the price is visible. Then you’ve got a couple of nine by 12 or 11 by 14 hanging next to it and they are in contrast, a much lower price then they might be hireable Pricing you normally get, but because it’s next to that big painting, you can get that higher price and people will buy it because they feel like they’re getting a bargain anyway, just a thought.
This has been the art marketing minute with me, Eric Rhoads. My goal in life is to eliminate the idea of the starving artist and to help your dreams actually come true. Thanks for listening.
Remember to Submit Your 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.
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 shares thoughts on what problem art solves for collectors, and insights on selling art online and also through a gallery.
Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 15 >>>
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 0:02
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 0:23
Thank you Jim Kipping. And thank you for joining us today. My goal is to eliminate the idea of starving artists. So let’s get right to today’s questions.
Nikki Neinhuis of Golden Colorado asks: What is a collector’s pain point? What problem does art solve generally? Art stimulates an emotion. I was showing my dad a painting online and he said “that’s my grandfather’s farm.” He had tears in his eyes, so I secretly bought it for Father’s Day. For many people art injects emotionally positive emotions or memories into their home’s décor. Art is really what makes a house someone’s home. In some cases it’s the story they tell people about your piece, or perhaps a story of their own about your art. That’s why emotional art sells. It evokes positive memories of when you were a child, or perhaps where you fell in love. Where you went on your honeymoon or perhaps memories of a great time. Solving this problem isn’t easy, that’s why good art that does this sells well.
Nikki also asks, how can an artist sell directly from their website and still work positively with galleries? It depends on the relationship with your gallery. Some artists have a size restriction where they can sell. Usually galleries want to control it and not have direct contact. You have to negotiate with your gallery.
This has been the art marketing minute with me, Eric Rhoads. My goal in life is to eliminate the idea of the starving artist and to help your dreams actually come true. Thanks for listening.
Remember to Submit Your 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.
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 shares advice on selling art framed vs unframed, and tips on starting your list for direct mail and newsletters.
Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 14 >>>
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 0:02
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 0:23
Thank you Jim Kipping. And thank you for joining us today. My goal is to eliminate the idea of starving artists. So let’s get right to today’s questions.
Here’s a question from Sharon Bamber of Nakusp British Columbia.
Sharon paints pastels and sells online. She wants to know should she be selling her art framed or unframed?
I’m a big believer in spending money on quality frames. I think any gallery owner can tell you at least one story about a frame change helping create a big sale of a piece that was previously not moving. The reality is that ultimately your artwork will be judged by the client and everyone who views that painting on your client’s wall. They will judge your painting and the frame it’s in as a package. If they view the art and the frame together as something that works, you benefit. They could become a collector of your work. Therefore you as the artist should try to control the situation as best you can by selling your artwork framed. And it should be a frame that does justice to your painting. Frame decisions are artistic decisions. Plus why make them do extra work. And this way you control the type of frame you place your work in. If they choose to reframe it, that’s up to them, but most will just hang it and enjoy it.
The next question is from Steph Lord of Chicago
At PACE during art marketing bootcamp, you talked about the importance of marketing art via a Newsletter. If I’m starting out, can I and should I buy a list of names to send a direct mailed newsletter to?
That’s a good question. Really when you’re starting out you should be willing to invest some dollars to build your business. But remember that shortcuts are dangerous. I wouldn’t buy a mailing list and just start mailing to it. A list of people that respond and show interest in you is far different than any list you can purchase. Direct mail to people who know and like your business would be expected to be in the ½ of 1 percent to 2% range. But to a list of people that don’t know you, it could be a fraction of that fraction…or zero. Build your list in any way possible but go for people interested in your work. For instance have people sign up at art fairs or places you’re showing your art. Also, in my book Make More Money Selling Your Art, I talk about lead magnets. This is a great opportunity for one. You can create a lead magnet campaign on social media fairly inexpensively. I’d suggest creating some sort of “lead magnet” where you give away or inexpensively sell something of value. A common thing is an ebook of your best paintings. If you want to spend some money to get customers, What would I offer? Perhaps a postcard sized print of a painting of something in your community. That may stimulate interest. Captured names from a lead magnet are real prospects worthy of your mailing list because they freely give their address and email address to get something you created. That’s a qualified list, and if you build that you’re on your way to becoming an effective marketer.
This has been the art marketing minute with me, Eric Rhoads. My goal in life is to eliminate the idea of the starving artist and to help your dreams actually come true. Thanks for listening.
Remember to Submit Your 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.
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 upselling and the best time to sell a painting (for you and the buyer), and how the law of reciprocity can apply to selling art.
Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 13 >>>
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 0:02
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.
Here’s a question from a recent marketing session I gave at the Figurative Art Convention…An artist asked about when I once sold three paintings to someone who was interested in a single painting (from my Cuba trip). Their question is, how can I do this?
This may take a minute… I’ll explain. When I took a painting group of 100 people to Cuba the first time, which was historical, a gallery in Annapolis held a show. Many of us sent three paintings. Several months after the show, a guy who bought one of my paintings, had been following me in IG and saw some other things I had posted. I had a painting of an old car he wanted to buy. It had been part of a bigger painting, which I had cut off. So when I mailed the painting I sent that cut off part as a gift (it itself was a nice painting) and explained why I had done it. I also included photos of two other paintings I made, and sent them and suggested they should be kept together in one collection. He ended up buying them. The best time to sell a painting is when a painting has just sold. WE get dopamine in our system, and we feel more inclined to buy more. Its why McDonald’s says do you want fries with that? Look for a chance to leverage a purchase into another… before u go, let me show you a couple paintings I intended to be hung together… or a couple paintings I think you would like. This is when you can do discounting. Since you bought this one, I’ll let this one go for an extra 10% off…. Hope that helps..
The next question is from Marilyn in Albuquerque.
Marilyn says: Can you explain the “law of reciprocity” that you mention in your book….and how I can use that to sell my art?
Simply stated… human nature in most cultures is that when someone does something for us, we want to return the favor. If someone buys you dinner, you want to buy it next time. When someone gives you a gift, you want to give them a gift. In sales or marketing, it can work for you. Research indicates that no matter the size of the gift, if you give something, people want to do something in return. Let me give an example… a friend owns a little artist gallery. When someone comes in, she says, thanks for coming in… I’d like to give you a couple of my note cards. The cards are in a rack and say they are $5.95 each… she says pick out a couple. The reality is they cost her almost nothing to make… but she starts their entry into the gallery with a gift worth about $12. And as a result people feel inclined to return the favor. They are more likely to want to pick something out to buy as a result. Its nature. Now, they don’t necessarily even know they are doing it. You can use a concept of a small gift in many situations which warms hearts and draws folks closer to you. Interesting a small gift given can result in a big gift returned… often a purchase. Even a piece of candy or a bottle of water can make it happen. The bigger it is, the better it works, until its too big then makes them uncomfortable.
I hope this was helpful……I’ll be doing three mornings of training on how to sell art in the art marketing boot camp each morning at the plein air convention this May in Santa Fe. Well that’s this weeks marketing minute.
If you have not got your tix to the plein air convention, be sure to get one of the last 115… at pleinairconvention.com
AND… be sure to enter your best paintings at pleinairsalon.com. Even if you don’t win the main prize of $15,000 there are lots of cash prizes, and recognition that you can place on your resume… which helps show your importance in the art world. Enter at pleinairsalon.com
Also if you’ve not seen my blog where I talk about life, art, and lots of other things.. Check it out… it’s called Sunday coffee and you can find it at CoffeewithEric.com
Well… this was fun. Let’s do it again sometime…. like next week … See you then
I’m Eric Rhoads, publisher and founder of Plein Air magazine. Remember it’s a big world. Go paint it. See ya.
Remember to Submit Your 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.
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 how much art education you might want to consider if you want to make a living as an artist, and if you should consider hiring an agent or representative to help you sell your art.
Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 12 >>>
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 0:02
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.
In the marketing minute I try to answer art marketing questions from our audience. Email your questions to me at [email protected]
Here’s a question from Jim in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Jim asks: I’d like to grow more as an artist but, at 22 years old, I am unsure if I need to complete an actual degree. How much art education should I get?
Jim… I’m going to get in trouble here… with schools, with parents,… but I don’t think a degree matters unless you plant to teach in public schools or colleges, though it would be nice to have anyway….. The key to making a living as an artist has nothing to do with a degree and everything to do with how good you get and how good you are at marketing. Want to make a great living, take courses and get a degree in sales and marketing, then go to a great atelier like grand central, Incamminati, Florence Academy, etc… and become a great artist.
The next question is from Linda in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Linda asks: Is there such a thing as having a sales rep or agent for my art, to help me market and sell my paintings? I feel like I could use some help and would prefer to hire a professional. Where do I start?
Linda…. Reps or agents are present in all the arts…. Big in Hollywood, in fact there you must have an agent, not so in art but there are many art agents. In theory they help you build your career, build your brand and awareness and get you into places to sell your work. They are worth their weight in gold if you get a good one. Once you become successful you may wish you were not paying a % of your income but remember they built you,… and made you rich.
Remember to Submit Your 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.
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 shares advice for licensing your images to sell more art, insider info on if collectors care if you have a “day job,” and ideas for at least finding a job in an industry you love.
Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 11 >>>
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 0:02
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:
Here’s a question from Jane in Truckee California.
Jane says: I have a question about art licensing. I was contacted last week by a company that is interested in licensing a collection of my artwork as a wholesaler of Giclees. I currently sell my originals and Giclees of my artwork at two small galleries here in the Tahoe/Truckee area. After thinking about it I have decided that the only way I could do it is to create a new collection of paintings only for the purpose of licensing the images and keep it entirely separate from my other work. I don’t want to get any static from my current collectors. Do you know anything about licensing and what do you think I should do? Do artists commonly do this? Will it help or hurt my career?
Jane…. Licensing is a very good opportunity. Imagine what could happen to your career if your paintings were on mouse pads, mugs, calendars, and so on. Its a big deal to be invited in. I’m not sure I’d be too concerned about a new series, they see something they want, consider giving it to them. Get a good attorney to represent you and cut the best deal. It can bring steady income for years. In fact next week I’ve got an atty on that can give you some clues.
I have friends who do this and love it, some years they make a ton of money, some years its more lean, but they always are getting found money they would not have made. I’d go for it. Its an honor to be invited.
The next question is from Anne in Nashville Tennessee.
Anne says: Is it okay to get a “day job” to help pay for my bills? I worry that this makes me seem more like an amateur, than a professional artist.
Anne…. I’m not sure anyone cares if you’re an amateur or a professional artist. They care about your work and what you’re producing.
We all have to pay bills and do what ever it takes. Many well known artists quietly have other jobs to help pay the bills. There is no shame, and no one needs to know, and frankly no one cares. We all do what we have to do to make ends meet. And why not get a job doing what you love… if you could be working with paintings, or doing paintings for hire, or working at a gallery it will inform your work and make you a better artist.
I hope that helps… this has been the art marketing minute.
Remember to Submit Your 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.
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 talks about the validity of art marketing websites, and the balance of creating art for the love of it versus selling it to make money.
Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 10 >>>
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 0:02
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.
Unknown Speaker 0:23
Thank you, Jim Kipping. And thank you for joining us today. My goal is to eliminate the idea of the starving artists. So let’s get right to today’s questions.
This is a question from Susan. As still Susan says, are all art marketing websites equal? And if not, why, and what do you recommend?
Well, Susan, I’m gonna tell you a little bit of a secret. I don’t know the answer to that. You see, I don’t ever want to be accused of stealing other people’s ideas. So I make a point never to look at the websites offering art market. getting ideas. I never read other people’s art marketing books, I want to keep my ideas original, make sure that I’m not stealing other people’s material. So I quite frankly don’t know the only thing I can recommend is my own, which is art marketing. com where I blog about marketing. And I’m sorry, I’m not more of a help, but I’m sure there’s great people out there. But I’m unique because I’ve coached hundreds of artists handled ads and content for lots and lots of advertisers over a career in radio and marketing built lots of businesses. And so I probably approach things a lot differently than most marketing people do. And so I’m not saying they’re wrong. I’m not saying I’m right. I’m just saying I’m probably a little bit different because I’ve got a lot of proven success in our marketing. No brag just fact. Anyway. I hope I’m sorry, I couldn’t answer your question more. But I’m sure I can help you if you go to artmarketing.com
The next question comes from and Dink Cal spiel. sounds like a good German name, and he says painting feels like a meditative practice for me. I’m afraid that if I move into trying to sell my art, I will lose my focus. I’ve sold my art to people I know, I like making money. But the fear remains about introducing an intention to make money into the equation.
Well, and you’re not alone. I know a lot of other artists feel the same way. They don’t want to impact their art with the intention of making money. I suppose even showing your art on social media influences that intention, whether it’s for selling or just showing off. And you know, if you feel like those things influence your painting. I can tell you I have painted something and I thought it was really good. And I’m thinking well, I can’t wait to put this on social media to let everybody know how good I really am. Of course, I’m not but you know, sometimes you think those things. And so those things do influence you. But the reality is, there’s nothing really wrong with letting the influence It’s take over, especially if you’re trying to make a living, or if you need to sell your paintings. So I guess you could kind of carry that that whole concept to the idea of, well, maybe your life isn’t as good if you’re working, so you shouldn’t have an income and then you know, you’re going to be totally natural. But that’s carrying things to an extreme, I suppose. I can say that the best artists in the world were great marketers. There were painters who were equally as brilliant and never discovered. Like Rembrandt was a great marketer. So srg they were both great marketers are both sold a lot of work in their lifetime. So, you know, did that influence their work? Maybe was their work awesome. Of course. Sometimes people get discovered, but usually the ones that are remembered are the ones that learn how to market their work. So there’s no requirement of course, to sell your art or to make money and frankly, if you don’t need to, why do it? I don’t need So my art but the reason I do sell it is because I like that validation that somebody other than my mother or my family members like my work and is willing to pay for it. It’s not because I need to make a living. And so anyway, there are a lot of artists who need to make a living and need to find a way to sell and if you don’t need to stay out of the way so they can, I suppose. But if you need to, you might want to consider that the intent of making money will influence your art. And if it does, make what you need, and paint the rest for what you want to pay it so it’s not influenced. Just a thought. Anyway, I appreciate the concept and the thought, well, this has been the art marketing minute with me, Eric Rhoads. My goal in life is to eliminate the idea of the starving artist and 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.
Remember to Submit Your 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.
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 special edition from the PleinAir Podcast, Eric interviews American business executive, conference speaker, and author Jay Abraham on what artists and galleries should be doing right now to stay in business during the pandemic.
Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Special Episode with Jay Abraham >>>
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.
Eric Rhoads 00:00
This is episode number 166. Today is a special edition and emergency edition if you will of the Plein Air podcast.
Announcer 00:21
This is the plein air podcast with Eric Rhoads, publisher and founder of plein air magazine. In the Plein Air podcast we cover the world of outdoor painting called plein air. The French coined the term, which means open air or outdoors. The French pronounce it plenn air. Others say plein air, no matter how you say it. There is a huge movement of artists around the world who are going outdoors to paint. And this show is about that movement. Now, here’s your host, author, publisher and painter, Eric Rhoads.
Eric Rhoads 00:59
Thank you Jim Kipping, and welcome to the plein air podcast. I’m Eric and I’m sure like me, you’re stuck at home in quarantine. I hope you’re okay. I’ve been working on all kinds of things I could do to help everybody through this. I’ve been doing Facebook live every day and I’ve been doing art instruction videos daily at three o’clock on Facebook Live from the streamline art video page. And we’ve been helping galleries with some profiles to keep them visible, you know, helping our advertisers etc. Anything we can do. We’re sending out some free copies of the magazine to extra people, just all kinds of things to try and help. Today is a departure from the normal plein air podcast. And it’s not about plein air at all. Not really. In reality, it’s about helping artists, plein air shows and galleries. we want to help you survive during this sudden economic downturn. Hopefully this will end soon. So today I’ve got an interview for you with the best marketing mind in the world. His name is Jay Abraham gets 100 k a day For his consulting and he’s a friend of mine he did the foreword to my book, make more money selling your art. And I called Jay and I said, let’s do a video together for the artists. And so I’ve already done a video of Senator…but if you’ve not seen it, you need to hear it. And you need to hear it a couple times anyway because every time I hear it, I hear new things in it. And this will help you try to get through this difficult time because you are running a business, whether you like it or not, if you’re an artist and you are selling your art, you’re running a business. So we’ll get to that in a minute. I should mention that due to coronavirus to the plein air convention has been moved to August the 11th through 14th. In Santa Fe we’re not doing Denver this year. We can’t because we couldn’t get a date. So the 11th through 14 of August and summer it’s the first time we’re doing a summertime convention which means all the school teachers who haven’t been able to come are going to get to come and a lot of people haven’t been able to because of kids that can come make a vacation out of it. And it happens to be peak time. happens to be Indian summer is going on not Indian summer What am I talking about Indian market is going on right when we finished the convention that’s the biggest weekend of the Year in Santa Fe draws lots of people so it’s good time to paint good time to be there good time to see a little extra. And of course Kevin MacPherson has agreed to do the pre convention workshop because the previous one could not make it so that’s really great news. Also, I should tell you the plein air salon which usually gives away it’s awarded the convention has been extended, the competition will continue to go on we’re going to do monthly judging for more monthly prizes and then we will do three more chances to win before the convention and three more competitions if you will. So $15,000 cash is on the line for you are 23 grand in total prizes. And the cover of plein air magazine is stories in the newsletter and so on. So enter before April 30. For the next plein air salon, we have extended it and we will award it at the convention. Anyway, I should also remind you that if you want these daily videos of art instruction, go to streamline art video on Facebook, streamline art video, just follow it and then they will come through automatically when we go live and we’re going to keep doing them as long as we can do them during the quarantine as long as the internet holds up, as long as we’re here. Anyway, let’s get right to this special edition of marketing advice for a crisis like this with Jay Abraham. I’m pleased today to have a really very important guy on the line Jay Abraham who is the hundred thousand dollar a day marketing consultant. He has built many, many businesses and helped billions of dollars worth of businesses help them grow. He’s an author of many books, and I asked Jay, to come on and talk to you about what you might want to do as an artist or as an art gallery. In this moment when we’re all a little questioning about coronavirus, and staying home and What should we do with our businesses? And is the economy going to crash? Jay has lived through four economic disasters and looks at this as opportunity. Jay, welcome.
Jay Abraham 05:10
Thank you, Eric. I’m pleased to be here.
Eric Rhoads 05:13
So Jay, we’re going to try to keep this at about 20 or 30 minutes. And the idea here is what if I’m an artist or I’m an art gallery, and everything has come to a screeching halt? What is the first thing you think I should be doing?
Jay Abraham 05:30
I think you should be strategically recognizing that this is arguably one of the greatest opportunities you will ever have to gain attentive mindshare in a very unusual way. It’s not dissimilar to the fact that art galleries do well in environments where people are stuck in in a captive place for a long time and keep repetitively visiting and and, and getting connected and bonded to the art. I think today, Eric, you’ve got people who are most of their day and lives have been frenetic and basically coming and going and they give a very meager amount of attention to anything and now they’re homebound and yeah, they’re working from home but nobody can say on the phone or on their computer on their, their device for that kind of a long period. They’re going to spend qualitative time getting getting attached to different things. You’ve got this wonderful, wonderful concept called art. Art inspires Art savs Art electrifies exactly what people need. I think today, artists should advertise. They should should offer to get on the phone spend time sharing with anybody interested, you know, their motivation, their background, you know, methodology media they do and they should use this to own mind share in your magazine, for example, you’ve got great collectors, great art investors, great advocates enthusiasts, I can’t imagine. I know it’s a very horrific time. It’s unprecedented. But art as transcended every, you know, every known period in in history, it’s not going to be abandoned now and people need the inspiration and the connection and you can do lots of things. First thing is make yourself available make yourself known don’t stop. Make sure that the beauty majesty, the allurement, that the therapeutic aspects of your art is even more evident and make yourself available to connect with people. I don’t know if that answers a little bit more portrayed.
Eric Rhoads 08:15
You know, I want to probe that just a little bit. That was very good. The The question is gonna be, you know, I’m afraid of the future. I don’t know what the future brings, you know, I, I just need to stop doing what I’m doing. And yet there’s, there’s a sense of momentum that’s lost if they stop. There’s also a sense of opportunity loss. So you and I were talking earlier about this, but just for the benefit of everybody. In the Great Depression, there was a dominant cereal by the name of post which had like a 90% market share. And there was a startup that literally started right at the beginning of the Great Depression. And it was Kellogg’s and they had no market share, and post in their infinite wisdom said, We’re rich, we’re successful. We’re not going to advertise. We’re just going to get through this period of time. Meanwhile, Kellogg took everything they had, and even stuff they probably couldn’t afford. And they put it towards marketing and advertising themselves. And post ignored them and said, You know, we’re big, they’re never going to hurt us. And then, at the end of the Great Depression, Kellogg had the lion’s share of the market, and they’ve never lost it since then. Can you talk about the importance of branding, even if people may or may not be buying at this time the importance of using this as an opportunity to establish their brand?
Jay Abraham 09:44
Well, absolutely. First of all, again, what I said earlier, is, is true. in normal times, you get someone thumbing through and they’re so frenetic. Now, we’re, we’re consciously trying to Focus on various items, issues, activities that are going to give us solace and we are actually forcing ourselves to pay more attention. If you can use this access period, to elevate and preempt yourself against the maddening crowd, you can own that crowd. Certainly when you get back in, you know, into normality or normalcy, but you know, all estimates are even if it’s horrific, it’s going to be, you know, a few months, maybe longer, but if it’s a few months, and during that time, you can establish yourself as a dominant force. You can make yourself more elevated, more, more preemptive more connected, what that means to you when everything shakes out, is very powerful. Honestly, with all sincerity you win and your counterparts will play havoc trying to catch up number one. Number two is, you know it for the modest cost. I don’t know what it costs to advertise in your, in your media, but geez for that modest cause, the ability to own the mind of the market that you’ve already identified, you know, they are serious buyers of art. You know, they are literally people who own art. And you know that there are people who appreciate the intangibles that art represents. And the majority of them I don’t really think are, are going to be totally devoid of the capacity to buy art. They might differ. Maybe an artist will make some arrangements on terms but the point is, you’ve never had that I call us a perfect storm at Yes, it’s crisis. And yes, it’s horrific, but you also have deep, focused attention, and you have the chance to get them to re attend over and over again, not unlike they would. I don’t want to use a cruise ship because it’s got some bad connotations. But a cruise ship sells so much art because they visited they leave they visited they leave, it captivates, they’re in a mindset of opening up their sensory abilities. This is more evident right now than anybody can possibly exist. And I would say if I were an artist, I probably and I’m not saying this to patronize you, Eric, I would double up I might try to negotiate a rate for two ads with you but I double up because I want to make my art so powerfully and positively aunty that I knew that I was going to own the you know the responsiveness of your marketplace which you’ve You’ve kept it you’ve cultivated and you’ve, you’ve you’ve acquired and you’ve organized and you’ve attracted it very expensive. I know what you had to go through to build your, your readership and I know that readership is is Primo great, I would want to abandon it. I want to own it. That’s just the truth.
Eric Rhoads 13:20
During during the 2004 2008 recession, I called an art dealer buddy of mine in New York, and I said, you know what’s happening because I knew he sold expensive art and he dealt with a lot of the people who, who read our magazine, because we have we have over 300 billionaires that read it. And I said, are they have they stopped buying because I was hearing you know, everybody’s gonna stop buying. He said, No, they haven’t stopped buying, he said, but instead of buying $200,000 paintings two or three at a time, they’re buying $50,000 paintings two or three at a time, he said so they’ve reduced but the ones thing that I think a lot of us forget is that people with money, still have money.
Jay Abraham 14:08
You’re right. Well, also you made a point that I was trying to make and I was struggling for a word. Yeah. You can’t get the right word. You have curated your readership. And I don’t think people understand you’re allowing an artist the chance to go in with every human being that we know of, except for a few exceptions in in the United States, certainly, and most of the world are homebound. They are sitting, they have time. They want to escape the complexities of their business. They want therapeutic, you know, you know, a refreshing alternative. You have a chance to connect with them and bond with them now. Is to goodness not trying to capitalize on that the sadness of the times but this is genuinely a situation where adversity is truly opportunity, you’re not going to get that attention, you’re not going to get that attention you’re not going to get that that that fulfillment of sensory need at the depth and the dimension that you can get right now other than if they were locked, you know, for three days in your studio or in your or in your art gallery and you aren’t gonna be able to do that. So this is opportunity honest to goodness strategic opportunity here.
Eric Rhoads 15:41
Yeah, you know, and you’re not necessarily going to reach those people with your social media because unless they’re following you, you know, we all have social media followers, but we we sometimes forget that they’re our friends not necessarily our customers or that every every Facebook post we make only gets sent to 3% To the people who’s watching it. And so and then those people might miss it. I want to tell you a story. And get your comments on this. In 2008, there was an art gallery, I won’t use its name, it’s still in business. It started up when the recession started. And I since had a discussion with the owner of that gallery, who has since sold it. And I said, What were you thinking starting up in 2008? He says, Look, I was a business consultant. I spent my life understanding recessions and I understood the opportunities that I knew the biggest and the best, the biggest galleries would say, we’re hurting. We’re going to cut our marketing budget. And he said, so I started up at that time, he said, seven or eight big galleries stopped advertising entirely. Others reduced the size of their ads. He said, I knew that once they were out of sight, they were out of mind. And once they did that, if I was visible, then I would be able to take those customers he said, so even though they’re all doing less business, you know, I got the 10%, who would would have been buying from this guy and 10% from this lady. And he said, we actually made a lot of money during the recession. And then when it was all over, we had all these collectors, they were in our pocket. And we became huge as a result of it.
Jay Abraham 17:22
Yeah. And Eric, I was thinking because, you know, given the window, and I don’t know what your deadlines are, but they could do some really inventive things. Since everybody now is doing and I was on the phone with some of the people today they’re doing amazing things with video conferencing, you could you could change your ad to invite him to, you know, watch you create or discuss and talk to the artist, you could do things that they would never have the time, the motivation, the need, and the The desire to do in normal times I mean this is such an opportunity to bond and get penetrating and, and pre emptive access if you use the same creativity that you use to forge your, your, you know your media, your your canvas, your your metals, whatever the things that you’re creating and you use it to forge the connection you’re going to make with these collectors that exist within that very well and very hard one curated readership that you’ve, you’ve concentrated for them. Yeah, I really do mean this. It’s in the scope of the rest of their, their artistic life, and they are artistic entrepreneurs after realizes if they create for any reason other than to retain it in their own house. Then they are an artist. Partner an entrepreneur has to be you’re either strategic or you’re reactive. You’re going to be reactive you might as well get out of the field if you’re going to be strategic. capitalize, you know, it’s it’s the the Latin, carp ADM, you have to seize the moment. And it’s a very strategic it’s not. It’s not pie in the sky, if you think about it pragmatically, logically intelligently. You have these very well capable people who can spend their money, who own art, who will continue to own art and these are people that will own art Do they have no place to put it? They might have walls galore, they have collections they rotate. They have art, they put in different places they’ll buy art donated, landed, they’ll leave it in their basement, they’ll leave it in evolved in a in a storage. So utilize this opportunity to bond and connect and use your artists Creativity and channel it more into your entrepreneurial, creative.
Eric Rhoads 20:05
So the same things apply to art galleries, right?
Jay Abraham 20:08
Absolutely. Absolutely. This is their chance to connect at a deeper level. I mean, you know, right now I can’t remember what they calling him. But there are all these parties going on online which are, you know, they’re much more serious. What? Yeah, I mean, I think that galleries can do some wonderful things, including what I just said. You can do, you can do shows you can go into there, the artist studio, you can have the artist basically create you could, you can, you can do three dimensional, if it’s, if it’s, you know, if it’s in metal, if it’s not, if it’s not a canvas, you can do so many things. And the truth of the matter as you said, that you maybe maybe a true collector is going to To reduce the amount they spend per piece, but they’re not going to reduce and in fact, and probably will happen. Most of these people are pretty astute buyers. So they might be astute negotiators. But if they start collecting artists that they weren’t before, even if they try to negotiate a bit with you, when they start collecting you, it’ll have more emotional connection because of what’s going on now to them than if they bought it during normal times. And that theoretically, but but logically, we’ll have them more compelled to want to buy more from you. It’s just logic.
Eric Rhoads 21:43
One foot in the door once you get them as a collector
Jay Abraham 21:45
Yeah and better now because it’s going to have much more meaning to them. I think because of the, the associative time and emotional need they have for therapeutic fulfillment.
Eric Rhoads 21:58
You know, when when I was referring to That other gallery several of the galleries that stopped advertising during the recession actually went out of business. And most of the ones that did not stop stayed in business they had they struggled to stay in business. I’m but talk to me about that aspect if you if you if you just say, Hey, I’ll wait and see what happens what what kind of a rescue putting your business in?
Jay Abraham 22:24
Well, I mean, I was watching at one of the shows on one of the stock market channels today and they were talking about how if, if certain businesses stop restarting is a nightmare. It’s like there’s certain engines you can’t motors you can’t stop. There’s certain vehicles. I don’t mean vehicles like cars, but there’s other things like that. Stop them and start them again is onerous. It’s extraordinarily hard both in in regaining momentum and velocity in resources necessary to create All the positive pressure that’s going to need to start the movement again. It’s just really I mean, again, you have to realize that the world will not totally add, it’s going to come back it may have to be like that. But people will buy art. People who have the resources will continue to buy they may buy differently but if you are there for them and you are top of mind, and you are allowing yourself to connect in deeper and more more inventive ways now than you normally could, in the busy inattentive times that have been the norm up until a few weeks ago and will be the norm again, in a few months this window is, is rare and the cost of of of optimal mining, capitalizing harnessing and dominating right now for two or three months. I mean, I don’t know what I don’t need to know what a page or two pages in your magazine cause I’m just saying I would think that that would be the best strategic investment Art Gallery could make for the rest of their, their viable life because this can be the propellant that can get you more, more indelibly embedded in awareness, your artists more established in the mind your chance to connect them at more, in more ways. I would use this inventively. I would use this creatively I would use this in ways that nobody else does, I might add, my ads be different than just pictorial, but I would really capitalize on this access window and this concentration of attention window and this emotional need to be fulfilled window in ways that I don’t think everyone in the gallery businesses recognizing,
Eric Rhoads 25:06
you know, you and I talked about this, I think we were in Miami together, you were doing a consulting session with us. And you said something about, oftentimes there’s a spark that happens, a business can be in business for 20 or 30 years and going along, and you know, just going through their everyday thing. And then there’s one thing, one event that occurs, that is like a spark that just sets off the rocket and they go highly you and I talked about that in the context of me doing a PBS show. And the idea that this might be that moment where it could be their Spark.
Jay Abraham 25:46
Yeah, absolutely. If you think about it, when everyone else is retreating when everyone else is paralyzed. You have the opportunity to literally take care Not just market share, but but basically, Top of Mind awareness out of, you know, out of the market, you have a chance to take people who normally would probably and I’m not a a psychologist or a neuroscientist, but they probably would spend this much of their time normally focused on art. Now, you have a chance for them to spend not only this amount of time, but back and back and forth and over and over again. And if you are inventive, and it’s not just a single picture, but you say, Hey, we’re doing every day a different, a different show. And you can do shows that you connect now to somebody and somebody, whatever their studio is or their house, you could visit collectors, you can do so many really cool things that will engage even deeper and then that engagement, it’ll do two things. it’ll, it’ll, it’ll establish artists, but it will all also distinguish you in very, very, very unique ways in the mind of that collector because you’re doing stuff that’s interesting, it’s entertaining, it’s enjoyable, it’s stimulating. It’s fascinating. It’s dimensional, and it’s therapeutic.
Eric Rhoads 27:23
Well, Jay, thank you so much. I know all the artists and galleries watching this are are going to get a lot out of it. And I I know that you’re busy, everybody’s calling you for consulting at this time and, and I just want to thank you for spending the time with us today.
Jay Abraham 27:36
I really want to acknowledge I think what you’ve created is such a vital value that will give them direct access. It’s a greatest right this moment, the greatest life you know, lifeblood you, you as a gallery owner can give to A collector that needs you right now they actually need you for for their own, their own great, you know peace of mind take advantage of that. You could mean there’s never been where there’s a one party thought in our lives. We are rewarded in our lives for the amount of problems we solve, and the amount of opportunities we make possible for others. Everyone today is in enormous strife. We are suffering if you can help relieve and and temporarily stop that suffering and turn suffering into joy. And that joy is dimensionally something beyond what your competitors even seek to do and you’re introducing them to experiences and opportunities and and creations That can really transform their mindset their lives. They’re mean it this is just a wonderful opportunity if people grasp it. That’s all I want to say.
Eric Rhoads 29:11
Thank you, Jay.
Jay Abraham 29:13
You’re welcome Eric.
Eric Rhoads 29:14
Well, I hope you found this helpful. Take action. Don’t wait. Thanks again to Jay Abraham for letting me do this and give you some information. A reminder to schedule yourself at the rescheduled plein air convention in August in Santa Fe. You don’t want to miss it. This is the first summertime that we’ve done it usually do it in spring. Come while you can in summertime. And then also make sure you enter the extended plein air salon art competition at pleinairsalon.com. If you’ve not seen my blog, where I talk about life and art and philosophy, it’s called Sunday coffee. And you can find it and subscribe for free at coffeewithEric.com up to about a quarter million readers. I can’t believe that people keep forwarding it to people. I love this. Thank you so much. I really as well. It’s fun doing this, I’m sorry, the circumstances are such that we have to talk about survival. We’re going to get through this. We’ll get through it together. Remember what Jay says, and that is this will have an end. And things probably will get better when the end comes. And so hang in there, be strong, stay secluded. Don’t talk to anybody. Don’t shake hands, get a lot of painting done. And watch for me on Facebook Live and I’ll do things for you. You can follow me on Facebook, Eric Rhoads or on Instagram. And I’d love for you to do that. Now I don’t have Public Accounts on either of them. So I have a limit. But you can still follow even if even though I don’t have a public account, I don’t do a public account because I want to see what the people are doing that are friends with me. So anyway, I’m Eric Rhoads, publisher and founder of plein air magazine. Remember, it’s a big world out there. Don’t shake hands with it, but go paint. I’ll see you bye bye
Announcer 31:08
This has been the plein air podcast with Plein Air magazine’s Eric Rhoads. You can help spread the word about plein air painting by sharing this podcast with your friends. And you can leave a review or subscribe on iTunes. So it comes to you every week. And you can even reach Eric by email Eric at plein air magazine calm. Be sure to pick up our free ebook 240 plein air painting tips by some of America’s top painters. It’s free at pleinairtips.com. Tune in next week for more great interviews. Thanks for listening.
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