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 stylized your frames should be; and how to sort through all the art fairs to determine which will be the most successful for you.

Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 85 >

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 marketing questions and you can always email them to me, [email protected] from Boulder, California a little bit from Boulder, Colorado. Suzanne cable asks, how much and how stylized should framing be. I always struggle with framing since I feel like the buyer may want their own style. Well, you know, that’s always an option. Suzanne, buyers sometimes change paintings, galleries, sometimes change paintings. I have a painting hanging in my house that David lafell painted in 1968. It’s a frame that he made himself. It’s just beautiful, but it matches the mood of the painting. And he told me about that he couldn’t find a frame that match the mood. So he made one made what he envisioned. Sometimes the frame complements the painting. Sometimes you want it to blend in sometimes you want it to draw you in. It depends on your taste as an artist, but and sometimes the gallery changes the frames for the marketplace. You know, markets are different. Some markets are like gold frame markets. Others are black frame markets. Some are alternate markets, others are modern, clean lines. It’s all dependent on the market where it’s going. So it might get changed after the fact you want to put your best foot forward though, and try to get it right start by matching your taste to the painting. I tell a story about a gallery down south which had an unsold painting in the gallery for a year. The owner had it reframed with a very expensive like 14 $100 frame. No is a 20 $500 frame. And it’s sold in the first week for four times the price frames matter. Rich people don’t respond to cheap frames unless they look really great. All too often artists buy what they can afford to buy and put them in frames. And I understand that but frames are like cars, some people see themselves in a better way. others see themselves in a bucket of bolts, the best possible frame you can put on it, you can always up the price to get compensated for the frame frames help sell things, great frames matter put great frames on your paintings, they really will help and a lot of people don’t have the vision to know what kind of frame to put on them. So sometimes they’ll just keep on mahtim others will change it.

Alright, here’s another question from Shauna Sue. In Alexandria, Minnesota. Shauna Sue says how do you sort through all the art fairs that determine which ones will likely be more successful for you? Well, Shauna Sue, I would apply what I call a market evaluation to the process. Everything you do marketing wise, you want to attach an outcome and a metric, you know, what are the things that are going to make that outcome come true? What are the we call them critical drivers? So in a fair, what is the outcome you want from the fare? Let’s say you invest $1,000 to be in the fare? What’s the minimum outcome? You have to get back for that fare to be successful? What’s the desired outcome? Let’s say your desired outcome is 10 grand in sales? What’s your desired outcome? How do you get it? What are the critical drivers to that desired outcome? Well, first off, it’s having paintings that are going to get you to that price, it’s going to have paintings that are you know, you might have a strategy to sell volume, you might have a strategy to sell a lot of $25 paintings to get to $10,000 you might have one big one. What does it take to pull people into the booth to attract people? What kind of sales does it take? What’s the makeup of the attendee? Who’s there? What can they afford? What neighborhoods are they coming from? is worth selling at the show? Frankly, I think it’s kind of like a magazine you know, like you want to look for concentrated audiences like to my magazines are concentrated concentrated audiences of buyers, you want to you want to get to the buyers. Volume doesn’t matter. Somebody can say, Hey, I’m going to have a million people through the art show. Well, do you want a million people traipsing through your booth that aren’t going to spend anything, you want to attract the money people you got to figure out a way to attract them, draw them in, get the right audiences visiting your booth and not wasting your time. And you want people who are going to spend not sit there and stroke your ego and say oh your paintings beautiful. Well, why don’t you buy something if it’s so beautiful. So what matters is that people are buying, do they have the money to buy or they get a bipod holders or t shirts, you got to understand that about the fair and some some of the best way to do that is go to the fair on your own a year in advance and then consider it for the next year. Talk to the artists find out what’s selling, find out from people who are you know, call in advance people who have been to the show, not from The show organizers because they’re never going to tell you the whole story. They might not know the whole story. Again, know your market. I also think you need a strategy. Everything I do has a strategy attached to it should anyway, if I’m doing my job, like if I’m speaking somewhere, I want to go in there knowing the room knowing the outcome, what am I going to take out of there? You know, am I going to try and promote something? Am I going to try to build an image? Am I going to try to get them to spend some money? The same thing with affair? So just know your outcomes? Know Your shows? Know your lighting, know what’s going to draw people in? What can you do that nobody else is doing that’s going to make you stand out? How do you engage people? How do you get them talking? What do you say to them when they say things like, I’ll think about it. You need to have a plan. You don’t want to go into that unprepared. need to be ready and loaded. For every possible thing. Sit down, write down every possible objection that you’re going to get and then come up with an answer for that objection. If you do, you’re golden. You’ll outsell every booth there.

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!

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 painting media such as watercolor, oil, acrylic, or pastel can affect how you price your art; and if your social media page should focus only on your art, or if it’s okay to include other subjects as well.

Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 82 >

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 art marketing questions. And you can always email me your questions. I get a lot of these but we try to get to all of them. [email protected] This comes from Zach. In San Diego love San Diego. Zach says, I like to use a combination of different types of paint, combining watercolor and acrylic for example. Do you think this should affect my pricing in any way? Zach, I don’t think anybody cares. Quite frankly, consumers typically don’t think about that kind of stuff. Now maybe if somebody is a really serious collector and you know they’re big oil painting person or big watercolor painting person may be a big acrylic person, but I don’t think you know, galleries all the time sell paintings that are mixed media, you know, sometimes it’s collage, sometimes it’s stuff glued on. I just don’t think it matters. I don’t think that people think about that stuff. We tend as artists to overthink things. Most consumers buy paintings based on the painting, you know, they don’t think about the life the longevity, the archival quality, the paper, the medium, you know, they don’t care about any of that stuff. What they care about is whether or not they like it, if it speaks to them. If they like it, then it becomes an issue of will they buy it? So the question then becomes how do you put them over the edge? How do you help them? Buy it? Well, hopefully, you know, there’s somebody who’s helping you a gallery or somebody who’s kind of selling for you or something like that. But I like to post the story of the painting. I like to put the story beside the painting when it’s hanging in the gallery, they don’t always do it. I don’t always provide it. But sometimes. And stories are memorable stories, sell facts, don’t sell stories, sell facts, logic. Nobody cares. Give people a good story that they can tell other people. And if they like the story, if it resonates with them, it’s going to make them feel the need to own it, maybe personalizes it a little bit they can relate to the story than when it’s hanging in their house, they’re gonna tell their friends, the story, not the facts.

Next question comes from Nathan in Aspen, Colorado, I’m guessing Nathan is probably a ski bum. just guessing. Because Nathan says, I’m graduating from art school in the spring. I already have an Instagram account with lots of followers. But I post about my art and other things. Should I start a new account for my art? Or should I could could my account my personal account just hurt my future sales in any way? Well, Nate, congratulations on your pending graduation. I love to catch people at this stage of their life, early stage of their career where they’re fresh and new and able to start from fresh because you have the whole world in front of you. And you can build a very successful and lasting career. If you make the right steps early and keep that discipline. You know you can become world famous in a very short period of time if you follow the right steps. So you’re you’re getting a good start, you’re asking the right questions. I usually don’t say this, but I highly recommend that you read my book. It’s about art marketing. They’ll tell you about it later. But the I think the book really outlines some really important basic principles that you should get. And there are also a lot of those principles are in my videos. But I think find a way to at least get the book it’ll cost you 25 or 29 bucks or something like that. Become a student of marketing and you will thrive the greatest artists in the world. The ones who were known the Rembrandt’s. They were great marketers. Rembrandt was a brilliant marketer. Picasso was the best marketer on Earth. Whether or not you like his work he sold a lot of it became a very, very, very successful, wealthy. So whether or not that’s why you’re doing it, you don’t have to do it to become wealthy. Now to your questions. Is there a right or wrong answer? I you know, I think that I’m kind of conflicted about this, Nate. People like to get to know the person they want to know a little bit about your art if they’re really interested in you as an artist. But, you know, in Instagram, I don’t know about you, but I follow people based on what they are producing, you know, especially artists. So it’s like, if there’s an artist I love, I really want to see his or her work. I don’t really care about what they’re doing with their life. Now if I know my care, and maybe that’s part of helping people get to know you, but the thing you want to have void are things that are polarizing, unless that’s the image you’re trying to project. But that can be dangerous. I have a friend who’s an art gallery owner. And she actually fired an artist because of something he put on Instagram or Facebook, because she heard from a collector of that artists work, who wanted to return the work because she was repulsed by something they put on social media. While she had to, she had to take the painting back. I mean, what else could she do, she refunded the money. And then she fired the artist and she said, I can’t have this kind of behavior from from you, you’re, you know, you’re a professional, you’re supposed to be professional supposed to act like a professional. So keep that in mind, you can hurt yourself, you know, if I always say if you’re showing pictures of yourself, with your head in the toilet after a strong night of partying, that’s probably not something some collectors are going to want to see, you know, again, maybe it reinforces your image, if that’s your image, but I think that, you know, I’d rather not risk it. I kind of like to walk a line, you know, you’ll never hear me talk about politics or religion, or, you know, things that are going to turn a lot of people off. I mean, I might say it personally to somebody, but usually not even then I just try to stay away from those kind of polarizing things. And, you know, some people don’t care about that others do I have friends who, who just cannot contain their political opinions, and they turn some people off, and those people will never buy their artwork. And and they don’t understand why that you know what crosses that barrier, but it just irritates some people. So just be careful about that, by the way, Nathan, don’t ever like get just let discouragement and get in your way, the people you hang out with are gonna have lots of opinions. If you’re hanging out with a lot of other artists, some are gonna complain all the time about how bad things are, how they’re not selling work, others are going to tell you how things are not going the way they want them to. You know, be careful about surrounding yourself with negativity, you want to listen to people, you want to respect them. But surround yourself with people who are positive is great example, I just heard from somebody who was telling me how awful things were in a particular town. And then I was with a dealer from that particular town who told me he just had the best year in his business. So you know, what makes the difference there? I don’t know. But you know, what, when things are up somewhere, they’re down somewhere else. But always you can always find out where they’re up. And you can always go into that area into that market into wherever things are going well. So just keep that in mind. Also, you didn’t ask, but since you’re soon to be fresh out of school, a couple other pieces of advice. There’s a lot of recent evidence that the promise of social media as an ad medium isn’t always effective. And it is effective. Don’t get me wrong. Procter and Gamble just removed $150 million from Facebook and Instagram, because they found out it was not increasing their sales, and they put the money started putting the money back into traditional media and they’re already seeing increases in sales, we have a tendency to believe because something is new and shiny and hot, that it’s going to, it’s going to succeed. You know, you want to go where the money is I always say stand in the river where the money is flowing. And so be thinking about other things. For instance, there are the people who you hang out with might all be social media junkies, I know I am. But you also have to understand that not everybody who buys is a social media junkie or is going to follow you and that might not be effective. Also remember this all decisions are emotional. When it comes to selling anything, all decisions are emotional, that may not apply to toilet paper. But even then, you know, it probably does because it’s like, somebody wants the stuff with aloe in it because they think it makes it a better experience. experiences are emotional. But all emotions are are all decisions are emotional, but they’re justified with logic. So you can sell by facts and logic, but you’ll lose almost every time when you sell by facts and logic. We don’t buy a car because it’s practical, we buy a car because it speaks to us. It speaks to our emotions, it speaks to who we are, you know, the color, the style, we buy things based on who we are, we try to get something that matches us. We might rationalize it or justify it with gas mileage, or some other such thing. So keep this in mind. social social media has people focusing on fact based selling and data and that’s okay and it works in some instances. But always think about why people buy and how you can appeal to them. I mean, you know, for instance, you know, a full page ad in a magazines that’s going to all the prominent art buyers. That can really see that ad You know, there’s a lot of difference in that space behind between you know what they’re seeing on a phone And you know, if they’re all gathered in one place, this is a better place, not necessarily better, but it’s a place to sell them. And you might want to think about that kind of thing, but sell with emotion, learn how to sell with emotion. practical and logical stuff typically don’t work. And even with people who are in positions that are practical, like lawyers or accountants or doctors or otherwise, most of those decisions are still practical.

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!

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 what you should include on the back of your painting before you sell it, and what to include (and what to leave out) on your professional art website.

Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 81 >

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 marketing questions. email your questions to me, [email protected] And never hurts to put your name, your full name and your city. I like to know this is a question from Julie in Columbus, Ohio, who says Eric recently I heard you say on the podcast that it’s smart to put the GPS coordinates on the back of your landscape painting. So anyone the future would know where it was painted. I love this idea. Is there anything else we should include on the back that I might not think of? Well, I don’t know. You know, Julia, there’s a lot of standard stuff I do. I take a little Sharpie what I do a plein air study. And I write the story of who I was with or what was going on something to remind me of the actual event. You know, if I’m painting with other painters, I say I was painting with Joe Paquette or somebody like that, right and and I always put copyright the year, my name, and then the words All rights reserved, you might want to check with your attorney to see how they want you to do it. And I always put my signature and I try to always put my website, I try to also put the location GPS location is something I don’t always do. But I think it’s a great idea. My brother actually came up with that idea. Anyway, I think a title for the painting and make a title juicy, don’t just put you know tree on the river or do something like something that gives it kind of a romance to it something juicy, right. And a little trick I often do, especially if I’m doing a painting, I’m sending it to the gallery, I’ll usually put on there for a free gift, please contact me at this email address. And then when when it’ll say thank you for buying my painting for free gift, please contact me and then what I do is I contact them and I send them a an image on on little note cards of the painting that they bought. And then on the last second to last card it says hey, these you’ve used them all up, I’d be happy to send you another box my as my gift. And of course that’s a really great marketing tool because they’re sending your paintings out to other people. And also they’re contacting you it’s an opportunity to reach out to them say hey, I want to show you what I’ve got something, something new. Anyway, that’s kind of one thought.

The next question is from Kenneth in Ketchum, Idaho, I was just in Ketchum, Idaho. Kenna says, I finally decided to have my website built to help represent and sell my art. I know, I’ll have my painting, sir, for sale, my bio, my contact information, but what else? Is there anything specific that I should or shouldn’t include on the site? Well, the one thing that you have to understand is that having a website is kind of like being in the phonebook, you know, if they don’t know you exist, they’re not going to search your name. So having a website is only going to do, it’s going to stroke you and some people might stumble into it if they happen to do a search. But you’ve got to promote yourself, you got to get yourself out there drive people to your website, that’s a whole nother thing. I think the things that I would I would do, I go into depth on my video marketing series. I have a whole hour on websites and philosophy and some things you can do that relate to personality types and how to make them click the right button and scratch their itch. But I don’t have an hour right now. But one thing I think is important is to focus on what you want to be known for. I’ve had people who have put up websites, and it confuses people, because there’s pictures of all kinds of different things that you do. But if you want to be known as a landscape painter, for instance, then put up your landscapes put them front and center. I had a lady Tell me one time that she didn’t get any response to her advertising. I said, Well, I find that kind of hard to believe. And she said, Well, I did get a huge increase in business in visitors on my website. I said, Yeah, well, did you convert them? She said, No. And I said, well, let’s look at it. So she was highlighting landscapes. And when you went to her website, it was figures and and portraits, but you couldn’t find the landscapes. And so most people would give up at that point I dug through, I had to go through about three layers to find them. So make sure that you’re relevant. If you’re advertising for Pete sakes, put up there what your advertising, even if it’s sold, put it up there because people are going to come there. And then the other thing that I think is really critical as you want to have a capture device, you want to try and get people to put their email address in so that you can get them on your newsletter list and contact them in the nicest possible way, obviously, ethically. So you can offer some kind of a benefit you can say you know, I’ll give you a free ebook of my 20 best paintings or something like that, so that you get them and incentive to give you that email information. Anyway, that’s what I would do with a website. I think those are the critical things and then there’s a whole lot more on the video series. Anyway, I hope this is helpful to you. That’s the marketing minute.

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!

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 contracts for artists and how to finalize a sale when you have someone interested in a specific painting (including one question you should ask).

Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 80 >

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 answer your art marketing questions. You can email them to me [email protected] A question from Thom. And from Rozendaal arts. He says I’m Dutch currently living in Pisa Italy. I’m working towards selling my first original works and was wondering if I should make some sort of a buyer’s contract that states the buyer is not allowed to reproduce the work etc. Thanks in advance.

Tom, thanks for that. Question Hello in Italy and I hope you’re safe and healthy. One day I’ll get over there to paint the leaning tower with you. How about we do that? Anyway. I don’t know the law in Europe. I don’t even know the law here. But I do know a lot about copyright law. We do a lot of copywriting around here. Copy right around here. copywriting is writing copy. That’s a different thing. Anyway, I don’t want to scare anybody off as a buyer and I’m not so sure making them sign a contract. You might have a bill of sale that it might By the way, it has a little statement about this just says that you own the artwork, it’s your copyright and they cannot reproduce it. What I tend to like to do is I put on the back anyway, I put a circle “c” Copyright 2020 my name, comma in capital, all rights reserved. All rights are all rights. Sometimes, I’ll put a statement on the back of the painting too that says that The artist holds the copyright to this painting and does not. And the buyer does not receive rights for reproduction. So you could you could have a lawyer or somebody come up with a statement, I’m sure you could come up with something like that. That’s not going to spook anybody. Most people aren’t going to do it anyway. But you just want to have a little protection there. A copyright technically is your protection. We have a podcast on copyrights that we did a couple of months ago and you might want to look for that it might be worth listening to.

Next question is from Alex in Washington State who says I’m an artist in a high end, collective gallery in Seattle. I do a good job selling my work for the most part, but occasionally I find I lose a sale awkwardly at the end. Here’s my routine. I wait for the customer to stop and spend time with a painting. I come up casually I chat with them and I inquire as to what they like about the work. I use their answer to talk about the art and then tell them any story that is attached to creating that piece outdoors and why I feel my work is important at this moment in time. And what I hope it will represent in the future of our region. At this point, they either say I’ll take it or there’s an awkward long pause before saying thank you and moving on to the next. before they leave, I give them my card say thanks for visiting the gallery and I inform them in the next opening or any event that will be bringing them back. I also post that painting on Instagram or Facebook several times, in hopes they’re gonna see it. Sometimes they do come back sometimes they say they can’t stop thinking about it, than the story behind it. And they buy it most of the time. They’re just gone. And that’s it. The question I have is, how do I ask for the sale at That awkward moment when I know they’re anticipating a pitch or contemplating a sale with me? I have flat out asked do you want me to wrap that up for you but that has met with hard nosed Most of the time, and they will not return to the painting after looking at others. So I if I try a hard sale, I’m afraid that’s going to blow it.

Alex, you’re doing most everything right. You want to ask a question and engaging question. Rather than what do you like about that work, which might put somebody off? You might say, does that painting remind you of something? Because most people see a painting and they go, Oh, that reminds me of my childhood or a place I grew up. I have a painting in my sister in law’s house. And everybody says, Oh, I know exactly where that is. That reminds me of when I was a kid, you know, it’s a swing hanging from a tree. And so people are reminded things, ask a question, and then shut up and let them talk. Try to keep them talking with statements like really tell me more, but don’t be too obvious or certainly not manipulative about it. You can then say, by the way, I’m the artist. If you have any questions, I’m nearby. And if they have a question they’ll ask right then They probably don’t want to be pressured though nobody wants to be pressured. The key to selling is paying close attention to the reactions and the body language. If their arms are crossed, they don’t want to talk to you, my guess is that you might be going into more detail. You talked about how you’re talking about, you know, the future of your artwork and all that stuff, you might just be boring them to death. You know, the key is, say something, let them talk. Let them talk, right. There are lots of books on selling in the market. Most of them especially the older ones are manipulative and old school. It can’t hurt to read them. But quite frankly, if they can afford a painting, they probably heard all these trial closes and all that old nonsense. I don’t like it anymore. Anyway. If you’re not going to sell somebody you’re not going to sell. You’re not going to get everybody. Most importantly, give them an image of the painting and say, if you can’t stop thinking about it, let me know, I’ve put my mobile number on it and be happy to deliver it and hang it up for you. Or you might try something else. Like you could say, hey, do you mind if I get somebody to take my picture with you guys in the painting, take it off the wall, put it in their hands, get the picture. And then say, let me email that to you. And by the way, if you’re interested in it, you know, I’ll bring it over and hang it up for you. And don’t mention the price. If they don’t mention the price. They’ll if they ask the price, that is an indicator that there is some interest. But some people ask the price because they’ve got a number in their head. And the your number is different from their number and they’ve already decided, oh, boy, I don’t know that’s a little bit too much. The other thing is sometimes there’s a technique that’s used in retail, where they try to get a number, a higher number, and then they have a lower number and people remember the higher number and think its that value and then you bring them to the lower number. That’s a little more that I want to get into today because it’s kind of, I don’t know, maybe manipulative, so I don’t want to be manipulative. anyway. Most important is just chat with them strike up a conversation. Don’t be, you know, people can sense your angst over selling a painting. Don’t oversell them, just talk to them and say, Hey, you know, Thanks for looking at my painting, I’m really honored that you looked at it, and I hope you liked it. And, you know, then Nice meeting you and where you guys from and what are you into and you know, just let them talk, the more they talk, the more they’re going to like you maybe, hopefully, and then the more they talk, the more they might before they walk out say hey, by the way, where, you know, how much is this painting? And that’s when you say, Well, you know, today it’s this amount of money because, quite frankly, you know, whatever. you know, I’ve discounted it or I’m not discounted it or it’s you know, whatever the price is you just kinda have to play that out. The other thing is a trick that I use Oftentimes when I’m consulting galleries, and this is a trick that’s used. I don’t like the word trick, but it’s a technique that’s used in the retail business that came from the jewelry business, they’ll put a price on a ring under a spotlight in a glass case, and they’ll make it three times exactly three times the ideal price they’re trying to get. Well, the thing you can do, for instance, is you can hang it, let’s say it’s a $2,000 painting you’re trying to sell. You have a $6,000 painting hanging on the wall, clearly a visible $6,000 price. And then next to it, you have three or four or five $2,000 paintings. And so the $2,000 paintings feel a little bit more attainable and yet you are perceived as a $6,000. artist, right? So that’s one thing that can be done. You might want to try that anyway, it’s you’ll see it you’ll notice it once you start going into galleries because they do that All the time. Lots of them do. Anyway. hope that’s helpful.

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!

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 answers the questions: “If you’re working with several art galleries, how do you decide which gallery gets which paintings?” and “Are there businesses that hire freelance plein air painters?” This episode features special guest Mark Sublette from the Medicine Man Gallery and the Art Dealer Diaries podcast.

Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 79 >

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:

All right, well, we have a special guest with us today on the marketing minute Mark sublette, who’s a gallery owner in Tucson, Arizona. is going to be on with us. For those of you listening on the marketing minute podcast, here’s a question from Ashton B. in Baton Rouge, Louisiana who asks, If you’re working with several Whoa, this is time good timing. If you’re working with several art galleries, how do you decide which gallery gets which paintings? Mark, you want to address that one? Yeah, yeah. Well curse the committee, right?

Mark Sublette 50:22
Yeah, no, not necessarily. If they let for instance, let’s say they’re working with me and somebody that’s in let’s say, Jackson Hole, they’d be smarter to get the material that is related to the Jackson Hole area, ie the Tetons versus sending them Searles, right, send me soils, now they should have a working relationship with a gallerist. And they should be able to say, Oh, I do well, with this, I don’t do well with that. And then the other thing is that, you know, if let’s say they’re, you paint the same kind of subject matter, and it’s the, the galleries are not, you know, really different in the locations, who’s doing the better job for you, right? I mean, reward the, the galleries that are making the sales and promoting you, whoever that is, if, if you have one gallery that’s doing really well, for you, they should get more I mean, until the other gallery steps up, and does well or comes to you and says, Hey, I’m going to do this, I’d like to get more paintings, you know, and here’s my plan. If they’re not doing that, if they’re just saying, Give me stuff, then you know, go with the person who’s doing a better job,

Eric Rhoads 51:29
or you ever get a painting, you know, somebody sends you a painting and you’re like, cringe when you see it, and you wish that you didn’t even have to worry about selling it or do you, you know, did not hang it? Or how do you deal with a situation like that?

Mark Sublette 51:44
Unfortunately, most my artists are so good that you know that even a painting that I might not particularly care for. Usually sells, but you know, I had one that was I got that was a subject matter. It just seemed like there would be no way I could sell it. But somebody found it. Perfect for them. Because that’s what the subject they liked it. Yeah. And so you just don’t know Don’t you know, realize that just because your taste as a gallerist might be x, some subject matter may be quite desirable that you just don’t recognize. So I let every No, I don’t ever really tried to push my artists to do extra this. I just say give me your best work. I’m happy.

Eric Rhoads 52:26
Yeah, yeah, I would say, you know, what I do is I send pictures first. I’ll say I’ll pick somebody that I think it’s a fit for, and I’ll send it to them. And I’ll say, is this something you want? And sometimes they’ll say no, sometimes they say yes. And so I think that right off the bat kind of solves that problem. And, and then you know, and I think the regional thing is huge. Right? You know, Adirondack paintings don’t do well in the desert.

Mark Sublette 52:50
Nope. Not send those to you.

Eric Rhoads 52:55
Yeah, that’s right. All right. So the next question comes from Joe eisenhart. in Cheyenne, Wyoming, speaking to the west Joe says, Are there businesses that hire freelance plein air painters? I’ve never heard of that. Well, I have heard of that. Actually. I’ll try to address that first. There’s a big thing right now. plein air weddings. This is I’m seeing hearing from and seeing a lot of people doing this where they’re hiring a plein air painter to come in and paint at a wedding or at a reception. It’s kind of a kind of a thing right now and artists are getting paid. And one one artist told me they got flown to France. This is pre COVID they got flown to France, and they got they were paid some ridiculous amount of money because weddings, you know, people like to spend money. And they did a painting of the wedding while it was taking place. And you know, usually what they do is they go in there and they kind of paint in all the background and everything first and then you know, they paint their figures in last when the weddings going on. I’ve never heard of businesses hiring freelance plein air painters, what about you, Mark?

Mark Sublette 54:00
Never heard about it ever. But I think that’s a great idea for the for the weddings. I think you could make a complete career doing that, if you like those kind of things. I mean, it would be I could see it, I can definitely go see it. But no, I’ve never heard of it.

Eric Rhoads 54:14
No, I never have either. But I think there’s you know, there’s something interesting in that there is somebody who pointed out to me that they put themselves out there in their in a convention city like San Diego or something and they they do these plein air retreats, you know, if somebody is coming in for a convention and they want to company bonding meeting, you know, they’ll set them up with 40 or 50 easels, they’ll give them a lesson and, and they you know, they make good money from that. But that’s that’s an interesting question. It raises some, some good ideas.

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!