Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 23

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 to do if you hit a “price ceiling” when selling your art, and how to advertise your art to a targeted audience.

Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 23 >>>

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 Rich in Tucson, Arizona. He says I’ve been a professional artist for years but I’ve hit a price ceiling. Gallery owners have told me they need to keep my price low and have discouraged me from raising prices. How do I change this? Well, Rich, you’ve got a couple of options. One option is not to raise your prices and to increase your volume. If they can sell more volume, whether Not they can. That’s a discussion you want to have with them. But everything about prices psychological price is tricky business, lots of great books on pricing. And I’m not sure I can answer this the way you want me to. But here goes I’m going to try. First gallery people know their audiences and they know what they can get. Or at least that’s what they believe. They have put you into a price box that they think they can get for you. Now you might be able to talk to them and edge your prices up gradually by 10 to 15% a year. And I like to see artists increase their prices every year anyway. But if you’re not selling, increasing your prices isn’t going to necessarily make it better. Now, you should, though, have this discussion with a gallery. If they believe that they’re not going to get the increased price. They’re not likely to push you. They might even push you out of the gallery. So you have a couple of choices, trust them and ask them to help you gradually raise your prices. Or you have to experiment, see what happens. Maybe they’ll do that with, you know, say, hey, let’s raise the prices and see what happens. But if you’re doing that your prices have to be the same online everywhere, they’re gonna find you, like if they’re gonna look you up in another gallery, and it’s an eight by 10 painting, it better be the same price as the eight by 10. everywhere because people do that, as you know, you do it, I do it. The other thing is, you might have to change galleries. Now. I want you to respect your gallery and have a discussion with them before you do that, because they work very hard on your behalf or at least they should. But I know an artist who had this problem with three galleries. She had kind of got boxed into a price. They weren’t raising their prices. She talked to them. They didn’t want to raise her prices anymore. So she thought What do I do? Well, she had heard from some other galleries who wanted her in she contacted some other galleries who wanted her in and she said, Okay, here’s the price range I want to get and they went Oh, that’s No problem. As a matter of fact, we could get a little bit more. So they set a new price. She terminated a relationship with the old galleries and went to New galleries that believed they could get the price and in fact they did. So that’s kind of how this all works. But again, try to trust your gallery try to have a relationship and a dialogue with them. They do typically work very hard for you.

Eric Rhoads 3:20
The next question is from Crystal B. of Texas. Crystal says I need to choose the best advertising venue to really connect with those who will connect with my art. I challenges developing a target audience since I do landscapes, figures and portrait. Is there a place I can advertise where there’s an audience that appreciates all three? Well, Crystal, I’m going to tell you something you probably don’t want to hear. Brace yourself. Are you ready? Well, there are plenty of places you can advertise that have readers that love landscapes, portraits and figures. My own Fine Art connoisseur magazine is one of them for instance, but I think you have a photo problem, and you’re going to confuse your audience while you’re building your brand. Who are you as an artist? How do you want to be known? Now, don’t get all bent out of shape, paint what you love paint the styles paint the subjects that you want to pay. But if you had to pick one to be known for which one would it be, but establishing your career and building your brand over the first 10 or so years, maybe longer, you need to be known primarily for one thing. Now there are people like Richard Schmid, for instance, who can pull it off because he’s been around for 60 years. He’s known as a brilliant artist and he does still life. He does portraits, he does figures he does landscapes. He does it all. But when he built his career, I’m guessing I’ve not talked to him about this, but I’m guessing he kind of focused in one particular area became known and collectible. people found out how brilliant he was and started collecting his other work. Now, there’s also artists like David Lefell, David Lefell, is known as a portrait and figure artists primarily He also does landscapes, but it’s rare to see him. So you should consider standing for something, you know, he’s big, you want to be big, right? So ask yourself, what’s the story people will say about you. Crystal B is a, what? A landscape artist, a figure in portrait artists, I think figure and portrait kind of go hand in hand. So that’s one category. If you want to go the route of offering lots of variety, you can do that. But it may slow your progress because you don’t want to confuse your audience. Now, if you can show different kinds of work in a gallery, because the gallery is there to be able to explain it, they could say, you know, crystal is a brilliant landscape artist. She’s known as landscape artists, but little do most people know she also does these portraits and figures and we happen to have a couple of them. They’re pretty rare, but you should get one of those. But when you’re advertising, try to keep your primary focus in one particular area while you’re building your brand because that’s really critical. Now I’m sure there are people who are exceptions to that. But I think as a marketing person, that is probably the right way to go. Anyway, hope these have been helpful for you.

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.

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.

By |2022-12-14T16:50:17-05:00July 7th, 2020|Art Marketing Minute Podcast|0 Comments

Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 16

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.

By |2022-12-14T16:50:14-05:00May 18th, 2020|Art Marketing Minute Podcast|0 Comments

Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 9

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 benefits of joining an art society, and if you should ever give away your art.

Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 9 >>>

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 Brianna More don’t know where she’s from Brianna says when starting an art business, is it beneficial to belong to or join art societies? Why or why not?

Well, Brianna, thank you so much. I think the answer is absolutely you should join anytime you can collaborate with others. Be around others learn from others, you’re going to gain knowledge make contacts Learn about things you otherwise might not know about. And you can usually get some experience participating in shows or exhibits. And it’s a great way to find new opportunities. Plus, life’s more fun with new friends. So I’m a member of many art organizations. I’m a member of the California art club. I’m a member of the National Arts club in New York, the Selma Gundy club in New York and of course, the planner painters of Austin, Texas. And, and probably a lot of other things I should join. I’m a member of the oil painters of America. And so there’s a lot of stuff like that and and so it’s nice to be part of national organizations, where you can be in the shows and also local organizations, you can learn what’s going on. I think you’re going to get a lot out of it. I highly recommend it.

Next question is from I guess this is an email because it’s not a full name. It’s Sarah 2000. Sarah 2000 says, should I ever give my art away?

Well, Sarah, it’s a controversial issue and Firstly, I’d like to encourage you to listen to the podcast that we did with Barbara Tapp. She talks about giving it away and the benefits she receives from it. So I think that’s, that’s something that’s worth doing. I think also, if you’re selling your work, then giving it away seems a little counterintuitive. But think about how giving something away might give you some leverage. For instance, giving something away to a charity auction provides a world of publicity and a lot of list building opportunities. If you give it away based on the terms that they give you certain amounts of publicity, or they mentioned your name, or they do certain things for you, they share their list, whatever. I have a whole section about this in my art marketing in a box program. And we also have I do some training about this and the art marketing bootcamp videos. I’ve talked a lot of depth about it there and not so much here. Of course, you can also do it out of the goodness of your heart, but you can also do it to create more leverage in other ways. So let’s say that you’re you In a community gallery and your work is hanging in the gallery and, and in walks Steven Spielberg and he falls in love with your painting, but for whatever reason, he doesn’t buy it, he walks out. So you grab him and you say, Stephen, Stephen, Stephen, listen, I’d love to give you my painting. Now this happened with a friend of mine. She was I can’t tell you who because it’s a confidential story. But she was in her community gallery and in walked a bunch of Secret Service agents and then a former president of the United States, and he fell in love with her artwork while she gave him the painting. And now he could have afforded it and he may have bought it, but she gave it to him. Why? Well, she wanted to make sure he had it. She wanted to thank him for his service, but also, you could use this with a Steven Spielberg or whoever it was. Former President you could use this as leverage because then you could say, you know, my painting is in the collection of former president XYZ my painting is in the collection of Steven Spielberg. Of course you want to get their permission. And to say that but I think that’s something you could do. You could say, I’ll give this to you. But by the way, would it be okay with you, if I happen to mention it? Sometimes they’ll say yes, sometimes they’ll say no, but it helps invest in your marketing story. And I think that’s a good thing. You also, let’s say you wanted a gallery to carry your work, and they just were not flat out not interested. What have you said to him? Hey, listen, I’ll send you one painting. You see if it sells, and if it sells, I’m gonna let you keep 100% of the first one that sells and then if it sells bring me into the gallery, and then we’ll have a future together that might get their attention might not but it might be worth trying. And unless the painting doesn’t fit the gallery, or it’s a piece of garbage, which probably wouldn’t be that I think that makes a lot of sense. And there are a lot of other ways you can get leverage to so for instance, paint something for the CEO of a big local Corporation, send a note as a gift or asked to meet them and, and then say, Hey, you know, I’d love to do commissions for you in the future. A friend of mine did this. And what he does now is that company has him paint a landscape painting and they give them as retirement gifts. So he’s getting a few thousand dollars for landscape painting that they’re giving a nice retirement gift and that way that painting is there in front of those people in their home. And it’s a memory of the company that is appreciating them, so there’s cool things you can do to leverage. Anyway, I 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 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.

By |2022-12-14T16:50:11-05:00March 30th, 2020|Art Marketing Minute Podcast|0 Comments

Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 8

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, get advice for pricing your painting, especially if you’re new to selling your art, and when and if it’s smart to take on an exciting painting project that might not pay that much.

Listen to the Art Marketing Minute Podcast: Episode 8 >>>

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 John. I don’t know what town he’s given us. John Hornbuckle says, I’d like to know how much a beginning artist should charge for their paintings. I don’t agree with starving artist stuff.

Neither do I, John. I had a man offer me a ridiculous price once and I told him to forget it. But I do believe in being fair. Stephen Baumann said the charge a price based on square inch, which I liked, but I wanted your input. Thank you. Well, John, it’s an interesting question. A square inch price, though doesn’t solve your problem, see a square inch price is just a way to make sure that your pricing is consistent. Like if you’re doing eight by 10, that it’s eight times 10, that tells you how many square inches it is. And then you put a price on that. But if it’s a 12 by 15, and you’re trying to figure out the price way, it’s just 12 times 15. That’s the number of square inches, you put a price on that. But if you’re charging $10 a square inch or 10 cents a square inch, you still have a price issue you’ve got to solve. So square inches, an easy thing to calculate. I don’t necessarily do it that way. And the reason I don’t is because sometimes I’ll work on a painting three or four times longer than I normally would and if it’s something that’s really special, sometimes they’ll put a higher price on it. I know that doesn’t always work for some galleries, my gallery loves it because they like, the higher my price the better for them, right? Anyway, here’s the catch the manor offered offered you money, and he thought it was worth that amount of money to him. And of course, if you’ve got somebody who’s not necessarily well educated about prices, you know, they might offer you 10 bucks for your painting, and you think it’s worth 1000 bucks. So you got a big gap. But anytime somebody is offering you money for your painting, that means they would like to own it. And typically, you know, people might want to lowball you. And so you might be able to come up come to terms, don’t be offended. If somebody offers you a low price. It’s what it’s worth to them. It doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. And so, keep in mind that anytime there’s a dialogue, capture that dialogue, say Listen, you know, I typically sell my paintings more for more than more for $10. But can we come to the middle somewhere, maybe they will, maybe they won’t. But the idea is that he’s offering you and that’s a good thing. Now the thing that you have to understand Pricing is difficult, it’s never easy. And you may think that you should get a high price. I mean, what if I just said, You know, I started painting, I love my paintings, my paintings are worth $100,000 you’d say I’m nuts. Well, but there are painters who have done that and managed to get their price I can think of one I won’t mention a name and gets it every time because of the quality of, of the painting. But what you want to do is edge yourself up, you know, the idea is get used to selling paintings. If you’re new at this, hold a little show, maybe at a restaurant or something, and ask yourself, what’s a reasonable price that people would be able to pay and try that, you know, you start out with a little bit lower. You never start out typically high, and you add your way up over time and over time. It’s about are you becoming more collectible? Do you have a collector base? Do you have a gallery? Are you getting a lot of notoriety And publicity Are you getting invited to be on the stage at the plein air convention, you know, things like that, that matter and build your career. And of course your branding. Your branding is extremely important because branding elevates price always does always does. So anyway, it’s a little bit of a difficult problem to tell you what you should be doing. Now saeko Corporation I’ve read I don’t know this for a fact. But I’ve read psycho Corporation starts out by offering a higher price. And if something doesn’t sell in the store, then they lower it and they keep lowering it a little bit until they get to a price where everything is selling and then that sets their price that’s allowing the consumers to set price but this is not exactly a consumer scenario. I mean, you are talking to consumers, but you’re talking to them in an art gallery environment, or maybe a direct show. So anyway, I can’t give you have an exact answer but I would say probably start out a little lower and then get some sales in that area. Once you’ve proven yourself, then you know, move it up. I like artists to raise their prices once a year, because there’s inflation and so you’re right, your money is worth less money. Anyway, hope that helps.

The next question is from Sam, in Pebble Beach, California always wanted to live there. What a beautiful area, he says, Eric, I’ve got a question. I’m not sure anybody can answer but I’ve been asked to do a mural on the side of a building and they want me to do a giant seascape, like my gallery paintings, but they only want to pay me $2,000 to do it. And I get at least that for my small paintings, but it would be kind of cool. It’s a busy part of town might be good for my career. What do you think I should do? Well, I can’t tell you what to do. Sam. I can answer this for you though. You got to consider everything. A mural. That big is probably going to take you a couple of months or longer to complete. Especially if you want to do it well. It’s going to require you to research What kind of materials to use because what you’re painting with now isn’t what you’re going to be painting with on the side of a building. I don’t know if that’s fresco techniques, or house paint or what it is. But then you got to kind of learn to paint with that, it’s going to take some time, materials are going to be different than what you’re used to, because you want materials are going to hold up and look good for the next 20 or 30 years or longer. And so that’s going to take some time, and then the cost of materials for that amount of square footage is going to be amplified considerably. Maybe they’re going to pay your cost of materials, I don’t know. But the other thing you got to keep in mind is there’s wear and tear on your body, on your arms on your shoulders. It’s going to disrupt your life in other ways because you’re going to be so tired, you’re not going to want to paint anything else. And so what’s the value of this? The wear and tear to disrupt your life and other ways? At the end of the day? Will you get noticed? Is this going to buy you anything? Is it going to get you publicity I think that’s a question you always ask yourself is, what’s in it for me? What’s in it for my career? Is this a good business move for my career? And if it is, consider doing it. If not, don’t do it. You know, most murals there’s so many murals on buildings now that a lot of them don’t even get noticed. You just kind of drive by you don’t ever know who the artist is one of the few exceptions to that as weyland, who’s been famous from doing these giant murals, built his career on these ideas of murals. And I’m sure he makes sure his signature is big and a noticeable spot, not necessarily the bottom corner, and I talked to him find out what materials he’s a nice guy. I’ve met him, find out what materials he uses and how he does it. And chances are, if he’s smart, he’s probably got somebody else doing it for him. He probably comes up with a design and then maybe he goes in, has them they do under painting. Maybe he goes in and does touch up maybe doesn’t even do that. Because when you’re blowing something That large things get very posterized when you get up close. And so that’s a whole different animal you got to learn. Anyway, it’s worth talking to somebody in researching it and thinking about, is it worth several weeks? The other thing I would do is whoever is sponsoring this, whether it’s a city or otherwise, I’d want to know, what’s the publicity plan? Are you going to get my picture in the local newspaper? You’re going to get me on TV, you’re going to get me on the local internet stuff? How are they going to bring attention to you? What are the other benefits? Is there going to be like a grand opening a party where you can invite a bunch of VIP guests where you can get business cards and spread your name and talk about your work? Is there going to be a show of your artwork in conjunction, think about all those aspects because for the amount of time and the effort it needs to be worth doing? 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. 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.

By |2022-12-14T16:50:10-05:00March 23rd, 2020|Art Marketing Minute Podcast|0 Comments

Six Tips to Get More Money For Your Paintings Without Hurting Sales

GETTING

Pricing is the least understood facet of any business, but it’s one that can easily be fixed — without a negative impact. Most of the artists I know are underselling their art, struggling, having to paint too many paintings to keep their heads above water. They are on an exhausting treadmill because their prices are too low.

How would your life change if your prices were higher? If your immediate reaction is that you would sell less work, we need to work on your pricing strategy.

Most people in business get into business because they want to provide a good, quality service at a good price. They want to offer what they would want. Yet the number one reason for business failure is that profit margins are too low because of low prices.

Of course, low prices are necessary in some businesses because that’s their business model. Think Walmart. Yet the perception of Walmart’s prices and the reality are often two different things. Some companies promote low prices on high-volume items to get people into stores, yet other items may not be priced than you can find them elsewhere.

But as an artist, you’re not in the commodity business where, you produce lots of low-cost items. What you produce is a single, unique, handmade item by a well trained craftsperson — you. But do you think of yourself that way?

I can buy a chair for $20. I can buy a chair for $200. Or I can go into a craft gallery and buy a beautiful hand-crafted wooden chair for $1,500, knowing it’s one of a kind. That chair won’t be for the person who buys chairs at Walmart, but there is a market, and there is a special person who will buy it.

You Are Not Your Customer

One of the hardest things to overcome for anyone in business, including artists, is understanding your market and understanding that you are not your market. An artist once said to me, “I want to sell my paintings cheap so that people like me can afford to own them.” Though that’s admirable, people like him are not likely to want to own them. A painting is a luxury item, and the people who treat themselves to luxury items are not the average Joe. When I asked this painter how his sales were going, he told me they weren’t going well. He couldn’t understand it, because, as he said, “My prices are much lower than everyone else’s.”

Tip #1: Low-priced luxury items typically don’t sell to luxury buyers.

Let’s look for a moment at the typical art gallery visitor. Perhaps it’s a couple, and both are lawyers making a half million a year. Instead of owning a Jaguar and a Lexus, they could afford to own four or five Kias. Why don’t they buy them and save their money? That takes us to tip #2.

Tip #2: Price is a signal of perceived quality.

In my art marketing seminar, a man told the story of being at an art show. A woman asked, “How much is this painting?” He responded that it was $4,000, and she said she would “take it.” She handed him a check for $40,000. When he told her she had made a mistake and added an extra zero, she ripped up the check and said, “I don’t want it, then. It can’t be very good if it’s only $4,000.”

Tip #3: Certain people always want the best.

There is always an element of society who perceive themselves as needing the very best, and if it’s not the best — often signaled by the price — they won’t buy it. They don’t need bargains.

One of my mentors, Dan Kennedy, says that rich people have quirks. They will be cheap in one area and extravagant in others. For instance, he paid a million dollars to own a classic collectable car that had been owned by his favorite celebrity. He had no price resistance when told how much it cost — he didn’t even negotiate. He simply wrote a check. Yet he also said, “When I buy shirts, I hate the idea of paying more than $30, so I always buy my shirts at Walmart.”

So how do you get your prices up?

I have two theories.

Tip #4: Build a luxury image and brand, and reinforce it constantly with everything you do.

Screen Shot 2015-07-22 at 12.31.37 PM

First, luxury selling is all about perception. A Louis Vuitton bag is not a purse, it’s a handbag. A large coffee at Starbucks is a venti, and it’s not served by a clerk, but a barista. These and other companies focus on selling image. My favorite Louis Vuitton ad (at the top of this blog post) doesn’t mention the company name. It’s all image. People buy image, and people want to reinforce self-image. People want others to see what they own. That’s why, when I visit some collectors, they’ll say, “Do you want to see my Mundy? Or my Schmid?” or their “Warhol or Hockney” or their “Sergeant or Zorn.”

Building your brand matters. Giving meaning to your name, ensuring your paintings are perceived as the best, is a critically important process. People will pay more for it.

Even in the lower price ranges, the person who buys a $1,500 painting is just as likely to buy a $3,000 painting. So if you’re in a gallery, giving up half your profit means doing without either $750 or $1,500. Which is better?

Let’s do the math.

Let’s say you sell 10 paintings a year at $1,500 each. Your total sales are $15,000, and your profit is $7,500.

Now, let’s say you raise your price to $3,000 and you lose 20% of your buyers, so you sell only eight paintings a year. Your total sales are $24,000 and your profit is $12,000. Which is better?

Let’s take it further. Raise your price to $4,000 and lose 30% of your buyers. Now you sell seven paintings a year, for a total of $28,000 and $14,000 in profit. You made double the profit of selling at the $1,500 price and you only had to paint seven paintings instead of 10.

The snowball effect also kicks in. First, your paintings get better because you can spend more time on them. Second, the gallery is making more money on you, so they push your paintings more. Third, because your prices are higher, you are perceived by the buyer as more valuable. Fourth, by painting less, you create scarcity, which actually boosts sales and prices. “Jane only paints seven paintings a year. You can own one of the seven” is a powerful statement, the kind galleries love to make.

Have Some Guts

I had dinner this year with a very famous artist who produces about four paintings a year and makes close to a quarter million a year from them. I asked how he got his prices up, and he told me that he had no idea what he should be charging for his paintings, so he just picked a number out of the air. He sold his first painting for $40,000 because he didn’t know he couldn’t. It only went up from there.

Most price resistance is in your head because you can’t afford to spend a lot of money on a painting. Your customer can. I have readers of Fine Art Connoisseur who don’t think twice about dropping 100 grand on a painting.

Tip #5: Go for it. Raise your prices. Be bold.

The way to get your prices up is to have some guts. And if you’re not raising your prices every year, you’re losing money because of inflation. Have you noticed how much more groceries cost?

Some galleries will give you resistance, and it’s the kiss of death if you have low prices at one gallery and high prices at another. So you have to notify your gallery of your universal price increase. If the gallery does not support you or believe they can get that price, it’s time to leave and find someone who thinks your new price is perfect. People cannot sell what they don’t believe in. Find believers.

Lipstick on a Pig?

I’ll end with a story a dealer once told me. He said he had a beautiful painting that sat in the gallery for a year, priced at $1,400. He could not understand why it was not selling, so he took it off the wall, put a $1,500 frame on it and raised the price to $14,000. It sold within a week. Same painting. Was it the frame or the price? I suspect it was both.

A painting in a cheap frame won’t be perceived as being worth much, but an elegant frame sends a signal. Who would you rather do business with? A financial adviser who drives up in a Hyundai, or one who drives up in a Bentley? It probably depends on your value system, but I’d pick the adviser who appears more successful. For people who use their cars in business, cars are like picture frames. If I’m selling a $10 million house, I want the agent in the most expensive car.

Price also impacted that sale. A painting is better if it’s more expensive — that is the perception of luxury buyers. The combination of great frame and great price cemented that deal.

Tip #6: Framing sends a signal to support your prices. Expensive frames allow you to increase even more.

In summary: You will lose some customers at a higher price, but you’ll make more money and work less. Build the importance of your brand with constant repetition over years and a luxury appearance. (A great trick is to put your high price in your ads, which instantly packages you as a more expensive artist. Again, this takes guts.)

I believe most artists could double their prices and not lose any customers. Your prices will rise. But it all starts with your understanding of pricing — and having the guts to do it.

 

By |2020-01-21T11:51:45-05:00July 22nd, 2015|Uncategorized|21 Comments
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