How to Sell Art...First of all, this is a huge question but surprisingly simple. It's simple because it has to be based on you, the artist. How do you like to sell your art? I've found over the years, there are basically two ways to sell your art: direct to the customer or through a strategic partner (or, I admit it... a combination of both). It's really important to understand which strategy is most effective for you when you're asking how to sell art. When I first started asking how to sell art, I did what most artists do and looked to others who I saw being successful and modeled them. Unfortunately for me, their model didn't work for me. Many of the artists I knew were introverts who enjoyed mostly making in their studio rather than interacting with the public. Consequently, they had adopted a wholesale methodology which required them to make production items, sell at a 50% discount, sell through stores and galleries, and never have any interaction with their end user. For me, as an extroverted people person, that was very unfulfilling. When I made beautiful work and faced the reality of packing it up and shipping it off to a gallery far far away, that gave me no emotional payoff, which for me is an important part of being an artist. I love hearing people say "Oh my gosh, that is so beautiful! I love it!" Without that, I was missing something huge! The other methodology I saw most artists doing included doing as many retail craft and art shows as possible. They seemed to live on the road. In the summers, they were in the mountains and in the winter, they all headed to Florida. Always on the road, always staying in hotels or travel trailers. Again, not my idea of a beautiful artistic life. For me, I chose to pursue selling my art through a public studio in Asheville's River Arts District, a collection of over 200 artists in 23 old warehouse buildings in Asheville, North Carolina. It's a mecca for artists and art lovers, as well as wealthy retirees who like to incorporate local art into their homes. I get to make, sell and interact all out of my studio. I deliver most of my commissioned works and I get a high level of interaction with my clients. We build relationships. They visit the studio with friends and for me, that's huge! So what's the bottom line? You have to determine how to sell art for yourself based on how your wired, what you're creating and the life you want. Without being clear about those questions, you'll end up really frustrated. If you're going to be an artist, you want to do so while living a beautiful, creative and fulfilled life. Where You Sell Your Art...Now you understand why these two questions go together. How you sell art ends up determining where you sell your art. There's no cookie cutter plan that works for everyone. As you consider where to sell your art, make sure you craft a strategy that fits how you like to create, sell and live life. The artist life is not just about cranking out product, but about authentically creating your work, connecting with others who love what you do and making a profit.
That being said, here are some of my best recommendations: Where to Sell Your Art For Artists Who Want to Sell Direct To Clients:
We talk about these issues every day in my Created to Thrive Artist Mentorship Program and over the last year, I've created several in-depth teaching videos on this subject based on my own experience and the experience of hundreds of artists I've helped over the years. Find out more about becoming a part of my artist mentorship program here. Also, let me know what's working for you! Comment below and let's keep the conversation going. Get my Free 9-Page PDF "Sell Your Art & Make Money Quick". It's packed with over 60 different proven strategies for selling your art in any market.
23 Comments
Celeste Johnson
12/30/2017 11:45:27 am
I went from isolation and no fruit to getting out there with my art in just 7-8 months and blossoming. Being an introvert it is hard to interact with people, funny thing is God is changing all that. Little steps, learning to speak and do live paintings at functions. Sharing on fb art page, teaching art.... people are responding to my art in a positive way and want to know me more!?! I made more sales this year like never before. I do still have a long way to go and I am not giving up. Right now what works for me is working at home, advertising through fb and word of mouth through family and friends. Who’s to say what another year will bring. God is pushing me to cross my bridge to be a thriving artist.
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Praise the Lord! Your sharing has inspired me. To just go with the flow, where God plans & just immerse myself into where He takes me. Beautiful sharing & may you be fullfilled in discovering his call for you as an artist, entrepreneur and everything in between:) Happy for you!
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Tina Lawver
12/30/2017 11:56:34 am
Such valuable information to two questions I had asked, with no answers for many years. As I was striving and living with high anxiety and frustration as an artist, I quit and restarted over and over again only to land in the same place asking the same two questions. When Created to Thrive entered my life, I began taking steps toward thriving and that’s how I walk today. Thanks for this post Happy New Year. Excited for 2018. Many Blessings, Tina
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12/30/2017 11:58:13 am
Thank you for your comments on How and Where to Sell. I
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Jenny Pretorius
12/30/2017 12:02:31 pm
Hi Matt,
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Nancy Lemberger
12/30/2017 12:06:53 pm
I purchased a commercial building on the brick streets of downtown Nacogdoches, Texas (the oldest town in Texas) and converted it into my home with the Front two rooms being my Gallery with storefront glass. It works perfectly for me. I love it!
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Lynn Hitchcock
12/30/2017 12:12:14 pm
Being that my career has been graphic design, My perfectionism makes me take a LONG time to finish a painting. I have taken my photography, and my paintings and had professional quality canvas prints made of them. This is something I just tried recently. They look marvelous. I have them placed in the restaurant owned by one of my customers. I have sold several, and one painting in particular seems to be very popular. It's working for me on a limited scale. Hopefully someday I can do my pure passion - paint, draw and make photos and live off that!
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Judith Snider
12/30/2017 01:07:53 pm
I do woodworking...small oval memory boxes inspired by a patient I cared for 40 years ago in Denver. I am retired, live a solitary life as 11 children raised and my husband died in August. I like to help people smile and feel God's love in life. I make the boxes now numbering 70+ and give to folks to remind they have many blessings as they walk in thier life and now have a place to collect tiny momentos of thier jorney. I do not charge for these boxes but ask each person to donate to a charity or local food pantry as they are able. I live comfortable and love meeting people and offer they be filled with looking for all the blessings they have and just didn't notice before. This brings my lifetime to a joyous climax to do while I can!!!
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Tina Shedid
12/30/2017 05:15:23 pm
Judith, I love what you do and more importantly, why you do it. I would love to be able to get to a place where I could make things with my hands as gifts and not need to sell art to make a living. I can just see you, crafting away, creating — for the love of Jesus to touch others. While you can! Yes!
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Marie Thompson
12/30/2017 09:55:22 pm
Tina and Judith, I make birthday cards each month from paintings and drawing I do. They go to my Church Family. I also make my own Christmas Cards each year....have for several years now. When I do a painting or drawing, I display it on facebook and have been selling a few pieces that way as well as by word of mouth; but I don't bring in enough to even pay for my paints and canvasses. I am in my late 70's, and while I am retired, I could certainly use more sales so that I can supplement my income as the cost of living is continually rising while my income remains fixed. In fact it doesn't even buy as much as when I first retired. 12/30/2017 01:41:37 pm
For me, wether in my previous retail store or teaching art across the country, it is the people connection that I need , when they connect with you they usually will buy. But I mean this in a sincere way. I love to hear about them and over the years have developed friendships across the states. I prefer not to sell in galleries, or wholesale. I feel I would rather sell a few less pieces if need be than give my work away. I enjoy the shows and also have a monthly outlet to place my work within a class setting Of which I used to teach. One thing I know, it is vital to focus in on a specific type of Art , it has to be defined. People have to associate you with something specific. You may like to create lots of things, but when it comes to promoting yourself, figure out what is the most enjoyable, sellable and marketable. And have fun!
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Paula Parkison
12/30/2017 02:01:41 pm
I was sorely disappointed at the results of having my items in an art gallery. Inexpensive little tags and things for the holiday boutique sold, but not much else. Rutherford County is does not have the clientele I had hoped for!
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I appreciate this very much...I have been praying a lot about what
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Suzanne Conner
12/30/2017 06:32:42 pm
I started about five years or so , sold word of mouth, shows, and taught some art journaling classes. I am getting really tired of doing the shows, I am by myself and it is quite strenuous to get ready, set up for the show, selling for several days then taking down. I am looking into copyrighting my art and finding an art agent, just to see if it may take some of the head ache out of making and selling art. I do better each year, but really want to work smarter. I have done well following your videos and have gotten more organized. I love your mentoring group and have learned so much.
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Alicia Plemmons
12/30/2017 08:09:37 pm
Love the information. Would love to be able to stay home and sell my work. I need information on some places renting for cheap right now and me just starting out.
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12/30/2017 11:06:38 pm
I love to hire a space for a solo exhibition , curate and hang all my own works, sit the exhibition and do all the interaction and sales myself.
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Amor Lopez
12/31/2017 07:21:54 am
I currently don't sell art. I work full time. I started creating small works and recently purchased a small piece of equipment that will hopefully assist with generating prints during my free time. Can't wait! The press arrives soon. Planning to open an etsy account and see how that goes for now.
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12/31/2017 07:08:50 pm
I've been a member of the group since the end of July 2017. I've learned much and have so much more to learn. Sometimes, when one has been in the art field for 40 years, one can think one already knows it all...but that just ain't so! Bad experiences, bad judgments, negative results from repeating the same mistakes, can reinforce already fragile circumstances and the ubiquitous "this is just the way it's always gonna be for me" attitude. I even tried "retiring" but that sure didn't work either (thankfully!). Since finding this group, I've bitten off some things I formerly thought of as "unnecessary wastes of time" such as WRITING DOWN goals, and building a vision board to help me stay focused and energized, changing up my web site and blog, etc. Still have lots more to do! I found a very high-end local gallery about 20 miles from where I live and took the plunge to see if they were interested in my art. They were. I joined the small stable of artists in this gallery in late November and they have already sold four of my prints. No originals yet, but one client/collector has a list of 5 other prints of mine he wants to buy (already purchased two). This gallery promotes their artists in a way I could NEVER promote myself! They truly BRAG on their artists (in a good, non-obnoxious way--I've heard them talk to clients about some of their other artists), and I've heard some of those clients tell me of the good things the gallery has said about me as well. Although I love to meet and interact with the people who buy my work, I just can't talk about myself the way the gallery can! They are constantly on the lookout for up-and-coming artists to promote and bring to recognition. It's win-win for both of us if this works out! They keep me energized to keep producing, whereas before, my attitude was "what's the use?" Although I did the show circuit for most of those aforementioned 40 years, I'm very selective of the shows I enter, and doing them gets harder every year, as someone else mentioned in a previous comment. However, I would certainly enter the right shows in the right circumstances, such as indoor, and juried, invitational shows.
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Peggy Wilmeth Carr
1/1/2018 12:55:25 pm
I'm nearly 70, and still working 8-10 hours per day at a "day job, " I am thankful to have, until God transitions me to full-time creative ministry. I've been enjoying Created to Thrive Mentoring for several months, now, learning things I wish I had much more time to implement! The most important impact has been on my emotions, as I have felt so bottled up, with creative insights and energy, and I am seeing how the tiny steps I can take, toward my goals take the lid off that volcano and allow me to breathe. The smoke is an incense for Heaven, I think. I have been working on the underlying problems that have kept me from success, and I think it will be the most satisfactory result, when I finish test-marketing a couple of strategies, to see how they work. I have had a giant failure, which I am using as a giant step up, to find a better market for my work. This blog post is already helping with new ideas. I am an introvert, but I still like connecting with clients. I think someone else could probably sell my work, better, initially, and that may be what I try, down the road. Because I live far from an art culture, and my gallery of choice just closed last year, I have to start with a good online presence and I hope to tackle my techno-phobic propensity this year!
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Ralonda
1/2/2018 09:59:06 am
Thank you for sharing the wealth of knowledge and experience you have with us. In the niche I currently create in, it was easier to teach how to create my designs to make a profit that it was to sell the actual pieces. I create a design, draft instructions, and put together materials to recreate it. I market the class and kits on different levels of availability. It has been a success but the market seems to be taking a huge financial blow. I love the fellowship in my classes and often times we pray for one another. The profit is a necessity to keep moving but the reward is definitely my students/clients.
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Joy Groff Besaw
1/2/2018 12:27:07 pm
Just want to tell you, Matt, that it seems like God brought you to my attention in such a timely way...having just started a new photography business. I have attempted home based businesses several times over a 40 year period, and what I have been learning from you has been so educational, and encouraging! I wish I had learned all this a long time ago! But, better late than never, right? I've always felt that the feeling I had inside me of the NEED to create was from God, and that I should use it for His glory and to help people be encouraged, and hopefully get their minds on a different plane. But I always had a "wilderness" mentality about it. Now I realize it's okay to thrive in this endeavor, and I love your vision of an "army of artists". God bless you, Matt for sharing all this! This is changing my life!
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Donna Miller
1/3/2018 02:50:07 am
God has given me an art talent with drawing Zentangle Patterns
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AuthorMatt Tommey is an artist, author and mentor who is passionate about empowering artists to thrive spiritually, artistically and in business. |