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Marketing Your Art (Without Selling Your Soul)

Last December I was asked if I’d share my art-marketing approach with other artists. Why? Since moving to this area a few years ago, I suppose I’ve made a name for myself as an effective marketer. I also had great sales year last year. In fact, my art sales here in northern Michigan have increased each of the past five consecutive years. So I agreed to create “Marketing Your Art (Without Selling Your Soul),” a day-long workshop scheduled for June 28, 2014 at the Glen Arbor Art Association, Glen Arbor, MI. Participating in this workshop could make a significant difference in how you bring your art to the world and what happens once it’s there.

Here’s a bit of back story to let you know why I care about proper art marketing:

I love it when artists value their work and it irks me when I hear about good art selling for less than it’s worth. An artist friend recently did just that.  Jill (not her real name) decided to donate a truly wonderful oil painting to a fundraiser for a local charity in her town. She’d posted it on Facebook beforehand and, believe me, this was a very special painting! The night of the silent auction, Jill’s piece hung alongside 74 other paintings, most but not all painted by amateur artists. Not ideal, I thought, but at least Jill’s painting—professional quality—would shine among the rest and get a great price. Silly me—her stunning piece was not the top seller; in fact, it sold for only $275! The art deserved so much more. Jill deserved so much more. And, actually, the Humane Society could have gotten much more for it too. Why was everyone (except the buyer) settling for less? (If only Jill had taken my marketing workshop ….)

I’ve studied this and other similar situations and find that, as do many artists I know (sometimes including me), Jill struggles with insecurities about her art and her life as an artist. I suspect she doesn’t feel qualified to be considered a professional—she certainly doesn’t treat herself as one. As a consequence, others—particularly potential collectors—don’t notice the professional quality of her artwork. In fact, hanging in that silent auction, they could barely see her painting at all.

Sound familiar? I remember a time when I was desperately grateful for any opportunity to show my work.  I’d be flattered when asked to put a piece in an auction. Yet time and again I’d feel miserable when my painting either didn’t sell (unlike the pink elephant next to it) or, worse, someone walked away with it for a fraction of its value.  Maybe you’ve also felt the emotional sting when your work has been sold short. Perhaps someone talked you down from your asking price; afraid you might not sell it, you said Yes when you really wanted to say No. But much of the time we don’t even realize why we feel bad or have such low esteem for our art. Instead we attribute the fact that our art career isn’t what we’d like to circumstances—we want to believe it’s the economy or where we live that makes art hard to sell. Is this true? Or simply an attempt to explain away a situation we’re unhappy with?

In my previous career I’d had so many experiences of selling myself short, I eventually burned out. By reflecting on some mistakes I’d consistently made, I was able to see that my career had been limping along because without realizing it, in one way or another, I’d kept shooting myself in the foot. And  when I looked at what my artist friends were doing, I saw many of them doing the same kinds of things I’d been doing. When I started to sell my paintings, I really wanted things to be different. And for this to happen, I realized I needed to do things differently.

Over the years, I’ve challenged the prevalent stereotype of the struggling and starving artist. I’ve investigated  and received coaching to be more business-like in my selling; and I’ve used the Internet for social media and other online marketing strategies. I’ve also learned that savvy business and techy solutions tend to feel mechanical after a while, and when they do, we don’t use them. Another shot in the foot!

For my own use (and now to share with other artists), I developed a marketing approach that’s deeply integrated with my artistic life. If you’re an artist with a body of quality work, “Marketing Your Art (Without Selling Your Soul)” can help you see what’s getting in the way of marketing your work in the most effective ways possible. You’ll learn how to bring your art to the world in a way that leaves you soul-satisfied and enriched.  You’ll not only get to explore your possible foot-shooting beliefs and behaviors, you’ll get specific practice in healing your limping art career. And if you’re considering launching yourself as an art professional, you’ll learn how to put your best foot forward while avoiding perilous emotional pitfalls.

In the workshop I will share with you the research and insight research I’ve gathered on what it takes to market your work in northern Michigan (and beyond).  We’ll look at techy art biz strategies and how they might (or might not) work for you.  You’ll leave the workshop with a tailor-made plan to market your art in ways that nourish and support your art-making efforts. And you’ll know a lot more about the value of your art and how to clearly communicate that to yourself and others.

I’m sending you this letter two months in advance of the workshop so you’ll have plenty of time to consider whether this workshop is for you. (If you don’t live in northern Michigan, you’ll also have time to arrange combining the workshop with an Up North painting trip!) As soon as you enroll, I’ll start giving you material that you can start using to improve your marketing approach immediately. So, to get maximum bang for your buck, sign up right now! Or take your time. Register whenever you’re ready to embark on this rewarding art-marketing adventure.

Thanks for taking the time to read this very long letter. I look forward to working with you! Questions? Feel free to email me.

All my best,

Ellie

P.S. In the workshop you’ll learn how to turn invitations to donate your art into win/win transactions that profit the artist not only with exposure, but also with cash.

P.P.S.  Whether or not you decide  “Marketing Your Art (Without Selling Your Soul)” is for you, I’d very much appreciate it if you’d forward this letter to any artists you know who are struggling with issues related to showing and selling their work. It may make a huge difference to them.

If you'd like more details about the workshop, click here.

I love breakfast—you never know what's going to be cookin' in the Inspired Conversation Department!

This morning the talk was about a documentary my husband Roo watched after I went to bed early last night. The film was about Stevie Nicks, the singer/songwriter of Fleetwood Mac fame. The author of many tunes, Roo tells me her lyrics are born from poems Stevie had written as journal entries over the course of her life.  These poems weren't particularly profound—she wasn't trying to write a hit song each day—she just wanted to get her everyday thoughts and feelings down on paper. In the process of her daily practice, however, she created a treasure trove of possible songs. Some of these went on to become the hits we've enjoyed.

I know a lot of promising writers and artists who get stuck on the notion of creating a bestseller, a masterpiece, or even somewhat harmlessly, a "good" painting. Trying to attain an ideal, they'll overwork an idea in one painting or poem until all the flavor's gone out of it.  Then, exhausted, they may not paint or write for weeks or months. Creative ideas, however, are like broccoli—better lightly steamed than hard boiled. Writing a poem each day or painting a series of studies takes the heat off getting things perfect, freeing an artist to make gentle, steady progress in a desired direction.

When so-called Sunday painters come to my studio, many of them bemoan the imperfection of their efforts. (Usually they've been working on one painting for a very long time.) At such times I'll bring out examples of my early work. When they see evidence of my initial efforts, you can see the relief on their faces. Clearly I wasn't gifted with unusual talent. But then I tell them how from the beginning I've painted lots—lots of lemons, that is. It's sort of like kissing a number of frogs before  your prince appears .... If you will paint a lot of lemons, or pears, or whatever—you too will learn what can only be learned only in the process of making many painting attempts. Unfortunately, many would-be artists stop doing their art when they fail to produce their idea of a good painting.

Paradoxically, progress occurs when you're not trying so hard to produce a certain outcome. If you can get past the need to create a masterpiece each time you pick up a brush and simply paint, then you can get into the deeper process of creating where real learning takes place.  It's not a big mystery, it's simply the work of art: endless hours looking at things in an attempt to see them more clearly; time spent, brush in hand, translating vision onto a canvas with paint; and, many days engaged in a struggle to overcome stubbornness, resistance, fear and other uncreative habits. This is the stuff of an artist's life. Any recognition or award assigned to your efforts becomes, by comparison, an afterthought.

I'm writing this as a reminder to myself. (No one really needs my advice but me.) So, here's what I need to be reminded of today: Whether or not you have luck or talent, invest in the process of doing your art and progress will likely ensue. When you work at your art every day and not just when you feel like it, luck takes a back seat to diligence. Notions of creating a hit or a masterpiece on the first try—or ever—fly out the window. Just make that journal entry. Just write that poem. Just pick up the brush. Just do it!