Well a few days ago I stated that for those artists just starting out, you are best not trying to sell your work too soon. Why?
You might remember a few weeks ago I talked about the tripod of success: 1. Showing up and doing the work. 2. Developing a great skillset. 3. Having a great business plan. Selling your work belongs to #3, and attempting to do that before you have established a sustainable, consistent work routine, and getting your skills to a solid baseline level… well that’s like putting the cart before the horse. Practise, practise, practise, I can’t emphasise that enough. Get good enough at your art that you can enter the market with knowledge and confidence. Websites, galleries, sales… that will all come in good time, but in the early stages of your career these are unnecessary distractions from the real work required. And there is another more practical reason for not selling too soon. Build your audience first. If you grow a solid following of people ready to buy your work, you can enter the market confidently at a higher price point than those just starting out. This avoids the trap of becoming stuck in a beginner’s market which your audience will identify you with. I’ve seen this happen a lot. Not selling, however, is different to not showing. You must show your work. Here on Instagram is a great place to start as you will get completely free exposure. How will you know when to sell? When your audience is big enough that you start getting a consistent stream of enquiries about your work. Remember… daily routine and a solid skillset are the core of all success! .
2 Comments
28/6/2018 06:34:24 pm
Thanks for your very useful series of articles Richard, I have been working at my art for around 5 years and it has evolved greatly in the last 12 months due to being an active user of Behance which has given me much inspiration.
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Ginger Medlin
28/6/2018 09:32:23 pm
This article is spot on Richard, I started painting in 2001 but only started selling in 2004 and then by word of mouth only. I am just now putting together comprehensive ways to sell my work, although word of mouth was quite successful. Thank you for the advice it was very helpful.
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AuthorRichard Claremont - artist. A peek into my studio. How I think. How I paint. How I run my art business. Bite sized daily chunks of goodness. Just me talking aloud, really. Join me for a chat over a cuppa. subscribe to newsletterArchives
August 2018
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