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Step 1
To ensure a steady stream of patrons buying your art, you have to reach out, grab their attention and pull them to your website, gallery and studio. You have to do it again and again. Keeping your artwork in the minds of collectors requires a regular, managed flow of contacts. In other words, a marketing program.
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Step 2
The marketing process works like this. First, you alert the world at large that you are doing something interesting and important with a publicity program. You send out media releases and back these up with a media kit. Newspapers, magazines, radio and television are all ways to spread your message and tell people what to do and when. Publicity is like the gentle rain from heaven, it falls everywhere but it only hits the occasional person.
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Step 3
Second, you concentrate on the people who really matter to your success, your key collector's circle. Tell them what you are doing by means of letters, direct mailers, e-mail and newsletters. Ask them to take some action; come to your studio, go to your gallery show, return a questionnaire, visit your website, tell a friend. Then, you follow up with phone calls.
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Step 4
You use print formats like postcards, mailers and newsletters. They work well, last longest, get shared and draw the greatest response. The personal touch of a letter or card builds relationships. E-mail is fast and convenient to create and to send, plus an almost free way to produce and distribute a newsletter and notices. Once you have designed a format, simply plug in new content and send.
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Step 5
Finally, you make everything about you and your art available 24 hours a day on a website. Your website is your stand-in while you sleep or create art. It allows a potential buyer to learn all about you without exposing his interest. Your web site is the first impression many people will get of you and your work. Build it to encourage and support a dialog between yourself and a collector. Make it reflect the excellence of the work you create. Make it wonderful.
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Step 6
Remember, starting a conversation with a patron or potential buyer is your goal. Your efforts may produce immediate interest, web traffic, requests, even sales. But, generally, it takes a few months for solid results to manifest. It’s important to be semi-scientific about tracking actions and keeping a record of inquiries and responses. Perseverance furthers.
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Step 7
If you did the work suggested in previous articles, you have already developed the ideas and stories you need for a marketing program. Over time, you can develop a toolkit of formats that package your stories and offers in compelling ways. This includes everything from simple business cards and brochures to portfolios, multipage mailers, media kits, newsletters and the website. Once you have your basic formats, you can produce promotions on demand.
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Step 8
Your marketing efforts all work together to give you and your work a presence in the minds of your clients and potential clients day after day around the clock that will start or continue a conversation leading to a sale. Still, your best publicist is to create really fine art that people will want to own, live with, talk about and share with other people.
