by Carolyn Edlund
Are you guilty of any of these self-destructive activities? Stop right now. They won’t help your art business or your sales.
Apologizing for your work.
On a number of occasions, I’ve seen artists denigrate their own work. They say, “I would like to be an artist, but I’m not really good enough” or they even make that statement in writing. Don’t lead the conversation by apologizing for your artwork, because what you reveal is that you don’t believe in yourself. This can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, because they won’t believe in you either.
If you are participating in the marketplace, then your work is good enough to sell, right? Go forth with confidence. Be prepared to dazzle prospective customers instead of explaining how you’re not really ready for prime time. Take compliments graciously, and thank people who admire what you make. Remember, every artist had to start at the beginning and improves over time. It doesn’t matter where you are on that timeline. Keep working and learning to develop your skills and signature style.
Lowering your prices out of fear.
Do your prices take a slide as an art show progresses? Are items in your online shop priced at rock-bottom because you fear your competition is cheaper? If so, step back and reevaluate your actions. Setting prices for your art involves clarity about materials and labor costs, markup and profit margin. It’s essential to understand your market and competition. You must know why your prices are what they are, and be able to defend them.
Always keep pricing consistent on your art, rather than changing prices at a whim. Use strategies to add value to your work whenever possible, to keep the perceived price higher. And have a full toolbox of tactics to offer rather than resorting to discounting your art.
Displaying poor photos of your portfolio.
Your website must present your portfolio beautifully, and this requires outstanding photographs. There really is no excuse for posting poor images of your work, because they make your art look bad, and they make you look unprofessional.
Too many artists use images that are out of focus, overexposed, have poor lighting or inappropriate backgrounds. This shows a basic lack of respect for the artwork, and won’t win sales or praise. Review your website and other online presence such as social media profiles. Do your photos need replacement? If so, make those changes. Your competition has excellent images, and you should, too.
Neglecting your social media accounts.
As an entrepreneur, you make decisions about how you want to market and seek publicity. If you choose to participate on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or any social media platform, stick with the program over time to get traction. This means you should be prepared to create interesting posts and photos of your work in progress, finished, in situ or otherwise. Tell your story on a regular basis and interact with others on the platform.
If you have abandoned any social platforms, you are better off removing your account than leaving it simply dead. Then, remove links you have placed to any inactive social media. Otherwise, it looks like you might just be out of business.
Using a third-party site to run your business.
Why do artists need their own professional website to give the best impression and do business? Control. If you depend on Instagram, Etsy or another third-party site to run your business, understand that they have the last word, because they own the platform. This is like building a house on rented land, and ultimately is to your detriment. Are third-party sites useful? They can be, if an artist is just getting started and needs a site where it’s easy to get up and running. Or, it can be used as an ancillary channel to display your work, gain publicity and send traffic on to your own website.
Third-party site owners don’t have your best interests in mind. They may include links to other artists on your profile page, pulling visitors away from your hard-earned traffic. They can change the rules, set charges for visibility, marketing or transactions that are excessive, or even boot you off their platform entirely. And there is little you can do about it.
One of the biggest problems is that you cannot gather an email subscriber list on third-party sites; they reserve this right for themselves, because they know how powerful email marketing is. Don’t deprive yourself of the ability to make decisions, create your website as you see fit, and build your all-important email subscriber base.
Sending email campaigns from your personal inbox.
Email marketing is one of the best ways to market; it’s been proven over the years to be effective. But in order to stay legal with email campaigns, you should use an email service provider that offers certain functions. These include an opt-in function, and the ability to unsubscribe. Mail Chimp, Flodesk, Constant Contact and other services provide these to artists, in addition to analytics, easy-to-use templates and much more.
Despite this, some artists are still sending emails from their gmail or other regular email service to hundreds of people at once. Not only is this incredibly annoying, it’s not legal. Sending group emails without permission is “spamming” and can get you blacklisted or your account cancelled. Cultivate subscribers who want to hear from you and then send well-written email campaigns on a regular basis to get best results.
What to do instead.
Get started on the right foot by planning your art business, including presentation, marketing, sales strategies and more. Do some research to understand the market that suits your artwork and your business goals, and seek advice on best practices. Begin with our Checklist for Professional Presentation, our Art Website Checklist, and The Artist’s Guide to Getting Your Work Seen.
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