I’ve never bought into the idea that visual artists need a large subscriber list or a massive social media following. That’s contrary to the common wisdom some artists believe and many art marketing experts promote. Maybe they know something I don’t, but I doubt it.
For paid subscribers: The newest Art Business Brief looks at encouraging signs from the everyday art market, including new Saatchi Gallery marketing options, younger collectors, strong interest in emerging artists, open-studio and art-festival sales, and what they may mean for working artists.
There is math that contradicts the concept of large lists and, even more importantly, the reality of most artists’ lives. The math is based on the plausible rule of thumb that artists who primarily sell original art might produce 1,000 originals during their careers. That’s 33 originals annually for 30 years. If you start late, create slowly, or are unusually prolific, your mileage will vary, but 1,000 is a number we can work with.
Regardless of how much art you create, you don’t have the time or resources to find a new buyer for every piece. Neither do most galleries. Maybe huge lists and thousands of followers fix that problem, but how many artists do you know—or even know about—who have both? And how many everyday Main Street artists, who make up the large majority, have the time, money, or desire to work nearly full-time marketing their work?
The math and reality don’t line up for most artists. So, what should you do? Start with a realistic perspective. What are you capable of doing? What are you willing to do? What do your circumstances allow? You can spend a lot of time answering those questions, but even a simple understanding is better than hoping, wondering, or bouncing from one plan to another because nothing seems to work.
Maybe you can make 33 originals a year, but you don’t have to set a goal of selling them all. Or maybe you make fewer and spend more time on them. You can take older or dated pieces you know will be difficult to sell, remove them from their stretcher bars, inventory them, roll them, and store them in tubes. Find some way to solve the storage problem so you can stop worrying about every piece and concentrate on selling your best work with the most commercial potential.
When you remove the pressure to sell everything you make, life gets simpler. Suddenly, you don’t need a huge audience. You need a warm list of connections that matter. Not all connections are the same. They begin with one-way connections, where someone knows about you, but you don’t know them. That’s what happens when social media, advertising, publicity, or word of mouth kicks in.
These are people on your email list, social media followers, someone who passed through your booth at a show, or somebody who watched one of your 15-second reels. You need those people because you can’t make warm connections without first making one-way connections. But followers alone are less likely to provide the personal familiarity and confidence that help sell original art, especially at higher prices.
The next level is where you know someone, and they know you. Better still, you’ve had some personal interaction. At the bare minimum, you may have exchanged emails because you reached out to thank them for something they do in the community, or found another natural way to get on their radar.
The possibilities and angles are limited only by your imagination. Maybe you met at a cultural event and introduced yourself. In those situations, you don’t blurt out everything you know and say, “I’m an artist. Can I come show you my work?” You make the connection.
It’s no different from developing a potential friendship. The relationship evolves.
You pass through stages of familiarity, mutual respect, and sometimes genuine affection. Of course, not every relationship turns into a friendship, nor does every casual encounter turn into a longtime supporter who buys multiple pieces.
It’s natural that some connections will develop in ways you could not have seen when they began. Because time and energy are finite resources, you can’t afford to make connections indiscriminately.
Two kinds of people are especially valuable for you to know. As such, it makes sense to focus your efforts on becoming known to people who have the means to buy original artwork.
Census Bureau statistics show that about one in ten U.S. households earns $250,000 or more annually. But you want more filters to further narrow your ideal client, and this is a good start. Your income doesn’t need to match theirs for you to find ways to intersect your life with theirs. You only need some shared interest to give the connection a reason to begin.
Sometimes, your artwork provides that interest. If you are a wildlife artist, you might get involved with the Nature Conservancy or another conservation organization. If you’re a marine artist, you probably already share similar interests with boat owners. Or perhaps you create work based on local subject matter, which gives you a natural reason to engage with people and organizations that care about your community.
The other valuable connections are people who may never buy your art but know others who might. They might be a center of influence who knows everyone and who also enjoys bringing people together. Other examples are designers, framers, community leaders, event organizers, business owners, and arts supporters.
One well-connected advocate who likes you and believes in your work can be worth more than thousands of passive followers. Is making these connections a chore, and can it be hard sometimes? Of course. But so is nearly everything else you can do to get your work to market.
A good first step is to identify what is distinctive about your art and spend time considering which people are most likely to respond to it. It’s not precise scientific research. It’s a mix of your instincts and sharpened awareness. You want to figure out where people who seem like your top prospects spend their time and what they care about. Then use your creativity and imagination to envision how your life might naturally intersect with theirs.
Making intentional connections is an iterative process. You chip away at it a little at a time. Make it part of your everyday life; find time to incorporate it along with whatever else you’re doing. You might be running a Meta advertising campaign, participating in shows, sending emails, or using other marketing channels. Don’t let any of that keep you from thinking about individual people you would like to know and finding appropriate ways to connect with them. It’s human nature that the things you think about are the things that get done.
Even 10 or 20 minutes a day spent thinking about intentional connections and following up can pay off. Write an email. Send a handwritten note. Make a call. Join a club. Volunteer your time. Attend an event where you have a real reason to be there.
It begins as a mindset. You decide that being purposeful about making meaningful connections makes sense and is worth the effort. Then you accept that it is a long game in which patience and persistence become your greatest allies.
And this is where the math begins to work in your favor. You don’t need to find 1,000 different buyers to sell 1,000 works. Some collectors will buy multiple pieces for themselves or even as gifts. And others will refer you to contacts who become buyers, or they may introduce you to people who can influence your career in ways you can’t imagine. Connections like these will likely continue supporting your work throughout your career.
But it isn’t only the math that works out. I contend that your satisfaction with being an artist works out, too, because the value of these relationships extends beyond making a sale. There is something meaningful in knowing your work made an impression on someone’s life, or that a piece was given to someone who loved it. When you know who those people are and they tell you what your work means to them, you can’t put a price tag on that.
Years ago, I saw an extraordinary painting my mother had made and given to relatives decades earlier. It had become an heirloom passed through generations, and I had never seen it. I offered to buy it from my cousins for its full independent appraisal value. They told me no price would interest them and flatly turned me down. To them, it had become part of their family history and meant as much to them as it did to me.
I wish my mother could have known how much that painting meant to them.
See you next week.
— Barney
Announcing the Inaugural Older Artist Get Together in Phoenix!
Many of you know I also publish the weekly Older Artist blog on Substack. This week’s post includes an invitation to join me and fellow artists for a lunch date. It will be casual. No agenda, just fellow artists sharing a few minutes with each other. The date is September 23 at 11:00 AM. Since this is the first, I don’t know how many will show. If you can come, please reply so I can get a count and then find a place. I’m thinking of O.S.H.O Brewery - Paradise Valley on Tatum & Shea, near the 51.
Such a well written post, thank you! It’s funny because most art schools don’t focus much on the actual business / marketing side of art. These articles are extremely helpful, thank you Barney.