Hi Lori, I am getting multitudes of peoples at my website. Ever so often some go to my contact page and stay there for several minutes. No emails. Why do you think they are backing away? Cold feet about buying?

Hi Lori,
My pricing question: when you raise prices on your paintings, are you changing the price on older, existing paintings ... or charging more just for new paintings?
Thanks!
Jill

And here's an art marketing/publicity question... oops, questions:
How do you go about getting the attention of art magazine editors for potential articles about your work? Who do you contact? How do you find out what materials to submit?
Thanks, again1
Jill

Gallery Questions:

So far I've had little success with selling through galleries even though I've been very successful selling personally, locally, in shows or through my studio. It's frustrating and I'd really like to increase exposure of my work through representation and exhibits in other markets (through galleries). How long should I give a gallery to find a market for my work? What can I do to help them sell my art? How hard should I try with a particular gallery?
Jill

As a 3 dimensional glass artist every single piece of work is one of a kind. Recent discussions with a very accomplished two dimensional artist illustrated a stark difference in our approach to marketing and exposure. He felt as though having his work available in fewer and more exclusive settings is the correct approach suggesting, if he had work in galleries all over the City, people would take the attitude that "they could see him/his work anywhere and not make any effort to attend events. I on the other hand try to encourage sales by making my work as accessible as possible. Placing work all over the City with some consideration as to not placing work to close to other galleries carrying my art. Consideration that all galleries that represent me are a good match and of high regard and quality. Your thought?

Hi Lori,

I have been fortunate enough to have sold about 20 pieces so far. I find having an eBay store really helps. One suggestion I want to make is take advatnage of every opportunity. There is a Spring Fair at my place of employment being held in May (right before Mother's Day) that I have signed up for. I hope to sell some older pieces and gain some new customers! Thanks for your articles. They're great!

I forgot to mention one of the most available advertising options to us that we will use for notifying the public about the art exhibition; electronic, or social media. Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, etc...

Good Question Tommy

Thanks everyone - lots of good questions here.

I think it's interesting that artists who are selling well without galleries are interested in gaining gallery representation.

I think it depends on where you live how you market your work. I am trying to enter some important art shows hoping one day the magazine thing will happen.
I worry about the value added tax deal. It may become increasing difficult for galleries to sell work because of the taxes. It is really depressing to think about it.

Even though I sell well on my own, I'm still interested in developing good selling gallery relationships, too. Reason: I want to build name recognition/sales on a national level while still leaving plenty of time to paint. The idea is to reach a wider collector base that can support increases in retail prices of the work. Selling through galleries is expensive ... but I think it will be worth it with carefully chosen galleries. Maybe?

Jo,
My experience with a co-op for almost a year has been a great one. The more events you can have at the gallery the better. We have started having a featured artist event once a month in which one/two artists bring in several more pieces and send out invitations to our "peeps". If you can have smaller items, it helps too. Of course, I guess it depends on what you mean by a chunk of money.

My question is about pricing works for an artist who has moved from Europe to the U.S. and is unknown in her new community. Case: An artist with Parkinson's Disease is having her first Tucson show at the AZ Parkinson's Disease Association new office opening. The tie-in is pdcreativty.com, a website exploring the creativity that comes to some PD patients after deep brain stimulation (as a side effect). However, Trudy Heeb, now 67 years old, is a trained Modern Artist. She started her career in Finland in textile design, having graduated from the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts, strongly influenced by Dresden Bahaus. She spent 20 years as an art therapist in Switzerland. When her husband wanted to retire to southern Arizona, she gave up her career to focus on building a house, gardening, and taking care of pets. Her husband died, she moved to Tucson, had a studio built, and began to work again. After brain stimulation in 2007 she started to work harder and faster. She has well over a hundred works of quality -- most involving Modern priciples, and some incorporating several layers of media, e.g., Japanese paper cutting over pastels. But she has no name recognition here. The organizers think some people will be interested in buying from her exhibition, and she is willing, but has no idea what to ask. How would you go about pricing individual objects?

Thank you.
Karen Dahood
kdahood@cox.net

Jo, is this only an online co-op, and not a "brick and mortar" location?

How long has the online co-op been in business? Normally, I don't think that online galleries - that don't exist in real space is the best way to go. Perhaps this one has had good sales. Ask the other artists if they are selling online through it.

Co-ops work well if the artists who sell are professionally trained to sell art, and if they are just as open to selling the work of others as their own. It's expensive to run a gallery even if it's artist owned - lighting, events, etc.

Tuva, what has made the co-op you work with successful? Would you mind sharing?

I've seen everyone's questions, and I'll be writing future blogs with answers. I so appreciate your questions.

Lori,
thanks for the invite for questions.

First I too would like to know what to do with the prices of older paintings when raising my price (Jill Banks first question)

Second when posting images of my work online should I protect my image from diversion with a watermark? Is it better to have a small image which won't print well anyway or a better quality image with a watermark through the middle of it? I have been meaning to email Clint to ask him about this, but would love to hear your take on it!

Many thanks
Poppy

I guess I don't have any questions right now that would be of interest to anyone else but it's fascinating to read everyone's comments here and find that there are really so many different ways that people are selling their work.

While a "down" economy doesn't make for easy marketing the truth is that there are still people making money and all I can think of is how to identify them and present to them with opportunities to see and buy your work. I hate the phrase "thinking outside the box" but in many cases that's probably what's needed. Do you know of a local "investors" conference, how about taking a meeting room and displaying your art there while the conference is going on with information extolling art as an investment you can live with. Think about large events that might bring affluent people and how you might tap that market for a day or two. How many wealthy collectors might you meet? Most large hotels and convention centers have calendars you can access online to so what might be happening in any particular month. Takes a little leg work but if you work is of professional quality why only try to sell your art where the competition is thick?

Another question ... is there an optimum balance between solo shows and group shows and other shows, such as juried society shows and outdoor shows where the artist is selling independently.

I would imagine that a mix of all of these would be good to maximize exposure and sales but what are the pros and cons of focusing on just one of these vs doing all of them. Does it make a difference where the artist is in their career?

That's a great question Karen, I'd love to hear more about that as well. Just how to address prints of paintings in general, size, should it be the same or larger/smaller than the original? Available at the same time or only after the original sells. Optimum number of copies, etc.

Lori, Looks like lots of great stuff we're relying on you to tell us about!

Great questions and I can't wait to read some answers -- or posts talking about certain issues raised here.

I got to the last post and there is a question similar to what I wanted to post. I visited a gallery in Atlanta yesterday and payed particular attention to prices. This is a well know gallery and they represent artists that are past mid-career.

I am delivering new work to my only gallery (at this time due to closings) and have worried about pricing in this economy. I also do not ever want to discount. But, my gallery insisted this past year that if it looked to not make a sale, they were offering a small discount as a concession to the economy.

I noticed in the good gallery in Atlanta, many of those paintings were priced slightly under mine -- especially the larger ones. I have heard many times to not reduce your prices -- and to be careful about raising them. I have sold some during this down economy, but about half what is normal.

What do you do in these circumstances? Hope you can understand the question. Thanks.

(cont.)
*Third, we have an enthusiastic board with different people in charge of different facets of running the co-op from the mayor,a lawyer, a bookkeeper,to artists. As part of this board, we plan monthly events to bring in new people that coordinates with town happenings.

*Fourth, the artists only pay $25/twice year and either donate one day a month to work at the co-op or pay an additional $25 per month. (We are only open Thursday, Friday and Saturday or by appointment. We are beginning to have groups on buses to stop since the town is known for the largest collection of antiques teapots in the world.)

Fifth, there is only a 20 percent commission charged to the artists.

There has been talk of opening up the space that connects to the gallery for workshops/teaching/other exhibitions.

Since I have been doing marketing on the side through my website, business cards, postcards, newspaper articles, I have sold several pieces. I think you as the artist must still try to promote your work. Don't expect the gallery of this sort to do it all. Although we have all kind of beautiful brochure, the artists are the best team to get the word out about this treasure.
(cont.)

Tuva, is the gallery set up as a non-profit? What do the "investors" get out of it besides helping artists?

Thanks for typing all of this wonderful info in here.

We are not a 501(c)3 which does not have to pay sales tax...at least not yet. I was not on the board from the conception so I do not have the details on that.

The investors are in it because of the positive cultural aspects that it is bringing to the small town. Every time we have any event the people just rave about it. When they see all the wonderful art, they just buy into it. There are even events/bookings at the gallery after hours. The last of April we are having "proper tea parties" 3 different times on the Teapot Festival Day-$15/person. We have almost sold out of tickets!

Our gallery is open 7 days/week. Web site: www.artatthemain.com.

Tuva,

I just had a thought... if you feel like it, perhaps you'd consider writing up a blog on how the co-op works (which would mean retyping this info) and submitting it to Clint for Fine Art Views. A lot of artists read their email but never go over to the original page to read comments, so they won't see what you're writing.

It could start a mini-revolution for artists who want to show in galleries ;-)

Hi Tuva,

Maybe I missed and it but what is the name of the co-op gallery that you belong to and do they have a website.

Thanks,

Michael

We consider ourselves "not for profit" because the gallery itself takes no profit. The commission is used for operating expenses, publicity, etc. We also have a mission statement that includes "arts education," which means that we do free art demonstrations in the summer on Saturdays, and we occasionally host student exhibits. Last year two high schools exhibited recycled sculptural projects. This year we have an invitation out to college students. We wanted to get the 501c3 designation but it would have meant an accounting nightmare (or a paid accountant to handle it).

Karen,
I agree with Sue...that is how our gallery works also. We are beginning to incorporate the education part but we would really be doing that if we get the additional space next to the present gallery.

Tuva, since you have financial backers, you might look into the gallery option that Clint has. Don't quote me on this, but I think it is $75/month for a gallery FASO website. It works the same way as a regular account but you can have separate sections for each artist and the email account can have 5000 subscribers.

I also has a space for events and workshops.

Lori,
Yes, I contacted Clint about the website for a gallery back in November '09. It is $75 per month. Although I photograph my own work before matting, many artist do not. We also try to change out our work every 3 months. It would take so much work keeping track of all the artwork. I guess we are not quite ready to add more expense.

Lori,

I'm now being asked to give workshops and have received several emails in the last year asking me if I have any instructional DVD's. I haven't been in any major publications, nor won international competitions. In my mind, I'm very small peanuts. So, I am going ahead with workshops, but how do I know when I should start selling instructional DVD's?

Lori,
Are you saying we could have a regular site with a few pictures using FASO?

For 8 years now, I have been a member of the San Clemente Art Association, http://www.scartgallery.com/ here in southern California.
The art association has a non-profit art gallery that is run by a board and all members are invited to enter scheduled art exhibitions. No matter what level you are at, your work can be exhibited as long as it is presentable. The San Clemente Art Gallery is located within the town`s community center. It began in 1953 and was started to foster the appreciation of all branches of Fine Arts and Crafts. We have to do sitting time for each painting entered and pay a small fee of $10 per entry, maximum 2 paintings per show. We have public choice shows where the public only gets to vote and a jury panel chooses award winners for the other shows. Once a year in the early summer we have the Paint San Clemente Plein Air competition for members and non-members and the prizes are substantial.
We have signature artist demonstrations each month, paint-out locations where we can meet and paint and we get to directly meet the public in the gallery while working along another artist. The camaraderie is priceless. This group truly does foster art appreciation and cultures the town. They also contribute scholarship money to high school grads each year. I am fortunate to have been a part of this organization and will continue for many years.
I am in another co-op gallery now through Southern California Plein Air Painters Association, our new gallery opened February 20. We are also considered non-profit and this gallery is housed within the compound of the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum. We have to enter through a juror for all shows in this gallery and do volunteer time in the gallery. I presently have a piece in their Small is Beautiful exhibition. This association is wonderful in it`s efforts to culture people to buy original art also.
In southern California there are many types of art associations that support artists through exhibition venues, outdoor shows and offer awards to help build your credentials and standing in the area. I am a member of 4 and feel a bit strained, though I must stay very organized to keep up with all the shows.

Carole... LoL that's because I have made some mistakes where I wasn't ready for making prints or advertising, and it cost me a lot of money without a lot of results.

This is a show growth business - it's all determined by demand. When you've built demand for your work or teaching, then you're money will be better spent on alternate "products".

I also know lots of artists who have done it right.

Esther, thanks for sharing about San Clemente. Between us talking about co-ops and art organizations, I'm learning a lot about other venues that work for artists and enrich the communities involved. It also sounds like it costs artists a lot less $ when the painting sells - letting the artist keep more.

When I get finished with my other work today and tomorrow, I'll definitely begin to think about this new info.

Lori, I was always told that learning from others' mistakes would make life easier, rather than making them myself. Not that I want others to make mistakes, but I'm no fool and appreciate any bit of wisdom. Thanks!

Karen, I personally think it's good for long term relationships to agree to a "hold." I've had one of my paintings "on hold" for a while. The last time I spoke to the prospective buyer, she said she couldn't quite scrape together the money and to put the painting back "in circulation." I told her I'd still give her "first right of refusal" at the time someone else expresses interest. At our co-op gallery, we do 3-month lay-away plans. But money down is not refunded.

Tuva and Sue,
Thanks, that's good to know. It "felt" like the right thing to do. I appreciate her patronage and I would value her good word of mouth to friends who may be potential collectors. I am not a hard-nosed businesswoman, but I do get a lot of repeat sales. I think you just get a feeling for whether or not someone is sincere. In my case this sweet young woman was just between a rock and a hard place. (She took photos of the artwork to show her hubby for his approval, so I think that's a step in a good direction.)

Karen, the only recommendation I have is that you put a time limit on the hold. If people know they have a window of time to decide, they will pay attention to it. I've seen some situations with my own work turn into months, and then I felt bad about asking them to make a decision after all that time.

I think 3 weeks is a good plan. If you are selling the work yourself, you can have them do a lay-away plan over the course of months. BUT they don't get the painting until it's paid in full. This approach has worked well for me with clients who wanted my work but didn't have the cash right away.

I like that point about the painting being paid in full before a customer can take it. Too many horror stories out there about a painting disappearing and the artist not being paid for it.

And as far as using a credit card: I did not have a good experience with using credit card payment method. I'd opened an account that was to be used just for one show. At the end, I turned in the equipment. RBS Bank kept deducting a monthly charge from my account anyway. I finally had to close the bank account. For the time-being, I'll have to take checks or charge only.

Tommy, 2 weeks with taking credit card info sounds like a safe and efficient way to let the client try it out. Thanks!

Lori, I failed to mention that we can even solve the credit card issue by allowing the collector to pay for the painting via PayPal and our FASO web site; if they decide to return the painting, it is a very simple procedure to refund their money via PayPal and our FASO web site. A gallery can also take the credit card info. as a security until the collector makes a final decision.

Best,
Tommy

Also, regarding Co-ops....in my experience LOCATION is "extremely" important.

Unless it is in a recognized "tourist town", having one in a small town just doesn't seem to work. By "small town" is am guessing at population less 20,000, or out in a rural area.

Any comments?

Diane, yes you've got a good point. Location is always important for brick and mortar galleries. They work best in arts districts where there are fine restaurants, antiques, and other art galleries.

Essentially, people need to have another reason to be out of their cars and walking around spending money - besides that gallery. Tourist areas are excellent, but they tend to be seasonal.

In the past, I worked with a gallery in Maine and one in Tucson... between the two, the year was covered.

Karen, I was answering two people in one box ;-)

Someone said that she had a bad experience with a credit card account, so I was suggesting Pay Pal.

The part about putting a time limit on it was directed towards your situation, but you know your clients best and most likely have a good feel for the situation. It sounds like you've got a good biz setup and sufficient experience, so your judgment will most likely suffice.

Lori, I did not know we could charge our patrons buys to pay pal on our Faso account. Did I understand correctly that you have done this. Please, tell us more about this. How do we do the transaction and where?

Helen, I'm logging off for the day, but before I go...

I have the gold plan with FASO, so I go to my control panel, then click on "Marketing Center" near the bottom right of the page.

Then I click on Ecommerce - Pay Pal and go from there. Look at the top of your control panel to see if there are any tutorials on how to set up your pay pal account. If there aren't, contact the support team for help.

Tuva,

Just sounds like a great situation to me. In the small town I live in, NYC, finding that kind of support is probably close to impossible.

Michael

Paula,

I, personally, think a plan is a great idea! Theoretically you wouldn't start or run any other type of business without one but the sad truth is that there are plenty of business run just that way.

Michael

Does that mean you can take the client's credit card info over the phone and enter it on PayPal yourself? I was afraid that I would lose sales if the client wanted to buy in person using a credit card but didn't have internet access (like at a show).

EBay: Once in a while you'll see somebody gets a good price, but overall, paintings go for really cheap, if they sell at all. I've sold a couple of older, smaller paintings and the most I've ever gotten was $200. EBay urges you to start your opening bid price low, but you take the chance you'll sell it for 99 cents (or whatever you start the bidding at). And they take their cut after the sale. You have to pay insertion fees whether you sell or not. You see a lot of very mediocre work on eBay auctions, so maybe your own work would seem cheapened. If you really want to try selling on eBay, take a look at the "completed listings" and watch the auctions for a while to get a feel for what sells and what prices they get.

I can understand Moria's question about a website. My site does not directly bring in the majority of my sales BUT (and this is a big but) - it is the second thing people ask about when they find I am an artist. First they ask what kind of art and then, do I have a web site? We talk more, I give them a business card with my website listed and hopefully they check out my work.
Most of my sales are made through personal contact or gallery, but those potential clients expect me to have a site. My thought is that they get to know my work/me better via the web, but for an actual purchase, I think most will want to stand in front of the original before letting go of the check.
At the time I joined FASO, it was a decision of whether to have a cable tv subscription or a web site. For me less tv and more web was a good choice.

Instead of a website, why not have a blog? You can do your own (very easy!) for FREE at blogger.com. You can upload your own photos whenever you want. I've had blogsites for over 2 years now and people do follow them. I recently found out how to add a link to PayPal from my blog (which I haven't done yet). If anybody wants the steps, please post a reply.

One of my goals is to learn how to send out a daily auction, such as Julian Merrow-Smith does with his blog (postcardfromprovence).

Hi Sue, I have done holds and layaways both. In this economy people often can't come up with all the money needed at once, and we all understand that. Sometimes though I do wonder why they wouldn't just put it on a credit card versus layaway. However, I try to work with them whenever possible and make the sale. On holds I usually have a time limit that I will hold it for them. I think the first right of refusal is a very good idea also.

Hi Lori, I posted a question earlier, but then quite a long discussion was started right after that and I think it probably was lost in the shuffle. Someone right before me also had a similar question.

We are interested in pricing in this economy and do artists ever make a concession to the depressed state of the economy. To restate what I did above, I visited a nice gallery to look at work and their pricing. I noticed they were mostly priced below many of mine. I was quite surprised. I wondered if they had taken their pricing structure back a couple of years.

I don't discount, though my one gallery (due to several closing in the past 1 1/2 years) has done some small discounting if a potential client looked to not be buying at that moment. They wanted to keep their gallery open through the tough times.

So, the question is . . . do you ever change your pricing structure for this down economy?

Oh, but just a thought in case what I said above makes people think I'm saying to raise your prices to $5000. An artist can't suddenly raise prices from $1000 to $5000 and expect sales to get hot.

Sure you can raise your prices substantially, if you have a valid reason to do so - such as: winning an important national competition, getting representation with a high visibility gallery, or even because everything you paint at $3000 is selling briskly. However, in this economy, I'd be careful about raising prices at all.

Here's the rule I generally follow: If I sell nearly all my work in one year, I raise my prices by 10 percent the following year. In slow years I don't raise my prices at all.

If you have sold well at a certain price before the economy tanked, but not now, just wait it out. There's no one answer to pricing. If there were, it wouldn't be that complicated of an issue.

This is just my advice. Other artists may have had different experiences.

Thanks Lori - I appreciate your reply.

....and I know that this has come up before, but I still don't understand how twitter and facebook and blogs really improve sales either. Wouldn't a website speak for itself?

Ann, How long have you had your website? In the past I have sold many paintings because of my website. Several out of state, who had never seen my work in person and many who live in my area of North Texas. These patron had not seen my work except on the website but, ask for works there and then commissions; be patient and you will, I'm sure, also have patrons from your website. Your search engines do a lot of the work for you so, try to link yourself with other websites. It helps.

I agree with Paula about the website is your gallery. It is a great PR tool for those people that may not see your work at shows and may be curious about you as an artist.

Cont. He was pleased with the painting and then requested a painting of his yard. He has a beautiful yard which garden groups flock to see; I was like a kid in a candy store when he sent me photos of his yard. He is an accomplished pianist and a great lover of art. I felt truly blessed to have met this man and still we communicate through email. I hope this is helpful to you. FASO will help you with google and other search engines so don't be surprised when you get emails from all over the world. Happy Painting.
Helen

Oh remember, I didn't say I'd answer every question here or answer them right away - just that I will write future blogs to address the most common questions.

Carol, I'm wondering why your gallery is still showing older paintings. Most successful galleries will exchange ones that haven't sold in a year with new work. Some galleries only keep older stuff on the walls for 4 months. This is a good practice on their part because otherwise when repeat customers come in and see the same paintings hanging after a year or so, they think the artist is not selling.

So, first I'd consider not even showing your older work and then raising the prices on your new work by only 10 percent. I raise prices by 10 percent when I've sold 75 percent of my inventory in any one year. In years when the economy is down, I might choose not to raise prices at all.

If you choose to continue to show your older work next to your newer work, and the new work is obviously better than the old work, just raise prices on the new work.

Thanks for the input Lori! What gave me the idea to raise prices is that I am starting with a new gallery, and I noticed my work seems to be priced a little less than the other artists shown, I don't know if that is a bad thing or not...maybe I should wait and see how my work sells at that gallery. Thanks again, Carol