In This Economy
Three reasons for slumping art sales.
It is not “new” news that it is getting harder to make a living selling art. Besides my gallery, my primary mode of sales is through art fairs. What once you could have earned in 12 events now takes 35. Overall sales may be going down but expenses are still going up.
“. . . there is something in the mind of a buyer (much like dogs, wild animals and children) they can smell fear. . . and it makes them nervous”
More and more of my artist friends are quiting the art thing and getting “real jobs.” At Riverssance I talked with 2 such artists. One has been earning his living doing the art fair circuit for 26 years. The other also had more than 15 years as an artist and now works as a teacher. Most artists I know are pondering quitting what they do for the comfort of a 9 to 5. And who can blame them.
- Fear and the news media. Anyone who listens to the news these days hears frightening stories about rising costs and bail out of major lenders. It seems the global economy is in no better shape than the local one. All of this talk has people scared and rightly so. Who knows what tomorrow’s news story may bring.
- For Profit Many events are put on as a “for profit” by promoters. This means they tend to “bulk up” on artists whose booth fees help make the profit. While a large size show has more appeal and may draw bigger crowds. It can also mean the sales get split between more artists. A show of 200 artists will draw as much attention as an event of 300, but the larger event may mean most artists go home with less.
- Too many events in one city. Also, I personally believe that more and more cities are hosting an ever increasing number of art or craft events. What this leads to is the lack of motivation to “buy now.” I mean why should they if there will be another event in a week or so. More art shows, much like too many artists per event, lead to a thinning of the sales because of too much competition.
Ebb and Flow
Now I am not really a “the sky is falling” kind of personality. (I would never have made it this far, if I were.) I believe life is ebb and flow. Things are going to be tight and then eventually they will get easier. And once you are floating along on easy street, undoubtedly they will revert to being tighter again. Being prepared for this means there is less fear when it actually happens.
And now for the good news:
Three things you can do to boost sales
It is especially important in this economy to not buy into all the fear that is being pushed at us from every angle. In order to sell you need to be confident, not desperate. All this angst will not help you be successful one iota. When people start talking fear I usually counter with positives. “Yes, my artfair income is down but my gallery income is up.” People are still buying art. They might be getting smaller or less elaborate work but they are still buying.
“. . . don’t complain about anything to a potential buyer, ever.”
Also there is something in the mind of a buyer that (much like dogs, wild animals and children) they can smell fear . . . and it makes them nervous. A possible scenario for a train of thought is “If the artist is struggling, that means their art is not selling . . . and if their not selling, that may mean the work isn’t any good. . . and if no one else thinks their work is good, why should I buy it?” And trust me folks, everyone wants to pick a winner. Everyone wants to buy work from someone who others are collecting. The whole starving artist thing holds no appeal for the majority of buyers.
One last thought on a positive attitude: There was a study done where people who looked back on conversations they had, would remember it as a negative experience if the conversation was about negative things, even if the topic had nothing to do with the people involved in the conversation. In other words, don’t complain about anything to a potential buyer, ever. And if the potential buyer starts talking negatively about anything, agree subtly (perhaps nod) and discreetly direct the conversation to a more pleasant topic. You want people to remember talking with you as nothing but a pleasant experience.
Diversify
You can diversify in two ways.
- 1. Take a hard, honest look at your art. Figure out what is selling and why, then follow that theory to create new work. I can almost hear the sighing and rolling of eyes. Seriously, if your trying to sell artwork, you need to make art that people want. I’m not saying you need to reinvent yourself. Just look at your art that is selling and make more.
- 2. The second way to diversify is to create a variety of sizes and price ranges. I do this by selling smaller open edition prints and note cards along with my originals and large canvas and paper prints. Also this year I started doing the small original oil pastels on handmade paper. I sell them at bargain prices of $200-$300 and most are one of a kind, never to have prints or cards done of them. They have been a success and I continue to enjoy creating these little gems.
Study your craft
Become better at what you do. Not only in regards to your artwork but also your sales technique and your business management skills. Be brave and analyze every aspect of your business. Seek out information for solutions to improve the areas you think could use assistance. You can take classes, subscribe to magazines or get books. There is loads of information on the web. Just get after it.
Here are a couple business oriented books reviewed on my blog.
How To Profit from the Art Print Market
When Good People Write Bad Sentences
I will make a concentrated effort to share more business books on this blog in the future, as I have a library full of them.
Also ArtCalendar magazine is an excellent resource for the beginning and professional artist.
And once again I will point you at Katherine Tyrrell’s blog Making A Mark. She recently had a post on the art economy with some links that I’ve yet to check out. But plan too, as soon as I have a moment.
Tags: business
Thanks for this Mona, it’s come just at the right time. We took down our second exhibition today and unfortunately there were no sales. One person even made a comment in my comments book (thanks for that tip too!) that they couldn’t buy anything because of the credit crunch. Thankfully I’m not dependant on sales to live, but I could really do with some sales to cover what I have paid out on art supplies.
I think I mentioned previously that I was going to get some prints done of my two stencil style paintings - that turned out to be a complete disaster because no one seemed to have a flat bed scanner large enough, and the quality of the scan (when it was done in two parts and put together) was so poor. The man suggested touching the image up in photoshop which seemed to defeat the object in my mind - if you’re going to do that then why not just create the image in photoshop in the first place and not bother painting it?! The whole point was that I wanted prints of a painting. Anyway, there is somewhere else I can try so I haven’t lost hope.
Sorry for waffling on. Thanks for the post.
Keep looking for a printer. If it weren’t over seas I’d say send it to me. (we do printing for other artists) We use a flatbead scanner (albeit it is specifically a fine art scanner- picks up “every” little detail) and stitch the image together. We print up to 24″ by whatever and no one can tell it was stitched, not even with one of those monical thingy’s. Anyone who is a pro should be able to do it for you and have them look fabulous.
So sorry about no sales. Exploring art is expensive and there’s nothing wrong with wanting to recoup some of it. Plus it’s a nice boost to the ego to have a sale now and again.
Keep trying.
I believe you can do it!
Thank you Mona
Thank you very much Mona for this well thought out, many faceted, encouraging piece. I keep telling myself I have nowhere to go but up at this point. I waited until I retired to to really try this, because I never had the guts to really do it without some kind of secure income — though there were a couple of junctures where I almost did, and made some successful small steps, I counsciously scared myself away. Even now, I struggle with the “real job” thing as I feel economic pinches.
Economically successful artists like you who make themselves accessable to other artists starting out or wondering how others are doing– are like mana from heaven. Bless you for giving of your experience and knowledge like you do and thank goodness for the internet for making it possible to share so immediately and so easily. Angela
Angela, I hate to say but it really takes time to develop an art business. (which I know you know) Especially for portraits, words of mouth and testimonials are crucial. It will happen but it may take a few years. It took my business many years (like over a decade) to go from starting out, to becoming something I could actually withdraw money from, to paying the bills with. Hopefully it will go much quicker for you.
Thank you for the kind words. Honestly the blog has been a much bigger job than I ever realized from the start. But as I said in my award post, you guys have really benefitted me alot as well. I am thinking about stuff that I never gave much thought to and that in turns helps me and my business. Plus it is always nice to make new artsy friends.
I do plan on making more posts regarding “how to’s” like booth layout and dealing with customers. Stuff like that requires more thought on my part, so had to wait until after my summer crunch. But they are in the works now.