Fur In The Paint

Build It And They Will Come.
I have discussed this previously but thought it was worth going over one more time.

In my gallery, I am often dealing with young (as in new to the artworld, age here has no relavance.) aspiring artists who cling to the fantasy that once they have their first print made, get into their first gallery or get their website created, they will get discovered or their path to success will be secure. I am sorry to say this is probably not going to be the reality.

All of these things (getting into the print market, galleries and getting online) are really good steps in the right direction. They have the potential to make you successful. But you must still do the work. They must be marketed as vigorously as if you were marketing the actual artwork. Planning is critical to making your new endeavor meet your expectations.

Here’s a few things to think about:

• What markets are you trying to reach?
• How much are you wanting to sell your work for?
• How much money do you want to earn? (gross/net)
• What is the time frame to reach your goals?
• Does this sound like fun?

Something To Try
If you are planning on launching a new website, try Googling a description that you think someone might use as a search term for finding you. So for instance, I would try horse art, equine art, wildlife art, oil pastel artist or any combination there of. The search results for Horse Art is 4,840,000. Wow. The search results for Draft Horse Art has 255,000. At one time my website was 3rd down on that list. Yup, Wild Faces Gallery was listed 3 of 255,000. This took a great deal of work to get that kind of ranking and unless we continued to work it like a part-time job, (which we didn’t) it was lost. I have no idea where we are at now, but it is nowhere near the first 3 pages which is the golden spot for Google searches. Most people won’t look past 3 pages for anything.

My point here is not to make you feel hopeless. My point (as always) is to make you think about what you expect to achieve, plan how to make it happen. And to give you the right amount of nudging and confidence, so you take the first step.

Unless you know what your up against, you are more likely to be disappointed with your results which may leave you feeling disappointed in your work. Success in most areas of the art business have very little to do with the quality of your work. Quality is up to you, business is business, whether it be selling cars or selling paintings. In order for you to achieve any measure of success you need to set yourself up to win it.

I don’t know if there is any one magic bullet. If the possibility of being “discovered” without marketing yourself is even possible. Most (if not all) of the big dog artists had to pay their dues. (Bev Doolittle for instance, worked in graphic design and sold small watercolors in Yellowstone for $10-15 before she was “discovered.”) That being said, you may not necessarily have to work like a dog every moment of every day (it is just how I do it.)

The path to “making it” begins by starting with easily attainable goals, (baby steps) then continue to set yourself up to for bigger and bigger challenges that allow you to feel successful, as well as build your confidence. There is no “one” answer or way to success. Try several different things. Experiment, don’t take failure personally and most importantly have fun!

As artists we all are desperate to sell our work or have it validated in some way. This allows us to fall prey to certain myths that draw us in and in the end may only leave us feeling frustrated and insecure.

I will post the two most common art myths. The Exposure myth and the Build It and They Will Come myth. These myths tend to have their basis in fact which is why the remain.

Artist Myth #1
Exposing my work to as many people as possible will help me to “make” it.

I can hear some of you already ”But Mona . . . How can exposure be a myth. I can’t sell my work unless it gets seen.”

Yes, artwork must be seen by someone to be sold. But what you need to think about is who are you exposing your work to. I think of this as Qualifying. A subway station (airport, bus station, etc,) may get thousands of people through in a day, but are they going to buy artwork? Probably not. Most are in a hurry to get where their going on time. You are getting your work exposed, but not to the right crowd.

I would think that you will need to find out what works best for you through trial and error. Some non-traditional venues are great and some art shows are . . . not so much. Personally what has worked best for me, is to place my art where people are going to “buy” art. Art fairs (for me in my area) are where that happens. I’ve done all sorts of non-traditional venues, like trendy cafes, Barnes & Noble bookstore, horse expos & zoo conferences, libraries. Most of them were beneficial in one way or the other, but not always financially.

If you have limited time and resources and want to get a monetary return for time and effort invested, you need to qualify whatever event you are thinking about. Heres a few thing to think about:

• Are the people in this location going to be interested in what you do?
• Is it a financially upscale area, where people have disposable income?
• Does the event (store, organization etc.) have a vested interest in your success?
• Are they promoting the event or your artwork, or are sales dependent on passive selling. (someone just happens to see it and want it, though they are there for unrelated reasons)
• What are the risks? Do they have insurance against damage or theft? If your outdoors, will weather be a factor?
• Exactly how many people are we talking about? If the event is promising exposure find out how many. I’ve been approached by events that think 2,500 is a great number. In general I rarely consider anything less than 30,000 people (for a weekend) and thats at an event where they are coming to “buy” art. That being said, I am at a place where my time is at a premium and I do so many events, that unless there is an almost guaranteed payoff, I’ll pass.

In general if some events, cafes, bookstores (insert your non-traditional venue here) use exposure as the major reason why you should participate in their gig, you should perhaps give it more thought. It doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing. But you should be clear in your expectations for it and have a firm grasp on what you want to achieve by participating.

On a Personal Note: I apologize for not being my usual perky, (umm. . . no) bubbly, (huh-uh) spunky, charming, chipper? . . .Oh heck lets just say my usual snarkiness. I am feeling a bit over-worked, over-stressed and just in general a malaise. I’m sure I’ll be back to my usual self in a day or two. So please bear (bare?) oh geez . . . have patience.

Once again this post is for those who wish to sell their art. Those who are creating for the sole purpose of self expression and pleasure need not give this much thought.

Finding Your Voice
One of the great challenges any new artist can face is to find their own voice. What that means is to develop a style, subject matter and usually medium that allows the viewer to automatically know who the artist is just by viewing the art. Monet, Van Gogh and Remington have a unique voice. Or to be more contemporary Terry Redlin, Bev Doolittle or Thomas Kinkade. You hear their names and most of you can picture the art in your minds eye. That is Voice.

Finding your own Voice (style) can be laborious. My best advice is paint (or sculpt, photograph etc.) what you know and love. Trying to create whats “IN” is impossible as it changes every few years. Also, buyers are a savvy group. They will know it if your hearts not in it. Generally this means trying all sorts of subjects and mediums until you hit on that Aha! moment. Once you find your joy, throw yourself into it and leave much of the rest behind you.

Big Bluff - Oil Pastel 7.5 x 27.5
Copyright by Mona Majorowicz

Deviant Behavior
Anyone casually looking over my website, gallery, blog or artfair booth, can pretty well conclude that I am a critter artist. I can be easily pigeon holed. This just sort of happened for me with little conscious thought on my part (as did creating my style.)

But if you look closer you can see that I really have two different subject matter (horses and exotic wildlife) and they are done in two distinct mediums (oil pastel and water soluble pencil) with distinctive styles. Still they are close enough that they fit well together when mixed.

I do (however rarely) create art that is outside of this box. Shown here is a landscape of Big Bend National Park. I have been known to do a flower or two, and on extremely rare occasion I may even do a fruit or vegetable. Whenever I am drawn to these types of subjects, it has more to do with colors or pattern than because I am feeling passionate about hot peppers. I allow myself to explore it, and then go back to what I love best.

Generally I don’t show these at the art events I do. And I definitely don’t include them in any application or jury process’s. They are done for my enjoyment and I don’t feel the need to promote them.

To Niche’ or not to Niche’
I personally think you should continue to create whatever gives you joy. But from a marketing standpoint the more predictable you are the better.

This benefits of predictability:

• Galleries & Publishers like it. If you paint a specific genre’ and it sells, they know that if you continue to paint the same stuff, it probably will also sell.
• Patrons like it. They are buying your work because they like your medium, subject matter and/or style. They expect to see more of the same so they can add to their collections.
• Art Fairs & Juried Shows like it. Their job is to provide a diversified event and if all you do is oil paintings of flowers it makes their job so much the easier.

Every time you change your subject matter, you will loose momentum. About 3 years back I “tried” oil pastels. I was so burned out on water soluble (wc) pencils I had no inclination to create anything. I needed something that was quick and fun.

Straight out of the box, oil pastels were a joy. I stared glassy eyed at all the pretty colors. I waxed poetic about them to my artist friends, (or anyone else who would listen.) I literally started one piece as soon as I had completed the last one. I needed this refreshing break from what I had been doing for the last decade. It invigorated me and kept the passion alive.

My subject matter stayed the same, but the technique changed with the medium. As a result I lost some of my patrons. Of course I gained new ones and a few didn’t seem to care or notice the difference.

Most of the time when applying for an art event, I send only the one medium (generally oil pastel since that is for the most part, my new work.) I think this helps me jury stronger because they can see the continuity of the work. It is generally a bad plan to send a variety of work believing they will think you have range. It is far more likely they will think you lack focus.

Overview From Previous Posts
This is just a brief collection of the factors you should consider when trying to decide how to price your artwork. If you want more detailed information, please refer to:
Pricing Your Artwork Part 1
and Pricing Your Artwork Part 2.

• Medium Consider your medium (oil, watercolor etc)
• Comparison Pricing Consider what others (that are at the same skill and experience level as you) are pricing their work for.
• Location Consider the area you are selling in. (What sells for X amount in in the Midwest would most likely sell a different amount on the east coast.)
• Your Markets Will you be selling through a third party, like a gallery? Similarly, will you be wholesaling?
• Start low. You can always raise your prices but once your established you should never cut prices. It will kill your career.

A few NEW things to think about.

• Stay in the middle Avoid being the cheapest or the most expensive artist in the gallery (artshow, artfair etc.)
• Awards and ribbon serve no value when it comes to pricing your work. They are great for the ego but have absolutely no bearing on what someone will pay for your artwork. I have only been asked once by a patron what awards her particular painting had won but that was after she purchased it.
• Price Range Variety It is always good to have a wide range of prices. Have smaller pieces that you can sell for less.
• Price Point Barriers. These are dollar amount that for some reason factor in to whether someone will buy a painting for $495 but may walk away for $505. I have always found this an odd phenomenon. But it’s been proved time and again that these barriers do exist and affect sales.

  I have found the barriers to be at:
  Under $20
  Under $50
  Under $100
  Under $200
  Under $500
  Under $1000
  Under $1500
  you get the idea.

Art is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
As stated in the previous post Pricing Your Artwork Part 1, art has a perceived value. Meaning it is based upon what people think it’s worth. Someone may have a painting priced at $15,000 but unless they have sold work previously for that amount or until this one sells for that amount, it’s all just speculation.

Currently the majority of my work sells for between $1000-$2000 per original painting. That is my average, some are less some are more. In the greater art universe, this is hardly big money when it comes to original paintings. However for my area, it is considered pretty good.

When I started out, my originals went for $200-$350. (Ummm . . . The picture shown here is perhaps a just a tiny little bit, before then.) Frankly, the work was probably worth only that at the time. Occasionally I run across someone who bought a piece long ago and they are thrilled the value of my work has grown.

I painted and then I sold the work. With more experience, I created better art that I was able to sell for more. It is cyclical. As I develop better skills, I get better known with more collectors and the value of what I produce increases. It (like everything) takes time to build.

Natural Grace
Oil Pastel 10 x 30
copyright by
Mona Majorowicz

Back to the Question.
So why did I raise the price of the Natural Grace painting even though the painting wasn’t selling?

Well, the prints were going well and there was serious interest in the original. I had greatly under priced it to begin with. (Mind you, it wasn’t really all that large of a piece being 10×30 it just looked like it was.) So if a serious patron was looking at it and then noticed this painting was priced lower than the rest on display of a similar size. There is a subconscious “Well what is wrong with this painting” that happens. Yes, a painting can be priced too low. So I kept raising the price until it was in line with the rest of my work and it sold quickly.

As I look back at it now, I am certain though I got a good price for it, I could have sold it for at least double than what it went for. It had that certain quality that people connected with. Horse people buy it. Young girls buy it as a symbol of the horse they want. And people who have no interest at all in horses buy it, though they usually can’t tell me why other than they like it. (I guess that is what it is all about.)

True Story: A young woman bought the print as a symbol of the horse she wanted. A little over a year later I ran into her at a warmblood trial. She bought a horse greatly resembling Natural Grace, and was excited to show me her new boy. He is a handsome dark bay Percheron cross (or perhaps he was a Friesian Sporthorse) and she loves him. She truely felt the artwork helped connect her to her new horse.

Where I’m at now
The reason I began making prints in the first place is that demand exceeded my capacity to fill it. At the time all of my work was water soluble pencil and often a painting of moderate size (around 22×30) could take 4-8 weeks to complete. If I wanted to make a living at my art I had to work faster, charge more or make prints. In the end I did all three.

As far as pricing my new originals I do factor in time spent (though it is by far the least important aspect.) Basically it comes down to how much I like the painting. How big of a check will make parting with it agreeable, within the pricing structure I currently have. Also, having the original on display usually is a boost for selling the prints. That also factors in.

When I do something completely new, like say . . . the small handmade paper paintings. I look at my usual pricing for paintings that size and begin there. If they sell quickly (which they have been) I will raise the price slowly, by $50 increments. I do this as long as they continue to sell well. When they quit selling I may back up a price break or two and let it rest there, until once again demand exceeds production.

Upcoming Posts
For my last Pricing Post I will give a very breif overview of what has already been discussed and add a few extra bits that didn’t really seem worthy of expansion. Also I will probably do something soon concerning exposure. (No I don’t mean nudity in public.) I am talking about exposure in terms of getting your art seen.

Undaunted recently asked me a great question concerning my Best Selling Image post. “Why did I continue to raise my price on the Natural Grace painting, when people showed an interest, but did not actually commit to buying it.”

In truth, I responded to a gut reaction that said, that is what I should do. Many of my business (and personal) decisions are made with a combination of logic and overall gut feeling. I have had many years of artwork selling experience which have developed my instincts.

Soul Mates
Water soluble pencil 18 x 24
Copyright by Mona Majorowicz

However, since gut reaction is notoriously hard to quantify, I will try to elaborate a bit more on pricing on the whole for todays post. Followed by a more thorough answer to Undaunted’s question in the next post. And as is my way, this has turned into a 3 parter. The last post will be an overview of post 1 & 2, plus a few little extra bits thrown in.

Starting From Scratch.
I don’t know of any one effective way to price artwork that will work for everyone. Some people do it by square inches, others do it by hours used to create the work. There are loads of elaborate plans out there for pricing artwork. (Like: take the square inches of the painting times how many hours you worked add Your hourly wage subtract your meals then times it by infinity) Frankly this seems all wrong to me. You are not being paid a wage for hours worked, you are being paid for your vision. Your paintings may or may not exceed what you think your time is worth per hour.

Personally I suggest if you are starting out and unsure of where to begin with your pricing, you should go to galleries and artfairs, in the area you will be selling your work. Look for similar work that is in your style and skill level. See what they are charging and then price your work a little lower. Presumably, they have earned whatever pricing structure that they currently fall into. If the work you are creating is flying out the doors at that price, then raise it slowly. You can always increase your prices, but reducing them after you have begun selling can kill a career.

My rule of thumb tends to be, if work is selling faster than I create it, I need to raise the prices. If you have a basement (or closet, spare room, garage, tool shed, doghouse etc.) full of artwork and nothing is moving, you need to reconsider your pricing strategy.

The Hard Cruel Truth
Art is often priced based on perceived value. Meaning it is set using various arbitrary factors like skill, what the market is paying, notoriety of the artist, medium it was created in.

So when you are out price comparison shopping, you also need to consider the medium you are creating in. The hard cruel truth is, work of equal skill has different perceived value based on the medium in which it is created.

The structure is like this:
Color work trumps (is worth more) than B&W.
Watercolor trumps pencil work.
Work on canvas trumps work on paper
Oil trumps acrylic.

This is a generalization of course. A pencil sketch by Bev Doolittle is worth far more than an oil painting done by your neighbor. This rule only applies, when all other things are equal.

So if you’re flexible in your media, and you want to earn more per image, paint in oil. Sad but true.

Personal Note
Both my water soluble pencil pieces and my oil pastel pieces tend to sell for about the same amount, within my price structure. However one of the things I really like about the oil pastels is, because of the way that I work them (and frame them,) they look very much like an oil painting. This dramatically helps in their perceived value. People are really drawn to the look of an oil painting. I do clearly label what media they are, and often discuss it with the patrons. But I believe, it is the look that really helps to pull them in.

A Final Thought on Pricing
When you are running the numbers be sure to factor in whether you will be selling through a third party, like a gallery. They will want anywhere from 30-60%. I would advise that you keep your pricing the same whether it be through a gallery, an art fair or out of your home. You should do this for two reasons.

1. Keep your gallery happy. Be good to your gallery, they are taking a chance on you by carrying your work. They deserve to not be undercut in pricing by selling it cheaper elsewhere.

2. Keep your collectors happy. If someone paid X amount over here, but then later discovers had they bought it from you over there, it would have been less. They will feel cheated. That is soooo not good for building a collector base.

Since we have been talking about creating art that people connect with enough to spend money on. I thought I would share with you my best selling image. Natural Grace has been my highest grossing image in print for the past couple of years.

Natural Grace
Oil Pastel 10 x 30
Copyright by
Mona Majorowicz

Who Knew?
Truth is, it’s not great art. Oil Pastels were still a very new medium to me when I created this piece. I was just kinda playing around and I didn’t try particularly hard with it. I seriously thought of tossing the painting when I was done. My husband had to talk me into making prints of it. (Actually we debated for weeks and he finally just went ahead and did it. Hooray for Mike, that he could see what I could not.)

I started the original at the bargain basement pricing of around $500 and took it, and a couple of prints to an event. People loved it, (or they made horses ass jokes.) I sold several prints and had a few serious lookers at the original. I raised the original painting to $650. Another event more prints sales, more serious lookers at the original. I raised it to $850. This went on for half a season, raising the price to match the interest of the public. I won’t say what it finally sold for, but I am so grateful I didn’t toss the painting. The prints continue to do well. When I create 5-10 more images that do as well, I will be a very happy woman.

The 80/20 Rule.
Often 80% of your sales will be coming from 20% of your work. If you want to increase your sales you need to look at what sells and then do more of it. I’m not saying you need to make duplicates but if you take a gander at the wealthiest print artists in america today (like Thomas Kinkade, Terry Redlin or P. Buckley Moss) you’ll notice that they have one similar painting after another. They have figured out what sells, branded it (meaning just their name alone will trigger an image in your minds eye of what they paint.) and keep producing more. They get a lot of heckling for it, mostly by other artists. But I would think being multi-millionaires really takes the sting out of any bitter remarks.

For myself, I estimate that 7-10 of my prints are making the vast bulk of my print income. While the other 25 images or so sell just enough to keep them in print. I regularly look them over to see what the popular ones have in common.

As a side note.
I have a very dear artist friend, who is quite a good equestrian artist. She has a strong dislike of the Natural Grace image. So for a while after every event when it did well, I would poke her and say “I sold $ of Natural Grace this weekend”. Her usual response was “People have no taste.” I find this hugely funny. Makes me smile still, to think about it. Had anyone else said such a harsh thing to me, I most likely would have felt a little offended, (it takes a lot to hurt my feelings these days) but since it was her, I just find it funny.

I tell this to illustrate my point that even though she is knowledgable about both horses and art, she also would never have guessed Natural Grace would be such a stellar selling image. Friends, artists and collegues are not always right.

I want to preface this by saying this post is about selling art. If you are looking to improve yourself technically as an artist, that is a different path. For selling art, the buyer (whether it be patron, gallery, or publisher) sets the rules, not professors or friends. Give them what they want (within the paramaters of what you do) and the path to sucess will be so much easier.

Serenity
Oil Pastel 15 x 11
Copyright by Mona Majorowicz

It matches my couch.
There are of course many reasons people buy art, ranging from collectors (of art in general or of something specific like flamingos) to . . . because it matches their couch. They may have a space above their toilet that needs a picture. Not a glamorous thought to think your painting may be destined for just such a spot, but that is the nature of things. If you are creating art to sell, you need to get over it. People buy art to live with.

Perhaps the more appropriate question is not why people buy art. But what motivates them to buy the art that they do. The main reason people will plunk down their hard earned money for a piece of art is because . . . they connect with it on an emotional level. (Not very profound I realize, but it’s the truth.) Whether it is destined for a corporate office or above the toilet, the art has to speak to them in some way. So then the big question becomes . . .

“How do you create art that will connect with people emotionally?” I know what your thinking, “Mona, everyone is different. Everyone has different experiences and different things that trigger them emotionally.” True. Look at this as a good thing. This is what allows the variety in styles, media, subjects and genre to all be marketable. So rather than trying to appeal to everyone, first and foremost you need to create art that you are passionate about. Paint what you know and love. The emotion and authenticity comes through in your work and people will feel it.

My example of this is: I get told over and over that my horses are wonderful. They tell me how rare it is to find someone who does horses well. The truth is some of my horses are flawed. Some have conformational issues you probably would not want on a horse you would actually purchase. This is something I work hard to correct. (Technical correctness is important to me. I study anatomy and horses in motion) But since I actually draw them out, it is what it is. I believe what people are reacting to, is that my horse painting have “soul.” You feel like that animal exists somewhere. You look at it, it is looking back at you. That is my love and passion for my subject matter coming through the work. It is the same reason I will never paint someones child. There will never be any passion for the subject and therefore even if the painting is technically correct, it will still be lacking, even if it is only on a subconscious level.

So to wrap this up, if you are looking to sell your art, you need to create authentic art that people will connect with emotionally. You need to paint what you are passionate about and in your own voice (style is a complex enough subject it would need it’s own post) Once you do this, then you need to listen to what buyers (more than friends, family or colleagues) are saying about your work. And more importantly pay attention to what is actually selling.

Tomorrows post will be about my best selling image in print. It is a great example of art connecting with people that I would never have anticipated.

In terms of marketing your art successfully you do need all of the traits listed in the previous post 6 Traits to be Successful in the Art Market. If you add “lack of” to any of the 6 traits you will struggle to acheive success. Lack of Confidence. . . Lack of Drive . . . Lacking the ability to be alone. (Ummm you get the idea.) Of all of these things though, fear is the most dibilitating issue that artists face. It can be immobolizing and cause stagnation. I could have added Fearlessness as triat #7 but it is such a major player, I thought it deserved it’s own post.

Everyone has fear issues.
Fear of acceptance like will I get accepted into that show, or will the buyers be interested in what I do.

Fear of failure is when you are waiting for things to be perfect. Your skill level to increase, the right timing. Fear of failure causes you not to act at all. And the only way you will become successful at art is through action. Whether it be creating it or selling it.

Fear of the unknown, like how will my life change if I decide to go professional. Will I still have time to do the things I love.

But in order to be successful in the art market (as well as in anything else) you must push past it. Many starving artists become starving artists because they are allowing fear to hinder their progress.

In truth I don’t have the answer to handling your fear issues. (I think that is probably in the realm of a shrink) But I do know what worked for me was just doing it.

Sometimes I play the Whats the Worst That Can Happen game. What’s the worst that can happen if I screw up this painting, Hmmm. Well . . I toss it and have lost a few hours of my life. If I posted it on my blog, then the world has seen that I don’t always create wonderful art. Hmmm. Not such a travesty. I mean it’s not like I’ll come down with malaria and die or something. So I move forward. Always keep moving forward. Stagnation will kill a career.

I’ve included the Art & Fear book in this post because I do actually have it in my library. My art group was reading it a few years back and most of them found it very helpful. I found it interesting, but at this stage of the game I have worked through a great many of my fear issues. (I did this by doing by the way) I still have some fears, don’t misunderstand me. But the more I work the art thing the fewer and more infrequent they become.

For those of you considering turning your art hobby into a successful art business here are a few of the traits that will best equip you to do so.

1. Drive (also known as motivation, determination, perseverance and tenacity) I am tenacious. I keep going no matter what. You need to be able to let things like rejection, rude comments, or occasional slow sales, not deter you from your goal. I do what it takes to get the job done.

Drive is what keeps you at it even when you work full time, have kids, and have a busy life. There is always time. Now I am not saying spend time in the business over time with your family. But the truth is, all gathered round watching TV is not exactly quality time. Before we moved to Iowa I had worked a couple of jobs and had 2 Sundays off a month, I still created, (though at the time my art was barely a hobby) often late into the evening hours. Without drive, your success may well be limited.

2. Focus In my opinion the thing that has saved my art business, while I have watched gallery after gallery close in my area, was the fact that Wild Faces Gallery is diversified. I don’t rely on only one source for sales. What this means however, is I have to juggle dozens of jobs all the time. The only way I can keep from going crazy is to maintain focus. Not only focus on the future goals but also focus on my daily and weekly goals.

3. Personable Good people skills are essential. I consider myself anti-social by nature. I would be ever so happy if I could hide away in a mountain cottage somewhere with a few horses, a pack of dogs, a few miscellaneous critters and a shotgun. (yes, my husband is also welcome on this fantasy hill top, but I just thought, that went without saying. But then I thought, maybe it didn’t) But if you actually want to sell art, you actually need to talk to people.

I am not a big fan of the hard sell approach, you know the used car salesman kinda thing (though that is a successful technique for many) I tend to greet them and just make myself available. If they seem interested, I generally ask a few questions about them (everyones favorite subject is themselves.) The good thing for me is that most of the people that are attracted to my work are generally animal people, which makes having a conversation easy. Plus I am genuinely interested and not feigning my attention. I know that sounds rude, but after you speak with hundreds of people in an afternoon, it can get tempting to fake it.

4. Being Comfortable in Solitude This sounds kinda of the opposite of #3 but if you plan to make your hobby your business you are going to be spending quite a bit of alone time. Most artists are solitary by nature. The act of creation is often a private affair.

5. Honesty I don’t mean honesty with your customer, of course that is important. In this instance, I mean honesty with yourself, your capabilities both mentally and physically. Also honesty with your business. You need to have the ability to take a good hard look at the numbers.

For example: Lets say I do an artfair and I made X dollars. I need to factor in ALL my costs, like hotel, gas, food, booth fee, jury fee and cost of good sold. And if I’m feeling very brave (or on the fence about returning to an event) I may also look at time lost creating in the gallery.

6. Confidence or at least the ability to fake it. In order to effectively sell what you do, you do need to have a certain amount of confidence. Most people (including patrons, galleries, and publishers) want to feel they are making the right decision by trusting in you and your work. They can’t get that warm fuzzy feeling if you yourself, don’t feel confident in your work. The old saying “Fake it ’til you make it” is true in this instance. Success breeds confidence, so eventually it will come. Be aware that it is a fine line between confidence and arrogance.

Note: No where in this list is skill or talent mentioned as a necessary aspect of turning your art hobby into an art business. While skill is important, it is the ability to market successfully that will determine your business’s success or failure.

Tomorrow I will talk about the main trait that holds most artists back from success, (and hopefully post a finished snow leopard.)

And following that will be a post about the number 1 reason people buy art. Anyone want to hazard a guess?