Avoid This Big Art Sales Mistake

It can feel like a real nail-biter to set your prices. Especially with a new body of work or if you haven’t been focused on selling your art lately. 

During the last workshop I presented on how to price your art, the huge room was so full, we nearly ran out of space for all the chairs we kept adding as artists rolled in. So I know that pricing is a task that we are all keenly interested in getting figured out. 

I also know from firsthand experience and from the clients I work with that a lot of mind drama can come up around pricing our work. So much drama that many of us avoid pricing our work until we absolutely have to. And often, that moment when we price our art, is when another human asks us during an opening, “how much is it?” 

Panic can set in at this moment. Looking away for divine inspiration is usually the artist’s response. And then a number comes out of our mouth that immediately feels cringe worthy. 

Have you ever experienced something like this? I have. And it sucked. 

The buyer experiences something totally different. 

They have no idea that you have been avoiding putting a final price tag on your art for weeks. And may not be able to fathom that you’ve got a whole public event dedicated to showcase your art that’s seemingly for sale but have just procrastinated on creating prices. 

Buyers can feel this moment in a totally different way. That pause of you reacting slowly to their question can be mistaken for something other than you looking for courage to spit out the price you were kind of considering. 

They can feel like they’re being sized up for what they can spend. In that moment, they can start to feel like they’re being fleeced. 

When you don’t have your prices ready, even if it’s from a place of fear of over- or under-pricing, or that you just ran out of time to get to it, know that you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.

Potential buyers don’t like to feel like they’re being sized up when they ask for the price. For some, even asking the price feels like a slightly scary thing to do. As consumers, we’re used to things having price tags on everything. This is naturally part of our buying process. 

When your prices aren’t readily available, you’ve created friction for your sales and usually people will assume they can’t afford your art. Or they get distracted and fall out of the buying process entirely

No one likes to feel like they’re being sized up. Heck, I can feel that way at a yard sale or the farmers market where the stakes are pretty low. I just don’t like shopping that way. And your collectors don’t either. 

So, can you make it easy for them to buy your work? 

If you want to avoid this from happening, you can take action now. Here are a few simple steps to get the ball rolling:

1. Pick one piece that you’d love to sell. 

2. In 3 minutes or less, write down an amount that would feel really good to get for it.

3. Sleep on it. 

4. Come back to it and adjust that number based on if it feels too high or too low. 

5. Rinse and repeat until you feel like you’re pretty close to the right amount. 

This is a low pressure way to help you figure out what the right prices really are. 

With this, you’ll be able to price your work in advance of that upcoming opening or open studio event. And your sales may increase because you’ve made it easier for your buyers to feel comfortable purchasing your work. 

In the comments, let me know what questions you have around pricing. I’d love to help you feel confident with your art prices.

Cheers,

Kate

A Tip to Bring Your Art Plans Into Focus

It's still the height of summer here so naturally October feels like a loooong time away. In fact, the end of October is *only three months* away.

This means I've got some serious decision making to do with my Halloween costume. And more importantly, I know that by the time October closes, it'll feel like the holiday season is in full swing and dragging me down the tinsel-laden street.

Have you ever felt surprised and swept up by how fast the holidays got here?  

If yes, I've got a helpful thought for you. In speaking with a few artists recently, I noticed it was helpful for them to think about what they wanted to have done by October. What was calling to them to really get done between now and then, over the course of just three months? 

Thinking of it this way brought things into clear focus. Each artist said they wanted to do very specific things like having a show, making more art, start using their mailing list, and making long overdue website updates. 

So, let's pretend it's the end of October. --Pumpkins are carved. Candy wrappers are finding their way into your sofa cushions.-- And when that last day of October rolls around on the calendar, what would you like to say you accomplished between now and then? 

What's most important to you? What would you like to have done in 3 months?

Let me know in the comments. I'd love to hear what surfaces when you bring your next 3 months into focus.  

Cheers,
Kate

Not Enough Art Inventory?

Imagine what it would look like if a gallerist has just emailed you to schedule a studio visit. You’re excited about the opportunity to connect with them and to show them your work. The prospect of having an exhibition could mean getting press and selling your work. That would feel great to have your work seen by a larger audience, right? 

But if the thought of them actually visiting sends you into a small panic, keep reading.

I’ve noticed that after the elated feeling dissipates, a second, less helpful thought comes up for most artists in this situation: fear. Feeling afraid that you don’t have enough work to show a gallerist can cause you to inadvertently sabotage yourself by pushing off that meeting or finding ways to seriously delay it and then never reschedule it. The same concept holds true for connecting with designers or hosting an open studio, too. It’s easy to be scared to commit to doing those actions or events that would create exhibitions or sales because you’re worried that you don’t have enough art already made.   

The problem is that it feels like you need to have a ton of art made and available in your studio right now, before you reach out to a gallery, interior designer or before you sign up to do an open studio event. In reality, you don’t need a ton of new work before approaching these kinds of studio visits. This is for a few reasons. 

First, you have time on your side. Many galleries do their programming 1-2 years in advance. So if they like your work and want to show it, you’ll likely have time to create more before an exhibition. And they’ll be happy to debut your newest body of work.

Look around your studio and take stock of what you can share with them. I bet you can probably make a little new art before the studio visit or have work-in-progress to show. This paired with the finished pieces and documentation that you have on hand will be enough to have the kind of conversation you need with a gallerist, curator or interior designer to decide if your work is right for them. 

You also may feel like you’re “over” that last body of work that you made that’s kicking around your studio in a box somewhere. You can still feel good about sharing your previous work because while that body of art may be old to you but it’s still very new to your studio visitors. Remind yourself that your work can always be discovered and appreciated, no matter how long ago you made it. 

As an antidote to this feeling, I encourage you to think about how energizing and exciting it felt when you were working on that body of work. That will help you to tap into that feeling and radiate it when you talk about it. 

You don’t need to let that feeling that you don’t have enough art created stop you from reaching out to galleries, designers, submitting proposals or hosting an open studio. You need samples of your body of work and documentation of past work. If all of your newest work is in an exhibition right now, you can share photos of it. 
 
The upshot is that you can set those opportunities in motion without having all the work made in advance of them. I know I’ve felt this way and so have many of my clients. It can be an almost an automatic reaction because we want to show our best and newest work that we’re most excited about. This feeling totally makes sense, right? 

If you’ve ever felt like this, too, say “hello” in the comments to raise your hand in sharing this experience and in intimately understanding the artist’s brain when it comes to feeling like you don’t have enough work.

Cheers,
Kate