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

You’re Not Your Best Collector - Stop Pricing Your Art This Way

This week I had a conversation with an immensely creative friend who was feeling a lot of resistance to asking for the amount her work is truly worth. Part of her could see that it was worth raising the price to be in alignment with the market, and part of her was like, no way! 

After talking it through, she had an ah-ha moment. I realized that her ah-ha moment is also a concept that artists often miss when it comes to figuring out how to price their art. This thought keeps your prices below market value which isn’t good for anyone. It’s sneaky. And so subtle that I had to share it in case it’s helpful to you, too.

As an artist, you know how to make a piece of art, whether it’s a painting, a sculpture, a photo or art in some other medium. So when you put prices on your work, they can feel too high because you wouldn't pay that for it. 

The reason you wouldn’t pay that price for it is because you have the skills, expertise and experience to make it yourself. You don’t value the painting, the photograph or the sculpture in the same way that someone else does. This is because you know how to make it yourself. 

Others are willing to pay more for your work than you’re willing to pay because they don't have the skills and knowledge to make the piece of art you just made. They can appreciate your work but they can’t replicate it themselves. In other words...

YOU ARE NOT YOUR IDEAL BUYER. 

When pricing art, it’s easy to think about what you’d pay for it but in real life, it’s not a helpful pricing method. This is because you wouldn’t buy your own work because you don’t have to. You have the skills to make it instead. 

Here’s an example to help demonstrate this concept….

You love bread. The ingredients to make bread are simple and you probably have them on hand in your kitchen. You have the Tartine recipe book so you have directions to make an amazing loaf of bread. But every time you’ve tried it, it doesn’t taste or look nearly as good as the loaf you buy from the store. And it’s nowhere near the level of that artisan loaf from the farmers market that tastes amazing. 

So, you’re happy to buy a loaf of bread for double or triple what it costs to make because you don't have the skills or expertise to make the same quality of bread yourself, even if you have all the ingredients. 

The baker on the other hand is less willing to buy bread because the baker knows how to make a great loaf and is always making great loaves every day. The baker is not their own ideal customer. 

Knowing that you are not your ideal buyer can expand your willingness to raise your prices. Especially if you’re an artist who’s always being told that “you should charge more for that.” It may be time to level up to what others, who see the value in your work, are willing to pay for it. 

What do you think? Have you found yourself considering what you’d pay for your own work as a pricing strategy? Let me know in the comments. I’m curious if this thought has influenced your pricing.

Cheers,

Kate

How to Show Art Prices on Your Website Without Looking Cheesy

Are you thinking about selling your work? Want to sell it without looking cheesy or desperate? Afterall, you take your art seriously. You don’t want to feel icky when it comes to selling it.  

Part of the process of selling your work is to clearly communicate the price of your work and in a way that feels good to you. In the Should You Show Prices On Your Art Website? article, I share reasons for putting your prices on your website and how helpful it can be to a buyer.  

If you’re considering adding your prices to your website, figuring out how to do it in a way that looks good can lead to a lot of questions. Starting with, how do I show prices without looking cheesy? 

To help with this, I’m sharing a few strategies you can use to help show your art prices on your website in a way that’s professional and looks good, too.  

Emphasize the Art 

Show a beautiful image of the work. Make the art take up more visual space on your website than the price or text describing it takes up. 

De-emphasize the Price 

The cost or purchase button doesn’t need to overpower the image. If you feel like the price looks too stark, large or loud, there are a few graphic design tricks that you can employ to help downplay the price. 

• Make the price an 80% gray color. This is an old graphic designer’s trick where you make a piece of text that's black and dial down the intensity of the color to be about 80% less black which is a dark-ish but still readable gray. Below is an example of how that looks. See how much lighter and de-emphasized the price looks? 

• Put prices in a smaller font size. Even two font sizes smaller will usually do the trick.

• Link the text to purchase instead of using a button. This isn’t exactly about how to show the price but it is part of setting it up so it looks the way you want. If you don’t like the way buttons look, or you don’t want to set up an official shop, you can link text to direct people to contact you to purchase. 

• Direct people to your gallery. If you have an agreement or a current exhibition with a gallery, talk to the gallery to see if they’re okay with you showing the work on your website. If they are, let viewers know exactly how they can contact the gallery for purchase.

Click on the examples of these four strategies below to see them in better detail.

View fullsize

Price is an 80% gray color.

View fullsize

Price is in a smaller font size.

View fullsize

Link the text to purchase.

View fullsize

Directs people to your gallery.

• Change the text of the purchase button. Your template’s button may say, “BUY NOW!” but there are usually ways to edit what the buttons say. Google it and find out how to change it in your software to something softer like, “Add to Cart”, “Purchase” or “Take Me Home”. Bonus points if it’s not in all caps.

• Change the color of the purchase button. If your website template requires a button, you may be able to change the color to downplay it. Going from a red button to a black, 80% gray or more neutral colored button will make it much less loud.

• Show thumbnail images and purchase options after clicking on the image. Maybe you have a shop or gallery of your available works where your prices show only when someone clicks on a thumbnail to learn more. That way the price isn’t so up front. 

In all of these appraoches, notice what is more clear and easy to read. Notice what is emphasized or de-emphasized. The goal is to make your art shine. And when it resonates with your viewer, they have what they need when they decide to purchase it. 

As an artist, you’ve got opinions about how something should look. And these aesthetic opinions extend to how your prices are shown, too. Take a look at these examples and find other examples that you like. Then make adjustments to how you show prices for your art on your website. 

Let me know if you find any of these strategies helpful when it comes to showing your prices on your website in the comments. I’d love to hear your thoughts about it! 

Cheers,

Kate

Should You Show Prices On Your Art Website?

Have you wondered if you should show your art prices on your website? For some artists, they make their work and showing prices can feel out of alignment with the conversation they want their work to have. Or maybe showing prices doesn’t feel as relevant as getting the work seen. 

For many of us, there’s a deep-seeded thought that showing our prices will cheapen the work. We’re afraid it might make us look like sell-outs or desperate. No one that I know wants to compromise their creative integrity just to sell some work. And almost everyone I know wants to sell their work to feel valued, recognized, seen and pay the rent along the way.  

Have you decided what’s right for you when it comes to listing your prices on your website? If you’ve ever struggled with that decision, keep reading.

The first step to figure this out is to get clear on your goals. Do you want to sell your art to collectors, designers, shops, art consultants or agents? How much of it do you want to sell? Will you sell directly to patrons or only through galleries? 

If you want to sell your art directly, a key piece in making that happen is making the price known and having a process for buying work. In other words, buyers must know what the price is because it’s part of the shopping process. 

You can ask buyers or collectors to inquire about prices and availability or let them know in the description of a piece what it costs and if it’s for sale. Which is easier for the person shopping? Emailing or calling you to ask if a piece is available and how much it is? Or seeing that information right there so you can decide if buying is really right for you?

I think it’s easier to buy art when I know the price. I hate to bother people with asking if there’s a chance I may not buy it after all. The same feeling is true for shopping at a store. If a piece of clothing isn’t priced, I’m not as likely to buy it because I may not have time to hunt down the price or feel like talking to a store associate. 

Listing your prices reduces the friction of the buying process. It makes it much easier for a potential buyer to know if your work fits into their budget. Asking someone to email or call you for a price is asking them to make an extra effort. And instead of getting them closer to buying your work, you slow down the process by not giving a buyer what they need, when they need it.

Showing prices on your website makes the most sense when...

• You’re not only selling through a gallery

• You’re selling directly to designers, buyers and collectors 

• You’re in the middle of a pandemic where collectors going to galleries and visiting exhibitions is difficult

• You want to make the buying process as easy as possible for those that are serious about buying

“If you’ve got to ask the price, you can’t afford it” is a sentiment that’s been heard often. If a person can afford the art, not showing the price might make them think that it's out of their price range even though it is within their budget. That would be a missed sale. 

There are some instances when showing prices online may not be an exact fit. For example, when it’s a really expensive piece of art, like over $10k. People don’t always want others to know how much they might have spent on a piece when it gets in that territory. So out of respect for your buyer’s privacy, you may not want to list those prices online. 

If it makes you feel like your art is too product-y, showing your prices may not be a fit. Even if you know that it’s helpful to speed up the buying process, if in your gut it doesn’t feel right, don’t show prices. I hope you change your mind but I understand that you may not, or that you may want to sit with the idea of adding prices to your website. If you can bring yourself to show prices in a way that feels good to you, can you let collectors know that prices are readily available via email or something similar? Can you look for ways to make it as easy as possible for someone to purchase your art if they want to?

It also may be a wrench-fit to show prices on your website if you’re selling through a gallery. If this is the case for some or all of your work, have a conversation with your gallerist about what they're comfortable with and about what will support selling the work. You can always show the work on your website, include the price and direct buyers to go through your gallery. Provide contact information if you go this route.  

The upshot here is that if you want to sell your art, even just a little bit, you can help your buyers and yourself by showing your prices on your website. Read the next article that talks about how to show your prices on your website without looking cheesy.  

Do you show prices on your website? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it. 

Cheers,

Kate

Feeling the Sting of Missed Opportunities?

Happy New Year! It may sound odd to wish this after all of the tragic events that have—and are—happening. Yet, I know there are bright spots and silver linings ahead. I don’t know what they are yet but I know they’re out there, waiting for us to find them. So I like to encourage them to happen when I can. And, I think you have what you need to do this, too.  

If you’re looking back on the fall holiday season and it feels like you missed a big opportunity to sell your work, and that there’s nothing you can do about it now, this message is for you. Know that you can look at it differently. 

And, that there IS something you can do about it.

I’ve felt the stings of many missed opportunities in the past. Like when I didn’t make any offers for my work during the busy buying season. And when I didn’t follow up with that important museum person who gave me her card. Sheesh, it’s no fun thinking about the missed opportunities.  

I share this with you because I want you to know that I get it. It can be painful to feel like you didn’t show up like you wanted. Even if there were valid reasons for it. 

After speaking with an artist who felt this way recently, I had an epiphany.  

I realized that right now is the best time to do something about it. Right now is the best time to avoid missing out on sales like that again. How? 

Plan for it. 

One way to plan for it is to take stock of how the fall flew by and where you wished you had taken action. Then create a better plan for yourself right NOW. It’s always better to make notes of the obstacles you ran into right after it happened than trying to remember what went wrong 12 month later. 

It might have been that you wanted to set up a shop on your website or Instagram, or that you wanted to do that pop-up. Or that you just couldn’t get the sales email written. 

If you’re feeling like you missed out on an important opportunity like selling during a busy gift buying season, here are a few steps you can take now, to set you up for success when this kind of opportunity comes around again. 

First ask yourself these questions:

• Did you know what you wanted to do? Did you have a clear goal? If not, what would be the main goal for next time? 

• What were the obstacles or challenges with your goal that you faced? 

• What worked well? 

• What didn’t work well? 

• What would you do differently? 

Then, take that information and craft a plan on your calendar to make it easier for you the next time.  

For example, if a challenge you faced was that you realized that you were up against a shipping deadline and you didn’t get to promote enough to meet your sales goals, when would be a better time to start promotions this year? This might mean that you start emailing your list and posting to social media beginning in mid-November so all of your sales are done by a safe shipping date for gifts of 12/14.

With this new plan in mind, when do you need to have your work finished and photos taken so you can begin promotions in mid-November? Maybe by 11/1? That then means your October calendar needs to have time set aside for making work and documenting it. --see how backing out a plan for next year’s holiday season can be helpful?

And you can plan this all out NOW before the next holiday season gets hectic. You can even apply this to other gift giving holidays like Mother’s day, Valentines Day, Plaidurday, etc...

“I rocked my holiday sales.”

If this was you, it’s still worth a debrief. How did it go? What worked well? What would you do differently? 

Can you take a few notes? It’s sooooo easy to forget what you learned and what to change to improve things when you have to look back on events 12 months in the past. Giving yourself 15 minutes now to review is totally worth the time. 

Whether you felt good about your holiday sales or like there were a lot of missed opportunities, can you map out a quick plan that you know is reasonable, doable and more fun for you? This way you can remove the stress and scramble of the season while still hitting your sales goals.

I invite you to actively encourage good events to happen for you this year by planning ahead a little. Maybe you want to plan out a holiday themed notecard set or you want to learn how to take photos of your work that feel exciting. What’s something you’d like to map out now? Let me know in the comments so I can cheer you on with it!   

Here’s to encouraging a year that includes many bright spots!

- Kate

Make Money Without Selling Art

You’re on week seven of shelter-in-place and all of your art shows and in-person events have been cancelled. This means a regular opportunity for selling what you make is gone. 

We now know that varying degrees of this social distancing thing is going to be around for a while. And as a result of all of this, you’re starting to feel the heat of missed sales. And you’re wondering what to do. 

Instead of going into a full panic about it all, can you find something else to sell that’s not your art? Maybe a workshop on a technique you use or project you know how to make? 

Why Teaching What You Already Know Works

Teaching what you know works so well right now because everyone is at home and starting to get a serious case of cabin fever. They’ve mowed through all the good stuff on Netflix and YouTube. They’ve binged the news at unhealthy levels. And they’re tired of everyday looking the same. They need a break. 

Maybe something like this could help you bring extra money in the door? Let’s look at what things you need to make it happen. 

In teaching online, here are the basics you need to have in place to make it work: 

• A skill or project you can teach others

• Willingness to learn to teach others online 

• A computer with a camera connected to the internet

• A way for people to pay you

• Enthusiasm for your work

You don’t need a certification or a degree. You likely have everything you need to make it work. Just think, you could be someone’s lifeline to stress relieving creativity and community by teaching what you know. 

Here’s How to Teach Online:

1. Decide on what you want to teach

   This can be a project like how to paint what the corona virus looks like under a microscope. Or a set of techniques like the basics of how to best use each kind of clay carving tool. Maybe you have a few secret tips you can share for doing something faster or easier. 

2.  Decide on a day and time for your workshop 

   What time of day might work best for your audience? Lunch time? Evenings? Weekends? Make sure you have time to prepare and promote it. 

3. Decide how you’ll present your lesson

   This might be that you do a Facebook Live video, a Google Hangout, a Skype video call, a Zoom video call or another method that works well for you. Also decide if you want to sell a live workshop or a pre-recorded workshop. If it’s pre-recorded, you’ll need to pick a platform to share it from. 

4. Decide on a method of payment

   This could be that they send you their registration fee by PayPal, Venmo, Square, Stripe, ApplePay, check or even cash. You get to pick what payment method works best for you and your students. 

5. Plan what you’ll teach

   Decide how long your class will be and exactly what you want to show your students. Ask yourself, when they leave your workshop, what will they have learned? Include the answer to this in your invitations. Practice your presentation so you know how long it actually takes and so you don’t run over the planned amount of time.

6. Invite people

   Send an email to the people you’d like to invite to register. Make social media posts inviting people. Ask your friends to share the post. Do a lot of promoting of your workshop.

7. Send a thank you

   Thank students for taking that class with you. Let them know you appreciate the support and the community.

The key here is to create something that feels great for you to teach. And that your students will love. 

As an artist you’ve got SO many amazing skills. You know your materials and you know your craft. And you know how to put both of them to use to make really cool things that bring you and others joy. So maybe teaching online can work for you! 

Take Action

If teaching online sounds like it might be a fit for you, post in the comments to let me know what one or two topics sound interesting for you to teach. 

Cheers,

Kate

The Key to Get Collectors Excited About Your Art

What’s one thing that you love most about your work?

Instead of asking you what’s one thing that’s different or unique about your work, it’s more impactful for you ***and your audience*** to know more about what you LOVE about your work. 

This is because when your passion and excitement for what you do comes through, it’s contagious. Your excitement for your work sparks excitement for buyers, gallerists and your community that are listening to what you’re sharing. 

So if you love the systematic approach behind your work, the color mixing, the flow you get into, or the oddly satisfying way that paint flows off of the brush and onto the paper, start sharing that. 

For me, I absolutely LOVE how you can watch an image develop before your very eyes in photography. I’ve always felt like it was magic. First there’s nothing on the paper and then you start to see hints of something happening. Before you know it, you can recognize the images that are surfacing. And I’m never bored by this part of the process. That quiet, slow reveal is always delivers - even if I don’t fall head over heels with the final print. 

People buy work from an emotional place. Getting to know what you love most about the work is a key way to bring collectors into your world and to appreciate your work even more. It tells a piece of your story that’s very compelling.

So, what’s one thing you love about your work? Let me know in the comments. 

And, if you want to take more action, copy and paste that into Facebook and Instagram posts. It should take you no more than five minutes, right? 

Know that I’m joining you in posting my favorite thing about my work on my social networks, too. 

Here’s to you sharing what you do and love most! 

Cheers,

Kate

Feel like You’re Missing Out on Holiday Sales?

Do you feel like you’re missing out on holiday sales? Are you seeing all of the art markets and open studio events come and go? Without you participating in them? 

Here’s one thing you can do right now to still get in on the sales action: bundle. 

I’m not talking about bundling-up in a warm Pendleton blanket. I’m talking about bundling 2-3 things that you create that would make a fabulous gift for someone. And then offering it to people you know or that follow you. 

Even if you did participate in a holiday market, you can still add to your sales this year with bundling. It works because there’s more perceived value on the buyer’s part. And it helps to lessen the pain of shopping for your buyers.

You’re helping people find what they need as gifts during an already stressful giving season. 

For artists, this means you’re helping people to buy something that’s handmade, support a small business (that’s you) and possibly buy locally. Those are motivators for a lot of our sales as artists and makers. 

Here’s how you do it:

Create an irresistible bundled offer. 

Bundle a group of 2-3 things that would make a great gift. For example a piece of art + a frame and + free shipping. 

To be clear, by irresistible, I don’t mean you have to offer it at a discount. You can create a bundle where people don’t easily know the cost of the individual parts but it’s still seen as a deal.

For example, if your bundled gift offering includes a painting, a t-shirt and a limited edition enamel pin, your buyers can likely figure out how much the print and t-shirt cost but the limited edition enamel pin may be something you give to collectors or use in your promotions so it’s individual price might not be readily available. This is especially helpful to you if you already have something that’s a perk you give collectors or promotional item already available.  

For many artists, it is helpful to create a bundle that offers a little bit of a discount. This is great for you because you earn more overall and it’s helpful for your buyers because they’re getting a deal. 

As an example, if your bundled gift offering is three prints, your buyers can easily find out what those cost individually. So offering them for a few dollars less than if they were purchased individually, can make for a better deal to the buyer. And you sell more work overall. 

How this might look:

• Individual prints are $35 each. If you purchased three of them individually, it costs $90.

• But with a bundle: Three prints are bundled for $75 which is a clear savings of $15. 

A few bundle examples...

Offer a print and set of note cards together. The incentive here is that the cost for both is a little less than if you bought them individually.

With every original piece you buy, you also get a custom, limited edition ornament. Or maybe you offer free shipping, installation or framing instead of an ornament.

Look for examples of bundling in action throughout the year in traditional retail situations. Ever seen a set of 6 nail polishes packaged and sold together? They’re selling for less than what they’d sell for individually but the company is selling more of them with each sale. 

You can do this kind of thing, too. It’s a lot more fruitful for you income-wise and you’re helping people find gifts!

So get creative with making your bundle. Ask yourself, out of everything you make and offer, what would your ideal collector love as a bundled gift? Then use that to help guide you bundled offer creation. 

Let everyone know about it.

Now that you’ve made an irresistible bundled offering of the amazing things you create, start telling people about it. Here are eight ways you can do that:

1. Email your email contacts.

2. Ask your contacts to forward it to those that might be interested. 

3. Post the offer to social media - a lot and in lots of different ways. 

4. Share lots of different photos of it on social media. 

5. Direct message it to people to let them know about it. 

6. Post it on your website. 

7. Do a Facebook live stream video or Instagram story featuring it and who it’d be a great gift for.

8. Verbally tell everyone you run into about it - at every grocery store visit or social gathering.

Make it dead easy to buy.  

Make sure you can send someone a link to pay you immediately. This might mean a link to PayPal.me or a link to a web page where you have it. Make it a quick and easy streamlined way for people to buy your awesome bundle. 

While people begin to really feel the need for gifts as December 25th and Hanukkah get closer and closer, know that bundles work all year long. This is a sales technique you can use again and again to help your buyers get what they need and to help you earn more with each sale. 

What would your bundle look like?

Let me know in the comments. And, I encourage you to post your questions there, too. 

Cheers,

Kate

Your Key To Not Feeling Sales-y

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that you're heading into a season where selling what you make might be your focus. Especially if you’re planning to do an in-person pop-up market or your own open studio event. 

Does this kind of thing make you a little nervous? 

Or feel like you’re being pushy because you’re asking people to buy your work? 

If you ever get a twinge of that yucky feeling, I want you to keep reading. What I’m about to share might help to ease that icky-sales-feeling. I know it did for me. 

When you’re out there at a booth or under that festival canopy, keep in mind that your audience is there for the express purpose of checking-out your work to see if it’s a fit for their needs right now. 

By showing up to your event, they’ve raised their hand to say, “I want to know more”.

They’ve put themselves into that room with you because they’re interested in learning what you’ve made and how you can help them find the perfect gift or something special for themselves. They’re interested in buying what you make. 

And because of that, by selling you’re work, you're helping them. If someone views buying your work as helpful, then that doesn’t feel sales-y or yucky right? 

So, your mission is to step up and feel proud to sell what you’re making because there are people who are looking for exactly what you’re making. They’re putting themselves in the same room with you to find you. You can help them out, right?  

I know you’ve got this. Does reframing how you think about sales in this way help? Let me know your thoughts and questions in the comments. 

Cheers,

Kate

Will Anyone Show Up? 10 Ways To Entice People To Your Open Studio or Pop-up Market

There are so many different events and obligations pulling on our time that it makes sense that you might wonder if anyone will show up for your art event. It being free is no longer the biggest draw. You know it’ll be worth your audience’s time if they swing by the studio but how do you convince them? 

People need a solid reason to leave their house and unplug from their usual routines. Having a fun experience is one of the reasons people go out and explore the world. If you’re hosting an open studio or pop-up, what can you do to make your event feel like more fun to your audience? 

Not sure?

No worries. Here are ten ways that you can entice people to show up to your open studio or pop-up market. They’re all a lot of fun for visitors and the ideas that feel best will be fun for you, too. 

10 Ways To Entice People To Your Open Studio 

1. Artist Talk

This is a great way to enliven what might be a quieter/slower open studio time when you schedule it at a specific time. For example, tell people in advance that you’ll be sharing the little known inspiration for your work at 10 am on Sunday to get them there when there’s usually fewer visitors. 

2. Demonstrate a Technique

Give a demonstration of one or two very specific techniques you use. Show where you use them in your art. Examples might be how to paint a ribbon-like line, or how to paint a beautiful color gradation. What’s one small thing that you do that people might like to learn about?

3. Try-it-out Table

Work with clay? Allow visitors to make temporary coil or slab structures. Crop your photos in camera a lot? Let visitors use the golden grid. What technique would be fun for visitors to try? 

4. Photo Booth

Create a unique photo booth that is in alignment with your art. For example, you can blow up a photo of one of your pieces and make it a selfie station. You paint flowers? Paint some big ones, cut them out and use them as selfie props. What if you created a huge cut-out for people to poke their heads through and have a photo taken? Silliness like this can be a lot of fun.

5. Tool Test

Have visitors test your tools so they can feel what it’s like to hold that wacky looking clay scraper or how heavy that grinder is.

6. App Love

Know a special feature on your iPhone? Show people how to use it! Know how to draw in ProCreate or Illustrator? Show people a little of how to do it!  

7. Kids Table

Have something easy for little kids to do so parents can enjoy your work while the kiddos are entertained. 

8. Sub-event

Co-work! Do you illustrate or paint plein air? Invite your audience and fellow artists to come by between 3-5 pm to co-work on art. How about a 15 minute group photo shoot “walk” in your studio space or on your block? When guests they come back, everyone shares their results. 

9. Delicious Food

If you tell people you’ll have food at your event, they’re more likely to come to it. Especially if you tell them that you’ll have your favorite brie and crackers or some other amazing sounding food that you’d have at a party. It can be fun to treat your guests to a nice snack and it’ll feel like a party if you do. 

For example, tell your guests that you'll be bringing out whatever food and beverages that are still available at 4 pm on the last day of your open studio as a great way to end with a party atmosphere! Or host a coffee and donuts morning party for the early crowd. 

10. Give-a-Ways

Create a give-a-way for those that show up and sign up to your mailing list. You could give away a piece of art, a Starbucks card, art supplies or anything else that sounds like fun to you. Or just make a fun freebie for visitors. Maybe a free print that you were experimenting with and happen to have multiples of or free buttons with your art on it. It doesn’t have to be big to be fun.

Next Steps

What 1-2 ideas above sound like fun to you? Pick what resonates most to you. Pick something that sounds like fun.   

Now, how can you apply those ideas so they’re relevant to your artwork and studio practice? Once you’ve decided on one (or two) great reasons to for people to show up at your open studio, how can you relate it to your work? Can you use the same color palette as what you use or the same images, etc.?

Promote it!

Now that you’ve created a really compelling reason for your audience to visit you during your open studio or pop-up, share it on social media and email it to them so they can put it on their calendar and plan to be there for the party. 

If your event is part of a larger, organized event like, see if the organizers can feature your studio and the fun thing you’re doing. If you’re buying an ad in your open studios guide, put the fun reason to visit that you just thought up (see above!) in the ad. 

You’re Ready!

These ten ways to entice people to your open studio or pop-up art market will help you get people to your event so can sell more work, connect with people more and have a lot of fun. Creating a really intriguing excuse for people to visit you will catch the attention of you audience and when they show up for your open studio, they’ll feel like you threw the party just for them.

You can do it! I’m cheering you on!

Got something that really worked for you to encouraged people to show up to your event?

Help another artist out by sharing it in the comments. It may be the inspiration they need to feel excited about their open studio or pop-up market and get more people to visit.

Cheers,

Kate

Why Should A Gallery Show Your Work?

Why Should A Gallery Show Your Work?

How to Answer this Important Question

Of course your work is stellar and that’s obvious when people see it. You get compliments all the time and you’re in love with it!

You decide it’s time to start exhibiting this body of work which will be great because it’ll add a line to your resume and be an opportunity to sell some of it! That’s an exciting thought!

So you start to look for galleries where you’d like to show your work. You’re finding some that are maybes and some that feel like a perfect fit. As in an amazing fit. You intuitively feel like your work would look amazing in this space. ...Exciting stuff!

So you start to gather your submission materials and somewhere along the way you might start to worry about what to say in the email or cover letter. You know you can make a big impact by saying the right things but you start to feel stumped for words and like all of the monarch butterflies in the world have migrated into your stomach! Ack!

If you’ve ever felt yourself heading into that mini-panic place (OMG, WHAT DO I SAY??) I’ve got the perfect thing to help you out here so keep reading.  

If you don’t *specifically* know why a gallery should show your work, it’s going to be tough to regularly exhibit and show your work. When you have those *specific* reasons that a space should show your work, it demonstrates that you understand they need a few tools to help them enter your work, especially if it’s new to them.

While they may like your work, giving them the reasons why they should show your work helps them to know if its a fit for their business and their audience. You may be making connections that they wouldn’t have come up with on their own.

By explaining why their space would be a great place to exhibit your work, you’re helping them make their decision faster which makes their job so much easier. They’ll feel like you’ve done them a solid.

And, you’ll increase your odds of getting shown, by a lot.

So think of a specific gallery where you’d love your work to be shown and answer questions like these:

• Does your work “fit” within the conceptual framework of the exhibitions or artists shown at this space?

• Are your price points in alignment with the work they currently show?

• Are you making new and fresh work regularly?

To help you figure out your connections faster, download this free, short Why Should A Gallery Show Your Work? worksheet that has additional questions that will help you get shown faster.  

What To Do With These Answers

Now that you have answers to these questions, tailor your submission with this information. Here are a few ways to do it:

• Add these answers as bullet points to your submission cover letter.

• Weave these reasons throughout your proposal, introductory note or cover letter.

• Incorporate these ideas into your bio or artist statement.

• Share these points if you have a live conversation or studio visit with the curator or gallerist.

Even if it’s amazing work, a gallery (or any kind of exhibition space) needs to easily understand why your work would be a fit for their space. If a gallery is going to have your work installed for a month or more, how does it benefit them?

I encourage you to dig in and come up with a few reasons. Your cover letter and submission materials will stand out from the crowd because they’re tailored to that specific gallery. And, it might just help you get that show!

Take a look at the free worksheet and let me know in the comments what one reason is for that gallery to show your work.

Here’s to your making amazing work! Keep at it!!

Cheers,

Kate