The Key to Selling Art That You Maybe Missing - Part 2

You’re making good art and you're dedicated to your craft. Your skills are constantly growing and it shows in each piece that you create. 

You’re ready to exhibit your work more at better venues as well as sell it more often. 

In my last article I shared that the secret to doing this with your art is to regularly connect with people. Even though it sounds too simple to be true, it’s THE best way to sell your work and get it shown.

And, the gold standard for doing this is to go out and meet people in real life to share what you do. The reason it’s the gold standard is because it feels authentic to talk with another human about art and life and everything in between. No one ever feels like they’re being sold. And you already have experience doing that kind of thing. 

Now, I know meeting with people in person isn’t everyone’s favorite thing to do and it can be time consuming to have lunch with someone everyday of the week so I’m sharing a second way for you to genuinely connect with your friends, collectors, gallerists and community that is doable and doesn’t have to feel yucky or like the dreaded word, “networking.”

So, here it is. The second way to connect with your community.

Engage with them online.

Yep, the second way to genuinely connect with people is to engage with them online in places where you both already are hanging out, like Facebook and Instagram. This saves you tons of time and it capitalizes on those conversational, in-person skills that you already have. 

I feel you quietly telling me that you’re already doing this. And that you spend enough hours on social media already. So my question is, are those productive online hours or is it time that’s spent consuming instead of creating relationships? 

Let’s look at a great way to interact online so you can have a meaningful conversation and add to your relationship with whomever is on the other side of the screen. 

For the artists I work with, engaging with people online means more than “liking” a post. Real engagement on social media means you follow people and get notifications when they post. It means that you comment on their posts with real comments. Words long enough that reflect what you might actually say to them in real life. 

For example, so many people leave one word comments or a few emoji’s. This is a great first step to engage with people on social media. But if you really want to connect with people online that you enjoy and want to build a relationship with, like collectors, shop owners, designers, gallerists, etc., leaving that kind of short comment won’t get you noticed. 

Leaving a three sentence comment will. This is the kind of comment you’d say to someone in real life if they were standing in front of you. You might even ask a question. 

Letting people know what resonates with you and what you’re curious about is a great formula for creating comments that engage. 

Here’s an example social media comment before and after applying the 3 Sentence Rule: 

Before:
“cool”

After applying the 3 Sentence Rule: 
 “Thanks for posting this! I love the broken edges in your work. Do all of your paintings use encaustic or just this series?”

Which comment would you prefer to get on a post?

3 Sentence Rule Checklist:

• Three sentences?

• Did I let them know what was resonating with me? 

• Did I show my curiosity and interest in their work?

Engaging like this on social media is great for you because you’re building a relationship with a real person, even though it’s online. We’re meeting and making friends online more than ever. And building meaningful bonds that way, too. Engaging online is an opportunity for every artist to find their kindred spirits no matter how large or small their niche of art seems. 

It’s also helpful for the person you’re interacting with because the more comments and engagement they get on a post, the algorithms share their post to more people. That means more eyes on their work and the things they want to promote in the world. 

Time to take ACTION! 

If you’d like to see how this works and try it out, hop on over to Facebook or Instagram and leave FIVE three-sentence comments. After you do that, come back and let me know in the comments how many responses you got. 

Here’s to your taking action to sell and show your art! 

Cheers,

Kate

P.S. Click here to read Part 1 or here to read Part 3 of The Key to Selling Art That You Maybe Missing so you can have all three proven ways to connect with people in your practice.

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

How to Connect Immediately With Your Social Media Followers

Are you sharing your work on social media? 

Maybe you’d like to share it more? Or maybe you’re just starting to use Instagram or Facebook?

No matter where you are in how much you use your social media to share what you create, there’s one easy way to help your audience of collectors, friends, gallerists and peers to connect with you immediately. 

Are you ready for it? 

Use a photo of your face as your profile image. 

Despite how easy that sounds, I know there are reasons you might not agree. 

Any of these sound familiar? 

• I hate photos of myself

• I want to be known for my work 

• I don’t have a good photo of myself

• I’m afraid people will be judgy if I use my photo

I hear you. All of those make a lot of sense. BUT, using a photo of you works so much better. 

Here’s why:

We’re humans. We’ve evolved to connect with faces. Specifically eyes. So using your photo is an immediate way for people to see you as a real human, not just another bot posting on social media. 

When you use the same profile photo on all of your social media platforms, you look like you’re everywhere. As in, people feel like they’re seeing you showing up and engaging a lot. And, the more they see you, the more likely they are to feel comfortable buying from you. 

So skip using an image of your art or an illustrated logo and use a photo of your face instead. It’s the best way to immediately connect with your audience. 

I’m curious what you think about this? Let me know in the comments. 

Cheers,

Kate

Zero Social Media Followers?

Does it feel like you have nearly zero followers on social media? If so, no worries. Everyone starts at zero. That's why zero is at the start of our numbering system, right? (Yes, I'm ignoring negative integers and any other abstract-ish math concepts.) 

To help you go from zilch to having enough followers to fill a room with, I'm sharing a list of 9 easy things you can do to to grow your social media audience. 

Invite your immediate circle of people you know by:

1. Emailing your contacts an invitation with a link to follow you. Tell them why they'll love following you online.

2. Following them and posting engaging comments on their posts.

3. Send an invite via Facebook to follow you on Instagram with a note letting people know you're migrating your posts to Instagram or that's really where you spend time connecting with people. You get the gist, tell them why they should follow you over there.

4. Ask them in-person to follow you.

5. Have a contest.

Share your social media handles everywhere:

1. Signature line of your emails

2. Business cards

3. Exhibition links

4. Art Postcards

The quality of followers is more important than the number of followers. Starting with these techniques is a great way to begin cultivating an audience that’s filled with people who genuinely know, like and support the work you do. All of which helps you to get more eyes on your work and sell more of what you make.

These ideas are just a start. There are SO many ways you can grow your number of followers online.

What other easy ways have you used to grow your social media audience? Share your good know-how in the comments.

Here's to you getting your social media party started! 

Cheers,

Kate

Three Sneaky Ways Social Media is Killing Your Event

I'm all for inviting people to my events by way of social media. It can be a great way to get the word out and generate excitement for the upcoming opening reception or open studio.

BUT, there are a few sneaky problems with it.

1. You're inviting people and they're not getting the notifications.

Facebook and Instagram are curating what you see in your newsfeed so if you create a post inviting people, many will never see it. Thank you "helpful" algorithms.

2. They see your invitation, are excited and then totally forget about it.

Maybe they aren't sure if they can go so they're waiting to find out if it fits their schedule. In the meantime, your event isn't making it to their calendars. And, for most of us, if it's not on a calendar, we can't be reminded about it. And, we totally miss out on the fun event.

3. With it being so easy for people to become exhausted and frustrated by their experiences on social media, more and more people have gone analog and are no longer on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. This means that the people you want to come to your event may not be on social media! Or not on the same platform as you!

There is an antidote to this.

Send them a real invitation.

Yes, a card they can hold in their hands. A card that they can put on their fridge. A card that can brighten their desk. A card that they can show to others.

We've expanded everything we can do by all of the awesome digital tools we have and I LOVE it. But I also love getting a card in the mail.

Yes, there’s a cost to having postcards printed and mailing them. The flip side is that they're very effective. If you send an invitation with a beautiful image of your work on it, your friends will feel like they're being invited to something important because you went above and beyond by creating and mailing nice invitations to them.

How to Use It:

• Mail it to your collectors!

• Mail it to designers and gallerists that you'd like to come to your event.

• Carry a stack wherever you go and hand it out to people you run into. When they ask what you've been up to, you've got a great invitation to hand them.

• Leave a stack at the gallery where you show is going to be.

• Leave a stack at any other places that make sense like nearby coffee shops or restaurants.

• Go door-to-door and leave one for each home near your studio inviting them to your event.

If you don't have addresses for people, ask them for their address and tell them you're sending them an invitation. This is a great opportunity to say hello and reconnect with your collectors, supporters and those that you want to invite to your art event.

Your next steps:

1. Design your card. Keep it simple with an image and the relevant details about the event.

2. Have your card printed. You can print through a local shop or a company online that will mail it directly to you.

3. Address, stamp and mail the cards.

4. Pass out cards wherever you go.  

5. Re-use the image you created for the postcard in your emails and on social media.

Two Tips

1. Look up the sizes for postcards to make sure you don't have to pay extra postage for say square cards.

2. Studies have shown that if you write a personal note **by hand** on the cards, they're more effective. Here's an example of what you might write:

"I hope you can make the show! It'd be great to say hello in person! -Your Name"

One thing I love about this is that it's a great tool for when you're feeling too shy to talk about your work. It helps to have a physical card to hand to someone so you can much more easily say, "I'd love it if you can make it to my opening."

Going old school like this can pay off by getting the right people to your event because you're personalizing your invitation. -Your collectors, gallerists, designers, your artist community and new faces will appreciate the hold-it-in-your-hands invitation. And you'll feel great connecting with people this very genuine way.

Hit reply or leave me a note in the comments to let me know if you’d like to make a postcard for your next event. OR, tell me what's holding you back from creating a real, hold-in-your-hands invitation for your next opening or open studio event?

With much love and gratitude,

Kate