Artist Marketing

© by Carl (CAKUart); all rights reserved

If you are an artist marketing your work and you are new to the business of art…then let me reassure you there is no need to feel intimidated or overwhelmed.

Marketing your art can be just as much fun as actually producing your art.

It requires something you probably already possess… and that is creativity, willingness to hard work and a desire to seek the road of least resistance in order to maximise your time, money and energy.

It's a good idea to first structure your "artist marketing plan" before you desperately try to blast your way out of obscurity into becoming one of the famous art painters that everyone will be soon talking about (wink).

One of the first factors you should consider asking yourself is:

• What IS your TARGET market? Who in your mind is going to buy your art?
• Who do you WANT to buy your art?

Yeah, I know…at first glance the last point may seem a little obvious. After all, we all want everyone to buy our art don't we? But the reality is…its not going to happen.

Therefore you stand a far better chance of focusing your artist marketing time, money and energy on dealing with your target market and being able to provide the best value possible and ultimately sell your art.

For example...and these are just examples: If you paint landscapes and want to promote and sell your art online then you are going to be focusing on keywords that are tailored towards your niche in the field of landscape paintings. 

You will more than likely be focusing on online forums and social media sites that cater for collectors of landscape art and galleries that promote artists producing landscape art.

If you produce bright decorative modern abstract art then you may want to consider focusing on marketing to new homeowners. So therefore you may consider building relationships with real estate agents in your community.

You may even consider contacting architects for joint venture projects. If you are looking at galleries to showcase your work then you'll know to focus on not just any gallery... but those galleries promoting artists in your "bright decorative modern abstract" genre.  

When you have established as to who you feel is your target market, you can then proceed with your plan of getting your art out into the public. By recognising your target market you'll also know where to focus your marketing energy, time and money.

If you are absolutely stumped as to who your buying market is… then consider doing a little research.

Roam the Internet via the search engines for forums and online communities. 

Visit online galleries. What you are looking for is art that fits into a similar niche to yours. 

Speak to another artist marketing his or work online and gather some feedback.

Based on your findings, have you been able to determine as to what the supply and demand (keyword research) is like?

Go speak to gallery owners in your city. If they are clued in as to what is going on in the art scene... you'll get a lot of great feedback from them. 

Finding your target market really comes down to interacting with people and doing a modest amount of research. You can do a lot for your target market awareness by attending a local community art exhibit.

Get yourself a booth and FOCUS on talking to people rather than getting fired up about selling your art. If you make a sale or two, that is a fantastic bonus. However, don't set yourself up for disappointment before you have established where you need to be focusing your marketing energy. 

Until you have gained the reputation of a Frida Kahlo in your town, city or country, you will definitely need to keep working on discovering ways to distribute your art for sale. 

But if you focus on as to where your target market is... you'll truly do wonders for your self-image as an artist, remain confident and save yourself time, money and unnecessary frustration

Artist Marketing Tips and Resources

Fine Art Marketing
In order to experience any kind of success with your fine art marketing, you need to first establish your brand as an artist.

The Best Way To Sell Art
What is the best way to sell your art? What is the most reliable path to take in order to sell your art successfully?

Marketing Abstract Art
Consistency is the key to marketing abstract art. No matter what, keep creating art. That is the first primary goal you should have.

Personality Publicity
As artists, we all want great publicity. A good starting point is to ensure that we have a good personality.

Self-Representing Artists
How to develop a marketing mindset for representing your art independently as an artist.

How To Keep Making and Selling Art During A Recession 
Great tips to help with the common struggle of marketing and selling art during a tough economy.

Go To Sell Art Online

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