Expose Yourself

The Key To Making People Aware That You
Are Indeed An Artist 

© by Carl (CAKUart); all rights reserved

Expose yourself – this should be your mantra for the next 24 months… particularly if you are new to selling your art.

Now I confess, I don't normally promote the "exposure for the sake of exposure" ideal. The reason is because it can be very time consuming, as well as being a mental and physical drain if your objectives have not been set properly.

However, if you do some homework, and have a basic blueprint plan of attack, then you can actually exposure yourself quite well and make sales in the process.

The key is to avoid simply hanging your paintings in a restaurant or café for the mere purpose of exposing your art. While you may be lucky on the odd occasion to make a sale, you won't really discover your target market of buyers using this procedure.

Newspaper article: That's me (2nd from left) promoting my work  for a major state art festival - even the Lord Mayor (far right) himself came out to help hold a painting - what a guy huh!

Ideally, you want exposure that leads to more consistent sales. So focus on your target market  - it's a great plan to follow.

But where is your target market?

Well… part of the fun of marketing your work is the journey that leads you to your audience.

In order to discover where your audience is, you have to get out and network – you have to socialise and expose your work to a buying public.

If you have not sold any paintings before, and perhaps feel a little apprehensive about where to begin, I TRULY recommend that you start your journey offline.

The reason for this is because you will be able to mingle, discuss and physically hear the opinions and expressions associated to your work.

Additionally, physically networking with the public will develop your confidence. It will also sharpen your focus as to what you should be charging for your work, who your target market is, and what community events and establishments you should be contacting or getting involved with.

This in turn will give you added confidence and marketing muscle when it comes to using the Internet to help you sell your work.

The problem I have with just hanging your painting up in a restaurant or a café is that for the most part you are not interacting with the viewing public. It can often be just a waiting game, unless of course the eatery staff is good at selling the paintings on their walls – and some are good at selling by the way, but very few.

In order to give your work a real push though, it's a good idea to get involved in a few local exhibits, art fairs and festivals. Expose yourself by simply getting out there and talking to people, eye to eye, one on one, and as a result you'll generate some quality feedback.

I can tell you from experience that not all your feedback is going to be sweet to the ear. There will be times you'll come across people who do not like what you do and will simply voice their opinion (Watch my video on "Criticism").

Criticism is one component you'll have to get accustomed to when selling your art – but try to avoid taking it personally. Additionally, some people are simply not happy and target you and your art to express their unhappiness. That is their problem, not yours.

So get out there and get yourself a stall at the next local art fair or festival. Contact galleries that may be suitable to hang your work. Go meet your intentions…and go out and meet the buying public and you'll soon develop some real precision for exposing your art with a backend sale – Expose yourself...but expose yourself the right way!

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