How to Sell Your Art - Making The Most Out Of Art Shows
By Ralph Serpe
One of the quickest and more effective ways to expose your art or crafts to
the public is by opening a booth at an art or craft show. Thousands of people
come to these art shows each year with the intention of buying something, and
there doesn't appear to be an end in sight.
Before you pack your bags and head out to the next show, you should definitely
learn as much as you can about art shows. This type of work requires planning,
research and various expenses, and may not be for everyone.
A great starting point is to visit http://www.sunshineartist.com. Sunshine
Artist is a great magazine that covers art shows in detail. They provide listings
of upcoming art shows and information on how you can participate. They also
evaluate art shows and provide reports on sales, attendance, and other important
details.
It may be a good idea to head out to your first art show as a visitor before
actually setting up shop. Once you arrive, walk around and just observe how
everything works. Observe the booths that have the most traffic and see what
they are doing right. Introduce yourself to the booth owner and see if they
are open to talking about their success with you. As long as they are not in
direct competition with you, they should be happy to give you some pointers.
When you sell your work at an art show you are selling directly to the public.
You make all of the profit. There is no need to share a huge percentage with
an agent or gallery owner.
It is probably best to sell items at various prices to accommodate the different
buyers that come to your booth. If you typically sell paintings for thousands
of dollars, offer smaller, more affordable prints as well. This way, your art
can be available to everyone.
Make sure you can accept credit cards. Many people who visit art shows pay
by credit card. If you aren't set up to accept credit cards, then you will more
than likely lose sales.
Setting up and running a booth at an art show can be challenging. Bring a family
member or friend along to help you set up and help customers. It's also nice
to have someone to keep you company and provide support and encouragement.
Art and Craft shows are a great way to build a customer mailing list. Set up
a little section at your booth inviting customers and browsers to provide you
with their name, address, and email address. Next time you attend an art show,
you can send out a mailer to your list. You can also let your mailing list know
about any new art or crafts you have for sale. It may not be easy to build a
mailing list, as people are a bit hesitant when it comes to parting with personal
information. To entice people to join, you can offer something for free. You
could create small color postcard prints of your work and put them in inexpensive
frames and give those away to each subscriber.
Make sure you keep track of your expenses and sales. You want to determine
if you actually made a profit, otherwise you may have to make adjustments or
possibly not attend the same art show again.
Don't get discouraged if you don't make a huge profit your first time out.
Like I said in the beginning, art shows may not be for every artist. Many artists
sell at art shows exclusively, while others only use art shows once in a while
for marketing purposes. About the Author Do you want more great tips on how to sell your art? Visit http://www.sellingartnews.com today for a free 25 Part E-Course on Art Marketing!
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