Archive for November, 2009
Hello! Are you ready to get busy with your business? I’m Tricia McKellar, founder of Wonder Thinking: indie biz tips for your success and indie biz owner, guest posting today on papernstitch. As an artist, I know marketing can be a challenge. How about five easy tips?
Five tips for selling your art:
1. Nail your elevator speech! Create a short description of who you are and what you do that you can say naturally and quickly. Don’t be a deer in the headlights when someone hears that you are an artist and asks what you do. You know they will ask; be ready. For example, “I’m Tricia McKellar, a photographer of southern landscapes and birds in flight.” Be specific and memorable. Use words that evoke images. Practice saying it in the mirror until it is natural.
2. Provide “about the artist” cards to your collectors. Create cards with a couple of sentences of information about you and your art. Include your website address. People who collect your art will want to tell their friends about their purchase, your card will help them remember your name (if your signature on the art isn’t totally legible) and will suggest some words to use to describe your work. People are sometimes not comfortable talking about fine art. Don’t say “here is some information about my art so you can talk it up to your friends,” just include a few sentences like you would in an artist’s bio or artist’s statement on your “about the artist” card that may help them when talking about your art. For example, “Mary Margaret is a mixed media artist from Minnesota. Her colorful, abstract paintings include oil, charcoal, and found objects and are her expression of finding joy in the unexpected.” If they are giving your art as a gift, they will be especially thankful for the card.
3. If you sell online, tell people where you live. If you are on etsy, use the location feature to make it easy for local people to find you. People may find you online then seek out your work locally. If they stumble upon your etsy shop and see that you live in their area, that’s a connection and you’ve scored some memorability points with that person already.
4. Seek out local exhibitions. You never know who will see your art or what connections you might make that will lead to opportunities down the line.
5. Learn to chat at your exhibition openings. The questions people ask are often really invitations to talk to them about your art. People may want to talk with you about your art and may not be sure what to ask or what to say so they start off with something that pops in their head. They may ask you how long it took you to create your painting. Answer the question and be sure to continue the conversation– tell them something more about the painting or your inspiration or why you love the color green. Keep the conversation going.
I hope you found these tips helpful. What are your tips to sell your art?
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Image Credit: Friends by Michele Maule
I just wanted to stop by quickly to introduce a new contributor to papernstitch, who will be posting business tips every other week here on the blog. Its Tricia McKellar! Tricia is a photographer, who also write a business blog called Wonder Thinking. And she will be posting her tips on Mondays, the same day as Brenda’s Craft Venture posts.
So Mondays will now officially be dedicated to helping you and your business…helping you start the week off on the right foot. This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time, and i am thrilled that it is finally coming together.
Tricia’s first post, Five Tips for Selling your Art, is coming up in just a couple of minutes…
Shop of the Day: Many of you may already be familiar with today’s SOTD because your probably read the owner’s blogs already. Today’s shop is Nice Package, and it is run by Ez of Creature Comforts and Marichele, previously of Heart Handmade (Marichele now has a peronal blog called Life Flix).
Everything you need to make your packages look great this holiday season can be found at Nice Package, without breaking the bank. Everything is reasonably priced and each photo gives great ideas on how to use the supplies offered.
What I love most about this shop is that everything can be used in conjunction with very simple papers (i.e. no fancy wrapping paper required)…Use a brown paper bag, from the grocery, cut flat or newspaper as wrapping paper to save money (and to reuse) and wrap some simple baker’s twine, add a tag, and you’re all set! An adorably packaged gift, that barely cost you a thing.
Personally, I would much rather spend the money I would normally buy on wrapping paper at a small shop like Nice Package that has simple, beautiful supplies that I can use to customize presents. And now through December 1st, receive a free gift with purchase with any purchase over $10 and free shipping on orders of $150 or more.
Visit Nice Package for more: website … big cartel shop … etsy shop
Friend of papernstitch, photographer Linda Plaisted is having her first holiday sale ever. And it is not to be missed. If you are a photography fan, or just an art fan in general, visit Linda’s shop.
Right now every print in Linda’s shop is on sale: 20% off. The discount will be deducted automatically at check out for all prints, no matter the size or quantity.
Linda is also selling a limited edition holiday print as she does every year, with proceeds going to her favorite local charity- Heartly House, to benefit women and children affected by domestic violence. Such a wonderful cause.
…Visit Linda’s shop and website to view all her photographs…
A long time ago I decided I needed to step up my jewelry collection. I’m naturally drawn to very classic, dainty pieces…
…but sometimes a girl needs to make a statement.
That said, I am very much liking the eyecatching, lace-inspired pieces by This Ilk, which I spotted over on mustard & sage.
And even better, the artist divides all of her jewelry into groups named after cunning feminine characters. Wouldn’t you just love to be able to say, “Oh, this old thing? It’s my Octopussy necklace.”
Have a great day and a marvelous Thanksgiving!
Kathryn
{Octopussy multichain necklace; Octopussy necktie (made with old guitar strings!) Jeannie cloudy lace necklace; Ms. Peacock tail necklace; Octopussy coral lace earrings}
With Thanksgiving only a couple days away, its probably time to start thinking about holiday decor if you are planning on playing hostess. If you are looking for some ideas for holiday parties and entertaining, be sure to check out the huge list of projects that Better Homes and Gardens recently put together. Lots of simple projects to try.
Visit Better Homes and Gardens for more projects and decor ideas.
Oh my! I am really loving this new exhibition. So many items to choose from for these little daily roundups. These are my picks for today. For more info on the items above, click here.
