Debra Keirce

Scroll down to see all of the articles I have written for FAV, with the most recent at the top of the list.

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October 2022

Consistency - Is it Key?

Oscar Wilde is famously quoted as saying “Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.” I get sucked into reading these daily quotes, and I rarely question them. Who am I to disagree with Oscar Wilde?

Yet, I can’t imagine an art career that does not benefit from consistency. By its very definition, consistency means repetition of the behaviors that line up with a longterm vision. That has to be good for artists, right? Think of all the great results we creatives get if we are consistently practicing our craft, promoting our art, networking with other artists and collectors and agents, recording our journeys, etc. 

Every part of my art marketing plan that will suffer if I am not consistent. 

So what was Oscar talking about? 

Scholars say he meant that if you are not creative, you will take comfort in being consistent, following routines, and doing the same thing all the time. You will have no reason to do anything original. Well, duh!  Give me the formula, the recipe for a successful art career. I want to follow it and be comfortable. Originality often comes with a lot of discomfort.

Unfortunately, there is no single formula for creating the next Mona Lisa. If there was, we’d all be in the Louvre. But, since we are all imaginative BECAUSE we are artists, I hope you will humor me and entertain this rebellious thought. MAYbe, just maybe, there is value in creating original artwork, but consistently working a set strategy to market and sell that artwork. Maybe the time to get inventive is when that strategy stops working for you.

Clint Watson recently wrote a Fine Art Views article about the mere exposure effect. People are hard wired to remember what they see and experience repeatedly. Artists and paintings that are famous have consistently been in the public eye.

I have a friend who has a career that spans decades, painting commissioned portraits. He has never had an agent, never been in a gallery. He painted realistic portraits in shopping malls through the 1970’s and 1980’s when the gallery model was the preferred way of doing business for most of his peers. He consistently painted and promoted and taught workshops, tweaking the things that he needed to over the years. Today, he is one of the most successful portrait artists I know. He was nothing if not consistent, but he did things his own way.

One marketing plan many artists follow is to create a consistent body of work, be it for a show or their portfolio. I know someone who paints beautiful florals, but they only post their portraits because they want to be known first and foremost as a portrait artist. Consistency is part of their marketing strategy.

I would argue that having a to-do list of consistent tasks has served me well in my art career. The list has changed over time, as my skills and the venues I show at have grown. The changes are mostly small ones however. I imagine that most of you would create a list similar to mine, so I thought I would share it here today.

Forgive me Oscar Wilde, for I have been consistently doing these things since I first thought to create an art business plan:

1. Work a set schedule each day
2. Create work in series
3. Post on social media regularly
4. Publish newsletter monthly
5. Enter gallery and society shows
6. Attend networking conferences, art openings and zoom calls
7. Teach each week
8. Do something each day to work toward more sales
9. Advertise at least one artwork each day
10. Connect with at least one other artist each day
11. Connect with at least one collector each week
12. Connect with one of my venues each month
13. Work each day to improve my skill set
14. Reflect on and enjoy EACH and EVERY day on this art journey

Some days I do the things on my list better than others. And, I always keep my personal goals in mind. A list without an end goal isn’t very useful. When it’s not helping me achieve my goals, I need to adjust the list.

In my little corner of the art world, consistency is more important than perfection. It just is.

What have you consistently done that has helped you in your art career? What have you consistently done that has hindered you in your art career? (I have one of those lists too, but I will not be sharing it here!)

If you know of ways to succeed without consciously being consistent, I would sure love to hear them.

My Trip to Oz

I recently took a workshop for advanced oil painters. It was with an instructor I admire greatly, and the other students were all extremely accomplished. So you can imagine how excited and also nervous I was about the experience.

I told a friend how anxious I was, feeling I would not be able to keep up with all the talent in the room. She reminded me of my accomplishments and advised me not to go in with that attitude. But, being someone who needs to be advised multiple times, I ignored her. A few days into the workshop, an amazing artist in the seat next to me called me aside for a chat. He pointed out that my self deprecating comments were not serving me well. In fact, he asked me to consider how much they were holding me back. When both a dear friend AND a complete stranger offer me the same advice - then I take notice.

I got to thinking about this Fine Art Views article. Confidence sells. Self doubt or self deprecating talk and thoughts prevent sales and marketing opportunities. 

Think about it. We all start our journeys with a low level of confidence. At some point we all fake it till we make it, and we all live through imposter syndrome. But we can’t disrespect ourselves if we want others to respect us. When we appear confident, people buy from us and sign up for our classes and recommend us for more opportunities.

Really, the key to what we seek, the courage, the brain, the heart - it starts with what we have had inside us all along. It’s the knowledge that we are doing our best, we have learned much we can share, and we have the passion to continue trying in the face of rejection. I propose that a confident attitude best serves us when we approach our marketing and sales challenges, even if that’s not how we are feeling…yet. In fact, I’ve come to believe that it’s more important to be confident than skilled when it comes to art. The best gallery owners I’ve worked with could confidently sell art by new artists as well as established ones.

We all know we need to be genuine in our marketing. But there is a balance. Finding that place between humble and lacking confidence can be tricky. To me, in this moment, it means post the posts you would stop to engage with. Publish newsletters you would read. Create art you would stop to admire and consider buying. But now I want to add another action to this list. Center yourself. Lose the self deprecating talk and actions before engaging in art business.

Sometimes we are too hard on ourselves and critique ourselves to an unhelpful degree. Sometimes we are too easy on ourselves and give our excuses too much leverage. Which way are you leaning right now? How can you pull yourself back to center?

Even if it makes you uncomfortable, are you willing to give up your self defeating ways in order to be better at the business side of your art journey? I’m trying.

Stay in the Zone

Have you messed up lately? Have you had a major disappointment? One of the questions I am asked most often, is how do I stay inspired and creating.

The art business is full of opportunities to practice graceful apologies, and thicken our skin against the onslaught of rejections.

That’s a depressing way to start an article. But there is a real art to staying in the creative zone, and leaving it can affect your business’s bottom line.

Here are some things I’ve learned to do over the years that really help me to put my best out there, which sustains sales. More importantly though, here are some things that work to keep me from sliding into the “ruh roh” hole. I would love to know about experiences you can add to this list!

1. You’ve heard it before. Creatives need this advice as much as anyone, I believe. Pace yourself. Try to schedule time to stay still and take stock. Work smart. Don’t be the hamster on the wheel. To do lists are great, but when I follow them mindlessly, I wear myself out. Plus, they get longer just before the events when I need to be the most rested.

2. Realize that people connect to your passion, not your achievements. If you work hard to organize an exhibition and then you post about all the hard work and inconveniences, how many people do you think will follow the rest of your posts about the event? Always consider how communications are landing with your audience. If it doesn’t make everyone happy, do your really NEED to share it? When you aren’t feeling passionate, stay silent. Or, you’ll be wondering what you did wrong the next day.

3. Whenever I have a project that seems overwhelming, I try to break it down. A student of mine came to me recently for advice on a commission for a 5 foot square painting. She has never painted anything larger than 12 inches. She was delighted and relieved when I suggested she approach her client to see what they thought about her doing four or more smaller works. Small paintings are more portable, don’t require as much expense for presentation, and are more likely to turn out well. Of course it’s important to try hard ones on occasion, but the whole process is defeating when you tackle projects that are too big.

4. Expect to make your own mistakes even if you fail. Be wary of the advice and good ideas that are sound, but don’t fit your vision - you know the ones. They sound good but you just don’t feel in your gut that they are right for you. They’re not. Too much advice can veer your vision off course. I’d rather fail doing my own thing, than win doing what someone else thinks I should. And trust me, I have failed many times doing what people thought I should. It kicked me out of my creative zone every time.

5. Artists who excel at marketing can outsell the most skilled person who doesn’t market their work well. I want to be recognized as a great artist, so even if I had the best marketing skills, if I sold everything I made, I would not be happy if my painting didn’t improve. Is that the same for you? 

6. Golfers say pros make par even after a bad shot because they get good at the recovery shots. What can we do to recover from a public failure? I’m really good at apologizing. I have an artist friend who I tease about having rainbows and unicorns circling her head, because she always turns a bad situation into lemonade. A model didn’t show up, so she had a student sit in and gave her a free painting lesson for the trouble. She made a new lifelong student. I want to be great at recovery shots like my artist friend.

7. How do you bounce back after a major disappointment? It’s hard, and I still have to put effort into this, but I try to look at the numbers. For every one painting I toss, I have many more that get framed. It’s the same with the rejections and the mistakes. Even though I may need to fail twenty times for a single success, I get confidence from looking at past accomplishments. I also have a pile of beautiful notes from collectors that I go through on occasion. And, as long as I keep going, I know I won’t make the same mistakes twice. In the end, it’s the last person standing who wins this game.

Of course there are times when life happens and there is no way we can remain in a creative zone. The good thing is that opportunities to improve in sales and marketing don’t ever go away, and when we find our way back to the zone, we can always work on making up for any losses. I wish for you all, more wins than losses today.

Marketing the Experience

We know that art patrons purchase the art they experience most deeply. That experience can be a feeling, a memory, a story, etc. It’s the “X Factor.” It’s what turns an admirer into a collector.

What can we do to make the viewer’s art experience more impactful, so they want to purchase from us? That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?

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2. Reveal something. I always try to share a feeling or experience in my work, but I’ve learned this only succeeds if I don’t disclose anything too personal. My audience typically doesn’t want to buy a painting that tells a story of a dark time in my life. Know your audience, and reveal appropriately.

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3. Depict something that could happen to anyone. If you are marketing to a specific demographic, you can delve into niches. But I wouldn’t expect to sell paintings of dogs at a cat show. Of course it can happen. But keeping my pieces generic allows me to attempt sales with them in multiple venues.

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4. Create art that calls to mind something of interest. Think of the emotions your collector will feel. Is it exciting, scary, happy, sad? Does it even evoke an emotion?

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7. Does the experience reflect your brand or the message? What do you want to put out in the world? For awhile, I was painting liquor bottles. I still do on occasion. But it got to where people were thinking of me every time they saw a bar scene. I don’t drink. I’m not opposed. I just don’t know anything about cocktails. I like the reflecting glass and colors, but when people started asking questions about specific scenes, I was clueless. It wasn’t consistent with my experiences.

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8. Put yourself in the viewers shoes. Would you stop and look? Is your art unforgettable? I like to look at the FASO Daily Art Stream and see if my paintings “pop.” If I can’t immediately spot my own art in the page, I wonder what I could have done to make it more noticeable. Think about how you present your art. Can you pair the art with anything that will grab attention? I am very involved in the miniature fine art shows. We have magnifying glasses available to patrons, so they can view our art the way it looked as we were creating it. For many people, that’s a fun, unique experience that intrigues them, gets them to the show receptions, and they spend more time looking.

Marketers use themes that make us viewers look twice. Some of these are travel, food, cute animals or babies, attractive people. Full confession - when I think about what painting series have sold best over the years, I reluctantly admit they fit these categories. I wish this wasn’t true. I would love to paint more bugs.

Things artists often use as attention grabs are worth thinking about too. Art with a twist makes you look twice. Artists who capitalize on an optical illusion or the unexpected have a direct line to more eyeballs. This can be the art itself OR how you present your message. We’ve all seen the posts with sparkling filters or the tap a magic wand and a painting appears. Works in progress, the struggle of the process, successful new discoveries and growth, awards, sales, failures, questions soliciting ideas for titles, opinions on frames, critiques, etc. can all be presented in a way that grabs your followers and invites them to engage more with you.

Be aware that the attention and any emotions you solicit are specific to a particular viewer. The audience you attract has a lot to do with how you present your art.

WHEN CAN I QUIT?

Turn Your Liabilities Into Assets

Which Trends Should We Follow?

“Newsflash” oil on panel

At the start of each new year, many of us revisit our business plans. For me, this art journey is all about the experience. Marketing and sales of my 2 dimensional visual art always work best when I enjoy what I am doing. But there is constant pressure on artists to notice current trends, and consider following them. Should we?

For me, the answer to that question is no. Here, I explain why.

Let me start with a memory of a day about 5 years ago when I was with artist friends in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. We were happily talking about how our art careers, while in different stages, were all progressing nicely. We heard the voice of someone who recognized one of us from social media. Fast forward, and we were all in my family room, sketching that artist’s friend from life. Well, “the artist” is a young man from the South Bronx who draws strangers on the NYC subway, because that is what he is passionate about doing. We talked about artists we all admire, and how he would love to earn enough money to move to a better neighborhood. He was considering being a tattoo artist like his dad. He went on to become the MOST followed artist on Tik Tok. He achieved his dream. They gave him an office in their Tik Tok building and he has moved to a better neighborhood. He still draws strangers on the subway, but now $$ and sponsorships are associated with what he is doing. 

I’m pretty sure he’s forgotten who I am at this point, so I can’t ask him if he’s happier. But who wouldn’t want to do that experiment and see how huge endorsements from a profitable company feels?

The other four of us in the room have continued to grow our art businesses at a much slower pace. And, I venture to say that if any of us were drawing people on the subway, we would not have achieved that same level of success.  In other words, we had a front row seat watching what “the artist” did and how his well deserved dreams came true. But it was never in the cards for the rest of us.

So often we want to believe in a recipe. If we follow it, we can expect to see results like those who did well using it. In reality, just like this example, that is rarely true. If I start painting now using the Pantone color for next year in all of my paintings, and the most popular subjects, it’s not likely to impact my sales. I’ve actually tried that in the past.

You probably have a different opinion and I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

Today, look at what 20 and 30 year olds are buying. I look to what my children and their friends are doing. Clean lines, nature inspired earth tones, minimalistic, mid century modern style designs are preferred. Young adults lean toward getting rid of excess and focusing on quality and experiences in life.

My first impulse is to ask “How do I fit my art into that description?” Does this mean I should increase the hours I spend teaching, creating more experiences to become more profitable? I could. But I would be miserable. I would really miss my painting time.

But wait. Art is a luxury item. What distinguishes our fine art from the stuff in big box chain stores who do target the current demographic? People in merchandising often say that all you need is the right product at the right time in the right quantity, and the sales will come. Sadly, there are lots of amazing paintings out there that never see the light of day. So how exactly is fine art different from the best selling  stocking stuffers this year?

I propose that it’s the art experience my collectors are drawn to today. I’ve come to feel that my most successful paintings are the ones that evoke emotion. If that is the case, creating a marketing plan around current color and style trends makes no sense.

In my example above, the young man who found success via social media has a look, or brand that appeal to the Tik Tok audiences. You can guess at whether it’s his age, ethnicity, his life story or personality that people engage with. Of course, his sketches are masterful. He is really, really good. But, so are a lot of artists. His ace in the hole, in my opinion, is that he genuinely enjoys sketching strangers on the subway, they enjoy being part of his reveal and videos that are posted to the masses, AND he has a brand that people resonate with. Lots of artists have now copied him. Some are very skilled, but their sketches of strangers on mass transit aren’t gaining much recognition.

Instead of trying to figure out how to align my art with what is currently selling, as we move into a new year I am looking at what I can do to share my passion and engage viewers more. I want to create a memorable experience for people who see my art. Here is the list of things I am working on:

1, How can I encourage art lovers to experience more when they view my paintings? 

2. What can I create that will invite viewers to lean in and notice my work, contemplate and interpret my stories, and feel emotions while looking at my art? 

3. What will encourage folks to spend more time looking at my oil paintings?

4. How can I touch memories in people who see my works? 

5. What about my art will make people want to tell someone else about it?

6. Can I create artwork with a timeless story and quality that future generations will relate to?

Hopefully, the more experiential my art becomes, the more time people spend looking at it and thinking about it. These days, I’ve noticed that’s how most of my sales manifest.

• You are probably wondering what I am doing that addresses the questions listed above. I’m still figuring that out. But so far, this is what I have done.
• I am painting pieces that “pop” with color and contrast, so they are noticed from across the room.
• I am experimenting with different ways of presenting my paintings in unique frames.
• I am composing art with more obvious narratives. Many of my past works have been inspired by stories so personal they may not make sense to viewers.
• Compositions that have a universal appeal, not specific to one location are moving to the top of my list of things to paint.
• I am trying to produce paintings that make people stop and wonder what I was thinking.

Before writing this article, I did a non-scientific poll of over twenty realist painters who have very long resumes and are some of the most financially successful artists in my circles. Without exception, they all answered that they never base the art they create on a market they are targeting. Rather, they paint the art they feel called to create, and when the collectors find them, they focus on developing relationships with those people as much as they can.

All of this is aligned with the free AMP marketing videos in our FASO accounts. Also, there are some very positive takeaways.We should create art we enjoy bringing into the world.

• We don’t have to spend energy chasing the latest fads. In fact, we probably won’t see lasting success if we do.
• Our work will attract people who want to experience the same art we enjoy making.
• Sales depend mostly on finding and developing relationships with the people who notice our artwork. We don’t have to interact with the people who reject or ignore it.

Will you be incorporating any of these strategies in your next business plan? Or, have you had success creating art that does change with the daily zeitgeist? 

Slow Down. Don’t Rush.

Every holiday season I have to relearn this.

When it comes to marketing and sales, we seem to always be in a hurry. We rush to get artwork to venues before a show deadline or before the holidays. We race to be the first Black Friday sale in front of consumers. Our local drug store had Christmas candy on the shelves before Halloween candy this year.

Don’t rush. It won’t serve you well to sprint. Treat this like a marathon. Take baby steps. Honu is a concept I love. The idea embodies good luck, protection, endurance and long life. To achieve all of these, we are called to be like the sea turtle. Swim at your own pace. Enjoy the moment, trust the flow. Come up for air, but slow down and breathe. Focus on quality not quantity. In short, build a strong foundation. 

I hope this is a welcome reminder. Personally, I get annoyed when people tell me to slow down. And, they do just that all the time. Obviously, I’m in need of constant reminders.

Here are some examples of mistakes I often make when I try to fast track the marketing and sales part of my art business. Please learn from my mistakes, and comment below with yours. We’d love to hear about them!

Typos - Doesn’t everyone fall prey to autocorrect when in a hurry?

Links - I get too lazy to include links in my monthly newsletter AND check them before publishing. When I fail to add or check links, I’m missing out on opportunities.

Text - It takes work to consolidate words! I know I shouldn’t just write a post or newsletter or email and hit send. I should read, reread, and reread again. Then I should read it out loud. Then I should wait a few days and read it like I just got it in MY inbox. We can all tell when we get someone’s first draft.

Overwhelm - It’s better to do only a few things on your to do list and do them well, vs. doing them all just okay. 

Images - make them good! Check for no glare. Check for no camera distortion. Check that colors and exposure good. Check that no edges beyond the painting are showing. Don’t post images unless they are good! I know this. But I still occasionally skip the rechecks. Then I wonder why good art doesn’t sell, get awards, or attract attention.

Videos - There are so many professional videos in our feed these days, this one is not negotiable anymore. Use excellent lighting. Invest in a ring light. Use at least a lapel microphone for good audio. Nobody watches videos that are in shadow. Nobody listens to videos that sound like you are in a tin can. Also for social media, say your most important stuff in the first 8 seconds. It’s a documented fact that few of us watch past that point. Who still ignores these things on occasion? Yours truly. I don’t know why. I’m human.

None of us are going to find our zen and do everything right all the time, but it is a good thing to know what we are striving for. And, it’s a blessing to know that the more careful and relaxed we are, the better results we will get. I try to look at this truism as a gift. When I am harried and hyper focused on getting my to do list done, I should stop. This is the time when I need to breathe, slow down and remember Honu.

Postscript: I actually thought about including some typos in this article to see if you were paying attention. But, the FAV editor does and amazing job, and I figured she would have removed them. :)

Put Yourself in Their Shoes

 

Who are “they?” They are anyone who collects your art, any of your students, anyone who pays for services you offer.

Make sales and marketing decisions based on what makes you happy when you wear their shoes. (Or at least make the decisions that don’t upset your audience.)

That’s advice we can all take right to the bank, and yet, I find myself ignoring it time and again. Giveaways, sales, donations, increased communications become cumbersome in my inbox every holiday season. Without fail, I have conversations in mid December about how much I’m tired of the marketing coming at me so loudly, forcefully and predictably. Yet, I caught myself sitting down just today to plan the increased emails and post blasts I “should” do in November and December. Why would I sit down to create the very thing I myself get annoyed by?

Marketing during the holidays can be very effective. That’s why everyone focuses on it. It’s just important to do it in a thoughtful way, in a way that you would respond favorably to if it were being presented to you. Personally, I’m opting to keep my posts and newsletters short and sweet and more to the point this time of year. I’ll save the long videos and stories for January and February when things slow down and my followers have more time to receive them. That’s what I would want if I were them.

So, as you are preparing your holiday card, affordable or small works shows and every other way you reach out during this gift giving season, consider the reaction you would have if you were on the receiving end. 

Also, brainstorm what needs your fans have, and what you can do to help. For example, if you teach, what are your students’ preferences? Have you asked them whether they would like a 3, 4 or 5 day workshop vs. one hour sessions? Do they want to meet in person or online? Do they want to learn the basics or the whole process, or just a few key details that could make their art special? You might want to offer several of these options, but maybe there are certain seasons that some are better suited for. Perhaps your students would rather take online classes in the winter when the driving conditions are uncertain. My first tendency is to teach what and how I want to, but that makes no sense since I’m not the one paying for my services.

It always surprises me when I really think about my sales and marketing plan as if I am a Debra Keirce collector, student or follower. There are so many things to consider. The season, the time of day, the length and frequency of interactions, the price point, the amount of effort I can or want to put into it all, etc. can be overwhelming. Most of us are one person businesses. We do the creating, paperwork, packing and shipping, bookkeeping, and everything else. If we feel that we can’t do a big marketing push during the time that our fans are most receptive, we have to figure out how to make it happen. We can hire an assistant, plan ahead, or develop quick and easy ways to touch base that don’t require a lot of effort. 

I run into this every summer and winter, when I really need to be painting for the spring and fall shows. For me, the summer and winter months are when people are most responsive, and also when I face the most deadlines. I have noticed this over the years, because I get more replies to my newsletter in those months, and I get more enthusiastic responses to events, like when I auction work off for a charity or advertise workshops. 

I’ve tried various solutions for this time crunch. I tried painting more in the spring and fall, hoping I create art that will fit the show themes when I am notified of them. I tried making spreadsheets that disperse my workload so there is a manageable amount each day. I even tried targeting my marketing to a smaller group of people, so there would be less work involved. However I move forward,  my time and money are always better spent on marketing resources when I allocate them from the point of view of my customer.

It’s simple advice. We hear it all the time. I forget it most of the time.

I SEE YOU!

 

Every human on the planet wants to feel valued. We all want to be seen and heard. This need for acknowledgement is deeply ingrained because it is required for survival. We are pack animals, and the thought of having to survive alone is terrifying. This is something that marketers try to tap into all the time. Products are presented to us in ways they hope we can relate to, and in ways that make us feel like our opinions matter.

So... What are you doing to make your past, present and future students and collectors feel seen and heard? Do they ever tell you that you make them feel special?

Please comment below with your thoughts on this topic. There are many more great ideas out there about how to gain and retain followers by making sure they feel valued. (See what I did there? I sincerely appreciate you all. Your ideas really do matter to me, so I just let you know.) Here are the nine that come to my mind.

1. Remind your students and collectors how much you appreciate them. This could be as simple as telling them so in your regular newsletter. Or, you could randomly send an actual handwritten card to one of your best followers each month. Don't send them a list of your currently available artwork. Just send them a nice note saying how great it is to have them on this art journey with you. You'll be surprised at how memorable that makes you. Not many people reach out these days, unless they are trying to sell something to you.

2. When you interact with people, give them your undivided attention. How many times are we on zoom calls and one or more participant is typing on their computer or answering texts on their phone? I am totally guilty of this. But when I am interacting with people or peers and catch myself doing this, I always try to remember to be more present in the future. People don't relate to you when you are multi-tasking. 

This applies to all engagements with your followers. Even if it's just a postcard you are writing, try to personalize the interaction. A good friend once sent me a card at the holidays that was obviously the same paragraph she wrote for about a hundred other of her "closest art friends." It was off putting. It made me feel less special than if she'd saved the stamp and the trouble.

3. Are you actively listening to your tribe? If these are the people you are working hard to market your art to, you should absolutely be soliciting their feedback and taking lots of notes, whenever possible. I have a 3 ring binder full of papers with solicited and unsolicited feedback from my audience jotted down. Whenever I revisit my marketing strategies, I pull that binder out and see how many of those comments I can incorporate into my new plans.

4. With social media, we are constantly receiving feedback. We rarely get negative comments, but the number of likes and the enthusiasm in comments can be extremely informative too. Any like or comment on your posts is a gift. Be grateful. Always be sure to like or love or comment on engagements for your posts, reels and stories. People are encouraged when they see that you noticed their feedback. In turn, they will be more likely to communicate with you in the future. When you have the time, enter their name in your reply to personalize it even further. 

If you ignore all the comments and likes on socials, you'll only be forgiven if you are an influencer. People with hundreds of thousands of followers get a pass on having to respond to each interaction, because we all know that would be a full time job. For the rest of us, we will lose potential fans if we don't respond.

5. Don't make a habit of sharing every single improvement strategy. But once in awhile, it doesn't hurt to be vulnerable and share something you are changing due to comments from collectors. I have shared alterations I've made to paintings or titles after I thought were finished. Friends pointed out things I could do to make them better, and in a few cases I agreed. I believe this makes you more approachable. People see that you listen and are open to new ideas.

6. Consider whether you might get more by giving more. For example, give away a video of part of your workshop. Whether you email it to just your students or post it as a facebook live, people may come back to buy and learn because you made them feel special. Our tendency is to protect our secrets. In truth, nobody is teaching anything that hasn't been taught before, and sharing results in more sales.

7. Use passive marketing tools to invite collectors to initiate interactions. It's a way of opening the door to let them know you are available. For example, at my solo shows, I will often frame a sign that reads "accepting commissions." It's literally a sign that I frame like a painting, and hang right next to the rest of my paintings in the show. I don't run around soliciting commissions, but it puts the idea in their heads. When I've done this, I don't think I've ever had a show where I didn't get commissioned to paint more. Sometimes those calls don't come until a few weeks or months after the art show. People often need time to think about what they want to commission.

8. Always be genuine. If you put ”call 10 collectors to tell them how important they are” on your to do list, do it. But don’t do it just to check it off the list. They will see right through you. Don't call unless you have a few talking points written down. Ask them things you are truly interested in. Do a little research online if you can, and see what they have been up to lately. Then talk with them about the things they are doing that you relate to.

9. If it's appropriate, crowd source opinions. People love to give advice and offer their perspectives. I often ask for ideas for titles on my paintings. I save the ones I don't use, for future pieces. It's amazing how much information is right at our fingertips these days. And if you source things like titles from the people who are watching you, then you're getting answers from the very crowd you are marketing to. It doesn't get more targeted than that. Always remember to give them a tag or a mention when you use their ideas. That will strengthen your efforts to connect with them further.

Finally, like everything else in sales and marketing, this approach requires patience and consistency. You can't do these nine actions for a week and look at your sales record to decide it's not working for you. It may take months or years to build trust in your relationships, but it will eventually happen. And, when you make people feel seen and heard, they will be very loyal to you and your art for a very long time.

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September 2021

Art Shows

How do you use art shows in your marketing plan? 

Do you think of art shows as a marketing tool? They are.

I know many artists, including myself, who enter art shows because they really want a shot at that awards purse. We also enter because it’s a good indication of how we measure up to our peers. I’m not gonna lie. It feels good to get an award in exhibitions with artists whose works I have admired for years. And, getting sales boosts my ego as much as my pocketbook. 

But, ego, juries and judges aside, art shows are a marketing tool, just like any other in your toolbox. You pay a society or venue to promote your art. The careers of many artists have begun and been sustained by the art shows they regularly participate in. This is because regularly scheduled art shows build a following. That following zeroes in on favored artists in the show, and they anticipate the return of those artists. Nowadays, they may even reach out between shows and interact with their favorite artists directly.

Sound familiar? It should. This is the same outcome we individual artists are working to accomplish. We are promoting our art consistently, and working to build a following that will reach out and interact with us between events. 

If your show venue has a link for purchasing your art, have you shared it?

Have you identified the challenge that your art is a solution to? Often the show theme will help with this. For example, if it’s a show titled “Buy Local” you can support the exhibition’s sales strategy by mentioning your home town every time you post about your art.

Art is a luxury item. Sometimes there are impulse buys, but for most of us the sales are a result of collectors trusting in the established quality and value of our artwork. Look at your sales techniques and see if you have highlighted the quality (vs. quantity or price) of what you are selling. This is not to say you can’t emphasize how prolific you are or what a great value your work is. However, even McDonalds needs to make sure people can trust that their Big Mac’s are not going to make them sick, no matter how many they produce, sell or donate. Quality always matters. Make sure your presentation reflects the high quality of your work. For example, don’t distribute bad photographic images.

In my experience, and from what I observe, whether it’s a solo show or group show, whether a gallery or a museum location, whether it’s an auction or juried or invitational format - sales through shows are hard won. The biggest benefits are often through “residuals.” I wrote an article about those in July 2021.

Don’t be reactive. If you get ten sales, or don’t get any in the first week, give it time. Good strategies are relationship based and it takes time for those to develop. Plus, local and global events can impact sales. (Think weather, pandemics, politics, or even just the local sports team having a big game the same day as your show opening.)

Look at sales trends quarterly and over several show venues at first. For me, a sales rate of 10 to 30 percent is what I expect from any show I enter. Of course, I often don’t sell anything, and sometimes I get lucky and sell out. I love when THAT happens.

2. Marketing

Have you helped advertise the show? If so, is your message memorable? Is it authentic? Have you presented it in a way that will make people think of YOU when they see the marketing put out by the show venue? I want people who follow me to know and remember that I enter the Miniature Art Society of Florida show every year. That means if they come across an article talking about miniature paintings in Florida, right away they think - “Oh, I bet Deb Keirce has some art in that show.”

The great thing about regularly occurring exhibitions is you get to evaluate the experience and try again next time. Develop a longterm strategy. The AMP webinars and program will get you started. Then you should personalize your plan. Always be thinking a year or more ahead. Is this strategy sustainable? Can I do this as intensely and as frequently as I am planning? Do I have the time? Will my interest wane? Include regular tweaks. Try to make the experience better each time you enter a show. 

Times change. You need to change with them. I will be in an invitational show at a museum in New Mexico for the 8th year this coming October. For the first five years I attended the reception, I brought postcards with my art and my name and website on them. That way, when people were deciding which pieces to purchase, they were holding my card while they made their decisions. Of course, I made sure that only people who came up and asked questions about my paintings were holding a card. Nothing would be worse than people seeing a bunch in the trash, or set down on tables next to the appetizers. But, the last few years, I noticed that people are beginning to know who I am and they expect to see me at the show. The cards are no longer necessary, and in fact they feel a bit pushy. Marketing strategies have to remain fluid.

Consider different strategies, specific to each show, for your short term and longterm goals. I worked in strategic planning for a few years at Eli Lilly and Company. We had one, five, 10 and 25 year strategies. The further out they were, the fewer meetings we had about them. Most of our resources were spent on the one and five year strategies. Those were constantly changing. 

Take stock annually and make big changes, but stick to a plan and only make little ones throughout the year. Just like the stock market, strategies need to stay current. Look at them quarterly at least, to make adjustments. I keep thinking I will work toward only participating in shows for the societies I am part of, and then only the shows I actually organize with the small groups of artists I am working with on traveling shows. But I’ve realized that these are longterm goals of mine. For now, I continue to enter local and vanity venue shows that I feel will introduce me to new audiences.

Consider forming a small group of artists to compare strategies with. Not everyone will want to do this. I work with a few small groups, and our members are not the strategizing types. It takes a special nerd to really delve into this for themselves, let alone for friends. But if you are lucky enough to have a trusted group of peers who are open to the idea, comparing your marketing plans and maybe even sharing some of the resources required could be a lucrative experience.

3. Public Relations

Plan for some strategies to fail. Learn from those and try again. In the beginning, I used the “spray and pray” method, writing to every blogger, newspaper editor, freelance magazine writer or You Tuber I could find. 

Know your competition is a basic PR tip. Art shows offer the best opportunity for this. Your work literally hangs on a wall amidst your competition.

If you can attend a reception, it’s one of the best ways to get to know the show’s audience. Are they YOUR audience? I once entered an exhibition that was Halloween themed. It turned out everyone was wearing black and reciting Edgar Allen Poe. I love gothic art, but these were not my people. They kind of creeped me out.

Create compelling content is another common piece of advice. Be ready with really good stories for every piece of art you enter into a show. Share those stories as much as you can, in person and online.

Attend openings, share on social media, congratulate peers, network, follow up sales with thank you notes to collectors AND venues.

Tried and true works...till it doesn’t. Don’t become stale or let followers drift away. Mix things up. Keep your marketing and networking fresh. I find the best way to do this is by meeting and working with new people. 

Much of our networking has moved online now. More than one of the galleries I’ve been represented in have closed.  In my opinion, a large reason for this was the owners not developing an online networking plan. Many galleries have begun live and zoom hosting of art shows, demonstrations and workshops. This has increased their mailing lists and given them an online platform to promote from. Remember that networking is not just an in person activity. When you are relaxing and posting on social media, or posting in the chat thread of a zoom call, you ARE networking. 

Co-promote with the venue, but also reach out to fellow artists in the shows. Share their posts when they mention the show. Share their work in your Instagram and Facebook stories. When appropriate, invite them to participate in other opportunities. One of my groups does a monthly artist spotlight newsletter. I like to source those artist interviews from art events I participate in.

A good way to engage with strangers is to ask for help. We all love to help others. It’s why most of us are better at selling a friend’s painting than our own. Attend networking events, prepared with ways people can help you if they seem receptive. Of course, every request for aid should be followed up with the sentence “What can I do for you?” Their answer may become one of your future help requests.

Be careful to do more listening than speaking when you network. I can blabber on for hours, so this is always something I need to remind myself of.

Have you ever gone to a show opening and met up with an artist who shares their resume and all of their upcoming events, in case you’d like to attend? Don’t be that guy.

Try to use the shows you enter to form genuine personal connections. Some of the art conferences I’ve attended have resulted in lasting friendships. Friends are so important in this art business. They’ve got your back when it counts.

Have you tried any of the items on this list, and have they worked for you? Which have resulted in the best opportunities? We’d all love to hear about them.

If you enjoyed this article, let me or my editor know! If you'd like to join me in my little corner of the art world, visit DebKArt.com and connect with me via email or social media. You know I'll welcome and answer you!

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August 2021

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July 2021

Relish the Residuals

Arguably, residuals are where the most important stuff happens.

What’s a residual? It’s the gift that keeps on giving. It’s the unexpected great thing that happens down the road, as a result of something you do today. For example, it’s the sale from a collector who saves the card you send them today, and calls you in two years to commission an artwork.

As you make plans and decisions about your art career, it’s important to keep residuals in mind. 

It’s human nature, especially in this fast paced world, to focus on immediate cause and effect. If you have work in an art show and it doesn’t sell, the tendency is to not enter that show again, and write it up as a failure. Often, it’s too soon to make that call on the closing night of an exhibition. You have no idea if there will be sales in the coming months or years that can be traced back to people who saw you and your work at that show. Or, someone may buy from you who saw the promotions that were done from the event. People you meet at the show may end up being networking partners in the future. These are all residual wins.

Opportunities and networking connections manifest over time.

I don’t have a scientific percentage, but my instinct is that about half of my sales happen because of things I did at least two years ago. I’ve learned over the years, that I am creating future sales whenever I am engaged in an art related activity. It doesn’t matter whether I am teaching, hosting another artist, giving an art talk, jurying a show, attending a conference or workshop, attending mine or a friend’s exhibition, or supporting local art centers. Anything we do can advance our marketing plan.

My relationship with several of the venues where my work is sold today began in this residual way.

I have always loved New Mexico, so I started attending the openings for an annual invitational museum show, in Albuquerque. Two years ago, my 7th year there, the owner of a boutique gift shop came to speak with me. She is an art lover, and had been following my art at the show for a few years. We got to talking, and she now represents me and sells my smaller pieces in her shop. Her daughter just commissioned me to do a painting for her.

My gallery in North Carolina found me because I won several awards in miniature fine art shows. They host a miniature show annually, so she was aware of my art. 

The Virginia gallery I am represented by was familiar with a museum in Montana where I have shown, and where I have work in their permanent collection. So when I visited the Virginia art retailer one day, they were impressed by my connection to the Montana museum, and offered me representation.

A South Carolina gallery I was in once had another Virginia artist in their stable. The owner told me that a big part of why she offered the other artist representation was a group of Virginia master painters she belonged to. I didn’t even have it on my resume, but I belong to that group too. You never know what puts you on a gallery owner’s radar. 

This year I am working on a really big commission. I am painting eight portraits for a hotel because of a painting I did several years ago. It was my take on Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earring. It was my daughter without an earring, in the same pose and similar clothes. A design firm in London  wanted an artist to paint posthumous portraits in the style of John Singleton Copley. When they saw my master inspired art, they decided I was the perfect artist for the job. Painting the original Vermeer inspired piece, I never dreamed its image would lead to this opportunity. 

Here are a few things to consider.

1. Just because you don’t have a successful outcome right away, doesn’t mean you wasted your time. Do what you enjoy and trust that good things will happen eventually.
2. Now that you are thinking about residuals, it may be easier to recognize opportunities to help them happen. At art events, try to talk to as many people as you can. At your next workshop or conference, you might skip a lecture and take a walk around the halls to see if you can engage with people and spend more time networking. If traffic is slow at your next opening, do a Facebook live to engage your online audience.
3. Noticing things you want to do the same or differently in situations can bring future success. Some of the most valuable sales training I’ve had came from watching other people in their sales approach. At the time, I honestly didn’t realize I was learning.  Now, I try to pay attention whenever I am near someone handling a sale.
4. The more open you are to residuals occurring, the more they seem to manifest. Once you broaden your definition of a good outcome to include them, you notice that new newsletter subscriber from a chance meeting last month, the online students who were referred by the president of a local art club you gave a presentation at last year, the art that just sold to a collector who saw a free demo you did three years ago.
5. Be sure to pay it forward. What can you do to support another artist or art venue today? By supporting them with your talent or resources, you are likely to have positive things happen in return. At the very least, it will strengthen your relationships.

This whole idea of residuals is really just you reap what you sow. No effort is trivial, because as long as you are working toward your goals, more good things will come to you than if you were doing nothing. 

What residual successes have you experienced in your art journey? We’d all love to hear about them.

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June 2021

Use One Success to Manifest Others

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May 2021

Give and Take

“Connection doesn’t exist without giving and receiving. We need to give and we need to need.”

- Brene Brown

When we are working hard to market and sell our art, we often forget this. Connection is really what we should be seeking. Sales happen through connections. We like to focus on the giving. We are always sharing about our art and giving ways for collectors to understand it better, to buy it easier. But connections happen best when we take more than just the sales check. 

What can we give? You’ve probably explored this already.  Give your followers gifts of art, share glimpses into your personal life, offer tours of your studio, post about your process. Donations, favors and co-promotions, kind words… all of these things can foster relationships that result in future sales.

Customer service that is exemplary may be THE most important thing we can give. Artists who provide the most pleasant, convenient and memorable experiences for collectors before, during and after their sales transactions are always benefitting from their efforts. This is usually the only way we develop repeat customers.

You can also give kindnesses. If someone is discouraged or struggling, a compliment or just spending time listening may inspire them. Social media can be a brutal place at times. I don’t personally spend much time on it. But when I do, I try to find at least one person’s post that has had zero comments or views, and I post something encouraging on it. 

Know what NOT to give.

Everyone has a different idea of what they should not give away. I learned early on to never give unsolicited critiques. And even now, when people repeatedly ask for a critique of their work, I rarely give them. This is because nine times out of ten they don’t want an honest answer. If forced to provide a critique or opinion, I try to point out all the good things about their art. Another reason not to offer critiques - people know in their hearts how good they think their work is. They really don’t need you to tell them. And it’s true that any piece of art has value to the right collector. Realistically, all you can give fellow artists is an opinion of what you would change if you were creating their piece. A better way to do this is to make them aware of your teaching or mentoring opportunities. They will come to you if they really want to learn from you.

Another thing I don’t give away is my art. I will make donations to support special non profit organizations, but I won’t give even a dear friend a painting. I’ll give away, or price very low, sketches and demonstrations that are not worthy of a full gallery or museum presentation. But the art that is fully rendered and similar in quality to the pieces I have sold to fine art collectors, I won’t ever give away. This is because our art has a secondary market that sales venues work hard to protect. Some even include a clause in their contracts about this. Nobody wants to deal with an irate collector who bought a $500 painting from your gallery, but now sees you have one just like it listed on eBay for $20.

Along the same lines, I have students who have invested hundreds of dollars in learning from me during workshops and private mentoring sessions. Yet several times each month I am approached by artists who ask me to outline my process, or parts of it, for free. That would not be fair to the students who have confirmed that my teaching has value, and I would be betraying their trust if I gave it away.

What should we take? 

Again, some of these are common knowledge. Email addresses are a gift we not only take, but seek out. Of course, we exist to take sales and awards. Referrals are so valuable. We all have files of testimonials, because we know that word of mouth is one of THE most successful sales strategies for small businesses. 

Feedback is also a valuable thing to take. Whether it’s good or bad, it’s knowledge we can use to make changes that will impact our marketing success stories.

This one is so hard for me personally, but we need to learn to take compliments. I always feel like I could be doing better, or doing more. So when relatives, neighbors, friends, instagram followers, etc. say nice things like “You’re so gifted!” or “I can’t draw a straight line. Your art is amazing!” let’s be honest - my first impulse is to ignore it. But these folks took the time to reach out and make a nice comment to me. Who am I to ignore them? I make a point of thanking each one personally. And in doing so, it reminds me that what we do really IS amazing. I may not be as good as I want to be yet, but heck - If I ever get that good it means I’ve reached the end of my journey, and I don’t ever want this journey to end. So take those compliments, and relish every one!

Take on students. When someone asks you to share what you have learned, figure out what your time is worth to you, and find a way to share! Teaching is also a two way street. When you are teaching your process, you’ll be surprised at how explaining it to someone teaches you new things about what you do. Plus, knowledge is the gift that keeps on giving. Soon, your students will be recommending you to others. And when they find their own successes, they will think of you when a museum needs someone to do an art talk, or an art center is looking for more instructors.

Take the emotions that come your way when people interact with your art. I love a collector in tears when I unveil a piece they commissioned me to paint. Really, this is why I love commissions. We create art that touches peoples’ hearts, in ways we can’t imagine. Be ready to accept and share in some of those feelings they share with you.

Know what NOT to take.  

Don’t take rejection or criticism to heart. Shield yourself against it. Haters gonna hate. They just aren’t your collectors. 

Don’t take sales or marketing advice that doesn’t feel right for you. Marketing strategies are very specific to each business. The way a New York auction house sells art by Miro is worlds away from how cruise ships sell prints signed by Mohammad Ali or how galleries sell my art. 

Set boundaries. For example, just because someone is your student, does not mean they are allowed to text and email you for information or feedback on their work routinely…no matter how many compliments they give you before asking. Once in awhile is fine, but decide how much extra time and support you will provide them.

Don’t take the number of followers on social media, the number of awards you won this year, the number of months it took a gallery to sell your work, or any of these other statistics at face value. Just like the google analytics on our FASO sites, the data always has a story if you dig deep enough to find it. How many incredibly successful artists do you know on Instagram with less than 1,000 followers? I know a bunch. Their sales and marketing has been successful  without that platform. So see, you can’t take any measure at face value.

Lastly, and this may be a personal feeling… I don’t think we should take more than we give. When you do, especially on the internet where most people don’t know your whole story, or what an awesome personality you have, you can quickly develop a sense in onlookers that you are only in the art world for the money. (Laugh, cough, clear throat) For most of us there are a lot of easier ways to make money. But that’s what people will think if you don’t pay attention to your balance of giving and taking, on public platforms in particular.

Notice and enjoy the results of your give and takes. Once you start paying attention to this balance of give and take, you will notice trends. Sometimes it takes years between something we give and something we get. Be patient. Your kindnesses will come back to you ten fold, but maybe not right away. Eventually, you will fall into a rhythm where you sense that it’s been awhile since you asked people to follow you or sign up for your newsletter, or posted art that is for sale. And then you will notice that it’s been awhile since you signed up for someone else’s newsletter or shared someone else’s post.

Many marketing experts advise that you should share information in three out of four of your interactions. Then on the fourth one you can ask for a sale or some other action. Depending on your price point, the number of artworks you create and the number of interactions you have with people, this ratio may vary. I can share that for me, it’s about half giving and half taking because I am very prolific and my art is all $6,000 or less, with most in the $1,000 and less price range. Plus I interact with my followers about once each week on average. I try to give something to the universe every time I take something from it. But I have no marketing guru credentials. It’s just what is working for me.

Just remember to give AND take to optimize networking.

Marketing relationships are about maintaining connections. They are two way streets. We can’t always be giving. We can’t always be taking. Or, the connections break down. 

Where in your art career can you be a more conscious giver? Is it time to accept some of the things that others in your circles have been trying to give to you? 

Share what you decide to NOT to give or take. People want to know. Comment here with YOUR story.

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April 2021

Don’t Give Up On … Anything or Anyone

 

Success in Art - It’s a last human standing wins game.

 

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” ?Thomas Edison

 

Give your strategies time to manifest sales and successes. Realize that this can sometimes take years.

 

Don’t give up on learning. I have offended artists a few times by inviting them to be students in workshops I have hosted. Sometimes I was the instructor, sometimes friends who are master artists who were instructing. Each time it caught me by surprise that they felt too good to learn. Nobody is ever as good as they can ever be. If you choose to stop learning, maybe you are as good as you WANT to be, but you could get better if you cared to. Personally, my goal is to be the best painter of realism that I can be before I die. Have you put a limit on how much you care to learn?

 

If your answer is yes, I’m sure you have your reasons. If they are thoughtful and sound, congratulations on achieving your goal. I am truly happy for you. But if you have just chosen to stop learning because it’s low on your priority list, you may want to revisit that decision.

 

Don’t give up on your art pieces. Breathing new life into unsold paintings is better than a bonfire in my experience. I don’t do this often enough myself. Crop, touch up, make them into triptychs, give them new perspective, change their hue or key. Old art reworked sometimes sells better and wins more awards than my current pieces. 

 

Plus, if you are going to possibly throw it away anyway, why not experiment? Use it in a demonstration, donate it to a charity, or paint over it if you must. But make sure you’ve gotten all the usefulness out of that piece before you give up on it.

 

Don’t give up on collectors. Be persistent. Some may not buy for years. Engage and have consistent interactions. Don’t write people off just because you never hear from them. I had a collector show up at an opening of one of my solo shows at a gallery 5 years ago. She’d been following me for 7 years and had a file of my mailed notes and postcards. I’ll admit it felt a bit creepy, but I had no idea she was a big fan. She never communicated. You don’t ever know who is watching.

 

Some people delete newsletter subscribers who are categorized as “cold” on their FASO newsletter system. A quick email note or a phone call could turn that person from cold to hot in a minute. 

 

Don’t give up on students. I’ve seen people take up to five workshops and every instructor tells them the same thing - check your ellipses for example. In the sixth one, they will finally do it. And they act like it’s the first time anyone ever told them to check their ellipses. Sometimes we humans have to hear things multiple times before we process them. (Hence the passed down advice about advertising in print at least 7 times if you want your ads to work for you.)

 

Just because your student is not absorbing the teaching you are giving them, don’t assume your time is wasted. You are laying the groundwork for a future learning experience for them. When they are ready they will receive and process the information.

 

Don’t give up on galleries and other sales venues. It’s no surprise many artists find it difficult to develop successful gallery relationships. It is always a changing landscape. Even when we are not having pandemics or other roadblocks to sales, the gallery model is always changing to keep up with technology and current trends.

 

Most museums and galleries regularly switch from realism to modern art to southwest art to international art, etc. Just because you are not a good fit for a gallery or show one year, doesn’t mean you should never try to work with them again. Owners and customer demographics change, and they are always on the lookout for work that will freshen their wares.

 

Don’t give up on art show openings. If nobody shows up at your opening it doesn’t mean nobody saw the show. It doesn't mean the venue failed you. It doesn't mean your art stinks. Even in pandemic times, museums and art centers have been so creative at innovative ways for patrons to engage with their art. My sales and awards have actually been better at some of these shows without receptions because of the increased online presence. 

 

The more exhibitions you participate in, the more opportunities will come your way. It’s a numbers game. There are so many advantages to fully engaging in art shows. You may have sales, but you will definitely develop relationships with the organizers and other artists. These will lead to future sales and show opportunities over time. Don’t underestimate the value of the good things that manifest AFTER a show ends.

 

Don’t give up on trying new things. I have had what I thought were epic fails in new painting series I have started. It turned out, it just wasn’t their time yet.Years later, somebody noticed them and I found myself painting more of them. 

 

I did a few paintings of ice cream in cones or fancy glassware several years ago. They sold very slowly, and didn’t win any awards. Then, one I had used as a decoration in my own home found its way into the gallery I was represented by in Charleston. It sold right away and they wanted more. So, I painted more. I painted some larger ones and put them in my gallery in Maryland. Those sold. I had a few commissioned pieces. So I painted more. 

 

Then I thought, why not paint other things besides sticky melty ice cream that’s impossible to take a zillion photos of, or paint from life? I started painting candy, flowers, fruits. My “indulgences series” was reborn, and today I have some of those pieces in all five of the retail galleries I am represented by. And, several have taken first place cash awards in the last few years!

 

Don’t give up on striving for awards at art exhibits. If you are not winning them yet, maybe this motivates you to get better. But some people walk away discouraged and that’s a shame. Truly, there are art shows for every skill level. If you enter the ones with fewer entries and more awards, the odds will be in your favor. 

 

I have gone for over a year and not gotten juried into society shows where I hold signature membership. Sometimes they are THAT competitive. Consider your odds in the shows you enter and then decide which are worth your while. The Bold Brush monthly contest is free with our FASO subscription and we should enter every month. I am so appreciative with all the FAV 15% awards I receive, and they are great! But I’ve never won any of the other awards - the ones that many of my peers and friends have been judges for. That’s okay. It’s super competitive, and anyway it’s free. There are SO many great deserving FASO artists. Someday might be my turn. If not, oh well. The FAV 15%’s put me in the pool of people whose biographies are possibly sent by FASO to their newsletter list, and that’s always a fun free promotion. 

 

What aspect of your art career have you given up on lately? Is it time to give it a second, third, fourth or fifth chance?

 

Share what you decide to NOT give up on. People want to know. Comment here with YOUR story.

 

If you enjoyed this article, let me or my editor know! If you'd like to join me in my little corner of the art world, visit DebKArt.com and connect with me via email or social media. You know I'll welcome and answer you!

 

Do you know someone who would enjoy reading this? If so, please forward it to them.

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March 2021

Do You Know What You Want?

3/11/2021 9:05:01 AM by Debra Keirce 
18 Comments
Topics: Art Business | art marketing | FineArtViews | Guest Posts 

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February 2021

Collaboration is a Tool Too Often Ignored

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January 2021

Rejection - Use It!

By Debra Keirce

“Hoisted” is an original oil painting by Debra Keirce

https://www.debkart.com/workszoom/3927120#/

How do you process rejection from art shows, galleries, museums and other art opportunities?Does it deflate you? Do you paper your walls with saved rejection letters? Do you react by frantically changing up everything you are doing? 

Rejection is something every artist experiences and it can be crippling. How can we manage it? Better yet, how can we use it to increase our marketing and sales experiences?

Lately, I’m realizing that I don’t create many new art business strategies around my wins. 2020 was a great year for me. I had so many successes. Yet I can’t think of one thing I will be doing differently in 2021 because of them. Can you? On the other hand, I applied to lots of shows and other opportunities that didn’t work out. Almost every one of those rejections resulted in a new strategy, or at least a lot of thought on what I could have done differently.

Not every industry gets the benefit of immediate performance feedback. In our artist profession, there’s a constant stream of criticism and rejection. If we use this wisely, it can be a constant data source.

Here’s the secret I believe successful artists have learned.

Rejections can be weaponized. They work for or against you.

Here are some facts to consider.

• Without rejection, we would not strive so hard to get better.
• In the end, a rejection is no more than an opinion as to whether our art is a good fit for a specific venue. There are infinite venues.
• Often, skill and acceptance are not linked. I have been rejected from museum exhibitions where blank white canvases were accepted. 
• If we apply to less competitive art contests, we get more acceptances, awards and sales. However, the wins mean so much more when we get them from the tougher exhibitions.

Knowing these things, I argue that rejections are a gift. They encourage introspection. We process them and decide what they mean to us, if anything. 

Here’s me being vulnerable for you all. I am determined to get a signature membership from a national society I am in… someday. I have other national and international society signature memberships, but this one has been a tough nut for me to crack. I have been rejected from their last two exhibitions. In studying the judges comments, they valued dappled sunlight, turning form with subtle pastel color changes, loose brushwork, large (bigger than mantle sized) paintings. Duh! NONE of these are things I do. The way their contest is run, the winners of previous national competitions are the judges for next year’s competition. So you see, this reinforces the characteristics that are prioritized in the winning paintings. 

I have to decide how to react to these rejections. Do I do the best I can and just keep trying to sneak in the back door somehow, knowing full well it will involve even more rejections? Or, do I change up what I do and focus on works that have some of the qualities I think the judges value? Or do I give up? There are plenty of other contests after all. 

I think any of these decisions is a good plan. And do you see what I did? I used the rejection as a data point. I can weigh my next steps and possible outcomes against the effort it will take, my longterm goals, and the experiences I want to have in my art journey.

It feels awful in the moment, but I am sorry/not sorry you had a bad gallery experience or didn’t make the cut for the exhibition. You are wiser for it and can make more informed decisions now. You experienced growth.

New Years Resolution. 

Here’s a thought.

Rejections - Weaponize them. Use them to create sales and marketing opportunities.

How can you use rejections to create opportunities?

Here are some of my ideas. This is just a drop in the bucket of possibilities. Please share yours in the comments below.

• Be vulnerable. Announce and share your failures...sometimes. We want to hear your wins too, of course. But talk about those ready to trash pieces when they DO get recognized. I have had several paintings win Best of Show that were rejected in many other competitions first. 
• Don’t give up on your creations. Consider reworking them. As your skills improve, instead of burning your hard work and dwelling on all your mistakes, recreate them and acknowledge / share how much better you made them the second time around. This recycling would be a very engaging blog article. 
• David Gaeda is always saying it - people love a story with a happy ending. We are creative. We can think of ways to make a rejection have a happy ending. This piece didn’t get into that exhibit, so I had it available to donate to my local charity. That sculpture would never have gotten into the national show if it had not been rejected by the local one. You get the idea. Pitch your story to local news, podcasts, and media outlets. This underdog wins in the end is the stuff people love to read about.
• Know that you get to be the author of your story. It’s only a defeat if you write it that way. If you work hard to improve, or decide to pivot and do a different kind of art, or walk away and free up time to do something else, you have a new story. If you are persistent and keep doing the same thing until you eventually get accepted, that’s a story too. Write and share about how you write the endings. Your blog and newsletter subscribers will want to hear.
• Why not have an art show with all of your rejected pieces? Everybody loves the island of the misfit toys in Rudolph’s story. You can make it your marketing hook.
• I’ve come to believe that if I get more acceptances than rejections, I’m not reaching high enough. Occasionally, when I’ve been getting lots of accolades, I will do something crazy like submit a proposal for a show to the curators at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Of course they ignore me, but I actually have learned a lot in the effort.
• If service brings you joy, pay this forward. Host an art exhibit that you advertise as a rejection free zone. It could just be a zoom call where you invite others to share their art. Encourage each other. You will be expanding your network. Maybe post everyone’s art in a FASO collection on your website, agree to co promote each other, and sign up for each others’ newsletters.
• You know how they always say the most successful entrepreneurs are the hungriest ones? Get scrappy. Of course I hope it doesn’t, but when you get knocked down, dig deep and treat this like your life depends on finding one more thing you can do to get in the game. It could result in a new series of works. It could result in approaching a whole new tribe of collectors. You might seek out a university or government center or other public space you never would have approached otherwise.

Honestly, writing this article made me think I really should pay more attention to my successes too. I plan to look for ways to celebrate the wins more and think about what I can learn from them.

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”

Helen Keller

In what ways can what you learn from rejections help you sell your art today? Has this article inspired you to consider new strategies? I'd love to know, and others will, too!

If you enjoyed this article, let me or my editor know! If you'd like to join me in my little corner of the art world, visit DebKArt.com and connect with me via email or social media. You know I'll welcome and answer you!

Do you know someone who would enjoy reading this? If so, please forward it to them.

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December 2020

Knowledge is Power - and a Lot of it is FREE!

By Debra Keirce

This post is by Debra Keirce, contributing author for FineArtViews. She's painted full time since 2010 after a lucrative career in biochemical engineering. She says, "I offer perspectives on art from an engineering mindset. Everything is a problem to be solved. Problems, like art, have boundaries and solutions. You can always find a way to improve efficiency and quality..." Debra is an Art Renewal Center Master artist and a signature member of several societies including American Women Artists, National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society and Miniature Artists of America. She is also a juried member of Copley Society of Art, including their portrait registry, Salmagundi Club, and International Guild of Realism. Her work has been published in several books and magazines, and she has art in the permanent collections with Amazon in VA, Customs House Museum in TN, WaterWorks Art Museum in MT, Church of the Nazarene in Belize, Perigord Retreats in France.

Are you underutilizing all the free sales and marketing data available to you?

Knowledge is power. We all know the value of the analytics we see on our FASO site dashboards. We take workshops and watch videos. We consume social media work-in-progress videos. We stop and listen whenever someone is sharing things that might help us create, sell and market our art.

I believe we are all still underutilizing the FREE, in capital letters, no strings attached, knowledge at our disposal. In fact, I don’t believe we could ever fully utilize it all if we tried.

You see, nowadays we have access to more real statistics than ever. By careful, targeted observation, you can design a system for gathering data that pertains to your business, and it won’t cost you a dime. In this article, I am going to share some data that I have collected over the last ten years in the oil painting world of galleries, museums and art shows that I live in. But you can apply these same observations to whatever creative branch of the tree you nest in.

Many art galleries will advertise prices and mark pieces as sold on their websites. If they don’t, call them and ask. If you go to the gallery a few times over the course of a year, you will get a feel for how much of the art is brand new, and how much is being rotated throughout the gallery. Just because art is gone, doesn’t mean it sold. Some galleries return art to their artists and ask for new pieces to display. You can look on an artist’s website and see if the work you saw in the gallery on your last visit is still available.

In my own experience, some art sells within minutes of being hung. Other paintings have been on the walls of a gallery, moving from one corner to another, for over four years before they sold. Higher priced art takes longer to sell. But it’s true there is a buyer for every painting.

I know artists who will pull their work out of a gallery and send it to another if it doesn’t sell in six months. This has not been my experience. In fact, more than once I have received several commissions that were inspired by a piece hanging on a wall for over a year in the same gallery.

Another little secret - most of the artists I know do not like themed shows. Galleries love themes because a good one can result in great show attendance. But if the theme is wildlife and you paint still life, odds are you won’t be too enthused. For me, that translates into fewer sales. I have found that it works best if I paint what I love, and then look for shows or galleries those works fit well in.

By paying attention to which art sells in a gallery, you can make informed decisions about whether a gallery is right for you to approach. You can decide whether to enter shows that venue is hosting. You can notice if art in your price range is selling or not. It’s also interesting to notice whether the art that sells is the same as what is used in the site’s newsletters and blogs and social media posts. Do they promote some of their artists more than others? Do they have annual themed shows you would enjoy being a part of?

Before you invest time in studying a gallery’s marketing and sales, be aware that many brick and mortar art venues do not have current websites. Some owners I have worked with are still using flip phones and don’t answer emails. Those folks have a core group of collectors they interact with in person or through phone calls. Their sales are almost all done offline. Avoid trying to glean information from those sites. They are usually pretty obvious, because the sites look as clunky and old as they are.

Finally, tracking the sales and marketing of art businesses near where you live and sell, feels like a smart thing to do. You will begin to see trends in subjects, framing, price ranges, sizes, styles, and even colors at different times of the year. If you plan to sell in the same geography, it stands to reason you will sell more if you align with some of those trends.

Real statistics: I approached 14 galleries in my first attempt at representation. I was turned away by them all, but one person thought my work would be a good fit for a gallery she was using as a source for some art in Maryland. That gallery contacted me, and offered me representation. Since then, I have been in over a dozen galleries, and they all approached me. They found me on social media, via internet searches, or from shows they hosted where I was a juried artist. There is a lot of talk about how best to approach a gallery. I still feel it’s ideal if they approach you. If there is a gallery you want to be represented by, take a look at their stable of artists. Go to those artists’ websites and do an internet search to see what events they are a part of. You can even call or visit the gallery to learn where they first saw those artists. Participate in the fairs and exhibitions that they mention, if you can. 

Art Shows

There are always more art shows to enter than you could possibly paint for. During the pandemic, new online curated art shows have increased exponentially. The national societies have moved many of their shows online, and after some success, have added more shows to their annual rosters.

There’s a fear of missing out that may make you feel you must enter every show you can in your genre. But even that can be a lofty goal. So how should we choose where to spend our entry fees?

One great thing about online shows- it is easier to track those red dots when artwork sells. You don’t have to show up the last hanging day of the exhibition and count them in person. Make sure you are on the email list, and have a google alert set with the show name. Then, you will be aware of almost all the marketing that is done to promote the show you are studying. 

Real statistic - I typically enter at least 60 art shows every year. In my world, 10 to 30% sales is typical. The nationally recognized ones with larger prize purses usually sell 5 to 10% of the paintings and sculptures in them. Smaller genre shows, like the international miniature fine art shows I enter always sell over 30% of the works. All this means that for me, I sell one in three paintings for every art show I participate in. I track the cost of entering and shipping art to these shows. I also track the awards and sales I receive from them. I profit overall, because the smaller shows pay for the net losses in the larger society shows. But the larger shows are the ones where more people see my work. That results in more commissions, sales and residual promotions. Immediate sales are never the only reason to enter an art show.

Art Museums

Have you dreamed of seeing your art in a museum show? Many art museums have curators who welcome proposals for art exhibits. They usually need a commitment of 50 paintings to fill a gallery. Typically, they book shows two to three years in advance. Right now, the museums I am working with are booking for 2023 because the pandemic has pushed many events into 2022. I have had a few solo shows, but I like organizing museum shows with three to five artists. That way, we each commit to about ten paintings for the show, and there are several of us co-promoting it.

Museums will often have annual fundraising exhibitions. Participating in those is a fun way to learn more about whether you would like to submit your own show proposal. Another good way is to look at their website for information on past exhibits. Also, what are their permanent exhibits like? Are the temporary exhibits similar to the permanent ones or polar opposites?

Most museums will offer a price list to patrons who ask for it. Nobody ever asks. Don’t plan a museum show expecting a huge payday. Do it because you want to support their programming. Do it because when you share, link, post and write about your show there, you get your name forever linked to that museum in cyberspace.

Real fact - Not all art in museums is purchased, resulting in money for the artist. The overwhelming majority is actually donated by artists or by estates. I have art in the permanent collections of three museums, several corporations and public establishments. Some I was paid for. Some I donated. But all of them have raised my credibility and resulted in people who are interested followers of mine.

Be Interactive

Here is an observation that is true no matter the sales venue. The more interactive you can make the art viewing experience, the more sales you will have. During your marketing and the actual sales reception, the more engagement you get out of your audience, the more likely it is they will buy from you. 

I’m sure this is a marketing 101 law somewhere. Whether you have an in person or online sales event, do an art talk, do a demonstration, have a discussion. 

It’s not enough to be really good. Sales and skills are rarely directly related. People buy your story. Tell it to them. The more you allow folks to interact with you, and the more you can create a two way exchange, the more art you will sell. Send emails. Do facebook lives. Consider an abbreviated little teaching type demonstration where people can try doing a bit of what you are demonstrating.

Real statistic - It’s taken me 10 years of full time, consistent, 7 days per week, 12 hours per day focused work to get to where I am today as a professional master artist. I believe it would have taken at least double that amount of work and time if I had not thrown myself into every networking opportunity I could, and been ready to engage in two way interactions with potential collectors every time.

It’s a marathon. It’s not a sprint.

Be successful.

Having all of this knowledge at our fingertips, how could we NOT have an advantage over all the master artists of centuries past? Now more than ever, if you let yourself be successful, you will be successful.

Don’t be discouraged when you work hard promoting an event and nobody shows up. You are in control of your marketing. Use your FASO site events page to advertise and promote. Post that link everywhere you can. Then, no matter how hard a commission gets, even if your workshop doesn’t fill and has to be canceled, even if your demonstration only has one attendee and it’s your mom, even if nobody comes to your reception - Even in all these sad circumstances, you have successfully marketed those events. That can result in followers and sales several years later.

What free data are you collecting that will help you sell your art today? Has this article inspired you to consider new strategies? I'd love to know, and others will, too!

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November 2020

Cherries Atop a Roemer

Did you find this helpful? Has this article inspired you to try new ways to understand and improve your skillsets? I'd love to know, and others will, too!

If you enjoyed this article, let me or my editor know! If you'd like to join me on my art journey, visit DebKArt.com and connect with me via email or social media. You know I'll answer you!

Do you know someone who would enjoy reading this? If so, please forward it to them.

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October 2020

Leah’s Commission

The World Changes. Are You Changing With It? 

How we measure success changes. What do you use to measure success in your art career? Is it the number of people at your live shows? The number of sales you had last year? The amount of tuition you can charge for a workshop? The number of social media followers you have? 

All it takes is a financial crash like 2008, or a pandemic like 2020, or a technology influx like we have seen in the last two decades, and all of the “expert” advice books on success measures are being rewritten.

So if change is inevitable, what can/should we do? 

Be aware of how change will impact your world. Of course it’s always wise to have a nest egg of money and resources, in case changes end up not being in your favor. You can also insulate yourself by establishing multiple income streams. Cause and effect is real. There is a flip side to every new skill the world embraces.

Today, people are learning to use Zoom and other online interactive software to conduct their art business. That is resiliency. But you could argue that the cost of online courses is far less than in person workshops, so a hierarchy where skilled artists charge more has been disrupted. Personally, I am rethinking the business aspects of the workshops I have been hosting at my home studios for other master artists. 

You could say that virtual openings are great because more people can attend. However, they do deprive collectors of seeing and experiencing the art in person, so they spend less time viewing it. Could this result in fewer residual show sales? Or will more eyeballs result in a better outcome overall?

We can count the number of attendees at our Facebook Live events, but we cannot be sure of how much attention they are offering us. If someone is at a physical opening, we can see that they are talking about and viewing our art. They are fully engaged. Online, for all we know they are multi tasking, or have walked away from their computer and left it on. I do that often.

How do we weather these shifts in what we have come to rely on as success measures? Maybe the trick is to rely more on our experiences and less on trying to find the magic formula? Just like you, I’m wondering.

It’s often a numbers game. The longer and more enthusiastically you play, the more you win. I see this in my own history of entering art shows. I may have no sales and no big awards some years, and others will be super lucrative. The trick is to not get discouraged in the slow years. Those are the years when you focus on parts of the experience that will result in career advancement.

For instance, if nobody came to the show opening, what did you learn about the way you helped to market the exhibit and how will you do it differently the next time? Or, were there lots of guests at the opening? How can you connect with them so the likelihood of their attending your next show will increase? 

It feels like we are in this changing landscape as 2020 comes to a close. Can you brainstorm more ways to have your art seen by more people?

In an uncertain world, some things are stable. In positive psychology, there is this concept I love, called the optimistic explanatory style. It’s a theory where negative outcomes are the result of unstable external causes, and positive outcomes are due to stable global and internal causes. 

In other words, the world is going to throw trouble at me. It’s called life, and none of us get out of it alive. I can’t control which obstacles come my way. The good news is, all my hard work and preparation matters. Good things happen to me because I have been hard at work getting ready for them. In a workplace environment, psychologists have proven that those with an optimistic explanatory style show greater productivity, have more motivation, and enjoy a higher quality of life.

These things never vary.

• The last person standing has an advantage. Don’t quit. Quitters never win.
• People always resonate best with passion. Create what you love, and you will attract the collectors who love you.
• Be collaborative. A rising tide raises all boats.
• Statistically, the more people who view your art, the more sales and followers you will gain. Work hard to find new ways to share your art.
• You finally won a big prize, got into a great gallery or landed a museum show. You can relax and let the opportunities roll in now, right? Wrong! Sorry, but we never get to rest in this business.

What are some ways we can prepare for the next inevitable shifts? I think we are all ready for 2021 to begin, offering us a fresh blank canvas to work on. Knowing that things will get crazy again in the not so distant future, what can we do during this time between global upheavals? These are some time tested strategies for getting ourselves in the best position to face whatever comes next.

1. Focus on sharing your passions, gifts and talents. Identify them. Are you good at teaching? Are demos your thing? Videos? Marketing? Commissions? Podcasts? What are the activities you actually enjoy doing, and how can you plan to do more of them? 

If you are reading this, you have a talent and passion for creating. How can you create in new ways? Maybe you can start a regular online demo each week where you encourage artists and collectors to watch or create with you. It is amazing what opportunities arise when you focus on sharing instead of just selling.

Personally, I have always loved two themes most in my art - America, and steampunk. I am using this time to work through ways to organize my art projects into lanes that shine a brighter light on my passions. I love the USA, and also those aged Victorian scenes - You know the ones. Give me peeling paint, rusty metal, stone, leather and lace grunge. Watch me bubble up with joy at those landscapes, portraits and still life pieces when I get to paint them. It feels obvious that I should have been painting more of THAT all along!

2. Go where there is the least noise. If you want to stand out in a crowd, you will get noticed more if you are away from the masses. I paint small and tight. My art is more likely to be noticed if it is in shows with art that is big and painted loosely. 

Often, I will be at an art event that is out of my state or country, and the organizer will make a special effort to introduce me to people as the artist who came all the way from Virginia. It may work to your advantage to develop relationships with art venues in different, far away places.

Try fringe things that draw an audience. In a card shop, I have had good sales of small original paintings. It’s like the time I saw a flower win an award in a prominent portrait competition. The unexpected draws lookers.

3. Be persistent and consistent. You can start a daily habit of setting time aside for tasks that best support your art career. I use my electronic calendar as my to do list each day. In it, I have entries that repeat each day, week or month. My daily 15 minute sketch time, my weekly posting of tips for artists, and my monthly check in’s with my galleries are examples of tasks I have prioritized.

You may tweak these as time goes on, but it’s important to have a core stack of unwavering, habitual behaviors.

4. Think of ways you can make people feel good and valued. It’s true what they say - People may forget everything you say, but they will remember how you make them feel. No matter what changes in the art world, a handwritten note or a phone call to say hi will always be appreciated, and it will keep your followers coming back for more.

How many new things are on your resiliency list is up to you. I get excited as the fourth quarter rolls around each year, because I look at it as an opportunity to refine the strategies that will propel me into that next art adventure. I actually enjoy reflecting on what worked and what needs to be reworked. 

In 2020, before I knew that a coronavirus was going to rock the planet, I had committed to these ways of staying resilient. Even with hindsight of a pandemic, I would not have changed anything on this list. That’s how I know they really are about me being as flexible as I can, in as many ways as I can.

I am sharing them, hoping they spark some ideas for your 2021. You will know whether your list needs to be longer or shorter, easier or harder. We are all on this journey together, but we are at different places along the paths. My list won’t work for you, and yours won’t work for me, but we can draw inspiration from each other.

• Arrange trips to get photo and life references for new art
• Start a new mastermind group of artists dedicated to working together to share our art
• Work to deepen relationships with the galleries and museums I am currently planning exhibitions with
• Work hard to attain signature memberships in painting societies
• Identify new art venues and pitch them for art exhibits
• Limit number of weekly students and annual workshop commitments
• Explore ways to offer art at different price points
• Test ideas for new series of paintings or whatever art you create
• Seek out new exhibitions to participate in
• Look for ways to partner with and support local art centers

Did you find this helpful? Has this article inspired you to try new ways to understand and improve your skillsets? I'd love to know, and others will, too!

If you enjoyed this article, let me or my editor know! If you'd like to join me on my art journey, visit DebKArt.com and connect with me via email or social media. You know I'll answer you.

Do you know someone who would enjoy reading this? If so, please forward it to them.

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September 2020

Pennies and Plums

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August 2020

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July 2020

I have a daily sketch practice that keeps my drawing muscles strong. This means I have a 8"x10" pencil sketch from every day of the year. My galleries sell them for $50 each, and I do too. Here are a few I have available right now.

If you are interested, email me at [email protected] and I will ship the one you love to you FREE in the continental USA.

They are double sided as shown, but you could easily flip the sketch and display the back side if you prefer it. These come to you in the mat and plastic sleeve, along with a big virtual hug of thanks!

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