Mar 11, 2022Liked by Clintavo, Cosimo Ca$h, Angela Agosto
Does constantly feeding Instagram/Facebook really work for artists wanting to sell? An awful lot of work for little result. Are really interesting videos on YouTube a better way to connect and grow a valuable email mailing list?
Constantly feeding Instagram without a plan is unlikely to work (although posting more is better than posting less). We actually have a whole video and system for how to use instagram to build an email list and sell art with a studio sale (that one artist utilized recently to make $65K in one month) that we are going to be making available to paid members of the Sovereign Artist Club. It's a lot more in depth than simply "feeding the algorithm." You have to have a method and a plan.
But I would strongly suggest building your mailing list through Instagram instead of wasting time liking and commenting on everybody’s post. To your point; it’s a lot of work for minimal results.
Whereas, cultivating your email list and turning subscribers into collectors is much more likely and easier.
What is the best way to get eyes and interest for my work to draw people to my website so that they can subscribe to my email newsletter? I’ve been posting on Instagram and trying to get non-artists to follow me. Not that artists don’t buy artwork, but I’d rather build a newsletter list of folks who enjoy seeing my artwork and what I’m doing rather than mostly artists.
Print giveaways - announce on Instagram - in Reels (video). And get a few friends to share to their stories as well. SImply posting to your main IG feed won't be enough unless you have a big following. Do a print giveway and promote for a month, but to register for the giveway, they have to join your newsletter.
I launched my 1st art exhibition, but even with this...I have a lot to learn about marketing ..I often wondered about whether feeding websites with art work actually sells. I know I would more appreciate art work from seeing the actual physical art work.
i am skeptical that my art will sell online. It always looks so much better in real life. Please prove me wrong! Also, what is your opinion on merch? I don't really want to do it, but need to make some income1
The amount of art being sold online is mind boggling. The world has changed and we live in an online-first world. That is the whole premise of "The Sovereign Artist." Most traditional art looks better IRL, but that doesn't keep it from selling online. I'm not a huge fan of merch for fine art but certainly some artists do sell it. I don't know how much people can really make selling iphone cases and the like however. Art prints on demand is a good option.
Just watched an interview with Tahlia Stanton yesterday (hosted by Andrew Tischler for his Patreon subscribers) Tahlia is 22 and just made her first million selling work completely on her own. She sells originals and prints/ships giclees - has a large commercial giclee printer. Her work is contemporary and unique. She markets on social media. Her originals are expensive - on gallery-wrapped canvas. In the interview, she said that it doesn’t matter what style of work you do - what matters is your story about it and marketing. This kind of success makes me excited. She has built a team of employees - mostly family.
That's what this club is about. Especially paid members. We have a video posting soon that has a step-by-step method of how to use instagram, an email list, and print giveways to build a real collector base and sell online. The "secret sauce" is being extremely organized, building a list, knowing the preferences of each person on the list, and communicating *personally* with collectors and potential collectors.
The best way to sell art online is to send out one print per month to someone subscribed to your mailing list.
You would use Instagram to push your followers to that mailing list.
From there; you keep your open rates high and you have people looking out for your emails. Any links in that email with art for sale each month, is far more likely to sell.
Most people prefer dealing with the actual artist. HOWEVER, sometimes I have dealt with artists and they make things too difficult. For example, I'll ask what pieces are available and they'll reply "Check my Instagram." Then I'll pick a piece and they'll say "That one's not available". Or they take forever to respond. Or they are hard to reach. Or they are hard to understand. If an artist makes things difficult then, well, yeah, I'd rather deal with an agent. But here in the 21st century, The Sovereign Artist Era, most people, most of the time would rather deal directly with the artist.
It means basically to nurture your potential clients. To woo them. To get and keep them interested in you. To my knowledge, we don't use that term though - where did you hear it?
One big thing to keep in mind is most of your nurturing, "romance" emails are going to be personal, at least to the most promising prospects - not bulk emails. But there will be some mix of both.
Whether and how to separate limited edition prints from open edition, more decorative prints? I have two types of work. One type is very easy on the eyes and meant to be mostly decorative. The other is also easy to look at but requires more thought to really enjoy. Does it make sense to separate these two kinds of work and if so, how?
Having options is good for your buyers. It’s important to factor in for potential collectors.
Kind of like when you visit McDonald’s; they have all kind’s variations for a burger. And if you look closely, it is usually the labeling that is different — alongside the price variations.
I think there is something valuable to be learned there; as it relates to selling artwork.
This is what our Studio Sale Method addresses. We will be posting the video and a series of article in the paid member section starting over the next week.
But in short, post to social (Instagram), follow similar accounts and get active with people that are similar art, get some colleagues to promote your stuff (in exchange promote theirs), use print giveaways to encourage people to sign up for your email list. ALso go through all your contacts in gmail, your address book, facebook followers etc - you will uncover more potential buyers than you think. This is hard to answer in a short format but we will address in articles and podcasts
Most traditional marketing gurus tell you you have to identify what "problem" your "product" solves. What would you say are the problems that art solves, or is this model not applicable to art?
That's bullshit. I've heard that too. Art doesn't "solve a problem." You can't market art the way other products are marketed - that's the problem with marketing people from outside the art industry. Don't listen to them, they'll lead you astray. Make sure you listen to people who actually sell or have sold a lot of art. I wrote about that here: https://fineartviews.com/blog/20512/i-dont-have-a-problem-and-i-still-buy-art
Does constantly feeding Instagram/Facebook really work for artists wanting to sell? An awful lot of work for little result. Are really interesting videos on YouTube a better way to connect and grow a valuable email mailing list?
Constantly feeding Instagram without a plan is unlikely to work (although posting more is better than posting less). We actually have a whole video and system for how to use instagram to build an email list and sell art with a studio sale (that one artist utilized recently to make $65K in one month) that we are going to be making available to paid members of the Sovereign Artist Club. It's a lot more in depth than simply "feeding the algorithm." You have to have a method and a plan.
That sounds interesting. Glad I’m doing the paid membership.
We've gone ahead and posted the video: https://sovereignartist.substack.com/p/video-5-steps-to-a-successful-studio?s=w The written versions are going out as paid membership updates over the next few weeks.
Yes, a plan is key.
But I would strongly suggest building your mailing list through Instagram instead of wasting time liking and commenting on everybody’s post. To your point; it’s a lot of work for minimal results.
Whereas, cultivating your email list and turning subscribers into collectors is much more likely and easier.
We've gone ahead and posted the video: https://sovereignartist.substack.com/p/video-5-steps-to-a-successful-studio?s=w The written versions are going out as paid membership updates over the next few weeks.
What is the best way to get eyes and interest for my work to draw people to my website so that they can subscribe to my email newsletter? I’ve been posting on Instagram and trying to get non-artists to follow me. Not that artists don’t buy artwork, but I’d rather build a newsletter list of folks who enjoy seeing my artwork and what I’m doing rather than mostly artists.
Print giveaways - announce on Instagram - in Reels (video). And get a few friends to share to their stories as well. SImply posting to your main IG feed won't be enough unless you have a big following. Do a print giveway and promote for a month, but to register for the giveway, they have to join your newsletter.
I launched my 1st art exhibition, but even with this...I have a lot to learn about marketing ..I often wondered about whether feeding websites with art work actually sells. I know I would more appreciate art work from seeing the actual physical art work.
i am skeptical that my art will sell online. It always looks so much better in real life. Please prove me wrong! Also, what is your opinion on merch? I don't really want to do it, but need to make some income1
The amount of art being sold online is mind boggling. The world has changed and we live in an online-first world. That is the whole premise of "The Sovereign Artist." Most traditional art looks better IRL, but that doesn't keep it from selling online. I'm not a huge fan of merch for fine art but certainly some artists do sell it. I don't know how much people can really make selling iphone cases and the like however. Art prints on demand is a good option.
Just watched an interview with Tahlia Stanton yesterday (hosted by Andrew Tischler for his Patreon subscribers) Tahlia is 22 and just made her first million selling work completely on her own. She sells originals and prints/ships giclees - has a large commercial giclee printer. Her work is contemporary and unique. She markets on social media. Her originals are expensive - on gallery-wrapped canvas. In the interview, she said that it doesn’t matter what style of work you do - what matters is your story about it and marketing. This kind of success makes me excited. She has built a team of employees - mostly family.
That is awesome!
If you are skeptical of your ability to sell your art online; I’d encourage to target different potential collectors.
You can sell salt to a slug online. What matters is how you are leveraging social media and newsletters to keep your product in demand.
How do you sell art online? What is the secret sauce?
That's what this club is about. Especially paid members. We have a video posting soon that has a step-by-step method of how to use instagram, an email list, and print giveways to build a real collector base and sell online. The "secret sauce" is being extremely organized, building a list, knowing the preferences of each person on the list, and communicating *personally* with collectors and potential collectors.
The best way to sell art online is to send out one print per month to someone subscribed to your mailing list.
You would use Instagram to push your followers to that mailing list.
From there; you keep your open rates high and you have people looking out for your emails. Any links in that email with art for sale each month, is far more likely to sell.
We've gone ahead and posted the video: https://sovereignartist.substack.com/p/video-5-steps-to-a-successful-studio?s=w The written versions are going out as paid membership updates over the next few weeks.
why clients is hesitating to make purchase directly from artist or discuss directly as compared to
they seem more comfortable to deal with agents on certain platform?
Most people prefer dealing with the actual artist. HOWEVER, sometimes I have dealt with artists and they make things too difficult. For example, I'll ask what pieces are available and they'll reply "Check my Instagram." Then I'll pick a piece and they'll say "That one's not available". Or they take forever to respond. Or they are hard to reach. Or they are hard to understand. If an artist makes things difficult then, well, yeah, I'd rather deal with an agent. But here in the 21st century, The Sovereign Artist Era, most people, most of the time would rather deal directly with the artist.
I’ve had to learn how to think like the buyer - put myself in their place. I still have more to learn in that realm.
What is romance marketing?
It means basically to nurture your potential clients. To woo them. To get and keep them interested in you. To my knowledge, we don't use that term though - where did you hear it?
So could you give an example of how we would do this in our emails to potential clients? Thank you!
We will be covering this in our upcoming articles about how to build up to a studio sale using Instagram and email. In fact, we already have the video of this specific process posted here: https://sovereignartist.substack.com/p/video-5-steps-to-a-successful-studio?s=w
One big thing to keep in mind is most of your nurturing, "romance" emails are going to be personal, at least to the most promising prospects - not bulk emails. But there will be some mix of both.
Thank you.
Art Storefronts
I thought that's where I'd heard it. It's not my favorite term but it is generally accurate on what you should be doing.
Romance marketing would be akin to inviting a potential collector over to your studio for a cup of coffee and studio viewing.
From there; building that connection with that collector is far more likely. Helping the sale of work facilitate much easier.
Thanks!
Anytime. Happy to help whenever you have questions
Whether and how to separate limited edition prints from open edition, more decorative prints? I have two types of work. One type is very easy on the eyes and meant to be mostly decorative. The other is also easy to look at but requires more thought to really enjoy. Does it make sense to separate these two kinds of work and if so, how?
Hard to answer without seeing, but, if you mean on a website, I'd likely separate them into two different collections.
Having options is good for your buyers. It’s important to factor in for potential collectors.
Kind of like when you visit McDonald’s; they have all kind’s variations for a burger. And if you look closely, it is usually the labeling that is different — alongside the price variations.
I think there is something valuable to be learned there; as it relates to selling artwork.
How do I build a list of potential buyers starting from nothing?
This is what our Studio Sale Method addresses. We will be posting the video and a series of article in the paid member section starting over the next week.
But in short, post to social (Instagram), follow similar accounts and get active with people that are similar art, get some colleagues to promote your stuff (in exchange promote theirs), use print giveaways to encourage people to sign up for your email list. ALso go through all your contacts in gmail, your address book, facebook followers etc - you will uncover more potential buyers than you think. This is hard to answer in a short format but we will address in articles and podcasts
You can view the studio sale video here:
https://sovereignartist.substack.com/p/video-5-steps-to-a-successful-studio?s=w
Let me know if you have any questions!
Keep an eye out for that studio sale video. I think it will be incredibly insightful for you.
Most traditional marketing gurus tell you you have to identify what "problem" your "product" solves. What would you say are the problems that art solves, or is this model not applicable to art?
That's bullshit. I've heard that too. Art doesn't "solve a problem." You can't market art the way other products are marketed - that's the problem with marketing people from outside the art industry. Don't listen to them, they'll lead you astray. Make sure you listen to people who actually sell or have sold a lot of art. I wrote about that here: https://fineartviews.com/blog/20512/i-dont-have-a-problem-and-i-still-buy-art
Totally agree Clint.