I had a very surreal last few months. My father was in the hospital for several weeks and passed away. It was difficult to deal with….
 
I debated over how much I wanted to share with my customers. I write an occasional blog and I send out a monthly newsletter to my art clients. Did I want to tell them what was going on? If so, how much?
 
Even though it was a difficult thing to do, I decided I would share some of my experiences. I thought it was best to be sincere and vulnerable and show that I was human.
 
You see, the problem with only communicating to your customers via a newsletter or a blog, or even Facebook is that you appear only as words on a page. They cannot see your face or hear you speak. That can cause a disconnect. Adding the details, even small details, of your life can go a long way toward making you human and more real to the people you are trying to communicate with.
 
So next time you write your blog or newsletter, include a little story. It could be about how your cat keeps getting in the way when you’re trying to create, or that funny thing that happened while you were setting up at your last show, or maybe how having cancer has affected your art. Or yes, even that your father has passed away and you are creating a piece of artwork to honor him.

Many years ago I owned an art gallery. One particular night, a young couple came into the gallery. I greeted them as them walked in and made sure they felt welcome. They acted surprised. I questioned them about their reaction. It turns out they had been to several other galleries that evening and had been ignored. They told me up front that they had no money to spend on art, they just wanted to have an enjoyable evening looking at art.
 
So, I gave them the tour. It didn’t matter to me if they could afford any of the artwork in my gallery. They still deserved to be treated with respect. They were so appreciative of the attention that I gave them that they actually did end up buying a note card. Okay, so it wasn’t a major purchase, but they were so grateful that I treated them in the way that they wanted to be treated that they spent what little money they had to buy something from me.
 
The point is, you can’t judge someone based on their looks. I didn’t know if this couple had money or not. Nor did I know if they wanted to purchase a piece of art. However, they walked into my gallery space and that in and of itself qualified them to get my attention.
 
I have heard stories of artists at shows who ignored or mistreated a customer based on their looks. For example, the scruffy looking customer in the ragged jeans who turned out to be a famous rock star.
 
So, next time you are at a show selling your work, be sure you talk to everyone, even the kids. You never know if the next person you talk to could lead to your next sale.

When I was in college I had a friend by the name of Greg. Now Greg had an interesting philosophy when it came to grades. All during finals his mantra was, "D is Done."
 
He was much less concerned with getting good grades in his classes than he was with simply getting passing grades. To him getting a D in a class meant that he was finished with it and he could move on to the next class.
 
Now, don't get me wrong, Greg was a smart guy. But he had different priorities. He was there to learn what he needed to learn in order to go out and get a job. It was a means to an end. He was not learning for the sake of learning.
 
Look at your marketing efforts in the same way. You are not doing marketing for the sake of doing marketing. You are marketing so that you can further your art career.

So, rather than worrying about creating the perfect newsletter, just create one and send it out. You can always improve on the next one. Or, rather than stressing that you don't have a mailing list, start collecting names at your next show.

Marketing is a long term process. Sending out one perfect newsletter and no more isn't going to get you anything. So, even if it's not perfect, just get it out there. Your customers need to know you exist,

As far as marketing goes, you don't need to do it perfectly, but you do need to do it enough.

With the holiday season upon us artwork tends to fall by the wayside. There are parties to attend, gifts to purchase, relatives to visit, and all the other myriad of things that need to be done. What's an artist to do?

A painter friend of mine has a rule. He finishes at least one painting per day. Yes, you read that right. He is disciplined. He completes one painting so that it is ready to be sold every single day of the year.

Now, he is a rather fast painter. I certainly can't work that quickly. My type of art requires a much longer time to complete. However, I could create a rule that I have to work on my art for a certain amount of time every day.

Yeah, right. I've gone almost seven weeks without doing any artwork. But, but, but, I had valid reasons. I had to make a wedding gown. And we've been remodeling. And there were a couple of migraine days. And, and, and...

There will always be excuses. Yes, I understand, life intrudes. However, if you are serious about your work, then why aren't you devoting time to it?

I am going to take my own advice and work on some art. TODAY!

It has been another interesting year at the Laguna Beach Art-A-Fair Festival. One of the things that made it interesting was the fact that my marketing efforts are starting to pay off. This is the first year that I can directly attribute a large percentage of my sales at this 9-week long art show to my email list.

And, it was the first year that I have ever heard the following comment: “I’m bored.”

Not the kind of thing you want to hear. So, here’s what happened: I was talking to a woman and her young daughter. I was explaining how I create my art. I showed them both the work in progress and the parts and pieces that go into it. As I always do, I made it a point to include the child. When I finished, the mother turned to her daughter and asked, “So, what do you think?” In a loud and obnoxious voice, the girl brayed, “I’m bored!”

Her words reverberated through my section of the show causing the other patrons to look in our direction. The mother was apologetic, but it was clear that the girl simply did not want to be there. (Unfortunately, I did not have a good comeback prepared. Only later did I think to say something like, “Oh, you poor thing…Is your imagination broken?”)

That one comment grated on me.

Not only was it insulting to me, but to my artwork as well. But, is was uttered by a girl who wasn’t old enough to know better. But, it was still bothersome. But, it really wasn’t directed at me. But, it stung. But… but… but…

Here’s the thing…for every one of those comments, you will get many like this: “My son and I attended the festival and yours is one of the select number of cards I actually did pick up. Thank you for sharing your art talent with us. We really enjoyed it… So thanks again. I wanted to express my appreciation for the way you beautify the world.”

This lovely gem of a compliment showed up in my voicemail yesterday. It is a wonderful feeling to know that I touched someone enough that they felt compelled to let me know.

So, the next time you hear a rude remark about your art, think of all the wonderful things other people have said about your work. They’ll help to soften the blow of those negative comments.  Focus on those positives, and keep beautifying the world.

This isn't so much about what to write about, but how to make it easier to write posts.

The first idea is to write in a series. My previous post was about 7 ideas for writing blog posts.  This post continues with other blog ideas. Rather than writing one really long post, break it up into separate sections and post them periodically.

Next idea: Write a bunch of posts all at once. Don't post them all at once, just write them in one sitting. Save them and post them over several days.

Another idea: Check if your blog host has the capability to post automatically. Some blog hosts will let you schedule your posts. That way you can write several posts and then schedule them automatically to post even when you're not sitting at your computer. I am writing this post right after I published the previous one, but this one won't get posted for a couple more days.

Last idea: Update an old post. Publish an older post but include more information to update. For example, if your post was about creating a piece of artwork, repost it and include the information that the artwork sold.

That's all for now, I have to go make artwork for an upcoming show.

I used to have trouble trying to figure out what to write in my blog posts, and my Facebook posts for that matter. I used to wonder if anyone was even reading my posts.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that not only were people reading, but they actually cared about what I was writing.

What I've discovered is that the more I write, the more people are interested and the better my chances of someone purchasing something from me.

So, if you're having trouble coming up with things to write about, download the infographic below and try out some of the ideas.

Often times the first words upon greeting a fellow artist are, "Are you ready for the show?"

It's a common question with a common response: No.

Let's face it, we're never really ready for a show. There's always one more thing to do, one more item to create, one more display to improve.

The days before a show are spent agonizing over what to make that is going to sell at that particular show.

And then there's the endless visualizing of the booth display. Maybe that print bin would work better on the other side of the booth.

In the end, you do all of the preparations you can. You make your best guess as to what will sell at that show. And, you display your work in the best possible way with what you have.

Finally, you get to the show, you set up, and you do the best job you can at selling your work.

And then you go through the whole process all over again for the next show. Ah, the life of an artist.

For many years I kept a mailing list. I dutifully took a guest book with me to every show and collected names and addresses. The book would come home with me and then get tossed in with the rest of the show stuff until it was time for the next show.

This went on for years. I had this book of names and never did anything with it.

About two years ago I decided it was time to do something about that. I signed up for an email service (I happen to like MailChimp) and started sending out a newsletter.

At the beginning, I wasn't really consistent about sending out emails. However, I would always try to get a newsletter out right before doing a show. What I quickly noticed was that my customers were coming to the shows! It was just a few customers, but those few actually bought from me and made the difference between the show being profitable or not.

When I started communicating more consistently, I noticed something else. Many of my newsletters would include photos of my progress on a new piece. When these customers would come to a show, they would ask if I had finished the piece yet.

This was very exciting to me. People were actually interested in what I was doing. And they were excited to be a part of it.