Art Marketing Buzz

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While I don’t have any data specific to the arts, the data I have is for businesses overall. As artist’s and studio owners we fit into this because we are small businesses. The SBA and USBank worked on a joint project surveying business owners of failed businesses. While there were a number of challenges and reasons noted from the 1,000’s of participants, there were some recurring answers, some common denominators. Here they are;

Business Owners fail because they
Lack vision and strategy to realize it
Lack system for marketing or sales
Lack system to monetize the client base
Try to do too many things at once (I am totally guilty of that)
No plan to invest profits for growth
Caught up in the day to day
Do everything as-hoc and no systems
Don’t create or stick to action plans

Do any of these apply to you? How many?

There are a few areas in that list that I am guilty of. Its great news that they have discovered some common denominators of business failure, now that I know what I am looking at I can go the opposite direction.

It stands to reason that if I work on improving in those areas I will improve my chances of success. So I will begin tweak my business plan and make sure that;

I have a vision and strategy to realize it (done)
Have a system for marketing and sales (done)
Have a system to monetize the client base (needs more work)
Focus on what I do best (needs work)
Re-visit my plan to invest profits for growth (done)
Not get caught up in day to day (continuous improvement)
Systematize even more, no ad hoc (done)
Stick to the action plan within my business plan that I worked so hard to put together.

As I looked very hard at my business plan and my strategic plan I compared it against the above list and another five things that every sustainable business must have;

1-A strong value proposition is the beginning. That leads to strong/premium pricing which then leads to strong margins.
2-A lead generation program that provides new leads and business opportunities on a continual basis.
3-A consistent, cost-effective way to convert leads to clients
4-A way to fully monetize customers. A system developed to extract lifetime value from a client instead of selling to only once.
5-Be efficient and effective so people perform at the highest levels.

In the next few posts I want to focus on compounding, recognizing that small changes compounded, leads to big results.

Here are some area we will look at closely. These small changes listed below.

1-increase our gross margin by 15 percent
2-a 15% growth in the amount of money each customer spends with you
3-increasing our leads or the number of business opportunities by 15%.
4- increase your conversion rate by 15%
5-increase by 15% how much you get done

If we can do these things our business will double. Next post we will address how increasing our margin by just 15% can change things drastically. Its not as hard as one might think. Come see yourself.

I love the presentation of a piece that is gallery wrapped. Wraps may not be the proper scenario in many cases but…for taking things on the road for street fairs and other venues like that, I think they are great.

Some of the great  things about gallery wraps for me as an artist are;

1-They save me money when I am putting together a show. High quality framing is expensive.

2-They save me time, time in production, packing and unpacking.

3-I can easily protect my paintings. Custom made boxes are very inexpensive and I dont have to worry about glass.

4-A nicely wrapped canvas presents a “neutral” piece and keeps the focus on my work.

Obviously there are some challenges as well. I can hear the moans, groans and gnashing of teeth. You really have to cater your presentation to the location and the show. I am not thinking that a show made up of 50,000 dollar pieces, and hosted in an Antebellum home would be the proper place for a gallery wrap. On the other hand a high end show in a contemporary home a gallery wrap will work great.

Another thing to point out is that you don’t have the opportunity to make a back-end sell on a nice frame. If you have developed or want to develop a nice back-end income framing is one way to do it. I personally work with a professional framer for my clients. I know I leave some money on the table doing that but…I don’t like to frame, I would rather paint.

So for my work, most of the time a gallery wrap is good for an initial presentation. Even if you don’t want to use wraps for your large upper end pieces you might consider using them for smaller less expensive pieces or even for a print series.

So if you are interested in a very cool inexpensive way to wrap your images, check out Hahnemuhle Fine Art. They have been a favorite of mine for the high-end paper for some time. This new system for putting together canvas wraps is awesome.

Here is a video from Hahnemuhle’s PR office. This original video didn’t have sound. Kari from PR informed me a new video will be out in September.

You can get this wrap system from your local art supplie shop or you can contact Hahnemuhle Fine Art directly for the nearest vendor.

These Facebook tips are really simple and effective for helping you meet more people and potentially sell more art.

1-Frequently post new photos and paintings. This is an area I really need to focus on. The biggest photo sharing website is not Photobucket or Flickr…it is Facebook. Having a good representation of your digital photography, digital paintings or your traditional media images is a good way draw in some new viewers to your profile. People on Facebook love beautiful imagery.

Also keep in mind when you upload photos, several thumbnails go into the “newsfeed” of everyone on your friend list as well as on your wall.

The caption on your art is important here. Use your keywords to help name those images when you are using them for web content.

2-Comment on other peoples goodies. Posting only your own stuff is not cool. Become a resource for information. You can get hooked up with google alerts to help keep you informed of a specific topic. Its easy and free. Getting involved in discussions and providing information for others will pay big dividends.

3-Leverage your time by Linking Twitter to your Facebook. If you begin to use tweetdeck this is very simple to do. You can download tweetdeck for free at http://wwwtweetdeck.com

Ok four things…

4-This is totally cool. You can add the “profile HTML” application to your profile page. What this means for you is that you can add html code into your profile page. Cool. That means it could be a banner ad or anything using code. I am going to put an opt-in box for the magazine there. The only thing to do an opt-in page you need is the code from your chosen autoresponder.

A new virtual magazine publication has just been released. Master Painter John Derry and myself have started Digital Paint Magazine. The online publication is sparkly and fun. John writes in his “From the Editor” section,

Websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, instant messaging, mobile connectivity…the world is indeed shrinking. We now have a wealth of communication channels to choose from. Print-one of the elder statesmen of communication-is facing a strong headwind in this brave new world. Digital Paint Magazine is a small step towards combining the format of a print magazine with the now ubiquitous stream of digital communication.

A major passion of mine is exploring human expression. Art is a unique quality that defines what it is to be human. We all express ourselves in some way. It may be as simple as the clothes we wear or the style of our hair. Some of us discover ways to express our inner feelings in word , song, and art. Digital Paint Magazine will offer a look at a variety of people that have found expression through the new expressive digital tools.

It is our hope that these featured examples of self-expression-as well as a variety of educational content-will serve to inspire our readers to join the expressive renaissance that we are now experiencing.

DPM is a work-in-progress. No doubt it will change as we learn from our readers, as well as ourselves. One of the great joys of life is that we are always learning, always growing, and always expressing ourselves. So sit back, enjoy the ride, and challenge yourselves to further explore your own inner expression.

Welcome to the Revolution!

John  Derry

Well-said John! We are pleased that the first issue is out and are looking forward to our readers, viewers and listeners to get involved. We want to serve up what is wanted and needed. Let us know if we are on the right track.