Art Print Issues by Barney Davey

Keys to Success for Creatives | Blogging for Artists | Art Marketing Workshops

2012-05-20T11:38:00-07:00

Visual Artists: Follow the Advice Below and Prosper

This repost is loaded with great advice.

[Two quick notes of interest:]

The Blogging Tips for Artists Podcast is available for download at http://x.co/blogtips.
My next Art Marketing Success Roadshow dates are June 7 in Albuquerque and June 9 in Santa Fe. Hope to see you there. Register here: http://x.co/artmarknm

I became a fan of Sonia Simone's work the first time I read a blog post from her. To say she has a way with words would be an understatement. Lots of people have that talent. What she adds is a keen mind and a deep understanding of effective copywriting and Internet marketing. Two skills nearly all of us could be better at using.

I'm sure her talents are why she is the Senior Editor for Copyblogger, one of the most heavily trafficked and highly admired business blogs on the planet. When I read her post below, it resonated with me to such a degree I asked her for permission to reprint it here. If you have already read it, I would not be surprised. It was tweeted 523 times, more than any other recent post on Copyblogger. Regardless, its pithy advice remains worthy of re-reading.

The Three Surprisingly Simple Keys to Success

Back when I was writing novels and working on getting them published, someone gave me a piece of advice.

“You need talent, luck, and persistence. Pick any two.”

It’s probably been twenty years since I heard those words, but I still think of them all the time. They don’t just apply to getting book deals, of course.

Whether you want to paint, write, play music, raise a happy kid, design beautiful houses, or run an online business that makes you happy and rich, you can reach your goals with just two of those three.

At first glance it might seem like two of them are out of your control. But let’s look at that more carefully.

Talent

What most people call talent is usually nothing more than passion.

If you love it, you’ll do it all the damned time. And the more you play, the more you write, the more houses you design or symphonies you compose, the better you get.

Yes, there are a few “effortless talents.” There are people to whom the words come so easily you just want to smack them in the head. There are people who play music as easily and naturally as I eat ice cream.

But more often, that sense of ease comes from passion and nonstop, almost obsessive practice.

If you have absolutely zero talent for your chosen field, you’re going to have a tricky time. But usually, it’s a matter of fanning a spark of innate talent until you start to become quite impressive.

The more you work, the more talented you get.

Luck

I’m quite a lucky person. I was born in an extraordinarily wealthy country, at a time when women could do pretty much what we like, and in an era of vaccination and modern medicine that kept me from being carried off by some infectious disease at the age of 3 or 4.

Those are all massive strokes of luck. They had nothing to do with anything I did — I just lucked into them.

But what most people call luck is very different. It’s “being in the right place at the right time.” Having things just fall into place. Coming up with opportunities just when you need them. Knowing the right people.

This kind of luck comes from a few different places.

You can improve your focus. Just like you suddenly see red convertibles everywhere once you buy a red convertible, once you start focusing on luck and opportunity, they pop up like dandelions after a spring rain.

Nothing magic makes that happen. Those opportunities were there all along – you were just looking at something else.

You can improve your frequency. If you want to roll a pair of sixes, you’ll have much more luck doing that with 10 dice than you will with 2.

Pitch a guest post to 10 A-list blogs and you’re a lot more likely to get a spot than if you pitch 2.

Talk to 1000 prospects, rather than 200.

Audition for 10 gigs, rather than 2.

You can improve your likeability. Who “wins” the customer, the juicy contract, the retweet, the great job?

Sometimes it’s the one who’s the most “talented” — the one who’s producing the best output.

More often, it’s the one who’s better liked.

Be nice to people. Make yourself helpful. Don’t throw tantrums (public ones, anyway). Don’t build yourself up at another person’s expense. Make generosity a habit.

That successful raging jackass we all know? He may build some temporary success for himself, but everyone’s rooting for him to lose. His karma is gaining on him, in the form of a whole lot of people who would rather distance themselves.

The more you work, the luckier you get.

Persistence

This is the simple one.

Just don’t give up.

Keep writing. Keep making music. Keep blogging.

When something works well, do more of that. Learning from failure can work, but learning from success is even better. Big successes come from nurturing your little successes.

If there’s someone in your life making you feel dumb for your “pipe dream,” stop talking to that person about your goals. Possibly stop talking to that person at all.

Watch out for what’s sometimes called “inventor’s syndrome.” That’s what happens when you’ve invented some product or system or service that you think ought to change the world, but which, sadly, nobody wants.

Stay light on your feet. Find the story that you want to tell and that your audience wants to read. Find the intersection between passion and service.

Be too damned stubborn to quit, but not so stubborn that you won’t try new approaches.

And will you succeed?
Yes you will indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)
~Dr. Seuss

Make your own talent, make your own luck, and activate your stubborn streak, and there’s nothing that can stop you.

Know what goes great with talent, luck, and persistence? Some first-rate marketing information. You’ll find it in the Copyblogger newsletter, Internet Marketing for Smart People. Lots of practical advice you can put into place right away, to make yourself so talented and lucky that you can’t help but succeed.

About the Author: Sonia Simone is Senior Editor of Copyblogger and the founder of the Remarkable Marketing Blueprint.

Blogging Tips for Artists | Art Business - Art Marketing Podcast

2012-05-12T11:46:16-07:00

Discover Why Blogging for Artists Pays Dividends

Join Jason Horejs and me for a new Art Marketing/Art Business Podcast on Tuesday, May 15 at 4:00 pm Pacific. (7:00 Eastern, 6:00 Central, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 AZ).

The podcast mp3 download is now available: http://x.co/blogtips

This month, Jason Horejs, the owner of Xanadu Gallery, author of Starving to Successful: The Fine Artist's Guide to Getting into Galleries and How to Sell Art, and I will talk about blogging tips for artists. There are valuable reasons to blog, and numerous ways to go about blogging. We'll cover as many as possible in our podcast.

It Is Never Too Late for Artists to Start Blogging

More and more visual artists have taken to blogging. Still, others wonder if a blog should be used in addition to or in place of a traditional website. The big questions we will tackle are:

Are blogs worth the effort to publish on a regular basis?
Does blogging for artists lead to sales?

Jason and I will help you weigh the pros and cons of blogging, and we will give you tips on how to make your blog more effective.

Send in Your Questions - Let Us Review Your Blog

Have questions or comments about blogging? Email Jason at jason@xanadugallery.com. He and I will try and address your question and comments during the broadcast.

Would you like us to review your blog during the podcast? Email a link to your blog to jason@xanadugallery.comto submit your blog for critique.

A note about start time: Because listeners are registering from all across the country (and a number from around the globe) start time always causes confusion. There is just one broadcast and it begins at 4:00 p.m. Arizona (which doesn't observe daylight savings time) - this corresponds to 4:00 Pacific, 5:00 Mountain, 6:00 Central and 7:00 Eastern. Check the chart below for your start time.

Time Zone	Local Start Time	Local End Time
Eastern	7:00	7:40
Central	6:00	6:40
Mountain (Including AZ)	5:00	5:40
Arizona	4:00	4:40
Pacific	4:00	4:40

Join us for a Free, Live Podcast on Tuesday, May 15, 4:00 p.m. - 4:40 p.m. Pacific

Register Now

When you register for the broadcast it will show you registered for 4:00 Pacific - you will simply need to remember to translate that to your time. We will send out a reminder on Tuesday with the start time again, so please don't panic when the broadcast system sends you the reminder in Pacific time.

Six Thoughts on Finding Art Collectors

2012-05-09T22:33:04-07:00

How Much Would You Pay for That Art Collector?

Art collectors do not come free. Do you know your costs to acquire a collector?

Do not be embarrassed if you do not know. It is not an easy question to answer.

Capturing and mining the required data is tough for all businesses. A precise answer is not possible.

1. Determining Art Collector Acquisition Costs Can Be Tricky

Let's suppose you took a booth in an art fair for $800 and came away with four new collectors. You could say each cost you $200. But, that would leave out travel, lodging, marketing and other assorted expenses, which easily could double your cost.

The point of asking is to encourage you to track and categorize your marketing expenses. To succeed at this, you also need to aggressively pursue learning how art collectors found you.

2. Being Proactive in Finding Useful Data Pays Dividends

While at a show, ask buyers and prospects if your marketing, show marketing, or another artist's promotion pulled them in. In other communications, you can make a specific special offer related to your request for an address that will identify the source.

Being disciplined in tracking what attracts new art collectors will help you intelligently spend your marketing dollars. For instance, if postcards work then use them more frequently. If email works, then send more emails.

3. A Viable Email List Is a Most Valuable Business Asset

Be diligent about collecting both postal and email addresses. Your list of potential art collectors is your lifeline to success. A good way to ask for new list sign ups, and how prospects found you, is to offer something of value in return for their cooperation. For example, a mini-print, a box of notecards, free shipping, or a show special.

4. Keep Track of What Works

Collecting names arguably is the most important task you perform for your art business. If you are not making contact collection a high priority, start now. Make it easy for someone to give you their information on your blog, and your website.

Use an opt-in form from any of the many broadcast email providers. I use MailChimp because it is free to begin. Using their service won't cost you anything until you reach 2,000 subscribers. They let you send 12,000 emails a month free as well.

5. Keep Testing and Refining Your Offer

Try splitting your offers and promotions to the same list. By testing, you will find the most effective way of making your offers. The more your offers hit home, the better your results will be.

6. Ask for Referrals

Don't be shy, an easy way to start getting referrals is to encouarage your prospects and buyers to forward you emails, pass your postcards along, or tell others to sign up for your special offers.

Be creative in thinking about how you can develop unique ways to help you collect contact information. The payoff will be worth the effort as it drives down the cost of acquiring new collectors.

Giclee Prints As Pret-a-porter

2012-04-29T16:21:18-07:00

Giclee Prints of Reproductions from Original Art Can Be Spectacular

They said pret-a-porter will kill your name, and it saved me. - Pierre Cardin

If it were possible to protect the term giclee, more fine artists might use it.

Elizabeth Saab Couture

In France, the term haute couture is a protected term. To earn the right to call itself a couture house and to use the term haute couture in its advertising and any other way, members of the Chambre syndicale de la haute couture must follow explicit rules.

The Cow Is Out of the Barn

When it comes to what to do about the abuse of the term giclee, the adage "Don't bother closing the barn door after the cow is gone." applies to how giclee is used.

If you will pardon the pun, it's spilt milk, so let's not debate the issue. I find more artists and top drawer printers have stopped using the term, but it is difficult since it's use has passed in the lexicon of the average art buyer.

Giclee Prints As Pret-a-Porter

I suppose some artists will find the suggestion of comparing giclee prints to pret-a-porter offensive, which is okay. If you are not ruffling someone's feathers with an opinion, you are not adding any thing interesting to the conversation. Besides, its just as likely the comparison will provide a new, positive perspective on using reproductions. Your choice.

The comparison to me is valid. Haute couture is about one-of-a-kind orginal garments made with creativity and to the highest standards. Certainly, all self-respecting artists commit to such standards when they create their original works.

If nearly all the world's top fashion designers also create ready-to-wear [pret-a-porter] work for the masses who cannot afford original designs made and hand-tailored specifically for them, it seems visual artists should be just as confident in using fine art digital reproductions to help them reach collectors who do not have the budget for their originals.

Fine Art Reproductions Open Doors

Making giclees prints of your work is not a cure for original art that is not selling. However, if you find your work sells when seen by enough of the right buyers, then you are a great candidate to start adding giclee prints into the mix of what you offer to buyers.

Besides being able to offer sizes your buyer wants, and make unlimited copies (assuming you do not go down the road of limited editions), you also open the possibility of your work being picked up in the licensing, hospitality, design and healthcare markets. There are numerous examples of artist enterpreneurs who have become wealthy and well known through their involvement in these markets.

I am not suggesting that adding to giclees to what you sell will save your business as pret-a-porter did for Pierre Cardin. It might not need saving. Giclee prints will broaden your product line, give your work more price points, introduce your work to new customers, and more.

The second edition of my book, How to Profit from the Art Print Market, remains the definitive resource to learn more about it. When you order it through my website, you get a free How to Price Digital Fine Art Prints e-book with it.

Should you be in Southern California next weekend, on Saturday, May 5, I will be presenting my Art Career Success Workshop in San Diego from 9 am to 1 pm. It would be my honor if you choose to register and join me there.

To register, or to get more details, CLICK HERE.

Art Marketing Workshop-San Diego, CA, May 5

2012-04-27T13:30:13-07:00

Announcing an Art Marketing Workshop

The Road to Art Marketing Success Workshop:
How to Get Your Art Seen & Sold!

Attention visual artists in Southern California, you are invited to attend a new art marketing workshop is scheduled for Saturday, May 5 in San Diego, CA.

It must be frustrating to realize you could sell lots more art if enough of the right people saw it? Are you ready to learn how to get the most from art marketing tools and techniques at your disposal?

If you find yourself in San Diego on Saturday, May 5, please join me for this workshop. If not, stay tuned, more workshops are coming your way.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Country Inn & Suites San Diego North

5975 Lusk Boulevard, San Diego, CA 92121

You are invited to participate in an exclusive marketing seminar that will put you on the path of reaching your sales and marketing goals. This unique workshop will give you art marketing insights from me, Barney Davey.

It is likely you already know I am an author, blogger and workshop leader. Through those vehicles, my advice has helped thousands of visual artists be more successful and sell more art. You may have read some of my contributed art business articles in The Artist’s Magazine, Art World News, and Art Business News.

There Are Tons of Workshops on How to Improve Art Making Skills, But Too Few on Art Marketing Skills

Amazingly, despite the fact that there are thousands of workshops and courses providing artists with opportunities to learn new artistic techniques and skills, there are remarkably few opportunities to learn effective art marketing techniques.

Seeing a need and demand for such information in this area, along with my partners at Xanadu Gallery, I developed this intensive workshop to help you create your own art marketing program that will produce impressive results for your art career.

This workshop is designed to help you determine the appropriate art marketing tools for your art business.

You will find new ways to simplify, streamline and manage your marketing processes — to pare down to your most beneficial options, and forget the rest. Imagine spending less time marketing, and still achieving impressive results from newly refined and developed sales channels for your work.

You Will Learn How to:

What People Are Saying:

Get better results by blending new and old school art marketing tools.
Leverage the power within your websites and blogs.
Evaluate social media and online galleries to strategically use only what meets your needs.
Generate sales in the healthcare fine art, hospitality design, and licensing markets.
Turn your email list into your most valuable marketing tool.
Create easy, effective ways to ask for and get steady referrals.
Use the power of publicity and press releases to energize your marketing.
Coordinate your marketing activities to maximize the potential within them.

“WOW! I'm reading your book a second time with hi-lighter in hand checking every resource and scouring the web for every scrap of information.” - David Randall, HIlton Head, South Carolina“

Barney’s advice has been a treasure trove for me. He tells it straight. By following his suggestions, I avoided numerous costly mistakes and uncovered new profitable opportunities.” - Michael Geraghty, Laurel, MD“

Barney Davey's honest commentary about the art world (from mom and pop frame shops to prestigious museums) and his willingness to express that there are exceptions to just about every rule and suggestion he offers, is both refreshing and entertaining.” - Andrew Darlow, New York City

Davey informs with great wisdom and wit, and makes a book about marketing as much of a page-turner as some of the fiction novels I read!” - Laurel Knight, Bend, OR

When you learn to consistenly and confidently apply what you learn in the workshop, your art sales will grow.

The goal is to help you discover which marketing tools will work best for you after assessing your goals, resources and circumstances. And, then to help you find the most effective, efficient and affordable ways to get the maximum mileage from your marketing actions.

I want to help you spend less money and time on marketing so that you gain valuable studio time, or to just relieve your anxiety about how to pull together a workable marketing plan that delivers desirable results.

When you attend you will get information, inspiration and motivation. Plus, you will get dozens of practical ideas aimed at fine tuning your marketing so you get great returns from your plans and actions.

You only need to come away with one usable idea to get a payback from this workshop for years to come.

Watch or listen to this video to gain a deeper understanding of what you will learn.

It would be my honor to have you attend this workshop:

Saturday, May 5, 2012

9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Country Inn & Suites San Diego North

5975 Lusk Boulevard, San Diego, CA 92121

P.S. We all need help for something. It would be wonderful if you would help me spread the word about this workshop. Although this email is specific to San Diego, there are plans to bring this workshop to a location near you.

Please forward this email to your aritsts friends, especially those who live in Southern California.

Art Career Questions | Courage to Change

2012-04-22T14:45:56-07:00

Changes to your art career are going to happen. Either you roll with them, or make them happen.

Life and technology continuously throw new opportunities, obstacles and big questions at you.

To keep up, you are changing on a nearly daily basis. While some changes are microscopic, others are monumental.

You get a smartphone and start texting instead of calling and emailing your family and friends. You get a Kindle and stop buying physical books.

You get an iPad and stop using your desktop. You get a Wacom Cintiq Graphic Monitor and stop using paint and canvas.

Changes Come in Personal and Professional Ways

You get bad news about your health or a family member. Unexpected changes with employment happen. Maybe it is good news, for instance a promotion, graduation, or marriage. Regardless of the stimulus, they all cause change.

If the Fish Aren't Biting, Change the Bait, Find a New Hole, or Quit Fishing

As a professional artist, (One who sells their work for a profit.), you might find the subject matter, color palette, or medium is just not selling as well as before. Do you question if you are on the right path? Should you continue to pursue making a living as an artist? Should you overhaul what you are doing and shift into another kind of art? Are you pursuing an art business career, or a passion for making art? Can you make them work together?

Make Time to Review Your Situation and What to Do About It

Once you satisfactorily work through the questions about what is going on with the art you are making, you have to address are you doing the right things to get your work to market? Are there things you are doing you need to stop, or cut back while putting your focus and energy on other ways to help you sell your work?

Social Media Marketing Questions Are Daunting

Should you be engaging on the new Google+ social media platform?
Do you need a mobile marketing strategy?
Should you be cross-posting the same exact message on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media sites?
Do you have the time and resources to create custom messages for each platform?
Is there a reasonable payoff for any of it?

I can feel some readers' anxieties swell just by writing the above questions because I know taking the time to think through them intelligently, then to come up with an answer and follow up with appropriate actions is overwhelming. It is enough to make some want pull back and hibernate instead of trudging forward.

Social Media Is Just One Part of the Art Marketing and Art Career Path Equation

It is not just confusing newfangled social media causing concerns. Changing consumer tastes, the decline of the gallery system, the growth of e-commerce and more are cause for you to evaluate and make changes to how you make, market and sell your art. The current circumstances are such that artists and other entrepreneurs are being forced make sometimes unwanted and difficult decisions regarding how to keep their business current, relevant and profitable.

I Am Changing, Too

I get all this on a personal level because professional changes relate as much to me as any artist reading this. I can ask myself if I am getting enough satisfaction and profit from providing artists with marketing ideas, information and inspiration. Should I change the blog's Art Print Issues' title since roughly 90% of its content applies to all artists? It is a reasonable guess that nearly 80% of its contents applies to virtually any small business owner. Therefore, I ask myself:

Should I suffer the aggravation, and the lost SEO and page ranking, to change the Art Print Issues title?
Do I want to be well known for advising all types of visual artists rather than just those who have an interest in the print market?
Should I launch a new blog to reach a larger potential artist readership, or try to expand Art Print Issues despite the confusion regarding its title?
Given I manage to write the blog, promote the blog, book, directory, workshops and webinars I produce, while working full-time in another industry, is this the best, most productive use of my time, or could I make more money and have more fun doing something else with the time I invest in them?
Is what I am doing with this blog and related products my true passion, or is it the result of becoming an expert at something due to nearly 25 years of experience?

Make Changes, Even Big Ones, Does Not Mean Quitting What You Are Doing in Your Art Career

I don't know the answers, not yet anyway. Nevertheless, I am thinking about them and working on coming to conclusions regarding them. One thing I will never be is complacent, or happy with the status quo. Not at least without thoroughly questioning and investigating it.

Is It As Good As It Gets?

It is certain I will not abandon the work I have done to make Art Print Issues one of the most highly regarded and well-trafficked art business blogs on the planet. Check on its ranking on the Invesp.com Top 75 blogs in Art Category. When you review you will find what is impressive about the rankings is nearly all the blogs listed are consumer, as opposed to business blogs. You find the same thing on Art.Alltop.com. That sort of third-party endorsement is rewarding and let's me know I am doing some things right. Still, it's not proof that it is as good as it gets.

Art without Sales Is a Pleasant Pastime

The difference you find between Art Print Issues and nearly all other blogs listed on those ranking sites mentioned above is the others tell you how to make art, or provide news and insights about other artists, which I agree is interesting and useful, whereas I focus on helping you learn how to make money from your art.

The Only Thing Stopping You from Making Constructive, Art Career Changes Are Fear and Lack of Information

Change can be subtle, such as moving from oil to acrylic. It can also be drastic, such as some recent situations I encountered. A colleague where I work just quit her $50,000 year job with great benefits to move to Japan to teach English to Japanese school kids. I asked her if she knew Japanese. She said no, because English is the only language spoken in the classroom.

Another friend has planned a second trip to Bangkok to visit the American ex-pat community there with the intent of living there permanently. A third acquaintance is back from ten days in Costa Rica and is trying to figure out how she can relocate there.

I know more of you are like me in that we have no plans or enthusiasm for moving away from the comforts of our home, friends and family. However, that does not mean you can't make big changes in your life. I am thinking about your art business. Are there things in your art career that could benefit from changes?

Perhaps It Is Time to Tap Something New

Are you finding less interest in your work, or subject matter, or both, than in the past?
Are you bored with working in the same genre and palette?
Does the idea of taking on a new challenge make your eagerness flutter and your heart race a bit?
Does the notion of taking your career in a new direction throw fear in your heart?
Are you ready to take on some new risk for new rewards?

I have long championed the idea, and so does my friend and fellow author and gallery owner, Jason Horejs (“Starving” to Successful: The Fine Artist’s Guide to Getting into Galleries), that artists should stick to a look or style. There is a difference between switching styles and having no discernible style.

Have No Fear. Leave No Regrets.

If questions like those resonate and stir your soul, then you are ripe to start planning the next you, the new you. You are only stuck if you think you are. It can be little changes, or macro changes. The point is to understand, believe and commit.

If you have the courage to make a change and take the time to understand why and how you are going to do it, then stop getting in your way and get moving towards a more rewarding life. It is okay to have concerns, but do not be held back by the fear that can be aroused by them. Be informed, confident and prepared and just do it.

You can choose to regret decisions in the past, although, other than learning from them, I believe it is an utter waste of time to dwell on them. What I am suggesting to you today is to start working on plans where you can say from this day on I do not have regrets about career or lifestyle choices I have made.

How to Quit Your Job, Move to Paradise and Get Paid to Change the World

If you need inspiration that nearly anything is possible, then read this incredible true story from Jon Morrow. On this guest blog post on Probogger.com, he details how he was able to change his life in ways that seem unreal and impossible given the odds against him. If you can read his story on the link below without feeling pride, compassion and a desire to make changes for yourself, then you are beyond help.

How to Quit Your Job, Move to Paradise and Get Paid to Change the World

If you live in or around Southern California, I can help you learn how to change your art marketing efforts to get the most from them.

The Road to Art Marketing Success Workshop

A new, innovative art marketing workshop designed get your art seen and sold!

A new workshop location for The Road to Art Marketing Success workshop is scheduled for Saturday, May 5. It will be held in San Diego, CA from 9 am - 1 pm. To register or learn more, CLICK HERE.

As an attendee, you will learn more details about how to use blogging for artists as an effective marketing tool. More importantly, you will learn

How to identify the best marketing tools for you, based on your needs, skills and resources.
How to blend the use of those tools into a powerful, effective marketing program that is sure to deliver increasingly improving results for your art career.
How your blog will be a great tool to grow your email marketing list.
Why email marketing is far from dead, and how to get maximum returns from using yours.
Much, much more on how to grow awareness for your work and convert it into sales.

The workhop is designed to help you find the best ways to get your work seen and sold.

Click here to register. You can email barney@barneydavey.com with questions.

How to Price Art Prints - How to Sell Art Prints

2012-04-19T20:27:24-07:00

Success in Selling Art Prints Means Knowing How to Price Art Prints

Selling art prints is a time-honored tradition that spans decades, and a virtual who's who of the fine art world. Today, fine artists are dealing with an evolving business market that is both confusing and challenging.

Selling Art Prints Is a Different Game Now

How artists sell originals and reproductions has changed. While once reliable distribution channels are becoming less effective, newer models are allowing artists to sell direct and have more control of their art business.

Having effective pricing on your prints is more important than ever. Overprice your work and you will lose sales. If you underprice your work, you will lose profit. Fortunately, you have fantastic tools to help research to dial in what will be best for you.

Do You Have Art Marketing Questions Like These?

Can I strictly rely on selling my work in galleries to make a decent living?
What new distribution systems should I be embracing, or at least checking out?
Should I create fine art reproductions of my work to help me find new buyers and create new revenue streams.
How do I sell fine art print reproductions?
How do I most advantageously price digital fine art prints?
Should I describe them as giclees, or use some other terminology?

Buy the how to sell art prints book and get the how to price art prints e-book free!

You can get answers to the above questions and to many more when you order the books above. They are on a special bundle offer now at great savings to you. You pay the normal $29.95 price for the How to Profit from the Art Print Market, 2nd Edition, you get the How to Price Digital Fine Art Prints e-book (A $14.99 value) free with your order.

Blogging For Artists Is a Powerful Marketing Tool

I believe in blogging for visual artists as a marketing tool. And, I believe it is most effective when artists share as much information about how to sell art prints and how to price art prints as possible in my blog posts. If you are a regular reader, then you already know most of the advice in my posts applies to all visual artists, and not just those selling prints. Check out the archives and you will find them full of practical art marketing advice. Better yet, you get it delivered at my best rock bottom price, which is FREE.

Free is Good. Asking for the Business Is Great

I encourage artists to give freely of themselves in their blogging, and to avoid making every post about them and their work. You can't bore people into buying from you, and only talking about yourself and your work. Give your own advice away, share your knowledge and passion for the arts, educate your readers about art in your city and region, and around the world. They will love you for it.

That said, I also urge artists to be proud of their work and to be shameless, within the bounds of good taste and judgment, in promoting their work. Since I believe in walking my talk. As such, I am shamelessly asking for your business here. To entice you further, I have a great offer for you.

Buy One Book and Get One Free!

If you want to learn how to launch a career in the art print market and how to sell art prints in the most effective way, you won't find a better source of information than my 300-page book on the subject. The e-book on how to price art prints is loaded with great advice from 10 industry experts who offer invaluable insights and opinions on the best way to price your work

CLICK HERE to go to the Order Page.

If you live in or around Southern California, check this out.

The Road to Art Marketing Success Workshop

A new, innovative art marketing workshop designed get your art seen and sold!

A new workshop location for The Road to Art Marketing Success workshop is scheduled for Saturday, May 5. It will be held in San Diego, CA from 9 am - 1 pm. To register or learn more, CLICK HERE.

As an attendee, you will learn more details about how to use blogging for artists as an effective marketing tool. More importantly, you will learn

How to identify the best marketing tools for you, based on your needs, skills and resources.
How to blend the use of those tools into a powerful, effective marketing program that is sure to deliver increasingly improving results for your art career.
How your blog will be a great tool to grow your email marketing list.
Why email marketing is far from dead, and how to get maximum returns from using yours.
Much, much more on how to grow awareness for your work and convert it into sales.

The workhop is designed to help you find the best ways to get your work seen and sold.

Click here to register. You can email barney@barneydavey.com with questions.

Blogging for Artists Trumps Social Media

2012-04-15T14:32:00-07:00

Visual Artists Can Get High Mileage from Blogging.

Let me be blunt. If you are not blogging you should be. If you are spending time and effort on social media and don't have an active blog, and don't have an easy way to collect email addresses, then you have your marketing priorities in the wrong order.

In 2007, when I morphed Art Print Issues from an online newsletter to a blog, one of my first blog posts was Why Every Artist Needs a Blog. Among the nearly 500 posts I've published since, you can find numerous posts extolling the value of blogging for artists. One of my most visited blog posts is 52 Blog Topics for Artists - Get Started Now!

Infographics have become very popular.

Infograhics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge. You find them popping up everywhere these days. Here are two that help prove my point about how blogging for artists trumps spending time on social media. The first is from Patricia Redsiciker, who offers content marketing advice to Internet marketers.

The Art Biz Coach Rocks Blogging for Artists

This second infographic comes courtesy of the most popular art business blogger on the planet, Alyson Stanfield, aka The Art Biz Coach. She recently published this infographic on the steps for artists to write a blog post. I know she is in agreement with me on the value of blogging for artists.

Alyson has a new Blog Triage class that is starting up on April 25. The outline looks great, which is what I would expect from Alyson.

Her ArtBizCoach.com blog has been regularly published since 2005. As such, she has gained a tremendous amount of knowledge about how blogging for artists can be leveraged to boost awareness and sales.

Social Media Has Its Place

I don't think artists should abandon social media. It can be instrumental in supporting your blogging and helping you find new friends, followers and collectors. I know with certainty it is not as powerful as blogging for artists.

Live Well, Work Well, Prosper

A well-lived life is about balance. So is a well-constructed art career. Having the knowledge to know how to prioritize what is most important, such as blogging, and the discipline to stick with it, despite temptations, and the feeling you have done it all, or for too long, is what will make you a better, more competitive artist in today's art market.

The Road to Art Marketing Success Workshop

A new workshop location for The Road to Art Marketing Success workshop is scheduled for Saturday, May 5. It will be held in San Diego, CA from 9 am - 1 pm. To register or learn more, CLICK HERE.

As an attendee, you will learn more details about how to use blogging for artists as an effective marketing tool. More importantly, you will learn

How to identify the best marketing tools for you, based on your needs, skills and resources.
How to blend the use of those tools into a powerful, effective marketing program that is sure to deliver increasingly improving results for your art career.
How your blog will be a great tool to grow your email marketing list.
Why email marketing is far from dead, and how to get maximum returns from using yours.
Much, much more on how to grow awareness for your work and convert it into sales.

The workhop is designed to help you find the best ways to get your work seen and sold.

Click here to register. You can email barney@barneydavey.com with questions.

Selling Giclees Can Be Profitable for Fine Artists.

2012-04-11T08:30:00-07:00

Is selling giclées of your paintings a good idea for your art business?

If you have entertained the thought of selling giclees and getting your work into the print market, read my new article in the May issue of The Artist's Magazine. It is titled "Are Giclées for You? Does it make good business sense to produce and sell giclées of your paintings?"

The article on selling giclees is like a Reader's Digest condensed 1,600 word version of my 300-page How to Profit from the Art Print Market book. You can order the May issue with my article in print or download version from the North Light Book Club. The price is $5.95 for either version.

Order The Artist's Magazine issue with my "selling giclees" article and save!

I arranged a discount for my readers. Use this link and coupon code for a 10% Off, No Minimum Order at North Light Shop. Use coupon code nlcoupon10 during checkout. Expires 12/31/2012. Once you are on the site, use the Search box on the top right, and enter "selling giclees." You will find both the print and download versions of the May 2012 issue to order. Look around you might find some other gems to pick up while you are at it.

New Art Marketing Workshop Announced for San Diego, CA

In other news, I am excited to report my workshop presentation partners at Xanadu Gallery have booked a venue in San Diego, CA on Saturday, May 5 for my next seminar:

The Road to Art Marketing Success: An Innovative New Workshop Designed to Help You Get Seen & Get Selling

In this intensive workshop you will learn to:

Blend new, evolving, and traditional art marketing opportunities.
Maximize the power of your website and blog.
Evaluate the potential value of social media and online galleries.
Discover new revenue from the healthcare fine art, hospitality design, and licensing markets.
Develop your email list into your most valuable marketing tool.
Create easy, effective ways to get steady referrals.
Put the full influence of publicity and press releases to work for you.
Coordinate your marketing to wring the best return from every dollar you spend on it.

It would not be workshop from me if I didn't include information on selling giclees and how the print and licensing markets can benefit artists with steaady secondary income streams.

CLICK HERE to register now, or get more details.

You can email me at barney@barneydavey.com about the workshop. I hope to see you there!

Video Marketing for Visual Artists Portends Great Value

2012-04-01T14:56:44-07:00

Fine Artist Ruth Soller on the Future Value of Video to Visual Artists

Editor's Note: I have longed believed visual artists are in a sweet spot when it comes to using videos to promote and gain awareness for themselves, and for their work.

Now that YouTube has become the second largest search to its parent Google.com, including video has become that much more valuable as an education and marketing tool. Thanks Ruth Soller for sharing her experiences and insights.

In financial terms future value means that a dollar in hand today is worth more than a dollar to be received next year, because if you had it now, you could invest it, earn interest, and end up with more than one dollar next year. I believe that artists who are creating video today will reap the benefits of being early adopters in their future careers.

Video is the wave of the future. By reading several artists’ and personal coaching blogs as well as observing the rapid growth of Facebook, YouTube, and other social media, I am convinced that video sets you apart from the masses. Steve Washer is an expert on the technical aspects of equipment and production of your own videos; and he offers training at www.BrainyVideo.com. I recently learned that only one in 1000 YouTube users uploads video to YouTube and only one in 2000 Facebook users uploads video. People enjoy watching video and react ten times as much to video as to just text and photos. This means that you can be in the top 0.1 % just by using video.

How I met and partnered with a video producer. Last summer my husband and I visited wineries in the Palisades region of the western slope of Colorado. At Garfield Estates tasting room I learned that they had another tasting room in Denver, where they offered exhibitions to artists. After scheduling my solo exhibition for December 2011-January 2012, I began to plan for the reception and publicity for the show. In November I attended the Broomfield Chamber of Commerce Bling Event, a networking event for women in business. I participated in their speed-networking, where I met Paula Zimmerman who has a local video production and editing business called www.LiquidVioletStudiois.net. Paula agreed to work with me to create a video about my show and the reception.

Planning the video. I received from Alyson Stanfield of www.ArtBizBlog.com a link to an artist’s video which her gallery had produced from her opening reception and continued to use to promote her. (http://www.artbizblog.com/2011/11/compelling-video.html) The gallery had done this for each of their artists as they presented solo exhibitions. This video became a model for Paula in designing my video. I wanted the video to highlight my work, and also to validate my experience through my viewers’ opinions.

Filming and editing. Paula was entirely responsible for the filming and editing of my video. We scheduled two different times to film, the day that I hung the show and the afternoon of the reception. First she filmed each painting with close-ups and zooming out to show the complete work. On the day of the reception, Paula arrived early to set up her equipment. During the reception she filmed various groups interacting as well as conducting impromptu interviews with willing participants. After visitors had left the show, Paula filmed me talking about the show and the individual paintings. During a very time consuming editing process, Paula worked her magic to produce a lovely and upbeat video which adds great value to my exhibition.

Where to post the video. First, I plan to embed the video on my Fine Art Studio Online (FASO) website front page and upload the video to my channel on YouTube and to my business page on Facebook. For information about how to do this, Steve Washer has made a simple tutorial video and YouTube has tutorials as well. I plan to check out Vimeo to see whether I want to start an account there to upload video. There are local registries or directories in which it may be possible to post video, such as www.Chamber.com , www.CityDirect.com, www.DexKnows.com, www.GooglePlaces.com , and www.YourHub.com.

Distribute the video. Second I plan to burn the video to CD’s along with other important information such as images of my best works, artist statement, biography, and resume. These CD’s will be used in promotional packages along with personal cover letters to send to galleries and local and regional museums which are on my radar. When I prepare press releases or submissions for magazines, I can include the CD in the packet.

Track results. Paula and I have planned the video in such a way that it should not expire in relevance; because it is a record of a particular solo exhibition including two series of paintings which will be ongoing. The video provides documentation which helps to increase my professionalism and validate my career in the viewers’ eyes. My website and my ETSY shop are set up with Google Analytics which tracks visitors and pages viewed. Other results to track include signups for my e-newsletter, subscribers to my FASO blog, followers on my Facebook business page, Twitter followers, and YouTube viewers. I hope that this article motivates you to try video and to discover for yourself the difference it makes in your career.

Brief Bio

Ruth Soller is a Denver oil painter of western landscapes, architecture and portraits. She paints the western landscape in a magical, mystical, surreal style. She perceives intensified hues, symbolic motifs and dramatic value contrasts in her compositions. She has exhibited from New York City to Los Angeles, Montana to Alabama, and in Florence, Italy. She is represented by Gallery East in Loveland, Colorado.