Art Market Marketing Tips Increase Your Art's Value

Note: The following is the text of a talk given to artists at the Indianapolis Art Center and to art students at the Herron School of Art at Purdue University, also in Indianapolis.

When I started out in the art business, I bought and sold art by artists who were no longer alive, art by older artists who had either stopped making art or were near the ends of their careers, and art in the families of descendents of artists. Through my experience selling these types of art, I've developed techniques that contemporary artists can use to maximize the value of their art now rather than later, and to increase their chances for success both now and in the future. Why should you wait for dealers or galleries to recognize the profit potential of your art when you can enjoy those profits starting today?

Only a small percentage of artists become world famous and make tons of money. Somewhat more artists achieve respectable levels of success within their lifetimes and support themselves entirely by making and selling art. The great majority of artists, however, supplement their art incomes by either teaching art or by working full or part time at jobs not related to art in order to make ends meet. If you fall into the 'great majority' category, you would probably like to increase your art income to the point where you can eventually create and sell art full-time. You can continue to bring home a livable paycheck today, and also lay the groundwork for your future art career self-sufficiency.

The most important first step towards becoming a full-time artist is to keep making art. Being an artist is never easy and the temptation put your art career on hold and focus on other interests instead can sometimes be overwhelming. You might be thinking about giving art up until the kids are grown, about focusing only on your non-art job for a few years, or about closing down the studio for a while because sales are slow. My advice is simple: Don't do it.

For example, a reasonabley well-known West Coast artist decided to quit painting at the peak of his career success and made hardly any art for the better part of twenty years. When he decided to start painting again, his new work looked like little more than primitive rehashes of what he was doing when he stopped. He was totally out of practice and had lost his creative edge. To this point, he's managed to reestablish himself as a respectable artist, but he'll never again be the creative, cutting-edge force that he once was.

From a financial standpoint, he can't charge as much per painting as he would have been able to had he kept working. Collectors tend to approach his art with caution and buy conservatively because they're not sure whether he'll stop again. They know that if he does stop, he'll negatively impact the market for his art. Even though he's once again supporting himself as an artist, he has and will continue to have a credibility problem with both dealers and collectors.

So continue creating art no matter how difficult the process becomes. Continue even though you're not selling anything. Continue even if you're dissatisfied with what you're producing. Persevere, work through the tough times, and you'll be glad you did.

Once you're in the habit of regularly making art, you've got to get it out in front of the art buying public. Your art is your business card. It works for you 24 hours a day. It's your single best form of advertising and it's not doing anyone any good gathering dust in your studio. The more art you have on display at outside locations and the more locations that show it, the more people see it and the greater your chances are of making sales. Even when you're not generating sales, you're still sharing your art with others and maintaining a public presence.

Corporations know that in order to make sales, they have to expose their products to consumers over and over again. They 'brand' their names into the minds of buyers, so that their products are the easily recognized and most likely to be purchased. Just look at mass advertising on television, in newspapers, on billboards, and in magazines. Big businesses continually drum their identities into your head. Ford, Ford, Ford; Pepsi, Pepsi, Pepsi; McDonald's, McDonald's, McDonald's.

Art is no different. The more times people see your work, the more inclined they are to believe that you are a well-known artist and that your art is respected or at least acknowledged by the art community. Picasso, Picasso, Picasso; Warhol, Warhol, Warhol; Chagall, Chagall, Chagall. So get your art and your name out before the art buying public on as many occasions as possible. Make prices available; make contact information available. Sooner or later, you start selling art.

Display your art at places that make it look good, places where art buyers tend to congregate, places where you know the clientele can afford your asking prices. These include the hard-to-get-into places like art galleries, museums, corporate lobbies, and public exhibition spaces, and the less-hard-to-get-into places like juried and non-juried shows, local and regional art fairs, local businesses, and other less competitive public spaces.

Places like restaurants, coffe shops, hair salons, clothing boutiques, bookstores, hotels, bed and breakfasts, and furniture showrooms may or may not be suitable for your art. The problem with displaying at these locations alone is that people don't visit them in order to see or buy art. They go there to eat, to spend the night, to buy clothes, to get a cappuccino, or to look at couches.

These places are certainly good for name recognition; never pass up an opportunity to show your art, especially when your early in your career. But beyond that, the prospects of making significant sales are usually pretty dismal. If, however, you find yourself confined to showing at restaurants and the like, make every effort to carve out little areas of wall space for your art that approximate gallery walls. Design these spaces so that passersby will have no doubt that your art is the center of attention, and that every single piece of it is available for sale.

And don't forget the exposure that comes from donating your art to charity auctions, from doing volunteer work for non-profit arts organizations, and from donating or lending your art to hang in the offices of arts organizations. These are great ways to get your name out there before the art buying public.

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Now that you're regularly producing art and getting good exposure, the next step in increasing your sales is to understand the collector mentality and play to it. This may sound distasteful and like pure marketing, but most experienced collectors require certain assurances that they're spending their money wisely. Nobody likes to waste money and, as a result, much of the art business is structured in such a way that evidence can be presented to collectors that they get good value when they buy art.

As an artist, you know what your art means on a personal level and you can certainly convey that to people, but if someone asks, can you also make a good case your selling prices? Explaining why your art has value from a monetary standpoint is an essential part of convincing buyers that your art is OK to own, especially when they're on the fence, not that familiar with your work, or are just beginning to buy art.

Many buyers need assurances because they often don't know that much about art. They're unsure, insecure, and they want concrete facts that they can understand. Some collectors, of course, buy art on the spur of the moment and according to whatever strikes their fancy, but they're in the minority. Ultimately, you need to somehow demonstrate that your art has value.

You have to document yourself and your art. You have to convey the impression that you're a serious artist. You must produce tangible evidence of your accomplishments that anyone can see, read, and understand. The following suggestions will help you accomplish these objectives.

-- Join recognized artist organizations and get yourself listed on their membership rosters.

-- Have a dealer or gallery that represents you publish a catalogue of your work that's at least twelve pages long.

-- Whenever possible, get listed in exhibit catalogues and bulletins from museums, art associations, corporate art exhibits, juried shows, non-juried shows, local, regional, and statewide shows.

-- Get your work reviewed, get featured in newspapers or magazines. Even a one-word mention in a small article at the bottom of the page in the local neighborhood newspaper is good.

-- Apply for listings in major biographical dictionaries like Who's Who in American Art. Only apply to publications that accept applicants on the basis of merit, and do not charge for listings. Directories that charge for listings are usually poorly distributed, not taken seriously by collectors, and money-wasters.

You want physical proof-- and the more you have, the better-- that confirms you're an artist. You want to take that proof in your hands and place it into the hands of anyone who is thinking about buying your art. Telling it is not nearly as effective as showing it. And as for your own resume-- that's great too, but it's the books, catalogues, and articles published by neutral third parties that really impress. It's proof from the outside world that you are who you say you are.

Hand-in-hand with documenting your career accomplishments goes documenting every significant piece of your art. You do the writing here. Explain what the art is, what it's made out of, why you created it, what inspired you, what it represents. A couple of paragraphs accompanied by a photograph or two of the work in progress should do it.

Include these with the art when you sell it. This is similar to the sales person at the men's clothing store telling you that if you buy the suit, he'll throw in a tie. Collectors appreciate a little something extra-- this modest effort on your behalf provides them with something special, something personal, and something tangible that helps them understand what they've just bought. Not only can they share your art with their friends and acquaintances, but they can also speak about it from an informed educated standpoint-- yours. This is almost like having advocates and sales people working on your behalf and saying exactly what you want them to say about your art.

As for your personal documentation, regularly record your artistic progress in a journal. Summarize what you're doing and why. You don't have to write novels; several sentences up to a page per day will do. Have someone take periodic photos or videos of you at work in your studio and include them in your journal. Keep track of individual works of art. Know who buys them, how much they pay, and under what circumstances they sell.

These records will come in extremely handy for your retrospectives. And don't think that you'll never have a retrospective. And don't think that you'll remember all the details of your career when you do. As life becomes increasingly complex, and you get further and further away from your earlier work, the only way that you're going to remember what happened is to write it down. And just in case you're interested, good documentation always increases the value of your art.

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Now for a few tips about marketing. Selling art is a competitive venture. We've already talked about getting exposure and what that means, but in addition to exposure, do everything you can to position yourself as more than just another artist selling out of just another studio. If a collector has only $3000 to spend and she intends to buy only one piece of art, she's either going to buy it from you or she's going to buy it from another artist. And then she's done. So your job is to stack the odds in your favor by increasing the chances that she's going to buy it from you.

Often this involves little more than being able to comfortably talk about your art. Most contemporary art collectors regard the experience and adventure of meeting and speaking with artists as an essential part of collecting. Collectors love getting involved in the art community by spending time at galleries, joining museum groups, going to openings, visiting artists at their studios, talking about art, and meeting artists, dealers, and fellow collectors.

So when you're called on to act in the capacity of being your own promoter, you should be ready. Even if you only show at galleries and don't sell out of your studio, dealers recognize that artists who have social and conversational skills have an edge over artists who don't. Given a choice between two equally qualified artists, most dealers go with the one who comes off better in public. Some dealers even require artists to have speaking abilities before they're accepted for shows.

I once attended an opening for the so-called "Petite Picasso," Alexandra Nechita, who was only twelve years old at the time. Not only was she able to talk about her work before a packed gallery, but she also fielded spontaneous questions from the crowd like someone three times her age. And those abilities increase sales.

If you're uneasy in public situations or have problems speaking about your art, polish the way you present yourself by practicing with friends or associates. If you have trouble answering certain questions, rehearse set responses. Have your friends ask you all those difficult questions. Have them put you in uncomfortable positions. With practice, you'll learn how to handle yourself in even the toughest situations.

Whenever you speak with collectors, begin by establishing common bonds or interests. Find out which pieces of your art they like the best. See what price ranges they're comfortable with. Ask questions like the following: "Is this the kind that you like the most?" "Is this one the right size?" "Do you like the blue one better or the red one?"

And don't forget to 'close' as they say in the selling business. If you sense that someone is interested in your art, work towards popping the money questions: "Is this something you'd like to buy?" "Would you like to take it home on approval?" "Would you rather pay for it over time?" Don't wait for someone to beg you to buy. That rarely happens. You never have to pressure or corner anyone. Simply be responsive to those moments when collectors seriously lean in the direction of owning your art. With experience, you'll learn to recognize exactly when those moments are.

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A few additional marketing tips:

Observe how art is sold in as many different circumstances as possible. This is highly educational. Watch people sell at all types of galleries, art shows, and other places where art is for sale. See what sales techniques work; see which don't. If you can politely find out what sells best and why, do it. Learn everything you can from dealers and fellow artists about how they promote, market, and sell art.

Don't ignore, discount, or dismiss certain segments of the art business based on your own personal tastes, philosophies, or peer group pressures. When you do that, you rob yourself of important knowledge. For example, I've learned a great deal about marketing art from going to openings at some of the most commercial galleries in the country-- galleries that 'respectable' fine artists look down on with disgust. I may not be a big fan of the art at these galleries either, but when I hear about sales totals exceeding several hundred thousand dollars on an opening night, I want to know how they do it, and you should too.

In some ways, the art world is far too fragmented. Instead of sharing and cooperating and learning from one another, different artist factions spend their lives tearing each other down and disparaging each other's art. A New York City artist once told me that because of abuses in the limited edition print industry, people should stop buying prints altogether. Is that supposed to include originals by all legitimate printmakers, etchers, and lithographers? Should we ban printmaking? Should we make it a felony? This artist would rather eliminate the industry altogether than study and learn from its marketing successes, and incorporate those successes into his business model.

Just remember that there's no right or wrong art, and as long as sellers don't break the law or engage in deliberate misrepresentation, there's no right or wrong way to sell art. Every single time a fledgling new collector buys his or her first piece of art, no matter what type of art it is, subsequent sales to that collector become easier and easier. That first sale is always the toughest one to make, and congratulations to the artist or dealer who makes it.

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And now a few words about pricing. Many artists hate this topic, but you've got to be pragmatic here. The instant you complete a work of art and place it up for sale, it becomes subject to the laws of the marketplace just like any other goods or services. You, in turn, must be able to successfully transition from the creative mode to the objective pricing mode.

As I said before, people like to know that they're getting good value for their money. This means that you've got to price your art competitively. A good rule of thumb, whenever you're not sure how much your art is worth, is to price comparably to what other artists with similar accomplishments and similar market bases to yours charge for similar works of art. This is especially true if you're participating in open studio or group show events where ridiculous selling prices really stand out.

I can't tell you how many times I'm at a group show, walking down an aisle, comparing prices, and see a pattern like this-- $2000-- $1800-- $2250-- $10,000-- $1750-- $2300-- and so on. "$10,000?" I say to myself. "What's this piece doing here?" The art may indeed be worth $10,000, but in a group show setting where everything else is priced in the $1500-$2500 range, the only impression viewers have is sticker shock. That $10,000 piece of art is entirely out of place and guaranteed not to sell. The artist should have instead chosen to show a piece in the $1500-$2500 range.

When you can't figure out how to price your art, set yourself a sensible hourly wage, multiply that amount by the number of hours you take to make the art, add the cost of your materials, and let that total be your asking price. Whatever you do, don't pull prices out of thin air and don't price yourself out of the market by comparing yourself to artists who are definitely more established than you are. Be honest about your position in the hierarchy of fame, fortune, and accomplishment.

What you personally think of your art is irrelevant in terms of how much it's worth on the open market. You may believe that you're as good as Picasso, for example, but that doesn't mean that you ask millions of dollars per piece. By the same token, don't make your art so cheap that people won't take you seriously. I've seen artists make that mistake, too. I went to a show once where prices ranged from $15 to $50 per piece with the most expensive piece costing about $300. I thought to myself, "I should buy a dozen of these." Then I thought, "No, they're too cheap. This artist is going nowhere." Now the artist shows at major galleries and museums, he's progressed hugely in his career, and with the help of professionals who know how to price his art, his prices are way up and make a lot more sense in terms of the state of the marketplace.

If you want to experiment with different price structures, go ahead. This can be a great way to firm up your ideas about what your art is worth. Get outside feedback from collectors whenever possible, and settle on dollar amounts that make both you and your collectors feel the most comfortable. Be careful not to get too erratic, change your prices every time you show, and start confusing everyone.

Most importantly, be able to justify your prices to anyone who asks. Have reasons that make sense, that don't get too theoretical or difficult to comprehend. People want to know why you price the way you do. They want to understand and feel like they're getting value for their money. Art prices are hard for many people to understand, and your job is to help them-- because when they do, assuming they like your art, you make sales.

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Let's take a brief look into the future. The average artist's career lasts for decades. Each and every one of you can rest assured that at some point down the road, both you and your art will transition from being contemporary to becoming period. In other words, your art will come to represent the past more so than it does the present or the future.

Prepare for this inevitable transition by setting aside a body of work-- starting now-- that will not only do you justice as an established artist, but will also provide you with maximum financial rewards in terms of its marketability over time. Imagine, for a moment, that your art is currency and the art that you keep for yourself is your IRA-- your individual retirement account. You create art daily, you sell a certain percentage of it in order to survive, and you put aside a selection of quality pieces in order to provide for your future. As you advance in your career, your art increases in value and so does your art retirement account.

Many of the great artists, in their more businesslike moments, see their art exactly that way-- de Kooning, Johns, Warhol, Chagall, Picasso to name a few. Not only did they put aside enough art to support themselves for the rest of their lives, but also enough to support their families and subsequent generations for the rest of their lives. You can do the same-- perhaps not on such a grand scale, but certainly on a scale that will ultimately be rewarding.

So how do you do establish your art IRA? First, don't sell off all of your best pieces and keep only what you can't sell or what you decide is not worth selling. Keep at least some important pieces. Keep some that win awards, some that represent early examples of important transitions in your career, pieces that were particularly inspired, studies for major pieces, pieces that contribute to one's overall understanding of your accomplishments. Keep enough art so that you'll be able to present a cohesive overview of your career to anyone who asks. These are the pieces you see in exhibitions labeled 'Not for Sale' or 'Collection of the Artist.'

I've visited dozens of older artists over the years. Some kept aside hundreds of works, others kept virtually nothing. Those who kept nothing had nothing to show for a lifetime of work, either to themselves or to others. If they needed money, they had nothing to sell. And that's kind of sad.

Put works aside not only for yourself and your descendents, but also for everyone who is or ever will be interested in your art-- not just the art that you're making now, but also the art that you made during the various stages of your career. Realize that at some point in the future, in addition to your current collector base, your work will begin appealing to a new generation of collectors who represent a totally different segment of the art collecting community. These collectors will be more interested in the art you made decades ago than in the brand new art that you're making now. These are people who, in many cases, weren't even born when you were already actively creating and producing art. When this happens, you want to be ready with plenty of saved art.

Ready for what? Collectors will want to buy. Galleries will want to show. Believe it. It's retrospective time! It will happen. If you persevere and continue to create and regularly put aside a significant and marketable portion of work, new people will sooner or later take notice. It's almost like beginning a second career later on in life.

And don't be insulted if these new people pay less attention your current work and more attention to the old stuff, the pieces that you've so wisely put aside. Your recent work will be fine too, but it's the early works that will provide the initial attraction. Those early works may also, by the way, be exactly what collectors are prepared to pay the most money for.

By the way, remember all those catalogues and books that you got yourself listed in years ago? Remember all that documentation and all those records you've kept about your art like who owns it, what it represents, and so on? Well, it's all going to come in mighty handy at this advanced stage in your career. Not only will you have tangible proof of your significance as an artist, but you'll also be a lot easier for new collectors-- and perhaps even a sharp young dealer or two-- to find. There'll be a paper trail leading right up to your studio door.