Market Insider

Sell Your Art

Take-away ideas from our New Year's Challenge:

As you increase your knowledge about your customers, their needs and their spending priorities...

• you'll be better equipped to develop collector relationships that withstand economic downturns
• you can be prepared to react when a chance invitation can open doors
• you can begin to target your product development and marketing plans to address your customers' shifting needs
• you can identify style leaders among them, not necessarily celebrities but local business and social movers and taste-makers, whose interest in your work can help your art career
• you can be a better partner with the galleries that sell your work
• you can get involved in causes that are genuinely mutual interests, associating your artwork with positive action 

Next week:  What's selling?  

Brain Fuel: A HIGHER PURPOSE: One Artist's Success Story

 

The lovely necklace was made by designer Gisele Theriault of The Barber's Daughter Studio in Toronto, Ontario.  You recognize the beauty who is wearing it: the Grammy-award-winning songbird Alicia Keys. What forces converged to bring these two together?  Let's go behind the scenes.

A HIGHER PURPOSE

Gisele Theriault, whom we know as a regular exhibitor at the Philadelphia Buyers Market of American Craft, shared the story for Market Insider, with the gracious permission of Ms. Keys.

Chance meeting? Gisele believes there is no such thing.

She was invited to accompany a makeup-artist friend who had a gig working with some musicians -- an impromptu, private trunk show. The musicians bought several pieces, and word began to spread about Gisele's message jewelry, and also, about her dedication to her craft and her sense of purpose as an artist.

See, it's not about the bling or the pursuit of a celebrity endorsement: Gisele did not hire an agent or loiter at the recording session door or stalk stars like paparazzi. She just pursued the art that matters to her, with a zeal that comes from knowing in her heart that this is her purpose -- to make beautiful jewelry with a message to inspire others to live their lives to the fullest, to seek peace and to make the world a better place.

WORD OF MOUTH

She found a receptive market for her art among fellow artists who appreciated the higher purpose of talent and her willingness to strive to achieve the same. Word of mouth did the rest.

When she was introduced to Alicia Keys, there were more sales of jewelry, but also, lots of earnest conversations about art, goals and values. These led ultimately to the topic of a charitable foundation supported by the singer.  Her charity, Keep a Child Alive, raises money for the child survivors of the AIDS pandemic in Africa, the region of the world most afflicted by the deadly disease. More than 25 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with the virus that causes AIDS, according to World Health Organization statistics. Millions of adults have died, leaving an estimated 11 million to 13 million children orphaned and in many instances, living with HIV/AIDS, but lacking access to proper care. Keep a Child Alive raises funds that provide the expensive medicines needed by those young patients, as well as health testing, training for health care workers, counseling and medical facilities.

SHARED VALUES

Out of mutual caring grew a collaboration.  Gisele made the necklace. The singer wore it in November 2008 during her annual fund-raising auction and celebrity ball for Keep a Child Alive.

"I dreamed that the necklace may fetch $5,000," Gisele said.

At the charity auction, it sold for $25,000.

INSIDER ADVICE

What advice does Gisele have for fellow artisans who want to see their work reach such heights?

-- Be true to your principles, your values, your art and your mission as an artist, so your work reflects a depth of honesty about who you are and what you're on Earth to achieve.

-- Relationships are built on trust and on a love of humanity. These are the foundations of business and of all of society. You have choices about what type of work you do, and what type of people you want to associate with, share your art with and do business with.

-- Use your talents to help make the world a better place and help others rise to their greatest potential. Doors that are meant to open for you will open.

Copyright 2009 Market Insider

Interview by Jean Thompson. Photo by Javier Agostinelli.

Challenge Question #1

For whom are you creating your products, and how are your customers' shopping habits affected by the current economy?  What are they willing to spend for? 

Do we have to go there?  Ah, yes. It's a stinker of a question, but that's why Market Insider is calling this a challenge. Your collective sighs and groans can be heard from Honolulu to Nashville, from Seattle to Miami.

Aren't you making your art for EVERYONE to love as much as you do?

Well, O.K., Market Insider will indulge you for just a moment, because we're all friends here. Here's your hug. You're fabulous.

Now let's get a grip on the reality of the marketplace, especially since we're in the business of marketing fine crafts to galleries, museum stores, guild shops, craft retailers, etc. The "end user" of your "product" has a story - a household, a lifestyle, values, emotional needs, standards, etc. Even though you sell (or want to sell) wholesale to retailers, the ultimate destination for your artwork is a person somewhere who hopefully will cherish it.

What need will your art product fill for that person?

Can you visualize your ultimate customer? On whose neck is that necklace hanging? What's she wearing it with? Whose table is graced by your platter? In what home is the pedestal supporting your sculpture? 

The more you know about your ultimate customer -- and how he or she is reacting to the recession -- the better you'll become at refining your product development and marketing. That's not to say that you should deal in stereotypes: It's likely that your biggest fans will come from all different walks of life. But often there will be some thread, some story line, some education or experience, some urge or other dynamic that will tie them all to you and their appreciation for your artwork. 

This isn't psychology -- Market Insider lacks that type of credential. What you're looking for is the story behind the sale.

So ponder this: How would you design and sell your art product for the harried soccer mom who has milk prices on her mind? For the boyfriend who's not ready for the diamond but wants to give a gift that speaks of commitment? For the new college grad getting started in a first apartment? For the tourist who wants something to show off back home? For the retired couple who have downsized into their empty-nest home and finally can buy for themselves - and the grandkids. For the secretary who shops for the corporate executive who gifts to his top managers but is staring down a tighter-than-ever budget? For the Wall Street broker and art collector who used to be sitting comfy but who is cautious right now?

You see? You may design for "everyone" but "everyone" does not shop in the same venues or galleries, just as "everyone" doesn't download the same music or go to the same parties or share spending priorities.

Price point, design, size, color, function, motif, materials, quality  -- all of these can establish your product's appeal within certain populations of customers. By and large, the recession doesn't change their tastes - just their ability to indulge their tastes.

Some of your customers can afford to buy despite the recession. Some will want your particular work so badly they'll brown bag for weeks to save up for it. Some will covet, but right now, will buy only to fill needs, or to gift for closest family, weddings and birthdays. Some will splurge for the right piece that "goes with everything."  Many will still buy art products, but will choose smaller items, or will buy only items they perceive to have "good or lasting value." Some will buy only "functional" items right now, or only what they can "justify." And yes, gulp, let's acknowledge it: Some aren't spending at all right now (which means we go looking for new markets while we wait for the old to rebound).

So, what do you know about your current and potential customers and markets? 

-- Try to make a list of the key customer "types" that your art products appeal to right now.

-- What "needs" do your products potentially fill for them? 

-- Can your products potentially fill additional needs for a type of customer you don't currently serve? Where else (or with whom) can you "see" your art?

-- If you need to, ask the retailers/galleries that sell your work to describe for you some of the types of customers for whom they think your work has appeal. (Many do think about it before they decide to carry your work.)

-- Go scouting in a local museum gift shop or craft store: Who stops to examine or fondle products similar to those you make (or your products, if you're lucky enough to be represented there)?  Watch which items elicit reactions and sales. Take note!

Keep your list: We'll come back to it soon.

New Year's Challenge

Happy New Year!

Market Insider closed out 2008 by offering you a New Year's Challenge - a series of questions to analyze your position in the current market for handmade goods and help you refine your product development and marketing strategies for 2009.

Check back frequently, as we begin now to tackle each question and share some ideas from experts and fellow artists. Each of you will have your own answers and inspirations and epiphanies: There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

This week's question: 

For whom are you creating your products, and how are your customers' shopping habits affected by the current economy?  What are they willing to spend for? 

BONUS: 

This week's Brain Fuel, to help start the year on a positive note:

HIGHER PURPOSE:  One artist's success story