On the Road to Marketing…
If you recall the May 28, 2017, post, in which I talked about the very real angst that artists suffer when they weigh Art vs. Commerce, you might remember that the decision to sell your stuff is just the first hurdle for an artist who wants to enter the online commercial market.
Once that decision is made, and you know what products you want to create and sell, next comes the really fun part (I’m saying this with a sarcastic tone): setting up a website, packaging, marketing, distribution, taxes, etc.
Savvy people, who have the time, actually can do this process alone.
I‘m not that savvy – or inclined to pain, so I formed a “team” – my son and his colleague (BJ & Soo) who cheerfully agreed to help. I’m guessing they may be regretting that offer by now. We have the website up, and we set up our main distribution of products through Amazon (which means Amazon does the packaging and mailing – Yay!).
That done, we are now on to the serious task of marketing, which means getting the word out about Karen’s Absurd Art as a business. My opinion is that marketing can be approached through both selling and exhibiting.
My art and commerce have become bedfellows, as my grandparents might have said.
So, we’ve signed up for a regional bee conference as a vendor and have two drawings in their art show. Before the end of this month, we also will participate in a Gallery Walk.
This coming weekend, July 14-15, we will be at the 16th Annual Heartland Apicultural Society Conference at Evansville, Ind. Since many of my drawings and commercial products include bees, this seemed like a fun place to get the word out.
On July 21, we return to Merlin’s Beard, corner of 10th & Main streets in Lafayette, Ind., for the second 2017 Gallery Walk sponsored by Tippecanoe Arts Federation. This event is focused on art, which challenges me to focus on my drawings – the part of the business I love best.
But the pre-selling work necessary for the vendor booth has been a little tougher than choosing prints for the Gallery Walk.
I started by ordering one more T-shirt from Ryan at the Tee Shirt Shoppe in West Lafayette, Ind., who came through for us with a quick turnaround of “Long Live the Queen!” for our vendor booth (Soo has sent some to the Amazon store, too, for online shoppers.) I often rely on Ryan’s expertise for colors and how many of each size to order.
In addition to the “Long Live” T-shirt for the vendor booth, I have four others and have ordered a hat with a bee-related message (if they don’t all sell they will make it to Amazon); created some transparent stickers with bee messages; framed 5 Giclee prints and 5 less-expensive posters; and bagged up some custom holiday cards.
Finding fellow craftsmen that you can work with – like Ryan – is so very important as you shell out money for product manufacturing (I’ll talk about this process in a future blog). It’s to their benefit to guide you on getting the most for your money, as you are then more likely to be a return customer.
After a commercial product is developed, one must decide where to market. Despite what you hear, that you HAVE to be online in the selling game, it’s not always easy to unload anything on the Internet, as there are tons of people selling tons of stuff.
So for artists, I would recommend that you seriously think about whether you just want to share your creations with the public, or really want to enter the commercial market.
For those of you who are OK with just sharing, here are some suggestions:
1. No public exposure: you create for yourself. There’s nothing wrong with this if it makes you happy. Maybe you hand out art as gifts to family & friends on birthdays and holidays. Creating art should always be encouraged, no matter the expertise of the artist.
For example, my grandmother was a crochet artist. She made dozens of those 1960s creations where the body was a plastic doll and its crocheted dress fitted over a roll of toilet paper (the doll’s legs went into the cardboard tube). I thought they were very bizarre, but she believed each granddaughter should have at least one (oh, those moments when I longed to be a boy). The color choices were interesting, but creating and giving them away made her happy.
2. Non-gallery exhibits: unless you start out with an ambitious agent, most artists begin looking around their neighborhoods for exhibit opportunities. These are often non-juried (easier on the beginner ego), that allow you to gain experience.
Do not let anyone turn their nose up at you for exhibiting in these community shows. You have to start somewhere, and these are great opportunities to learn and to build your artist’s resume. Plus, they are fun.
These (usually) local exhibits are available through local art groups, schools, community centers, libraries, etc. If you are aware of these groups, get on their mailing lists so that announcements of exhibits will come directly to you.
3. Commercial or Non-Profit Gallery exhibits: usually at museums, art galleries, art co-ops, etc. It’s the same principal as non-gallery exhibits, except the competition is tougher and entry is almost always juried (you will be judged on whether your art & its quality fits the show).
I’ve just been selected for my first juried gallery exhibit, and it was a bit intense writing the artist’s statement and deciding which drawings to submit.
Fortunately, the exhibit is in 2018, and I have time to get more drawings done and get everything framed – so stay tuned … that’s a blog waiting to be written!
And for those of you who are ready to move beyond just sharing, I’ll take notes at the bee conference as to what products sold. I’ll keep you posted ….
Postscript:
For those of you who read the blog posted May 14, 2017, you might remember the story about the little Chihuahua we cared for after he was rescued as a lost dog on a cold spring night. I nicknamed him “Radar” because of the huge ears on his little body.
He had escaped his home because of a loose screen door and was found sleeping in the middle of a dark street, blocks from home, by two teenage girls who fortunately called the police. Since our town’s shelter only accommodates large dogs, my husband, who was the officer on duty that night, brought Radar home to spend the night at our house until his owners were found. Sadly, we’ve just found out that he escaped again, and once more – probably from exhaustion – laid down in the street to sleep. This time, a nighttime driver didn’t see him, and Radar didn’t survive his injuries.
Over the years, we have temporarily “adopted” several small dogs found wandering around town without tags, and several of them have been very sweet, including little Radar – who especially got my attention because he had no fear of our 17-pound black cat.
Several times we’ve had misgivings about returning a dog to its owner, but because animals are by law “property,” there isn’t much choice unless physical abuse is present – plus we just can’t keep them all. I wish I could say that we were able to keep an eye on all of them after they went back home, but that isn’t possible either.
So life goes on … but we’re all mourning for Radar.
