Successful Art Business, Planning and Marketing Tools and Techniques You Can Use

You need a space to create your art and to conduct your business. This space could be anywhere from your home to multiple retail locations. The use of your space could vary for just a place to create art to an elaborate facility with studios, warehouse space and a retail area. Your needs will vary depending on your business model.

It is important to know what your studio and facility needs are and how they fit your business model and growth plans before making any commitment.

At a minimum you will need a space to create your art. Don’t overlook the importance of having a space that is conducive to creating your products and services. Here are some factors to consider when choosing your creative space:

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Having a vibrant arts and cultural community can help attract businesses and make it easier for them to recruit and retain employees. One way to develop an arts community is to create an arts district or “magnet” for an area’s creative talent. Colorado has recently enacted legislation that encourages local communities to create cultural districts as a tool in economic development. Funding these districts and ensuring their sustainability are two of the major challenges that need to be overcome.

Read more here in:  Building with the Arts – Local economies benefit from cultural districts

Your art business does not exist in a competitive vacuum! Your customers and prospects have a multitude of choices when it comes to parting with their money. As the world becomes a flatter place (a term coined by Thomas Friedman in his book, The World is Flat) not only will your competition come from your local area but increasingly you will see it from around the globe.

You can thank the internet and trade policies for turning the world into one big marketplace of ideas, products and services. This trend could be viewed as a threat to your business but it could also be viewed as an even larger opportunity.

Today there is no shortage of companies providing any and every product/service and that includes art! In order to stand out in this crowded marketplace it is imperative that you think about your brand experience. A good brand experience will set you apart from the competition and get people talking about you and your art business. A bad brand experience will likely will get you passed by and a really bad brand experience will get people talking about you – and not in a good way!

Some examples of a great brand experience

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Recently one of my students at the Center for Innovation (Metropolitan State College Denver soon to be Denver State University) conducted a brainstorming session with the Artrepreneurship class. The idea was to come up with some ideas on how to create a great gallery experience when showing art.

When you show your work one of your highest priorities should be to create a great experience for those who attend your opening and view your work. The thing that makes great brands or companies stand out from their competition is providing a great experience. A great experience encompasses many things such as:

• Having a great product or service
• Using the product or service is fun, educational, enlightening and functional
• Being able to understand the product and its benefits
• The product’s design, features and esthetics
• The product’s packaging
• Meeting the customer’s expectations
• Touching as many senses such as touch, smell, sight, and hearing
• Great customer service and a desire to come back and tell your friends

Brainstorming Ideas

Ok, here are some of the ideas that my Artrepreneurship students came up with in their brainstorming session. They are in no particular order and hopefully they will get your creative juices flowing on how to create a great gallery experience.

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I am putting the finishing touches on a new workbook “The Artist’s Business & Marketing ToolBox” to help artists and other creative professionals learn the basics of starting and running a successful art business. The book covers the “nuts and bolts” of starting and running a business with a huge emphasis on marketing your art. Some of the topics covered in the 360 page workbook include:

Identify market opportunities and threats

Develop a competitive edge in the marketplace

Create a brand image to propel your art business

Build a marketing plan that is tailored to your business

• Sell more to existing customers and find new ones
• How to develop an effective web presence
• Using social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) to expand your market reach
• Public Relations to get the word out about you and your art
• How to advertise effectively
• Using promotions to build your business
• Distribution alternatives for your art
• Networking
• Pricing your art
• Using Direct Marketing
• Creating a great gallery experience

Understand the World of Finance and Accounting

• Finance and accounting basics
• Understanding financial statements
• Choosing an accounting system
• Financing your art business
• Developing a cash flow budget for your business

Managing and Organizing Your Business

• Choosing the best type organization (sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, LLC)
• Choosing a business name
• Protecting your intellectual property
• Managing people

Producing Your Art

• How to be more productive
• Developing a Creative Plan of Action
• Manage your inventory

Develop a Visual Business & Marketing Plan

• Easy to use forms guide you through the business and marketing plan process
• An easy to read and understand business and marketing plan
• Share your plan with your employees, investors and other interested parties
• Plan is presented as a PowerPoint template which you complete with the information gathered from the included worksheets and forms.
• A cash flow budget spreadsheet is included to make the budgeting process easier.

The book will be available for purchase Fall 2011 as an electronic download (PDF) from http://creativesandbusiness.com and will be compatible with PC’s, laptops, tablets, and most readers. The download will also include the Visual Business and Marketing Plan and Cash Flow Budget templates.

About the Author

Neil McKenzie has over thirty years experience as a marketing consultant and corporate marketing executive. He has developed and currently teaches the course Artrepreneurship at the Center for Innovation at Metropolitan State College Denver. Neil was also a founding faculty member of the Regis University MBA program in the late 1970’s.

Neil is a columnist for ColoradoBiz Magazine where he writes a column on Colorado’s Creative Economy and business tools and techniques for creative professionals. He is a frequent speaker and presenter on business and the arts to arts, business and educational audiences. When Neil isn’t working to grow the creative sector is he a commercial photographer specializing in business and personal brand photography by combining his marketing moxie with his skill behind a camera.

In the first part of this series Galleries, Shows, Exhibitions – Part I we looked at some of the basics of getting your art into a gallery.  In the second part Galleries, Shows, Exhibitions Part II – Contracts With A Gallery some of the things that go into a contract between the artist and the gallery were explored.  In this article we will look at some ways to create a great gallery experience when you show your work.

When you put on a show in a gallery or any other venue, think about how you can create the best experience for your audience. Creating a good experience will vary by your target audience and the venue you are showing your work in. Here are some ideas to think about in planning your gallery experience:

• Is the art appropriate for your audience?
• Are you showing your best work?
• Is the physical presentation of your work sufficient in terms of framing, hanging and lighting?
• Are there other elements such as food and entertainment that would add to your gallery experience?
• Do you meet your audience’s expectations?
• Does the audience clearly understand the reason or concept behind your art?
• Do you make it easy for customers to buy from you?
• Is it easy for you customers to find your venue?
• Is your work clearly identified and the price is easily determined?
• Have you thought of using QR codes in the description of the individual pieces on display?
• Do you act professionally when meeting prospects and customers?
• Do you have your “elevator speech” polished?
• Are you comfortable talking with your audience and asking for a sale?
• Do you have business cards and other marketing materials for the show?
• Do you create a follow up list from those who attend your show and do you follow up?
• Have you executed a public relations program for your show and have you invited the media?
• Do you solicit feedback from your audience on what they liked, disliked, and how you can improve?

Creating a great gallery experience should be one of your top priorities when showing your work.  If you connect with your audience they will buy from you and tell others – in short help build your brand!

Photo by Jeff Taylor Uncommonphotography.net

In the first article Galleries, Shows, Exhibitions – Part I we took a look at some of the basic things to consider if you are thinking about having your work shown in  a gallery.  Having your work shown in a gallery can be a great way to build your art brand and support your other marketing efforts.  If you are represented by a gallery you are entering into an agreement between you and the gallery.  As with any agreement it is important to know what you are getting into.

Typically with a gallery you will have to enter into a contractual arrangement. A good contract will benefit both the artist and the gallery. Don’t be rushed into signing a contract. Make sure you understand the obligations of both parties and how the contract will affect your business now and in the future. Here are some things to look for in any contract with a gallery:

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Galleries, Shows, Exhibitions

When you talk to a person on the street and tell them you are an artist, one of the questions that they will likely ask is, “What gallery is your work in?” Being in a gallery is a large part of many artists marketing efforts and for some says, “I have arrived”.

The reasons for having your work in a gallery can range from pure vanity, adding to your resume, increasing your exposure to making money by selling art. Hopefully one of your main goals will be to get new customers and build your brand at the same time.

There are two main parts of displaying your work in a gallery, the presentation or exhibition part and the business part. The exhibition part is about preparing a body of work, displaying and merchandising it properly and providing a great experience to the gallery visitors. The business part is about choosing the right venue, with the right customers, having the right agreements in place and marketing your work so you end up with a profit.

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When one thinks of business and the arts it is typical to think of how business needs to be a good community citizen and support the arts. They may support the arts because it is the right thing to do, their executives need some form of community service or they may really like art.

Businesses act in their own self interest and this is a simple fact. Now there is a reason to combine their self interest and support for art and culture. It can be summed up in three simple words. To discover these words check out my new article in ColoradoBiz:  How to get business to support the arts – It all comes down to three little words

Creatives and Business is about helping artists and other creative professionals become more successful in the world of business.  I will provide you with tools and techniques to help make your creative enterprise more successful and sustainable.  I will also let you know about new ideas and resources in the creative business sector so you can learn about what other successful creatives are doing.

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