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

There is an old sales adage that says “sell the sizzle not the steak”. For most art and creative products there should be a lot of sizzle to talk about. Have you ever noticed that in some restaurants that the kitchen is out in the open or that the waiters walk by the tables with sizzling platters? They do this because the sights, sounds and smells of a tasty dish evoke emotions and spark interest – in essence they are selling the sizzle not the steak and you can too!

Selling the Steak

If You Want A Great Steak Dinner You Need To Start With A Great Steak!

Selling the steak is when you talk about the specifications, features and materials that go into your art. While it is important that a piece of art is painted in oil on a certain type or quality of canvas, this is probably not the reason people would buy the art. Look at the “steak” as the “nuts and bolts” of a product and something you would see in a manufacturer’s specification sheet. While specs are important, people are swayed by the sizzle.  Many fine art photographers seem more interested in telling their customers about what camera the image was produced on, what kind of printer and paper the image was printed on and how long it will last. While these facts may be important they have little to do with why a particular print is bought. Don’t dwell too much on the specifications, if your prospect likes the image the other facts will help reinforce the sale.

Selling the Sizzle

Here are some things that go into the sizzle:

• What is different about your art?
• What is compelling about your art?
• Why can’t they do without your art?
• What is the experience your art provides?
• What is the style, genre or fashion or your work?
• What emotions does your art invoke?
• What problems does your art solve?
• Does your art give your customer a feeling of being special or exclusivity?
• Is there and investment potential in your work?
• Does your art allow your customer to express their feelings, beliefs or life?

Determining your Sizzle

It may not be that easy to figure out what makes your art sizzle but you need to get to the things that make a prospect want to buy. A worn out word like “unique” probably has little meaning and after all isn’t most art unique (unless you are selling prints or limited editions)?

One way to determine your sizzle it to talk to your present customers and ask them what they think makes up your sizzle. In the previous article Five Simple Steps To Grow Your Creative Business the importance of talking to your customers about your business was discussed – make your sizzle a part of the discussion!  Many times you will learn something new about the benefits your work provides and you can use this in your next sales situation.

A Steak and Sizzle Exercise

Here is an exercise to help you separate the steak from the sizzle for your art. Get a piece of paper and divide it into two columns. In one column you will list what describes the “steak’ or the attributes of your art. In the other column you will list what describes the “sizzle” or the benefits your art provides. Do this exercise for each of your products (or types or genres of art). Look carefully to see if your different art works have some commonality in “sizzle” – these will become important in selling and marketing your creations.

The Sizzle Is Not Just For a Sales Presentation

Selling the sizzle is something you need to do with all of the touch points you have with your prospects and customers. Places where you should sell the sizzle include:

• Your sales presentations
• Your business cards
• Your elevator speech
• Advertising of all kinds including brochures, posters, print, and broadcast
• Your webpage
• Your public relations efforts
• Your social media presence

Ok now you should know the difference between selling the sizzle versus selling the steak. You will get customer interest by selling the “sizzle” and reinforce their willingness to buy with the attributes or the “steak” – go for it!

Neil McKenzie is the author of The Artist’s Business and Marketing ToolBox – How to Start, Run and Market a Successful Arts or Creative Business available in softcover from Barnes & Noble and Amazon and as an eBook from iTunes, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.   He has developed and teaches the course “Artrepreneurship” at the Center for Innovation at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and is also a visiting professor at University College at the University of Denver.

Neil has over 30 years’ experience as a management consultant and marketing executive, working with some of the world’s top brands. Neil is a frequent lecturer to artists and arts organizations, a guest columnist for Colorado Biz Magazine, where he covers the creative sector of the economy, and the author of several articles for Americans for the Arts, a national arts organization. Follow Neil on Twitter: @neilmckenzphoto

In working with artists I have seen some very good artist show cards and some which left a lot to be desired.  If you are having a show or exhibition of your art work then make sure you make the most of your efforts.  Art show cards or postcards are a direct reflection on your brand and can serve more purposes than having something to hand out at your art show or exhibition.

Some of the uses are:

• Announce an upcoming show or exhibition
• A take-away for visitors to the show or exhibition
• Another piece in your marketing materials portfolio
• Inclusion into a press kit or press release (digital version)
• An addition to your artist portfolio
• Something to show current customers, prospects and others in your network

Remember that your artist show postcards don’t do you any good sitting in a box or stuffed in a drawer.  Get them out there so people can see your work and experience your brand – be creative!

The Basics

Planning

As with any effective art marketing tool you use, it require some degree of planning to make sure that the advertising supports your brand and it gets the intended message across.  One common mistake is to not allow enough time to design and produce the materials for your show.  If have seen it time and time again where the artist had a show with little or no marketing materials to hand out to the guests – don’t let this happen to you!  Plan ahead and allow yourself plenty of time.

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You need a good business card and I put emphasis on “Good”!  I have met many artisans in casual situations and even at art fairs who don’t have a business card.  Not only do they miss out on future sales they are not giving their brand a professional image that says, “I mean business!”.  Here are some ideas and tips on putting your business card to work for you. Read more

Like all business people, artists need an effective introduction when they meet people.  Some people call it an Elevator Speech, others call it a 60 Second Commercial – I would like you to start thinking about it as “Your Story”.  In this short video I will give you some tools and techniques to help you develop and deliver your story.  OK, so what is Your Story?

Lori Ruff and Mike O’Neil the Linkedin Rockstars!

I recently did a radio interview with the Linkedin Rockstars Lori Ruff and Mike O’Neil on social media for artists and creative professionals.  Here it is – interview starts about 10 minutes into the show.  Be sure to check out Lori and Mike’s other episodes.  Here is the link for: Using LinkedIn to Market Your Arts or Creative Business

The Key Ingredients to Carbondale’s Creative District Success. Photo by Zachary Singer

I have embarked on a project to visit the State’s many arts and creative districts to see what they are doing to promote the creative economy. The first stop on my tour was the town of Carbondale, a town with a population of about 6,500 located in the Roaring Fork Valley between Glenwood Springs and Aspen.The town of Carbondale was incorporated in 1888 when the economy was largely based on agriculture to supply food to the booming mining town of Aspen – each September for the last 102 years they have hosted the annual Potato Day Parade and Celebration. While the Carbondale economy still has its agricultural and ranching roots, the town now relies heavily on tourism, supporting the valley’s growing population with its small businesses – and the arts.Building the arts

In 2012, Carbondale was awarded the Governor’s Arts Award along with the city of Lafayette.

“The communities being honored by this award have each made a major commitment to the arts and creativity,” Gov. John Hickenlooper said. “They have invested in arts centers and downtown arts districts. They have made sure their young people continue to have access to the arts in school, and they have encouraged their citizens and their businesses to support local artists and arts organizations.”

Read the rest of the article at ColoradoBiz Magazine – Carbondale’s Creative Secret Sauce

Next to creating your art, the most important function in your art business is marketing. If you are not concerned about marketing then you are more likely just pursuing your passion or engaging in a hobby. If you are looking to grow your brand, expand your markets and make money, then marketing should be on your list of business skills to master.

What is marketing?

There are a lot of ways to look at a subject or concept and marketing is no different. People confuse marketing with sales or marketing with advertising. Marketing is a broad concept that encompasses much more.

According to the American Marketing Association, “Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large “ While this is certainly a comprehensive definition what does it really mean?

The Four P’s

One way to look at marketing is what has become to be known as the Four P’s. The concept of the Four P’s was developed by E. Jerome McCarthy in his 1960 book, Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach as a way to categorize the main elements that go into marketing. As a business owner or marketing manager you have control of how you use these elements in your marketing efforts in what has become known as your “marketing mix”.

The Four P’s stand for:

• Product
• Price
• Place (Distribution)
• Promotion

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In the first article Packaging for Artists : Spice Up Your Brand and Your Profits – Part I we took a look at some packaging basics and how they affect your brand image and the price you can charge for your artwork. We took a look at how Apple packages its iPad and how each element reinforces their brand and adds value to the product. In this second part we will look at some ideas and examples of how you can package your art to make it more appealing to your customers and help you stand out from the competition. But first, a recap of packaging basics is in order.

Plain packaging can protect your art during shipping but it doesn’t say much about your brand.

Packaging Basics

• Protects the art during handling and shipping
• Identifies the art as to model, type and price
• For products that are sold in larger retailers there may be a UPC or bar code.
• Provides contact information about the artist and/or distributor(phone, web address, email…)
• Packaging gives you the opportunity to tell your story and possibly promote other products
• Provides more information about the product such as benefits and features, use and care
• Quality and unique packaging may be saved and possibly used to keep the work (in the case of jewelry)
• Packaging IS a part of your brand experience
• Packaging can add value to your art and affect the price you can charge
• Packaging will help your art stand out from your competition
• Packaging can help increase your arts value long after the sale
• Packaging can be an effective form of advertising

For Whom and Where People Buy Your Art Affects Your Packaging Strategy

For Whom People Buy

Luxury goods companies have long known that packaging is important and adds to their brand.

People may buy your art for themselves (or their company) or as a gift. If your art is purchased as a gift then packaging may make it more convenient for the purchaser – think of packaging as a way to make your buyer’s life easier (wrapping the gift) and make them more likely to buy. Good packaging will add to the gift receiver’s experience as well!

Even when people buy for themselves they like to show off their purchase to their friends, family or co-workers. Good packaging will add to their experience of your brand and may lead to future purchases and referrals.

Where People Buy

Art is bought and sold in a variety of venues. You may sell your art out of your studio, at an art fair or show, in a retailer, in a mall or on the internet just to name a few venues. If you sell your art in a setting with a large amount of foot traffic (an art fair for example) then your packaging can serve the important purpose of advertising your brand – think of people in malls with bags advertising where they just made a purchase.

Even if people buy your art online, your packaging is important. When they receive a cardboard box in which you ship your art, make sure they have a good experience when they open the “plain brown” wrapper!

Some Packaging Ideas for Artists

Flat or Two Dimensional Art

• Flat art includes paintings, drawings prints, photographs and even some “thin” three dimensional art.
• Think of the frame and mat as a form of packaging. Many customers don’t want to go through the trouble of getting art matted and framed – make it easy for them to hang and enjoy your art. If they are giving your art as a gift, this may mean the difference between purchasing and not purchasing.
• For higher end works you may want to consider a box for your flat art. Many boxes can serve as a shipping package but think of ways how you can step up your game and your brand.
• Include information in your packaging about you and the work.
• Brand your packaging with your logo and great graphics

Here is a link to a company that makes high end packaging for flat artwork. If you receive one of these you will immediately know it is something special! They add a few dollars to your cost but you should be more than able to recover your costs.  Check out a company who provides packaging for flat artwork –  Masterpak

Think About:

• How you could enhance your brand image through graphics on the outside of this packaging
• What printed materials you could add to the inside of this packaging to enhance your brand image (don’t forget you invoice or receipt!)

Peter Lik – Peter Lik is an awesome photographer who is also a master of brand/marketing. His works are known all over the world and by some estimates he has sold $100’s of Millions of his photographic prints. His prints are quite expensive but he has come up with a way to introduce people to his works or as in his words “For a taste of the Peter Lik experience without going ‘full size’” with his Elements line of prints. Check out how he uses packaging – Peter Lik Elements

 Jewelry

Opening a simple box can be an experience of suspense and surprise which add to the brand experience.

It seems that everywhere I go I see jewelry made by local artisans and artists being sold. You can see this jewelry is stores, museum shops, art shows and fairs and even on the street. What strikes me the most is that almost none of these artists use any form of packaging for display or for the sale. Typically they offer their jewelry laying flat on a piece of cloth. Jewelry artist can easily benefit from packaging – usually in the form of a box.

Some Ideas

• Get a box for your jewelry – they don’t have to be expensive.
• Include your logo/name/graphics on the box
• Insert a small informational piece in the box on you, your art, contact information and possibly care.
• Packaging will make it easy to purchase as a gift
• Packaging will keep the jewelry from getting buried in a pocket or purse
• Packaging may be used to store the jewelry by the purchaser and packaging will make it easier to find.

Simple packaging can add value to jewelry and may provide a brand presence long after the sale is made

Here is a company that sells packaging for jewelry. As you can see, jewelry packaging does not have to be expensive – Nashville Wraps

Other items

For many types of art a box may not work well for packaging. Think Bags! When you go to a mall you see bags everywhere. These bags are touting the latest brand with great designed logos and graphics – not only do these bags hold the purchase but they also serve as advertising that screams “Look where I went!”

See if bags will work for your art business. If you sell your art at shows or festivals bags may really help increase your brand awareness and sales. There are many suppliers of bags of all sizes, colors and materials, do a quick search to find a supplier.

Bags are an effective way to package and serve as a means of advertising that highlights your brand.

Some ideas:

• Use bags as a main packaging vehicle or use them in conjunction with other packaging
• Use great designs and imagery on your bags – this is your brand!
• Bags provide a great way to tell your story and provide contact information
• Bags can also provide a “quick” gift wrap for customers shopping for gifts

The Bottom Line

• Packaging is a part of your art brand experience – use it to entertain, surprise and inform
• Packaging is a great form of advertising and may have a lasting effect
• Packaging can add value to your art and allow you to charge higher prices
• It is hard standing out among the competition and packaging can help
• Packaging doesn’t have to be expensive – only good!
• Creating great packaging is another chance to use your creative skills – go for it!

Neil McKenzie is the author of The Artist’s Business and Marketing ToolBox – How to Start, Run and Market a Successful Arts or Creative Business. He has developed and teaches the course Artrepreneurship at the Center for Innovation at Metropolitan State University of Denver and is also a visiting professor at University College at the University of Denver teaching Marketing for the Arts. Neil has over 30 years’ experience as a management consultant and marketing executive, working with some of the world’s top brands. Neil is a frequent lecturer to artists and arts organizations and is a guest columnist for Colorado Biz Magazine, where he covers the creative sector of the economy. He is also the author of several articles for Americans for the Arts, a national arts organization. Neil also consults with artists and arts organizations on business planning and marketing. Neil can be reached at http://creativesandbusiness.com/contact/

This is one way to package your art. It is inexpensive but adds little to your brand and value to your art

Most every product and many services are presented to the buyer with some form of packaging – this packaging could be very elaborate or as minimal as a tag. Manufacturers of consumer packaged goods (CPG’s) have known for years that a effective package may mean the difference between making a sale or losing it to their competitors as well as the price(profit) they receive from the sale. Selling art is no different and you can benefit from effective packaging.

Some time ago I was talking to a successful ceramic artist about how he packaged and delivered his work to his customers. Typically his works were quite large, expensive and sold to upscale / well to-do customers. When asked how he packaged his creations he responded, “I just find an old box that clay came in, put the piece in it and deliver it to the client.” Let me get this right, you invested hours of your time to create a great piece of art, sold it to your customer for a good sum of money and delivered it to their door in an old dirty beat up box – what is this saying about you and your brand? A good package can say a lot about you and your brand!

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How can artists and other creative professionals learn the world of business and marketing, and create successful and sustainable businesses?

Author, educator and consultant Neil McKenzie has an answer to this question in his new book, The Artist’s Business and Marketing ToolBox – How to Start, Run and Market a Successful Arts or Creative Business (356 pp, $29.95.; eBook versions for Kindle, Nook, iPad, $9.99), a business and marketing “how to” manual. Neil has developed and teaches the course “Artrepreneurship” at the Center for Innovation at Metropolitan State College of Denver.  His book was developed over a period of several years and tested with his students.

The Artist’s Business and Marketing ToolBox covers a wide range of territory from what it takes to start a creative business to building a brand that will get noticed in a competitive world.  Topics covered include: starting a new business, accounting and finance, public relations, advertising, websites, networking and social media.  The book gives creative people real life examples as well as the tools they need to develop their business and marketing plan.

“This isn’t another book on how to get into a gallery and how to deal with rejection”, said McKenzie,  “Artists and other creative individuals play a vital role in our Nation’s economic growth and vitality by helping to spur innovation and creativity, it is important that they understand business and marketing in order to succeed”

Neil McKenzie has over 30 years experience as a management consultant and corporate marketing executive. He is a visiting professor at the Center for Innovation and at University College at the University of Denver.  Neil is a frequent lecturer to artists and arts organizations, a guest columnist for Colorado Biz Magazine writing on topics of the creative sector of the economy as well as the author of several articles for Americans for the Arts.

For more information and how to get the book check out Buy The Book.  Print version delivered to your door directly from Amazon’s CreateSpace on demand printer. eBook versions available directly from Amazon for the Kindle, Barnes & Noble for the Nook and Apple iTunes for the iPad.  Softcover versions are available from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, bookstores and textbook distributors.