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

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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Keeping the creatives in creative districts is an ongoing challenge. Photo by Jeff Taylor

A creative district is an area where there is a critical mass of creative talent, one that creates a sense of place that is attractive to other businesses including those that might not necessarily be labeled creative. Typically, these districts are found in lesser-developed and many times less desirable areas of a city or town.

Today, many towns and municipalities have efforts to grow their creative areas and in many instances to build them from scratch by attracting creative businesses. The growth of many creative districts has been the result of creative professionals being priced out of other areas and somehow finding themselves in close proximity. This could be a particular part of a town or many times an area a bit further down the road from a larger or more economically viable area.

The process is typically slow and seems to take off when a critical mass is reached. At this point a “sense of place” begins to be noticed and the creative district becomes a place where people want to be – an area that is vibrant and more often than not, socially diverse. Other businesses and residential developments begin to move into the area.

As the growth accelerates, rents and property values begin to rise and eventually many of the artists/creative people who initially transformed the area are priced out. As the area grows, it may or may not keep its sense of place as a creative or artistic hub and becomes what has been characterized as being “gentrified”.

The process of building a creative district is not unlike other experiences in economic development. For example, a car dealer may move to the outskirts of town because the land is more affordable and taxes are lower. Soon other car dealers locate nearby and before you know it you have a street lined with car dealers.

Read the rest of the article at ColoradoBiz Magazine: Putting the “Creative” in Creative Districts…and Keeping it There

In working with artists and other creative professionals I find that they are in a wide range of phases with regards to their art businesses. Some are just starting to think about starting an art business while others have a more or less fully developed enterprise. Many who are selling their art still need to complete some of the basic steps in forming and running a business. Here is a checklist to help you get some of the basics you will need to move your art business forward and minimize problems down the line.

While these items are necessary for starting your art business they are not a substitute for having a well thought out business and marketing plan. These items will not tell you how to do them or what choices you may need to make. I advise that you dig in deeper to each item and make the right choices and appropriate strategies. A good place to start is The Artist’s Business and Marketing ToolBox by Neil McKenzie. The book is available as a softcover and eBook from major book sellers. There are also many articles on the Creatives and Business LLC website that will help you in starting your art business.

If you just started to sell your art or have a show coming up in the near future here are some things you need to address:

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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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The business planning process consists of four basic questions

Every business needs a plan including businesses in the arts! A plan will help you organize your business and give it a much better chance to succeed and grow. Many successful artists and galleries have told me that when they started their business they now wish that they had spent more time to create a formal plan. They felt that having a plan would have enabled them to grow faster and make fewer mistakes – take their advice!

Whether you are starting a new art business or have an existing one, make sure that the planning process is a part of your business life. A major benefit of the planning process in addition to the plan itself, is developing a way of thinking about your business and the environment it operates in. You will begin to see things differently and uncover opportunities and threats before others see them

Most people spend more time planning their vacations than they do in planning for their businesses – don’t let this happen to you. Set some time aside for planning in your normal course of work – planning should be a normal part of your work!

The Planning Process

In keeping with the “planning your vacation or trip” theme, planning for your business is quite similar. The planning process is really quite simple and consists of four basic questions. Finding the answers to these questions is a little more complicated and will require some time and effort on your part. The basic questions in the planning process are:

1. Where are we now?
2. Where are we going?
3. How are we going to get there?
4. How will we know when we have arrived?

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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/

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.

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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Hopefully since you are reading this blog I probably don’t have to convince you that business skills are an important part of any creative career whether you are in business for yourself or you work for someone. The business world has changed and many of the things that have worked in the past may be less effective or not effective at all. Having a good grasp on how business works will help ensure the success of your creative enterprise or make you more valuable to your employer.

How Do Artists Get Business Skills?

Well you probably are not going to get them in art school! A few art programs have business as a part of their curriculum and more seem to be adding them. If you are in art school and they offer business courses you are doing yourself a disservice if you don’t take advantage of them. For everyone else here are a few ideas:

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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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