Art is about building long-term relationships

Your goal is to grow your network to build your reputation, relationships, career and make sales.

Whether you are selling art, or developing a career as an artist, it is always about networking and developing long term relationships. It can take years before a gallery decides they will take you on as an artist, or a collector decides to buy a piece of art, or a client decides they want to commission work from a photographer or artist.

Galleries, curators and artists who are successful, encourage clients to buy from them by having repeated conversations with their clients over days, weeks, months, years and decades.

Just do what you do in real life – but online

The secret is not to launch an online store and promote it on Facebook with the perfect advertising. The secret is not to become the next Amazon.

The secret is to take what works online, to adapt the internet to what you do best, building relationships.

Success is about making and maintaining real connections with followers online by building a digital bridge to them.

The great news, is you can get started for FREE!!!

Model Success

The great news is, this a business model that is proven online. Companies such as Groupon, AppSumo and Fab have made millions in sales using adds to send customers to their websites, where they encourage users to sign up to mailing lists, where they can be re-targeted with information and products.

Your mailing list is your secret weapon

Your key goal is to grow your following. It’s also great to have larger network on Messenger, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn so you can keep people engaged with your work. In many ways messaging and social networks are better than e-mail because the response and engagement rate is better.

But your e-mail list is your MOST IMPORTANT TOOL, BECAUSE IT GIVES YOU CONTROL.

• e-mail is free – it’s a cost effective way to build your career
• e-mail delivers control – you communicate with who you choose. On Facebook or Instagram, algorithms always determine who sees your posts.
• e-mail is targeted – you focus on people who you know want to hear from you. If you understand what people want, they will engage with you.
• e-mail is scalable – you can speak directly to as many people as you want – something you can’t do on messenger or whatsapp.
• e-mail gives you ownership – you own your contact list, You can be blocked from Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram, but your e-mail list is yours.
• e-mail unlocks many platforms – you can use your e-mail list to grow your following on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc.

Your website is key to growing your mailing list

Your website tells your story, BUT, if it doesn’t also encourage people to follow you, and sign up to your mailing list, then all that effort to make your website amazing is wasted!!!

There are lots of great tools to naturally encourage users to get in touch with you and sign up to your mailing list, chat with your, or sign up to make an appointment to see you.

Learn from Gallery & Art Professional Websites

These tools are used widely by art professionals to grow and strengthen their followings. There are multiple way to use Contact Forms, Messenger, Pop-Ups, Landing Pages, Content Locking and appointment engines, such as Eventbrite, to turn your website into a magnet that brings people closer to you.

Turn followers into supporters, supporters into advocates, and advocates into clients

It’s vital to talk to your followers about things you are both passionate about, and make sure you are offering “products/ services” they can afford and are interested in.

Your e-mail list is perfect for this. All you need to do is organize new followers around their interests and budgets.

Followers who aren’t ready to buy yet can still help you. They can be advocates for you, like your work online, share your work with their friends and come to your events.

As followers become stronger supporters, you can re-organize your mailing list to change what you ask from them – offer them higher value artworks and different ways of supporting you.

If people become really close, then you can use your common sense. Contact them on Messenger, Whatsapp or call them.

The important thing is to use different approaches for different groups of people. Someone over 75 might want something physically posted to them, someone in they 20s may prefer a direct message on Instagram.

Get Started for FREE!!!

Before you start spending money, try out free options, in particular technologies that scale with you – so you are paying for technology you are making heavy use of.

Instead of advertising on Facebook ad Instagram, start by posting to relevant Hashtags and Facebook groups to test what sort of posts work (Facebook adds and Instagram adds are very different).

There are some great free sign up forms, contact locking forms, messenger chats and event booking systems that will help you grow your following.

There are also e-mail mailing list management systems that only start charging once you become a power user, and that allow you to get started for free.