10 tips to start selling your Artwork

Do you struggle with selling your artwork? Then read on to learn my top 10 tips.

10 tips to start selling your Artwork

Like every big goal in life, it doesn't come easy.

I certainly couldn't live off my artwork sales, but in saying that I don't actively pursue selling because I love to teach and that's where I'm at now. Though when I was selling my work more regularly I did pick up a few tips which I wanted to share below.

I think the main thing is that to sell your work, people actually have to see your work. So you need to get out of your comfort zone and actively build an audience of collectors. This of course takes time and effort as does any business. So I suppose you need to decide straight up if you are a hobby artist or want to be a professional artist.

There's nothing wrong with being a hobby artist at all and I would say you can still sell your work as it becomes better. Even as a hobby artist our work builds up and we always need to make space for more.

As a professional artist I think you need to put in the time that you would if you were running any other business. And the time would be best spent honing your skill level, so the art will start to sell itself and then building an email list right from the outset. This also goes along with having social media accounts such as instagram, tiktok or facebook. It's also best to pick just one to start with and be regular with posting. But.... the social media gods can cancel your account at any time without any explanation, but your email list is yours to keep, so that is the most important thing to start building straight away.

Tips -

- Don't target art groups to share your work on social media, these groups are full of other artists and not potential clients, rather share to groups that are associated with what you have drawn. So if you drew a picture of a Magpie, then I would share that work to the Magpie Lovers of Australia Facebook group. Straight away you will have people commenting and even asking if it's for sale or requesting a commission. You have to get strategic with your niches.

- Make sure to have links to your artist FB page or website in your about info on your personal FB profile. Most FB groups you share into is through your own private account, but if people want to see more of your work, then they will click on your name and look in your info to see if you have a website etc. You need to make it easy for people to find you.

- Instagram is probably the best platform for artists to share their work. Especially Instagram reels which are short form video like TikTok. Reels get shared to everyone, not just your followers, so that's a great way to build your audience organically. Plus the Instagram profile feed is a great way to share your portfolio of work with people easily.

- Once you have a following on Social Media then you need to try and turn them into email subscribers. You can do this by starting a blog or offering a free download. eg screensaver of an artwork. Anything were you can capture their email address. Your email list is where you can then send invites to when you have an exhibition or just released a new piece for sale or doing a print run etc. People on your email list are your warmest audience because they have willingly chosen to give you their address to keep in touch with them.

- Once you have built up your social media following you could do an online art show to try and sell some work.

- Joining your local art society and displaying work in their gallery is another great way to get seen.

- I used to run a weekly market stall for my art which I found was great for selling lower cost merchandise like greeting cards, tote bags and prints, but not so good for selling original pieces. But I did find that it was a great way to build up an audience for Pet Portrait Commissions. As people got to know where you were and what you offered, they were able to come back to you when they needed a present or their pet had passed away and wanted a keepsake. It's also a great idea to do the market stall in a tourist area.

- If you don't have enough work to approach a gallery space and fill it, then why not work with other artists and have a combined exhibition.

- You could approach cafes, restaurants, hair dressers, doctors, libraries, hospitals etc. to see if they would like to hang your work. Keep in mind if hanging in a restaurant you don't want your work near the kitchen as it will get dirty quickly and can take on the smells of the cooking.

- Don't forget to ask family and friends to share.

So as you can see selling your artwork really is all about getting it seen first and foremost.

I've listed quite a few ways above of doing that, and yes it takes time and work but the feeling you get when you sell a piece of original artwork to a complete stranger is well worth it, plus it pays for new art supplies haha.

As a professional artist making a full time income from your art, you need to have your finger in many pies. So pretty much everything on this list is what you need to be doing. But just focus on one thing at a time and go from there.

I really hope this has been helpful and you have gained a bit of clarity when it comes to what you should be doing to start selling your artwork.

Kerri xx

www.kerridixonart.com

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I did a Facebook Live talk on this very subject. You can watch the above video to hear my thoughts and join the conversation.

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Categories: : money