Fine Art or Walmart

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="05bfd5a3.jpg"> <div> <B>Fine  Art   or   WalmArt</B></div> <div> <B>347-LOVE-ART  (347-568-3278)  </B><B> Toll Free 1-877-512-3333    Email: </B><A HREF="mailto:mike@mikealbin.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:mike@mikealbin.com"><U><B>mike@mikealbin.com</B></U></A></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="05cd2043.jpg"> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mike Albin.Com "><U>Mike Albin.Com </U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="wd.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Web design"><U>Web design</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="ma.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marketing Articles"><U>Marketing Articles</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="sr.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Show Reviews"><U>Show Reviews</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="mt.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marketing Tools"><U>Marketing Tools</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="l.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U>Links</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#777777" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Fine Art or WalmArt </B></div> <div> Do you have a business plan and where is it taking you?  I meet and talk with a lot of artists while we are on the road doing shows.  Most of which are great people, fun to be around, very talented and creative but when it comes to planning a direction for their careers as artists, the plan is to do this show and then go on to the next one.  Not exactly a plan with any direction.  It’s very easy to fall into a plan like this and find yourself 20 years later no better off than when you started.  “I plan on getting into bigger and better shows and making more money” is a great plan but how do you get there?  What business decisions need to be made so that you can make a name for yourself and become a successful artist?  Some of the artists I speak with that have been doing shows for 15-20 years still have no real plan or direction for their careers and are actually charging less for their artwork today than they were years ago.  I hear all the time “There’s more competition now” or “I had to lower my prices because someone else lowered theirs.”   These are not reasons for surviving on the art show circuit, these are pitfalls of not having a business plan with direction.  </div> <div> The direction for your careers as artists usually will take one of two separate paths.  I want to sell as many of my pieces as I can and the way I’m going to get there is to sell my work as cheap or cheaper than anyone else at the show.  This is the Walmart approach.  The fine art approach involves making a name for yourself as a fine artist, increasing the prices of your artwork over time which creates value in your artwork.  </div> <div> The Walmart approach artist spends most of their time and talents just making inventory to keep up with demand.  Find something the public will buy and then make it over and over and over again, selling it as many times as they can.  They’re selling it for not much over what it costs to make so they have to make and sell a lot of them to make any money for themselves.  The trouble with this kind of business strategy are: 1) If you ever get behind because of a couple of bad shows it’s very difficult to ever catch up. 2) You are building a customer base of “price loyal” customers and as soon as someone else starts selling work cheaper, you are forced to lower your prices again to keep up.  3) You’re going to find it harder and harder to make money as the years go by because your expenses will continue to rise and what you are able to sell your work for will only go down.  4)  You get offended when someone offers you less for your artwork because your making and selling it as cheaply as you can.  There is no room for price negotiation.  5)  Because of the high demand for your products you are going to have to spend more and more time making them.  You’ll have very few days off or free time to actually enjoy the money you’re making.  Most of your money will go to buying more supplies and creating more inventory.  You’re going to find it very hard not to be burned out in a few years of doing this. 6)  You’ll have very little time for creating new pieces, refining your techniques and becoming a better artist technically.  Taking your work to higher levels of creativity and skill are impossible if you spend all of your time mass producing inventory.  Some of these artist stoop to copying others work and mass producing it and selling it cheaper.  At this point they are not even artists anymore just producers of products.   </div> <div> The fine artist spends more of their time creating new pieces and refining their techniques.  They keep their edition numbers on their prints very low.  This tells their customers, if you want one of these pieces you better get it now because the edition will be sold out soon.  The best thing for a customer to see when they walk in your booth is editions of pieces that are very close to being sold out.  This creates a sense of urgency, either I buy it now or do without.  People with money do not like doing without!  Once that edition is sold out you have to create new pieces to replace them.  This is what will keep you refining your techniques and evolving as an artist.  The fine artist will raise their prices on their work so that every year when they go back to a show their prices are 20-30% higher than the year before.  This creates the sense of value for their work.  Their work is also an investment that will go up in value over time.  You’re going to find out that people that bought from you early on can no longer afford your work.  That’s ok, you can’t please everyone.   As you make a name for yourself clients with money will find out about you and buy your work.  The greatest benefit of this business strategy is that over the years you will be able to spend less and less time working and more time enjoying time off.  You’ll be selling less pieces for more money.  If you do need to take 5% off your prices to close a sale it’s no big deal because the size of your profit margin has increased and you’re still making a sale. </div> <div> The biggest hurdle you are going to have to overcome is mentally.  Having the confidence in your work and your abilities to raise your prices and to keep that confidence when things start to slow up.  Do not lower your prices after a bad show or two.  Never lower your prices!  Unless you find away to pay less for gas, insurance, show fees, hotels, supplies, transportation and more.  Your expenses go up, so should your prices.  </div> <div> As your prices get higher and higher you will start to sell less pieces of art at each show but you should be making more money dollar wise.  Four years ago an average show for us was selling 12-15 pieces of our framed art, average sale was about $400.00 and an average show was about $5000.00.  We rarely had a zero show and we rarely made over $10,000.00 at a show.  This year, so far, an average show is selling 4-5 pieces of framed art, our average sale is just over $1400.00 and our average show sales total is just over $6000.00.  We occasionally have shows where we sell nothing and we routinely have shows that bring in $10,000.00 or more.  It’s quite an adjustment when you sit there all weekend long and only make 4 sales.  Especially when we were used to make 15 sales in a weekend.  Every time we make a sale it’s like a shot of adrenaline that keeps us going.  Now those shots are coming fewer and farther in between.  It’s a tough mental adjustment but one that has to be made if we plan to stay on track.  I just keep reminding myself, look at your sales totals at the end of  the month, not the end of the day.        </div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> It all sounds so simple but I know you’re asking “How do I make a name for myself?”  It takes time, no one does this over night.  You have to come up with a business plan with a direction and stick to the plan.  You have to spend some of your time marketing your self, collecting names and addresses of potential clients at art shows and keeping them up to date on your newest works with newsletters.  You need to write press releases when you win awards and to your local papers when you create something new.  You need to have a book in your booth of all of your press clippings, awards and accomplishments.  All of these topics are archived on my website at www.mikealbin.com  </div> <div> One of the most important subjects I need to stress here is keep your work original.  You cannot make a name for yourself as an artist if you are copying someone else’s style or techniques.  Develop your own style and techniques, be creative.  </div> <div> Look at artists like Clyde Butcher and Maddox, see what they are getting for their works of art today.  They didn’t start out selling at these prices.  They raised them as they made a name for themselves.  YOU CAN DO THE SAME!  If you are planning on being an artist for the long haul and making a living, a good living then you need to have a plan with direction.  Be a fine </div> <div> artist, not a mass producer of work, take pride in your art and yourself.   </div> <bR> <div> My letter this month comes in response to my last article on getting the best slides of your work.  I got several questions like this so I’m not going to single out one letter.  I got questions from photographers and painters asking if the slides of their work should include a mat or frame?  The answer to this in NO.  The slides of your work should be of the images themselves with no mat or frame unless part of your artwork is on the mat or frame, then yes, include it.  Photographers should have their images converted directly to 35mm slides.  It’s best, if possible, to have a small black border around the image in the slide so if the film moves around slightly in the holder your image will all still be there.  For painters, photograph your paintings with a black mat behind the canvas and no frame.  Zoom the lens in as tight as you can but leave a little black all the way around your canvas.  Your frames will show up in your booth slide, do not show them in your work slides.  You want the jurors concentrating on looking at your work, not your frames.  </div> <div> I hope this helps, if you have any questions please feel free to write me at mike@mikealbin.com   All of my show reviews and marketing articles are archived on my website at www.mikealbin.com    </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>