How To Sell Your Art In A Recession – Part Two
• tell the story of yourself and your art
by Keith Gilchrist

My first article focused on locating collectors who will love your work and can afford it. But, buying art is not just a way for collectors to show off their taste or flaunt their wealth. Art buyers want to feel they own something that has a personality and a story. The key to connecting with a collector is to speak their language and tell the story of yourself and your art.

Your goal is to be standing side by side with a collector in front of your work. He is not just buying your work, he is buying into who you are and what you know. You will need to talk to him with the words and ideas he is used to hearing. So, you want to be talking together about his interests, the art world, you, your artwork and whatever else makes him want to come back for more and bring his friends.

Art collectors need words with their pictures, words that kindle their imagination, confirm their taste and add value to their acquisition. While they are buying your artwork, they are also buying a story about where the inspiration came from, how this particular piece was made and who you are as an artist. Collectors need to hear the stories that support their desire to own your work. All of this becomes part of their personal story. Say the right words and a collector may start feeling “I can’t live without it.”

Every piece you create has a story about what inspired you, the medium you used and why, the problems you solved in creation, where it fits in your life work, what you hope a viewer will gain from it, what others think and say about it. Explaining your art thoroughly in your own words makes it special and adds value.

Look at your creations. There is something uniquely attractive about you and your work. Listen to what your collectors tell you. Listen to your own thoughts. Find the ideas that fit your work. Turn the ideas into stories to tell others, stories that tell how your work has value and how you are different from other artists.

Take a look at one of your pieces and see what story comes to mind. Complex color, strong composition, joyous feeling, good things critics said about the work, right size, nicely framed with high-quality materials. Tell a story that someone will enjoy telling to other people. Tell potential collectors what’s in it for them, how it will change or add to their life. You don’t have to sell, but you do have to tell.

Put together a short story for each of your works that speaks when you can’t be there. Put it on a card with the piece. Put it on your website, use it in media releases, add it to promotions. Get your story out there. A collector is drawn to the art then toward the artist. She may look for your art in galleries, on the Internet and in publications. Later, she may come to look, talk, learn, get acquainted, buy, and possibly become friends.

Look closely at the results of everything you do. If a marketing action doesn’t lead to a conversation, set it aside, move on to one that does. A fuller description of this process is laid out in my eBook. The next step, and my next article, will cover setting up a conversation with collectors and how to build relationships and sales using websites, promotion, publicity and events.

© Keith Gilchrist 2009

To read other articles in the series, click below:

Part One
• find your key collectors

Part Two
• tell the story of yourself and your art

Part Three
• develop a marketing program that works

Part Four
• make your art easy to buy

Part Five
• go online to sell art while you sleep

'How To Sell Your Art In A Recession' provides a complete, practical guide to building a successful art marketing program. The report covers each marketing project in much more detail than you'd imagine from the article. It is a great tool box, rich with resources and full of ideas, tips and advice.Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned professional, you will find it easy to build an art marketing program to move you toward success. At the same time, you will free up your time for creating art.

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