When you sell a piece of your art, you are selling more than just the canvas and paint, or the time it took you navigating through the layers in Photoshop. You may not realise it, but your customers are actually buying a piece of YOU. Not the right to erode your privacy or a pint of blood (unless you’re Marc Quinn) but a connection between you and your work.
They buy your story
All artists need a backstory. A big part of the reason Van Gogh’s work is so highly rated is we know the torment he experienced in his life, and we can see a direct influence of the events in his life showing through in his work.
Knowing the story behind the work makes us feel like we’re in on the deal, someone with secret knowledge. It also helps establish an emotional connection between us and the work.
But I’m not a salesperson
You’re an artist, a designer, a creative. And many (not all) creatives have a distrust of the sales process. They think it is shady, manipulative, dishonest even. And yet we want people to buy our work nevertheless.
No-one expects you to become Don Draper overnight. But understanding a little of the psychology behind why people buy things will help you sell more work.
Why people buy art
Before I became a Graphic Designer I was a Sales Manager for a high street bank. I ran my own team of sales agents for 5 years. And one of the things I can tell you from that experience is there are two ways to sell a product. One is to list all the facts in the hope your customer will understand why it is LOGICALLY the right product for them. The other is to reach your customer on an EMOTIONAL level – by addressing their fears or showing how your product can help them achieve their goals.
The first way will occasionally persuade a few people, but generally you rarely make a sale by winning an argument, because to win, your customer has to concede, which makes them feel bad. The second way is gold.
People buy things because they make them FEEL something; be it clever, cool, sexy, powerful, secure or just plain happy. Ever seen something that was way too expensive, or didn’t quite do all the things it should, but you just plain HAD TO HAVE IT? That’s the emotional pull, right there.
People WANT to feel CONNECTED to your work. They WANT it to make them feel something. All you have to do is give them the information they need.
How to tell your story
There are many ways you can do this. You don’t necessarily have to describe your individual pieces of work in detail, although that is certainly one way. Distributing a weekly/monthly newsletter, or running a blog on your site is a great way to build a connection between you and your audience. They get to understand who you are as a person, and build THEIR OWN picture of how that relates to the work you produce. Having a Twitter account and Facebook page and using them regularly will give people an insight into who you are.
The important thing is to be aware that you have to do more than build a gallery site and drive traffic to it. You need to give a little of yourself too. Don’t feel worthy? Just take another moment to ponder why a stony broke, drunkard, manic depressive with syphilis became the most highly rated artist in the world. I’ll bet you it’s because WE KNOW that’s what he was.
This blog exists in part to teach you how to reach your audience. Over the coming weeks and months I’ll be posting technical tips on exactly how to do that online. But I’ll also be adding more theoretical posts like this one that you can use both on and offline. Whatever, you’ll be certain to get a broad range of information that will help you sell your art.
