How I Suddenly Created an Art Festival Booth For Under $300

Although I have never chosen to participate in an art festival before, I decided to give the one in Ventura a try in an effort to "leave no stone unturned" in my pursuit of ways to market art. Many of you reading this post may ask, "What the heck does selling art at a festival have to do with selling art online?" Well, a heck of a lot. Even though this is my first art festival, I would expect that it would attract some serious collectors that will be exposed to my work for the first time. Armed with the proper brochures, cards, and promotional material that point to my Ebay store, I can generate sales leads at the show that will result in future internet sales. And that's exactly what it did. While the show, which incidentally was poorly attended, did not generate any immediate sales for most of the artists involved, using my brochures and Ebay store, I made contact with a dozen new potential collectors, a percentage of which will buy paintings online within the next month or so.

Here’s a photo of my the booth that I created for the show:

And here is the brochure that I distributed to interested collectors:

I will also be enclosing this brochure in shipments going out to customers.

Warren Keating is an artist living in Los Angeles. His work can be viewed and purchased at KeatingArt.com. Fine Art Prints of his work can be found at KeatingArt.imagekind.com. For more information, go to WarrenKeating.com.

Blogging Advice with Guru Timothy Ferris

Blog and lifestyle guru Timothy Ferris gives excellent advice on blogging, a crucial part of your internet art marketing plan:

How To Get Gallery Representation (Expanded)

Many emerging artists subscribe to the myth that once they get in a decent gallery, they will have achieved success and future sales will be guaranteed. Often times, the artist is disappointed at the lack of sales from his or her first show, or worse even, sells a lot of work and then doesn’t get paid the entire commission from the gallery. Both of these scenarios have happened to me over the years, so I don’t live or die by the gallery show. A more realistic scenario is that the career of an artist is a lifelong engagement in relationships with galleries, collectors, publications, educational institutions, the community, and, hopefully, museums and foundations.

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For me, gallery shows are often a way to show my past and future collectors that I am active in the art scene and my work is increasing in popularity and value. Most successful artists that make a good living have a diverse portfolio of income sources: gallery shows, direct sales to collectors, online sales, print licensing, grants, competition and awards, commissions, etc. That said, this post is supposed to be about getting that all too elusive gallery representation, so here we go.

I "cold-call" a lot of Los Angeles-area galleries by e-mail with one to three attached image(s) of my work (smallish, 700 pixels wide, around 300k file size), a link to my personal site, www.warrenkeating.com and to my blog, warrenkeating.blogspot.com. Before cold-calling, visit the gallery's web site to make sure it represents the genre of work that you are selling. I am only promoting my overhead figures to galleries; landscapes I am selling exclusively online. It’s important for your collection of work to show some focus on a particular subject matter and style, but at the same time have enough variety so that the collector will buy more than one piece.

Before you approach the better commercial galleries, make sure that you have something on your resumé. If you don’t, spend some time pursuing “smaller” opportunities, community art shows, competitions, online exhibits, open calls for galleries of local colleges. Check out the Imagekind blog and ArtCalendar.com for career advice and exhibit opportunities. Over the years, I’ve built my career from winning a spot in juried smaller group exhibitions to having solo shows in downtown Los Angeles. The only opportunities I pass up or those that might harm my paintings or reputation. I tend to avoid showing in cafés, restaurants and vanity galleries, but I embrace non-profit spaces, donate paintings to several charity fundraisers each year and next month, I’m painting a mural at my daughter’s school as our families contribution.

For your first commercial gallery show, approach some of the newer galleries. Often the established galleries have a full stable of artists and are reluctant to take on new ones. If you find that’s the problem in the art community in which you’re trying to show, establish yourself with the newer galleries that are looking for artists to build your exhibition history.

It’s practically forbidden to show up at a gallery unannounced to show a portfolio. Rather, the accepted procedure is to send images of your art on CD to the gallery with a cover letter, resumé and any press about your work. For me, I always include a DVD of an interview that CNN did about my latest painting series.

Make sure that you have quality photography of your work. If you can't afford to/don't have the space to set up photo lights indoors, you can always shoot the paintings outdoors, around 10 am or 2pm. Rotate the easel holding the painting to eliminate glare, but still have direct light on the piece (a polarizing filter on your camera will help even more to get rid of glare), and use a tripod to ensure a good, steady exposure that is exactly perpendicular to the surface of the painting. There are books on how to photograph artwork.

This is a numbers game, you have to send out a decent quantity of promos before you will get a response. In the meantime, get a feel for the local art scene, so your direct mail efforts will get more targeted.

The cover letter should open with a favorable comment about the gallery, conveying to the director/curator that you have researched the gallery’s aesthetic and you feel that it’s appropriate for your work. Get quickly to the point that you are looking for an exhibit venue, possible representation and be polite and complimentary in tone. Thank the recipient for their time and attention. A week or so later, you may call the gallery and ask to speak to the director about the package. If the director is not available, just ask the receptionist politely to confirm that the gallery received the package. Keep in mind that the receptionist and other gallery employees can be your best allies. Showing an interest in them and treating them kindly can only help you get the show.

Once you get your foot in the door, you had better be ready with an inventory of consistently good work, ready to hang, plenty of support material, artist's statement, bio, resume and any press clippings. At the initial meeting, you should come prepared with a lot to say about why your art is important and marketable.

Also, it’s great to have a variety of sizes and price points. In the past, I have mistakenly made my shows too consistent, all large overhead paintings. Now, I have introduced some smaller sizes and lower prices, and it has spurned new sales. For solo shows, I usually have a large Fine Art Print made by Imagekind.com and get them to frame it in a beefy, modern frame. I can’t tell you how many times someone falls in love with my work at an opening, but can’t afford $2000. With a print example on hand and a price list, that art lover can get a relatively inexpensive Keating print of his favorite painting and become a collector.

If allowed by the commercial gallery and certainly possible at a nonprofit space, publicize your Imagekind URL at the show, again, for those lovers of your work with a smaller budget to buy them directly online. If a commercial gallery is selling your original art, print business shouldn’t be a conflict, so they may not have a problem with your selling prints directly. If they won’t allow it, split the net profit on all print sales with the gallery; you’re still getting your work and your name out there to new collectors.

In this economic climate, it’s important for artist’s to offer a lower price point item. Lowering the price of your art to create sales is not an option; it’s a death blow to future income and a slap in the face to your past collectors. You should research and consider your price point carefully from the beginning and not waiver. Using Imagekind Fine Art Prints as a discounted item for your followers is a great solution that allows you to avoid devaluing your original artwork.

Warren Keating is an award-winning, internationally-collected artist in Los Angeles. His original figurative oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.KeatingArt.com. For more information, go to http://www.WarrenKeating.com.

To Sell Art, You Have To Be Active In The Art Community

This week, I'm going to re-post an entry from one of my other blogs. Why? To make the point that you have to support your online store by being active in the art community - exhibiting, entering juried contest, showing in nonprofit spaces, whatever you can do to keep your work "happening", so that you have something to blog about and feature on the home page of your web site. Additionally, you owe it to your collectors to fulfill your potential as a notable artist. Many of my paintings were sold with descriptions which told of my representation at brick-and-mortar galleries, awards that I've won, etc. I have to keep that machine of achievement running and hopefully improve, so that my work not only retains it's current value, but increases in value at a respectable pace. I usually don't think of online competitions as being noteworthy of publication, but ArtSlant is a very reputable site, so I think it has validity enough to justify some horn-tooting:

One of my latest pieces, “Bellman, Hotel Lutetia, Paris” won the ArtSlant Showcase for October. The original figurative oil will join the other works in the Painting section for the year. Each Showcase winner will go before the Gallery Panel for review and judging and the top Juried Winners will be selected for the Golden Frame competition, which will be held in March 2010. I’ll definitely let you know how it goes, either way; it’s an honor just to be chosen for this group. There are some great paintings in the Showcase this year. If you’re interested, here’s my ArtSlant profile. Thanks for reading this post, helping me celebrate.

Warren Keating is an artist living in Los Angeles. His work can be viewed and purchased at KeatingArt.com. Fine Art Prints of his work can be found at KeatingArt.imagekind.com. For more information, go to WarrenKeating.com.

Using Viral and Permission Marketing to Create Buzz

Today my mind is swimming with new ideas about how to market art on the internet. I've discovered Seth Godin's blog and have been reading everything he's written. There's no reason for me to regurgitate his knowledge on the next wave of marketing techniques, but I will say that he proclaims that "Interruption Marketing", (television commercials, magazine advertising, email marketing, direct mail, billboards, etc.) is dead, and it's being replaced with Permission Marketing and the Ideavirus. Anyone serious about marketing should go to Seth's blog. He offers e-versions of some of his books online, and Squidoo has most of his books available to view. I know this isn't an exciting post with cool images and step-by-step instructions, but I can't stress enough how crucial Seth's work is to any artist or other entrepreneur that is trying to market on the internet.

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In artist's terms, a great example of an Ideavirus is Duane Keiser's "Painting-A-Day" blog. The original artist to do the P.A.D. thing, Duane's idea caught on like fire, and everyone that discovered his site sent links to 10 friends and so on, so every painting he did sold almost instantly, and, now, he's at the point where the demand is so hi the collector has to prepay for a future painting. Like any good marketer, Duane has fed his virus and updated the "Painting-A-Day" concept into his new "Oddments: A Thousand Small Painting" blog. Check it out.


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To Sell Your Own Art, Learn From An Art Dealer

I just had my first meeting with a an art career coach, Yoram Gil. It was very productive, and, although a session is not cheap, it’s well worth the money. At our first meeting, Mr. Gil assessed that, since I was already entrenched in selling work online, and, quite frankly, am dependent on the income, that we should pursue that avenue, improving my sales techniques to increase my numbers and make sure that the value of my work continues to increase.


Based on some advice from my coach, Yoram Gil, I have been making different size and other variations to give my collectors a new one to buy. Pixel Man II (11" X 14") is the smallest painting that I've done in years

Yoram is a nurturing teacher that has already given me an in-depth look into the art market and has inspired me, both as a creative and as a business man. I’ll keep you posted as we progress. Artists interested in Yoram Gil’s coaching services may check out his web site at http://yoramgil.com.

Two Things You Can Do To Sell More Paintings Online

It's been a busy week, so this post is a little late. Two things I'm completing this week: 1) adding PayPal "Buy It Now" buttons to all of my blog entries for paintings that are for sale, and 2) opening a Twitter account.

While I do most of my business through Ebay, I will occasionally sell directly from my web site or blog to people that have discovered me due to my Social Media Network marketing. Instead of linking them to my Ebay store as I've done in the past, I have decided to experiment with direct selling from my web site. My PayPal account enables me to easily make buttons that will allow collectors to buy my item, and the account will also process credit card transactions.



I add the code generated by the PayPal web site for the purchase button into my blog and customize the button picture to make it go better with the design of my site:



I've been avoiding Twitter for a while. I just wasn't sure how it would work for me. Who cares what an artist does every minute, but, when you think about it, there's always stuff going on int he studio or new reference being shot, etc. that may be interesting to the art lover. I just started yesterday and have 14 followers, so maybe it's a viable place to market my paintings.



If you want to follow me, go to http://twitter.com/KeatingArt.