Tips On Building A Huge Audience

Unlike hundreds of similarly titled articles and their contents which may be valid but more like common knowledge,

This sounds very insightful, on point

tks Marlene

I think an artist either has what others want or does not. I know that is really simple, but think of all the repeat types of art, and then why should we wonder why there's no audience for our work?

If you're good, you'll get discovered.

I do think that it is difficult to find a niche that people are interested in for a long time.

The most important thing is to work hard and at some point the creativity will pay off, plus all the tips in the article that you just posted...finding that sweet spot is easier written about than done.

It seems sticking to one concept is hard, maybe it is just finding what I like to do, I tend to get bored and want to move on to something else. Maybe several blogs is the answer!

I always wonder what that looks like, and if I would recognize it if I saw it... to get "discovered."

Sometimes you only have to get discovered by one person. I went to see a movie recently about the impressionists. Or, more exactly, the movie was about the art dealer who supported - and nearly bankrupted himself repeatedly - buying impressionist art. This went on for years, this one art dealer buying art that the entire contemporary French art world mocked and ridiculed - and did not buy.

The art dealer eventually sent some impressionist art to America, which was much more receptive to a new kind of art, and it took off. There were really two phases of discovery. First the impressionists were "discovered" by one person: the art dealer. Then the art dealer, whose business was selling art, facilitated a second "discovery" of the impressionists by American collectors.

Sometimes there has to be someone - like the art dealer - who will play the long game and find the audience. The impressionist artists themselves weren't in a position to show their art in America... and I don't think it occurred to them to try that. You have to match the art to an audience that can appreciate it, or it doesn't matter how good it is, it won't sell.

"6. Monetize. Selling is easier when you've taken the time to understand the needs and desires of a captive audience."

The elongated version of that could read:

Selling is easier when you've taken the time to learn the proper selling and adverting techniques that help you to understand the need and desires and then reach those people with the appropriated message.

Good message there Marlene, thanks for sharing.

You can't sit back and wait to be "discovered". You have to put your work out there in front of people and work hard at being seen.

This was a great article. Thank you so much for selling. It gave me a great idea

Cheryl,

We are our own art dealers.


David Bridburg

The article is good old fashioned common sense brought to the internet.

Dave

The magic word in this and other advice articles is "Patience..."

We live in a "want it now" world, but it usually doesn't work that way.

Once I asked Rod Serling for some advice on writing. His number 1 rule: Write It.

If it doesn't sell, put it in a trunk and write another. If that doesn't sell, add it to the trunk.

Keep writing, and years later, when one sells, you spend the rest of your life taking them out of the trunk.

Same goes for creating art. Build a portfolio of worthwhile art.

"We are our own art dealers. "

Hear hear! David.....! YES!

Thanks for this Post Marlene

Chuck, thanks for the Serling tidbit. I am a devotee...I have all the Twilight Zones saved that were recorded...that first year a different process was used and some couldn't be saved.
I have a few anthologies and love reviewing what I saw as a 10-12 year old....timeless topics, cleverly hiding, then exposing his political and ethical opinions.

Sheena,

At the end of the day in this era of mass produced artwork the worth of your art is in how many copies you sell.

I know your spirit in this. I am finding my niche. It will take more time to build a client base, but it is there for the finding.

Dave

for fine artist, if you are not aimed at the decor industry, itz best to have a love-hate relationship with the audience. the greater contrast of opinions between the audience such that many love the artist or many hate the artist. ......the better the artist balances this relationship, the more the artist is in the minds of the audience.
this is good for business.,....

It really doesn't take that much - being in the right place at the right time - but you have to get yourself (and your work) to be in that place.

That was, frankly, one of the best articles about building an audience I have ever read. Thanks, Marlene!

As for me, I've been trying to figure out how to create more "marketable" art. My conclusion: To hell with it. I'm going to do what I like to do. So there!

It might work for some but not all. It's kind of dated. A lot of people don't even use email anymore. I think he underrates building followers. But some personal interaction does help. I get regular personal correspondence on Twitter from an author I follow. He has my email but we just Tweet. Do you think I will buy his next book and Tweet it? Of course I will. Social media is the link between my followers, me and my sale sites. Email lists are great if you can get them but I wouldn't discount social media followers. In much of what I do in my life we are doing business on Facebook and using the messenger app.

Being discovered is a rather dated and nebulous concept now. For most of us going viral would be a better way to make a name for ourselves than having some middleman or art critic or whatever discover us. Yes we are our own dealers and promoters here.

I think the main thing is to define your own idea of success, otherwise you can't get there. The traditional measures of success are not gone but largely irrelevant to internet artist entrepreneurs.

Nothing works for everyone.
That's probably a good thing, Bradford ;)

I know my audience is out there, but reaching them is the difficult part.

I have an etsy shop and do very well there selling my original works. Recently a customer bought one of my Virgin Island original paintings. Usually that is the end point. But this buyer sent me a personal message about how he and his wife like to purchase paintings when they go on vacations but couldn't find one and he was so happy to find mine.

I was able to use this opportunity to inform him that I do custom paintings. That turned into another sale and maybe more in the future. I'm wracking my brain with ways to capture THOSE customers. How to let vacationers know that I will paint their vacation views?

We all promote like professionals, SEO and social media and some of you are in galleries and do fairs. But how do we find those potential customers that don't know we can meet the desires that they don't even know they have? Superbowl TV air time probably :-)

Carlin,
My first thought would be to contact local boutiques in resort towns....offer them a nice percentage for passing out your cards for custom work only. They have to do nothing but pass out your cards to earn the commission....easy money.

Carlin,

I noticed on FB commercialized travel groups.

I have no idea how successful or not you can be at reaching people in the groups or if moderators will
allow you to run posts, but many different enterprises run posts as ads. With such a post you would
say something like, "getting back from vacation, and wanting to keep the vision of paradise?"

Dave....take it from someone who has not sold, but is getting the hang of SM......

@Carlin, I have an old high school friend, Craig Satterfield, that I discovered on FB after umpteen years (I graduated in 69!). He is a travel agent, arranging cruise vacations for clients. If you'd like to contact him about working out a commission deal for referrals, just tell him "Loretta from Verdugo Hills High" sent you! Here is his FB: https://www.facebook.com/craig.satterfield.3

The problem with articles like this is, that they all follow the same formula: Find some successful people, find their lowest common denominator, and add the magic word PATIENCE!

Itīs so simple: Do the same thing like Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Shakira, ... add PATIENCE, and - voilā - here you have the recipe to become a mega star!

What these articles donīt mention are the thousands of people, who did exactly the same thing, without having success. Easy formulas may work in chemistry, but very rarely in real life! The reality is, that even if you follow these kind of advice, success isnīt guaranteed! And for every success story, youīll find someone successful, who did exactly the oppostite.

Letīs face the truth: Not everybody can be successful, no matter which formula he follows, and how good he is! There is always one factor youīll never read in these how-to-become-successful articles: PURE LUCK!

Colin Utz
http://www.colinutzphotography.com

they left out some key info between 3 and 4

building the base is what that article is about, but they don't say how you do that. its using the yadda system.


first you make a product, then you build a site and yadda, yadda, yadda, your making millions from it.

i was let down with that.

as an artist you have to diversify first, in this case using the pod, or willing to put your images on everything. from there you want a style everyone can recognize as being yours. both by theme and method. then you have to associate your name with your work, and that does take time. the list mentions email and subscriptions, but don't mention why these people are signing it.

that list was too generic to be helpful.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com