Five Mistakes Artists Make Selling Their Art

From time to time, we invite professionals in the arts to provide career development insights. Cory Huff is one such professional who has helped thousands of artists through his consulting and writing on his blog, The Abundant Artist.

“After helping artists sell art online for so many years, I have come to realize that there are five mistakes that almost all artists make at the beginning of their careers.

Giving Away All of Their Power ­
A lot of artists want to sell their art on Facebook, Instagram, or other social media platforms. The problem with this is that you are completely dependent on those social media platforms and their rules. Just ask all of the artists who recently had their Facebook engagement cut down to less than 10% of their fans.
The solution: Build your own website and direct buyers there to make purchases.

Starting Multiple Businesses ­
Whether it’s trying to sell art with wildly divergent styles, or trying to sell fine art while also building an art licensing business, it’s very difficult to build two businesses at the same time.
The Solution: The more we focus our marketing efforts on building one business to profitability, the faster we can leverage that business into other areas.

Being Boring ­
Most art blogs really suck. Usually it’s just a list of the artist’s latest work with a two sentence description. Who cares? Why would I want to read that, even if I did want to buy your art?
The Solution: Art isn’t boring, so why are you? Learn to talk about your art. Write, blog, and share funny/interesting/heartfelt things on social media. Understand why you make the art you make, and then communicate that.

Failing to Ask for the Sale ­
In the name of being “classy” or, more likely, to avoid being “pushy,” the artist doesn’t put their prices on their website, doesn’t have buy buttons, and doesn’t have instructions on where to get their art.
The Solution: Present your best art on the home page with a big button that says “Buy Now.” Add Buy Now buttons to the rest of your art. Make your gallery contact info readily available.

Not Building A List ­
If someone comes to your website and likes your work, they probably won’t buy right away. If this happens, they’ll forget who you are. Attention is precious.
The Solution: Have an easy to opt­-in mailing list with an awesome incentive. Follow up with your mailing list on a weekly basis.”

Are you making any of these mistakes in your art business?

Cory Huff (@agoodhusband) runs TheAbundantArtist.com, where he teaches artists all over the world how to dispel the myth of the starving artist by selling art online. Cory is also an accomplished classical theatre actor and raconteur. He and his wife are currently spending a year traveling in Europe.