Artist prep steps for a successful holiday season
The holidays are right around the corner, and as an artist, it’s a great time to take advantage of people’s openness to buying gifts and present them with the perfect gift… art!
So what are some ways that you can increase your revenue from your art this year during the month of December? First, your collector during the holidays is a little different than your average serious collector — they are looking for smaller giftable objects. I’ll break it down into three phases which are brainstorming, presentation, and marketing.
PHASE #1: Brainstorm! In this phase, think about your art that you have in storage, and how you might present it in a new way. Could you curate a collection of art prints under $100? Make notecards of your most favorite pieces? Or, think of other ways to create giftable products with your art. Think of what YOU might love to receive! Could you make a calendar? Silk scarves with your art printed on them?
There are websites like Contrado, Art of Where and Gooten that specialize in manufacturing these kinds of products and make it very easy to upload your designs. Once you have some ideas, work backwards and think of a dollar amount you want to earn during December. Then, price your pieces accordingly and think of the kind of people that would love to buy your pieces. How many do you need to sell to hit your target?
PHASE #2: Presentation! Once you have your ideas, it’s time for presentation. Set aside some time for a day or two to do a photoshoot of your holiday collections. Make it as beautiful as you can. Show your art in use; in a beautiful home or held in your hands. Add holiday touches like candles and evergreens. Then, upload your photos onto your website. Make sure it’s very clear on your website how to order your pieces! You want to make this as easy as possible for people who don’t typically collect art.
PHASE #3: Marketing! A very important step, this is actually a very fun and creative part of the process. Think like your ideal buyer for a moment. Where would they be looking for inspiration for gifts this holiday season? Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook are all great options for advertising. And, don’t forget about your mailing list! You can do organic advertising, where you just post and share, or, you can do paid advertising, which puts your photo in front of more people.
You can start out with a $10 and see how it works for you! You might need to try a couple different photo ads before you hit the one that works for you and pulls in a lot of people. While you’re at it, make sure there’s a way that people can sign up for your website once they get there, so you can capture the people who like your work but aren’t ready to buy! You can send them beautiful emails to follow up and make them fall in love with your work even more. Alternatively, you could look for shops and galleries that would like to sell your work during the holidays.
Whatever you choose, I do recommend having an online shop on your website during the holidays so that people can easily purchase from you, especially during this year — everyone is shopping online! I recommend sending people one email per week, with a different focus on a product each week!
Lastly, share your joy about the holidays with your collectors and audience. Share through poetry, your art, photos of you creating in the studio, and your enjoyment of the wintery season. When you share yourself authentically, others will respond and you will create meaningful connections with your collectors!
If you feel like you could use more focus and direction in your art, consider taking the next few weeks for my self-paced video course, Discovering Your Artistic Voice.
That’s all I have for you this week! What are your plans for the holidays and your art? How will you leverage this season to bring in more passionate collectors?
Wishing you all success!
xo,
Jessica Libor
Jessica Libor
Artistic Coach
The Visionary Artist’s Salon
