Art Print Issues by Barney Davey

Improve Your Art Sales with these Seven Selling Points from Barney's Day Gig

Seize these concepts and use them to your full advantage!

The following suggestions are the result of lots of practice. On my day job, I take 30 - 40 calls a day. In the vast majority, I make the caller an offer to buy something. This gig involves doing tech support and selling web design, e-commerce shopping carts, domain names, hosting, email, SSL certificates and many other business technology products. I enjoy the job for the diversity it provides and because it supports my family, my blogging and other art marketing activities while providing generous benefits.

The job is fast-paced where I typically make 10 - 12 sales in eight hours. Granted, some sales come from those calling with direct intent to buy. More, however, are created by observation, consultation and asking for the sale. Many who call do not know about all the products we offer. Nor do they realize there are tools to help them achieve their goals. It is my job to help them use our products efficiently and to educate them on what else is possible by doing business with us.

I have modified what I do to make sales to make it about what you do: art marketing and selling art.

These practical techniques work for me everyday. Learn to apply these seven ideas and you will improve your art sales efforts:

1. Make offers that make sense. If someone is looking at mini-prints, pitching high-priced originals without qualifying first with probing questions you are likely wasting a selling opportunity. Conversely, do not assume someone is only interested in spending little or buying mini-prints until you have asked enough questions to know with certainty.

Someone might call to buy a $10 domain name and I could take their money, have a sale and quickly move on to the next call. By taking the time to be interested in them and asking questions, I might learn they need a custom e-commerce web store built for them with a price in the thousands. Or, maybe they want the domain for 10 years, but don't realize it is possible without me offering to them.

Obviously, you cannot just pepper and hound someone with questions. With some browsers, you will be lucky to get one or two questions. Don't assume initial standoffishness means no interest. Learn to engage and disengage and re-engage smoothly. Have some busy work to do to keep you nearby and available if needed.

2. The less you offer, the more you lose when you win. Ask for the biggest order you can put together. If you sell with what is in your wallet, you always will lose sales.  You cannot predict what a buyer's needs, willingness and bankroll are. Buyers do not come with awareness of what is possible. You have to plant the seed by offering something that is probably out of your own comfort range. Learn to ask or present a large offer in the most casual natural manner possible no matter how anxious you may feel internally.

3. Mix your probing with personal questions, comments. Here are some suggestions:
Where are you visiting from? What is the art scene like in your community? Do you collect both prints and originals? Are you enjoying the city/show/art gallery? Isn't this weather....?  I love your shoes, shirt, ensemble, watch. Did you find it somewhere locally? Many of our artworks are available unframed, on paper or canvas, or can be sized to fit your needs. What kind of art do you have in your home/office?

Each month, we have a featured artist, promotion. Can I tell you about them? Can we keep in touch with you via our monthly newsletter? By giving us your email address, you will automatically be included in the quarterly drawing for a free art print. Here is a brochure showing the most recent print won in the drawing?

4. Respond to your buyers intelligently. It is not your job to figure out what you think is the least someone has to spend and make offers on uninformed speculation. It is your job to gather enough information so you can wisely make an offer with the best chance to get the largest sale. By asking questions, you get information and stay in control of the process.

5. Offer Big. Throughout history, there has never been a case of someone injured because of making a big offer, unless you count hurt feeling over rejection. There are, however, innumerable daily instances of huge sales made because a seller presented a big offer they had not anticipated, but were happy and capable to entertain.

If your buyer strictly wants mini-prints, offer a package of one of each or a dozen images, etc. If the buyer is looking at giclées, offer three in different sizes, for instance one large and two small. If originals are on your buyer's mind, offer multiples originals and a consignment piece, or mix the order with giclées, or other fine art prints.

6. Courage Works! Each time you offer too little, you risk losing sales. Borrowing from the Bard, "Screw your courage to the sticking point and we'll not fail." It means when you are determined enough to succeed, you will take on whatever tasks need to be done. For many artists, selling is not second nature. Getting good at it requires practice and a dose of courage act confidently in scenarios where you may have little life experience.

7. Get out of your own way. Create great success by learning to do things far outside your comfort level. Buyers may have big means, but they do not think in big terms. Unless you are psychic, you will never know this without asking. Buyers are not prepared to think of a big offer, but all can process offers of any size when professionally presented to them. Many buyers will reject a big offer and come down to a lower price point, but still far above what would be a minimum offer. However, some will, to your unending surprise and delight, just say okay.

Get it in your head you are cheating yourself out of potential big sales every time you fail to offer big. When you find what you previously thought would have been an outlandish offer eagerly accepted by the buyer, you will understand the power of the big offer.

The high you will experience from having success on making a sale well beyond what your ever imagined will make you eager to want to do it again and again.

Determine to try these things and measure your results. You will find them to work amazingly well for you. I guarantee the only result you will get from practicing these suggestions is greater sales.

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If you want more help on you career from me, I will be one of the many speakers the 4th Annual SmARTist Telesummit. Click here to get on on the mailing and to learn about the topnotch panel of presenters who are ready to help you catapult your career this January.

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Getting Organized - Now Is a Good Time to Get Uncluttered

Here we are a few days before Thanksgiving. You already know you are headed into the holidays, year-end planning, taxes and so on. Now is a good time to take some preemptory steps to avoid being crushed by it all.

If you are like me, there seems to be more to do and less time to do it. The bad news is there is no more time to allot. The good news is there are a few things that can help alleviate some of the stress of a to-do list that won’t end.

When clutter and disorganization are the worst, finding time to tackle the unending nagging tasks from cleaning out the Inbox to organizing the desk, and I am just talking about the office, not to mention getting some needed down time or merely taking care of jobs around the house is daunting, if not impossible.

There are solutions and easy steps you can take now

I do not have all the answers. There are gurus out there who make a living helping people with tasks like this. There is a very good reason why David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, (Amazon affiliate link. It was an impressive #248 among the millions available there as of this writing) is a perennial bestseller. Sometime ago, I came across the TRAF System. I’ve used it ever since when I find myself with too much stuff, whether on the computer, on the desk, or around the house, to get control of what ever has outrun my short-term ability to deal with it.

Learning to TRAF will free up your time and give you peace of mind

TRAF is an acronym for Toss, Refer, Act, File. This system has always been useful for me. I think having Toss first is important because it is the single best proactive thing you can do to get rid of junk, clutter and unnecessary stuff from your life. Just because it was interesting a week, a month, a year ago, and may still be so today, does not mean much if you have not done anything with it since.

Toss - You just have to sum up the courage to toss out most of this stuff. I am talking to you packrats now and you know whom you are. Learn to have that conversation/debate with yourself. You know the one where the packrat usually wins. Get it in your head there is another solution to hanging on to stuff and discover the freedom with letting go of those things that feel urgent, but truly are not important. Notice how you manage to get the important stuff done.

Refer means to delegate the information or task to someone else. You have enough to do without trying to be responsible for things others are better qualified to handle.

Act means just that. Do something with either it now or TRF it. If it is important, you will do it. If it is not, you should recognize it and proceed accordingly.

File is the refuge of the packrat. However, before you just move clutter from the desk to the filing cabinet, take the time to evaluate if you will ever see the item again. If the honest answer is not likely, then get rid of it.

Alternatively, get a scanner and digitize the information to reduce the clutter and make it more searchable when you need it. If email is the problem, consider getting an unlimited email plan. Go Daddy sells one that offers 10 email addresses that can take as much storage as you have. At $3 per box per year, this is a bargain. It also ensures you have a backup of all your email offline. If you use this suggestion, consider creating archive files to put everything from a certain period into one folder.

Kudos to author Stephanie Winston for her trademark TRAF System

Because I could not remember where I learned the system, I did a Google search to find who came up with TRAF. I found this article: Back to Business: Time to Organize Your Office on SmartBiz.com by Miri Tringali. She gives credit to the TRAF system to author Stephanie Winston, which seems right to me. Tringali also offers a few more useful suggestions:

• Create a Master To-Do List
• Organize Your Files
• Keep a Single Calendar
• Know Where Your Files Are

You can get more details by reading her short useful article on SmartBiz.com.

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If you want more help on you career from me, I will be one of the many speakers the 4th Annual SmARTist Telesummit. Click here to get on on the mailing and to learn about the topnotch panel of speakers who are ready to help you catapult your career this January.

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How to Get into Galleries and Sell More Art

There are many reasons to like what the Internet can do for you. One of my favorites is the ability it provides to discover interesting people both near and far.

A good example is a news item I came across about a local art gallery owner who has just published a business of art book with wonderful career advice for fine artists.

When I saw the item, it caught my attention and prompted me to call Jason Horejs, the author. Before I called, I posted a link to and brief description about the book on Twitter and Facebook. Both mentions generated an immediate and enthusiastic response.

During our initial call, we arranged a brief meeting at Jason's impressive Xanadu Gallery in Old Town Scottsdale. There are some people who you immediately like and trust. I found  Jason to be such a person.We exchanged copies of our books and made plans to catch lunch sometime soon.

Reaching out to those in your community can be invaluable

My call resulted in Jason inviting me to be a guest on his regular Art Marketing Tips webinar where I talked about the art print market. As a bonus, he offered my How to Profit from the Art Print Market book to listeners at a time-limited reduced price. In the meantime, we read each other's books. You will find, as did I, his book is chock full of great tips for visual artists. His unparalleled advice is the sort that could only come from a second-generation art entrepreneur whose gallery has generated millions in fine art sales.

"Starving" to Successful is a book that should be in every artist's library

I'm here to testify when you have read "Starving" to Successful: The Fine Artist's Guide to Getting into Galleries and Selling More Art, you will be glad you did.  You will find Jason offers straightforward no-nonsense practical art marketing advice for artists. I'm certain by reading it you will be impressed and motivated and also will find it immensely informative and helpful.

As a successful art gallery owner in Scottsdale, one of the most hotly contested markets in the country, he has been on the front lines of selling art for years. Jason cut his teeth watching his parents make a living from the creative output of his father, who has been a productive full-time visual artist for decades. When you raise a family as an artist, you learn all the tricks of the trade to keep bread on the table. Naturally, the offspring get a firsthand lessons on what works and what doesn't

The author's advice is clear cut and offers immediate benefits; the book's perspective is unique to the art business

In essence, Jason has distilled for the benefit of visual artists rock solid advice in an easy-to-read book that truly tells it like it is. Read this book and you are certain to come away with information, inspiration and motivation sure to make your fine art career better and more profitable. I heartily commend it to you.

After Jason generously offered to sell my book at his webinar, I wanted to return the favor by offering his book to my readers. He has graciously given you a great price! Get it and read it to start benefiting from his his sage advice now.

Click to get more information Or, you can order the book using PayPal below. You do not need a PayPal account to use it to pay with your credit card. This offer is made available to you on a special limited promotional price of $19.50 + s&h from my company, Bold Star Communications, courtesy of Red Dot Publishing. The regular price is $24.95 + s&h! Use the dropdown to select your shipping.

$19.50 + Shipping (Choose US | Canada | International)

US $23.75 Canada $29.90 International $32.95

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Both Jason and I will be speakers the 4th Annual SmARTist Telesummit. Click here to get on on the mailing and to learn about the topnotch panel of speakers who are ready to help you catapult your career this January.

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Why Higher Pricing Sells - Works Selling Fine Art

(Every now and then, I like to repost information from outside sources that adds value to the conversation. I hope this helps you find a way to raise your fine art sale prices. Read the previous post to learn higher prices are working for Hazel Dooney. Cheers, Barney)

Why Higher Pricing Sells -

By Michael Masterson

People like to feel superior. As a marketer, understanding this universal desire can help you do an awful lot of selling.

By appealing to your prospects’ pride, you can persuade them to pay more — sometimes much more — than what you could get by appealing to any other emotion.

Let’s talk watches.

For $10, you can buy a handsome digital sports watch that will outperform and outlast virtually any luxury watch made. When these watches were first introduced (over 20 years ago), they were so good and cheap that everyone predicted the demise of the analog timepiece.

Well, it didn’t happen. The new technology revolutionized the watch industry and changed the market forever. But analog watches survived. In fact, according to one estimate, sales of $1,000-plus watches have more than doubled since the 1970s and continue to grow every year.

It’s Not Simply a Matter of Dollars and Cents

Why do people pay thousands for watches when a $29 one works just as well and looks great? (By the way, have you taken an objective look at some of the fancier Rolexes lately? Tack-eeee. Piagets? Like a muscleman in a tutu.) I like the look of the expensive watch I bought in Paris, but I’ve had to have it repaired twice in two years. And boy did they charge me for that!

It’s not reliability. It’s not durability. It’s not precision. And it’s not beauty. So what does all that extra money buy?

In a word, prestige. Slap on an Ebel or a Cartier and you have instant credibility with the fashion police. Thrust out a Rolex-clad wrist and you announce to all those around you, “I have arrived.”

You need not say a word. What could be better than that?

The idea that price equates to quality is a myth. But price does relate to value. In the case of luxury goods, that value is prestige.

If You Understand This, You Can Outsell Your Competition

In Boca Raton, Florida, almost 30 years ago, a very smart entrepreneur bought a large parcel of land west of the Interstate in what was considered to be a very undesirable location. It was unpopulated and miles from the beach. There wasn’t a store or supermarket in sight.

Instead of trying to compete with the frantic homebuilding going on east of the freeway, this savvy marketer spent the money to build an 8-foot stucco wall around the property. In front of the wall, he planted trees, shrubs, and flowers. And he created a very elaborate entrance with pillars, pergolas, and arches. A guardhouse with a uniformed gatekeeper finished it off.

This was Boca Raton’s first “gated community” — and the first development to purposefully sell the promise of exclusivity. While other developers were emphasizing quality and value, our friend was selling prestige. (”Wait until your friends and relatives see this entrance and have to get permission from the guard to get in!”)

The result?

Lots the developer bought for $5,000 sold for $20,000, while lots on the “better” side of town were selling for less than half that amount. Today, those same lots cost a quarter of a million dollars apiece.

The point?

People will be happy to pay more for your product or service if it provides them with prestige. The more prestige you can offer them, the more they will be willing to pay.

You Can Pay Pretty Much as Much as You Want for Anything

When the Miami Heat basketball team opened its new arena years ago, it created a super-premium level of seating. It consisted of about eight seats that were practically under the basket. The price: a mere $50,000. Did they sell out? In about 24 hours.

In any marketplace — from watches to tractors — you will find luxury products selling for extraordinary prices.

Production cars range from $15,000 to more than a quarter of a million. Off-the-rack suits can be purchased for as little as $100 or as much as $5,000. The same holds true for just about everything.

If you make 20 grand a year, you are happy to get your macaroni for 89 cents a pound. If you are a millionaire, you search for handmade pasta at 10 times that price.

When I was first married, I bought used furniture, including a dilapidated couch for $25. When I started making a decent living, I came into the marketplace of $500 sofas. As the years went by and my lifestyle “improved,” I’ve had the pleasure of paying $5,000 and $10,000 for essentially the same thing.

I know $500 sofas still exist, but I can’t find them. They are not in the stores my wife drags me to. What I am confronted with, instead, have fancy names: divans, chesterfields, chaises, and settees. All priced at what I used to pay for my yearly rent.

Prestige Is Expensive

Whatever it is you are selling, there is a way to charge more for it — by throwing in a little prestige.

This may not be something you want to do right now. Now might be the time to grab market share by underpricing aggressively. But sooner or later, you should think about how to apply this very fundamental and powerful marketing strategy.

Remember that people with money want to pay you more — so long as it buys them a little prestige. And by charging them more, you are actually giving them a psychological boost.

Think about it.

P.S. Figuring out the right price to charge for your products is essential. It can make or break your business. In my book Ready, Fire, Aim, I give you dozens of pricing strategies. Some for start-ups… others for businesses that are floundering or stagnating… and even some for businesses that are doing okay but want to do much better. And that’s just one part of this complete guide for entrepreneurs. Check out Ready, Fire, Aim here.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money,

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Click here to learn about the topnotch panel of speakers, including me, who are ready to help you catapult your career at the 2010 SmARTist Telesummit this January.

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Hazel Dooney: A Courageous Uncompromising and Successful Visual Artist

To get to know about Hazel Dooney is easy. She arguably is the most transparent artist, in regards to how she reveals her life and how it aligns with her art, one might encounter.

If you take the time to read through her prolific revealing Self vs. Self blog, you will realize it is not easy to be Hazel Dooney.

Not only does she live a transparent life, she also produces her work and conducts her business at a frenetic pace despite a bi-polar affliction that easily could be the reason for never achieving success or even trying for it.

While the international success she has achieved undoubtedly is the envy of lots of other artists, it is unlikely many are willing to follow her example. Study her blog and career and you will find her art, life and career inextricably entwined in a most deeply personal consumptive manner. For many, if not most, the price she pays to be the artist she wants to be is too dear.

Catching a break or being lucky does not guarantee success

Dooney is a wunderkind of sorts who caught a break in her early 20s that helped catapult her career. However, breaks are not guarantees. It still takes abundant talent and great ambition to spin opportunity into a meaningful lasting career. Add to these attributes an uncompromising challenging vision and an enviable successful art career often is the result.

It takes courage to be controversial, outspoken, honest and independent all at once

By taking on subject matter with sexual overtones that sends a message, which can confuse those not attuned to it, Dooney puts herself amidst controversy and confrontation at times. She is the only artist I know who can in a blog post accurately describe a clueless sexist would-be patron as a dickhead, and make the comment neither crude nor out of context.

Recently, Clint Watson republished a post from Dooney’s blog in his Fine Art Daily Newsletter. The title of her blog post, Hostage to My Independence, struck a nerve with him. He used her example to encourage his readers to contact their collectors more often. Here is a brief excerpt from it:

If there's one drawback to handling my own sales and marketing, it's the hours each week I have to put aside to promote and sell my own work.

I blog and tweet with a regularity that puts some professionals to shame. I ensure that my web site, which is intended to be more an exhaustive reference resource about my work and career rather than a sales tool, is kept updated. There is a monthly e-newsletter - Studio Notes - to write and email to over 7,000 subscribers each month, as well as a monthly media release to another two or three hundred individuals.

But the core of my non-art activities are dozens of phone calls, emails and meetings with existing and potential collectors.

Learn from Dooney's example of how to use social media to help shape your career on your terms 

When you read Clint's repost, you will discover despite a very hectic schedule Dooney found time to add a comment to give more clarity to how she operates to the Fine Art Views repost. The gist of her post is simple. Due to the control she desires over her career, it takes an enormous amount of energy, time and talent to manage it all and maintain her disciplined painting schedule. On further reading her blog, you also will find she has used available new media tools to shape her career on her terms as opposed to one beholden the traditional gallery system.

I have written about or mentioned Hazel Dooney in past Art Print Issues and Absolute Arts posts. The first mention was to talk about the free downloads she offers to all in a post about what I called stealth marketing. She generously gives away high-quality resolution digital files that collectors print using their own printers.

She will even sign and return those pieces sent with a self-addressed stamped envelope. I think this is a wonderful idea that helps her extend her audience by breaking down barriers to those who otherwise might not come into her realm of influence. It is a gift to her fans, especially those who could not afford it. It also is a smart marketing that helps her gain publicity.

Managing the message... you can't always control it, but you can add your own distinct thoughts to it

With my original post about her, I found out one should be careful about referring to Dooney's activities as they relate to the business of art. She will fiercely defend what she does and quickly rebuff those who she feels misappropriate her actions, especially those who would seek to capitalize on them.

For instance, she took umbrage to my descripition of her activity as stealth marketing in a post titled, Missing the Message. In it, I used the example of British artist, Banksy, and her practice of offering free high-quality downloads. That exchange led to a guest post from me on Absolute Arts titled, Art vs. Marketing -- making Hazel Dooney Cringe.  Naturally, there came a good-natured retort from her: Google-eyed.

A more recent Self vs Self post Snake Oil shows Dooney remains fierce in the face of those who would misappropriate her work and words. This excerpt from that post neatly summarizes her thoughts on art vs. marketing. I could not agree more:

Articulating the work should be the main focus of using new media, with sales a welcome side-effect, not the main purpose. 

Adding new a new medium to your oeurve can help you find new collectors

Recently, Hazel took the time to email me with information she felt would be of interest to my blog readers. She is right, I do think creating works at new price points is an activity worth promoting.

As with every successful artist I’ve known, she takes the care and promotion of her career as a serious and important part of her daily activities. Her note demonstrates improving sales are possible in difficult times. Her solution is to create pieces at more affordable price points by coming up with a series of multiple stencils. Not surprisingly, she eschewed the notion of using giclees.

Being a self-proclaimed media tart, I know she is fully aware there is promotional value in providing suitable information for a blog post from me. Here is what she had to say. (Ed. Note: Her prices have increased since she sent this, mostly to reflect the change between Australian and US currency and dwindling supply.):

Dear Barney,

Just a brief note to alert you to something that might be of interest to your blog's readers. For the past three years, despite the global economic downturn, my paintings have done very well at auction in London, Sydney and Melbourne. Even very early works have achieved 1,000 per cent over their original purchase prices. Unfortunately, my paintings have climbed out of reach for many would-be collectors, especially those my own age and younger.

My response has been to produce my first, large-scale multiple, the YES/NO Stencils: in which hand-coloured prints are priced between $US500 and $US750.

My early art was influenced by graffiti, sticker tagging, agitprop and propaganda posters from the mid 20th century. Back then, I was interested in the wood block prints produced during China's Cultural Revolution, in which symbolic colours and simplified shapes reinforced short, directive slogans.

Given these influences, the obvious medium for my serial works was stencil. This gave me pause: conventional stenciling is crude and I didn't want to end up with a pastiche of bad street art. I experimented with different methods and materials. I wanted the finish to be beautiful and seductive, referring to ideas in my other hard-edged work. It also had to be durable.

Each of the two YES/NO images is 40cm x 60cm (or 15.7” x 23.6”), hand-stencilled in high gloss enamel on 64cm x 86cm (or 25.2" x 33.9") 100% cotton, museum-quality, white Alpharag 4ply archival board.

There are five editions of 25 signed and numbered (on front) prints of each image, in five different colours: faux-fluorescent lime, Dooney pink, industrial safety orange, papal purple and pitch black. There is also a sixth, 'artist's proof' edition of just ten prints of each image, signed and numbered, in virginal white gloss enamel on matt white board.

Like agitprop street posters, different versions of the same or opposite messages can be hung together.

The coloured NO! and YES? prints are priced at $US500 each unframed (Euros 350.00 for European orders or $A640.00 for Australian/New Zealand orders), including GST (for Australian orders only) and delivery.

The white NO! and YES? prints are priced at $US750 each unframed (Euros 515.00 or $A940.00), including GST (for Australian orders only) and delivery.

One set of six NO! or YES? prints five colours plus white is priced at $US3,200.00 unframed (Euros 2,200.00 and $A4,375.00), including GST (for Australian orders only) and delivery.

Both sets of six, 12 prints in all in five colours plus white are priced at $US6,400.00 unframed (Euros 4,400 and $A8,750.00), including GST (for Australian orders only) and delivery.

To order, or to enquire further, please contact Priya at dooneystudio@gol.com  Payment can be accepted via PayPal, Western Union or national or international bank transfer.

Dooney's example proves being flexible has benefits as much as fighting for independence does

The lessons here are:

• Do not be discouraged by these trying economic conditions.
• You can overcome personal obstacles to your success if you want it badly enough.
• You should take kind advantage of every relationship and opportunity before you.
• Articulating your message is more important than massaging your marketing.

While you may not want to take the devotion to your art and career to the level Hazel Dooney has, you can take guidance from her passionate pursuit of her art and her ability to get past personal issues and not let them become a reason for failing to achieve success within your grasp. Certainly, one need not be an artist to be inspired from her story that clearly shows how with courage and confidence you can achieve success on your own terms.

Writing this piece effects the author

In a bit of inspired transparency here, I admit to a yearning to grasp life with such gusto and put down concerns about mortgage payments and health insurance to pursue loftier goals. But, like most, I hang on to what is more comfortable in a trade for security. That doesn't mean I don't both admire and envy those who have the personal means to live life large on their own terms. I believe you won't find many who exemplify this more than Hazel Dooney.

I take small solace in knowing my daily gig at the domain factory gives me the freedom to write this blog without having to capitalize on it or kowtow to some advertiser's or publisher's demands. Yes, there obviously are a few ways it generates some money from book sales and consulting sales and affiliate links to books I believe are truly helpful.

I call it a profitable hobby that is akin to a talented part-time painter tethered to a mundane day job. For me, the real reward in publishing this blog is in the writing and the research, in the many friendships and acquaintances I've made, and not to forget the occasional kudos that come when my words have inspired or helped an artist. For sure, I would not likely had the exposure and inspiration from the likes of Hazel Dooney had I never started publishing it.