5 tips art business

 5 tips art business

Im Welzie artist maui Hawaii. 

These are my 5 tips for your art business. 

You don’t have to be a starving artist. It doesn’t have to define you. 

A successful artist is one that can balance their creativity and commerce. 

Stick around till the end for a little bonus tip.

Don’t forget to like subscribe and watch the other videos I have the the artist starting their art career.

Stick around till the end for a little bonus tip.

TIP 1 - If you’re watching this that means you don’t know that much. So the tip is : Learn as much as you can. Being an artist you have to learn Business. It sucks, its not creative and you probably suck at it. I know I definitely did when I started. But you have to start somewhere. The biggest mistake I made was that I didn’t actively go out and try to learn. Take a business class, ask questions, read books. You have to take the business side seriously if you want to move forward with your art career. Hate to break the news to you, but the chances of someone coming along and doing the business for you and letting you just create are slim to none. Most artist have to spend a lot of their time on the business end of it. But do you know how they manage that? The get so good and quick at their art and formalize it that they can spend time on the business. Read Books, Study artists and what they do. Do art festivals, get your art into galleries and shops and start selling. All this will help you get going. The Business side of your art career 

INvest in yourself

You don’t know so learn understand that art business can be difficult but so is painting so just start. You will get better 

2

Start keeping track. Money. Data. Sales. Anolog or digital. How much comes in. How much goes out. My weakness was always ballparking and wanting it to work so bad I would make the numbers work. Don’t do this. It won’t help your business. Your time in the beginning is your least expensive thing because you want to do this more than anything else. Take the time to do it. 

3

Don’t stay under the table. Pay your taxes. Start your dba then lock then a corporation. 

Can’t grow unless you’re playing by the rules 

4

Learn how to make sales. Sales tactics. The better you get at sales the more you will make. The more you make the easier business is to run and operate 

5

Figure out when you’re good at making business stuff work. Ie first thing in the morning or late at night. When is your brain in business mode and when is it in creative mode and don’t mix. Designate the time for each. 

Discipline is a big part of art, but also business. Take the time to read a book. Take notes. Try and learn. It’s ok to mess up when you’re getting started. Don’t worry. We all do. But don’t get discouraged 

Recommend reading 

Art money success 

How to win friends and influence people 

Bonus tip - Get off instagram and spend that 10 min you save reading about business and sales. The time ads up and after a few months you will see a lot of improvement on your mindset and confidence.  

5 Tips for Selling Your Artwork

Want to sell more art?

Is the idea of selling your art terrifying? Are you avoiding doing an art show or art market because you’re scared to stand in front of your art and try and sell it? Well you’re not alone, I’ve been there too. It took me years to just get to my first art market, and you know what? I wish I started sooner.

Selling art is uncomfortable for most, if not all artists, but at a certain point you need to get over that fear so you can make a living doing what you love. No one is going to sell it for you, at least not yet.

These are my 5 tips for selling your artwork. I learned this through some brutal trial and error, but I can assure you that if you apply what I am teaching you will grow your confidence and art sales. Maybe not over night, but you will get better I promise.

So here we go, My 5 tips for selling your art for the beginner artist

 

Have a Great Product

The best and easiest way to make art sales if have quality art product. Have your art finished and ready to hang, have great art. Make everything about your art pro. Make it look like you care about every detail of every part of your art, which you should.

Not only is your art the product, but so are you. Get a haircut, take a shower, wear some nicer cloths. This will help the collector believe in not just the art but you as well. No one wants to buy a piece of art from a scraggly stinky dirty artist. Get your shit together. Get your art together. Be a finished product and sell a finished art product.

 

Be Present

Listen to what the buyer is saying, you can learn a lot about what they might be interested in if you listen. Be positive. Everything that comes out of your mouth needs to be positive. No one wants bad energy on their art that they will be putting in their home. All positive vibes. People might try and drag you down, but stand firm. Be the light. Be confident, at least fake confidence till you get real confidence. Make eye contact, shake hands. Be engaged. People rant just buying art they are buying you. Be something worth investing in. Ask questions, how they are what they have going on in their lives, all this info will help you understand what they might be looking for.

People will ask you the same questions over and over again. Start getting these answers dialed in and practiced so you don’t have to think about them or talk for too long. There is other stuff more important to think about when having to sell your own artwork, so minimize the amount of thinking on your feet you have to do and dial in the answers to the questions you know you will have to answer.

Be able to Close the Sale

Make the transition from talking about the art to payment. Its easy to get into that area where the collector is thinking about buying or just needs to be nudged a little. Use any of the phrases below to transition to getting payment for your artwork.

Transitional phrases 

“Can I ring you up” 

“Ok get lets get this all wrapped up for you”

“Would you like to pick out a gift with purchase?”

“Will I be shipping this piece will you be taking it with you?”

“Would you like me to make a dedication for you on the back?”

These are all phrases that will help you move from talking about the art to the point of sale. 

Use The Right Verbiage

Along with staying positive and using positive verbiage, there are some word to use while selling art and some words to not use when selling art

Cheap vs affordable.

Limited edition vs only made a few

Original artwork vs unique/handmade/1 of a kind

Reproduction vs copy/print

Collector vs buyer/client/person

collectors list vs email list

Return collector discount vs deal/discount

The way you use words can help create value to your artwork or create less value to your artwork. Make sure to use words that elevate your art brand, not diminish your art brand

You have to push a little. 

This will look great in your home”

“Such a good way to remember your stay”

“Doesn’t it make you happy“

“Art makes a house feel like a home“

“Your daughter will love it“

Phrases like these can help move the collector into the buying category.

Don't Let Them Walk Away Empty Handed

If someone seemed close to buying something or very interested but is walking away you can alway do a couple things to possibly gain a future sale. You can hand them a 5x7 info card that has a image of your art on 1 side, and bio/ information/ contact on backside. These are great because they are cheap to make, look good in your booth and they are something that someone will actually take because its basically a free 5x7 print of your art.

You don’t have to offer a discount, but you can offer the collector a gift with purchase if you are really trying to close the sale. This can be a matted print, or something affordable in your booth. This can often push someone into buying. We do this in our gallery when a collector buys an original, they get to have a gift with purchase limited edition aluminum giclee, or a gallery credit of that equal amount. 

At the very least, if someone seemed generally interested in your art, talked to you for a while, but didn’t purchase anything, it’s fair to ask them to sign up for your collectors list. This will be just an email list in a guest book at your booth where they can write their name and email. You can reassure them you don’t send out many emails. This is a good way to start building your email list and at least getting contact info for a collector that has shown interest in your artwork. Remember you will make 100k a year for every 1,000 legitimate emails you have on your list.

Motivational Art Speech

Selling artwork can be difficult for artist. We as creators pour so much of our should and energy into our work that it can be hard to put on the salesman hat and make sales. I understand that these 5 tips wont change your sales overnight, but learning the art of sales takes time. Hopefully these tips on selling art can steer you in the right direction and motivate you to keep learning and trying. This is a baby step and congratulate yourself for taking it.

No one will sell your art better than you. Its up to you to become so good at selling art that you can teach the art dealer at the art gallery how and what to say. You might feel like it is tacky to sell your art or not artsy, but those thoughts are just because you are in secure about your artwork, and thats ok. All of us artist go though tons of insecurity about our art form. It is part of the creative journey we chose to go on. Practice your art. Become undeniable, and soon the sales part will get easier. Now get out there, make some rad art, learn some more and always stay inspired.

Aloha from Maui

Welzie

What Lahaina Means to Me as a Maui Artist

Lahaina has been the arts center of the Hawaiian islands for decades, with more art galleries in one square block than anywhere else in the archipelago. As a young artist going to the University of Hawaii at Manoa and trying to navigate the art world, showing my artwork in Lahaina seemed like a pipe dream. Lahaina is where the top artists show their work, and I still had a lot to learn. This is my experience as a young artist getting to show my work for the first time on the famous Front Street of Lahaina, Maui.

As my art career began to take off in my late 20’s I was able to get into a group surf art show at the Wyland Gallery in Haleiwa on Oahu.  This was a huge step for me as I had spent most of my 20's being denied wall space. The Annual Surf Art Show was a success and I was fortunate to sell a lot of pieces (They were very affordable then) . Getting into the Wyland Gallery was a giant leap for me as an artist as the Wyland art gallery brand is in my opinion the most prestigious art gallery in Hawaii.
After a year at the Wyland Haleiwa location, the owner of the gallery decided to try me out at some of her other gallery locations on Oahu. This was great for me as I was fully committed to make the art business work and wanted to get my art in front of as many people as possible. As was being coveted by many new art collectors, the owner of the gallery decided I was ready to be shown in Lahaina.

Everything always felt surreal when working with the galleries. I could not believe it when the offer was presented. A gallery director would say something in passing as I was dropping of new artwork and then next thing you know I would be packing art to deliver to the next gallery. With Lahaina, the gallery that I would be showing in was the Signature Gallery. A gallery that represented Jim Carrey, Dr. Seuss, Nano Lopez,  Heather Brown and more. This was a great stepping stone for the 30 year old Welzie, a surfboard building resin artist from the North Shore, Oahu.

I created a small body of work for the Front Street Lahaina art gallery and sent it over a couple weeks prior to my art show and I got lucky, a couple pieces had sold in the first week. I was so excited. I really felt like my art career was taking off and that I was finally doing something right, after feeling like I had been doing everything wrong for so long. Before I island hopped over to Maui, I packed a few more pieces and headed to the Valley Isle.

When Arriving on Maui it was hot and windy, I had a box of art, a backpack and a smile. I had hit the big time. Inter island travel as an artist. waiting to be picked up by my represented art gallery for a big art show in the art center of the Pacific Ocean. I envisioned all my art selling off the wall and spending the rest of the evening buying rounds of drinks for everyone at the local bar. It was going to be an amazing night.

I didn’t notice my chauffeur pulling up to the curb at Kahului Airport because it was a sketchy white Astro van, not exactly what I was expecting. The gentleman yelled "Welzie!" and I hoped into the passenger seat, eager to get out of the heat. Here we go I thought. As we headed west to Lahaina, Mike my driver and I talked art the whole way. He ran the warehouse and kept all the galleries supplied with art and packed paintings to ship all over the world. As we made to 30 min drive out to the westside I got a much better understanding of the art scene in Maui and how lucky I was to be showing my art work on Front Street. 

I had only been to Lahaina once before on a trip with my family in the early 2000's. The little narrow street was glowing with energy and I looked in awe at each of the art galleries like a child seeing real life dinosaurs. It was magical. Me, an artist, arriving on Front Street for an art show, being escorted by a driver (though in a sketchy van) to show my artwork with Hawaii’s top Artists. Wow, it was like a dream, and it still is to be honest.

I jumped out of the van and went straight into the gallery as Mike took off to another gallery to pick up a few pieces that had sold the previous day. Wow I thought, this is where art is happening. Entering the gallery no one noticed me and I couldn't find my art. Not the red carpet experience I was hoping for a North Shore surf artist with 18x24" originals selling for 350$ would expect. As I approached the sales team, and introduced myself, “Hi, I..am…uh…Welzie” 

Greeted with Aloha, I soon found my work on a back wall and started talking story with the sales team. They were so nice and helpful, suggesting pieces that might work well in Lahaina. Once I got a few more pieces hung up, I headed to my hotel to get settled and have a bite to eat.

Walking Front Street is such an experience. Being right on the water, watching surfers ride waves while tamed parrots squak at you for pictures. An old hippy asks if you need some pakalolo, while locals are throwing shakas to all their friends and family. Lahaina is a magical place and you can feel the energy and aloha strolling the old narrow streets of Lahaina town. 

After checking into the historic Pioneer Inn I think about all the artists who have stayed in the same hotel before me. Showing artwork in Lahaina is a right of passage for many Hawaii artist. Lahaina is the most well known art town in the state and was once one of the highest selling art towns in the country. As the sun started to settle over Molokai I was filled with gratitude that I have the opportunity to share my work in such a historic Hawaiian art town.

As the art show began I got to visit with the art dealers and watch Front Street come alive. So many people from all walks of life passed by the small gallery space. For someone like me who loves people watching it was so entertaining. The night went on and not too many people stopped into the gallery. I got to chat with a few interesting people but it wasn’t till the end of the night when my first piece sold. A small 12x16” shave ice art piece. The family was really nice and their kids favorite part of the trip was the daily shave ice after the beach. 

It was a humbling experience showing my art work for the first time in Lahaina. It was so much more than I expected. Though I didn’t sell as much art as needed to make the trip profitable, I did get to experience the Lahaina art scene. I knew this was a place important for me to be showing my artwork and that even though it wasn’t a perfect evening, I had to improve. This is where all the top dogs are. This is where you need to have representation. This is Hawaii’s art mecca.

Over the years my work got better and I eventually got my artwork into the Wyland gallery on Front Street. For me this was a major accomplishment. In my opinion the Wyland gallery is the top gallery and to have any wall space in the ocean front gallery is truly a blessing. Lahaina makes artist step up their art game, become better and more professional at their craft, and keep them humble at the same time. Thank you Lahaina for all that you have taught me. I will pass the lessons you taught me to the next generation of Maui artist striving to show their work in the historic art town of Lahaina Maui.