If you want to sell art, stop selling! At least some of the time.

In this blog article, I want to tell you the way that I sell a LOT of art, and it's a bit counter intuitive!

I have found that the most effective way to sell art is to radically limit when it's available.  A lot of artists are always telling people that their art is available for purchase in every social post…. And probably hearing crickets. I don’t think this is the most effective way to sell art, and I’m going to tell you about the method I use that has been FAR more profitable.

I sell most of my art online in very short and fast weekend shop updates every 4-6 weeks.  I recommend that every artist and maker should get into this rhythm.  In this article I’m going to explain why it works well from both the artist and the collector side and give you a peek into the workflow of a typical month in between updates.

From the artist perspective, it’s really great for me to be able to batch the individual tasks associated with the shop refresh. 

I buy the supplies all at once, then I make the art in a series. 

THE CYCLE, EXPLAINED

This is what a shop update looks like for me! In the art making phase of this studio practice rhythm, which let’s face it, is the fun part, I make a bunch of artworks in a series, with different colors and different sizes.

I’m making paintings these days, and my art takes a while to dry, so I have to plan it out.  After paintings are dry, I sign, title, and photograph each one. Again, so much easier to batch this process.  I set up the camera and the lights ONCE and document all the art.  I make sure to have a good inventory system so I can make sure my art listings are accurate.  Then I edit the photos and create the product listings on my website.

When I get close to a shop update weekend, I start letting people know on social and also my mailing list.  I usually have a preview of the work available on my website so people can pick the ones they want before it goes live.  The shop goes live at a certain predetermined time.

Besides sending a preview email to my mailing list, I usually post more on social during an art update weekend, maybe 3 to 4 times a day on Friday and Saturday.

Launch weekend is always intense because I love to fulfill orders really fast. So, there’s a big flurry of printing shipping labels and packing art and answering customer service questions. It usually takes me 2-3 to process the orders and get everything shipped. Many of the shop updates will often sell out, but sometimes they don’t, and that’s fine.  At the end of the weekend, I pull the unsold work and shut the store down, no matter what.  Then, done!  I get to start the process all over again.

I find that I’m most effective when I can batch my days into concentrated time and attention.  My studio life is also more enjoyable when I have a full week of just creating, then a few days of shop prep and a few days of shipping, rather than being completely scattered.

If I had art available all the time, my work hours would get really broken up with shipping here and there, painting here and there, maintaining the website shop, photographing new paintings… It would just be too chaotic and hard to focus. So, it’s a win for me.  

In 2021 I shipped out about 4000 packages in focused in about 15 shop updates.  During Christmas I have a more compressed system of weekly shop updates, but it makes the most sense for me to do a weekend sale once every month or so.  That way I can put all my energy towards filling orders in one fell swoop, and I can focus on art the rest of the time. 

THE POWER OF URGENCY AND SCARCITY

The shop update process works really well from the customer perspective as well, because having these limited time releases drives urgency and scarcity.  My audience knows they have a window to get something, and the one of kind art will not be available again. EVER.  So instead of something that is always around for purchase, that maybe they’ll buy maybe they won’t, they know they kind of have to make a decision and buy the thing. Now or never!  If things are always available, it’s easy to delay purchasing them.  But my collectors know that my shop updates come along few and far between and sell out fast.  Boom! Urgency and scarcity.  It generates a lot of energy and excitement during the shop update weekend.

GET A BREAK FROM “SELL MODE”

Another thing that I like about the shop update model is for social media, I don’t always have to be in sell mode.  I can just post beautiful videos and show my fun projects without constantly asking for the sale, which can get a little annoying both as a creator and as a fan. 

I highly advise artists and creatives to build this rhythm into their own art practice! In order to make it work, it’s best to create a series or a collection, and then release it into the world in one fell swoop.

Do you need more help with your art business? You should download my free guide: Pricing Your Art Made Easy. You’ll love it.