Review: How to Sell Your Art without Selling Out created by Steve Popkin

Steve Popkin’s ‘How to Sell Your Art without Selling Out’ e-course has been implemented by a multitude of artists located all over the globe. The course consists of 27 presentations, each presentation centred on a unique and incredibly valuable topic for the developing artist. The entire course is narrated and discussed in depth by Steve Popkin himself, giving a personal touch to the course and incorporating real-life, relatable examples into the content.

Starting with the most asked question by artists “How Do I Price My Art?” Steve offers a thorough, yet easy to understand explanation of price points and how they relate to your art. He then leads you on to discover the more intricate details of becoming a successful artist and discusses how you can develop your craft into something that is not only marketable but is still representative of your passions as an artist. The course discusses everything you need to know about art marketing and offers a range of plans and ideas for the development of your own art. Whether you want to create a full time art business for yourself or if you’re looking to improve on your hobbies, you’ll find this course to be an invaluable resource.

 As an artist himself, Steve openly admits that he’s not the most incredibly talented artist in the world. He makes his art because it’s what he is passionate about and he wanted to build a business around doing what he loved – isn’t that something we all want? The important point that Steve makes here, is that even though he may not be the best glass blower, he is able to successfully make a living selling his art, while other – possibly more talented – artists continue to struggle. Why could that be? Unfortunately, what they forget to teach us in art school is how to successfully market our art. Over the course of many years and of many trials and errors, Steve has developed this course so you won’t have to experience the same struggles. He simply offers the answers. All that is left for you to do is put the strategies in place and be ready to turn your passion or hobby into a thriving business.

Now, let’s not be kidding ourselves, the road to becoming a Thriving Artists is not necessarily an easy one to tread. But by following the lead that Steve sets out for us in his e-course, the road has been made a lot clearer and easier to successfully navigate. So my advice to you is that if you are determined to become a successful artist, living a full life on the income created by your art, this is an incredibly powerful resource which you cannot do without!

How to Price Your Art to Sell

As artists we like to focus on the making of art, not so much the selling of it, right? But in order to continue making our art and doing what we love, we need to be able to sell it. So the number one question artists will always ask is… “How do I price my art?”

Well, that is a very complicated question, but a simple answer is… “It depends”. 

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to pricing your art. What you will be able to sell you art for depends on a multitude of variables, such as your ability as an artist, the marketability (or demand) of your type of work, how well established you are and so on. Now, if you’re a new artist just starting out or if you’ve been creating art for a while and you’re looking to start selling it, there’s no need to fret! There are strategies and pricing structures that you can put in place to build a customer base and thus increase the value of your work. 

We would all like to start out selling our pieces for several hundreds or even thousands of dollars. But the simple truth is that without demand or even knowledge of your work or yourself as an artist, it simply isn’t going to happen! However, as a new artist to the marketplace you have the unique opportunity to establish buyers who can grow with you, perhaps into avid collectors of your artwork. And the simple fact of the marketplace is that collectors mean demand and demand means increased sales as well as heightened prices for your work. But before we get too carried away, let’s take a step back and look at how we can price our art to get to this point.

As an entry-level artist, you need to look to sell to entry-level buyers, which will inevitably mean entry-level prices. And again, these prices can depend on the particular market you’re looking to sell to and the type of work you are trying to sell. You’ll need to do some research. Find some similar artists in your area or similar pieces for sale – what is the common price point? It may be very low, $20-$40 dollars or it might be quite promising, $50-$100. Either way, you need to find a reasonable price point to start with. If you find your works sell quickly, you could even consider raising your average price point.

Once you’ve sold your first few paintings, you should be starting to create a customer base. This doesn’t necessarily need to only include people who have purchased your work, you may have come across people who are genuinely interested in your work that you could include in your customer base to market to in the future. The idea here is not so much focusing on selling your artwork right now, but establishing ways in which you can continue you to sell your art. 

So, make sure you align your pricing with the current marketplace you’re trying to sell to. You don’t need to continue selling at the initial price points you establish, remember that as your customer base increases, so too can your average price point. 

Connecting your Art Business and the Internet

So, you’re an artist who’s passionate about your work too? Unfortunately, as artists we need to be able to not only make art that inspires us, but also art that sells so we can continue doing what we love. But how can we do this?

Well, there is a very powerful marketing tool for all artists that is often overlooked – the internet! It can be your best friend when it comes to promoting and selling your artwork. Whether you’re new to the internet, or you’ve been online for years, there are simple and easy to implement ways in which to establish an online presence for yourself as an artist and your artwork. 

There are already trading and auction sites online that have well established art sales categories which many artists utilise to continue to make regular sales. Keep an open mind. Sites like eBay are not what you may think! They are simple, easy to use, and can help to boost your art sales when they may not be going so well offline. Sites like eBay already have a large database of people looking to buy art, why wouldn’t they want to buy yours? There are also many art galleries with an established presence online. Research your local art galleries to see if any of them are online or research which art galleries are currently online that you could get involved with. 

Or, if you’ve got a rather large portfolio of work and you’d like to keep some control over where and how your works are displayed, your own website may be an incredibly powerful option! Your own art site will enable you to easily display your works in one spot as well as quickly broaden your customer base and better connect with your current customer base. In saying that, email is another effective marketing tool for all artists. When used correctly, regular or well timed emails will enable you to establish an ongoing relationship with your customers and fans and can increase your sales opportunities through follow up’s and targeted promotions.

Integrating your art with the Internet can be seen by some art purists as diminishing to the value and exclusivity of the art world. However, the truth is quite to the contrary. An ever increasing amount of art buyers and collectors rely on the internet as a valuable source of current market trends and preview of the types of artists and works that are available. By presenting your work online, you are thus exposing your work and yourself as an artist, to an ever increasing, rapidly growing and international marketplace. What an incredible start!

Five Great Examples of Collectible Paintings: This Art Mimics the Economic Downturn

Internet art gallery DiscoveredArtists.com reports that art continues to mimic life and, in fact, in some instances mocks life.A growing number of paintings and fine art photos posted to the online art gallery are themed around the current economic downturn.  The artworks range in temper from sympathetic, emphatic reflections on the plight of the common man, to critical commentary on corporate greed, and on the worsening economic outlook.”We always see art that reflects the good times, but crisis, bad news and social and political controversey really seem to stir the creative juices,” said DiscoveredArtists.com’s Brian Walker.It’s no surprise that contemporary artists who by nature are gifted with hyper-awareness and a natural desire to express opinion, are reacting to the economic crisis through their art.   Along with creating new works of art, artists are culling their portfolios for pieces that reflect the recent financial crisis, and especially art that communicates their sympathetic and empathetic themes related to the common man with concerns about credit, unemployment and corporate greed.Walker explains that “We search for talented independent artists and invite them to sell their work in our gallery, so we’re actually a curated site.”But Walker adds that artists have “complete freedom” to choose the art that they add to the site, so the themes and ideas reflected in recently posted artwork are a good indication of what’s on the minds of independent artists.And clearly, based on recent postings, the current economic crisis tops the list.

Over the past few months, in sync with growing bad news about the economy, a number of artworks related to the tragedy of business failure and high unemployment, and commentaries on corporate greed and Washington politics are showing up in artists’ galleries.

Fine art photographer, Robert Hicks, recently posted No More Credit to his DiscoveredArtists.com gallery. The artist relates deeply with the plight of small town folks who are affected by financial woes.  He writes, “I have been through financial failure in the 80’s when the oil business crashed and took me with it, so I have a personal connection with the images of financial distress, failed businesses, and decaying edifices that once represented someone’s hopes and dreams.

Hicks, however, continues with a positive twist to the tragic story of survival, “… I also connect with my images of those who try to find a way to survive in tough times – as represented in No More Credit – and find opportunity in the midst of the crisis – as depicted in Cash for Titles.  I understand the rocky road of recovery from financial disaster.”

Both photographs are part of a series of black and white images depicting the edifices or other traces left by people on the side of the road, inviting the viewer to imagine the stories evoked by those structures or other mute signs of human presence.  The photos are an invitation to the viewer to use their imagination and write their own story.

A completely different temper of the times is expresssed in Politicians on Parade by American Artist, Maggie Stewart.  This might be an artwork with a generally accepted point-of-view, but we certainly can connect the thought behind the painting to recent financial bailouts, and especially to the regulatory failure that lead to them.  The artwork is a small, but powerful 5″ x 7″ monoprint on copper plate, and is a real departure from the usual decorative artwork that this very established artist typically creates.  Clearly an inspired work of art.

Unemployment Line by South African artist Grady Zeeman reminds us that the economic crisis is worldwide, and is equally or even more severe outside the U.S.  The artist comments in a description of this artwork that unemployment is at crisis level in South Africa, and that rising costs for housing and food make prospects for many South African families bleak.  The large 36″ x 24″ painting is an original oil on stretched canvas, and is one of over twenty paintings that Zeeman has posted to her DiscoveredArtists.com gallery.  The artist’s mission is to raise awareness of South African issues that affect the lives of her fellow countrymen.

Corproate Conscience by Canadian artist Mark Eliuk leaves nothing to the imagination.  The artist makes no comment about the surrealism portrait because the title, and the painting itself speak volumes about his view of big business.  The 11″ x 14″ painting is available on stretched canvas as a limited edition giclee print, signed and numbered by the artist.  The series is capped at 250 and only twenty of the prints are available for purchase online.

About DiscoveredArtists.com DiscoveredArtists.com is an online art gallery where independent artists sell work directly to the general public.  All purchases are backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee, including return shipping.  Purchase original and limited edition wall art, fine art photographs and art objects with a major credit card.  All art is shipped directly to the Buyer from the Artist’s studio.