I have heard from so many artists who tell me nobody is buying art. According to them, no one has bought art for years.

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Uh, really?

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Even now, as various countries are facing crazy ass inflation, people are still buying art, so if your art isn’t selling it’s time to dig deeper.

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Here are the things I look for when someone comes to me about a lack of sales:

are you asking for the sale?
That’s it, that’s the list. Sure, there are other items like how saleable is your art, but those are often eclipsed by the fact that you’re probably not actually selling your art because you’re not selling your art.

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People are busy and distracted. Even if they intend to message you to ask, they will forget in the moment. Something will come up and then your art is out of mind.

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You have to do the work for them!

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Amazon didn’t make it so big because people had to ask if a book was for sale, how much was it, and how to pay. What did they do instead? They made it EASY and removed every barrier to purchasing.

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So let’s translate that into art sales.

• TELL PEOPLE YOUR ART IS FOR SALE
• list the medium/media
• list the dimensions
• LIST THE PRICE
• tell them how to buy it (link to your site, DM etc)
• give them a reason to buy it. Tell a story about the piece, talk about the meaning or symbolism. Whatever. But do it.
• Then do this again and again. You should be posting sales posts, if not every day then certainly 3-4 days per week.

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You should have an email newsletter with a focus on selling your art. Put a call to action at the end which will tell your readers what to do next (hit reply to purchase, click here to go to the website).

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Remember that we think of ourselves more than other people do. Our needs, worries, thoughts are front and centre. Just because you know your art is for sale doesn’t mean other people do! And just because you’ve posted a sales post once, doesn’t mean everyone has seen it or even remembers it.

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Be like Amazon and make it easy for people to buy from you. Ask for the sale and remove the barriers to buying.

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Ready to go deeper? Check out my Creative Catalyst Coaching which is 1 on 1 coaching by the hour for ambitious artists.