by Maria Brophy
This is a problem that is easily remedied, so if you catch yourself doing this, trust that you can learn how to change your mindset and generate good energy.
Before any event or interaction with a buyer, generate a powerful inner energy of confidence and calm and joy in yourself by doing the following:
Prepare in advance by having all of your pricing figured out. Dress in a way that makes you feel confident, and exhibit your art in a way that makes you feel proud.
Adopt the belief that your art is a solution to someone else’s life. Know that money is an exchange for that solution.
Accept that not everyone is going to love your art. Be okay with that.
Know that when someone loves your art, they will be happy to pay for it, as it will bring them joy in one way or another. By selling them the art, you are contributing something wonderful to their life.
Believe that your art is a contribution to the world. Adopt this belief by repeating it to yourself, over and over again daily.
Say to yourself: “My art is a contribution to the world. People who need my art are happy to exchange money for it. My art is a contribution. My art is a contribution. My art is a contribution.”
ALLOW YOUR CLIENTS TO SPEND
THE MONEY THEY WANT
If you were raised in a wealthy family where fine artwork was purchased and valued, this section most likely won’t apply to you.
But, if you grew up in a lower middle class family, or in poverty, or were raised by parents who had a poor money mindset, you may suffer from an ailment that you aren’t even aware you have. And it’s this: you have a belief that you are not able to afford things and that there is never enough money. Then you take that belief and you put it on your clients, unknowingly. In doing this, you lower the amount of money your clients will spend on your art. This practice is killing your sales.
Let me explain. And please, give this deep thought, because once you understand this, you will be able to turn it around. When we believe that we can’t afford things beyond a certain dollar amount, we subconsciously place our own dollar limits on our clients.
For example, let’s say your own personal dollar limit for buying an item for your home is $500. Anything over that and you feel that you just cannot afford it. Now, when a client is looking at the artwork you have available, and you show them one $500 painting and they love it and decide to buy it, you will complete the sale but leave money on the table. In your mind, buying one $500 painting is their limit; because it’s your limit.
However, once you realize that $500 is your own personal limit, and not theirs, you can offer to sell them a second art piece to compliment the first. And if they say yes to that second piece, you might say, “well, I also have this one over here that would go perfect with the first two that you chose.” The truth is, you have no idea how much they might be willing to spend on art. Don’t make any assumptions.
This is such a subtle change, but one that has made a huge increase in income for us. When someone walks into our studio and wants to buy one art piece, I then show them a second and a third and so on. I keep offering them more until they say “no, this is enough.”
From now on, notice what goes on in your mind when selling. Are you placing your own personal dollar limits on your buyers? With awareness, you can train yourself to stop doing it.
PRACTICE FEELING CONFIDENT
Here are two mind and body techniques to increase your confidence when selling.
Using Body Language: When someone asks how much a piece of your art is, practice feeling confident when you state the price. Let your body language exude confidence, by standing tall, pulling your shoulders back and keeping your arms away from your body.
Open arms means an open heart. Folded arms gives a feeling of being closed off from the person you’re talking with. Open your arms away from you so that you give the signal of caring and openness to your buyer. Smile, and confidently discuss what it will take to get this art piece to go home with your buyer and bring them joy.
Over time, this will come easier to you. Just like everything else, discussing art and money is a skill, and if you keep practicing it will become second nature.
Using your mind: Use your conscious mind to direct your thoughts and feelings. If you feel self conscious, focus all of your thoughts on the buyer. Take your mind off of yourself and try to figure out who your buyer really is: what do they love, what do they want and what’s important to them? You can do this by asking them questions, such as: “where are you from originally” or “what’s your favorite hobby” or “what do you love most about living where you live?”
Don’t allow yourself to worry about whether they think your art is good, or what they think of you. When talking to others, you shouldn’t be thinking about yourself at all. It distracts you from true connection with the other person. The more we think about ourselves, the more awkward we feel.
If it makes you feel any better, insecurity is common amongst creative people. Many of those who we consider to be great artists have massive feelings of insecurity, even after they have made it big. This is normal and it’s okay to feel unsure of yourself sometimes.
Don’t allow yourself to feel intimidated by anyone. Your feelings of not being good enough are all in your head. Train yourself to deflect thoughts of being less-than and instead tell yourself “I am enough.”
We have the power to reject any thought or feeling that doesn’t serve us.
Every time a negative thought pops into your head that says I’m not good enough or who do I think I am to do this great thing, scream back “I reject that thought.” When you tell a thought that you reject it, it goes away. It will come back, but keep rejecting it. After it’s been rejected enough times, it will stop coming.
In social situations, when we think too much about ourselves, we feel self-conscious and uncomfortable. It’s not possible to think about yourself and about someone else at the same time, so place your mindful focus on your buyer. When you do, your energy will come through as a person who cares, listens and understands.
Your buyers are people. People want to be loved and to feel important. People like people who make them feel loved and important. People buy art from people they like!
And lastly, don’t be attached to the need to sell to that person. Feeling desperate to sell puts out a vibration of desperation, which can kill the sale and stress you out while doing it.
Relax. Enjoy the person you’re talking to. Encourage the sale, make it easy for them to buy, but don’t feel like your day will be ruined if you can’t sell it. Be okay with what happens. Allow the outcome to be what it will.
SALES STRATEGIES AND CHALLENGES
You might have noticed by now that I use the word “connect” a lot. Let me explain what I mean by that. When you connect with someone, your interactions with them go deeper than surface level. You move from talking about mundane things like the weather and onto subjects that make you feel happy, excited or stimulated. When you connect with someone, you accept who they are and they, in turn, accept you. You’ll feel mutual admiration for each other and form a relationship that can last long term.
A lot of the advice I share in this book is intended to help you better connect with your buyers and people in general. Even if you are an introvert, you can learn how to deeply connect with people you meet. It begins with you, making the decision that from this point forward, you will open yourself up to forming greater relationships with people by doing things that make people feel good when they are in your presence.
Connecting with someone doesn’t mean that you have to exchange phone numbers and hang out every weekend! A good connection can be formed and enjoyed for five minutes or for five decades. Have you ever met a stranger at a random place that made you laugh and brought out your inner beauty for just a few minutes? That’s a great example of connecting with someone, though briefly.
People want to feel important, even important people. You connect with people by
making the conversation about them. The best way to do this is to ask questions, listen more and talk less. When we listen, we learn.
People are so fascinating when we take the time to get to know them. People are like onions; they are made up of multiple layers. With each layer that you dig through, you learn something new. For example, when I met an artist named Bill Jordan, I just thought he was a regular guy doing regular things. It seemed that we didn’t have much in common. But then, during a conversation it was revealed that he had studied sacred geometry decades ago. We weren’t so different after all. I felt even more connected to him, though, after he told me about his travels through Bali when he studied under a guru. Now, I had an admiration and connection with him that ran deep, because I, too, have a love for travel and studying the same interests.
Learn to love people and see who they really are behind their public facade. If you can get in the habit of feeling love and acceptance for people, while interacting with them, they will respond back to you with the same.
What does love and acceptance have to do with selling art? A lot. People buy from people they love. For someone to love and accept you, it has to be reciprocal. Love and acceptance is never a one-way street.
What I mean by love is this: have the feeling of love in your body when you are talking with them. That feeling is hard to describe, but you can compare it to how you feel when you are playing with a cute puppy or someone’s baby. The feeling is admiration, acceptance and wonder. You can generate this feeling anytime by looking for positive aspects about the person, focusing on those aspects and allowing yourself to feel appreciation for them.
But, you might be thinking, how do you get to a deep connection when you are just meeting someone for the first time, especially when they are possible buyers of your art?
Ask WHO, WHAT WHERE, WHEN, HOW questions that will get your buyers talking about themselves. Don’t ask “yes or no” questions, as they can be conversation stoppers. For example, ask:
“Where are you from?”
“What about this piece appeals to you?”
“Why did you decide to come here on vacation?”
“How many other pieces of original art have you collected?”
Find a hook, something that you can relate to with the person. Even if the person is very different from you, you can always find something in common. Love for a particular sport or team, or vacation spot or even a TV show.
For me, if the buyer is a woman with children, I’ll ask questions that will connect me with her better, such as:
“How many children do you have?”
“How old are they?”
Since I’m a mother, I can find things to relate with other mothers. Any mother of a teenage girl can laugh and talk about how difficult teenage girls are!
For those of you who love sports, like football or baseball or basketball, if the buyer is also a sports fan, talk about that. If you can get to know your buyer on a deeper level, you can earn their trust and form a long term relationship.
REJECTION DOESN’T EXIST
Never allow yourself to feel rejected. It’s not a rejection when people don’t buy. It doesn’t mean that your art isn’t good enough. It means that the person isn’t ready for you yet, or they don’t get what you’re doing, or they don’t need it right now.
Sometimes people won’t understand what it is that you do. Be kind and gentle about this; most people are not visionaries. You can’t blame them if they don’t recognize your ideas or your art as the next earth-shattering thing.
The Beatles were turned down by nearly every record label in Europe before landing a record contract with EMI in 1962. Everyone said they wouldn’t make it.
J.K. Rowlings, author of the wildly popular Harry Potter series, was turned down by dozens of publishers before she got her first book published.
It’s painful to be told that your art isn’t wanted. The word “no” cuts like a knife right into your healthy psyche. Chews you up and spits you out. Makes you feel less worthy and bitter, if you let it. Don’t let it.
View each “no” as a temporary thing. A NO will turn into a YES when the timing is right, if you are there when it happens.
LOOK FOR YOUR PEOPLE
My wise husband Drew always says “Some people are going to love your art, and some people are going to hate it. Your job is to find the people who love it.”
It’s hurtful not being accepted into certain groups or turned away from something that you felt in your heart was so perfect for you.
Drew and I spent years trying to bang down doors in the surf industry of people who didn’t quite understand his art. We finally have come to accept that we needed to skip the closed doors and go through the doors that were wide open to us. There are many people who are a match with our work and our life mission. And we now put our efforts into getting to know those people instead.
We learned this lesson a few years ago when a charity partner broke our hearts. We had helped them raise hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of a few years. We had worked very closely with them, donating our time and art to their cause. Then one year they held an art exhibit of “the top artists in surf.” We were shocked to find that Drew was excluded from the event. We thought it was a mistake, since Drew was one of the most influential artists in surf. When we asked why, we were told that the committee felt that Drew didn’t fit into a show that had a lot of “hip” artists. We didn’t know what they meant by that. Drew is just a regular guy that surfs big waves and paints for a living. He doesn’t dress fashionably or try to make a statement. And that was where he didn’t fit in. We felt used and let down.
That experience helped me learn to accept the hard truth that our brand and style is not going to be a match for everyone. We have our people, and they love us. And the other people, well, they have their own thing going on and we just don’t fit in. And that’s okay.
Remember that you and your creations are worthy and that there are many opportunities lining up to accept you and your art right now. You just have to look in the right places to find them. Don’t give up when you’re pushed away. Keep looking for the perfect match. Be patient.
DON’T SELL ICE TO AN ESKIMO
There’s an old saying that says that if you’re good at sales, you could sell ice to an Eskimo. But that’s not fair, why would you waste an Eskimo’s money on something they don’t need!
Keep your integrity. Never sell something to someone that isn’t right for them. It will harm your reputation and that’s not worth the money you’ll make from the sale.
Turn away projects that are not for you. When someone wants to commission Drew to paint a portrait, we tell them no, Drew is not a portrait painter. Sure, he could paint a portrait, but it won’t be the best one. Instead, we refer them to a friend who does a great job of painting portraits.
Take the time to find out what your customer needs, ask questions, listen intently, care about what they have to say. And then sell them what they need or refer them out to someone who can give it to them.
IF YOU’RE DESPERATE TO MAKE A SALE TODAY
Art sales ebb and flow. Some months art sales will be prosperous and other months will be so lean you’ll ask yourself why you decided to do this for a living! Money fluctuations are especially hard on those of us who formerly worked a real job and got used to a steady pay check.
For Drew and I, art sales are slowest in the months of January and September. Sometimes we find ourselves in serious need of a CASH INFUSION. This “desperation” to sell art actually works in our favor, because it forces us to take deliberate action, which leads to growth.
My quickest remedy for slow sales is to get on the phone and start calling people. I begin with calling collectors who have bought from us in the past. I’ll ask how they are doing. I’ll listen and converse and then ask if there is anything they need from us right now.
Next I’ll call on people who have shown interest in the past but never bought. I’ll
say “Hey, I was wondering if you ever got the artwork you needed. How did it go?” This helps me understand why they decided not to buy from us, and it opens the door to possible work with them in the future. I always ask “Is there anything we can do for you right now?”
Sometimes they will say no, but thanks for calling. I’ll remind them to keep us in mind for the future. Other times they will say “well, while you’re on the phone, yes. I’m working on a new project and need an illustration.” Either way, it’s great that I called, because it keeps the lines of communication open. People forget about you if you don’t keep in touch. Out of sight, out of mind.
Let’s take a moment to write out who you will call to get a cash infusion. Right now, grab your notebook and write the following lists:
Five people who have bought from me in the past
Five people I would like to do business with
Five local people I can go visit in person
Make a commitment to give this method a try. For the next 30 days, every morning, begin your day by writing a list of five people you will contact by phone or in person. Check it off as you go.
Call and visit a minimum of five potential buyers every day. After a month of this consistent action, you will be shocked at how many wonderful opportunities and commissions come from it.
KEEP LEARNING AND PRACTICING SELLING
Set the intention to learn more techniques to connect with people and sell your work. Read books and blogs on selling and take online courses. Continue learning and practicing until it comes naturally to you.
FOLLOWING UP WITH YOUR BUYERS
Don’t wait more than a day to follow up with someone who showed interest in your work. When someone shows interest, by email, in person or any other way, follow up with them within 24 hours. Make sure you’ve answered their questions and given them the opportunity to say yes.
