The first step to selling your artwork is finding customers. To have a long and healthy career, you need to find those great customers who return time and again to purchase art from new collections you release. Reaching these people is key to your long-term success, so working to find and nurture your ideal customer from the beginning is the most important thing you can do. But where to start? We’ve added a few thoughts below to help you on your way to career longevity and success.
Who is Your Ideal Customer?
For many artists, anyone who will pay is ideal, but with a more targeted approach, your sales will mount up with less effort in the long run. It’s hard to create and chase new customers constantly. Instead, consider your style and what you’re selling and create a customer persona who is your model buyer. This is a tactic sales and marketing professionals often use to hone in on the essentials and encourage business growth.
As most beginner artists are everything in their business – including their sales and marketing team – it’s a great exercise to start with.
How to Create Buyer Personas
A buyer persona is created using knowledge of your previous buyers and your best guesses and dreams. Get specific:
- imagine their name
- where they live
- what they do for work or fun
- what they read
- education and finance levels
- anything else you can think of
Be detailed during this brainstorming. You can get inspiration from people following you on social media, looking at insights and trends for things like gender, age, and what they do for work.
Create the persona to match any trends you identify closely. The Social Media company, Buffer, has created this fantastic article to get you started.
Figure Out Who And Where They Are
Once you have this persona figured out and an ideal customer in mind, it’s time to work out where they spend time. Divide those who may buy your high-end pieces along with mid-range and lower-end clients. After all, all businesses need regular income from low to mid-sales while waiting for those occasional vast sums of money from big buyers. But how to start selling? Start first by seeking to cultivate connections.
Cultivate Personal Connections Through Your Artwork
Connection in the days of social media is key and creates more than just the odd sale. Regular interaction leads to repeat purchasing, and your fans will help spread the word about you. Connection comes from sharing content about you and your world, your inspiration, your creative process, and what drives you to make it. If you’ve identified your ideal customer well, the content will align with their interests. This customer may be similar to you, so think about what interests you and makes you tick for ideas.
Explore How Beyond Print Can Help Sales
Once you’ve created beautiful art, found your ideal customer, and are ready to sell, your printer can truly make or break your business. Check out Beyond Print for a high-quality, experienced printing partner.
