Outback Art Fair and gasping for breath

This is an incredibly busy time of year for me. The Outback Art Fair is this weekend, and I've been painting like crazy! I like to have at least two brand new pieces to show at the Outback. With all the commissions I've had, things have been busy. Still, I managed to complete four new paintings. Below are two of them.

Cool, Clear Stream 250.00

The Trail to Little Presque Isle 325.00

   The Outback is my Superbowl. It's my chance to sell to a mass crowd, and make contacts for the upcoming year. It's fun and stressful all at once. No matter how much time I give myself to get ready, I always feel under the gun. I always manage to forget something. 
   This year's stress level has been further exasperated by a busy work schedule, a new position as Vice President of the Marquette Symphony Orchestra, and the Presidency of West End Community Arts Network.
   I wouldn't change a thing at this point. The stress is usually worth it! Next week I'll have a lot to write about, good or bad! 
   Thanks for bearing with me!

Marketing What They Really Want

When we market our art, what are we marketing? The look of it? The feel of it? The materials? Maybe all of the above? What do people really want when they buy one of my paintings? I should not only be selling art, but I should be selling the result and benefits of owning my art.
     I was looking over the stats of this blog, and I noticed that someone found it by searching "marketing a nonprofit". I thought about this phrase for a minute. I've been working with the Marquette Symphony Orchestra's Marketing/Communications/Public Relations committee for over two years, and I've never actually tried to market a nonprofit organization. I've tried to market the exhilarating experience of a live orchestra performing familiar and new works of musical art. That's the result of paying $27 to go to the symphony.
   Zig Ziglar wrote in his great book Secrets of Closing the Sale that when a person goes to the hardware store to buy a quarter-inch drill bit, they don't really want a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.
   Ladies don't want a bag of make-up. They want to look nice. They don't want bottles of shampoo and conditioner. They want nice hair. 
   A friend of mine thinks that grocery stores should install full length mirrors in the snack aisles. I'm sure the diet companies would love this, and I'm betting health professionals would like to see it too. But candy companies would hate it!
   How can we market the results and benefits of our owning our art? If you craft and sell jewelry, do you have mirrors available so customers can see how pretty they look wearing your creation? Candle makers have it made; people can smell their candles before they buy. They see and feel the results of what they're about to buy.
   With this in mind, I'm trying to make my tent at the Outback (on July 30th and 31st) feel like a home. I have nice 'walls' to hang my paintings on. I have an outdoor carpet to put on the ground. I want to bring a comfortable chair. I would like to keep things open, airy, and relaxing. 
   I'm hoping people will be able to 'see' my art in their own homes, hanging on their walls, brightening their rooms and their lives.
   That would be a nice result!
  

Pay per Click Ads vs. Direct Mail, Part Two

I'm in the process of going over my Google ads. I've been running at least one Google Adword campaign announcing my custom art since January, so I have a lot of ad history to look over. This is giving me some great insight into what works and what may not work.
   I'm thinking about a new direct mailing campaign. I want to apply my better Google ads to a printed ad of some sort, like a post card. Going through a long list of ads, I can see which ads have done well, and which ones haven't. Remember, the beauty of Google Adwords is that you can try all sorts of different ads. Since you're only billed for clicks, you only pay more for the best ads. If an ad doesn't work,  you don't lose money.
  There are some things I noticed while looking over my ads. The better performing ads all included a dollar amount. "You want Art. Starting at $200"... "Imaginative Art Starts at $150.00"... "Custom Art Direct from Artist! $200"..."Real Art direct from Artist $200"..."Unique Original Gifts $275 or less" . You get the idea.
   Most of my better ads had the term "Original Art" or "Real Art". My favorite and best performers compared original art to prints."Want cheap prints or Custom Oils?"
   Many of my better performers also included a question. "Can't find the perfect art?"... "Want cheap junk or Art?"
   Now, there's a big difference between a Pay-per-Click ad and a postcard. People find a PPC ad because they're searching for your service. A postcard will find someone who may not be looking for my service. So I've had to do some homework and target people who are somewhat likely to want some original art. Chances are, those people own fine art prints from other local artists. I wouldn't want to include the "cheap prints" line and insult the collector and the artist whose print they own. Besides, I believe in supporting my local arts scene, and everyone in it!
   But I'm starting to get an idea of what my next mailing might say. I'm going to ask a question, something like "Looking for the perfect gift?" Looking for the perfect piece of art?" "Can't find that 'just right' painting?" This approach acknowledges a problem that the prospect MIGHT be having. It will hopefully enter the conversation in that person's head. 
   The next logical step would be to provide the solution and offer my goods and services. "ArtofJohnFrench.com provides many quality, original oil paintings." The next line might read "Still don't see what you want? I will be honored to take on a commissioned work of art, just for you!" This line has a personal feel, and I hope it offers the prospect a sense of prestige and of being unique.
   So I've studied my PPC Google ads and I think I've come up with some decent copy for a mailing campaign. Now I just have to design the perfect card! I'm planning to send this mailing out in August. I'll let you know how it goes!
  
  

Finding the Golden Ad with a Pay-per-Click Campaign

This has been a really great year for my art sales, especially my commissioned art sales. The upswing really started at the end of last 2010. Therefore, at the beginning of the year, I had a little extra cash that I earned through some Christmas gift art sales. I decided to start up a new Google Adwords Campaign. 
   I had just read a book that I borrowed from my neighbors called The Ultimate Guide to Pay-per-ClickAdvertising by Richard Stokes, and I was eager to try out some great new ideas. 
   The first thing I did was decide on my budget. I decided I wanted to spend $100 or so per month. That's only $3.33 a day. I rounded my daily budget up to $3.50. Then I decided I'd be happy with 10 quality clicks on my ads per day. So I bid between 25 cents to 30 cents on my keywords.
   At first nothing much happened; a few impressions and no clicks. When something finally did happen, I found that my ads were so far down the page, that they were probably never getting seen. So I went through my keyword list and picked the best performing keywords and raised my bid on them. This gave me fewer clicks, but it also put me near the top of the first few pages. 
   There are basically three kinds of searchers typing in queries in a search box: There are browsers, shoppers, and buyers. Browsers are like window shoppers. I tried to target the shoppers and buyers by using words like "buy" and "collect" and "get". I also included the starting price of a custom commissioned piece of art. 
   I experimented with different ads to see which ones got the best response. I tried an image ad (as opposed to the more common text ad). I made an ad showing a portrait of my son's dog I did for him for Christmas. The ad got a lot of clicks, but I suspected that people were just clicking on it to see the cute puppy. So I got rid of it.

 

"Todd" 2010 Pet Portrait

    The results: I found a few keywords that work really well for me. I place a little more money on those keywords that the others. I also found some ads that work really well. Below is my most successful:

 
Original Custom Paintings
Can't Find the Perfect Art? LOOK:
Custom Art Direct from Artist! $200
www.artofjohnfrench.com

 

I've gotten two good paying commissions from these ads, and more than a few inquiries.  

  Interestingly enough, I recently modified the same ad so the price read $250. Lately it's been performing better with the higher price! But it's too early to tell how it will do in the long run.

   So if you decide to start your own Google Ads, don't be afraid to experiment! You don't have to go completely broke to run a fairly successful  Adwords campaign. Be creative... that's what we do!

Pay per Click Ads vs. Direct Mail, Part One

Several small direct mailing campaigns can be a great way to test your marketing message. But this can be a little costly, and the results are slow in coming and difficult to track. 
   Enter the magical PPC Ad! You know... like Google Ads...those ads that pop up on the right of your search results when you Google something, or on the left of this blog. With Google Ads you can test different copy and titles and see which one works the best in a very short amount of time, all for a few bucks a day.
   First, you'll need a website of some sort. I don't know if you can make a Google Ad that sends people to your Facebook page. Try it, and let me know!
   The next you'll have to do is sign up with a g-mail account. No worries, it's free, and who can ever have enough email accounts (I have four!)? After you've done that, go to www.google.com and look below the search box. Click on either Advertising Programs or Business Solutions. You're looking for the AdWords button. Click the button and follow the directions.
   The problem I have with Google Ads is they're almost impossible to target your ideal client. Google does a pretty good job of placing your ads in good spots. Besides the side bar, Google has a network of partners (like this blog) .My ads show up somewhere on Ebay's Art store. In fact, I got a client that way. Knowing how this client found me enabled me to adjust  the copy of my ad so I could try to target more like him.
   In order for your ads to show, you have to assign them some keywords. These are terms that folks search for when they're looking for your kind of art. You will have to decide how much money you want to spend when a searcher clicks on your ad. Hence, Pay-per-Click ads! You do this by bidding a dollar amount on your keywords. Start low, and work your way up until you start to see impressions. This means the ad is showing. You may have to adjust your bidding to get your ad to show higher on a page. You can see all of this on your Google AdWords Campaign Dashboard.
   You can get close to your targeted audience with your keywords. For instance, I wouldn't use "cheap art" as a keyword. I don't really want cheap customers, I want quality clients. I'd rather use "pricey art" or "expensive art". Maybe "buying art" wouldn't work as well as "collecting art". More about keywords on Wednesday!
   If you want to control your demographics, try Facebook ads. They work about the same way as Google Ads, except instead of using keywords, you target people by interests, age group, location, etc. Sometimes you can get too tight, and the ads don't reach enough people. I haven't used FB ads in awhile. I might try again soon.
  Big businesses are using both of these outlets. They have spent a lot of money on lucrative keywords. But don't worry! The beauty of Google Ads is that you can try something and very quickly and cheaply discover if it works or not. We're creative! We can find a way!
  
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Marketing: An Economic Force!

Marketing is expensive! I've spent a small, but controlled fortune promoting Art of John French. It's insane!
  As I was driving to my other career one predawn morning this week, I noticed a billboard illuminated boldly by a spot light. I had probably seen the billboard a hundred times, but for some reason, I never really paid attention to it. I thought to myself: That light has got to cost that advertiser a lot of money!
   Then I looked around at the other billboards. Most of them were not flooded with light, so I couldn't see what was on them. All I could see was their hulking shadows atop their massive frames, supports and columns. Have you ever really looked at a billboard? Not what's on it, but what it is.  They're huge! 
   So I thought about the construction company and crew that drove the supports into the ground, built the frame, and put the sheathing on the front. I thought about the lumber they bought, and the truck that delivered the lumber. I thought about the electricians who installed the light, and the maintenance people who take care of the whole thing after it was built.
   Then I thought about TV commercials, and how costly they are. Especially Super Bowl commercials! They fetch a high price because millions of people will see them. The cost per sale has got to be very low!
   Marketing is big business, because it's important! Heck, there's even a college degree for advertisers!
   But is it all worth it? Thousands of people will see a billboard, but how many will remember it? Of those who remember, who will care?
   Millions of people will see a commercial during the Super Bowl, but it just so happens that those costly commercials are fairly well targeted! The commercials advertise soft drinks, chips, and beer. What are most people doing right then? Hell yeah... Partying!
   So yes, marketing can be costly! But you aren't trying to sell a billion cans of  Mountain Dew. You're trying to sell a one-of a-kind piece of art. With a little creativity, some homework, and a lot of focus, you can reach a good number of the right people for a small cost. It's important! If it wasn't, billboards would be smaller!

How to Remain in Obscurity

We all know people who are waiting for their "ship to come in". They are people who are so certain that their day will come, they sit around and wait for that wonderful moment, not lifting a single finger to help themselves. 

Lazy Sail Boat ~www.artofjohnfrench.com $300.00

   I have to confess that at one time I was such a person! I knew that sooner or later, the right person would see my art, and I would be instantly famous. It never dawned on me that I had to advertise and market. Remember, my art will sell itself! All businesses advertise, but the art world is different. Other artists might need to market, but my art is different.
   Well, all art is different, and mine was no different. Here's what I did to remain in obscurity for a long time.
   I painted a picture every few months. Then I took it out to Michigamme Moonshine and they displayed it for me. If a painting sold, I would paint another one. But I never pushed my own art.
   I never pursued other opportunities. I didn't enter art shows, or art fairs, or competitions. I never approached other galleries. They cost too much, or they were too much work, or I didn't want to be turned down.

  I made very few moves to promote myself at all. I didn't bother to learn about websites. I didn't bother to make postcards. I didn't bother to find anything out about marketing.
  I let my art try to sell itself for far too long. I assumed people would see it at the one place I displayed it. They would buy it; they would tell their friends. Their friends would go buy some. 
  I didn't get involved in any art, culture and/or community groups. I didn't have time. I didn't have anything to offer. I had better things to do. Why volunteer, anyway?
  I didn't focus. I spent my time, energies, and money on self destructive habits. I was a heavy drinker. This may not be a problem you have, but it was holding me back, tying me down. It was in my way. I had to get rid of whatever was in my way. 
  I had almost no self confidence. When I approached Moonshine for the first time, I expected the owners to turn me away. To my surprise, they didn't! Still, I would work hours on a painting and then sell it for peanuts. I gave one away because I didn't like it.
  So finally, I realized that my success or my failure was up to me to achieve. Nobody was going to do it for me. Once I took ownership of my life and art, things began to change.
  I got sick of waiting for my ship to come in. So I swam out to it.

Motivation and Attitude- got them?

"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." ~Lou Holtz, former football coach.

   I've never considered myself a salesman. Therefore, I'm not a good salesman. I've never thought of myself as a marketer, therefore I've struggled with the marketing of my paintings. The single most important thing I've done as a marketer of my art is change my attitude!

   I've heard artists say, over and over, that they don't market themselves well, or they hate it because it takes away from their creative time, or that they simply don't apply themselves. It pleases me to hear that this little blog has helped some people with those issues! 

   Everything we do in life depends on our ability, our motivation, and our attitude. There are plenty of books, classes, seminars, videos, and CD's that can tell you how to market anything. But do they motivate you? That depends on your attitude. If you want to be motivated and inspired, then you will be. I fall asleep thinking about selling my art. I wake up wanting to find new ideas. I actually watch commercials and look at ads now. I try to discover what works.

   The ideas and techniques you learn can motivate you if you have the right attitude. Trying out new things is fun and exciting if you have the right attitude. Learning to market your art to the world can be a part of your creative process with the right attitude.

   I've had to make adjustments to my attitude over the years. I discovered a long time ago that the world would not beat a path to my door just because I paint nice pictures. I've had to beat the path from my door to the world. I've had to start thinking of myself as a marketer. I've allowed the marketing to become part of my creative process. 

   Lately, I've started to change my mind about being a salesman. That has been the hardest part, and I'm still not there! I have to figure out what's holding me back. My friend Brandon put it best when he said he didn't want to pester people because then they wouldn't like him. That's the kind of attitude and fear I have to conquer.

   I have a very motivated, positive attitude. My goal is to be rich and famous before I die. Everything I do with my art is aimed at that goal, while still being true to myself. So I'll end with this quote: "When you reach for the stars, you may not quite get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either." ~Leo Burnett 

  Leo Burnett was an advertising executive!

 

Trying to Please the King

I wrote earlier that good marketing will enter a conversation with someone's imagination. My friend Nancy , who used to be in advertising, tells me repetition is king.  KING! 
   I'm still working on the repetition part of this marketing thing. My friend Brandon  told me he worries about annoying people. I don't really want to annoy anyone either (which is one reason a direct mailing is a great approach to marketing), but it is very important to keep your name in front of people as often as you can!  Remember: KING!

   The postcard below was my first mailed attempt to have the most elusive conversation. I tried to combine the conversation idea with a quirky element of surprise by including the dragon among an otherwise natural list of imaginative activities.

  

 My mistake with this card was that I sent it to people in New York, New Jersey, Washington D.C., and Seattle, rather than keeping things close and local. I plan to send updated variations of this card to my local mailing list.

   Below is a conversation that I know many mothers have. I tried to appeal to the imaginations and emotions of my prospects with this ad.

 

I intended to make the above ad into a postcard and mail it out, but I didn't get to it in time.So I sent it as an email campaign instead. I did get some great responses to it, including a couple of late commissions. Next year, I plan to send the postcard to my mailing list.

   This ad/postcard is a future mailing. The painting is photo-shopped onto the drab wall. The beauty of this approach is that I can swap 'paintings' on the wall for different folks on my list.

I'm trying to show how art, especially my art, can brighten and improve a room.

   Feel free to borrow any of these ideas! I hope they work for you... Long live the King!

Marketing Value and Prestige

When you're marketing to your ideal prospects, it's important to market the right product at the right price. A lot of artists struggle with pricing their work when it's offered to the public. Ask too much, and it won't sell. But asking for too little can cost you credibility, worthiness, and - oddly enough- a sale.
   For years people have been telling me my art was priced to low. For years, my paintings sold here and there at those prices, so I was satisfied. I would rather have sold two paintings at $150.00 each than no paintings at $300.00. So my prices stayed low.
   Since I have become serious about learning to market and sell my art, I'm repeatedly coming across advice on pricing your goods, and the overwhelming consensus is that many businesses, not just artists, under price their goods and services. Many of the qualified authors I've read encourage business people to raise their prices. So I bumped my prices up by about $25.00. Wow.
   In 2010 one of my paintings (below) sold at the Upper Peninsula Children's Museum benefit auction for $1000.00! I was very happy to be able to help the museum, and it felt great to see MY art go for such a high price. After that, I felt more confident to raise my prices. Since I've done so, I've been busier than ever.
   A friend of mine told me that he knew a gallery owner in California. If the gallery had something they couldn't sell, he doubled the price, and it would sell.
   Another friend told me just today that he used to be a shoe salesman. They had a 'real dog' of a pair of shoes in the window. He said nobody wanted them, nobody looked at them, nobody asked about them. They told their manager what 'dogs' those shoes were. The manager raised the price, and the shoes were soon gone!
   These are just a few stories. You can find dozens of accounts telling how a higher price means higher value. Many people, especially the affluent ones who I'm trying to reach, will pay extra for the prestige and status. This is one of the reasons that having a positive impact on your community -and then marketing yourself as such- is so important!  Hopefully your customers will appreciate the higher value!

Part of the reason this sold for so high was because of the hidden images in the painting, and the fact that I was there to tell people about those hidden images. There are four faces in the trees. These are some local historic figures who helped shape Marquette, MI. There is also a violin in the tree trunk and buildings in the stones. The rock outcrop is actually a sleeping dragon. Plus, if you look at the red lighthouse, you'll see it may be hanging from the tree, or it may not.

Mailing to the List

Buying and tweaking your mailing list of art lovers and collectors really is little more than an educated guess. There is no guarantee that anybody on this list of prospects will become a client. Of course, you'll never know until you send them something... over and over.
   What do you send? Like I mentioned earlier, good marketers insert themselves into the imaginations of their prospects and either join the conversation already in their minds, or start one. But how do you know if these fine people are in the market to buy art? You don't know. You also don't know if they aren't in the market. You also don't know if they will be later, or if they'll never be.
   If you've properly done your homework, you will be reaching people who are somewhat likely to support and buy the kinds of things you create. Chances are slim that you'll be reaching them at the precise moment that they want your art. 
    This is where the repetition becomes so important. It's also a lesson I have to keep reminding myself of. I'm still in the process of fleshing out my mailing list and adding to it. When I'm satisfied that I have a good number of good people, I plan to mail them the postcard below:

 

The hope in this postcard is that the viewer will see something they like,

and through the text, be further tempted to purchase it. 

My only reservation about it is that I may have used the

negative word "don't" too many times.

   Maybe they aren't looking for the paintings I have to offer. After a month or so, I plan to mail them a postcard offering them custom art services. A little after that, I'll send something else. 

   This can get costly. The most money-eating part of this process will be the postcards, brochures, or whatever you chose to include in your mailing. If you have a good printer, you can do this yourself. If not, then shop around at the different printing businesses around your area.

   If all goes well with the plan I'm sharing with you, some of these prospects will become clients. If I treat the clients right, some of them will become repeat clients, then the holy grail of customers; referring clients. 

  Good luck! ...and wish me the same!

The Mailing List

On Wednesday, I told you how I identified my ideal client. Now that I had some idea who bought the Art of John French, I needed to figure out how to find more of them. So I looked into buying mailing lists.
   You can buy a mailing list from many different companies. There are people who do little more than sift through data bases, subscription lists, public records, and the like compiling list upon list. Then they sell the information to needy marketers like you and me. Some lists are more costly to purchase, but they're better updated and more finely tuned.
     I wasn't planning a real big campaign, so I went to VistaPrint.com.  They have a base list for real cheap. Don't waste your money on this list! VistaPrint allows you to chose more specific criteria for a few pennies more per name. You can focus your targeting to get the kind of people you want. Spend the little extra to fine tune this list. 
   First, you decide how many people you want. I chose 150 names and addresses. Then you can decide on a geographical location. You filter by zip-code, city, state, including anyone within a specific radius from that place. So I typed in 49855, Marquette, MI's zipcode, with a 25 mile radius. That gave me names in Ishpeming, Negaunee, some suburbs and locations in between. 
   You can specify what income level you want to target. I targeted people making more than me, but not too much. My clients weren't millionaires. I specified young and middle aged people, from mid-thirties up to their early fifties. I targeted home-owners, because I foolishly presumed that a renter wouldn't invest in or decorate with art.
    I found that my targeting was too narrow. There weren't enough records to complete my order. So I opened up the age group to mid-twenties to mid-sixties. I also decided to include renters. A renter making the money I was targeting was going to love his home, whether it was owned or leased.
   Now I had my 150 names and addresses. I paid for the list, and they emailed me a file. I wasn't satisfied to just send my marketing to the list without knowing something about the people, so I sat down and Googled every name on the list.
   It was well worth the extra effort! I found out that some were doctors, others were lawyers. Some were teachers and professors. Many were community organizers of some sort. I was able to further personalize the mailings.
   Other reasons the extra search was a good idea: I also found that some folks had moved from the address I had on the list. One poor fellow was dead. I'm glad I didn't insensitively send a postcard to his widow.
   I narrowed my list down to about 75 to 100 strong prospects. Now all I had to do was send them something that would speak to them.