The Artists Diet

I just sent out an email to my customers, galleries, artist friends, etc. One of my artist friends wrote back "Your newsletter is also a major inspiration, it's something I must do. Hard to find the time while trying to supply galleries/enter shows."

To me that is like saying, "It's hard to find time to brush my teeth because I am so busy eating". I happen to know that this artist friend has several wonderful paintings in each of her galleries. Filling the walls of the gallery is like over eating. You are more attractive if you eat a balanced diet and don't stuff yourself. People find it easier to buy your work if they are not over whelmed by too many choices.
My suggestion is to Go On a Diet. Instead of sending more and more work to the galleries, spend time creating a newsletter and communicating with the world.

I actually quit sending my monthly newsletters because I was getting little, if any, response. Instead, I send out emails when I have news (accepted into shows, won an award) and when I have a new painting. I try to send something out once a week. This brings in lots of response. I also like to keep images on several website and keep up with my blogs.

And how much time does it take? As little or as much time as I have. If I sit down and do this all at once it can take me 2-3 hours. But I usually breakup the task into small bits. I have my email addresses in different folders: customers, friends, galleries, media. The first people who get my email are my customers. I use Mozilla Thunderbird for my email and am able to personalize the emails, click "Send" and I'm off to the easel while the computer is sending all the emails. Later, I come back and send emails to the rest of my contacts.

If you have time to post on Facebook, you have time to send an email.

My blogs and images on websites are done in a similar fashion. I prepare an image with description and put it on my own blog (sharing the info on Facebook and Twitter) Then over the next few days I put the same info on other website where I show my work. It really take very little time each day.

The trick is to get in the habit of doing it. Yes, sometimes you really DO need to stay in the studio and paint and the blogs and emails get neglected. And that's ok. Just get back on your diet as soon you can and stay in touch with the world.

Snail Mail vs Email

Sacred Heart, detail on postcard, original painting 36 x 36

Back when I first started painting I did a lot of art fairs and exhibits. The great thing about them is that you come face to face with folks and you can build your mailing list. On the down side, most fairs don't attract the original art collectors, they are geared toward the inexpensive print buyer. I was lucky enough to participate in Red Earth art show in Oklahoma City for several years and got quite a nice mailing list of my collectors. Most galleries won't give you the names of your buyer making it difficult to build your list. But that's a discussion for another post

I used to mail out newsletters, postcards of show openings etc. But with the ever growing popularity of email  the the outrageous price of postage, my Snail Mailing has really dropped. Some people just won't give you their email address or they mean to but never do or *gasp* don't have email. I've lost contact with some of my collectors by neglecting them. How could I let this happen?

So for the next few days I'm updating my Snail Mail list by searching the internet for current addresses. I'm happy to report that most of my collectors are still right where I left them the last time I wrote. Whew! I've also found a few on facebook and I will pursue that further

I will be sending postcards to all of these folks to try and acquire an email address. But I'm also planning on contacting the folks on my email list and try to get their mailing address. Why? I think folks like to get post cards from artists. Don't you? And most artists no longer do this. I'll stand out in the crowd. Email will continue to be my main source of contact but I'll also be adding an occasional post card to the mix. 

Email List and Aggravation

Quilled Moccasins,12 x 9, oil on canvas

As you know, on Fridays I like to email folks about new work. I always send the emails to myself and Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) the emails to everyone else in groups of 25. I have about 500 folks on my list so I send out about 20 groups of emails. NEVER 'carbon copy' your list when you are emailing. Other people can see their names and email addresses. This is an invasion of privacy to you clients and can result in them asking to be removed from your list.

When you send each group of emails to yourself (with everyone else getting a BBC) you will get your email when each group of 25 is delivered. Am I making sense? Well, today I only got half of the emails I sent to myself. Something wonky is going on with my email server. I was unable to reach my server by phone. I suspect that something strange was going on and they were receiving numerous phone call complaints. Very irritating but something I must reconcile with my server before I can send out next weeks emails. If I weren't sending each group of emails to myself, I wouldn't have known that something was wrong

 

Stay in Touch

When the Moon Rises, 36 x 30, oil on canvas

Most all of my paintings are sold in Galleries. But on Fridays I send an email showing a painting that is available  directly from me. I let people know that the painting is only available for a limited time. After that time, I send the painting off to a gallery or offer it to a juried show.

Who gets my email? Folks that have subscribed to my blog, customers, galleries, media, anyone I can think of.

And if the painting is purchased by one of my galleries customers I send the gallery a commission.