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The Starving Artist is a Myth:How to Sell Art Online, Find Your Ideal Buyers,

Eliminate Dependency on Agents & Galleries, andKeep More of the Profits for Yourself.

by Cory Huff

TheAbundantArtist.com

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Positioning your art in your market

The very first thing is that your art needs to be really good. Now, really good can mean different thingsto different people – and I'm assuming that if you are reading this, that you feel that you have areasonable amount of confidence in your artistic ability, but perhaps have a little trepidation aboutsaying that other people find your work to be good. Many artists have a hard time marketingthemselves.

It's okay to feel that way.

One of the mistakes that most artists, (heck, most business people in general) make is trying to selleverything they do to all people. When you try to be all things to all people, you instead water downwhat you do so that it loses a lot of its impact. You have to focus the presentation of your work to makeit stand out. When you do this, you will start to gain confidence in your artistic message and in the factthat people love your work.

In fancy MBA schools, students learn to develop things called Unique Selling Propositions (USP). Thisis nothing more than a name for the expression of what makes you stand out from everyone else. I'lluse myself as an example.

When I started working for myself, I wanted to be an Internet marketing consultant. I had several yearsexperience working for other people, and I had learned a ton so I was ready to strike out on my own. Ifloundered around for about a year, telling everyone I was an Internet Marketing Consultant. Then Imet a couple of great mentors by the name of Dave Dee & Alexis Martin Neely. Dave is a magicianand a serial entrepreneur. I connected with what he was teaching right away. Dave & Alexis told methat I needed to be more focused.

They asked me the following question, and this is the first key to your USP:

Who is Your Ideal Client?

Before I tell you how I answered that question, I want to ask you something.

Who is your ideal buyer/collector? Go ahead, write down your answers to the following questions.There is also a work sheet you can use on page 35.

Out of all the people who have purchased your work, who did you enjoy working with the most?

Out of the people who have purchased your work, which sales were the most profitable?

If you haven't ever sold any art, what would you imagine is the answer to these two questions?

Where does the answer to these two questions intersect? Who was the most fun and the most profitable?

Now, what would happen to you if you only ever sold art to these people?

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You should be able to narrow this person down pretty specifically. Your final answer might look something like, “My ideal buyer is 45 – 65 years old with an income upward of $100,000 per year. Hehas some experience with art, having purchased a few pieces before but is now looking to add to hiscollection and exploring the work of artists that he admires. He is an avid golfer, enjoys bright colors,and also owns a pack of doberman pinschers.” If you're a painter who does a lot of dog portraits, this

person might be an ideal client!

I told Dave & Alexis that I would really love to work with artists, since I am an actor and my wife is a painter, and I really love creative people. I believe that the Starving Artist mentality that so many artistshave is just wrong and a total myth. They told me I should bill myself as someone who works withartists and I was like, “But wait, I can work with anyone. What I know can be applied to any business.I'll lose a bunch of customers!”

You, as an artist, are probably thinking the same thing right now. “If I focus on one group of buyers, Icould lose all the rest.” I'm going to show you how that's exactly the opposite of what will happen.

When you start focusing on your ideal client, your voice begins to be more authentic to them. If I starttelling artists that I am also an artist, and that I focus on helping artists learn about online marketing,that has a lot more impact than me just walking up to any person and saying, “Hey I'm an Internetmarketing consultant. Hire me.”

I see artists do this all of the time. They put their work out at a fair or on a website with no thought towho is going to be in the audience. They show their work where all of the other artists show, they dowhat all of the other artists do. The really successful artists put a little more thought into it.

As an artist, this can take many forms. Instead of saying, “I'm a painter” or even, “I'm an oil painter,” a portrait artist might say that you “paint people's dreams” or that you “create paintings that capture theessence of childhood.” Whatever gets you really fired up and passionate when you're painting, that'swhat you should do. Think about people like Thomas Kinkade. As much as artists love to hate him,everyone knows him as what? Right, the Painter of Light. Your USP should be simple and direct. Mineis right at the top of the Web site – Dispelling the Starving Artist Myth.

Of course, people will ask what that means, because it's a little vague, right? That's exactly what youwant to have happen. Your USP should be interesting enough that people want more information. Seehow this works?

“Hi, I'm Cory. What do you do?”

“Hey, I'm Eleatta, I paint people's dreams.”

“Whoa, really? What does that mean? How do you do that?”

Imagine where this conversation goes next...

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So now that you have their interest you have to tell them what you do. You've already started todifferentiate yourself, but this is where you really eliminate their interest in any competition or inworking with other artists (some of you are going to turned off by that last statement – but in truth,your collector only has so much money or time. You need to seal the deal or they're going to move onto the next artist, or art dealer, who won't have the same qualms you do about selling their work).

For me, when someone asks how I Dispel the Starving Artist Myth, I say, "I teach artists that byeliminating dependence on middlemen like galleries and agents they can build a fan base, sell artdirectly to their fans, and keep more of the money for themselves." Pretty awesome, right? Which artistin the world would NOT want to do that? I've never had an artist tell me they wouldn't want that.

You can do the same thing.

For example, what does it mean to 'Paint someone's dreams?' One of my first artist clients, EleattaDiver, does this. It's her unique selling proposition (and she told me I could use her as an example). Shetells people that she interviews people, gets to know them, and then paints a unique commissioned

portrait that displays the hopes, dreams, conquered fears, and passions that they have inside of them.

Now, I'll ask you, would you rather have your portrait done by a portrait artist...or someone who PaintsPeople's Dreams? I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of portrait artists out there who interview their

buyers - but how many of them Paint People's Dreams? Probably none, right? Suddenly she's no longer a portrait artist, she's in a league all of her own, and she has no competition. Then its just a matter of whether or not the client can afford her work, because she's in so much demand that she can charge a

premium for her work. This is how you start to build a brand, and your first step to online marketingsuccess.

Here's your next assignment. Write this down.

What is your unique selling proposition? What do you offer to that ideal client that they really want?

If someone asks you what your USP is, what will you tell them?

Have a good one? Here's what I want you to do. Message me on Twitter at @AGoodHusband. If you'renot on Twitter yet, then you will be at the end of this ebook. Send me an @ reply with your USP. Iwould love to read it. I might even ask you to tell me what it means...