by Natasha Wescoat

Don’t Sell To Strangers

So, being online to promote your art already points out that you MAY have an idea of who you WANT to buy from you.

You want collectors that:
- regularly use the internet
- who regularly purchase things, in particular… ART
- and have the means to continue collecting from, in particular…YOU.

Unfortunately, if you only stick with these three things, you won’t ever build a consistent business selling your art online. You’re just selling to STRANGERS!

You need to know YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE:
  * What is the age range and median age?
    * Is the group primarily male or female?
    * Are they country dwellers or metropolitan types?
    * What are their education levels?
    * What are their special interests or hobbies?
    * What is their income range?

Defining your target audience will help you understand the collectors you want to reach with your work, and you will be putting your precious time and energy in the right places and most relevant areas of marketing your art. It will give you the knowledge to market in a way that your target audience will respond to the most positively!

If you know who your art is for (no strangers!), you have a greater chance of drawing in more of the same collectors and build your collector base. And if you don’t already know, building a collector base is the path to consistent and successful art careers!

To begin, let’s first define your audience based on previous or current collectors and buyers:

    * Who are your best/ most profitable collectors?
    * Who are the majority of your collectors?
    * What do all these collectors have in common, besides collecting from you?

Now, we have to define what we are about and what we offer:
    * What is your type of art? whimsical? dark? intellectual? etc.
    * What is your story and how do you want to share it?
    * Is your art Fine Art or Commercial based?
    * Where do you want to be 5-10 years from now in your art career?

After you have answered these questions, and know your art brand/niche, you can begin answer the others above.

With that said, consider revising your business plan and put time into determining your art brand, should you consider selling your work mainly or exclusively online. This will determine the tools online that you utilize to market your work.

So, in conclusion I wanted to ask how many of you have learned about your collectors? Are there any methods or places online you use to connect and communicate with them and potential customers? How would you define your art brand? Anything you’d add to this article that would be useful in determining your target audience?

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Natasha Wescoat is a contemporary artist living and working in Michigan. Her work has inspired many artist guides and videos to inform and communicate with artists about marketing and social media online. Her official art blog is at http://www.natashasartcandy.com You can also take a peek at [youtube.com/postmodernartist] to view videos about the artist and the subject of marketing.