10 COMMANDMENTS FOR SELLING YOUR ART

Here are art rep and artist, Dick Harrison’s TEN COMMANDMENTS for selling what you create:

THE 11TH COMMANDMENT: KNOW WHAT'S "HOT"

1. YOU CAN’T SELL IT IF YOU DON’T SHOW IT

2. The most effective way to show and sell your art is almost always in person with the art in hand. If you show and sell your own work, you deserve 100% of the profit. If you ask others to help you sell your art, they must be fairly compensated for their knowledge, time, effort and expenses.

3. Learn how the “art business” really works – who gets how much and why. There are accepted standards and you are not an exception.

4. As a professional artist part of your productive working hours WILL be spent in selling and promoting yourself and your art. Think 50%.

5. Interior Designers, Decorators, Architects, Gallery Personnel, Accessory Buyers, Consultants and Art Reps who help you sell your work are ART PROFESSIONALS, too. They should be treated as such.

6. Never undercut the prices you have established with the sales professionals who help sell your work. “Back door” or “studio sales” to an associate’s client is the worst “sin” an artist can commit.

7. Talent and technical excellence are not the only skills necessary for a successful career in art.

8. Develop a distinctive style, theme or subject matter.

9. Stay aware of art trends, particularly “fashionable” colors and subjects that drive the market.

10. Never stop learning. Listen to the people who buy your art or sell it for you. If you aren’t selling, you aren’t listening - or you are aiming at the wrong audience. Be ready to adapt or change your approach.