Art empires aren't built in a day – here's what real progress and growth looks like one year in.
Art empires aren't built in a day – here's what real progress and growth looks like one year in.
As Steve Jobs once put it, it takes 3-5 years to build anything meaningful.
Living off the income you generate from consistent art/photography sales is an achievable dream, but getting there takes time.
It starts slowly, but if you know what to focus on (and what to avoid), you can turn every opportunity into a notable chapter in that success journey.
That's where photographer Andy Crawford is at right now.
Andy joined Art Storefronts about a year ago, but his work and travel obligations prevented him from following much of our art marketing advice throughout the year.
This fall, he decided to dig in and run a full Black Friday / Cyber Monday campaign following our detailed checklist.
It started with one sale:
Holiday promotions are all about capitalizing on all the good will you've built up throughout the rest of the year.
By following our romance marketing strategy, Art Storefronts members will have properly warmed their collectors up in the months preceding the holidays, making earning a few holiday sales as simple as asking for them.
But staying engaged is critical:
A true, professional Black Friday campaign isn't a "set it and forget it" strategy.
It requires engaging with your audience, asking for their feedback, giving them personalized recommendations, and doing whatever you can to get each sale over the line.
Because art is sold over time:
Curious about these screenshots? They are from #smallwins, our private Facebook community where our members share their learnings, ask for feedback, and chat with our art marketing consultants.
Our "Black Friday" strategy is specifically designed to run for long enough to actually close large sales.
Because art isn't often bought same-day. Walls need to be measured, choices need to be debated, and spouses need to sign off.
Art empires are built one collector at a time:
Over the months and years, artists and photographers that know how to market their work effectively will see it being sold to more and more distant people.
First it's your family and friends. Then their family and friends. And before long, it's strangers from all over the world.
Let's sum things up:
Andy is positioned to succeed as a photographer because he understands what is valuable to him.
His first Black Friday campaign didn't change his life, it didn't bring in thousands upon thousands of dollars in revenue, but it did one critical thing: it moved him one step further in his journey to success.
Along the way, he picked up a few new collectors, and many new leads.
Just imagine how he'll do next year, knowing what he knows now?
Epilogue: The Journey Never Ends
After his Black Friday / Cyber Monday campaign, Andy continued to follow our 365-day marketing plan - which instructed him to run a 2-day flash sale on metal prints in early December.
It worked!
Andy now has invaluable experience running digital sales, and he's locked in to a marketing plan that does all the thinking for him.
How much faster would you get to where you want to be if you had Art Storefronts on your side?
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