Marketing Artwork Offline to Businesses?

4 replies
This might be outside the realm the offline forum but I'm testing out a plan of how to market my artwork to either individuals or cafes/ restaurants who'd like to purchase them.

After a deal with a web design client blew up on me (teaching me some valuable lessons) I'm switching gears a bit and found about 20 sketches of various New York street scenes that I created a few years ago and whenever someone see's them they tell me I should sell copies of them in order to pay upcoming rent. Though, the original is more valuable than copies. I'm thinking of contacting business owners who need artwork or individuals who would like to hang in up in their apartments. I'm still not sure if this is the best way of going about it since it might be more effective to contact distributors of greeting cards or something similar to that.

Any advice? I'm facing the classic dilemma facing a lot of creative people, there's a market out there for them but they don't know how to reach it and thus become starving artists.
#artwork #businesses #marketing #offline
  • Profile picture of the author bizgrower
    I know an artist who formed a group of artists and each member walked door to door
    selling their art direct to new businesses that needed something on their walls.

    They would also sell on consignment via being displayed in a shop or restaurant
    or art gallery.

    They also had digital portfolios of all member's work so they could promote
    each other and the different styles. And they hired non-artists on a commission
    basis.

    Some members could do murals and they would customize the ouitside or interior walls of a business.
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    • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
      Instead of trying to sell the artwork to the cafes you could
      offer to hang your art there free with a price tag.

      Diners can then choose to buy the art and you give the
      cafe a generous percentage of the sales (just price the
      art high to make up for the commission).

      So when you're talking to cafes you're setting up ongoing
      streams of sales and you can make more art yourself to
      sell or get an artist or artists to create it for you in
      exchange for a percentage of their art that sells.

      Kindest regards,
      Andrew Cavanagh
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  • Profile picture of the author mydream247
    Contact realtors and offer your art work as a move in gift for new home buyers, also apartments are hassle due to corp policy, contact condo associations to see if they allow you to offer your art work to tenants, and also consider renting your art work to business on monthly basis, then you can change designs monthly and build residual income, also contact restaurants and offer your work as rental monthly as restaurants change decor frequently. Hope this helps.

    Good luck
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  • Profile picture of the author bizgrower
    You could also set up an art show at a club or restaurant or cafe or coffee shop during their off peak hours - say 2 PM to 4:30 ish.
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    "If you think you're the smartest person in the room, then you're probably in the wrong room."

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