Entries from July 2007 ↓
July 8th, 2007 — All Posts, Marketing, Niche
1. Who might buy my product or service?
Start by listing all of your products and services. Some artists have only one thing that they do while others have several. List every product or service and then list every side or by-product that you can think of. List any methods of reproduction that you can use, books or articles you can write, videos you can produce, etc.
Next, list everyone you can think of that might buy these products or services. Be as specific as you can. This might be the most difficult part of this whole process. For example, if you are a watercolor artist, who might be willing to buy your art. You want to think that everyone is a possible customer, but not only is that not true, but it’s not nearly specific enough. Here are some possible customers:
a. the person looking for a just the right painting for a certain place in their home
b. the person looking for a gift for a friend who likes specific themes
c. the office looking for new or different art for decoration
Read the book!
Chris O’Byrne
http://www.OnlineArtsMarketing.com/blog
July 7th, 2007 — All Posts, Marketing, Niche
The process of finding the right niche is a creative, back-and-forth, brainstorming process that is best done when your mind is bright and fresh. The best times that work for me are either mid-morning after the caffeine has kicked things into high gear or when I’m on a long road trip. Long road trips are often the best because my physical body is kept just busy enough with driving and my mind starts to go off on all sorts of creative tangents.
Here is my 6-step process to finding niches:
1. Who might buy my product or service?
2. What problems or needs do they have?
3. What else can I provide for them?
4. Who else might need this?
5. Repeat steps 1 through 4.
6. Pick best fits, most profitable, and easiest to provide.
Tomorrow I’ll go over these in more detail.
Read the book!
Chris O’Byrne
http://www.OnlineArtsMarketing.com/blog
July 6th, 2007 — All Posts, Marketing
Here are the steps the artist SHOULD go through:
1. Define niche-problem-solution combinations.
2. Grab their attention.
3. Deliver your message.
4. Make it easy to buy from you.
5. Maintain a relationship.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? It is. This process of starting with the end makes everything much easier and will save you a lot of time and money. If done right, it will guarantee that you have already sold your art BEFORE you create it.
Read the book!
Chris O’Byrne
http://www.OnlineArtsMarketing.com/blog
July 5th, 2007 — All Posts, Marketing
The typical artist goes through the following steps:
1. I want to sell my art online. Let’s try eBay. That didn’t work, let’s try building my own website. Wow, that cost a lot of money, but now I have a very pretty website. Now I’ll sell a lot of art.
2. Nobody goes to my website, so I’m not selling anything. I’ll do some research and figure out how to get people to my website. I’m learning about PPC (pay per click) advertising, blogging and social networking, getting links, and SEO (search engine optimization). Now I have lots of traffic.
3. Hey, I’m hardly selling anything! I’d better learn about marketing, choosing niches, and advertising to those niches. I use all sorts of tools to reach my target market.
4. I’m STILL hardly selling anything! I think I’ll go back to selling in galleries and just find a part-time job somewhere. It’s a lot easier than trying to figure out how to sell online!
Most artists, in fact, actually skip steps 2 and 3. They put up a website and then expect people to just find it. I tell them that their approach is like setting up your paintings in your backyard and expecting people to just come along and start buying from you. I rarely come across an artist that has figured out that there is a process for driving traffic to your site. Not that it would help. You still have to figure out who is most likely to buy your art and then get THEM to your site. Getting them to your site in the first place is difficult and getting them to buy once they are there is even more difficult. The problem is that this whole process is completely backwards!
Tomorrow I’ll talk about what steps you SHOULD take.
Read the book!
Chris O’Byrne
http://www.OnlineArtsMarketing.com/blog
July 4th, 2007 — All Posts, Marketing, USP
Your USP will not help you one bit if people don’t know what it is. Create a separate USP for each Niche-Problem-Solution combination and include it in your advertising and website. Create a compelling offer that makes you stand out from the crowd. If you have a powerful USP and a great product, you are sure to sell more and more art.
If this series on Your USP has been helpful, think about purchasing the entire 35-page ebook, How to Sell Your Art BEFORE You Create It.
Chris O’Byrne
http://www.OnlineArtsMarketing.com/blog
July 3rd, 2007 — All Posts, Marketing, USP
Here are 10 more great idea generators to help you develop a powerful USP:
11. Added Value
“My photographic prints come with a life-time guarantee. If anything happens to your print, from fire to flood, I will send you another print for only the cost of shipping and handling.”
12. Premiums/Gift-with-Purchase
This is like a one-time shot of #11. “Every painting you purchase comes with a full-size print of one of my other paintings.” Or even better, “Purchase one of my paintings, and I will send you 24 pre-stamped postcards of that same painting along with an 8-pack of greeting cards.”
13. Packaging Difference
Think of all the ways you can now buy laundry detergent boxes! Add a packaging difference to your product. “For every photo print you purchase, I will send you a copy by email and another one on CD.”
14. Size
This one is more of a challenge for artists. Sam’s Club and Costco are well known for selling food in giant-sized containers that are so much less expensive per ounce. Do you have a product that you can sell in a larger size or quantity?
15. Expertise
Incorporate into your USP how long you’ve been an artists, what your credentials are, where you’ve worked, or how much work has gone into each piece. “A graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, I have worked as an independent film producer for over 43 years.”
16. Price
17. Payment Terms
Since these two are so similar, I have grouped them together. I have always recommended against using low price as a USP, but I certainly encourage using a high price as a USP! Better yet, use payment terms. Do you sell a painting for $4800? Offer it at $400/month for 12 months. Try to keep the payment term at 12 months or under unless the price is very high. This is also a way to offer what feels like a lower price, yet is higher than you would normally sell for. If you have a painting that normally sells for $120, you could sell it for $14.99/month and make 50% more!
18. Guarantee
This one should be first on the list because it is so important. I can also be included with ANY other USP. I have heard of countless places that went from a 30-day guarantee to a life-time guarantee and not only sold more because of it, but did not have any more returns. If you can’t offer a full money-back guarantee, at least offer an exchange.
19. Celebrity
Think this is only for the big name brands on television? Think again! Many celebrities will do a photo-op and endorsement for much less money that you think. Imagine a picture of a celebrity with your painting on the wall behind them and the caption, “So and So LOVES their new Sara Mathewson painting.” Celebrities sell, whether we like the idea or not. Do you want to be a purist living in a cave or do you want to sell more art.
20. Combination
Think of ways to combine two or more of these ideas and you will create an unstoppable USP.
Next, Lesson 5: Incorporating Your USP.
Chris O’Byrne
http://www.OnlineArtsMarketing.com/blog
July 2nd, 2007 — All Posts, Marketing, USP
Here are 10 idea generators to help you develop a powerful USP:
1. Name
Try to incorporate your USP into your name. “Sara Mathewson Custom Watercolors” is far better than just “Sara Mathewson Art”.
2. Competitive Positioning
Your USP could make a position against your competitors. If your competitor makes the customer come to them, you could use “I come to your home, camera in hand, and take photos of your pet when it is convenient for YOU.”
3. Exclusive Niche
In marketing, it is better to be a big fish in a small pond. Create a smaller niche that you can dominate. Do you do digital photography? Narrow your niche to digital enhanced pet photographs. I know someone who did!
4. Affinity
Identify yourself with your potential customer. For example, “As one self-employed business woman to another…”
5. Hidden Benefit
If you can’t build a USP around an obvious benefit, identify a hidden benefit. “With one of my paintings displayed prominently in your home, your guests will KNOW that you are a person of discriminating taste.”
6. Problem Ownership/Exclusivity
Take exclusive ownership of a problem and create a USP around that. “Boring walls lead to boring lives. A colorful life starts with a Sara Mathewson watercolor on your living room wall.”
7. Method of Marketing or Distribution
Create a unique way to distribute your art. “Too personal to leave hanging on a wall in some remote gallery, my paintings are delivered to your house OVERNIGHT and come complete with all hardware necessary to hang immediately… I even send the hammer!”
8. Continuity and 9. Membership
These two easily go hand in hand and create an ongoing source of income. “Join my Print-of-the-Month Club for only $39.97/mo. Every month you will receive a matted print along with a story about the painting itself and special discounts on other products.”
10. Service Difference
Go above and beyond. Have better service than anyone else. “We do so much more than just take wedding pictures that you will never forget. We provide disposable cameras for your guest and then develop those as well. Best of all, your precious wedding photos are delivered to your front door in one week or less or you PAY NOTHING!”
Lesson #4 has 10 MORE ideas for generating your USP!
Chris O’Byrne
http://www.OnlineArtsMarketing.com/blog
July 1st, 2007 — All Posts, Marketing, USP
Step Two: Write Your USP
By now you should have a very good idea of how your work is different from anyone else’s and why people should buy from YOU. Now it’s time to put this into words. Keep in mind that as much as possible, you want to give people a tangible benefit. Here are some examples of why someone should buy from you:
They will be perceived as being more intelligent.
They will be perceived as having good taste.
They will be perceived as being well traveled.
It will remind them of where they have traveled.
They will receive a print or copy of your very latest work.
They will receive free framing and delivery.
They will receive a coupon good for 50% off of their next purchase.
They will receive a subscription to a free newsletter along with a CD portfolio.
Based on this kind of information (you will determine your own unique benefits), your USP might read something like this:
“With its creative use of color and incredible attention to detail, an original Sara Mathewson watercolor in your home will cause all of your friends to envy your good taste.”
or
“Purchase an original Sara Mathewson watercolor and receive a free subscription to her monthly newsletter and a CD of her greatest works along with the story behind each painting.”
Do you see how just these few simple words can make your customer much more eager to purchase your work compared to just seeing your painting hanging on a wall in a gallery?
When crafting your USP, be specific and make sure you fit it into one clear, concise sentence that packs a significant wallop. You want your potential customer to hear your USP and know exactly why they should do business with you.
In Lesson 3, I will go into even more depth on this process and I will share with you 10 ideas for generating a USP.
Chris O’Byrne
http://www.OnlineArtsMarketing.com/blog