One of the tricks to making a living with your art, is to know where to sell it and who you are selling to.
A few weeks ago, if you remember, I participated in the Unique L.A. show. Between the time spent lugging and hauling, cost of the booth, all the supplies to decorate the booth and outfit it for in person selling, I left the first day of the show with minimal sales. I was no way near breaking even. Needless to say I was exhausted and disheartened. To be honest, I seriously thought about calling it a day, packing up my creations and spending my Sunday at home instead.
On the other side of my disappointment, I hit one of those "I give up" moments. And while hitting that kind of disappointment is never easy, the "I give up" part not only creates instant relief but it also makes room for new ideas to come through. And my idea was this: I felt at this point I had nothing to lose, I was going to re-decorate my booth.
Once I got a feeling for the kind of customers that were attending Unique, I sensed that my color scheme and overall booth feeling was not quite what I like to call L.A. hipster. And by L.A. hipster, I mean more modern with cooler, more subtle colors. The kind of colors that have grey in them. Also I had chosen to display some prints that might be a better fit for a child's room, than an adult's.
So I got up early for the second day, arrived at Unique as soon as it opened and did a quick and dirty re-do of my booth. I switched my table cloth from red to grey. I switched out the prints on my wall to resemble more of a monochromatic scheme. I cut the amount of product on my table almost by half. I kept the ceramics I had on display also in a limited color palette.
And I left that day selling five times what I sold on Saturday. Whether it was my relaxed, "I have nothing to lose energy, so bring it" ~ or the changes I made to my booth, it worked.
How many times have you left an event, even put your work up in a certain venue online, have it not sell, only to start doubting yourself and your work? While I've known all to well that the location you sell your art whether online or in person can have an affect on what sells, I never was able to see it in action quite like this. Usually I haven't had a chance to completely change a set up in one day during the same event.
My understanding especially of these kinds of shows is that sales can vary drastically from show to show, even within the same venue, and time of year. Still, knowing who you are selling to is important, because at least you are giving it your best shot. It's nice to know that just by tweaking your display a little that you might sell more.
I wanted to share this experience with you, {to show you my booth as promised}, but also because every artist I know has experienced this at one time or another. So if any of this sounds familiar to you, you are not alone. {and don't be sad} Turn the disappointment into an opportunity to learn. A big portion of what we do as artists and business owners is experience trial and error. You have to always be willing to try, and be open to changes if that's what is needed, whether changes in your attitude or booth, or both :) Also sales of your art are not always a reflection of your creations, but simply a reflection of where and who you are choosing to market and sell your creations. Yes, you want to create great, strong work that you LOVE (most important). But if it is not selling in the way that you expect, be willing to take a good look at the "display". Selling creativity in any form is as much about the art of "display" as it is about the work. You are not just selling what you create, but you are selling a feeling to the recipient. I'm a big supporter of selling what is authentic to you, but you see inauthentic examples of this all the time. Either way it's called branding, and it is important to every business owner.
Just some thoughts to leave with you as we head into the weekend. I think it helps to share these experiences, so clearly, we can learn from each other, but also so that we don't feel alone. Honestly if I didn't have Sean and my group of creative friends to turn to, you'd probably hear a lot more from me on this blog :)
If you've had similar experiences and tricks you've learned, please share them in the comments below. Until next time, here's me wishing you a very happy weekend!
