Bad Weather During Show Season

Most working artists spend their summer and fall doing outside shows to sell their work. That means that you will have to deal with bad weather situations at one or more shows this year, and if you are not prepared, then you may potentially have a very stressful disaster on your hands. It is important to plan for bad weather during art shows, because it will happen to you.

I have just finished writing an article called Craft / Art Show: Plan for Bad Weather to give you guidelines on how to be prepared. Simple steps can save you from a wet and costly show and turn a bad weather situation into a good show situation. Please read through this article and let me know if you have had experiences to add to the discussion. Or if you have other tips that will help other artists.

If you have questions about the article you can post them here or on the article, and I will answer them for you.

Follow Working Artists Life from Twitter.

What Do You Do During the Down Times?

Jazzin' by Brian Jones

Artists have a lot of down time between shows, when customers are scarce, and it can be scary. The thing to remember is that down time is just part of the business, and you can use that time to do several things:

• Review your sales strategy for the next few months.
• Contact old customers and invite them to come back.
• Create new pieces to sell.
• Read that book you have been putting aside forever.
• Try out a new technique.
• Look for new income streams.
• Look for new wholesale venues.
• Research new shows that you have not tried yet.
• Take a class.
• Tutor individuals in your craft.
• Investigate new online sites to sell your work.
• Have a picnic.
• Make a list of things to do in your down time.

This way you will get something accomplished besides waiting during your down time.

Follow Working Artists Life from Twitter.

What are Your Priorities?

Turtle by Paula Atwell

What are your priorities as an artist? Are all your thoughts focused on making money or do you also focus some time on pure art?

I find that creating art takes my mind to a totally different place than business thoughts do,and often I come back from that creation time in a much better frame of mind and with my ideas flowing.

Since I am a painter and a jewelry artist, it is easy for me to sit down in my studio and get started on a project to work on for 30 to 60 minutes. I actually have small paintings that I like to work on during my breaks from "thinking time", and the last one became profitable for me. I posted it on my Zazzle shop for sale.

I find that I am more productive as a business person, if I spend some time on my art just about every day. It definitely keeps me less stressed.

Follow Working Artists Life from Twitter.

How Do You Plan for Your Art Shows?

In this season of art shows, one of the best guides around is the Art Festival Guide: The Artist's Guide to Selling in Art Festivals. It is chock full of helpful tips for any artist who is traveling from show to show.

When you are doing your art shows, do you plan for success? I just finished writing an article on how you can measure your art show success before, during, and after a show. Artists who plan for each show, do much better than those who don't.

Weather is another factor in many art shows. Experienced artists know to plan ahead for weather issues that may crop up.

What are your special tips for success at shows?

Follow Working Artists Life from Twitter.

I Really Love Zazzle

Blue Cleveland by lakeerieartists
Browse more Lakeerieartists Mousepads

I am quite in love with Zazzle as a place to promote yourself as an artist. It is fun site to use, fairly user friendly, and all you have to do is upload your images, and you can create all kinds of print-to-order products to sell.

You can set up what profit you want to make on each item, and then all you do is promote the Zazzle gallery. Email it, tweet it, tell your friends. You get paid for every sale, and you don't have to create, ship or pack the products.

Zazzle products are high quality, and their customer service is excellent.

Follow Working Artists Life from Twitter.

Unusual Places to Sell Your Work

Chain Maille bracelet by Katie Mullins

One of the least expensive and most successful places that I sell my work is at our local farmers market which is every Saturday from 8 am to 12 noon about 10 minutes from my house. It is a market that sells local and organic foods, and showcases local artisans.

You don't need a fancy booth. One table and a tent is fine. Actually one of the vendors doesn't even have a tent. It costs $30 per week, which is easy to make back, and you find loyal clientele that come back every week.

I have found that people that are willing to pay more for organic food are also willing to pay more for handcrafted items. So my advice is to look for non-traditional places to sell your art.

Follow Working Artists Life from Twitter.

Promoting Your Work: Neighborhood Coffee Shops

Bistro 1 by Cheryl Lee

Whether you have your work in a gallery or not, if you are a photographer or painter, or any other kind of artist that creates art that can be hung on a wall, you can see if your local coffee shop or other local restaurants will be willing to hang your work for free. This is a win-win situation, because the restaurant can promote local artists AND get art for their walls, and you can promote your work for free. Restaurants and coffee shops are gathering places, and lots of people come in and out. It is the perfect place to promote.

A great book to look for more free marketing ideas is Guerrilla Marketing for Free: Dozens of No-Cost Tactics to Promote Your Business and Energize Your Profits. Conrad Levinson is a long time genius at unusual ways of marketing. This book focuses on free ways to market a small business which is exactly what an artist is.

Follow Working Artists Life from Twitter.

The Life of a Working Artist

I am a working artist, making a living at creating and selling art. This is a new blog that is going to be focused on helping artists find ways to make a living on and offline. Most artists are not trained as business people, and that makes it difficult to understand the ins and outs of the business world, and how to promote and sell their work. Since artists are primarily paid on commission, that is, when their work sells, it is important for them to learn what their priorities are, and how to promote themselves.

This blog is meant to be a forum of back and forth with ideas and suggestions proposed by the readers, and for us to help each other. Please feel free to participate in any way that you can. And welcome.

To learn more about me, see this article.

Follow Working Artists Life from Twitter.