Do You Have Insurance?

I know that many artists go from month to month not knowing whether they will be able to pay the bills. Believe me, I have been there myself more than once. However, that is no excuse not to get insurance for when you do art shows.

Insurance is something that many artists do not think about, but should be near the top of their priority list. It is easy to float along on the optimism that nothing will ever happen to you at an art show, but the truth is that something most likely will. For more about this topic read this.

Insurance is available for just weekend shows or all the time. Don't wait until it is too late.

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Making How-to Videos

See the NEW Flip Ultra! Click Here

I have been investigating doing how-to videos to add online to my website, and other sites to help explain to artists or hobbyists how to do things. But I didn't have a video camera to take the videos.

I am somewhat technologically impaired so I need something that was easy and inexpensive to use. Well, I just found my camera. The Flip. What an cute and amazingly easy camera for someone like me to use. The Flip comes in several style which you can choose from and a few different versions, but it is small and so simple. I love it. :) Besides it is just so cute!

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How are You Getting the Word Out?

I frequently like to read Seth Godin's blog. For those of you who don't know who Seth Godin is, he is a marketing guru and has written several books on the topic. His latest post, Who spreads your word?, is apropos to any business, but really topical to any entrepreneur who is looking for word of mouth advertising. Word of mouth is free, and the best way to get the word out for your business.

What Seth is saying here, and I recommend you read his post all the way through, is who are the people that you think will talk about your business to other interested people?

This question is very important to working artists. We need to know who our target market is, and who will talk to them about what we are selling.

As Seth says, "In order for an idea to spread, someone has to do the spreading." Who is doing the spreading for your art business?

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Pricing Your Art Work for Sale

Ceramic Teapot by Tracy Shea

How do you decide how to price your work for sale?

Pricing your art for sale is a little bit tricky, and one of the factors to keep in mind at all times is what the market will bear. What is tricky is that the market changes from year to year, and that means your prices may have to change also.

I generally follow a couple of formulas when I price out my jewelry for sale. I use the materials cost as a base, then mark it up from there. I generally charge more for jewelry that I design from scratch, and less for those I assemble from beads that I buy. I usually price things 4X the material cost as a guide to allow for negotiation and markdowns.

Keep in mind that your customers will often ask for a break on the price. For some reason, people think that art is negotiable, so you have be prepared to take off 10% to 20% of the price to get a sale. That means that you need to build that extra margin into your price.

It is not worth selling an item unless you make a profit, other than stock that has been sitting around and you just want to get your cost of materials back. If someone can't pay your price, and it is a fair price, then wait, someone else will come along who will.

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