RESOURCES

Promotional Materials

 

If you are an artist with the goal of making a living selling your artwork, you must think of yourself as a small business. There are resources available to help you create a professional portfolio, make the most of your advertising budget and get your name out there in creative ways. 

Brochures

Brochures are lightweight, easy to mail and are relatively inexpensive to print (compared to slides). Here are a few uses for your color brochures:

Business Cards

There are many options available for business cards besides the standard white. Think about the image you want to project. For example: Customers typically don't want an accountant to be "creative and spontaneous", so the standard black and white no-frills approach would work for them. But artists can get away with the unexpected. Let your business card make an impression.

Digital Photo Frames

A new an innovative way to market yourself. You could keep a digital photo frame on your desk loaded with your portoflio images, accompanied by soothing music, so anyone who comes into your office or cube could view your portfolio. You could ask your boss if you could put this digital photo frame loaded with you images in your company's waiting room - a great conversation piece (ask if you could leave your postcards in lobby as well). If a guest commented on the photos, the receptionist could say: Ms./Mr. _ is our resident artist. Her/his website is . (They become your sales rep!)

Name Tags

You should always wear a nametag to events and openings.

Postcards

Consider printing postcards to promote your artwork. A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say. Postcards offer a glimpse of your work, and they can be used by the customer as stationary or framed for display. Check out the Creative Postcard Club to see unique postcard designs and/or contact the artists who make them.
Quoted from: http://www.creativepostcardclub.com/home.html

 

Outside the Box

You may consider some other items that you can personalize with your name and contact number. Choose a product that will appeal to the demographic you're after. Here are a few ideas:

Wine labels
These may be coordinated with an open studio tour or gallery event. Note: They can get expensive, so choose your event wisely to make the most of this promotion. There are quite a few printers who can customize a label for you, depending on your budget. Here are just a few exampes:


Promotional Items & Give Aways
You can customize a few short-run items to use as gifts (and self promotion). They can be given as Thank You gifts for gallery owners, show organizers, or past & current customers. As always, consider your target market and the image you want to project.


Event Tickets
Why depend entirely on the venue to promote your Solo Show or Exhibition? You can customize event tickets; just make sure you explain that they are promotional and people do not need to redeem the tickets at the event.