Galleries are no longer the gatekeepers to art sales. Thanks to the internet, we can sell our art ourselves, and there are so many ways to do it!

Your Email list is still the center of your sales efforts, no matter how you choose to sell your art.

Growing your email list is the key to success as an artist. Your email list is a group of people who love your art and want to follow what you are doing. Keep in touch!

Social media is great and so are galleries, but your contacts could disappear at any moment. Your email list is something your OWN, and it will always be YOURS.

Gathering emails in person at art markets and shows is especially effective- they have already met you and put their hand up to hear from you by signing up.

What you do and don’t need to sell your art through email:

You don’t need

• a complicated website

• automation

• fancy design

You need

• a simple way to collect emails

• a consistent habit of writing and sending

That’s it.

In fact, the simpler you keep it, the more likely you are to stick with it.

We make art, we get good at making art, people ask if they can buy it and we start to think about making our art for sale to the general public. We start small and local, working up to larger shows and a more serious art career.

Then we get tired. We think:

All I do is schlep my stuff from one show to another.

I’m tired of smiling even though nobody seems to be buying today and I’m exhausted!

Am I even at the right venue? Everyone else seems to be selling more than I am.

Outdoor shows are a crap shoot- they depend so much on the weather!

Wouldn’t it be easier to be in a gallery?

Imagine your readers sitting down with a warm cup of their favourite beverage, in a nice cozy spot just to read your emails, and you will have some idea of what to share. Your thoughts about your art, your art adventures, a tiny bit about your life as a human, and a peek into your process and ideas. 

Your art sales strategy becomes different- you aren’t searching for what they like, or for someone who is ready to buy.

You are gathering a group of people who love your story and your art.

When you think about it, people love to be told stories, especially stories they can relate to. When you make a connection to someone through your art, you have a life long fan.

People don’t always want to make up their own stories, they want to identify with someone else’s story- it creates connection, and humans are wired for connection.