It’s a special Vorthos Wednesday today. I’m going to discuss in depth marketing art for an optimal artist experience at a convention. My nickname in college was the “curator,” and I’ve lived up to my name and curated quite a few exhibitions. I’m not quite in the art-direction field yet, but it’s related, and I’m on my way.

To our normal viewers, I’ll give you straightforward information as takeaways that will be insightful for your long-term goals and considerations in the fantasy-art field. Consider this a sequel to last week’s article.

Product/Consumer

Satisfy the Consumer’s Needs

Consumers want to interact with your art. Flipping through prints sells original art because it lengthens the interaction, increasing the time they stay. A longer interaction allows them to talk with you, connect to the art (and you), and validate their first impression of “amazing” by seeing the art up-close. This reaction may not be wholly genuine, but you should be able to tell who will buy and who might buy. Those who say anything other than “Can I buy that?” is a person who might buy. Not all people who say they will be back will convert (most won’t), but never discount the fact that some will. Perhaps they wish to pay in cash to save you credit-card fees, perhaps they really do need to check with the spouse. Maybe they really don’t want to carry it right now and wish to take care of everything at one time. (Though paying first and picking up later should never be frowned upon.) Consumers who buy a $1,000 painting sold at the eleventh hour should not have a different experience than those who purchased during the first hour.

Keep original art in plastic or able to be wrapped whenever possible. It nullifies condition issues during the convention and the trip home. It’s customer service and takes into consideration that the consumer needs to transport it, likely in a suboptimal manner.

Not all consumers wish to have paintings or original pieces. Canvas can be intimidating. If the consumers at a convention want prints in mass amounts and a shortage occurs, make sure you know two to three local printers who can easily be called upon during the convention just in case. Perhaps a fellow artist could be contacted in case something happens; two flash drives with a few American dollars at a print shop could save a weekend. Contacting the print shop before the convention could easily be arranged.

Demographic-Specific Offerings

Consumers want high-quality art, fairly priced, that interacts with them personally. Ralph Horsley and I had a long conversation at GenCon about how exactly fantasy art sells in the market, from his experiences. No matter the quality, value, or size, normal consumers need a piece to connect to a positive experience they had that is related to the subject matter. If it’s an intricate Dungeons and Dragons campaign cover art, that seminal moment was beneficial for the them. If a particular obscure Magic card helped them win a tournament, they want it on the wall. If a Cthulhu-inspired box art was how Jim met Christine, the game and art reignites a memory for them. These consumers are not sold on a pitch or a rehearsed speech. It is very much being in the right place at the right time. Luckily, the fantasy community shares many experiences when it comes to commissioned pieces due to the sheer number of similar interactions.

Price/Cost

See Franz Vohwinkel’s original art (largely Magic: The Gathering) on his wall, Gen Con 2011.

Franz’s average painting costs $643.82. I’m not going to argue whether that is high or low—that’s an entirely different article—but it should be noted what a commissioned artist’s average cost is at a convention. (Ralph Horsley’s were roughly $150, but smaller. He also has many, many paintings from years of commissions.) The market has decided what the values are, and please do your research. Being out-of-line high is painful. If you need help, start Googling artists who have a similar aesthetic. You can find the information quite easily. Add the costs of labor, materials, and any value additions the piece may have—like being a key dragon or a main human character.

Try to omit tax when necessary or figure out exactly how much with the gallery cut the amount will be. Serious art is not a widget. Selling pieces for $199.99 is better for a business, but for art, it can feel forced and too polished. Some media can fit the $299 feel, but many fantasy mediums just don’t sell as well. That’s also another article in itself.

Artists, keep in mind the total cost of ownership for your consumer. A frame is not free. If someone buys an $800 painting, the frame will be a minimum of $200 for any semblance of quality. Artists who have frames add professionalism and can gain a marginal amount from a process that can be honed for efficiency. Use frames when you can.

Less Is More

Keep your booth touchable and interactive, but don’t be cluttered. Look at the other booths for guidance. You should have at the very least business cards, postcards, prints, and originals. Consumers want to touch your objects, but they don’t want to be overwhelmed by touching things and having their eyes move through thousands if not millions of points. Think of your first time at a Pan-American restaurant, looking at all the random stuff on the walls. It’s distracting.

Placement/Convenience

The Macro Placement of Your Work

You should have a presence online, readily available at a second’s notice to your consumer. If you can add a simple online store as well, do so. Don’t make customers create an account before placing the order. If they are willing to buy a piece, they’re already on your mailing list. This also means that users can Google you and find you to talk over lunch before or after a visit at the actual convention. Smart phones are the new norm; embrace them.

If you’re new to attending conventions, go to the large, established ones first. The crowds will be largely consistent, and the risk is lower for recouping your cost and making a profit. Try to place yourself within the aisles or rows. The ends are not like in a supermarket, where the first items have the best placement. Consumers often glance past an artist booth while walking toward the second, third, or fourth booth. At the same time, being closer to the point of sale is also an advantage. Balance them when possible.

The Micro Placement of Your Work

It’s wise to have a mailing list at your booth with two to three sentences about why you have a mailing list. Updates are great for business, but make sure you clarify that you won’t sell or trade any information on the form. It is almost assumed that when dealing in art or the nonprofit world that when you omit it, it means other places will be contacting the customer.

Place your art in a pleasing fashion with easy-to-find information. This means you should arrive an hour or more early on the first day to correctly place your dark and light pieces, and your small and giant artworks, and to ensure your labels are user-friendly. Make sure even the largest of artworks can be easily taken down. Keep this in mind when you get swamped during a convention.

Put any series of prints or paintings adjacent to each together. This allows for discounts on the lot, which can make a few hundred dollars into a very successful convention. Do note that if they sell, in a binder or on the wall, that space is a premium, and a series takes up a lot of it and leaves a lot of it when it sells.

Promotion/Communication

Any promotions you think of doing are really just communication strategies to inform people about your product. If you’ve finally reached the conversion of a visitor into a patron, perhaps it was the preshow e-mail. Maybe it’s dropping costs for a later day or days of the convention. Regardless, you’ve moved the potential customer to action. None of this is mandatory, but it should all be considered.

Pre-Promotion

You want to create a buzz about going to the convention early. A few months prior to the convention (this could be before and during other conventions), spend a little time writing your existing patrons and mailing list. Use the show to mention how you will showcase a new piece and build adequate hype, but be prepared for the community’s reception.

During the Convention

Exclusives

Reveal a new artwork exclusively for people in attendance. Simply throwing a piece on your blog, website, or DeviantArt can go viral, but won’t necessarily do so. People will Tweet, re-Tweet, and blog about it for you. If it doesn’t happen, which it occasionally doesn’t, especially for newer artists, you haven’t lost anything by posting it after the convention. Also, any excitement during a long convention is beneficial.

Create a Collectively Positive Experience in Your Radius

You can request to be near your friends or similar aesthetics/commissioned artists, but even then, you will face some curveballs; regardless of who you’re next to, you should be friendly with them. You’re working your business, but be neighborly to others as often as possible. (Yes, this means even during slow conventions or when your feet hurt from standing on carpeted concrete.) A second coffee during the second morning does wonders for your booth neighbors. Make jokes with them. When things slow down, go to one another’s booths. This friendliness is contagious, thus attracting more visitors. If you’re swamped already, well, you don’t really need the help, but be vigilant about how your consumers could block a neighboring artist.

Giveaways and Raffles

I don’t think they work. They don’t work with museum memberships, free lunches at Panera, or conventions. At best, you get someone to buy a second piece or another series piece. At worst, you give away a piece of art and gain only fleetingly interested people’s e-mails who live all over the country. The only exception is if there is a charity auction. Bring a test print or two and have them cheaply framed. It’ll still create a quality piece, and it’s creating value out of something that would likely be discarded.

Discounts

Use any discounts with caution. Minor works in bulk or the pretty standard buy-three-get-one-free in prints are quite normal. If you do discount your work on later days of the convention, make sure it’s consistent. Of the prices I posted earlier, many were one-seventh off their normal price. The cost is still covered, and money is still to be made, but when you’re running out of time, it could be the final push for people wavering on original art. Listen to your early visitors to hear if they’re interested.

Post-Convention Communication

If anyone bought original art from you, plan to follow up within one week. This will drive additional art sales. You’re busy? We all are. Make time to do so. For other people who gave you contact information, returning a message or a short response is also beneficial to later sales, but at a lower rate. Can the messages be similar? Sure. Can you write one and have an agent, friend, or spouse help you customize them to individuals? Absolutely. Get interns if you need them.

If someone creates any social-media blurbs about you that you can track, note it, re-Tweet it and thank them. It really takes only seconds.

Conclusion

Artists need to be vigilant about always gaining more business acumen. In Minnesota, our State Arts Board offers classes, but not every state is as lucky as we are.

I could write for days on tips and tricks for artists, but we’ll conclude with a note that with a $250 investment, $68 for a second badge, hotel costs, food costs, and travel expenses, every minor detail that will help you make a profit should be taken into consideration. Have a pro/con list after the convention to examine what you can do to make the next convention more successful.

Best of luck at your next convention.

Buy art. It enriches your life.

P.S. At every convention I attend, I purchase some art.

I live in Minnesota. Buying snow-covered landscapes is a no-brainer, and the other piece felt “right.” You’ll know when you’re standing in front of a piece. It just pulls at you.

Thanks, Jim. He’s on my good people list.

P.P.S. A poll for you.

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