Mark E Shellshear.

When things are going well and the Art sales are coming in it is so easy to be positive and enthusiastic, but it is in the lulls, the quiet times of no sales and everything you do seems to be so hard that questions come up and you think it would be so easy to give up and you already have the excuses ready in your head, this is when it all matters what you do. Giving up is never the best option, because it is in these difficult times that seem to go on forever, but don’t really. During these times we learn so much about ourselves and how strong is our persistence and our determination to really make it as an Artist. It is in these times, the seemingly endless times that opportunity comes and is usually disguised in difficulty, if we are ready to give up we will miss...

One of the most important things we can do is work on a great relationship with ourselves. We all make mistakes, that is part of life, forgive yourself, learn from them and move on. We are all wise in hindsight, but we have to make decisions and some will be good and others may not work out so well, it’s life. Don’t beat yourself up, most do, don’t be your worst critic, you must love yourself so work hard on that great love. We are all doing this day for the first time, nobodies got it all worked out perfectly, so always give it your best effort and live in the now. Get your thinking right and love yourself first and then you will be able to love others.

Artists get very sensitive about price, but what is the price? The amount you put on your painting or what they offer? We all want to get the best prices we can for our work and that depends on our reputation that we have built over the years. If you are not prepared when you enter into the sales situation you will find it very uncomfortable especially when dealing with strangers. Learn your 30 second commercial about your painting so you can tell it when you are in front of the customer and once you have finished, start to ask questions. You want the person talking and you need to be agreeable because people like to be right. If you are nice and friendly, people will respond in kind. These are simple tactics that everyone can do but most go into the sales situation totally unprepared and wonder why it always comes down to price and what they are prepared to pay. Give them other things to think about and ask good questions. Full price is the right price, be prepared...

The hard stuff is the stuff we don’t want to do, we know we should do it but we don’t and we often make justified excuses why we don’t do it. The hard stuff makes us very uncomfortable and we want to be comfortable, but if you want to have a great Art career, then you going to have to do the hard stuff and be uncomfortable. Much of the hard stuff in the Art business is not the Art, we are comfortable with that, it’s the selling of our Art, making sales videos about our Art and relating with customers and staying in touch with them. These are the hard things but they are an important part of our business and if we don’t sell then we don’t have an Art business. Do the uncomfortable until you are comfortable.  

The first impression of the customer towards you is very important because we want customers to like us, trust us, buy from us and refer us. To refer us we must make a lasting impression on the person so they will go and tell their friends about us and talk about our Art. People know other people and most likely they will have similar tastes, so they may also like our paintings. Once a stranger buys our work, not only do we ask for their email address but also ask them to refer us to their friends. Referrals are powerful as they give us social proof, that means that someone has bought our work, so it is sort after and they share their experience with others. People know people, so ask for referrals.

Most people get excited about doing something new or doing a new radical style of painting and then they put it out for all to see and if no one comments or very few do, most give up because it didn’t work. The problem is that nothing works at first, so if you are trying a new style you must give it a good chance to work, set a time limit, you will regularly post these new paintings for six months and then  reassess. It takes time for people to appreciate something new and different, so persevere, giving up before you give it a good try, does not make sense. Remember nothing new works at first, set a time limit and persevere.

I like it when people like my work, of course, but when people don't like it, I give them respect because they took their time to view it and form an opinion. Funny the same people tend to follow you, not sure why? I think when we are courteous to people when they don't like our work and we don't attack them for their different opinion, people generally like that and if they like our attitude, then they will like us because of the way we dealt with them and they tend to want to know more about you. Courtesy is strong driver and it cost us nothing to give and the rewards can be winning someone to us. If we can win someone to us who doesn’t like our work but they like us it will not take long for them to come around and appreciate our work. Good manners, a friendly smile and common courtesy can change the minds of those who at first didn’t like our Art.