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How does the fishbowl technique work for gathering emails at art shows and fairs?

The fishbowl technique involves putting out a fishbowl or clipboard at your booth with an incentive for people to leave their business card or email address. Use the same type of incentive that works online - like entering to win a free print or other item. This is the same concept as online email capture, just applied to in-person events. The technique is proven and widely used - sandwich shops and retail businesses have been running this for years. Artists consistently report strong results, from adding 15 emails at slower shows to doubling their entire email list in one event or adding 100+ emails over a weekend. After the show, follow up with those email addresses properly. This technique works exceptionally well for building your list when selling offline.


Asked by an artist selling at shows and fairs · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2017-11-07