Are in-person art shows and fairs worth doing?

Yes, in-person shows are part of a balanced marketing diet. When done correctly with proper email capture techniques and follow-up marketing, they’re highly valuable. Successful artists capture 50-100 emails per weekend show, plus make sales during the event, plus sales afterward from the emails collected, plus sales from live streams done from the booth for people who couldn’t attend. Don’t expect every show to be a home run—some will succeed, some won’t. Plan to do at least one per quarter if possible. Smart artists understand you can lose money on day one of a show but make it up with consistent marketing afterward. One artist lost $250 on a show booth but captured an email that led to a $15,000 sale two years later. In-person shows aren’t just about immediate sales—they’re about relationship building and list growth. Look beyond the main street festivals with 50-100 artists to unique opportunities at breweries, churches, local festivals, and community events where you might be the only artist with 300-500 people and zero competition.

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Asked by general teaching · Answered by Patrick Shanahan and Nick Friend · art-marketing-podcast · 2022-01-08