How can I afford to lose money on a show? That doesn't make sense for my business.

This is the most profound point about shows: the smart artist can afford to lose money at a show because they know what happens after the show is the whole ball game. Here’s how it works: Say a show costs you $2,000 in expenses. You sell $800 at the show and another $150 in immediate follow-ups, bringing in $950. You also capture 73 email addresses. In year two, one of those 73 emails buys a large print for $700. Now you’re down $350 total. In year three, because you’ve been marketing consistently all year, one of those 73 leads buys a vacation house and spends $25,000 on your art to decorate it—because your work stayed top of mind through consistent marketing. You’re now up $26,400 from a $2,000 investment. This is how art sells in the real world. But none of this is possible without consistent marketing after the show. You never know which show will produce the big winner, and you don’t care—you keep your head down, drop leads onto your list, and market consistently.

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Asked by synthesized from teaching · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2022-07-28