How do art shows and fairs contribute to building a long-term online business?

Shows and fairs serve as a powerful engine for building your digital business over time. While they provide immediate sales, their greater value is in building your email list and customer base. Each show captures 20-100 email addresses of people who’ve seen your work in person and connected with it. These contacts continue to buy through follow-up emails - sometimes making $1,000+ purchases months after a show through email marketing. Over several years of consistent show participation (20-27 shows annually), you build a substantial customer database that generates ongoing online sales. Eventually, this allows you to scale back to just 3-5 premium shows per year while maintaining a six-figure business through your established online customer base. The shows are hard work initially but create long-term leverage.

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Asked by general teaching · Answered by John Kennington and Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2024-11-22