Why won't running sales hurt my reputation as an established artist?

Most of the time, the vast majority of people aren’t ready to buy - think of them as fish 3,000 feet below the surface, or in a completely different ocean from where you are. They won’t even notice you ran a sale, they won’t care that you ran one, and it won’t make them think any differently about you or see you as less established. The only people who matter are those who are at the surface ready to buy at that moment. When fish are at the surface near your boat, that’s when you can catch them - and you never know when that will be. So you need to have your line in the water consistently. The people not ready to buy simply aren’t paying attention to your sales, and those who are ready are grateful for the opportunity.

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Asked by an artist worried about appearing too commercial · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2022-04-18