Why should I offer lower-priced items like small prints or merchandise if I want to build a serious art business?

Your followers fall across a socioeconomic bell curve, from low income to high net worth individuals. When you only offer expensive pieces, you exclude everyone who isn’t ready or able to make a large purchase right now. Lower-priced items aren’t about immediate profit—they’re about marketing. A small print, tote bag, or pillow gets your work into someone’s home where they’ll see it every single day. There’s no more effective marketing than having your art on someone’s wall or in their hands for years. People’s financial situations change over time. Someone who buys a $25 print today might be ready to spend $5,000 in three years, and you’ll be top of mind because your work has been in their life all along. Think of inexpensive items as marketing tools, not revenue generators.

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Asked by artists and photographers seeking business strategy · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2021-10-20