How does art actually sell, versus how most people think it sells?

Most people think art sells like any other product: you show it to strangers via ads or posts, they see it and immediately buy it—then you find another stranger and repeat. This almost never happens. In reality, out of 1,000 people who see your work, maybe one has their hand raised ready to buy right now. The other 999 aren’t ready yet—but that doesn’t mean they’re worthless. Your job is to capture their contact information (email addresses), market to them consistently all year long, and be there with an offer when they do raise their hand—which might be nine months or two years later when they move, buy a house, or have a life change. Consistent marketing over time is the only way this works.

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Asked by synthesized from teaching · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2021-02-13