There’s a growing phenomenon of artists who are making a living by taking their work to their fans directly. They are making a successful living by going around the galleries, the agents, and the managers and instead taking their work to their fans. They come from different backgrounds, engage in various forms of artistry, but all have one thing in common: they refuse to starve, so they make sales happen in whatever way possible.
Amanda Palmer – Lead singer of the Dresden Dolls, cabaret performer, and visual artist. Amanda Palmer has become a lightning rod in the music industry for her bare knuckled approach to marketing to her fans. She has over 80,000 followers on Twitter and she maintains a relationship with her fans that borders on the fanatical. They love her – so they’re happy to support her, whether it’s buying one of her shirts, her CD’s, or having a Twitter party with her.
Hazel Dooney – “Art is War” is the rallying cry for Australian painter Hazel Dooney. Hazel has made a lucrative career out of sharing her thoughts on her blog, Twitter, and other social media pages. She rails against the gallery and auction systems, frequently commenting in interviews that the system needs to change. Her work speaks for itself. I love the bright colors of her enamel paintings.
Jason Parker – Jason’s blog, One Working Musician, is a banner for those musicians who have a passion for making a living as artists. Jason holds down the fort by playing the trumpet and teaching, and has done so for years. In addition, he and his Jazz band sell their CD’s online directly to their fans.
Amber Jean – Montana based artist Amber Jean creates sculpture, drawings, and storytelling CD’s. She lives in a cabin in Montana’s back country. She not only sells her work directly to her fans, she also has a membership section on her Website called the Patron Place where people who are big fans of her work can pay a small monthly fee for exclusive access to Amber’s videos of the Montana backcountry and of Amber creating her unique sculptures, not to mention a bunch of other great content.
Felicia Day – Actress Felica Day had a great idea to get around the Hollywood agent/casting director/studio system: create her own Web based series called The Guild. With millions of views on Youtube, The Guild became a cult hit. It was then picked up by Xbox Live and has since become a major success. Felicia Day is a celebrity in certain circles, though in a recent Wired interview Felicia said Hollywood executives still don’t know her face.
Natasha Westcoat – Natasha is a painter and has done an amazing job building a fan base using social media. In addition to her corporate sales, she sells her work by connecting with her fans via Twitter, live-streaming painting sessions, and her blog, Natasha’s Art Candy.
David Hoang – I met David in Seattle, Washington. David also leverages Twitter and live streaming painting sessions. He told me that he has tons of fun drawing things suggested from his fans. His website has a whole gallery of alternate reality images that he’s drawn that his fans asked for – and then his fans bought them! How simple is that?
Val’s Art Diary – Val has leveraged social media to create a major career for herself. She uses live streaming sessions, Twitter, Facebook (her group has over 2,000 members), and her blog, ValsArtDiary.com to share her work with people and build media buzz around her work. She has been covered by The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and many other media outlets.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. If you have more, please leave them in the comments below!
Lori,
Thanks for the terrific info and insights. As usual, you have created an article to be read, studied and acted upon. I just recently discovered ValsArtDiary and am enjoying the research of learning from her. Watching her videos is very entertaining. She has a discussion group that one can join. It has a great title.
– Artists who refuse to starve. Creative people share their business secrets.
Thanks Jeanne. I’m glad you liked it.
Thanks for putting me in such heavy company, Cory! What a great list.
So inspiring to see such great artists taking control of our own destiny!
.-= Jason Parker´s last blog ..Soul Provider at The Triple Door =-.
Wow! Wished I lived in Portland. Sounds like a great event. I have been such a believer in this that is how I found you. IT took me years to find the right selling Web site. Finally the internet has some good choices. My feeling is Marketing ART/Photo’s is worldwide and that’s a big market, we just need a vary small part of that every week. If you do one sale a month you should be able to do one a week, if one a week, Then one a day,If one a day, then 10 a day. I guess it just depends on how many eyes you get on your site and work. Anywho sorry this is so long…. I am preaching to the choir.
Love your blog!
Thanks for all you do!
Bo
You have a good attitude Bo. Is your business doing well?
Things are going well. But I would like them to go better. And I know it is out there. The selling art mall types, the only ones that work for me are the ones that have your own private gallery. So when you get the customer there they see your work and not all the ” hobbyists” with work prices way to low. So far for me is has been Redbubble and ImageKind.
Bo, I hadn’t heard of these before now. I am definitely going to look into them. thanks for mentioning these two sites.
.-= Patricia´s last blog ..October’s Opals and Tourmalines Part I =-.
You make it sound so uncommon but I don’t think it is. I am trying to market to fans (ok, I am trying to build a fan base but I don’t have enough expertise to be very good at reaching them yet) as are most artists today. I think an important consideration is that more independent or self-representing artists are finding themselves able to interact (intersect?) with the public because of today’s technologies. In earlier times, when there was no internet or email people had to travel to fairs, shows or galleries and very occasionally artist studios in order to view the art that they might want to purchase. Now there are websites, both artists’ own and craft or art malls (such as 1000Markets and Etsy to name two) available to everyone with a computer and a modem.
Cool, eh.
Patricia
.-= Patricia´s last blog ..October’s Opals and Tourmalines Part I =-.
Patricia, perhaps I could have titled the post “Artists Who Actually Know How to Market to Their Fans,” but that’s a little long, eh?
You’re right that there are lots of ‘art malls’ and similar websites. My questions is how many of the artists who are using these sites are making a significant living? They seem to be for hobbyists, or just one outpost of an artists overall marketing scheme.
Anyone else? What do you think? Etsy, Ebay, 1000Markets – good for a business, hobby, or something else?
It’s true there is a dichotomy, especially at Etsy and I personally would not put all of my effort to just one site. Rather, I think one can use etsy to hone one’s selling skills, meet other art colleagues, and find a niche in the larger etsy community. Etsy is not juried. 1000Markets, however, is and even if a given artist still has non-art sources of income, the expectation is that 1000Markets artists and artisans are seeking a different market with a more serious, (although that may not be the best word) intent. As for me, I have both etsy and 1000Markets shops as well as a website (somewhat overdue for an overhaul but I’ll get to that probably after this holiday season). For an emerging artist like myself (or, really, any relatively unknown artist) the imperative is to be seen and become known. Thus a large footprint or, failing that, a great many of them, is very likely something of a necessity. In other words “multiple streams of income” from one’s art from multiple sources.
Perhaps it’s closest analogy would be having work in multiple galleries in multiples cities/countries but without the gallery being the middleman.
Finally, all these online markets and marketing have to be integrated with offline marketing and promotion as well. If this can be accomplished, I think the artist is in good shape.
.-= Patricia´s last blog ..October’s Opals and Tourmalines Part I =-.
Charlie Sneller is an incredible musician and composer of instrumental music – with recordings and licensing success. I’ve had the great pleasure to actually work with him in a band for nearly 30 years so I speak from experience. He’s taken his music directly to consumers via Facebook, his own website, and other means, thereby circumventing the music industry “gatekeepers.” The best part is that Charlie has a giving and generous heart and his music reflects it. Enjoy his music here:
http://www.inspirationalmusic.com
http://www.FaceBook.com/charliesnellermusic
Hey great post! Making more money isn’t the only benefit to selling direct to your fanbase – the big benefit is that it actually forces you to build and maintain engagement in your fan community. An engaged community is the key to longevity, especially in a world with so much competition. While it’s tempting, and not a bad idea, to put your work on third party marketplaces like Amazon or Etsy, it’s easier to miss out on creating a connection with the buyer that could mean the difference between a one time sale and a lifelong customer. My day job is for a company called Selz.com and we provide tools that let you easily sell to your fans. it’s easy to set up, it’s cheaper than most third party market places, but the catch is that you will need to cultivate your own community and provide with a reason to buy from you. It’s not easy to create raving fans – but nor should it be, and if you out effort an love into that then you’ll have an edge over other creators that don’t bother.