If you're an artist who markets online, an online gallery owner, or an avid online art collector, you may have heard by now that the Boundless Gallery will soon be closing.
 
This is, unfortunately, a sign of the times, and a loss to artists and collectors (and to the gallery's owner and employees). Hopefully everybody involved - artists, collectors, employees, and owner - will find ways to learn from the experience and move on to even better things.
 
In some ways, this will be just a 'blip on the screen' of the artworld. Many people won't notice or care, and it won't bring the art world to a screeching halt. But, this closing represents a loss of several years worth of personal work and an unknown amount of financial investment to the owner, a loss of employment to some employees, and a loss of income to some member artists.
 
And, though most of us artists and gallery owners won't hear directly from the collectors, it's a loss to them as well - either they were quite happy with the site and will miss it, or the model wasn't working well enough for them to find what they needed and so it represents another 'failure of the system'
 
I know that this has happened to many other galleries online and offline, and to many other industries, on small and large scales, and it's inevitable in some form. But, let's use it as a learning opportunity.
 
On the surface, Boundless Gallery, like many other galleries, looks reasonably promising. A wide variety of artists provides a large selection - some of the art is great, some not so much, but there's something for most tastes and price ranges. The pricing model seems reasonable, with a couple options for artists to choose from and a combination of fixed fees and commissions. I don't know about their traffic levels, but since many people I know have at least heard of them, they must be receiving some traffic. And, they've been online since 2003, according to their 'about' page, so they must have been doing something right.
 
But, obviously something was not working well. So, I think that anytime we see another gallery closing, it's a good time to take a look at the basic business models and roles of the galleries and the artists, and the needs of collectors, to figure out how to make things work better.  Though I don't know any of the principal people involved, I think that this is another failing of the 'traditional art business model', and another indication that we need to get serious and find a way to create more effective models that work well in our evolving world.
 
Here are my thoughts from experiences so far with my first/current online gallery, www.dailypainters.com, and other studies and observations of successful businesses and individuals (and some unsuccessful ones). I will be incorporating many of these ideas into a new gallery that I'm working on, and if they prove to be effective then hopefully they'll expand and improve even more. I'll be trying quite a few new ideas in my new gallery - some may work well, and some may not, but most importantly we'll be trying to answer some key questions and learning from the process.
 
Health of 'Art' as an industry
 
The art business is very hard - both for artists and for galleries. This means a couple things on a practical level:
 
a) any artist or gallery who is really 'making it' - i.e. earning a comfortable profit without completely burning themselves out in the process or just slowly burning through a large initial investment - has my utmost respect :-)
 
b) there is something wrong with the ways we conduct our business, in terms of practical business strategies. Of course not all artists or galleries will succeed, but our overall success rate seems to be lower than most types of businesses and many of our methods seem outdated and ineffective. We just accept this as reality, but I think we need to find more ways to grow and innovate.
 
The arts industry as a whole is struggling. There are many shining examples of wonderful art in any form - music, video, film, dance, theater, visual arts - but most of the people producing art, and the institutions and companies that support them, are struggling.
 
And, the process of finding the arts is still pretty tricky - it's not as easy as it should be to find a really great piece of art in any media.
 
Nobody is going to fix this but the artists and the fans/collectors, so we'll just keep on plodding stubbornly forward until we find better ways to work.
 
Gallery Financial Models:
 
The financial models for art galleries aren't promising - we either need enough upfront cash flow to do some heavy marketing until we can generate enough sales to support our artists and ourselves, or we need to rely on some type of upfront payments from our member artists, who are also struggling. So, we need to come up with pricing models that give the galleries the cash flow and predictability they need to do their job, while also being 100% fair and manageable for the artists.
 
A 100% commission based model is not realistic for an online gallery - there are many benefits to the online exposure that aren't immediately measurable from direct immediate sales. And, the commission from those artists who sell would have to be too high to cover the cost of supporting those who don't sell. But, a flat fee can also be a burden to artists, and is always either too low or too high - there is no one price that truly fits all members. Given the same set of tools and promotions, some member artists will do better than others, and the pricing model should reflect this.
 
So, what we need, in my opinion, is a financial model that sits somewhere between those two - maybe a flexible monthly fee based on each member artist's perceived value from their membership and their level of usage.
 
Artist Financial Models:
 
Most artists underprice their work - when you think of the personal energy that goes into making even a very simple painting, we should be charging more. But, we all know that's easier said than done - if we're not reaching the right customers who are willing and able to pay us what we're worth, we have to price our paintings as commodities. And, even if we can command top dollar from an elite collector group, it would still be nice to have some products that some more 'average' collectors can afford.
 
Artists need to find ways to diversify their product range and income streams -  take more advantage of prints, books, merchandise, and digital offerings. More income streams per image = more long term income and more ways to reach your customers, and more chance of building a lasting business. Offer a variety of products and price ranges, without having to underprice your original paintings. Some artists do this well, but most don't do it well enough. Galleries need to make this easier to do - artists should be able to sell their work in more ways without jumping through too many hoops. Then, we can focus more effort on creating outstanding images and pricing the originals accordingly
 
What Do Galleries Do?
 
Part of the problem with online galleries is that we're often stuck between two different roles / business models. The traditional role of an art gallery is simple (not easy, just uncomplicated): provide some nice wall space in a prime location, select some wonderful artists, and then spend a ton of time and money cultivating a collector base. The role of an online art gallery is all of this, plus providing a suite of technical tools to allow artists to manage their online business and promote themselves, and possibly some type of community building.
 
This dual role of online galleries is proving to be problematic. For instance, with my weekly work hours and budget (for dailypainters.com) I could either tirelessly promote a small handful of artists to a specific collector base, or I can work on maintaining and improving our technical platform. But, in reality, neither side of the business gets my full attention, and so quality must suffer in some way. I try to strike a reasonable compromise between marketing, group leadership, and technical support, but if I narrowed my job description down to just one of these roles I would be much more effective at that particular role.
 
So, for any online gallery to be really successful, they need to pick ONE of the above roles, and do it extremely well.
 
For instance, I could provide a technical platform that allows artists to communicate, interact, and sell more effectively, for a modest fee - but with no expectation of promotion, just of understanding your needs and building the best tool set for the job. For instance, facebook, twitter, google, etc - they don't do anything to promote individual people or websites, but those who figure out how to use these tools effectively have done very well for themselves, and even those who use them a little but not as well still derive some benefit from them. No existing online galleries do this well enough.
 
Or, I could use freely available tools like blogger, facebook, and twitter, and just tirelessly promote a few artists - learning as much as I can about these artists and cultivating a very specific base of collectors. For example, any number of highly successful bloggers (not art related, just in general) - nothing fancy, just good quality content and relationships on freely available platforms. No online galleries do this well enough either.
 
Trying to do both of these at once is a compromise at best, but that's what many galleries do, and what many artists expect of the galleries, and in many cases it doesn't work out too well.
 
My new gallery will be focused more squarely in the first department: a better technical platform that allows more ways to communicate and build relationships, and more ways to sell, while trying to learn as much as possible about what our member artists and collectors want and exploring new ideas. BUT, we'll also be building tools and incentives to support those people who want to focus on the second department: collectors and artists will have some tools and incentive to support and promote each other.
 
What do artists do?
 
Just as online galleries are trying to take on too many roles, artists are having to do this but even more so. Creating really good art is difficult. Maintaining truly high quality personal relationships with a collector base is difficult. But, these are the two absolutely most important things that an artist must do, and do well.
 
All of the technical and marketing work we have to do on top of this takes away from these primary roles, but we can't just ignore these aspects and not do them. So, we need to find ways to 'outsource' these roles effectively - better, more easy to use, flexible, and effective, technical platforms, and more cost effective and collaborative marketing efforts. There are many ways that a better technical platform can support this process. But, until the perfect system comes along, every artist should be thinking about ways to simplify and/or effectively outsource this part of their business to focus more on their key responsibilities.
 
Gallery Size:
 
Gallery size - the number of member artists that an online gallery has -  is a perpetual conflict. More artists means more money for the gallery and more chance of staying afloat. And, more artists means more selection for buyers. But, more artists also means more competition for each member artist. Most artists will not be happy to be thrown into a site that is overcrowded with too many other artists - they feel that they will be 'lost in the crowd' and won't get enough exposure. But, these same artists also can't afford to pay proportionately higher fees for this exclusivity.
 
And, then there's the question of 'who gets in' - allow every artist in, and the overall quality suffers. Some great artists will emerge, but there will also be a lot of junk. But, once we start to impose any sort of restrictions, that opens a whole new can of worms. There are merits to both models - an elite, exclusive gallery, or a wide-open gallery, but it's a tricky business. It's especially tricky when you factor in that both the gallery owner and the member artists are expecting to earn some money in this relationship.
 
I think the answer lies in the same things I said above about gallery roles. A gallery must either be very small or very large. Either promote a VERY selective group of artists to a VERY specific group of collectors (and collect a very large commission on very high priced paintings), or let many artists join BUT give the artists and collectors tools and incentives to organize and filter themselves into effective sub-groups, to separate the wheat from the chaff and to find other members with similar interests, and charge a modest fee. Anything in between these two models leads to too much compromise and difficulty trying to strike the perfect balance, and distracting from the gallery's primary responsibilities.
 
The Artist / Collector Relationship
 
We all talk about creating relationships with our collectors, but mostly we're still stuck in a traditional 'push' model of communication. I create something, you either buy it or not, or maybe you send me some comments or questions. Or, maybe once you've become a fan then you ask me to create something specific. You can either find me on my personal website, or you can go to a gallery and browse their selection. Either way, it's still pretty difficult for many casual art buyers to find exactly what they want, when they want it, at a price that meets their expectations, and even more seasoned collectors would appreciate having more options.
 
Instead, we need to work on asking our collectors what they really want, without waiting for them to contact us. For instance, what if we had a way for them to say - to nobody in particular - 'this is what I need', and then anybody else (i.e. another artist or collector, or gallery owner, etc) could answer back - i.e. 'I have what you need', 'I can make what you need', or 'This artist might be able to help you'. Or, another collector could say 'HEY - I need this too!'.
 
The artist / artist relationship
 
We need more tools and incentives to work together. There are some artists who tirelessly work to help promote other artists, by creating groups, galleries, shows, etc, or just by providing advice and connections. And, most of us artists at least help some other artist occasionally with some feedback, advice, or promotion. So, there should be some way to encourage more of this type of cooperation, and to compensate those who do it well.
 
And, while we're at it we should also have a way to encourage other art lovers and collectors to promote their favorite artists a bit more - and earn a few bucks in the process so they can add to their art collection :-)That's all I have for now - the key issues that I think we need to address as artists and galleries, but I'm sure there are more issues and more ways to approach these problems. Let's keep striving for ways to solve some of these issues so we can all thrive.
 
Feedback welcome . . .

A few people have pointed out that 'Art Is Broken' is probably not the most inspiringly positive title for this project . . .
 
Yes, the title is 'a tad negative' :-)  I'm open to suggestions, but there is an important point I am trying to make:
 
The artistic profession, as a business, is very much broken. Most artists continue to struggle because we have not yet learned or applied the lessons that many other types of businesses have learned and documented over the last few decades. We continue to approach our product creation and marketing without a clear understanding of how to build a legitimate business from our efforts. 
 
Let's compare the average artist - who will be typically be struggling financially, and working too hard for what they do receive - vs more successful entrepreneurs:
 
The Artist:
 
Most artists follow a consistent pattern: create some work, list it, and wait for it to sell. If it doesn't sell, create more of the same thing, maybe a little better or different, and wait for it to sell. If it still doesn't sell, then we work more and more on our marketing, spending unreasonable amounts of time posting online, advertising, participating in shows, consulting with other artists, etc.  Some artists start to achieve sales this way, but even these 'successful artists' can usually be found working ever-increasing hours, and enduring more and more stress, to sustain their 'success'
 
The Successful Entrepreneur:
 
Over the last few decades, many companies have succeeded wildly, and many more have not. Many of those who have succeeded have followed a certain pattern - either deliberately or through a bit of luck:
 
1) The vision - they see some pressing need in the world, and they have a vision for how they can improve it. This doesn't have to be world-changing, just something that's pressing and important to somebody.
 
2) Customer Discovery: most artists skip this step, and that is our critical mistake. The successful entrepreneur will take their vision, in it's simplest form - a simple description, mockup, or prototype - and begin to talk to potential customers. Their goal is to find out: does anybody really care about my vision? Is there a real need for what I want to create? Who needs it, and why? How does my vision and my perception of their needs fit with their reality?
 
3) Refine and repeat: if you followed step 2 correctly (it's easy actually - just talk to people!), then you should now have a much better idea of your marketplace. Continue to refine your hypothesis, and then put your ideas back in front of customers and refine it more.
 
4) produce your product and refine your marketing: after you know that you are creating something that people really need or want, then it's time to start making it and selling it (and to continue to actively communicate with your customers to refine your product and your marketing. 
 
If you've done steps 1-3 correctly, step 4 becomes much easier - you know exactly who wants your product and why, and how to reach them. You have a very good chance of succeeding wildly.
 
If you haven't done steps 1-3, step 4 is a neverending struggle. You have a very good chance of failing with this approach, until you eventually run out of time, money, and energy. Most artists skip steps two and three - we go directly from step one 'vision' to step 4 'create a product and sell it', without the proper market understanding to be successful.
 
The successful entrepreneur, and the struggling artist or other struggling businesses, will both work long, hard hours and pour a ton of personal energy into building a business. But, exactly how you structure those efforts will determine the long term success of your business. If you're going to be working so hard anyway, why not be a bit more scientific about increasing your chance of success?
 
Where to go from here?
 
Go to google and search for 'customer development'. Most of the articles will seem unrelated to your business of being an artist, but read them anyway. Then, think about how you can apply these principles to your art business.
 
Do other types of business ventures deserve financial success more than you do? Or, do they know something you do not? Are you building a business, or are you content to just be another struggling artist?
 
 
 

"Artists are perplexed NON -ARTISTS why r u more comfortable spending $ on jewelry, clothing, handbags than paintings?"

Artist Jan Blencowe asked the above question on her twitter stream today (twitter.com/janblencowe_art), which caught my attention for several reasons. I think this cuts right to the heart of the frustration that many artists feel these days - 'I know my art is wonderful, and I know that people have money to spend on other luxuries, so why do I have such a hard time selling any art?'

If you don't know who Jan Blencowe is,  you may be tempted to pass this off as a beginning artist question - maybe she just needs to work on her art a bit more, or learn some basic marketing skills, or learn how to network? Well, Jan Blencowe is a master of all of the above - visit her blog at http://www.thepaintingadayproject.com/ . She is a very talented, accomplished, prolific artist, a teacher, a great marketer, and a very active member of the online and offline art communities. Jan is a professional artist in every sense of the word. But, she still has to wrestle from time to time with the same question as most other artists on all levels - 'why don't more people buy art?'.

So, what is the answer? How can we sell more art?

First, we need to understand that there are a few fundamental shifts happening in the art world right now. If we fail to understand these changes, and to react to them, we will fail to thrive as artists.

1) Images are a commodity, whether you want them to be or not. There was a time in the world when a nicely painted image was a rare and wonderful thing. These images were available only in museums and galleries, or in the collections of art patrons. Now, images are everywhere - images of all styles and quality and price ranges. Just about any type of image you can envision has been created in many variations already, and is available to view or buy many places online and offline. There are no longer any barriers to creating, selling, viewing, and buying most types of images.

Even the most talented of artists will have to come to terms with this reality - as beautiful as your images may be, somebody somewhere is selling images that are nearly as nice for a fraction of the price you're charging. And, most of your potential customers have no idea why your images are any better or more expensive than similar images. This trend will continue indefinitely.  Our images may still be wonderful, but they are not rare and so they are not in demand.

2) Artists are a commodity.  Artists are everywhere. Each one of us is unique and special, and not replaceable as a person. But, from a market standpoint there are way too many artists, producing way too much art for the current demand, and most of it is interchangeable. Yes, much of it is absolutely wonderful artwork, but there just isn't that much demand for new original art within the traditional art market. There are too many artists competing for the same small piece of the market.

3) The traditional 'art market' is not keeping pace with the growth rate of artists and artwork. By the traditional art market, I mean art shows and fairs, galleries, museums, art patrons and high level collectors, government grants, and all of the other institutions that have traditionally supported the arts. There are simply not enough art venues, and enough customers and supporters of these venues, to support all of the artists that want to sell their work.

So, that leaves us with only three options as artists:

a) We can all continue to fight for visibility within galleries and other art establishments. Many artists are competing for the same limited audience, and we should continue to strive to reach this audience - good galleries and their patrons will probably always be the best way to sell high end artwork.

b) We can establish our own art establishments. We've seen quite a bit of this over the past few years - with artists selling directly online, through online galleries like my own dailypainters.com, and many other online galleries that pop up every day on the internet. This is a great way for artists to take some control over their careers and create new opportunities for themselves, and I'm sure that the number and quality of these new galleries will continue to grow.  But, this will not be enough to help most artists survive.

c) We can find new audiences for our work.   Probably at least 70% of artwork is sold to a relatively small group of people: art collectors, and other artists. These are the people who care enough about art to actively seek out art in their communities and online, and to spend money to support the arts. I don't have any statistics, but I'd bet that this customer base represents only a very small part of our potential audience. This small audience cannot support all artists, no matter how deserving they may be. Artists need to reach out to a larger audience.

If we want to survive as artists, we must find ways to build an audience outside of the traditional circle of art collectors and artists.  We have to make ourselves relevant to the rest of the world.

Let's go back to Jan's original question: why are so many people willing to spend money on jewelry, handbags, clothes, or other luxuries than on paintings? What about all of those high end electronics, fancy cell phones, sporting goods, movie tickets, sporting events, luxury cars, or any number of other frivolities?

Why do you spend your money on the things you buy? If you're like 99% of the people I know, you spend your money first on the things you have to buy for basic survival - like food, shelter, transportation, etc. Then, if there's a little bit left over, you spend it on the things that are special to you - maybe you feel good driving a fancier car, or wearing some new jewelry. Or, you really enjoy watching live sports, or going to concerts or movies. Or, maybe you want to support your church or local charities. Or, maybe you like to buy art.  But, there is one category of things that almost nobody spends their money on:

Most people don't spend money on things that don't have any immediate personal benefit to them!  If we want to sell art, we need to find a way to make our work meaningful and beneficial to 'average people'.

Whether it's a real measurable benefit or a perceived benefit, we spend our money on things that are important to us. And, there are too many possible ways to spend our money - good or bad. So, things like 'pretty paintings' just don't make it onto most shopping lists. Yes, I know that idea offends most artists as we all know how beneficial our work is to the world. But, if most people don't see our work as important to them, they won't buy it.

We need to find ways to make our work - the actual images and the stories we tell about ourselves and about our work - more relevant. We need to get out of the 'art world' and into the real world. We need to ask ourselves not 'why does nobody buy art', but 'how can I connect my artwork to my customers lives'.

For example, how many artists focus on landscape paintings but know very little about the scenes they are painting? Maybe some of our favorite plein air spots - farms, beaches, mountains, or whatever - have some special histories and meanings? And, maybe most of the people who most love these places will never step foot into the local art gallery or browse for art online? How can you engage these communities in a conversation about the places they love, through your artwork and your writing?

So, how can we - through our paintings, our blogging, our tweeting, and our other networking - tell a story that is more meaningful and engaging to those around us? How can we identify some small niche and build connections not based on a common love of art, but on a common love of something else - some thing, some place, some shared story and experience? How can we ask the right questions, and listen in the right way, to build new relationships with 'non artists'? Then, how can we tailor our artistic offerings to fit the wants and needs of this new audience?

Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Email? I don't get it - I just want to paint!
 
Every day I hear from artists that they just don't understand Twitter, or they don't like Facebook, or don't know how to blog. Or, they say 'I tried twitter and didn't sell anything', or 'I don't see the point of writing so much on my blog'.  Is it really worth the effort? Am I doing this right, and is there a better way?
 
This art business is hard work. Not only do we have to create the art, we have to constantly learn all of these new technologies just to keep up. But, once you start to comprehend exactly how these new tools could be used, and what that means for your career as a self representing artist, you may start to see 'social networking', 'blogging', and 'search engine optimization' in a whole new light.
 
First, though, you will have to rethink your marketing angle. Most artists approach their online marketing with a broadcast mentality - they put their work out onto their blog and other sites, and hope that the right people find them.
 
How can the 'right people' find your art if you don't even know who the right people are, or how to find them?
 
The real beauty of the internet - including websites, blogs, email, twitter, facebook, and other tools - is not just in reaching large numbers of people. Instead, it's all about reaching the right people - that small group of people with  a passionate interest in the same things you care about. With the right  techniques, you can engage in meaningful conversations with absolute strangers based on your common interests. And, you can convert these strangers into aquaintances, and then friends, and eventually into lifelong customers and a powerful network. However, you can't do that by shouting into a crowded room - you have to search the room for the right people and really talk with them, and listen. And make sure you're in the right room to begin with.
 
You know, good old fashioned relationship building and networking, just with some new tools.
 
It's not just about 'art'. It's all about the personalities, stories, and interests of the artists and the collectors. Don't just make art because you're an artist. Create art that speaks to you and says something about who you are and how you see the world. Not just a casual, distant observation, but an up close and personal exploration and conversation about something you love, or something you hate, or something you find interesting, or scary. Do not be content to paint normal landscapes or portraits, dig in and say something interesting about these paintings - with your paintbrush and with your keyboard.
 
In other words, tell a story. Say something about yourself and about the world around you. Express your unique personality in your work and your marketing.
 
Once you have something interesting to say, and you know who you want to say it to, you'll find it much easier to have a real conversation.
 
It's hard to go find 'art collectors' on google, or on twitter, or facebook, or even in your home town. Even if you narrow your search down a bit and try to find people who are interested in music related paintings, you'll have a hard time. But, it's very easy to go find somebody, for example, who is an avid fan of bluegrass music in your local area, and talk to them about the local bluegrass music scene - the music, the musicians, the venues, and the fans.
 
If you start with a common interest and a very narrowly defined audience, you'll quickly be able to find some interesting groups and people on twitter, facebook, and other tools. Find these people who share your unique interests, and get to know them and their friends online. With a bit of talking and a lot of listening, you might find a whole new audience for your work, completely outside of the traditional 'art market' circle.  That could be the starting point for a very interesting chapter in your art marketing career.
 
So, don't think of the internet and social networking tools as frustrating new technologies. Think of them as interesting tools to make new friends and build relationships.
 

Is Your Art Broken?

Art is broken. There is no easy, nice, sugarcoated way to phrase it. I've looked at a couple thousand art blogs over the last three years, and most of them were broken.  Most likely, the way you produce and sell your art are outdated and ineffective. If your art is not selling well, as seems to be the case with most artists, then your art is broken, or your marketing is broken, or more likely both are broken. It's not that you're not hardworking enough, or not talented enough, or not smart enough, you just need to find more effective ways to create and market your work. We're here to help you.

We know how hard you work to create and market your work, and we want to help you. At ArtIsBroken.com, we are working on some big ideas to help artists find more effective ways to market their work.