Pick the Right Market Advice for Determining the Best Shows for You
Winter is here — at least in Wisconsin where I woke up to a freeze warning. It is time to assess our plans for the new year. This is when we start finalizing our show schedules and make tough decisions about which shows will work best for us as artists and businesspeople.
How far am I willing to travel? Which shows provide the best opportunities for sales? Which amenities and logistics are most important to me?
There are many things to consider when putting together a schedule for the year. In this issue, I will explore some of them, so everyone can put together the schedule that works best for their business model.
Follow Your Arrow
While it may seem rudimentary, one of the first things each of us must review is related to what we sell. You cannot pick the right market if you do not match your product to the prospective customer base.
For example, as a potter, it would be silly for me to do a show that focuses entirely on fiber arts (no matter how many yarn bowls I make). The customers for such a show are not looking for my work. They are looking for products that match the show’s theme.
If a show is all about jewelry and wearable art, woodworking and paintings are not going to be quick sellers. Pick the shows that cater to your customer base.
Topics and interests are not the only things to consider when picking shows as they relate to your artform. When trying to ascertain what type of customer attends a particular show, you also need to consider their financial status.
Certain shows draw certain types of customers. This is not a value judgment about people. It is a consideration of whether your price point matches the budget of the people attending it.
If you sell paintings that cost thousands of dollars, it makes no sense to select a show where the average price point of your fellow artists is under $50. Similarly, if a show caters to the very wealthy, it is unlikely that an artist will have a good show if their work caters more to the middle class.
How can you determine a show’s demographics? This is not a perfect science. Ask other artists who have attended the show. Fellow artists are always your best source of information.
What is the booth fee? Though not dispositive, it can provide insight into the types of artists the promoters are trying to draw.
Do internet searches to learn about the community the show is held in. A simple search about a town can tell you the average age, household income, and other data that may prove helpful when determining if a show will be a good fit.
Look to see whether the show has been advertised in the past and how (and to whom) the show was promoted. All of these can provide insight into whether your art fits your potential customers’ wants.
After you complete your research and self-reflection about who your art is made for, you should have a list of shows that, fingers crossed, will be the best fit for your artwork. But this is just the beginning of the analysis.
I Wanna Talk About Me
I am going to waltz into an area that may be mildly controversial. Artists do art shows to sell their work. Crazy, I know. The best shows keep the focus on this.
I do not do an art show for music, or the children’s activities tent, or carnival rides. I pick shows that market and cater to serious buyers who are looking to go home with pieces that spoke to them and they love.
Background music is perfectly fine. I understand the desire to have pleasant, calm music to help set the mood. But the mood for an art show should keep the focus on the artists.
Many of us depend on good sales to make our livelihood in an area that is often underappreciated, underpaid, and has far more work than most of the public realizes. The last thing we need is to compete for attention.
The worst show I ever did was a show that billed itself as an international art and music festival. It sounded very promising. I like international. I like art. I like music. What could go wrong? Well, let me tell you.
The promoters of the event were not really looking to have an art show. They were going to rock the neighborhood. And they did. The music, which was never ending, was so loud you could not talk to customers. Everyone was yelling at each other in a feeble effort to be heard. It was not exactly conducive to good sales opportunities.
Additionally, most of the people who attended it wanted to be entertained. The continuous stage show entertainment meant the only time people came past us was as they entered or left. I knew I was in artist hell when the tribal fertility dance occurred on stage (I am not kidding).
But wait, there is more! Since sales were not going to happen, I decided to walk around and see what the other vendors were selling.
Lo and behold, the separately designated international marketplace was all buy/sell imports. I spoke with one of the vendors who proudly shared that he went to Latin America every year and bought all his items from poor street children for pennies. He also bragged that he was a huge supporter of fair trade. Hmm.
My point is the importance of doing our homework. Research a show before jumping in. Talk to artists who have done it before and find out from them what their thoughts are. Did the show maximize their opportunity to successfully sell their art, or was it a street party?
None of us do this to be the carnival side show. Art shows should always be about artists and keep the focus on maximizing sales. Promoters owe it to us, and there is nothing wrong with holding them to that standard.