First, a disclaimer.
To be clear: I am not manically shouting ‘Pivot, pivot!’ here, and forcing you to sell creative work. Or shaming those of you who don’t feel like getting dressed during the current crisis, let alone working, marketing or learning new skills.
If you’re feeling unusually tired and lacking focus, that’s perfectly normal, given the stress we’re all under. Rest loads. Be kind, to yourself and others. And if you do want to work, take it slowly and gently.
But many of us are not getting the financial support that was promised at the start of all this, and we need to make some money. Or we’re just feeling ready to do something (actually, pretty much anything!).
If that’s where you are, this might help. These are just suggestions, five ways in which you might want to consider putting your work out there.
1. Use what you have
Julia Hamilton is an artist who lives near me, in the quiet little seaside town of Deal. She lives alone, so the main subject of her paintings in this strange time of isolation has been her cat, Bowie.
Her house has a big window facing out onto the street, so she decided to turn it into a pop-up gallery, setting up an easel to display a painting she’d just completed. To her surprise, Bowie’s portrait sold. So now she is displaying work, with a sign giving her details to potential buyers who happen to pass by.
Would this work for you? If your home doesn’t have a suitable window, or any passing foot traffic, do you know anyone with a closed café, shop or office that does have a window you could borrow for a temporary display of your work?
2. Go online
People are stuck at home, bored. Many in the UK are on 80% of their normal salaries, without any of the usual expenses of travelling to work, or spending on socialising. Friends and clients who already sell on Etsy, eBay and other online marketplaces tell me business is booming.
People are buying art, crafts, vintage furniture and clothes. They are buying courses and e-books. They’re watching live performances that won’t necessarily create an income now. But they are connecting performers with new fans who might go to live shows later, or book them for future events.
Taking your business online doesn’t have to mean designing a fancy website if you don’t already have one, or making this difficult. Go on Instagram, eBay, or Facebook. Sell something simple to start: a sketch, a T-shirt, the most basic version of your work, or a brief live demonstration of what you do.
Whatever comes of it, you’ll learn something. And it could open up a whole new income stream.
3. Tell a better story
Neil Horenz-Kelly is an artist and gallerist who again lives in my small town on the English coast. But he has taken his business online spectacularly well, selling work to collectors across the globe.
He can’t do crowded openings and events where people can meet the artists or learn about the work at his Don’t Walk Walk gallery right now. Instead, he has continued to build community online, helping his artists tell the stories behind their work with digital content.
He’s posting videos interviews in which artists represented by the gallery discuss how they’re working in lockdown. He’s running competitions, showing how work is made. And he’s telling interesting little stories about everything from the music he plays while painting in the galley to the work hanging on the walls. And his business is still growing, even though the gallery is closed.
This is a perfect time to look at the story you’re telling about your work. And to connect with new followers and fans who might later become customers. Could you make a video about your process? Is your About page online a dry CV, or a lively explanation of how and why you do what you do?
In the end, people don’t buy art or music, trainers or chairs. They buy stories. It’s all about the emotions those objects evoke, how they make us feel. Get people excited about your story, and the story behind the work you are making, and the sales will follow.
4. Collect patrons
If you can’t sell what you make right now, can you sell how you make it? Patreon is a platform enabling you to turn followers into patrons, who support your work with monthly payments in exchange for insider knowledge, some views behind the scenes – or whatever else you want to offer your most dedicated fans.
If you want to see someone who does this brilliantly, here’s musician/performance artist Amanda Palmer’s Patreon page: with 15,600 fans, all helping to support her work.
What content could you offer your patrons, in exchange for their monthly support? You could discuss the gear you use to make your work. Perhaps you could teach or demonstrate some of your skills. Ot you could show what goes into editing a video, grading film or photographs, making some beats, designing a handbag, writing a novel.
Most of these details are boring or obvious to you, they’re just part of your process. To others, however, they might be fascinating insider details they’re willing to pay to discover.
How do you know what your patrons want, what you can teach or share or offer to them exclusively? That one’s easy. You ask them!
The whole point of having a channel to your biggest fans or people who are interested in your specific skills is that it’s a dialogue, a conversation. Serve them, and they’ll support you.
5. Think laterally
Photographers have been hard hit by this crisis. It’s hard to find new things to photograph, when you can’t go out and everyday life is cancelled. So I love this campaign, featuring the everyday heroes who are saving lives by staying home – and who also happen to live with professional photographers.
Even if you really can’t work while you’re isolating at home, it’s worth considering what your clients will need, as lockdown eases. And how you can help them with that. Contacting them to make offers now might ensure your diary will be full when you can get back to work.
Sticking with the example of photographers, someone who specialises in weddings might contact couples who have had to reschedule their happy day, offering a special one-year anniversary portrait session at a reduced rate if they rebook their wedding shoot now, and pay a deposit. This helps with immediate cashflow – and adds on a welcome bonus job in 12 months’ time.
When they do start to reopen, most companies will need to tweak the imagery on their websites and in their marketing. They’ll want to reassure their clients, to show how they are keeping staff and customers safe. A photographer who specialises in commercial/corporate work might want to offer a package to make those images as soon as it’s possible to do so. With perhaps a 10% discount for companies who book early, before lockdown ends.
This isn’t being sleazy, or exploitative.
It’s simply anticipating what problems there will be for the people you serve, and helping out by offering a creative, ready-made solution. Everybody wins – and knowing you have definite work booked to do as soon as the restrictions ease would certainly help lower your stress levels now.
What do you think?