– "Why is that?"
– "Because my profit is included in the price of the painting. If I share my profit with you, then you'll share your salary with me."
Clients quickly come to their senses. Tested. You can add: will you buy medicine for my mom, here's the prescription, and also the bill from the clinic.
Sometimes they argue that someone else is giving a discount. And what's that got to do with me? Why should I do what they're trying to impose on me? I work for money. The watercolor is fantastic, the price is excellent.
Here's where attention comes in. For some reason, this client came to me instead of staying with someone else. Why? There are clients who try to bend you to their will. So what? That's their problem, not yours. Usually, they just don't want to pay for your work. They value their own. Art is not milk or bread, or medicine.
The client is a specialist in their field, and I am in mine. For those who have their own website or paintings published on social media profiles with prices, it's convenient to do the same. I ask: "Have you seen all my works? Have you checked the prices? So you're aware of the prices, right?"
Here's another one of my stories. When a lady tried to explain to me that the price was too high. And the arguments: "As if anyone buys this. Look at the painting by a famous artist, his winter landscape costs several times less! Who is he, and who are you! Is this what you have? Watercolor?? A painting, miss (she addressed me), is done in oils, but yours is who knows what!" In general, she came to me with these texts for a week. Just a common troll. Clearly not my client.
Remembered another case.
– "Gal, draw me 5 pictures, I really need them!"
– "What? About what? (I look) I understand, it will cost (I name the price), it'll be ready tomorrow."
– "Are you kidding me? Do you really think I can't find someone else to do it?"
A week passes, she appears with a stack of drawings and throws them on my desk:
– "Look, here they are! Tanya made them for me! And not with a pencil, but with a pen!"
– "How much did you pay Tanya?"
– "Me? Pay? Oh, she did it for me for free, unlike you!"
Normal, right? In reality, it's Tanya's personal business how much she charges for her work. What's that got to do with me? Why should I spend my resources just because someone wants something for free? When they approach me like this (asking for a discount), I can suggest negotiating. Yes, suggest your options, let's discuss. Respect yourself and others, value your work and time.
Learn to sell your paintings, and you'll get both money and pleasure.
Where should I start?
– Hello, Galina. Where should I start selling paintings?
– Hello. Start with studying the materials in our group and in the educational courses. There are videos and texts on many topics, so take advantage and get started.
Dear artists, I don't know your specific situation and requests. But I know for sure that my methods are applicable to you too. I'm sure that among all the materials you will find what suits you personally. It's proven. Imagine you're at a buffet, choosing what you want from a fully laid table. Convenient, isn't it?
I can't give you a detailed personal answer just based on the request "Hello, Galina. Where should I start selling paintings?" because I'm not a fortune-teller, and I'm not a telepath to provide recommendations without knowing the artist, their work, and the situation. Moreover, I don't engage in personal chats. Here are some possible responses to your question:
– I don't know where you should start personally.
– Maybe you need to continue what you were doing.
– Or something else, there are plenty of options.
– What have you been doing before this, where, when?
– What results have you achieved?
– And now, what are you expecting to achieve?
– Publish a post in the group with your question to have a useful discussion for everyone. If you want something specific for you, come for a paid consultation, we'll analyze your case, and you'll get a personalized step-by-step action plan.
Cheatsheet for Online Communication
There's a wonderful way to ruin your page. Sending spam. These are messages with unsolicited information, flooding the inbox or private messages of other users in the network. Remember, there's always a *report spam* button or its equivalent. You could get banned, have your account deleted, or blocked. Or you might get dragged into arguments about whose art is more artistic, or whose watercolor is more watercolor-y. I've experienced both ends of that spectrum pretty quickly. And I learned my lessons fast. So, how should you properly communicate in social networks?
1. Politeness. Set up *Thank you* responses after someone adds you as a friend. Or initiate the contact yourself. Make it a habit to address people by their names.
2. Avoid being a bore. When someone only talks about themselves, it gives off an air of indifference to the other person. What does this look like? Messages solely about paintings, invitations, advertisements, and messages that are only interesting to you.
3. Entertainment. Why do people hang out here? Drop a funny line, share a humorous picture—there are plenty out there. Any video that interests you. Your personal opinion. When you share information, explain why you liked it, why it caught your attention. The phrase *I liked it because* works wonders; it introduces you as a person. Or describe your emotions: "Oh, what a seaside! Lovely flowers! Beautiful view. Unusual voice for the singer," and so on. Such messages often get retweeted, shared, reposted.
4. Interest, retweets, likes, shares. Visit your colleagues/friends' profiles and generously share information from there. You'll get noticed and remembered. Comments in interest groups work the best, and they should be well-argued, including posts. Again, express your emotions.
5. Events. You have a workshop, a new painting, a new series of works— it's appropriate to talk about and invite people to them. Events in your life, where you've been, what you saw. Then write about how everything went and add photos; it'll make for good post promotion.
6. Posts from your blog. Set up automatic posting of blog messages to your page. This is important. Don't know how to do it? Either add them manually or ask me. There are special services and search engines for this.
7. Tell about yourself. But be careful. Very careful. There are boundaries to communication and to your territory. Only you decide where they lie. How is it done? In different ways. Talk about others.
8. Share links from other sites. Information from other pages. Read an article? Watched a video? Something interesting happened to a friend? Then give it a like! Repost!
9. Propose a discussion topic. Ask questions, respond to comments. Organize contests, polls. Help solve other people's problems. And to do that, you have to respond to messages. Gradually, you'll attract regular readers who are interested in what you write and find you interesting as a person. So, write and behave in a way that makes you interesting to others, and they will read you, even if it's not reciprocal.
What's the main mistake people make? The simplest one. They only talk about themselves and their paintings. Solely "I'm an artist" and "buy my paintings." It's a good theme. It's a shame it's only interesting to the author.
For some reason, it's believed that everyone is ecstatic and should immediately want to buy something. Do you seriously think people are seeing and hearing about your profession as an artist or the opportunity to buy paintings for the first time? Do you really think so? Think again. And now, let's think together—why do people come to the network? Are you personally interested