How Can People Buy My Art In This Economy
It’s a great question.
To think that your sales could completely dry up if things started to get worse and more difficult as we head into more uncertain times is a scary thought.
But what’s more terrifying is the state of the world, and the thought of whether things will get even worse than they already are.
If you’re an artist who makes their sole living from selling their art, first of all a big congratulations to you. It is such an amazing and beautiful, but also daunting and sometimes overwhelming thing to do.
But to be in a position to do what you absolutely love doing for a living and to be able to share your creations and creativity with the world, to people who love what you do, is so fulfilling and such a privilege.
The problem with it, though, is that being a full-time professional artist can come with a lot of uncertainty and financial insecurity.
Your sales and success as an artist can often heavily depend on how well people are doing financially in society. If people have to get more tight with their dollars and pounds, it can often mean that they will forgo “luxuries” and non-essential purchases, such as art, in order to afford their mortgage or save for emergencies.
Their fears and concerns too become your fears and concerns.
But you’re an artist at the end of the day.
What is art truly for?…
I watched Alain de Botton (a phenomenal philosopher of our time), and he talked about the real importance of art. The real reason why art exists to begin with, and what it does for us. Not only to ourselves as artists, but to all of us humans, and what it can do for us humans in challenging times like these.
If you’re curious to see what he said here’s the link: Alain de Botton on Art as Therapy
What I took from it is that art and artists can be a source of light and understanding in times like these. They can bring forth hope through beauty and generate understanding, connection and empathy in a time where there may be a shortage of those things.
People may not have as much money to spend right now, but they need what you do more than ever.
You can provide ways to still serve humanity, even whilst they may have very little.
Whilst they may have to make sacrifices in order to meet the needs of themselves and their family, it doesn’t mean they need to WANT to sacrifice having art and beautiful, meaningful things in their lives.
So how can you offer your art to people in this economy, and potentially still make a living from doing your art, so that you can continue to look after yourself?
Ideas:
Create a low-cost (£1 a month) subscription for people to support your artwork and your art business and provide them with resources, artwork, drawings, stories about our art, BTS and a whole bunch of valuable things you can share with them to brighten their lives. You can do this on a platform like Substack, Patreon, YouTube memberships, or memberships with Squarespace.
Offer a subscription to low-cost prints that you only ship out to your country or by local delivery (cheaper for you) perhaps every week, fortnight or every month.
Start an art YouTube channel which you can eventually monetise. It is free for your fans who want to still have access to your art, and it can become a potential revenue stream you keep going even beyond these more financially challenging times.
