Hand-made clay "shield, Petroglyph, by Tammy Vitale of Tam’s Originals. You can see a close up in my Tam’s Originals photo album here.
What do you do to market your art? I was working on my marketing plan for the SBCD (Small Business Development Corp) that I’m working with and realize that I really don’t have one. Or I do have one and it’s the tag line here: Follow your heART! I find myself a bit convinced that there is no such thing as a business plan for art.
I posted the outline a few days back. Here’s my first try at a draft to fill in the blanks.
Instruction: Write several sentences or bullets describing your company’s strengths and achievements (internal). Wirte several sentences or bullets describing your company’s opportunities and threats. These may be external to your organization.
See – already the problem is that I don’t have an organization per se. I have me. but here we go.
Strengths: Unique in the area for clay tile, recycled furniture and wall sculptures. No one else is doing this kind of work. Completed a large public sculpture that is well known in Northern Calvert at least and give me credibility. I am personally a recognizeable name in So. Md. art circles. I have successfully identified and secured representation at shops I can drive to and from in a day (i.e., A Step Above in Berlin, Joie de Vivre in Cambridge, MD and Transient Crafters in Charlottesville, VA). [note to self – this is external, not internal]. Locally I have multiple shops in different demographics: Common Grounds coffee shops in Prince Frederick and Owings, Tianne West’s Massage Therapy Practice in Prince Frederick, the Bronze Door Day Spa in Prince Frederick, and New Moon Massage Therapy Practice in LaPlata. I am represented in ArtWorks at 7th Gallery in North Beach and Heron’s Way Gallery in Leonardtown. I am in Hoopla Traders on Capitol Hill and soon will be in Alchemy in Silver Spring. I am told that my work attracts the eye of many.
After 4 years of working at this full time,, I have tried and discarded many of the potential paths which do not necessarily work for me: i.e., fairs and festivals which require jurying fees and putting up tents (because I am solo and because my work does not travel well). I have determined that shops and galleries give potential clients not only a place to view my work, but also a place to return to during a decision making process.
Weaknesses: Cash flow is covering expenses for making art, but not yet providing adequate income to pay cost of living. Sluggish economy with spiraling prices on items which potential clients "must" have (i.e., fuel, food, housing) leaves less dollars for discretionary expenditures. Demographic is often hampered by lack of independent income and thus purchase decisions. While work attracts the eye of many, movement to purchase is not necessarily a regular outcome (When I was in Front Royal there was a man who like one of my sculptures so much that he visited it weekly. It was priced at $200 which I felt was more than reasonable, yet he never bought it).
Because of lack of information on how to approach, I have not looked into working with interior designers, commercial designers or developers (although I did call one in North Beach who never called back – he’s building directly across from my public art work). I haven’t the slightest idea how to approach these folks and because doing what I’m doing already with shops is easier, that’s what I’ve done.
Tha’s what the start of my Marketing "Plan" look like. How about yours?
Thought for the Day: What if instead of crying for all we can’t, we create reasons why we can?
Tammy Vitale, Possibilities (hand-made chapbook).
