It seems more than a few people had a poor year. I was a first timer in 2012 and was left with virtually nothing to invest into 2013. I really think many of the jury approvals are based upon the fact that progressively fewer artists are surviving to submit art/pay the fees, etc.
As the world is supposed to end soon, I guess I won't worry about it, but good grief the fees were sure steep and I even heard veterans saying how poorly they did! Now, I'm not whining as I'll just try something else, but ya gotta wonder if a change isn't due...
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Work does not sell itself in 2012 like it did in 2002. It will again but who knows when. My uncle passed away 20 years ago and was VP of sales for RCA. Their motto was there is no thing as poor sales. There are just poor salesmen.
I can still here him telling me.... When was the last time you re read those "successful selling" books you had in school. Have you been to a "Dale Carnegie " sales seminar lately or one of those "ten ways to success in selling" meetings . How about reveiwing the six points to close a sale. Top salesmen are always dressed better than their customer. Maybe it time for a nice pair of chinos and a good shirt from L L Bean and throw away those ten year old blue jeans. Do you have incentives like a Sherwin Williams color stack so that the potential buyer can see the work against their wall color. How about " be back cards "or a free wall hanger, or maybe e mailed photo with the artist, or a dozen other things.
Booth adjustments are great but thats marketing. 2012 required me to really work hard at selling just to have a decent year. There was no gain but also no drop in sales.
The good news is that many people have dropped out, because it wasn't worth it...now I am getting into a lot of shows. Kinda like showing up after a "hole has been fished out." 2012 sucked, but so did 2008-2011. However, I look at it like I am one festival away from becoming rich and famous...like Nels.
Just returned from the One of A Kind Show. Crowds this year were large. Sales ran the range from artists who did very well to those who sold little or none. I think that the dates of the show held down holiday purchases this year as the show was later into Dec than usual. Our sales were just in the ok range, paid expenses, made a little money and on we go. Remember though that in our case we travel from Florida so we have 8 days of hotel expense including 4 in Chicago which is expensive, not to mention parking in Chicago at $34 per day. So all in all I guess we should be thankful to have made some money. Now for 2012 it was a mixed bag of sorts for us. Among our best years in total sales but also a year with our highest expenses so the "profit" was not great in the end. Any other 3D artists out there want to share some experiences for 2012?
This was up and down for me. The last 2 shows for (The Inside Show) and One of A Kind. Both shows the promoters did what they suppose to do. The Inside show was just hopeless and The One of Kind if people had purchase big frames instead of small, well I will had a super show.
Giving up is not a choice it wont happen. I just took a closer look to my work and after talking to James Parker and friends during great dinner. I start wondering if I was not putting new work quick enough. I needed to see my booth I start thinking what body of work I should show case. Talking to Mary Johnson I was looking for what route to choose. During the one of a Kind my neighbor ask me to sell a piece to him. I consider myself a good sale person. I forgot one very basic thing. The story behind the image. One thing we need to do is practicing sales techniques.
My conclusion was I need to keep producing work each week for the next four months. I set a goal of 100 images a week but it may be more like 30 images a week. Create a story to each of my images. Solidify my presentation. The most important thing believe in myself.
The sad thing double my sales from last year. That brings one more thing do not be satisfy no matter what you can do better.
Any how Happy holidays
I see that almost all the replies are by photographers with no painters chiming in. I'd be interested to know how the 2D fine art painters did in 2012. I find there is a difference in income by medium. What do you all think?
Jerry - interesting. (sorry a little OT here but) I've been going bigger and bigger because so many people sell small 11x14 and so forth. Even 20x30 are looking small to me now.
You mention "it's hard to give up show that ain't good but you really WANT them to be good"
I have that problem. I have a WONDERFULLY run show that is just a dog for me. I feel sad because I want these guys to do well as they put a lot of work in it and others do well. I seem to suck there. I sit with a big grin all day not selling anything.
30 years of doing shows and last year was my best year ever. When i't was'nt working, nothing else to do but try something new. I pretty much 86ed the shows I wasnn't making money at-perhaps a no brainer but it's hard to give up show that ain't good but you really WANT them to be good. So, i'm not wasting more time on those. I'm real enthused about a lot of my new work, but, once again, it's hard to give up some old lines when you still really love them. But gotta cut the cord if it's not working. I've always want to do large scale photography so I bought the equipment and am now workin large- a big increase in sales off the wall. I also realized I need a VERY GOOD crowd to sell much. For me, that means only doing (for the most part) top rated shows. They almost always deliver for me. It's hard to get in but for me the only thing that works.
I don't really want to join this self pity group but frankly I was ecstatic over 2012 and hope I do the same next year!
The one thing I have heard more then once was from the males of a couple. Twice a guy was looking completely bored while his wife was in my booth. All of a sudden he looks and walks into my area and looks me in the eye and says. "I go to these shows every few weeks with my wife and every show is always the same, nothing new, year after year."
Last year at one fair I saw photography in 3 separate booths and I swear the three guys all took a trip to Greece. The ones I see making money are the ones that are thinking outside the box.
Maybe that is the problem. People have been seeing the same thing for so many years they are craving a new look. A new size something to get them excited.
Granted I don't do the LARGE shows so I'm not making $15,000 a weekend as a friend of mine does with his photography at his big events (well, a few). I do the smaller one day shows that cost $100 but making 10xentry fee is not a surprise. It's not all the time but it's certainly a reachable goal.
Yea - there are bad shows, I'm dumping a few but there are also wonderful small shows with 40 artists that are amazing. Plus for me the work I get after the shows are starting to add up to a nice amount.
I'm not trying to brag or anything but no - not EVERYBODY is having a hard time. There is hope. it's not a universal downturn with nothing but hopelessness on the horizon. I've only been doing shows for 3 years so I don't know about the past but the here and now, I'm having a blast.
Eric said "A set of images that will be unlike anything else that I have seen exhibited at outdoor shows."
YEA - that's the idea mate. As long as you love doing it. If you love doing it it will show in your sales. I think people get stuck on success and forget that they need to reinvent them selves almost for every show. I've never had the same set up for any show. One woman saw me two weeks in a row and was amazed that I had totally changed everything. She asked if I had a twin brother.
Don't be stagnant.
Sorry - I was probably to bubbly.
This year was terrible for me. A Break even fall and a spring where I lost money.
I would have to say that I have put a lot of thought in the past few weeks into what Nels just said. I am at a point where I am going to quit shows altogether or I am going to go as far in the opposite direction of the work I am currently exhibiting as possible.
I love doing landscape photography and I will continue doing it because of that. I just don't think I will exhibit it at shows anymore. The simple fact is there are way too many people doing landscapes for it to be wildly profitable. Landscapes are also almost never looked favorably upon by judges, especially color landscape. The chances of getting into top shows on a regular basis are not very good. There are always exceptions, but as a whole I don't think there are enough people interested in it to sustain everyone. I have also become disillusioned with it because I see so many people selling the same copied locations and compositions as well as constantly getting outsold by beach shots of a hammock between two palms printed on canvas.
I can't ignore the numbers anymore. The simple fact is my best selling images are not the landscapes that I prominently display, they are the still life images I have hiding in my bins. Because of this I am going to throw everything out and start from scratch on a cohesive and well thought out body of work. A set of images that will be unlike anything else that I have seen exhibited at outdoor shows. Hopefully it will end up working for me, my only concern is that straying too far from the norm of the shows will be missing the mark of what the average festival going crowd is looking for. I guess that is a gamble I have to be willing to make.
Maybe Alison already reinvented herself and it is paying off.
Nice pep talk Nels. It looks like your talk has inspired some to get moving.
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