Soliciting work
Eliska
I plan to approach local vets for permission to leave my business card w/small sample.
I also want to advertise in a national pet magazine - under consideration are Dog World,
Dog Fancy and AKC Gazette.
Anybody have any more suggestions or feedback
TIA
E
Bryna
not an ad in a neighborhood or advertising newspaper? I put an ad in
The Advertiser for piano lessons. I got one answer, although the woman
hasn't shown up for her lesson yet. I mentioned to someone I was going
to teach again, and immediately this guy (who plays the guitar by ear
only) signed up for lessons, so just mentioning things can help.
>
Bryna
>
Bryna
Towse
At the risk of asking you to post an ad, how much are you
charging? Do you work from a photograph? If so, do you have a Web
site with samples of photographs and resultant portraits? Do you
have any blurbs from satisfied customers? If not, have you asked?
Post a link to your portrait of you-know-who's puppy, if
you-know-who wouldn't mind: you might get other takers from m.w.
Some m.writers adore their puppy dogs, some adore their kitty
cats, some adore their pet peeves.
You have a million million prospects _right _here.
Toss in misc.writers who know they'll be stuck trying to think up
a Mother's Day present for their mum or a Father's Day present
for their grandda, who loves _his pet, well, the possibilities
expand astronomically.
Seeing what you're offering would help me suggest where to place
a market. Truth to tell? I think you'd have better luck with an
ad in Woman's World, Yankee, some place that's a non-traditional
pet-hugger venue. I imagine the pet-hugger magazines have ads
from your competition.
I know people who swear by those small ads in the back pages of
the New Yorker. Buy a brief ad. Reference a Web site for further
information. I have no idea how much the ads cost or what your ad
budget is.
Best of luck with it, Eliska.
YAHOO! Eliska!
Sal
--
3K+ useful links for writers, researchers and the terminally
curious <http://www.internet-resources.com/writers>
Eliska
>> Anybody have any more suggestions or feedback
>>
>> TIA
>
>At the risk of asking you to post an ad, how much are you
>charging? Do you work from a photograph?
Yes. Animals being the moving targets that they are, it's a necissity.I have done
portraits from photos emailed to me from as far away as England (Thanks, Stan, for the
lead on that one)
> If so, do you have a Web
>site with samples of photographs and resultant portraits?
In the works
>Do you
>have any blurbs from satisfied customers? If not, have you asked?
Yes
You-know-who said,
"i do honestly think you did such
a fabulous job, so much better than i'd even hoped for from someone
who hadn't ever met her. this portrait is beautiful. you do AMAZING work."
>Post a link to your portrait of you-know-who's puppy, if
>you-know-who wouldn't mind: you might get other takers from m.w.
>Some m.writers adore their puppy dogs, some adore their kitty
>cats, some adore their pet peeves.
You- know -who has given me both permission to place her pup on my page and a referral to
the pugs I'm painting now.
>Seeing what you're offering would help me suggest where to place
>a market. Truth to tell? I think you'd have better luck with an
>ad in Woman's World, Yankee, some place that's a non-traditional
>pet-hugger venue. I imagine the pet-hugger magazines have ads
>from your competition.
What you say is true but I can't quite come up with an appropriate alternative. I once
sold a ton of t-shirts I'd designed that had a 3-d bird poop looking design and the words
"Don't feed the seagulls" and "damn seagulls" via a picture classified in a boating and a
sailing magazine.
AKC Gazette has no portrait artist ads, but that makes me wonder why. Their rates are also
the best
>
I'll look at Woman's World and Yankee next time I'm at the bookstore.
>I know people who swear by those small ads in the back pages of
>the New Yorker. Buy a brief ad. Reference a Web site for further
>information. I have no idea how much the ads cost or what your ad
>budget is.
>
That's my plan - I'd like to keep it real brief
Pet portraits from Photographs
web address
>Best of luck with it, Eliska.
Thank you so much, Sal.
E
Wildepad
wrote:
IIRC, eBay has a section for self-representing artists doing custom
work. It costs thirty cents for a listing runs a week.
If you don't know your way around eBay at all, just ask and I'll find
some examples of what others are doing and e-mail you their auctions.
At least it'll give you some idea of what others are doing.
Bill Oliver
Eliska <eli...@tampabay.rr.com> wrote:
> I'm tossing around ideas on how to generate pet portrait commissions
>
>I plan to approach local vets for permission to leave my business card
>w/small sample.
>
I have noticed a couple of interesting approaches.
1) We bought a small cottage near the Chesapeak not too
long ago. When we closed, the real estate agent gave us
a print by a local artist. This was, of course, one of the
obligatory Chesapeake prints -- skipjacks, crabs, etc.
I thought that was a pretty good idea. This artist makes
a zillion prints of a couple of her works and suddenly has
a copy hanging on half the walls in the county -- and, I
later noticed, many of the businesses (though the ones in
the businesses were for sale). Then I noticed that her
stuff was also in all the local artsy tourist traps...
While pet portraits are not quite as universal as feel-good
landscapes and cute local color, but something a little more
generic might work.
2) Another thing I've noticed is that a lot of the
businesses down there have art for sale hanging on their
walls. Go to the local eatery, bank, bakery, law office,
etc. and you will see that most of them have art on
their walls, most with discrete price tags. People
may not buy art from the walls of the Bank of Lancaster,
but they *may* notice the artist.
3) Crafts fairs. They are a pain, but what can you say?
4) Market non-traditional ways of displaying your art. Throw
a red cap on a dog and make a bunch of Christmas cards. Put
a paw on a dreidle. Paint one green for St. Patrick's day.
5) Don't just do pet portraits. If you can render a pet
well enough for a good portrait, then you can do more general
wildlife and landscape stuff. Look and see what's selling
in your area. It won't kill you to paint a crab and a skipjack,
a cactus and cow skull in the desert, Indians riding horses
through aspen, or whatever cliche the tourists are buying.
billo
Eliska
Wow! Yes, please
E
p'd & e'd
Dick Harper
> I'm tossing around ideas on how to generate pet portrait commissions
> Anybody have any more suggestions or feedback
Don't just leave a card or a flier. Make them an active
partner in sending clients to you (maybe offer them a freebie
portrait).
Look for other likely gathering places for pet owners. Dog
obedience schools. Places where there are kids (playgrounds,
schools, day cares, pediatrician's offices). Make-A-Wish.
Look for unlikely gathering places for pet owners. Billo
suggested the real estate connection. Do you know a radio DJ? See
if a local station wants to give away a couple of portraits. How
about your local PBS affiliate. Do they have an art auction? I've
given photos to the local BPW chapter and to a 911 benefit auction
that were among the most popular prizes.
--Dick
----------------
Paul's Law: You can't fall off the floor.
Dick Harper
> AKC Gazette has no portrait artist ads, but that makes me wonder why. Their rates are also
> the best
Perhaps--and this is idle speculation unencumbered by any
facts whatsoever--AKC readers either (a) stick to photographic
portraits, (b) don't want portraits, or (c) have their portraits
done locally. If the answer really is (c), with enough marketing
punch, you might very well break into that market.
It's worthwhile to write a marketing plan before you start
advertising. A marketing plan doesn't need to be a 100 page white
paper, but it should include answers to some of the questions
we've talked about here as well as a pretty clear idea of what
these advertising dollars are supposed to accomplish.
Do you have to trigger a sale today? Or do you want to
establish a brand with the most qualified potential buyers? Those
are very different goals and take significantly different
advertising. monsterjob.com's first Superbowl ad shows how to use
the blitz to do the former. The constant proliferation of Pepsi
promos points out how to build brand identity. And the Ronco
school of "Call now, operators are standing by" does seem to
trigger instant sales.
You may very well have to keep up an ongoing blitz because I
would guess that people who want pet portraits are impulse buyers
and you need to be in front of them when the impulse strikes. But
I don't know that. A market study would answer that question.
Here is Marketing 101, the bullets:
-Identify your Unique Advantage or Selling Proposition
-Who is your Logical Prospect, let alone the qualified
or targeted buyer? You need to identify Customers
and Prospects
-How will you convince Logical Prospects to buy a
portrait?
-Where is that target audience?
-What are you trying to say in your advertising?
-Pick your media: Direct Mail is different from
the Internet is different from magazines or newspapers
is different from radio and television (TV is still
the most potent selling media)
-You need to know your advertising cost per sale.
How many advertising impressions do you need per sale
Cost per Advertising Impression
-What's the general viewer/subscriber information from
the media you are considering? Does it match your
targeted buyer?
The best resource, btw, is to grab a library book on
Marketing.
--Dick
----------------
Maine began providing laptop computers in schools just six months
ago. Educators there are impressed by how quickly students and
teachers have adapted to laptop technology.
It took them six months?
Dick Harper
> IIRC, eBay has a section for self-representing artists doing custom
> work. It costs thirty cents for a listing runs a week.
>
> If you don't know your way around eBay at all, just ask and I'll find
> some examples of what others are doing and e-mail you their auctions.
> At least it'll give you some idea of what others are doing.
That's interesting enough for all of us to know about (in
fact, the arts council I chair has been talking about opening an
eBay account). If you do more research, would you post the
results?
--Dick
----------------
Mental Floss prevents Moral Decay.
Sylvia
> I'm tossing around ideas on how to generate pet portrait commissions
> Anybody have any more suggestions or feedback
When I lived in Florida, the library had a small gallery area where they
exhibited the works/collections of local folk. See if yours does the same.
I always checked it out when I was there. While they may not let you
advertise in a blatant manner, your blurb could have something about
how you especially enjoy commissions for pet portraits because...
ummm... hell, think of something grabby. And stack the deck with pet
portraits.
--
Sylvia
Eliska
I really appreciate y'all!!!
E
Dick Harper
> When I lived in Florida, the library had a small gallery area where they
> exhibited the works/collections of local folk. See if yours does the same.
> I always checked it out when I was there. While they may not let you
> advertise in a blatant manner, your blurb could have something about
> how you especially enjoy commissions for pet portraits because...
> ummm... hell, think of something grabby. And stack the deck with pet
> portraits.
And the hospital. Many (most?) hospitals have an area set
aside as a public gallery for one man shows. I've done hospitals
and libraries and get a lot of positive feedback from both. The
downside for me has been that I've made no sales at either the
hospital or the library.
--Dick
----------------
The hardness of the butter is directly proportional
to the softness of the bread.
Sylvia
> Sylvia eloquently commented in misc.writing
>
> > When I lived in Florida, the library had a small gallery area where they
> > exhibited the works/collections of local folk. See if yours does the same.
<...>
> And the hospital. Many (most?) hospitals have an area set
> aside as a public gallery for one man shows. I've done hospitals
> and libraries and get a lot of positive feedback from both. The
> downside for me has been that I've made no sales at either the
> hospital or the library.
A few small restaurants do the same here. They get free temporary use
of the art work, and the artists get free advertising and possible
sales.
--
Sylvia
Bryna
> Eliska wrote:
> >
> > I'm tossing around ideas on how to generate pet portrait commissions
> >
> > I plan to approach local vets for permission to leave my business card w/small
> > sample.
> >
> > I also want to advertise in a national pet magazine - under consideration are Dog
> > World, Dog Fancy and AKC Gazette.
> >
> > Anybody have any more suggestions or feedback
> >
> > TIA
>
>
> I know people who swear by those small ads in the back pages of
> the New Yorker. Buy a brief ad. Reference a Web site for further
> information. I have no idea how much the ads cost or what your ad
> budget is.
> >
> Sal
>
You know, Sal, that's an interesting idea. I've collected easy-to-play
keyboard songs for kids, arranged by me featuring simplified notes of
my own design. I know they work and kids like them, so maybe a
collection of the same and advertising it someplace might not be a bad
idea. Once I put together a book and tapes on English pronunciation I
used when I tutored English to some Chinese people. Maybe advertising
that too, might not be a bad idea either. Other than contacting
publishers from time to time, I never knew what to do with those
things. I did advertise the music things once by putting some notices
in specail education newsletters and got some response and sales that
way. Stuff like that might be worth pursuing, especially in these
times when the publishing business is a bit slow, at least for those
of us who don't write block-busters.
>
Bryna