How to sell through art consultants and why you should

Artworks by Liron Sissman purchased by St. Joseph Mercy Okland in Pontiac, MI

Many artists are so focused on obtaining gallery representation that they often overlook other potentially more profitable, and dare I say, easier to work with channels. They probably have a good reason. While galleries exists on many street corners, are visible, some even advertise, and one can just walk into them, few artists know enough about art consultants to either find them or know how to effectively work with them. Unlike galleries art consultants are not ‘open to the public’. They don’t display art. And they don’t advertise to the general public. So why should you want to work with them? Well, they offer several distinct advantages. I will start by picking one and saying it is because they don’t display art to the public. What does that really mean to you as an artist? It means they don’t work on consignment. When you work with art consultants, you don’t need to spend your hard earned money on framing your art then shipping it and parting with it just to see if someone may or may not eventually buy it. Speaking of my own experience, I know that over the years there were paintings I could have sold if only I had them in my studio when certain collectors came over. But the art was off premise, sometimes at a gallery, and the sale that could have happened didn’t. The gallery that had the painting didn’t necessarily sell it on my behalf. This is not meant as a criticism of the gallery system. Galleries typically sell to individuals and individuals often need to stand in front of an artwork to fall in love with it and hopefully buy it.

Unlike galleries art consultants typically sell art to organizations: Hotels, medical centers, and companies. Organizations are far more likely than individuals to buy art based on images. This means that artists ship art only when it has sold. For you as an artist, it means you can work with many more art consultants at a time than you could with galleries. It also means you can far more easily work with art consultants long distance, even cross country, than with out of town galleries. Now, I should mention that art consultants don’t deal with just originals. They often deal with both original art and giclees. That too is an advantage as it allows you to sell your art over and over again.

Another huge advantage art consultants offer is the likely purchase of multiple artworks at a time. When a new building/center is built the art consultant in charge of the project is often looking to place hundreds of artworks at a time. I am currently speaking with an art consulting company looking to place 1,600 artworks. It is not unusual to sell many artworks at a time. In fact what is unusual is to sell but one work at a time.

Unlike shipping art to galleries and worrying about the inevitable frame damage that occurs over time (or worse), shipping art to art consultants is relatively speaking worry-free. See, art consultants take care of framing on their end. Not only does this save money but it also simplifies shipping.

Art consultants offer a lucrative market, a great channel, and are easy to work with provided you know how to find them and how to work with them. They are NOT easy to find. They spend their time chasing and competing for the big projects, rather than looking for artists. And, many who call themselves ‘art consultants’ do other things.

To save yourself years of time and effort spent on locating and qualifying art consultants and to quickly learn all you need to know in order to successfully work with them download my eBook: Getting Your Art into Corporate Collections: Why it pays, How to do it, Who to contact   In it I share my Rolodex and guide you through the process so that you are equipped with the necessary knowledge to:

•  Sell your art with no consignment

•  Sell your art nationally

•  Sell your art in multiples

Download today your copy of: Getting Your Art into Corporate Collections: Why it pays, How to do it, Who to contact and enjoy these lucrative markets!

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Copyright 2014, Liron Sissman, ArtistAdvisory.com. All rights reserved.

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Liron Sissman is a professional artist and an MBA. She coaches artists at ArtistAdvisory.com. This article was originally published in her ArtistAdvisory Blog: The Art of profiting from your Art, which is sent to thousands of artists who are elevating their businesses. Start your subscription today and read more articles like this at http://artistadvisory.com