Last weekend was very important for me - I held my first art marketing and sales course in Zurich. I came up with the idea because since I have launched my online art gallery ArtGoda.com, e-mails from artists keep flowing into my inbox with similar questions — they are seeking advice on how to promote their art and find collectors.

The main challenge today seems to be selling art online. I think it is quite natural — talented and creative people often lack education in business and marketing, not to mention the wild wild digital world…

So I decided to gather a small group of artists and share what I know and what I have learned as being an online gallerist for two years. The beauty of educating others is that you also learn a bunch of things yourself and that was such a pleasant and interesting experience for me as a lecturer.

Here is what I’ve learned.

1. Creating, selling and buying art is heavily an emotional process

Well we all kind of have this feeling that majority of people are buying art for emotional reasons, it is also backed up by the data in various reports, my group of 6 creators confirmed that — they are very personal about exhibiting their art and all their artworks sold at the shows were driven by the emotional connection with the viewer.

2. Men buy more art and more expensive pieces

This fact is in the statistics as well, but I am still hopeless trying to resist this fact! We, women are responsible for all the beauty, cosiness and emotional comfort, so how come men are more into buying art? I guess the answer lies in the definition of status. I assume ladies are more practical and men buy art not just for aesthetic reasons, but because of a strong identification with a certain artwork as a proof of a certain status, a reflection of their identity.

3. Artists receive this misleading advice

Probably it is kind of natural that after seeing wonderful artworks created by an artists friend, someone would advice to quite the day job and do it full time. I understand such advice is very emotional, but I would dear to call it irresponsible. It is not easy to build career in art and takes a lot of time, so I would always recommend an alternative source of income (or at least enough savings) and take slower steps, because you will need time to learn new things until you become a successful full-time artist.

4. It is amazing how much people can scarify for their creative call

First of all, all of my workshop attendees are ready to give up the most precious resource of our contemporary life — their time. Instead of relaxing after work or during the holiday they choose to create. One of course participants chose to work less hours, so she can draw, another — quit a job with a well known and desirable employer. They are hardworking, willing to learn new things and invest (can’t win a marketing game without it!), so I am sure they will succeed, because apart from those things, they are also extremely talented!

Huge applause and respect to my first group of wonderful creators, let me introduce them to you:

Wei Yong (Donegel’) Chong

Art Marketing Workshop review