Reasons to Send a Newsletter for Your Art Business

There’s something gratifying about selling art to a customer who regularly follows your work. It is even more so if it’s taken a while for them to commit to that first purchase.

Have you ever met someone who loved your work and seemed eager to buy but then seemed to disappear? Remember how you first got your hopes up, told friends and family you were about to make a big sale.  But, you didn’t hear back from the prospect, even when you sent a note to follow up?   Then, suddenly, maybe even a few years later, they appeared and decided to finally make that purchase.

Yes, these kinds of sales do happen.  What if, instead of this being a once-in-a-blue-moon scenario, it happened regularly?  

Why I Encourage Artists to Stay in Touch with Their Contacts

That is why I encourage artists to maintain a customer contact list from day one and encourage them to stay in touch with everyone they come into contact with as they work.  It sometimes seems pointless at first if you don’t have a list, and perhaps daunting if you’ve been working for years without a list and are now tasked with gathering all of your contacts into one place. But it is well worth it.    While you should try to stay in touch with people individually, I recommend an electronic artist newsletter as the best starting point for consistently making contact with your list.  

8 Reasons to Send an Email Newsletter for Your Art Business Now

If my anecdote about making that big sale didn’t convince you, here are eight reasons to send an artist newsletter now!

1.  Keep your list warm.  Sending an artist newsletter consistently is the best way to ensure you are in front and center of your fans.  Not everyone is ready to buy your art on the spot, but when they are ready, you’ll be the one to get the call, not the artist who never kept in touch. 
2.  You control the platform.  Yes, fans may follow you on Facebook, but are your posts making it to the top of their feed this week?  With your artist newsletter, you control when and how they see your message. 
3.   Less distraction.  Speaking of social media, even if your fans see that post, it will likely be replaced by another post before you know it.  When they choose to open and read your newsletter, you have their undivided attention. 
4.   You control the message.  With an artist newsletter, you have a blank slate, and you get to decide which art you present and what you would like your contacts to know about you and your work that month. 
5.  It allows for targeted communication.  Most email marketing services will allow you to send messages to segments of your list. 
6.  You can fine-tune your message.  Most email marketing services will show you insights into who read your message when they read it, and which links they clicked through. 
7.  It builds trust with your base.  An artist newsletter sent out regularly demonstrates that you value your business and your fans.  The more people trust you, the more likely they will buy from or work with you. 
8.  Opportunity!  I have been helping an artist produce a newsletter for a few years.  He consistently gets inquiries regarding his work, workshops, and other opportunities every time he sends them out.

Try sending well-crafted newsletters to your contacts consistently and see what can happen for your business.