Learning Sales: A Key to Growth as an Artpreneur

I have a hard time asking for money.

The extent of my money issues didn't resonate with me until I worked in a restaurant as a food runner.  As a food runner, I brought the food to the tables (I didn't really do a lot of running- I'm not that coordinated).

It was my job in the kitchen to ensure the food was hot, the orders were correct, and the presentation was impeccable.  I was in charge of making sure the clients were more than satisfied with their meal and to let the servers or the kitchen know ASAP if something needed to be changed.  I made my money from the servers- I received 1% of their sales for the evening.  Per the norm in the food industry; the restaurant issued me a dollar per hour wage that was much less than minimum wage and basically, covered the taxes with a little left over.

Basically the deal was this: if I didn't get the money I earned from the servers, I wouldn't get paid at all.

This experience was incredibly uncomfortable for me. I had the worst time going up to the servers and the bartenders and saying, "I'm going home, can you tip me out?"

I didn't stay uncomfortable for long.  After all, there was rent to pay and I like to eat!  I never really enjoyed asking for money but I got comfortable with it.  I also stopped feeling bad about asking.

I knew I did a good job helping the servers; making sure I could give a little more and create a great experience for the people who ate at the restaurant.

I didn't doubt that I was doing a good job at my assigned job.

So why was asking for money so hard?

There are a lot of reasons people have trouble handling money.  I'm not talking about personal finance or business finance today; I'm talking about going out and asking for a) the sale of a product or service and b) the money for the sale.

I've noted creatives have the following problems with money (this is not an exhaustive list!)

• We doubt the value of our work

You and I really may doubt the value of our work.  How to get over this?  Try to sell it.  The marketplace talks.  If we are going to the right people with products and services we want, sales come.

We only know if our work is valuable if we bring it to the market.  And in this day and age, the work needs to be brought to different areas of the market.  We can study demographics and analysis until the cows come home. As Grandma used to say, "the proof is in the pudding."

• Not taking enough time to evaluate the variety of places to sell art.

Does it take time to figure out the best places to sell?

Sure.  But with perseverance, study and thoughtfulness this can all be worked out.

Real data comes from doing it yourself. Don't let anyone tell you it can or can't be done until you've tried it yourself. (I tell myself this a lot).  Some people will do well at shows and galleries. Others will sell from their websites, Facebook pages, Pinterest, or their Etsy shop.

Most of us will find that sell from a variety of platforms.

• We've been trained to wait for people to come to us.

Most of my life I've been in jobs where the money was deposited in my checking account or given to me as check.  The money part of work was not included in the jobs.

Consider the traditional way creatives have sold their art.

At art shows and galleries, we wait for people to approach us to buy.

Traditional book selling is having a book at a bookstore or an author sitting behind a table with a pile of books- hoping someone wants to buy.

How awkward is it to now start a mailing list, began to build relationships and then one day send out an email, let people know about your work AND ask them to buy it?

It feels weird, doesn't? It IS awkward.

The attitude of the entrepreneurs does not wait for people to buy their product.  As we said in last week's artpreneur post, if Debbi Fields had waited for someone to come in and buy her cookies, she would have closed shop. Her husband would have won the bet.  I would not have my Mrs. Fields Cookie Bake book. Everything hinged on Debbi walking out of the quiet shop, approaching people and saying, "won't you try my cookies?" And after they tried the free, she asked, "would you like to buy?"

With so much going on, if we don't say, "here's my product to buy" people who really do want to buy won't notice.  We live in an over stimulated economy.

How to get over this?  Ask. It can be done sweetly with a bit of sophistication or pizzazz. The people who want to buy will. Those who don't, won't.

When I sold Avon, I would call and/or email some of my clients the night before I placed my order.  I always received at least 1-2 orders (sometimes a lot more) of people who wanted to buy but for one reason or another, hadn't.  Those night-before-the-order calls brought in hundreds of dollars of extra business over the year.

• For many of us with creative strengths, business is not a core strength.  BUT one of the core aspects of business is asking for money.

There is only one thing I have to say about this:  we've got to get over this.

Entrepreneurs know how to get work and ask for money.  As an artpreneur, we've got to learn the skills of knowing where to find work, ask for sales and ask for money.

• We may have been influenced by influential institutions stating that money is "evil."

Money is neither good or bad.  As Rabbi Daniel Lapin states in his book, Thou Shall Prosper, "money is amoral."  It doesn't care; it doesn't have feelings.

Money doesn't flow to good people or bad people because of their goodness or badness.  Money goes to people to a) have something of value to give and b) find people who want the need or service and c) take the money for it.

You know what's bad?  Not being able to pay for stuff because the bank account is empty!  This is bad.  We don't want to be here!  I hate the term starving artist.

Another truth:  business is good. Without business we are all in a lot of trouble.  As Rabbi Daniel Lapin points out in his book, society often paints very negative pictures of successful men and women and companies, alluding that business is bad.

But that's ridiculous.  We all know great people in business and lousy people in business. Likewise, we know wonderful people who are broke and lousy people who are broke.

Who do you want to be?  I'd like to be a wonderful person in business, making money, able to pay for my own life and have excess to help others.

The fact of the matter is we really, truly want someone to come to us and say, "wow! what you are doing is great!  Can I buy it?"

Better yet, we want them to say.  "I'll sell it for you!  I'll do the work!  You just create!"

But that is not the economy we are in.  And if we are serious about making money and creating an income from our art- whether it is visual art, selling seminars, selling books, running an interior design firm, creating an Etsy store with our jewelry- we have to go out and share our wares with the world.

Learning to sell is a skill. And skills can be learned.

If you are lousy today, you could be an amazing salesperson in three years.  Study how to sell. Read some books.  The go out and practice.  Do it. That's how we'll grow.

One final thought:  Many people feel uncomfortable approaching people they don't know; even if they have something they want. Is it possible your future fans, clients and customers are waiting for you to approach them?  You could have what they want.  But they don't know you have it unless you approach them.

Do you like selling?  Does it make you uncomfortable?  If you've struggled in the past but are feeling stronger in sales now, what did you do to overcome your fears?