Artist Marketing Tip: Create Basic Marketing Materials

Artist Marketing Materials: Business Cards, Flyers, Bio, Artist Statement

Marketing materials are very important in starting and building an art or craft business. Some of the most important pieces include: business cards, flyers, an artist statement, and a bio/resume. I am surprised at the number of emerging artists I meet who have work ready to sell and not so much as a business card on hand!

Create a business card, and keep plenty of them on hand. With the availability of online discount printing sources, business cards are downright cheap these days. Carry the cards with you, attach one to every original, print, necklace or anything else you sell. Hand them out at networking events. Post them on bulletin boards. The card should reflect your name and contact information. A nice slogan or tag line to help people remember you is also a great idea. Try to pick a form of contact that won’t change frequently. That might be a formal address, cel phone number, email address, website address or blog url.

A nicely designed flyer is also quite valuable. The flyer should contain information about you and your work. People want to know about you – the artist or crafter! A great flyer would consist of your artist bio, your artist statement, a picture of you and 1-3 pictures of your work. An artist bio (short for biography) is written to tell people more about the artist. The bio can be written in 1st or 3rd person, though it is often found expressed as a third person view (appearing like a publication review of the artist.) The artist statement can be anything you choose, though most artist statements reflect an artist’s philosophy and vision for his or her work. The flyer does not have to be large or printed in full color. A 1/2 letter size sheet works well, and can be reproduced on home printers. On the back you might list your Awards and Accomplishments. (You can see a sample Artist Bio and Awards/Accomplishments List for my Pencil Drawings at pencilplace.com.) You will want to include contact information on this sheet as well. As with the business card, include one with everything you sell.

If you have enough written copy and images, consider a brochure. A 3-panel brochure, even a 1-color version, makes a nice addition to your marketing materials. They are also easy to drop in the mail as they fit in a #10 envelope. Add a greeting letter and a business card and you have a complete marketing package!