Did you sell art over the holidays last year? Did you feel overwhelmed? Whether this is your first time selling art during the holidays or you have been doing it for some time, you have to be prepared. In this post, you will discover how artists can prepare for the holidays so it will be a profitable and enjoyable time of the year.
How Artists Can Prepare For The Holidays
When is the best time to start preparing for the holidays?
I have learned over time that preparing for the holidays should start in February.
In February you should take note of what made your job easier and what had you spinning like a top.
Ask yourself:
- What could I have done to make my days easier?
- Did I have enough art to sell?
- Did I sell everything I had available for purchase?
- Did my marketing plan work?
- If not, what can I do differently?
- Did I have enough supplies?
- Did I run out of materials?
- Was there any shipping issues?
- Did I finish all commissioned orders for the holidays?
Even though you will be selling art throughout the year, you will still want to plan for the holidays in February.
February is the month to write goals and develop plans so your time will be more productive.
The first 7 months of the year you will be focusing on creating art to sell throughout the year as well as stocking up for the holidays. You will also be working on marketing your business and building your email list.
When July rolls around you will want to start preparing for the holiday rush.
Preparing For The Holidays
During the summer is a great time to focus on what you will need for the holidays. Sales are usually slower during this time because most people are on vacations and not shopping online.
Let’s take a look at some areas you will want to focus on.
Inventory
Take an inventory of all your art supplies and shipping materials you have on hand.
Supplies
Order all of the art supplies you will need for the remainder of the year. This is a great time to purchase supplies because you will have extra time to bargain shop. Spend a few minutes and search for the best prices and stock up.
Another reason you will want to order your art supplies now is that you do not want to run out during the holiday season.
I can still remember the first couple of years selling art online and running out of supplies. Needless to say, I paid top dollar for the materials and it was an inconvenience running to the local art store.
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Shipping materials
When you have an accurate count of what you will have available for sale, you can start stocking up on shipping materials.
Do this now. You do not want to run out of shipping materials during the holiday season. You will find it very difficult to find what you are looking for at reasonable prices.
Craft Show Materials
Are you going to sell your art at craft shows in September and October?
If you are, will you need to update your signage, purchase a table or upgrade your art fair walls?
Do you need more bins for transporting your art?
Do you have all the tools needed for emergencies?
Do you have enough business cards?
How will you be collecting money?
Do you have an email sign-up list?
Now is a good time to update your display and get everything organized for the upcoming shows.
Make a check off list and write down everything that you will need to bring to the fair.
You do not want to arrive at the fair and realize that you forgot something.
Marketing
Schedule in some time during the months of July and August to develop a marketing plan and schedule.
First, you will want to decide when the cut off date is for holiday delivery. You might want to have the date you decide posted on your website in August. This might motivate your customers to make a purchase earlier instead of waiting for the last-minute.
You also might want to consider writing something like, ” Order this original painting now for the holidays.”
Something like this will create a sense of urgency and your potential buyers might take action on it now instead of waiting for a different day.
The more sales you can make now, the easier it will be for you during the holiday months.
The second step is to decide on how you are going to market your art and on what platforms you will be using.
For example, if you are going to market your art on Facebook, write down on your calendar what you will be posting and on what days.
Do this on all of the platforms you will be working with.
Planning
If you want your holiday season to be successful you have to plan.
Many artists do not like to plan because they are afraid of failing. I want to emphasize that there is no such thing as failing. A plan might not give you the results you were hoping for but that does not mean it failed.
Instead of thinking a plan failed, ask yourself, “What can I do to make it better for next year?”
What should you have plans for?
Plan for your marketing strategy.
For example, if you are going to market your art on Facebook, write down on your calendar what you will be posting and on what days.
Do this with all of the platforms you will be working on.
Have a plan for when you will be getting your work done.
Schedule time for when you will be creating art, packaging and shipping your art and when you will be communicating with your potential buyers.
Deciding on how you will handle all of the tasks now will make your days more productive during the holiday rush.
Learning
During the summer months is a great time for you to learn more about digital marketing.
Read some books, listen to audiobooks, take courses, read your favorite blogs and implement those strategies now for the holidays.
Also, take some time to review what happened last year during the holiday season.
If something worked well, do not change it.
If something did not give you the results you were hoping for, adjust it.
Conclusion:
The holidays can be very stressful or very rewarding for selling artists. There is no one way that will work for everyone.
These are some tips that I have learned over the years.
The best advice I can give is to learn from everything you do. Take notes on everything. Do not think that you will be able to remember what you would like to do in a year from now.
Keep asking yourself, “What can I do better next year?”
Write down your ideas.
You might also be interested in:
- Sell Art Online Checkoff List – What You Need to Succeed
- Holiday Art Business Planner
- Packaging Your Art for the Holidays
- How to Stay Creative and Productive as an Artist
I hope that you found these tips on how artists can prepare for the holidays helpful.
What are some of your struggles selling art during the holiday season?
Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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