Your open studio or open house is for showing off your art and nurturing relationships with current and future collectors of your art. In Part 1 of this series, I wrote about preparing for your event. This week, I’ll give you a series of tips focused on handling sales.
To begin, designate a space in your studio as the sales area and have a desk or comfortable place to write tickets.
Jackie Longino Davidson, Catnap. Watercolor on paper, 22 x 15 inches. ©The Artist
If you’re thinking about doing everything by yourself, please rethink that strategy. Tap someone else to take care of processing sales so that you can tend to guests. Your salesperson should wear a name tag that says “sales” under her name and should be aware of any leverage she has in negotiating a price. For instance, she needs to know if you are willing to go down, say, 20% on [...]
