The Art Biz ep. 13: Find a Niche for Your Art with Maria Brophy

I asked Maria Brophy what she was most excited about these days, and she gave me a pretty decent list.

I liked #1 on that list: niche markets. Done! Now we can talk.

In this episode of the Art Biz Podcast, Maria and I discuss:

  • What is a niche market?
  • 4 types of niche markets for artists:
    1. Style of art
    2. Lifestyle
    3. Geographic location
    4. Purpose
  • How to find your niche audience.

Music: Keep It Simple by Wildermiss. Used with permission.
Listen to or subscribe on iTunes.

Tell us about your niche market in a comment below.

Maria Brophy with her latest book, Art Money Success.
Maria Brophy with her latest book, Art Money Success.

About My Guest

Maria Brophy has served as an art agent to her husband, Drew Brophy, since 2001. Since then she has also helped thousands of other artists plan their careers, increase sales, and negotiate deals. Her experience and secrets are chronicled in her new book, Art Money Success.

Please visit her website to read more about her book, consulting, and how you can connect with her.

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34 thoughts on “The Art Biz ep. 13: Find a Niche for Your Art with Maria Brophy”

  1. That was very interesting and informative. I love the idea of developing a very specific niche for my art. Seems like it would be a lot easier to market to a specific group of people, rather than trying to market to everyone/anyone.

  2. My niche market is florals. They can be very big…60″x70″ or very small…3″x 4,” and all sizes in between. They can be an open field or an elaborately decorated container. I do portraits and landscapes, but I see this as my niche. I have not done marketing, because I find it daunting. This is very inspiring!

  3. Thank you for sharing this podcast. I am struggling to find my niche in cowboy land. My Sacred Earth series began in 1992 in Wyoming with ghost riders and continues today as varied images of the goddess. Somehow I have gotten sidetracked painting the high plains landscape to ground myself when moved from Bainbridge Island.

    This was most helpful in my year end assessment.

  4. Thank you for offering this valuable information. I am a niche artist trying to market my work. The marketing side of it all can be scary and daunting and I so welcome any advice.

    Your words helped boost my confidence and drive!

  5. Thank you so much for this podcast. It has been very enlightening for me as an emerging oil painting artist. I do have a focus which is west coast oil paintings, my location is Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada which is right on the southwestern tip of Canada and on the Pacific Ocean.
    Your information confirms for me that I think I am on the right track with my passion, creativity and art businesswomen hats.
    I also enjoyed your thoughts and approaches to gathering your niche audience.
    I will definitely buy your book.

  6. Thank you for this pod cast…my head is swirling with ideas about narrowing my animal artwork down to even a smaller niche and focusing more in the area I live!

  7. Thanks zillions Alyson and Maria.
    Wishing you Maria, resounding success with your new book. On my book list now for sure.

  8. My niche is artwork for churches which follow the Revised Common Lectionary (set of prescribed readings followed by many churches of various denominations). I take a verse or a few Bible verses and render them in calligraphy, incorporating that into a unique design and subscribers (churches) use them on their worship bulletins or projected images during worship. Thanks for this podcast!

  9. Some great tips on defining your niche market. I find it easier to think about a niche market for my teacup paintings than my floral’s. However, by using the 4 types of niche categories suggested by Marie will make it easier to focus on a select niche for both my floral’s and my teacup paintings.
    (my copy of Art, Money, Success just arrived, can’t wait to start working with it) Thank’s for another informative post Alyson!

  10. Hi Alyson! Great to see you collaborating with Maria Brophy! I’ve been following both of you for a long time. I love all the tips and reminders, and affirmation in the topic. Sometimes as artists we forget or don’t realize that we may have a niche right in front of us. I think I’m in a pretty good one right now with my Aspens in the Snow series, appropriate for Colorado. Question for ya’ll would be… How do you not get bored or feel stagnant with the repetition of your Niche? I think that a lot of artists think that they should/are expected to always being creating New works…
    Thank you!!! Tara

  11. Thanks for the great advice. My niche would be (in short) creative women who love nature, folklore, and mythology.
    The art I make is often inspired by mythology, folklore, and the Norwegian landscape.

  12. Thank you Alyson for helping to clarify in my mind what an art niche can be and how to reach out to those that could benefit from my art. I now have the confidence that I lacked before listening to you and Maria. I have been struggling with how to be more specific with my art on my website. I am excited to get busy with some changes!

  13. Maria is as creative with her marketing as her husband is with his artwork! This podcast is very inspiring. I am a nature-loving watercolor artist, with a colorful, lyrical style, who lives on a beautiful lake and loves to paint the beauty surrounding us here. Thanks so much for sharing this valuable information!

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