by Maria Brophy
Payment schedule: A 50% non-refundable installment payment of $900 is required to begin the sketch process. Completed artwork will be shipped upon receipt of final payment.
Payment can be made by check (made out to ____________) or by credit card or by Paypal to __________________.
Timing: Allow up to two weeks for the sketch process, and once final sketch is approved by you, allow another two to three weeks for completion of the painting.
Next Step: If you are in agreement, please provide your installment payment. Upon receipt, I will begin the sketch process.
I’m looking forward to working on this for you, thank you for the opportunity. Please call me if you have any questions, at 949-555-5555.
Thanks, Jane Artist
24
QUOTING PRICES
An artist friend of mine called one day, incredibly upset. She had been working on a client’s logo design for two weeks and now the client refused to pay her.
She asked me how she could get them to pay. I had two questions for her: how much did you quote, and how much of an installment payment did you get?
Her answer: she didn’t get an installment payment and she never gave him a price quote. She did the work and then sent them a bill. The client responded by saying he was shocked at her price and would never pay that much for a logo.
You can see what went wrong here. The artist did the work without presenting the client with a price quote first. I don’t know many people who will pay for something without first agreeing to a price. Would you? I sure wouldn’t.
Every commission or project must begin with a written price quote. You don’t have to type up a lengthy proposal to give a quote for most things. A price quote can be provided by email or text.
Before providing a price, have a discussion with the client on the phone, by Skype or in person. I prefer not to send price quotes by email without first personally connecting with the buyer. For many projects, there are too many variables and you need to have a complete understanding of what the client needs before you can price it out.
Also, a personal conversation helps you qualify the client as a viable client. Sometimes people like to fish for pricing by email without a real intention to buy. Asking for a phone call will weed out those time wasters.
During your conversation, ask questions to help you get a full understanding of what they want and need. The questions you should ask depend on the project. If it’s about a painting commission, ask them what theme they want, what size and when do they need it.
If it’s for a licensing deal, ask: “what products will the license be for” “where will they be sold” “how many images do you want to begin with” “which of my images are you most interested in” and “how many products do you plan to produce in the first run?”
If it’s for an illustration or graphic design project, ask: “how many” “what’s your deadline” “what is the scope of the project” “who are you targeting” and “what’s the theme?” The idea is to get a full and complete understanding of their project as well as their company or personal situation.
Take notes and write down answers to their questions as you talk to them. Pay extra special attention to phrases and words they use, so that you can include them in your proposal. This shows that you listened and that you understand what they need.
As an example, one illustration client told me that they wanted Drew’s illustrations to help their product appeal to boys and young men who dream of living a fun lifestyle. In my proposal under “scope of work” I included the very phrase he used.
This is a very powerful technique, one that high value providers use when writing up proposals. Clients may or may not recognize that you used their exact words, but either way, they will be impressed that you listened and understood.
It works, because in practicing it, you learn to be a better listener and you become skilled at speaking your client’s language, which in turn gets you the bigger and better paying gigs.
Lastly, ask the potential client how they found you. This helps you to know where your new clients come from.
SCRIPTS:
Below is an example of an email proposal for t-shirt illustrations:
Dear Timothy,
Thank you for your interest in my artwork. This is a follow up to our conversation on the phone yesterday. You said that you want to create a line of surf wear tees under your new brand called Tidal Waves. You want it to have a touch of “edge” but not be too busy. Your target market is boys and men aged 15 to 30. The art should be either one color, two color or three color.
See below my proposal and pricing.
Description: Artist will create 8 unique designs that can be utilized for t-shirts, hats and stickers. Artwork will be slightly edgy and provided in two to three colors.
License rights are granted the client for two years, for sales in the U.S., for t-shirts, hats and stickers.
Up to three sketches per design will be provided for changes or approval. Sketch changes beyond three sketches per design will incur a $200 per sketch fee.
Finished artwork will be provided in high res PSD files. Original artwork remains in the ownership of the artist. Artist retains ownership to all copyrights.
Pricing & Fee Schedule: A one-time fee of $5,000. Additional designs beyond the initial eight will be billed separately.
A 50% installment payment is required to begin sketch work and full balance is due at completion
Timing: This will be a 6-week process from start to finish. Research and sketch work begins upon receipt of installment payment.
Next step: Send your installment payment of $2,500 via check, Paypal or credit card. I will then begin the sketch work.
Please call me with questions. I can be reached at 949-555-5555. I look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
Joe Artist
FOLLOW UP
For every ten price quotes I give, less than half come back with a “yes.” This is for many reasons, and you can never take it personally. Often, people like to fish around for information with no real intention of buying. Other times, you’ll get an email from someone who really just wanted free art. And sometimes, your prices weren’t in their budget. It’s up to you to get to the bottom of why they didn’t buy.
Follow up within 24 hours to confirm that they received your email. If they did receive it, ask “are you ready to move forward on this?”
If they hesitate or say they aren’t ready, ask them why. Then sit and be quiet. Listen. They will tell you and often it’s not what you think it is. Once you understand what is holding them back, you can make suggestions or find solutions to get them to decide. Strive to get either a “yes” or a “no” from them right away.
If the client says they just aren’t ready yet, then say “Okay, no problem. How about I check in with you in two weeks? Does that sound good?” And then check back with them two weeks later. Email or call them. Sometimes people take a while to come around. Don’t feel bad if a proposal isn’t accepted. It’s never personal. It’s a part of doing business.
25
SELLING REPRODUCTIONS
Selling print reproductions of your work is a smart business model that enables an artist to earn money again and again from one painting. We have art that Drew painted back in the late 1990’s that we are still selling reproductions of today.
When selling art at an event, it’s important to have a variety of price points available to increase sales of your work, and reproductions allow for that.
As an example, your exhibit could include several original pieces in a variety of sizes that are priced between $900 - $3,000 each, while offering reproductions on paper ranging from $50 - $100 each, and reproductions on canvas ranging from $200 - $600 each.
If someone loves your work but cannot afford the original piece, they can buy a lower priced reproduction. Having various price points greatly increases your sales.
One thing that I really want artis
ts to understand is this: you have no idea which of your art pieces will be popular, but when you stumble upon one, it will earn you revenue for decades. For this reason, it’s wise to experiment with all of your images by making reproductions available and see what people like.
You will find that out of every twenty art pieces you create, one will stand out above the other nineteen as a popular image, perfect for selling reproductions. It is the popular images that successful artists earn their living from. If it’s iconic enough, you will earn from it for the rest of your life.
A great example of this point is the iconic Endless Summer artwork; John Van Hamersveld created this timeless image in 1964 for The Endless Summer movie poster. Today, as I’m writing this chapter, I looked up the movie poster on EBay and signed prints of this piece are being sold for $3,000 each. At the same time, unsigned, mass reproduced posters of the artwork are being sold through numerous channels online. I’m pretty sure Van Hamersveld had no idea, in 1964, just how iconic this image would become, and that fifty years later he would still be selling prints of it. The revenues being generated by this one image are what artists dream of.
We do not have a crystal ball, so we can’t possibly know which art piece will be the winner. What you love, as the artist, is usually not what everyone else loves. And vice-versa. You have to assume that any one of your pieces may become popular or iconic, and be prepared to benefit from it.
How do you prepare to benefit from your iconic artworks?
Ensure that you retain the copyrights (ownership) to all of your artworks.
Get a high res scan or digital image of all of your artwork.
Store all of your digital art files in an organized manner. Store them in more than one place to avoid loss. We use a combination of Dropbox, a physical hard drive and a combination hard drive and cloud product by Western Digital. Guard your digital files with your life, because it is your life’s work. Once the art is gone from your studio, you often can’t get it back to scan it again.
We ensure that every painting Drew creates is properly scanned and saved in a high res file before we ship the original to its new owner.
Even if we think that we won’t make reproductions of a particular piece, we still capture the high res files so that we are prepared when we need an image for a printed book, magazine article or online interview by the media.
When Drew finishes a painting, before he signs it, we have it professionally shot by a photographer. This costs us $100 per image. Some people may think this is too much money to spend on a digital scan. But I consider it a cost of doing business, just like paying taxes and buying art supplies. If you plan on making a living with your art, you have to do it right.
You could shoot the image yourself if you have a good camera. We do our own for paintings sized 11" x 14" or smaller. But the larger ones require greater equipment and expertise, and we have come to learn that it’s worth the money we spend to get the files done right.
We wait until after the painting is shot for Drew to sign it, so that his signature doesn’t show up on print reproductions twice, as Drew will hand-sign each one. It looks strange when you have a digital signature on the reproduction and then you sign your name right next to it.
PRINTING REPRODUCTIONS
Print reproductions come in a variety of formats. You can print your art on fine paper, canvas, wood, and the new popular thing is printing art on metal.
You can print most paper prints yourself using a high quality printer and archival acid-free papers. It’s a small investment but one that will allow you to print one by one, as you experiment to determine what your best sellers are.
To find someone to print your reproductions, do a search online for a local printer. Your best option will be someone who is a true artist, who understands color and who cares about quality. Some of the best printers I’ve worked with were actually photographers who, as a side business, printed reproductions for artists.
You can use online companies to print on canvas, such as Costco, but sometimes there is a huge problem with quality when you do that. Costco art prints look okay and are affordable, but they will not last as they don’t use the best materials. Some of the online printing companies produce low quality reproductions. Be very careful about putting your art out into the world on low quality prints, because it will reflect poorly on you as the artist.
REPRODUCING COMMISSIONED WORKS
One question that I hear from artists is “Is it okay to make print reproductions of commissioned work?”
My answer is yes, if that is part of your business model. It’s perfectly okay to sell print reproductions of any of your work, as long as you retain the copyrights to it and you make sure that your client is aware of it in advance.
Of course, there are always exceptions to every rule. Obviously, if you are painting a portrait or something of extreme personal nature for your client, you wouldn’t make print reproductions of it. It wouldn’t sell anyway.
Some collectors insist on being the only person who owns the image. In this case, you can offer the collector exclusive rights to the commissioned art for an increase in price. Most artists charge three or four times the price of the original for exclusive rights. Of course, most collectors are not willing to pay extra for exclusivity.
We have created an entire business from reproducing Drew’s art. This business model has sustained us through lean years, as not everyone can afford an original.
Drew created a painting called Deep into Paradise for a collector a few years ago. Recently we decided to release a limited edition, signed and numbered canvas reproduction of the work, and it has surprisingly become one of our most popular images. We sold over a dozen of the canvas prints in the first day of releasing it. This is great for the owner of the original, as the value of his piece has increased. He’s the only one with the original!
The next question in your mind may be this: “But won’t your buyer of the original be upset if their art is reproduced?”
It depends on who your collectors are. If you are only selling in premium galleries and your pieces are going for over $30,000 each, maybe it will be an issue with the gallery owners. Or if you’re painting portraits, you shouldn’t reproduce something that personal. But for most artists who are reading this, it will be entirely okay for you to adopt this business model.
I’ve only had one person, out of almost twenty years of selling Drew’s art, question this practice. It was a gallery owner in Laguna Beach, who insisted that Drew’s collectors won’t appreciate seeing their painting on reproductions. I worried he might be right. So I spent a few days cold calling over fifty of Drew’s collectors.
I asked them one question: “As an owner of one of Drew’s original paintings, would it bother you to see the art reproduced?”
It was surprising the positive responses I got. One collector said, “I saw my Drew painting on a skimboard in Florida last summer and I was so happy! I have the original hanging in my home.”
Every single person I asked said that it would be okay, and most expressed pride at owning the original piece of art. Except for one guy; he was the last phone call I made. He said he wanted the art all to himself and would be angry to find that it had been reproduced. After I explained to him the business model and how it would increase the value of his painting, he changed his feelings about it.
What I learned from that exercise was this—Drew’s collectors understand how Drew works with art and they love being a part of the story. They respect our business model, as we have “trained” people to know what to expect. It’s important to us to keep our collectors happy and we have life-long relationships with many of them.
Our business model is to sell art print reproductions on paper or canvas, and/or license the work, of any of the paintings that Drew creates. Only you, the artist, can decide what model you want to use for your business.
Your collectors can’t dictate your business model, no more than you can dictate what they do wit
h their business. It’s up to you to decide how you will run your own business. If you decide that this isn’t the best course of action for the type of art that you create, then don’t do it. But, if you feel that it works well for the type of work you do, go for it.
I have found that 99% of the people in the world will respect your business model, when it’s clearly defined.
26
NEGOTIATING
Being raised in a small town in America, where everyone is friendly, negotiating felt like an unfriendly thing to do. I was taught to be nice, to give in and to do what others wanted. I believed that to be good at negotiating, it meant that you had to be unfair and take more than you give.
After being in business and putting deals together for so many years, I’ve come to learn that wasn’t true. A good negotiator doesn’t screw the other person over; they simply find a way to work things out in a positive way. A good negotiation is one where both parties are happy in the end.
When it comes to survival in business, I’ve had to teach myself how to negotiate. I read many books on the subject and I’ve taken negotiating workshops through Karrass, Inc. It helped.
Anyone can learn how to negotiate. It takes a little bit of knowledge and a lot of practice. It also takes the proper mindset. Rather than viewing negotiating as a negative, see it instead as a way of compromising so that both parties get the most important things that they want.
When you negotiate with a client, that should be your goal; a good deal for both parties. If one party will be unhappy, you haven’t done your job. If it’s impossible to make both parties happy, then the deal shouldn’t go through.
Below are basic strategies and guidelines that you can use when negotiating, which will help prevent you from making a big mistake in your next business deal.
BE PATIENT
This is the most important negotiating tip you’ll ever hear. Do not respond to a request or offer until after you have had time to think about it. Never agree to anything on the spot. When someone offers you something, tell them you’ll give it some thought and respond to them shortly.