Sometimes You're The Tick, Sometimes You're The Dog
An old friend of mine once told me, sometimes you’re the tick, sometimes you’re the dog. A wealthy person, you couldn’t imagine him ever being the tick, but it’s how life in business goes.
It’s of course, not as bad as the old country saying, some days you're the windshield, and some days you're the bug! But with respect to selling what we make, the tick and dog analogy does illustrate that we sometimes sell our art and in turn, we also become the ones making purchases. So, when you find yourself pondering what your potential customers might be thinking while looking at your art, think about your own purchasing situations. What thoughts go through your mind before, during and after your purchase, and how might those thoughts help you when you are selling your art?
It doesn’t matter if what you are selling is a piece of art or a cup of coffee, the appeal of what you are offering gets back to a need or a wish. Those needs and wishes are always tied to a budget, an opinion or an emotion. The funny parasitic nature of the tick and dog saying aside, we all need each other. We make each other’s world go around. Someone likes what you do. You sell them a piece of art, you buy a cup of coffee, you pay rent or your mortgage. Money doesn’t stand still and we are all interconnected. The question then is, how do you better ensure yourself the success of more than just getting by?
One simple trick is to be especially conscious when you are the dog! Every time you buy something, try and ask yourself what is the person I am buying this from thinking? What did the store do to make what I’m buying appealing to me? Was it easily accessed, was it displayed well, was it the packaging, maybe it’s social media that did the trick or was it simply impulse? Every piece of art you sell has more than one story behind it. You know the story of why you created it. Make sure you understand the story about why it was purchased. Therein lies the key to continued success.
Live an artful life!
Tom