By: Love Your List « Art Biz Blog

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:00:38 +0000

[…] people who give you their postal and email addresses are your secret marketing weapon. They have trusted you with their information and said they want to hear from […]

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By: picturetalk321

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:38:46 +0000

In reply to Alyson Stanfield.

I feel better about email! Because I can hit that delete button and it’s gone! While paper letters stack up…

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By: Sandra Cherry Jones

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 01:02:14 +0000

I send notecards with an image of one of my paintings on the front with a message handwritten on the inside. I let the receivers know that the card can be framed if they would like to do so.

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By: Alyson Stanfield

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 16:42:05 +0000

In reply to picturetalk321.

OH no! That sounds bad. If letters make you tense, how do you feel about email?

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By: Christopher Shoup

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 01:45:13 +0000

The timing of this post is uncanny. I can relate a real “field experience.” My wife and I recently entered the “first stage” of an ongoing and growing art project that we’ve combined forces on. Amanda is the researcher – she spent a few weeks looking up art world persona, gallery and museum folks, and general people / celebrities who admire and collect art and getting their addresses. Next, on the cover of 70 manila colored, 9 x 11 mailers, I hand-drew and hand-colored our project logo (“Project Job Creation”) and I signed each return address. Inside, there was a hand-written card (by Amanda) to each recipient; a 3 page introduction about me as the artist and our project; 2 pages of my art (8 pieces selected from the portfolio of 49 perfect squares – the heart of the project). I also included a cover-stock print of the project image, as designed by me on computer. The mailers were time consuming. I averaged 9 minutes hand-drawing each mailer (I created a YouTube video of my completing one of these drawing in time-lapse). In all, I spent no less than 630 minutes on the mailers – minutes spread over a period of 2 weeks. Amanda hand wrote a letter in each mailer, averaging 7 minutes per letter. That’s 490 minutes of her time over two weeks. We really felt we had “our stuff” together. This was “it!” Our creative juices had been flowing, our ideas building on better ideas – together we’d created a few golden nuggets. The last mailers went out two weeks ago. So far, we’ve gotten 3 responses. 70 mailers. 3 responses. 3! I know, I know. I’m impatient. No one expected our mailer. Some would naturally disregard such a thing. Some might be waiting to reply because they are busy. Some probably set it aside, or worse, recycled it! The silence is disheartening. But I’m old enough (39) and I’ve worked hard enough on my art in the past few decades that I know I’m solid. I know where I fit – into that category of earnest artist who works hard – for a few decades even – and just can’t stop working hard and seeking notice – seeking recognition. Maybe not all artists are like this – but I am. I’m that kind of an artist. I wouldn’t feel so confident if I didn’t really believe in myself and believe in the strength of my work, but I believe in both of those things. So the mailers were a lot of work and so far, no reward. I was feeling busted (there’s still hope that there are people out there who will still contact me – that they’re just busy). I needed to ramp up my game. So on Tuesday, November 20, I completed a performance art piece that had existed for years in my dreams – I wore my art into Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art and also Chicago’s prestigious Art Institute, all in a single day, and Amanda photo-documented the entire process. My art, in two museums, in one day. The result? Potentially the greatest performance art piece created in the world on that single day of human existence (it’s called “Museum Day”). The photographs are spectacular. I constructed a stunning blog post of the day – in chronological order with just enough narrative detail to lead the viewer along on what was our thrilling journey. “Museum Day” is a rocking piece of art. I emailed the post to friends and they liked it. I also emailed it to art critics in Chicago, and national art magazines and art blogs and art persons (like 20 emails so far) in this past week and number of professional responses? Zero. Not even a single, simple pat on the head. Not a, “Wow Christopher Shoup – we’ve never seen anything like it – your work is amazing – your ideas innovative and extremely forward thinking – but it’s just not for us.” How does it get done? How do others do it? I’m not being stubborn by not wanting to pound the pavement gallery to gallery and submit my work in the heavily saturated art world. I just want to do it on my own. Doing it on my own is a part of my art. This marks the very first moment I’ve taken a minute to honestly reflect on where I was and to where I’ve come in the past few months. I think you’ll understand my work. I do hope you’ll visit my website. Thanks. – Christopher Shoup, Kankakee County, Illinois

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By: picturetalk321

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 23:40:10 +0000

I’m afraid i’m one of those people who drown so much in excess email that they don’t open their snail mail any longer. I haven’t opened a letter since September and mail pile in the hall is reaching ridiculous heights… Letters don’t make me feel delighted, just tense (god, another overdue notice…)!

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By: Alyson Stanfield

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 14:56:55 +0000

In reply to Kerry Steele.

Sounds lovely, Kerry.

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By: Alyson Stanfield

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 14:56:28 +0000

In reply to kathryn.

Wow! That was fast, Kathryn. Good work.

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By: Alyson Stanfield

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 14:54:56 +0000

In reply to Barbara Roth.

Barbara: And you can start collecting the snail mail addresses that you don’t have. Just be on the lookout.

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By: Alyson Stanfield

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 14:54:26 +0000

In reply to Holly Irwin.

Good work, Holly.

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Comments on: The 3 Ds of Real Mail Marketing

By: Love Your List « Art Biz Blog

By: picturetalk321

By: Sandra Cherry Jones

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By: Christopher Shoup

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By: Alyson Stanfield

By: Alyson Stanfield

By: Alyson Stanfield