Embark on a transformative journey with me, Matt Tommey, as we explore the art of cultivating favor with gallery owners and mastering the business side of your artistry. Every artist yearns to create work that resonates deeply with their soul and connects with the audience, and in this episode, I pull back the curtain to share the pivotal steps I've taken to achieve just that. From getting your art into the hands of those who appreciate it most to ensuring your professional relationships are as polished as your pieces, I'm giving you an insider look at the strategies that will have gallery owners singing your praises.
Listen closely as I divulge how something as simple as funneling website traffic to your galleries can forge stronger partnerships and enhance your professional reputation. I'll walk you through the practical tips and digital tools like Google Drive and art inventory tracking sheets that have simplified my process and impressed the galleries I work with. This isn't just about making art; it's about making a mark in the art world while living out your God-given purpose. For artists ready to take their careers to new heights and build lasting, fruitful connections with galleries, this episode is your roadmap to success.
Want to get your copy of the Art Inventory Tracker and see what Created to Thrive Artist Mentoring Program is all about? Join us for just $14 at http://www.matttommeymentoring.com/artmentor
Speaker 1:
Welcome to the Thriving Christian Artist, the podcast, where we hope you connect with God to bus through the roadblocks that have held you back for years, create the work you love and really live the life you know. God created you to live as an artist in His kingdom. I'm Matt Tomah, your host. Let's get started. Well, hey, my friend, it's a new year here on the Thriving Christian Artist, super glad that you are here with me. You know, one of the things that I'm doing this year is actually I'm starting to work with a new gallery, which is a lot of fun. I hadn't done that in a while and I'm kind of back in a place now as we've transitioned to Texas, where I've got my studio set up, I'm making work. I need to get that out, and the Lord just really opened up a great door for a brand new gallery in Asheville, north Carolina, to be carrying my work. That's owned by a friend of mine, so just been in all of the stuff with that, and I just recorded a great training video for my mentoring program all about something that I want to tell you guys about that is, I really think, something that makes art galleries love you as an artist.
Speaker 1:
You know, there's a lot of things that you can do as an artist that make galleries not love you. You can be difficult to work with, you can not get your work there on time, you can miss deadlines, you can not create great work, you can have pricing this way or that way from gallery to gallery, you can undercut them, you can, you know, have your clients come directly to you as opposed to them. Just lots and lots of different things. But one thing that I've found over the years that really, really helps galleries love you is pointing traffic from your website to them. See, most of the time when people are looking at your work, they're going to your website, they're finding you on your social media outlets and if you're not the one selling your work like I'm not right now, I'm actually going exclusively through this gallery then I don't want clients trying to buy through me. I want to send that traffic to my gallery, and so one of the things that I've done is, if you go to my current inventory page at matt Tommy dot com, you can see I've got all my inventory listed there, all the prices and descriptions and images and all the stuff, but it says, hey, if you want to buy it. My work is listed exclusively, represented exclusively through this gallery, and I link to them. Now, that is something that really endears your gallery clients, you know, to you gallery partners, rather to you, because it lets them know that you're serious about doing business with them.
Speaker 1:
Now, the other thing just kind of as a little bonus that that I do, that that really makes galleries love me is that I always prepare a Google Drive folder of images as well as an inventory sheet. Now, why would I do that? Well, a gallery is representing, most of the time, multiple different artists, sometimes 304050100, you know, artists depending on the size of the gallery. You can't just show up with a truckload full of art and hope you know that they're just going to take it and they'll figure it all out. You've got to be organized, and one of the things that that we actually provide in the creative to thrive artists mentoring program is an art inventory tracking sheet to help you be able to do this.
Speaker 1:
And so I did what I teach today. I got my art inventory tracking sheet, I filled it out, I put the name and the title and the prices and the descriptions and and the materials and I linked to the images in a folder and I sent all of that to my gallery so that what they can look in one place and have everything that they need in order to be able to fully represent me and make sure that my work gets out there in front of the best clients possible. You know, just those two little things really linking on your website, sending an art inventory tracking sheet as well as a Google Drive folder like that to them. That makes life so much easier and then when they sell, they can let you know. On that sheet you can upload new images, you can keep and running inventory of what you got at every gallery, and it just makes life so much easier.
Speaker 1:
Now listen, if you're saying, gosh, I would love to have something like that, we'd love to give it to you. You can actually join the creative to thrive artists mentoring program right now for just $14 for your first month. If you do. If you don't know, that's 85% off our normal retail pricing and we'd love to give you that opportunity, just as a trial, to try us for 30 days. See the difference that creative to thrive is making in the lives of artists all over the world and let us help you make this year your biggest breakthrough year ever. I love you, my friend. Thanks for joining me here on the thriving Christian artist podcast and I'll see you again real soon. Bye, until next time. Remember you were created to thrive. Bye.