A Sales Process for Artists with Miriam Schulman (#140)

The sales process is rarely discussed in artist circles. We often think of sales as a single step. Either someone buys your art or they don't. There's' so much more to it. Yet, many of us think of sales as a dirty word, which is a bit ridiculous if we want to grow our businesses and careers. Artists need to adopt a new mindset surrounding sales in order to be successful.

My guest on this episode of The Art Biz is Miriam Schulman, artist and founder of the Inspiration Place, where she helps other artists learn how to profit from their passion or become better artists. Miriam is the author of Artpreneur: The Step-by-Step Guide to Making a Sustainable Living from Your Creativity. In this conversation, Miriam and I review her Artpreneur Sales Playbook and 10-step sales process.

Highlights

• Miriam's struggle with sales, despite her background in finance. (3:30)

• The evolution from general sales and marketing to effective art sales. (6:56)

• Curating your valuable contacts list. (9:05)

• The importance of mindset in sales success. (12:30)

• Developing a confident belief in the value of your art. (14:47)

• The first 5 steps of selling your art. (21:05)

• Body language, previewing the process, and establishing the decision maker. (27:37)

• Sell with stories, not facts, and selling happy endings. (33:10)

• Overcoming objections with the right language. (40:07)

• Close the sale by asking for it. (42:45)

This Week's Action

This week's action has two parts. Part 1 is to download the free chapter of Artpreneur at schulmanart.com/believe.

Part 2 is to write out Miriam's 10 steps in the sales process and post them somewhere so you're reminded that it is a process. You need to be invested in the steps of the process in order for it to work.

Mentioned

• ArtBizAccelerator.com

• Free chapter of Miriam's book

• The Inspiration Place podcast

• Miriam on Instagram

• The Cone Sisters

• Dr. Aaron Beck's Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Resources

• Show notes, images, and listener comments

• How to Price Your Art free report

• Art Biz Connection artist membership

Quotes

• "Once I started making the connection between sales in general and selling for art and understood that there wasn't a difference, I became a student of marketing and sales, and that has made all the difference." — Miriam Schulman

• "Marketing 101 is investing in human relationships." — Miriam Schulman

• "My art, going out into people's homes, became ambassadors for me." — Miriam Schulman

• "Mindset is everything. Mindset trumps talent." — Miriam Schulman

• "Overcoming objections is about having compassion for the buyer and knowing where they are coming from." — Miriam Schulman

About My Guest

Miriam Schulman is an artist and founder of The Inspiration Place, where she helps other artists learn how to profit from their passion or become better artists. She's helped thousands of artists around the world develop their skill sets and create more time and freedom to do what they love. Her art and story have been featured in major publications including Forbes, The New York Times, Art of Man, Art Journaling magazine, What Women Create as well as featured on NBC's "Parenthood" and the Amazon series "Hunters" with Al Pacino. Schulman's forthcoming book with HarperCollins Leadership Artpreneur is scheduled to be released on January 31, 2023.

First posted: ArtBizSuccess.com/sales-schulman-podcast