A Change of Venues — What Will it Bring?

To begin with, it is seldom easy for creatives and artists to find "paying outlets" for their work.

In general, we tend to be "reluctant marketers," and often we resort to simply building a web site and hoping that someone comes along and finds it. A few might delve into becoming more active on social media... but it's always a balancing act: If you are spending a lot of time with social media and marketing, you have no time for creativity... and vice-versa.

Until a few days ago, I had my Alchemy Stones at a gift gallery brick-and-mortar location, here in our town. This was a very nice outlet to have, because it exposed my work to the large base of visitors (tourists) to our little town.

This very large (about 6"/15cm across) mandala stone has over 1600 individual design elements

Unfortunately, this small gallery is now closed, a victim of changing economic conditions and rising costs.

Sad as it may sound, if you truly want to be a working artist, you can't afford to become complacent! I had a nice $300-500 a month income stream going there... which is now gone.

Fortunately, I have managed to find a new venue with another small retail shop whose owner I very enthusiastic about having my work in her store!

The only thing that is required now, is that I have to use my "handyman skills" to build a display case of sorts that fits in the very specific space she has available in her shop.

Whereas this is a much smaller footprint than I previously had, I am feeling very good about this opportunity.

NOT my usual fare: Some years ago I was asked to paint a large stone with hearts for someone's garden. Not my typical fare, but you have to be flexible, sometimes.

But It Doesn't Stop There!

But there is more to building a following at a brick-and-mortar outlet than merely putting your work there, and walking away.

Even though I will definitely benefit from this 17-year old business' built-in foot traffic, the onus is also on me to put this information in front of my existing follower base.

And so, this sort of relationship with a physical sales outlet is truly a synergy situation: I benefit from her clientel, and her store will benefit from mine.

Of course, in terms of dollars-and-cents on the greater scale of life, we're ultimately talking about pretty "small potatoes" here. However, consider the fact that if every small retailer with multiple sellers has such reciprocal publicity going, it would quite add up to a large amount.

As such, it is important that we — as artists and creatives — look beyond just the effect as it may apply to ourselves, and consider how the outcome affects a greater community.

I will update, of course, as the process continues!

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

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