Get Your Artwork In Front of the Right Audience: How to Identify Your Ideal Art Collectors

When we work with beginner artists on how to grow their online art businesses, there’s one question we get asked repeatedly and it’s this: “How did you find your art collectors?”

Basically, “how did you find the right people who want to buy your artwork?” In the art world, we call these people our ideal collectors. They’re the ones who gravitate towards our work, who love our signature style and feel like our art is made just for them. Identifying these people is a key element to running a successful online art business!

Everyone’s ideal collector will be different, which is why it’s so important you brainstorm about your business and your art, so you can identify who yours are! To help you get your wheels turning, here are a series of discovery questions to ask yourself. (Grab a pen and a notebook and start taking notes!):

Step 1. Consider your past collectors:

• Think about a collector you had who you loved working with:
  • What did they buy?
  • How did they find you?
  • How did they make you feel?
• Now think about a collector you had who you didn’t love working with:
  • What did they buy?
  • How did they find you?
  • How did they make you feel?

Step 2. Create your Perfect Client

Using your answers above, identify the type of collector you want to sell to:

• How old is this person?
• How do they live?
• How do they decorate their homes?
• How can you get your work in front of them online?

When you know who is buying your art (or who you want to buy your art) you can create with them in mind. You'll start to consider them when you make decisions about how to display, photograph, and write about your art.

The result?

These dream collectors will feel like you're making art just for them. Your art, photography, and written copy will be magnetic to them.

In this way, your creation process becomes seamlessly integrated with your sales process. All meeting a single goal: Serving the right-for-you people with irresistible art they’re eager to collect again and again.

Our free workshop, How to Reach Your Ideal Collectors Online and Sell Art Consistently, goes into even more detail about reaching your ideal collectors online!