Brenda Edwards

I really don’t like to talk about myself, I never have, but selling my own paintings has made me slightly less reticent in that respect – and you may have noticed that I do know how to market myself. Remember, I’m the girl who recently opened a one woman art show in a non-traditional venue, My Wine Cellar, in the wrong season (August 3rd – Phoenix Arizona – 108 degrees), and sold seven pieces at opening. Eleven pieces have been sold so far, and the show has another month to go. In addition to securing the opening at the restaurant, I also worked out a deal with the owner that if a piece sold, I could replace it within a month with a painting of the same size, and therefore could get paid for the painting without waiting to the end of a four month run.

This marketing skill comes from over 15 years of experience as a Marketing Professional. I haven’t had an art opening for over 10 years – I’m literally unheard of – yet I was able to get 2 articles written about the opening through a press release (my neighbors LOVED this because the publications were local), and close to 100 people attended on that hot day in August. Aside from the press release, I basically used two tools to make this happen, Facebook and MailChimp, and both of them are free. I have a small mailing list, but my MailChimp open rate is 52%. If you know anything about email marketing, you know that is pretty good; and I also have a 10% click rate (that’s good too).

This post isn’t about my art – it’s about my marketing skills. I am currently working freelance with a couple of clients, and would like to let you know that if you need to go to market with something – I am available for hire. I will cost you far less than a marketing agency, I do good work, I have the complete Adobe product suite and I meet deadlines.

And to make this short and sweet. That’s all I have to say today.