8 tips to offer art commissions
1. Whether you’ve offered them previously or are thinking of adding this to your repertoire, one of the most important aspects to nail down before doing any marketing is pricing. The vast majority of artists charge more for a commissioned piece than a work that is already completed even if they are the same size. The reasoning behind this is the additional design time and having to take the customer’s preferences into account so don’t feel like you’re unfairly charging your collectors. This is perfectly normal and often necessary to cover your additional time and effort. For those who regularly offer commissions, revisit your prices to make sure they are still compensating you fairly and consider adding them directly to your website or other promotional materials if you haven’t already done so.
2. Beyond just thinking about the prices and setting rates for yourself based on size or hours spent on the project, what I’ve seen work really well is putting together an informational packet (or video) that you can then quickly and easily send to prospective clients. If you don’t have the time or resources to design one, at least have a dedicated section on your website or a highlight on your Instagram account if you do not yet have a personal site for your artwork. This way, when someone asks, you can direct them to a specific place for further information.
3. Speaking of having a commissions section on your website, besides all of the information about pricing, make sure to include details about the steps in the process (is there an approval needed after an initial design phase?), how you deal with edits or if someone doesn’t like the final artwork (some artists offer that they will make two works and the client can choose between both at the end), and past examples of the custom artwork you’ve done before if you have them. This information is also great to share via images and videos on your social media channels!
4. Ask past clients to send photos of your commissioned work hanging in their home and also get written testimonials of how their experience was going through the process with you. Once you have them, integrate them into your marketing materials. This gives new potential clients more confidence in booking a service with you and reminds your past collectors of their positive experience with you (which may encourage them to do it again or tell a friend!).
5. Make it a focus in your marketing efforts. Many artists are happy to offer this service, but it’s not something they actively promote. In order to boost your commissioned work, try sending out a newsletter that only focuses on commissions and not your other studio news. You can also choose to offer them for a set amount of time, like a month for example or a week if you have a large audience or your custom work is labor-intensive and you can only take on a few at a time. In this instance, the time-sensitive nature of the booking period creates a feeling of urgency and your clients will have to commit rather than having time to linger on the decision. You’ll have to decide if this decisiveness is worth not offering commissions year-round, but I’m sure one will make the most sense based on the work you do. I’ve also seen artists who add a line to their social media bio that says ‘commissions open’ or ‘commissions available’ and conversely ‘commissions closed’ if they are not accepting new clients at the moment. Simple & transparent.
6. Once someone is interested and ready to move forward with the commitment, try to keep the booking process as straightforward as possible. Have an invoicing process set up via your payment service or Paypal, or create a custom product listing in your webshop that you can then simply duplicate for each new client who books with you.
7. Along with collecting a deposit, you may very likely also want to have your clients sign a contract to protect yourself against ending up doing more work than you bargained for. Templates can be found online or ask around in your artist community to see what other artists use. Although these last two tips might not directly seem like a way to have more commissioned work come your way, the smoother the process is, the more likely it is that a customer will have an excellent experience with you and will share how it went with others. Referrals are an invaluable resource for growing any aspect of your art business so don’t discount them and the power they can have to exponentially grow your network of collectors.
8.Finally, for as much we’ve talked about reaching new collectors and making more sales, it’s also important to remember to set boundaries. You don’t have to say yes to every client if you have a gut feeling that it won’t be a fit. It’s not always obvious at the beginning unfortunately, but if in the initial talks with a client you ever feel pressure or like the other party is being aggressive or demanding, decline and move on. Also, remember in my article last month about not putting things on your website that you don’t want to do again? Good thing to keep in mind when deciding which past commissions to feature in your marketing.
While I’d usually end by recapping my advice, it doesn’t feel right to wrap up without addressing the current state of the world. Between a war, an ongoing pandemic, new legislation targeting the LGBTQ community in the US, and the various other difficult situations that may be going on in your life or part of the world, it can feel impossible to know what to do. That said, I’ve been so impressed in recent weeks of the power of artists - from organizing local fundraisers to sharing resources and donating portions of their art sales or income. I understand that not everyone has the means or emotional capacity right now to do this, but kudos to those who do and are helping. If you’ve ever doubted what artists are capable of, just look around. Artists are - excuse my language - badass. And if you are one, then so are you.
Stay safe out there,
Alicia
