How to Create a Circle of Trust

If you want to build relationships with potential art buyers, start here:

1. Be a friend. Metaphors are powerful idea generators so if you apply the metaphor of friendship to your art marketing, you will come up with things other than which gallery to be in and how to use your Facebook, Twitter and Linked-in to sell art. You will start thinking about what your friend wants or needs, how to surprise or delight her, how to spend more time with her. Friendship involves caring and making sure that it's a mutually beneficial relationship (or transaction).

it takes time to build a friendship, to get to know a person and find your common ground. Facebook and other social media can be powerful parts of this process but it needs to be done with care and generosity. If all your posts are blatant attempts to sell your art, that's not building friendship, it's just hustling.

How could you be more of a friend with your buyers and potential buyers?

Most people do not have an MFA or a vast knowledge of current art trends and movements. They are easily intimidated by stuffy galleries and astronomical prices for art they do not understand. However, people don't need degrees to enjoy and buy art.

They do need to be comfortable with their choices. This doesn't mean they have to go to university or workshops. The entire system from artist to art lover's home offers unlimited moments for education, sharing information about the process, the media, the inspiration, the subject, the artist, the gallery. These touch points over time can result in a more educated buyer ... but, more important, they will result in a more confident buyer.

What are some of the ways you could educate your buyers and potential buyers?

Fear related to buying art comes in many forms ... what if my friends want to know why I bought it ... what would I tell them? What if I get tired of it after awhile? What if doesn't look right on my wall? What if people think I'm stupid?

In addition to providing education all along the way, the buying process can reduce fear by providing third party testimonials or recommendations ... "Dr. Cook bought a piece from this artist and he just loves it." Or offer an art leasing program so the buyer knows he can exchange the piece if it doesn't fit as well as he thought. Guarantees about the quality of the materials or their longevity can relieve some fears.

What fears do you think your buyers have? How could you remove those fears?

I love models. I love making them because it means synthesizing huge chunks of information into one visual that keeps the form and substance of the information in one place. Good models focus your mind and stimulate thinking and new ideas.

As I was trying to chart a course for marketing my art, I found myself spinning around trying to pull together all the parts and pieces related to this field. Which direction to go (galleries, online, shows)? What to do first (Facebook, Twitter, e-newsletters)? Finally I realized I needed to drop below those tactical decisions and get to the principles of why people buy (or don't buy) art. That led me to the Circle of Trust.

I spent most of my career designing and leading experiential learning workshops and, in the process, discovered that one of the best ways I learn is to develop a workshop ... which almost always involves developing a model. I'm going to launch Art Leap 2012 in February and this model came out of that work so I hope this lens is helpful to all of you who are on this same journey.

I realize this image of the model may be too small to be helpful, so drop me an email and I'll send you a pdf version.

Please leave comments about your thoughts and experiences so we can all learn together.