THE INSPIRATION PLACE PODCAST
Miriam Schulman: Hey, artists, who do you think sells the most Girl Scout cookies? Now, I asked my inner circle clients that question this week, and the answer they gave me made perfect sense. But it revealed a mindset about selling that keeps a lot of artists working really hard and not getting a lot for their effort, because there’s a Girl Scout cookie method for selling art. And once you understand it, living in the middle of nowhere, having only a few paintings, not having a gallery, none of that will stop you from reaching your sales goals. And yeah, it has nothing to do with talent. Nothing to do with how hard you’re working or even how outgoing a Girl Scout you are. Stay with me, because I’m giving you three specific ways to use this strategy before the episode is over.
Speaker 2: It’s the Inspiration Place podcast with artist Miriam Schulman. Welcome to the Inspiration Place podcast, an art World Insider podcast for artists by an artist, where each week we go behind the scenes to uncover the perspiration and inspiration behind the art. And now your host, Miriam Schulman.
Miriam Schulman: Hey, in case we haven’t met yet, I’m Miriam Schulman. I’m the author of Artpreneur, published by Harpercollins, and I’m the creator of The Inspiration Place. I’ve been a working artist for over 25 years, and this is the show where artists come to build profitable art businesses. If you’re new here, hit subscribe. And if you’re on YouTube, hit that bell because I put episodes like this out every week, and I don’t want you missing the one that’s going to change the way you do things. Okay, now let’s get into the Girl Scout cookie method for selling art. When I asked my inner circle who sells the most Girl Scout cookies, one of them said.
Speaker 3: That would be usually the ones that are standing out there in front of a grocery store.
Miriam Schulman: Good answer, but not the whole answer. There are three different kinds of Girl Scouts. It’s kind of like the Three Little Pigs, except none of them are lazy. None of them are building a house full of straw. They’re all working hard, and one of them is probably you. So Girl Scout number one is the door knocker. Now, that would have been me. I was living in Atlanta at the time, which is really hilly, so I wasn’t just knocking on doors. I was walking up and down hills all afternoon to get to those doors. Of course, not everybody was home. Some of those doors didn’t open. Some people didn’t want cookies. So I was working the hardest of any kind of Girl Scout, but I didn’t have the results to prove it, just the calves. This is the art equivalent of artists making cold contact one person at a time, DMing strangers, pitching individually, posting on Instagram, and hoping the algorithm hands you a collector. Starting every buying relationship from zero with no trust in the room. Now, there’s nothing completely wrong with that strategy. It definitely builds your courage muscle and it makes you better at selling in the long run. But it doesn’t always produce buyers because every one of these conversations is starting from nothing. And that takes a lot more effort. Girl Scout number two. She’s the one who sets up outside the grocery store, and usually she does it with a friend or a parent. Now that is smarter than going door to door.
Miriam Schulman: She didn’t go looking for hungry people. She put herself in the path of people who are already out shopping for food while it’s open. She doesn’t have to convince anybody to be a person who buys things today. So the art equivalent of this is going to art fairs. Yes, art festivals, maybe even open studio, studio tours, markets where people show up and they’re expecting to buy things and possibly encounter art. So you can definitely sell a lot of cookies or art, but you still may not outsell Girl Scout number three because Girl Scout number two upgraded her Location, but not her trust. She still. If you’re an artist paying for the booth, hauling the work, setting up, breaking down, and standing there for a couple of days and introducing yourself to strangers all weekend, and the Girl Scout schlepping cookies to the grocery store, talking to strangers who maybe have a preference for Petra charm or Chips Ahoy. So yeah, Girl Scout number two makes a lot of sales, but the Girl Scout who makes the most sales? Girl Scout number three, she’s the one who has a parent take the order form to their office. Now, it could be dad. It could be mom. If you have two working parents, that’s two offices, two order forms circulating. And this Girl Scout never left her house. So one relationship can put her in front of dozens of people at once who probably don’t have a Girl Scout of their own at home.
Miriam Schulman: Now, most artists assume the art equivalent of this is a gallery or an art consultant. Somebody with the room and the list who carries your art to people. And that is one version of it. But it’s not the only path, and it’s not the one that I’m teaching today. So this episode, I’m going to share with you three ways to sell your art. Like the smartest Girl Scout outside of the traditional gallery system. So this Girl Scout isn’t working harder, but she has better distribution. Now, here’s the reframe that makes it possible for you to actually do this. When I was the Girl Scout, those office order forms felt really unfair. My mom had a second husband who was not my dad, so dad didn’t take it to the office and my mom wasn’t working, so I didn’t have that access. You know, it’s whatever cookies my mom bought and the ones from my neighbors. So it didn’t seem fair. But when I was working and somebody passed the cookie sheet to me, I didn’t resent it for a second. I was like, yay! Thin mints, shortbread cookies, and the four made it easy to get something I already wanted, and poof, the cookies appeared at my office, so I felt it like an opportunity to buy something I already wanted. And that’s how your art collectors should see you. So here is three ways in a nutshell. One borrow a business’s location and their customers to borrow an organization’s community and mission, and three, borrow one person’s relationships and personal endorsement.
Miriam Schulman: Now, before you try this at home, there’s one rule that’s going to make the difference between a partnership that works and a different way of doing it, where it feels like you’re just asking them for a favor. So never, ever walk in asking, what can you do for my art career? Now, I know you don’t think you’re asking this, but stay with me. Here’s how you have to frame it. You have to walk in with an event or an opportunity that benefits everyone involved, and make sure that you’re thinking of it that way and framing it that way for the person you’re asking. So every one of these three partnerships needs three winners. The artist wins access, trust and sales. The partner wins Customers, revenue, visibility, programing or support for their cause. The guest wins. Great evening out. Chance to discover art that they love. Maybe also support a cause that they believe in. So all three of those things need to be true. Win, win and win. Now, if any of those are missing, you don’t have a partnership. You have a request. So think of it in those terms and you’re not showing up empty handed. You’re bringing original art. You’re creating an event that they didn’t have to invent. Perhaps you’re bringing your contacts, you’re doing a big lion’s share of promoting, and you’re perhaps giving them a commission or charitable contribution. So it’s a real experience for the people involved.
Miriam Schulman: That’s a lot to bring to the table. So let me show you how you put it to work. Okay. Now before I get into the logistics of exactly how to create this so it works in the art world, I want to hear from you. Which kind of Girl Scout have you been this year? The door to door knocker, the grocery store cookie seller, or the order form? I read these comments and it tells me what kind of content to make next. Idea number one the furniture store pop up. So recently I was coaching an artist. Amazing art, and he does live near a real arts destination an hour outside of Palm Springs. Beautiful area. Actual art buyers within driving distance. The problem. His studio was in the middle of nowhere. Like in the desert, I guess. So an open studio usually is great, but in practice, this artist would need people who are already vacationing in Palm Springs. That’s where the galleries and restaurants and pools are. But he basically would be asking them to leave town, drive an hour into the desert and find him not happening. So I didn’t even bring this up to him because I knew he was just going to say, hey, Mariam, my studio is in the middle of nowhere. So an open studio is just not going to cut it. Which is why I told them this. Don’t make them come to you. Bring the open studio to them.
Miriam Schulman: Now he can’t knock on more doors because there are no more doors. He needs to borrow a location where the buyers already are. So here’s the play. It’s an arts town. Go to the arts town. Find the one with the Taurus and the money. And what I suggested to him was a furniture store or a home design shop and propose a temporary pop up that is a much smaller ask than representation. Notice what I’m not asking for. He’s not asking them to represent him. He’s not asking them to buy inventory. He’s not even asking for permanent wall space. He’s not asking them to move their merchandise at all. So here’s how this works. The artist brings portable racks setup. Also clean up all of it. A temporary display just as you would at an art festival. You also are going to invite everyone on your own list. So you’re going to promote the store, not just yourself. And I told this artist, you handle every art yourself. So nobody on staff even has to learn how to sell a painting. And the store gets an agreed upon commission. Yeah. It’s so easy to do. Doesn’t matter if you’re doing it through Stripe or Venmo. Very easy to see what sales were taken in that night, and write a check to the store on the spot for that amount. Now here’s what the store does for you. The store gives you their space, their customers, perhaps a promotion to their email list, and an introduction to people who are actively spending money on their homes right now.
Miriam Schulman: What do you think a furniture store would say? Because this isn’t please help me. I’m a poor artist. Many businesses need fresh reasons to bring customers back through the door, and this is one they didn’t have to think up themselves. They get foot traffic on a quiet weekday. An event to promote social content. Furniture sales. Because people who come for art walk past the sofas. A commission on the art and a reason to email their existing customers. Meanwhile, the art makes the furniture look more expensive and the furniture helps the buyer picture the art in their own living room. So the artist isn’t asking to borrow a wall. The artist is offering to create an event that brings buyers through the door. So how do you pick the business? Well, the answer is definitely not. Whoever has blank walls. So think. Does their esthetic actually complement your artwork? Do their customers spend real money on their homes? Do they already host events? So this isn’t a foreign concept to them. Would your art make their shopping experience better? And can you say in one sentence what they get out of it? If you answer those questions, then you have a pitch. Now, maybe you don’t live near an upscale furniture store, or maybe your artwork is tied to It is something that’s different than decor. Hold that thought because idea number two might be for you. Now there’s a limit of an episode like this, because I can show you that partnerships work and hand you the framework.
Miriam Schulman: But what I can’t do from inside your earbuds is tell you which business, which organization, or which person is right for your specific work. And all three of the ideas I’m proposing today are ideas I brainstormed specifically for my inner circle clients. That’s the difference between working with me, where you get my eyes on your business and listening to a YouTube video or listening to a podcast. Now, this October, I’m inviting a small group of artists to Chelsea for two days. It’s not exactly a workshop. It’s more like a think tank for artists who are already selling, but are done guessing about what to do next. You’ll have my eyes on your business for two days. Very intimate. And I’ve even included a portrait shoot on day two of the event. It is by application only to see if you qualify. Go to SchulmanArt.com/Chelsea. Okay, let’s get on with the Girl Scout cookie method and the model that I used to use when I lived in the suburbs. Idea number two, the charity partnership. When I tell artists partner with a charity, almost everybody’s brain goes the same place. Find a charity that’s already running an art auction. Donate a piece. Hope the winning bidder becomes a collector. Now, that model can support a cause you care about. But as an art selling strategy, it’s kind of weak because you’re giving your art away without creating a direct relationship with the people who are interested in it.
Miriam Schulman: The stronger play is to create an event with the organization that normally doesn’t do anything with art at all. So here is one example that I actually ran when I lived in Scarsdale, New York. I partnered with the Friends of Music and Art. It’s a group that raises money to fund music and art programs in the schools. They’re not a gallery. They don’t sell artwork. What they have is a community of families who care about the arts enough to write checks for them. And I ran this in two different ways with the same partner. Actually, let me add a third way I ran this. So the first way that I ran it, I didn’t actually run it. The first way I was involved with them is they had invited ten vendors for an evening and 20% went to the charity. And it was a lot of work. And the mom who had put it on did. She had a gorgeous big house. By the way, the mom who put it on wasn’t going to be running at the following year. So I said to them, hey guys, I bet we could make a lot more money if instead of having all these different vendors, I just host an open studio. So that was the first way that I helped them run it. I ran an open studio at my home with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Friends of Music and Art.
Miriam Schulman: So the boutique they used to do, I gave 20%, the one that I did in my home where I was the only, only vendor. I actually gave 50%. I felt I could afford to be more generous, and it made a bigger difference to the organization. And the way I justified it is that if I was a gallery, I’d be giving 50% away The second time I ran it, we didn’t run it in my home. We decided to run it at the Scarsdale Library. It was the same organization, same principle, but it was a different room. That’s worth noticing because artists get stuck believing that there’s only one venue that counts. It does not have to be in your home. You can do it in a library if you want to. That one. The event was successful. I personally was less successful because the emphasis was less on me and my art and more on everything else, but it still worked. Here’s the piece that did make it work. The invitation didn’t come from me alone. It came from the organization to their people, friends of music and art. And they told the families about this evening. It wasn’t just an artist promoting herself, it was a group that already built trust, inviting them to something that supports the cause That they already believed in a couple of things that happened for the second time that we did it. They did a talent show with the kids.
Miriam Schulman: So that put the emphasis on the kids doing the talent show rather than on me selling the artwork. That’s why I sold less. However, at the door I held a raffle because I wanted to make sure I captured everybody’s email address that walked in. So it was a great list builder for me. Now, everybody in that room had two reasons to buy. They liked the art, and they knew that the purchase supported the music and arts programs in the local schools. I don’t remember all the art I sold that night, but I did sell these two originals, pink peonies and Beethoven sunflowers. Now, let me tell you how this works. The organization supplies a community that already trusts them. A reason for people to gather an invitation list and credibility that would take you years to build by yourself, and a cause the guests already care about. You supply the art, the event concept because they will not think of this themselves. Nobody came to me and said, would you do this for me? I came to them. So it’s an invitation to your audience. A selling experience and agreed upon portion of proceeds. And like I said, I was very generous both years that it was either in my home or at the library. Oh, and with the library, I believe they had to pay for the library. I didn’t, I don’t think I paid for it. So that came out of their operating budget. So these events can happen in your studio.
Miriam Schulman: It can happen in your home. It can happen at a library. It can happen at a church. It can happen at a community room. It can happen in the home of a board member. Now, how is this different from an art fair because nobody’s wandering past 200 unrelated booths eating funnel cake. They came on purpose. They trust the organization and somebody they know invited them. And their purchase does two things at once. And the organization now has an actual reason to promote you and your art to their list, rather than just tolerate your presence in their space. So you’re not a vendor renting a corner. You’re the whole fundraiser. So which organization should you pick? Mine happened to be arts related, but yours doesn’t have to be. And most artists assume it does. So look for a connection to the themes in your art. Something that’s connected to your values, to what your collectors already care about, or the community you want to serve. The only real test is whether you can explain the connection in one sentence without reaching. And think about what Girl Scout cookies actually are. They’re not just cookies. Buying a box supports a Girl Scout troop. That’s the whole trick. It’s not Entenmann’s walking around the office selling Entenmann’s cookies that has no cause attached to it. You give people reasons to say yes. The charity doesn’t need to know how to sell art. It just needs to know how to gather people who already trust it.
Miriam Schulman: So let me give you the exact script to use. I’d like to create an exclusive Meet the Artists event for your community. I’ll provide the artwork, the presentation, the promotion, and the entire sales experience. And a portion of the proceeds supports your organization. Idea number three, and you can use the same script I just gave you for this one. So instead of an entire open studio or an entire event where you sell art, what if you don’t have a lot of artwork? So I was coaching an artist who lives in New Zealand, so she has a couple of the issues we’ve already discussed. She lives in the middle of nowhere making Open studio not a possibility. And she had another problem. She only had a small amount of work available three originals, maybe four by the time the event happened. So look at the conclusions available to her. She knows nobody’s going to drive out to her house because it’s far. She doesn’t have enough work for a show to make a whole collection out of it. And unlike one of the first artists I mentioned. She doesn’t live near an arts community where she could just do a pop up, but that doesn’t mean she can’t use a different Girl Scout cookie method for selling art. Here’s what I told her partner with the charity. Just like idea number two. But here’s the difference. Ask whether one well connected member would host the Meet the Artist evening in their home.
Miriam Schulman: Now, I want to be clear about how these fit together, because this is where artists get confused. The third idea can stand alone. It can be the delivery mechanism for the charity. The charity gives you the shared mission. A private host gives you personal trust and the strongest version of this uses. Of course, all of it. Now, you don’t need 30 paintings to make this work. You need a room. Here’s why. Let’s go to the land where she doesn’t finish that fourth painting. She has a very meticulous process. She told me it takes her a whole month to make a single oil painting there. So she has three originals, but she can also make limited edition prints of each of those three originals, and she can talk about her work, the stories behind the work. A simple way for people to buy on the spot. When she talks, she tells why she makes the artwork, what the artwork means. These are all things that people would walk right past if she didn’t point it out. And the work connects to the community and they get to see what’s available right now. So the invitation isn’t come browse my inventory. It’s come to meet an artist, see her art and hear the stories behind it. And the small inventory becomes a strength because she has actual scarcity. Three well presented originals can hold a whole room. The goal was never create an art fair inside somebody’s home.
Miriam Schulman: The goal is intimacy and access to you, the artist, and your talk isn’t packaging around the art. It’s part of what those guests are receiving. That’s part of the experience. So you don’t need enough art to fill every wall. You need enough art to start a real conversation. Now, why should this be in a home? It absolutely should be in a home. Because the host’s home is a place people will actually drive to. It’s warm. It’s a natural reason to gather. It gets you the host’s friends. And this is the big one. It comes with the host’s implicit endorsement. So let’s call the host Susan. When Susan invites you into her home, she’s vouching for you. You’ve earned Susan’s endorsement, Susan. Already earned the room’s trust. And that means you don’t have to build from scratch with every guest in the room. Plus, your guests are looking at art in a home. They don’t have to imagine how it might work in a domestic space. They’re standing in one. This is the purest version of the whole analogy. The host is like the parent. The invitation is the order sheet and the living room is the office. Your art are the cookies. You don’t need to know a single person walking through that door ahead of time. You just need to know the one person willing to bring you into her home. Now, the host doesn’t have to come through a charity at all. It can be an existing collector. It can be a friend who just loves throwing parties and people together.
Miriam Schulman: It could be a designer. It could be a person whose house everything just happens at. Okay, I want you to notice what every strategy I’ve shared has in common. The breakthrough doesn’t happen because the artist collects more information. It happens because she gets into the right room with the right people, asking the right questions about her artwork. And that’s what Chelsea Artpreneur studio gives you. Seven artists, two days and direct guidance to help you see what’s keeping your art business from moving forward, and then decide what happens next. If you’re done trying to figure all this out alone, go to SchulmanArt.com/Chelsea. Isn’t this being pushy? Let’s take the objections. I know you have them. Back to the cookies. As a Girl Scout, I thought the office order sheets were completely Unfair. But as the adults in the office, I didn’t resent them at all. I like the cookies. The form made them easy to get. Now, artists who have convinced themselves that inviting somebody to see art is applying pressure. It isn’t. An invitation is not forcing anybody. Everyone you invite is still free to come over or not to look and buy nothing. To buy a print. To buy an original. To tell a friend, or just remember your name. 18 months from now when they finally redo the living room. You’re not shoving Thin Mints into somebody’s mouth. You’re letting them know the cookies exist.
Speaker 2: Oh! Cookie! Ah! Num num num num num num num.
Miriam Schulman: You’re not pressuring anybody to buy a painting. You’re creating an opportunity for them to experience your artwork. Now, if you’ve only ever sold to family and friends, this is the belief to check selling cookies or art only to people who already love you is fine. You can make that decision about who’s allowed to want your work, but making that decision isn’t being humble. You’re deciding for people. You’re deciding that the people in the furniture showroom, the people at the fundraiser, the people in that other living room never get to buy your art. What if you don’t know any wealthy collectors? Okay, the Girl Scout didn’t know a single person in her parent’s office either. I never met the Girl Scout whose cookies I bought. That was never the requirement. You don’t need a relationship with every future collector. You need a relationship with somebody who can make an introduction. Your next collector might be someone your existing connections already know. And if you’re wondering, this feels unfair. I hear you and I felt it myself when I was nine, so I’m not going to pretend this isn’t real. She only got that sale because she knew the designer or his friend hosted the event, or her collector walked into the gallery. Yeah, that’s how it happens. And the market has never awarded sales based on who suffers the most. There is no line item for effort. Relationships are not cheating. Or as I used to say to my kids, it’s legal cheating. Relationships are one of the ways the art world has always operated patrons, salons, dealers, word of mouth every century. You’re not gaming the system by building relationships. You’re finally participating in the system that already exists.
Miriam Schulman: Let me give you the Girl Scout checklist. Here’s five questions. Get a pen. One. Where are my buyers already going? Not where you wish they’d go, but where they actually gather, shop, donate, spend their weekends. Two who already has a relationship with those people? Businesses, charities, collectors, clients, friends, designers, community organizers, and the natural hosts. You know who they are. Three what do I bring to the partnership? Your art is only part of it. You also bring the event, your email list, promotion, perhaps a short artist talk a commission, a charitable contribution and content that they could use for months. For what does the partner get if the only answer is the satisfaction of helping you go back to work with your offer and go back to number three? Number five is my order sheet ready? Oh, this is where I see artists blow the whole thing. They get the yes, and then they scramble. Your order sheet means that you need images, titles, prices, visible prices, not inquire what’s available right now. Original versus a print. A payment method that works in a living room. Clear delivery information and a way to capture contact information so you can follow up with anyone who didn’t buy that night. You can’t ask somebody to carry your order sheet into the room. If you never made the order sheet. Okay, here’s your homework. It takes ten minutes. Three columns, one business, two organization, three connector. Those are your three columns. So a business is like a furniture or design store. You can do a pop up with an organization. Could be a charity or a community group and connector could be a collector, a friend, a host, a designer.
Miriam Schulman: I want you to write three real possibilities under each column, names under each column, not categories, and then circle the one with the best combination of audience alignment, existing trust, convenient location, obvious mutual benefit, and ease of execution. The perfect partner who takes 11 months to reach is worth less than the good one that you can email tonight. You’ll be more successful taking imperfect action. So let’s bring this home. The hardest working artist or Girl Scout knocks on every door herself. The smarter Girl Scout sets up where people are already shopping. The savviest Girl Scout finds the person who can carry her order sheet into an entire room. You don’t always need more followers. You don’t even need more art. You don’t always need a gallery, a better studio location, or one more art fair. Sometimes you just need better distribution. Stop asking how you can knock on more doors. Ask who can carry your art into the room now? If this episode gave you the map, but you still can’t find the red dot that says you are here. The positioning, the The opportunities, the next moves that make sense for your art career. That’s the work we do together at Chelsea Artpreneur studio. I’d love to see you there. October 28th and 29th. It’s in New York City. There are only spots for seven artists and some of them have been taken. It’s by application only to see if you qualify. Go to SchulmanArt.com/Chelsea. All right, my friend. Thanks so much for joining me. I’ll see you at the same time, same place next week. Until then, stay inspired. Bye for now.
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to the Inspiration Place podcast. Connect with us on facebook at facebook.com/SchulmanArt, on Instagram at @SchulmanArt, and of course on SchulmanArt.Com.
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