It's time to raise your prices

Sep 09, 2022

IMPORTANT UPDATE

This week I released a free guide to anyone who subscribes on how to start your first online art website called 7-Day Art Shop. If you subscribed before I released it, there’s a link at the bottom where you can get your copy for free.

So you want to be a full-time artist?

Let’s do some simple math.

First, how much money do you want to make? No need to be reasonable here or aim low just because the first amount you thought of sounds ridiculous. Shoot for the moon.

And then divide that number by the average selling price of your art.

Now divide that number by 12 to give you the monthly income amount.

Using myself as an example, My big, gnarly goal is that I want to make $1,000,000 from my creativity in a year. Also, the average price for my art right at this moment is $75.

1,000,000 divided by 75 = 13,333 pieces per year, then divided by 12 months =

1,111 pieces of art per month!

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out this would be impossible. I’m lucky to make eleven pieces in a month, let alone eleven hundred.

Even at $10,000 per piece, that’s still 100 pieces painted per year, doable, but all of my artworks would need to be considerably larger and attract an entirely different type of clientele.

Here’s the thing though, I could get there. We all could get there and I believe it takes three things.

Making art worthy of a higher ticket
Presenting the world with options for buying
An unwavering belief that we deserve to make that money

I never said the $1,000,000 had to come only from handmade art.

I don’t care how the money comes to me. Outside of some creepy dude handing me a bag of cash in exchange for taking a video of him licking my toes, I’ll take the money anyway people want to give it.

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Making high-ticket art

This is a subjective topic, but I’m almost certain I would have a hard time selling any collector on a $10k price tag for art that is 6x6” (my current collection size).

Working small has been a fun experiment, but with my style, it’s limiting. I’ll be moving back to larger canvases soon, ones that warrant a price of $1,000 or more.

Will I immediately start selling art to everyone on my email list (wink wink)? Not likely, but as I share it and continue to talk about it, the prices of my art become acceptable to everyone whether they buy it or not.

Presenting multiple options to buyers

There’s a well-known sales strategy where you present potential customers with three options: low-level, mid-level, and top-level prices. Psychologically, when presented with these choices, the customer will likely buy the middle option.

Here’s an example of how it could play:

Top-Level: 24 x 36” original art on canvas - $1,500
Mid-Level: 24 x 36” limited edition of 100 gicleé prints - $350
Low-Level: 12 x18” open edition poster print - $50

Customers may not be able to afford the top tier, but they also don’t want to go in at the low tier because they feel like they're missing out on something. Of course, some will buy at each end of the spectrum, but the bulk of customers will lean into the middle option.

Money goes where energy flows

If you constantly think that you’ll never sell anything for more than the price you currently sell at, you are right.

If instead, you raise your prices significantly because believe that you deserve to make more for your work, you are also right.

Energy is a weird, cosmic thing that we don’t fully understand. Sure, we understand the scientific aspects of energy in most normal circumstances, but can science explain how when I’m with my wife and I’m thinking about something unrelated to anything we’ve talked about, she will turn around and vocalize the exact idea? This happens All. The. Time!

One of my old hobbies was taking my hopped-up Ford Mustang to local race tracks. One of the first things the track professionals will tell you before you get on the track is that your car will go where your head is pointed. If you look through a turn to where you want to end up, your mind, hands, feet, and body will miraculously guide you there.

If instead, you look out into the grassy field at the end of the turn, guess where you’re headed.

Raising our prices can be harrowing enough for some of us. It takes practice to rewire our minds into believing we deserve all the money we want to charge, but that’s what it takes to get there.

We need to look through the turn toward our ultimate goal instead of out into the open field of undervaluing our work.

However, it takes more than just saying, “I need more money for my art.”

The way we talk about money in our heads needs to be specific, and it can’t just be words. There must be belief behind those words and that only comes over time with significant mental exercise.

There’s more to say about money

Talking about money is a topic I could spread across numerous posts, but the important takeaway is that it only starts when we decide to make the change and work toward more positive self-worth.

It starts by raising our prices.

Which, by the way, is what I’m doing at the end of this month, and if you want to make sure to get the art at a one-time discount, now is your chance—don’t sleep on it.

See you next time,

Dave