In writing this I am aware that it’s possible for 2 people to call themselves artists and have nothing in common with one another. So this is a personal perspective. Some time back I did a rather expensive arts business training course, and I was introduced to the concept of the “customer avatar”.
I prefer to use the term customer profile, that is, the archetypal person who buys my work. The first thing that occurred to me is that one needs a few sales in order to determine the archetypal buyer, right? Leaving that issue aside, I’ve always had my doubts about this concept. My doubts were confirmed when I raised the concept with the director of an inner Melbourne gallery with over 20 years experience in the business. His response didn’t surprise me at all - “it’s bollocks”.
Let’s just imagine that I was able to determine my customer profile. What am I supposed to do then? Keep churning out the same work to appeal to the same type of buyer? Where does that leave the creative process? I think the answer is to follow your heart. My most successful exhibition to date is my most autobiographical which was very gratifying. If you are authentic, that is, true to yourself, you are bound to touch a nerve with the buying public sooner or later.
These courses seem to be predicated on the notion that we can all be successful business people and creatives. Some of us are and I envy them, but most of us aren’t so we have to either engage a ‘business brain’ to help with that aspect of our art practice, or muddle along as best we can.
Social media has definitely helped some of us reach a wider audience than otherwise might have been possible, but it requires constant vigilance which, quite frankly, gets on my nerves at times (algorithms constantly changing etc.) It distracts from the creative process.
Time management is something else we were taught. It was argued that we should be able to switch off our creative brain from time to time and devote ourselves to the business side of things, then magically switch our creativity back on at will. Hmmm... Goal setting was another topic; six month plan, one year plan, five year plan etc. I can see the point of having a plan, it’s one of the things that get us out of bed each morning but you have to be flexible and adapt to changing circumstances.
It appeared to me that the participants in the course who gained the greatest benefits were those who had several projects on the go and needed to learn how to prioritize.
There were some useful hints in the course, such as how to approach a commercial gallery and I now have a website that works – as opposed to one that didn’t. I guess it’s a matter of sorting the wheat from the chaff with these courses.