Getting Ready for a Studio Tour
Summer is coming to an end, but for Kawartha Lakes artists, that just means it is time to gear up for the next round of events. It is studio tour season. Artists are getting ready to receive visitors from all over. If you are gearing up for a studio tour this season, you are sure to be preparing everything you need to best show off your space, and your work. It is an important opportunity to meet many potential customers. You want your visitors to walk away as a customer, or fan of your work. Here are some helpful tips for you to get ready.
Promotion
The only way to get people to come to your studio tour is to let them know it is happening. As a Kawartha Lakes artist participating in the studio tour, you are responsible for promoting your studio, and your work. As an artist, you already have an audience and whether it is large or small these are the people you want coming to the studio tour. The more people coming to a studio tour, the bigger a success it is, so get your family, friends, and customers out there to see you and the other artists involved. There are many tools available to you to do this.
Social media is a powerful tool, especially if you have built up an audience. Many artists use this as their only form of promotion and manage to make a living through their work. Create an event on Facebook and invite as many people as you can from your fan base & friends list. On the event page, include details of the event so anyone that reads it has a clear understanding of what the agenda is. Creating an event gets the message out to thousands of interested people very quickly, just through friends of friends sharing it. If you use email marketing, send out an eblast, or maybe even a couple, to your audience about the event. This is an effective form of marketing yourself to an engaged audience that wants to know what you are up to.
Business cards and pamphlets are important as well. Brochures are provided by the organizing committee and are available to the artists involved so they can spread the word. In the months and weeks leading up to the studio tour, hand out the brochures to people who visit your studio. If they liked your work when visiting the first time, chances are they will make a return trip.
Signage on the road will also direct visitors to your studio. The signage put out by the organizing committee will be about the event, but if you want to make it easier on people looking for your studio, put out signs with your studio name on them. You could order signs that are not branded for the studio tour so you can re-use them for other events, or if you have a studio that people visit at other times of the year. When looking for a particular studio or gallery having a sign out on a main road is helpful and will also benefit you. This way they won’t miss your stop and continue on. You want to make things as easy as possible for your guests to find your studio.
Be prepared
There are a few factors when talking about being prepared for your day. First of all, be prepared for what you want to say. You want your visitors to feel comfortable while visiting your studio so it is important to have a relaxed atmosphere. The best way to do this is practice, practice, practice. Rehearse what you will talk about, and have a flexible agenda of what pieces you will discuss. If you feel confident in what you are talking about, your guests will sense that and that will make for easy discussions.
Another important part of preparing for the day is making sure you can accept various forms of payment. Very few people carry large amounts of cash, so if you want people to spend money at your studio, you should be prepared to take debit and credit cards. Getting a Square to take payments electronically is easy and inexpensive. Do some research on different credit card payment processing systems to see what is the right fit for you.
Finally, when getting your space ready, don’t forget people are coming to see the space you are working in and that doesn't mean it needs to be immaculate or perfect. It may even be nice for them to see some works in progress. Most important though, is to get a good night’s sleep the night before, relax, and have fun!
It is an exciting time for artists, and while there are lots of things to think about, you should enjoy having your guests in your workspace. You have an opportunity to introduce your work to new people and to let your loyal fanbase enjoy your work in such a unique setting. If you are interested in getting involved in a studio tour in the future, it would be a good idea to do the rounds this year. This way you can observe other artists on tour, and talk to them about their experience to learn for yourself. There are several Kawartha Lakes artists participating in two upcoming tours. This month we have the Apsley Studio Tour on Sept 17 &18, then the Victoria County Studio Tour Sept 24-25 & Oct 1-2. Both will have many of our Kawartha Lakes artists and Kawartha Lakes Arts Council members. Three weekends of gorgeous, local art!
