If I know that several paintings will be displayed together, I will try to frame them in a way that they look good hanging together. If you make it easier for collectors to imagine pieces in a grouping, they may come back for a second or third piece.
Once someone purchases your art, you have their attention. Reaching out with emails, snail mail, social media and a regular newsletter allows you to stay on their radar, and they are more likely to purchase from you again.
One of my gallery owners used to put three red dots on every sold piece in a show. He found that calling attention to sales resulted in an excitement that got more people thinking about what they wanted to take home. There are artists who feel like downplaying sales works better for them.
That's not my approach.
I try to keep track when people who follow me mention that they like a particular painting. Then, I circle back to them when the piece sells. I talk about other works I have in the same sizes and with similar subjects. If you notice, eBay does this. They send you an email on lost bids, saying you didn't get this one, but here are some other things you may like...
Everyone likes first dibs. One way to make a gallery or a collector feel special is to offer them first dibs on a piece you just created. I do this when I paint something similar to a recently sold painting.
4. One art talk often leads to more art talks.
I was invited to speak at a high school art show once. One of the parents in the audience gave my name to a local art club. A friend heard that I was giving a talk for them and passed my name on to the leaders at her art society. From there, I'm not sure of exactly how it happened, but I ended up giving about a dozen talks that year. I did no promotion. It was all word of mouth. I learned that art societies are always looking for speakers. If you tap into other groups, and actually work to let people know you have interesting things to say, you may have opportunities to give art talks at universities, museums, art centers, etc. Our local craft breweries and wineries often have guest speakers on lots of different topics.
Once I gave a few art talks, I realized how many places there are that welcome speakers. Many pay an honorarium of $100 or more for your time. During the pandemic, I have given half a dozen art talks over zoom. Sales and new students have come from these efforts.
I'm sure the Toastmasters and other organizations have lots of resources, if art talks seem like an important part of your art journey. Any time more people learn about you and what you do, it boosts your marketing and sales successes.
What momentum can you work with in your art journey to manifest more successes?
I was a chemical engineer in the 1980's and 1990's. I had lots of little tricks for keeping my projects on track. One of the things I did almost every day, was to ask myself these questions. The devil is in the details, and remembering all the nuances of a project can be daunting. If you are having trouble identifying the things you can do to create more successes, perhaps you will find this list of prompts useful too.