Someone asked me how they could sell their first piece of art. I've heard a lot about selling and marketing on a number of interesting blogs and podcasts, but I can't recall where I've seen information on selling the very first piece of art.
So, we'll just give it a go here 
Selling can be very challenging, especially for us introverted creatives. Because we have created the painting or clothing design or pattern or book, we feel a connection to it. It is important to separate ourselves from this connection just a bit.
There are going to be people who don't like what we make. Don't be concerned with them! Our concern is to find the people who love and want to buy the art we make.
I ran a boutique (interpretation: baby sized) candle company for about a year in 2002/2003. That was a learning experience in itself; I learned more about what NOT to do than how to sell. I wrote about that extensively here.
My book, Christmas in the Kitchen is considered my first serious art sale in the virtual/reality age. Regardless of your art- fashion accessories, hand bound journals, or fine art- the art of sales is very similar.
Getting the first sale and the notification that money is flowing into your bank account is pretty neat. My first check was for an entire $19 and some change.
By the time I was publishing my second book , I had learned from my mistakes with the first book. This time, sales continued, small but steady. And, in the first day, there were over 300 downloads of the book (it was free, so don't get too excited) and it rose to #18 in rank in its category. I was relieved to know I had learned a few things. My goal is to help you do these things with your first piece of art- whether it's an Etsy shop or a book- so you can build a momentum with exposure and sales.
How did I sell the first book?
1. I started my reaching out to the people I knew in my sphere of influence.
Specifically, I asked my family and friends. Not everyone bought, but some did. Others shared my news with their friends on social media. Others sent me messages and emails of congratulations and encouragement.
None of that would have happened if I hadn't said anything.
2. Create a post on Facebook.
Marisa goes to shoes and sells via an online gallery but she sold her first piece of art via Facebook. There is power in social media. We shouldn't use it as a primary vehicle to sell, but we shouldn't ignore it either. Marisa said she was sharing her paintings with her FB feed and someone messaged her that they wanted to buy the painting.
3. Send an email letter to your group.
I had a small (very, very small at the time) mailing list.
Hopefully you've started your email list. There's a great deal of misconception about email lists. You DO NOT have to have a website to start forming your email list. You do need to be signed up with a email list company such as mail chimp or aweber.
If you have a email service but no website, do the following:
Create your account: you give basic information (takes about five minutes) and decide if you want a free or paid plan. Starting out, I recommend you bootstrap it and go free.
Next, you can manually add email addresses if you have people's permission. If you are at a craft show, it is imperative to have an email sign up page for people interested in receiving updates and specials about your art and life. Warning: Don't add people into your email list if they haven't okay'd it. That would be spam 
You can make building an email list fun. Ed Ouano at Not My Monkey Illustration did this at a recent art show for a first time. He offered a raffle of one of his pieces if people left their email address with him. These were individuals who were already stopping to look and ask questions about his fun, whimsical children's art. They were interested. Ed took the next step and asked for their email address.
If there are people in your life who continually ask you about your writing or blogging or jewelry making or workshops, ask them if you can add them to your list.
Better yet, ask them if they would like to be notified of specials and information about future about "your art."
Be as easy going as possible. The worse they can say is no.
You can take this list and email them when you have something you want to share.
I advise building a relationship with your audience before you ask them to buy anything. I sent out a weekly email for a while but I'm afraid I've become a little lackadaisical about this and it comes out once a month.
4. Tell the close people in your life that your art is available.
"If you build it, they will come" really only works in the movies.
If you have people in your life who care about you and your art, they probably to want to know when you have something available.
When my first book came out, I texted a group of my closest friends and family members had already voiced a desire to know about the book. If I hadn't told anyone, I don't think I would have seen many sales.
5. Follow up with a thank you. If applicable, let interested people know how you did with your sales.
Several people downloaded or bought the book from the Facebook link. I followed up with a "thank you" post and a notification of where the book had ranked. I wanted them to know that my boost in the charts was because of their generosity (I wasn't exactly getting any attention from Martha or The Food Network about my Christmas+ making cookies + great recipes + joyful living book! My growth was all from the people who bought the book and shared the post to their followers.)
Studies and research show that for any small business- whether you're an artpreneur, a cookie maker, or a business helping women in third world countries sell their art- the initial support comes from family and friends.
It makes sense. These are the people who know, like, and trust you.
It can't stay there, but this is where it starts.
It is encouraging to get the initial boost of support from people you know. It raises confidence and gives you a little bit of super fairy dust powder to go out and talk to people who don't know you.
In the end, selling anything comes down to relationship building. The best relationships are build over time, slow and steady. That is how it needs to be with us creatives too.
I'm launching in my start too. I have not sold a lot and the sales process is a bit nerve racking. Plus, I don't feel very comfortable talking to people about the things I make; I feel it's a bit egocentric. I completely get it if you feel this way too.
The important action is to push past our own discomfort, work on creating great art and build relationships with people who are interested in our art. Focus on creating great art that connects with people and it will be much easier to sell the art! We still need to push past our fear and talk with people, but it's so much easier if our art can do some of the talking!
There are many, many ways to share our art; ideally the sharing leads to selling. I came up with over 44 ways to Market Your Art in this blog post.
If you've had some success in selling, let us know in the comments. It's great to learn from each other.
The post How to Sell Your First Piece of Art: 3 Things You Can Do Today appeared first on Launch Your Creative Life.