1.4 What can you say that’s persuasive?

Right, there’s just one final step before we start testing your messaging, and that’s .. what to talk about.

You may already have a list of reasons why people buy art, you may even have a list of reasons why people buy your art, now’s the time to gather all of that and make a big list. If you need to add to that list, that’s this week’s task.

Before we start, I’ve one thing to say and again it comes from the digital advertising crowd and it’s this: what you think will work won’t.

Basically the reason you think people buy your work is probably not actually why they do. 

To get to the bottom of this, we test. The outcome of this week is a simple list with no priority or favour anywhere. Any one of the items on the list might be the one and remember, only one in ten will actually work.

With that said, let’s go to Chat GPT and ask: 

Why would a [your target person] who stands for [your key value] buy a [your sort of art]

I tried it with the example from last week, the rock climber who’s into human connection and ended up with six reasons, each of which comprised lots of subtopics, for instance, the first answer it gave me was:

Symbolism of the Climbing Experience: Figurative art often depicts human figures or activities, and a piece of art showing climbers or mountain scenes could resonate with the climber’s passion for rock climbing. The art may capture the essence of the climbing experience, symbolizing the connection between the climber and nature.

Alright so far so good, now ask a follow-up question:

“What hidden benefits might this person get from buying an artwork like this .. what might change for them and perhaps for people around them, short and long term”

Cut and paste these two answers into a list .. I’ve tended to put them into a spreadsheet because ideally they should be numbered but a numbered list in a document is good too, whatever you’re comfortable with.

That’s it for this week. I mean you could dive into other resources about why people buy art but I’m just going to trust that Chat GPT has read all those and summarised it all for you.

Notice one thing. Next up, we’re going to use this list as a prompt for communicating with our prospects and notice that this is going to lead us to talk about them and their needs rather than you and your art and your paintings.

That change of focus is the key.

I’m a ponderer. I like seeding my subconscious and then letting ideas come up in the shower or on the dogwalk. My partner can’t do that, it’s gotta be ‘now’ for her. But if you’re a ponderer, choose something off the list every morning or whenever and ideas you get, note them down. It could be memories of moments, something you learned or believe, some direction to head in, some new plan, whatever, just capture it.

Alright, it all gets a bit outbound from next week so eat your greens, get good sleep and get ready to meet the people.