Tumblelog Menu
focsimama asked you:
How does one meet Art Buyers? Where are they? Most artists have no clue, and those that do aren’t sharing!
Wow! This is a basic, yet good question. We feel like unicorns!
So, here goes:
Art Buyers/Producers are primarily at Advertising, Marketing, and Digital agencies. Some Art Buyers work in-house for a specific company. Bank of America has a few Art Buyers staffed, as does Avon, Anthopologie, Ann Taylor and a bunch of others. The rest of us are staffed within agencies and work on myriad clients.
So, how do you meet Art Buyers…well, this can be a lot of work! First you have to research who you want to call or email. You have to track down our email addresses and/or phone numbers. You have to cold call/email us with promos and what you have been up to. Many artists have agents that handle promotion for them. Agents have tons of contacts and are the best way to get “in.” They have a roster of artists and know what we are looking for.
There is also the social aspect of meeting Art Buyers. There are a few groups that have started with the intention of hooking up artists and producers. Adhesive is a great one! FotoWorks and At Edge are face to face portfolio meetings for photographers. We aren’t sure if this exists for illustrators, but someone should start this!
A good thing to do is to make a list of your dream clients and then start with the research. There are databases available out there…Adbase is good one. If you can’t afford to pay for a list try searching on LinkedIn and make a promo (digital or printed) and hit send or stick some stamps and throw them in the mail! You can follow up with a call or email.
A word to the wise, Art Buyers and Photo Editors receive hundreds of promos a month and are working on multiple projects. If you do call, try not to reference a specific promo and if you don’t get a call back, don’t be discouraged. We are super busy. If we see something that you are a good fit for we will think of you. It’s good to just send a quick and friendly reminder email of “Hey, this is what I have been up to. I hope to work with you.” Keep it short and simple.
