Chapter 20

Ten Tips for Making Money Using Your Calligraphy

In This Chapter

Setting yourself up to attract clients

Setting your prices and generating sales

Going through ordering from start to finish

Keeping records

Have you given any thought to the possibility of making an income with your calligraphy?

If you’re thinking about selling your calligraphy, it almost goes without saying, but the first thing to do is make certain that your calligraphy is actually good enough so that people will be willing to pay for it.

Do people already express an interst in buying some calligraphy from you? Do they ever ask you how much something costs? Do they ever ask you to do some calligraphy for them? Any of these things is a good indicator that your work is extremely saleable. If people don’t ask any of these things, it doesn’t mean that you can’t sell your work. Maybe you just need to show your work more. Take every opportunity to show your work. Don’t be shy!

Having your own calligraphy business offers some incredible advantages. When you own the business, you’re the boss, you can set your own hours, and take vacations when you choose. But more than that, you’re in control of your own products so you are not hampered by product availability, back orders, etc.What’s more, you get to work from home. You can even be with your children while youre working. Working from home will give you all kinds of tax advantages.

If you think you want to make some money with your calligraphy, I give you plenty of tips in this chapter to get you started in the right direction.

Make a List

It’s important in any business enterprise to identify your market, and calligraphy is no different. Who are your prospective clients? Ask yourself, who would be most likely to buy my calligraphy? To what group of people will my work appeal the most? When you can answer those questions, you can begin to target your advertising to reach your market.

Some of the places that you should put on your list are: schools, libraries, hospitals, clubs, youth organizations (they like to give lots of awards), the police and fire departments (they like to give out awards too), chambers of commerce, churches, restaurants, wedding coordinaters, and any businesses that have wedding-related products and services.

It should also go without saying that whenever you talk to anyone about your calligraphy, you should be warm, friendly, and polite. Always wear a smile and have a positive attitude. Be professional in your manner and appearance.

This is sometimes neglected by artsy types, but it’s vital in the business world. It’s called good salesmanship. There are some inspiring books on this subject. Two books in particular that I can recommend to anyone who wants to market their calligraphy are Sales Prospecting For Dummies By Tom Hopkins and Business Plans Kit For Dummies, 2nd Edition By Steven D. Peterson, Peter E. Jaret, Barbara Findlay Schenck. Both books are published by Wiley.

A Business Card That Sizzles

Design your own business card and make it sizzle! Don’t use a cheap ready-made card. An impressive business card is essential, because your business card will be seen as an example of the calligraphy that you can do. It may be the first example of your work that people get to see.

Do some research. Look at the designs of other cards. What designs really appeal to you? Use those designs as ideas for your own card.

When you decide on a design and are ready to create the master, make it three times larger than the actual card will be printed. Your printer can reduce it to the correct size.

Order at least 2,000 and then make it a point to give them all out within a month or less! You can leave cards with everyone you meet and even mail them out. Put a card in the envelope with every piece of mail you send out — including your bills!

If you are on a tight budget, you can create your first cards on a computer that has a scanner and the software to print business cards. This is an inexpensive way to get started and also gives you the opportunity to do a little experimenting with the design of your card. Even if you start off using computer printed cards, plan to get “real” business cards before too long. Business people can tell the difference.

A Portfolio That Impresses

Create an impressive portfolio of several samples of the kinds of the calligraphy that you can do. Remember that one purpose of the portfolio is to show prospects possibilities.

If you use a good quality photo album, you can add photos of new work as you do it. A great portfolio is something that will take you a while to develop. At first you can simply make up a couple samples to use. Then as you get commissions, you can put photos of actual commissioned work in the portfolio. When I was selling my art as my full-time income, I was constantly revising and improving the contents of my portfolio.

Photos of actual commissions are a much more powerful advertisement than samples you make up just to fill out your portfolio.

In addition to a portfolio, you might design a simple, eye-catching brochure.

I sold two kinds of artwork — portraits and calligraphy. I had two separate portfolios. At first, my samples were just a few things that I made up as examples. After a while, my portfolios were filled entirely with photos of commissioned work. At that point, I had more orders than I could handle!

Never Work for Free

I always advise people from the very start, never do any work for free (with the exception of close relatives). Charge people something, even if it’s just a very little amount to cover materials. The important thing here is that people understand from the beginning that you are in business and that your work may be inexpensive, but it’s not free. If you do work at no charge for one person, another person may expect free work also, and that can lead to misunderstandings.

To get started, I suggest that you charge very, very low prices. I realize that some people may disagree with me on this, but the point is you want to create a reputation for doing good work and you want your work to be seen. You want the public to learn about you. For that reason, start cheap!

You can tell people that your prices are low at this time because you’re just starting out and you want to get established. That encourages them not to wait to order. I would say that anything in the $5 to $50 range is what I would call a cheap price.

I began by contacting friends. I wanted to give them the best price, so I started with them. I also didn’t want to waste my low, start-up prices on what could potentially be big commissions later. You might say that I practiced on my friends.

When you see that it is time to raise your prices, don’t do it suddenly without informing your previous clients and your potential clients. I always gave a 30-day notice before raising my prices. I also raised my prices in increments.

When I first began selling head and shoulder pastel portraits my price was $30. A month later, I raised the price to $60. Six months after that, I raised the price to $95. When I retired from doing portraits, I was getting much more than that for a pastel portrait (and that was 20 years ago). I started selling my calligraphy after I had already established myself as an artist.

Reproductions

If you have some calligraphy work that you feel would be suitable for notecards, you may consider creating a set of cards that you can wholesale to card and gift shops. Check with a printer on the cost of printing notecards. If the cost is too high, you can mount photos on plain paper stock. Also, there is computer software that will enable you to produce photo-quality reproductions of your work.

Show It Before You Deliver It

Every time you complete a job, you can show the finished work to other people and, by all means, don’t forget to photograph it for your portfolio. This is essentially how I started.

As soon as I completed a commission (unless it was to be given by the client as a surprise), I would show it to all my friends before I delivered it. I usually would have two or three new commissions lined up by doing this. The result was that my business rapidly began to snowball.

Ask people to give you referrals. Say something like, “Who do you know that might also be interested in having me do some art?” When you call a referral, begin the conversation by introducing yourself and telling them that the referring person suggested that you call. When a referral buys from you, send the referring person a little gift or thank you card. I have heard of sales people who have made a fortune using this very simple strategy.

To get a prospect who is not a friend of yours to look at your work, I would say, “I am an artist who specializes in calligraphy. A lot of people like yourself have been very interested in my work, and I’d like for you to see my artwork, too. When would you have ten minutes for me to drop by?”

Reassure them that you are only interested in setting an appointment for them to see your work. You are not necessarily expecting them to buy at that time.

While a prospect is looking at your portfolio, you can point to a specific example and ask, “Have you ever thought that you might like to have something like this for your office, home, or business? Have you ever thought that you would like to present an award like this one?”

Taking the Order

I recommend that at the time you take an order, you ask for a deposit. This encourages people to be prompt in paying you when the work is completed. I always asked for a 50 percent deposit when the order was placed and the balance due on delivery. I also explained that many people preferred this method because it broke the cost into two payments.

I also recommend that you guarantee that people will be satisfied with your work or you will do it over. Only rarely did I have to do work twice to satisfy the client.

One word of caution! You might encounter a person who is extremely “picky” and will never be satisfied no matter what you do. When I ran into a picky client, I found that it was best in the long run to gracefully and tactfully return their deposit and apologize for not being able to produce what they were looking for.

When you take an order, make detailed notes and draw a rough sketch of exactly what the client is looking for. This will also help you remember. I found that it was best not to show my rough notes or preliminary sketches to the client (unless they asked to see them). I found that it was merely confusing to nonartists.

Always do your absolutely best work. Don’t be sloppy or hasty. When you are ready to deliver the final product, be confident that you have done a good job and it’s worth the price you are charging. The attitude that you have at the time of the presentation of your work is all-important. Be positive and enthusiastic. Frequently, I would say to the client, “I think you’re really going to like this!”

Finalizing the Sale

When it comes time to deliver your work to the client, make certain that you are in control of the presentation. There should be no interruptions or distractions. No one who is not directly involved in the approval of the work should be there when you do the presentation. A few times as I was just starting out and was still “wet behind the ears,” I would make my presentation to my client when the client had a friend visiting. More than once, it was the friend who would be a real “downer” and interject criticism.

I always tried to make my presentations as dramatic as possible. Frequently, I would have their piece on an easel with a satin cloth covering it. Once they were seated in just the right place and I had created a sense of positve expectancy, I would have an actual “unveiling!” Believe it or not, I would actually even say, “Voila!”

Once you are established and want to raise your prices, devise a formula that you can use for all work. Calligraphy work was priced according to the number of letters plus any additional design elements.

When people ask you for a price quote, don’t hesitate or try to avoid answering. You may want to ask for more details before you give them a price, but when you know exactly what the job is, give them a precise quote!

I am often asked by beginners what I suggest they should charge as a price per letter. That’s a difficult question to answer specifically, because there are so many variables. A good benchmark for a beginner is to start no lower than five cents per character and go no higher than twenty cents.

Offer Matting and Framing

If you provide matting and framing, you can increase your profits. You can quote people a price for your work either framed and unframed.

Matting and framing are truly an art form themselves. Tinted mats and decorative frames can really enhance the appearance of a piece of calligraphy. I would recommend that everyone do some reading about the various techniques of mat cutting and framing.

It is helpful to know something about archival framing so that the work will not be damaged over time by a mat or mounting board that that is not acid-free. Many clients will ask about these things.

There are mail-order businesses who will sell mats and frames to you at discount prices. I ordered my frames and mats pre-cut from a wholesale supplier who shipped to me within a couple days. The name of the supplier I used was Graphic Dimensions. The URL is www.pictureframes.com. Assembly was simple and required few tools. A lot of clients really appreciate this added service.

Do It Legally

Finally, it is vital that you keep accurate records and all your receipts for expenditures. Make certain that you comply with all the laws. In most states, you will be required to collect sales tax. Of course, you also must pay income tax. Therefore, keep an accurate record of all your financial transactions. There is some great computer software for keeping these records.

One question that may have come to your mind is will you need to get a business license? Unfortunately, that is a question that I can’t answer. Local laws can vary from location to location, and I am certainly not qualified to offer legal advice. Two things I can say. First, if you are working from your home, the only license you will probably need (and I emphasize probably) is a sales tax permit. Second, be careful about who you ask about licenses. Ask the wrong person and you may wind up being told that you have to pay for a license you don’t really need to have. Regardless, before you make a move, consult your Secretary of State’s Web site — you can find a fountain of information there to get you started in the right direction. Other professionals, such as lawyers and accountants can also be helpful.