How To Sell Art At Charity Events
By Steven Popkin, Fri Dec 9th

You've perfected your art or craft. You've given tons to yourfamily and friends and now their friends and family want yourart as well! Your workspace overflows with finished projectsthat you move from side to side so that you can create more art.The cost of your hobby eats away at your family budget. . . Ifany of this sounds familiar you may consider turning your hobbyinto a business. I stood in these same shoes not so long ago. Irealized that in order for me to continue feeding my addictionfor my art; I needed to begin selling my art. Only I didn't knowwhere to begin until it came knocking on my door - a charitybazaar. My first collectors, by default, consisted of my wifeand her friends who approached me one day to participate intheir bazaar as a vendor. "Would you please, pleaseconsider selling your work at the bazaar," I heard time andagain. Forcing all of my doubts and my secret "no one will buymy work" thoughts aside, these fans of mine pushed me to say"yes" - and my business began. I paid less than $100.00 for twotables and loaded up my car with artwork. I displayed myartwork, stood back, took a deep breath and waited. What awonderful experience to see people react to my work! Watchingtheir smiles, listening to them talk about my artwork and betteryet, having them actually purchase something that I created!When selling your art, understand that you certainly cannot andwill not please everyone. You won't create something that'severyone's cup of tea, but remember you must remain neutral anddistance yourself from the negative. I want to create an effecton people with my art, so I like all reactions. The success ofmy first show gave me the confidence to continue

selling my art.In my opinion, bazaars rate as one of the best ways tobegin your art business. Private schools and charities that havethese bazaars are always looking for unique vendors. The homebased artist is a perfect match. Most bazaars requireyou to rent 1-2 tables from them at a cost less than $100.00,with an additional percentage of your sales going back to thecharity as a donation. It doesn't get any easier! The bazaarwill take less than one full day of your time. The organizersand other vendors have promoted this event and invited customersto the bazaar. These customers come for the sole purpose ofbuying from the vendors at the bazaar. Worried about directcompetition? You can rest easy because most bazaar organizerslimit how many of each type of vendor are invited to participatein the bazaar. They will not, for example, have too many glassartists at their bazaar. This creates a diverse group of vendorsand promotes sales at the bazaar which increases the profits forthe charity. Perform well for the and you will beinvited to year after year and other charities will contact youto participate in their events. Before you know it you canachieve the dream of actually earning a living doing the thingthat you love to do the most...make art . . . and make money!

About the author:Steve Popkin, a veteran glass artist, makes it easy for artiststo become successful. Learn the secrets most artists andcraftsmen will never know about selling artwork in hiscomplimentary e-course just visithttp://www.thethrivingartist.com