Ep 2 How to use testimonials to help you make a living from your art

TRANSCRIPT: 

Welcome to episode number 2 of the “Making a living from your art” podcast! It’s Élie Castonguay and it’s early in the morning and I speak French as my first language. Maybe you already discovered it, but it’s early in the morning and it’s like if my brain is switching from French to English.

Anyway, good morning or good afternoon or good night and thank you so much for listening. If you are an artist, this is the podcast for you. So, today’s subject that I want to talk to you about is: testimonials. If you are any kind of business or you have any kind of business and you want to help others by, servicing them with your art or artistic services, testimonials, successes, raving successes of people having bought your art pieces or artistic services is one of the most important things for your business.

It’s funny because sometimes we think that when we sell something, we have to explain all about the product and the service and the details and how it looks and the weight and the height and the specifications of it.

But what sells is results!

Results is the ultimate selling tool for you as an artist. This is why I’m telling you that testimonials are the best sales tool. Because it shows people having results with your art. If your artistic service is a show, then you can ask your clients who hired you for the show, by filming this person: “How was the show?”, “Why people should hire you?” right?

If it’s a person who bought a piece of art from you, you interview them. And the fun thing with this is to put these videos on social media. So right now, since a couple of years, since the stories, you know, the stories on social media, on Facebook and Instagram and even Tik Tok is vertical. So, all of these videos’ stories are vertical; you will film vertically. 

When you film this client of yours, try to film the video vertically so that when people look at the story, it’s full screen on their cell phone. 

I don’t know if you understand what I’m telling you, but Google it, if you don’t; it’s really a good way of creating content for your social media and actually selling the fact that others are giving you credit for your art.

It’s simple, every client that is satisfied with your art, of course, you can ask them first before interviewing them, but I’m pretty sure that for every of your clients, you will make everything possible so that they’re satisfied with your art, your artistic services or your art pieces.

Any of them, you ask them. And… just a little advice: most people don’t like, and maybe even yourself, but most people really don’t like to be in front of a camera. And I I’m telling you this by experience. So, you’re going to have to handle the objections of like: “Oh no, I don’t have any makeup. My hairs. I have to cut my hair. I don’t like my clothes…” blah, blah, blah. You’re going to have to handle these considerations, these objections real fast, like: “Oh no, you’re really nice today. I love how you look. No worries. It’s going to help me sell more art. It’s going to help me help more people with art.”

So you go fast, you don’t start like a 30 minutes conversation with someone who doesn’t want to be on camera and if they don’t want to, and if they really don’t want to, then you just don’t do it. 

But I’m pretty certain that you can have at least 75% of your clients to accept.

 And it doesn’t have to be really long. Like it can be 15 to 30 seconds, that’s it! It’s just: “I’m so happy that I bought so-and-so art or so-and-so’s show or book or whatever it is. It’s helped so much my kids, or it helped my community, or it makes me so happy to have this, portrait on my wall. It makes, it makes me remember this traveling that I did with this person…” whatever they say.

But the goal is to show results, to show that your art is giving people, happiness is giving them what they wanted to have. If it was like a nice event, if you’re a speaker for events, you’re still an artist, right? You’re a communication artist! So, if you were the speaker for an event, the fundraising, whatever it is, it could always, be something that you can use to promote your services.

So that’s it! And what I would recommend is that when you make this video, and you do this for every client, at least you try and ask them every time you have someone who buys your art. It can be friends; it can be family. And if you’re just starting out, it will be friends and family. And it’s okay. It’s actually very good because these are the people who loves you the most and these are usually, I say usually because sometimes we have people who don’t want us to succeed, but most of the people, you know, wants you to succeed.

Start with friends and family, sell them some of your artistic services or some artistic creations that you do and ask them for a video. 

Go see them and do the video and when you have this quick video of them raving about the amazing service, they got from you, then create a regular post on all of your social media platform and mention what was sold for who, for what occasion in the text. Also put this video in your story. This will create more reach to people who are following you as well as potential people who could be following you and buying your art.

I don’t know if you’re hearing my car, engine, because it’s still a marketing it’s still a podcast in my car! I got this idea from Russell Brunson’s book, “Expert secrets”.

I just started to do this yesterday and this is the second episode. My goal is to help every artist on this planet who want to make their hobby to become a part-time gig and eventually to a full-time income, of course, as you know, there are no overnight successes. You have to work at this and you have to be persistent and constant. 

Like any endeavor, you’re going to have to work hard for months or years, depending on how often you can work on your artistic business. 

And if you’re already in business and you want to take it to the next level, then every strategy that I’m going to teach you in these podcasts apply to your business as well.

That’s it for today! That was a quick one. So, thank you so much for listening to making a “Living from your art” podcast. My name is Elie, I was your host for this “from my car” podcast; It’s always a pleasure to speak with you. And if you ever want to contact me, I’m going to put up a, a Calendly or a website really soon. But until then you can contact me directly on my email at elie@livingfromyourart.com.

It would be a pleasure for me to see if we can work together. I’m a full-time, marketing coach for artists and I help artists to make a living from their art. It’s my pleasure to serve you guys, so talk to you soon!