I’ve never tried this one but I bet it would work great.

Have you ever been at someone’s house and seen a painting or piece of art that really floored you?

My friend Jordanna Rachinsky’s paintings blow me away. You probably have your own favourite local artist. Or a piece of art you saw that stunned you.

When you first saw it, you commented on it, didn’t you?

And that started a conversation which lasted maybe a minute.

Can you remember the name of the artist?

Did you even find out?

Did you then go and buy a piece of art from them?

Unlikely.

But imagine this: you go to buy a painting and the artist or gallery owner says to you, “You know, most of our business comes from word of mouth. Our most frequent exposure happens in living rooms all around this city. Often times, people express interest in our paintings but we can’t be there to answer their questions or show them others. If you’d be willing to let us place this small, tasteful and totally invisible business card holder behind the painting – no one will ever see it – we’d love to take off $50 from the painting as our way of saying thanks. The cards have a special offer on it for those who express interest in it. They basically say, “Thank you so much for expressing interest in one of our paintings. As our way of thanking you for your interest, we’d like to offer you three free 2’x2’ full colour prints. Come to our Gallery/website and you can choose them yourself. There’s no pressure to buy anything – it’s just a chance to take them home and try putting them up in different places to see if what we have to offer is a fit for your home. If not, feel free to pass the prints onto your friends.” Would you be willing to do that?”

Most people won’t mind at all.

After all, they get to give their friends a gift.

The last card is a reminder to call and get more plus a bonus gift for having passed our all the cards as a thanks. It’s a surprise when they call. If it’s a website, the prints are shipped in poster tube @ no charge with a sheet of tips on lighting, placement and colour coordination (or a DVD) or online videos. There’s also something that tells a story about the artist to build a relationship.

I’ve asked a few people if they would pass out the cards to people who expressed interest and the answer has been an unequivocal ‘yes!’. Most tell me they wouldn’t even need or want the discount.

 

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