Navigating low art sale: How to stay positive when selling feel hard (Exercise)

At the time of writing this blog post, I’ve been seeing a lot of discussions online from fellow artists who are worried about the lack of sales this year. The holidays are upon us, and sales have remained stagnant. Artists have expressed how they feel panicked, sad, frustrated, and even depressed.

If you can relate, then just know that you’re not alone. Many of us, myself included, have seen a downturn in retail sales. And if you’re reading this after 2024 and have experienced a slow period, then let me assure you that everyone experiences a dip at some point. It’s normal.

Sometimes, we find ourselves in the valleys of sales because of things we’re doing, or not doing, but other times, it’s simply because of things that are wholly out of our control, like right now.

Regardless, I have found that one of the worst things we can do is give in to the panic and negativity. 

During times like these, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that our art is suddenly not good enough or that people have lost interest in our work (which is not true by the way!). 

Our negative thoughts can quickly spiral from there. Especially if we sell mostly online because our progress indicators are a jumble of numbers. 

When we log in to our Shopify dashboard all we see are numbers like how many add to carts, how many visitors, how many sales, etc.

When we log in to our email campaigns all we see are numbers like open rates and unsubscribes…

When we go on Instagram, we see how many views and likes we have or thereof…

And it all becomes a giant blur of numbers that can feel like they’re validating our low sales.

To prevent us from falling into a state of despair, I’m going to share with you one of my favorite ways to leave the land of negativity behind and enter a more positive headspace.

A calm mind can see things more clearly and make better decisions that are not based on false perceptions like “my art sucks, and no one wants to buy it”.

Shift Your Focus Exercise

So if you’re feeling bad about your sales, think about the last person who bought something from you. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know them personally. 

Just imagine how they saw your artwork and it piqued their interest. 

Then they went to your website and looked at all of the pictures, and the more they saw, the more they fell in love with it. Then they read your art’s description and poked around your site a little more. They got to know you a little better. Maybe they signed up for your emails or checked out your socials. 

Then they spent the next few days or maybe even weeks thinking about your art. Wondering where they would hang it. Imagined themselves owning it, and already feeling how much joy it would bring them. 

Then the day came when they thought to themselves “Today’s the day I’m finally going to buy it!” And their finger hovered over the buy button, filled with a sense of nervous excitement. 

Then they bought it! Wooohooo! 

After that, they checked their email over the next few days to see if it had shipped because they couldn’t wait for it to arrive. And when they got the shipping confirmation email, they made sure to be home when it arrived or that they’d be available to pick it up. 

When they finally opened the package, they took it out and were instantly filled with pure joy and happiness!

When you think about what that single person experienced, and how happy your art made them, that feels really good, does it not?

Even though that was just one sale out of your total goal, you helped make someone’s day. You enhanced someone’s life. Now every time they walk by your art it makes them smile.

The work you do matters. Whether it’s one sale, or a hundred. Your art has made an impact. 

The more that you can focus on your customers and clients, the harder it will be to fall into a negative trap.

So next time you feel yourself slipping into the negative rabbit hole, use this little exercise and see what a difference it makes.