In the marketing world, everyone loves to talk about the “sales funnel.” The concept is simple: you pour a massive amount of potential customers into the top, filter them down through various stages of interest, and eventually, a small percentage drops out the bottom as buyers.
For artists, this model is useful, but it is incomplete.
If you stop thinking about the process the moment a sale is made, you are leaving the vast majority of your potential revenue on the table. To build a sustainable, lifelong art career, we need to visualize not just a funnel, but an hourglass—a Double Funnel.
The top funnel is about Exposure. The bottom funnel is about Relationships. Understanding how to navigate both is the key to consistent sales.
The Top Funnel: The Search for Your Niche
The top half of the hourglass represents the broad, sometimes exhausting work of finding your audience.
We live in a world of over 8 billion people. It can feel daunting to stand out in such a saturated market. However, the good news is that you do not need to appeal to millions of people. You only need to find a few hundred—or perhaps a few low thousands—of buyers over the course of your entire career to be successful.
The goal of the top funnel is Breadth of Exposure. At this stage, you are casting the widest net possible. You are putting your work into art festivals, outdoor shows, online galleries, social media, and brick-and-mortar venues.
The reality of the top funnel is that it is a numbers game. Most of the people who see your work will walk right past it. That is okay. You are not trying to convince everyone; you are filtering for the specific subset of people who resonate with your aesthetic.
This phase requires a “quantity” mindset. You need massive exposure to distill down to the people who are genuinely interested.
The Pinch Point: Conversion
As you filter through the masses, you will find those who stop, look, and engage. Some will buy immediately. Others will join your email list or follow you on social media.
This is the narrowest part of the hourglass. This is where a stranger becomes a client. But unlike a traditional business where the transaction ends the relationship, for an artist, the transaction is just the introduction.
The Bottom Funnel: The Inversion
Once a collector has purchased a piece, the funnel inverts. It opens back up.
While the top funnel was about finding people, the bottom funnel is about deepening the connection with the people you have already found.
Here, the strategy shifts from Quantity to Quality. You don’t need to blast anonymous marketing messages to your existing collectors. You need to cultivate one-on-one relationships. You are no longer looking for new buyers; you are looking to turn a one-time buyer into a lifelong collector.
This is where you “mine the niche.” By engaging with the people who have already voted for your work with their wallets, you unlock several opportunities:
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Repeat Sales: It is infinitely easier to sell to someone who already loves your work than to find a stranger to buy it.
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Referrals: Happy collectors become evangelists. They show their friends. They talk about you.
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Insight: By listening to your current buyers, you learn why they bought your work, which helps you refine your art and your marketing for the top of the funnel.
The “Authenticity” Factor
I know that for many artists, the idea of “sales” and “marketing funnels” feels cold or calculating. It can feel like a distraction from the creative work.
However, the bottom funnel is actually deeply human work. It isn’t about sales scripts; it is about Authenticity.
I work with artists who are incredibly gregarious extroverts, and I work with artists who are deeply introverted and shy. Both types succeed. Why? Because they find a way to connect with their “tribe” authentically.
Whether you are sending a handwritten thank-you note, sharing a behind-the-scenes look at your studio in a newsletter, or simply checking in with a past buyer, you are building a relationship.
The Long Game
If you focus entirely on the top funnel, you will burn out chasing new leads forever. If you focus entirely on the bottom funnel without feeding the top, your audience will eventually shrink.
The magic happens when you keep the flow moving: constantly exposing your work to new eyes (Top Funnel) while simultaneously nurturing the relationships with those who have already welcomed your art into their lives (Bottom Funnel).
Where is Your Focus?
Take a look at your current business efforts. Are you spending 100% of your time chasing new strangers in the Top Funnel, or are you perhaps neglecting the outreach needed to fill it? Conversely, have you ignored the Bottom Funnel and forgotten to nurture your past buyers? Let me know in the comments where you plan to shift your focus this month.