Copy Examples

Elevator pitch examples for artists

An elevator pitch fails when it describes the business instead of giving the listener a reason to ask a second question. These end somewhere the other person can pick up.

Ten of them follow, written for artists rather than filled in from a template. Your customer is a collector, a curator or someone who has just fallen for one piece, and what they are weighing up before they get in touch is buying work they will not still like in five years, from someone who may not still be making it.

The one-liner

I am an artist in [your town] — I make original paintings and commissions for a collector, a curator or someone who has just fallen for one piece.

Use this when you have one sentence and no idea who you are talking to.

Problem first

The thing people worry about with artists is buying work they will not still like in five years, from someone who may not still be making it. That is the part I deal with. I am an artist, and I tell you what a piece is, what it costs and when it is available.

Use this where the problem is instantly recognisable and the service is not.

Names who it is for

I work for a collector, a curator or someone who has just fallen for one piece. Mostly original paintings and commissions. If that is not you, you probably know someone.

Use this at an event where most people are not your customer, to find the ones who are.

Credential first

I am an exhibiting artist. Work held in private collections, shown in group and solo exhibitions, and made in a studio rather than a spare hour. I mostly do original paintings and commissions.

Use this in a room where qualification is the thing that buys attention.

The contrast

Most artists [what the default does]. I am the one that writes about the work in plain language. That is more or less the whole difference.

Use this when your market has a clear default and you are not it.

With a number in it

I am an artist — [number] years, [number] pieces, and I show where the work has been exhibited.

Use this when you have a real number. Do not invent one.

The origin

I started because buying work they will not still like in five years, from someone who may not still be making it was normal in this trade and it did not need to be. So that is the business: an artist where I tell you what a piece is, what it costs and when it is available.

Use this when the reason you started is short and true.

Ten seconds

Artist. Original paintings, mostly. [your town].

Use this when someone asks what you do and is already half-turned away.

Ends with the ask

I am an artist doing original paintings and commissions. If you ever hear someone say [the thing your customers say], that is me.

Use this when the point of the conversation is a referral, not a sale.

The warm version

[their question] — I am an artist. The part people usually ask about is saying what the work is actually about without reaching for art-speak.

Use this where the pitch would land badly and a conversation would not.

Writing for artists: what actually matters

What should an artist’s website say that a generic one does not?

Three things, in this order. That you are exhibiting and collected. That you understand the thing people are actually worried about, which for artists is buying work they will not still like in five years, from someone who may not still be making it. And what happens next: a note about the piece you are looking at, or a studio visit if you are nearby. Everything else on the page is decoration by comparison.

What does a collector, a curator or someone who has just fallen for one piece check first?

The credential, then the proof. For artists it sounds like this. I show where the work has been exhibited. I say what the work is made of and at what scale. I keep prices and availability visible. Put at least one of those above the fold rather than on a separate page nobody opens.

What is the most common mistake on an artist’s website?

Writing about the business instead of the customer. "We have been established since 1998" answers a question nobody asked. "I start with a note about the piece you are looking at, or a studio visit if you are nearby" answers the one they are actually holding. If you only fix one thing, fix that.

How long should the copy be?

Shorter than you think, except where trust is being built. An About page of 120 well-chosen words beats 500 vague ones. The exception is anything explaining buying work they will not still like in five years, from someone who may not still be making it — there, specifics earn their length.

Everything else for artists

Elevator pitch for other trades

All 49 trades →