The question of catering to the client's wishes, in order to make a sale, came up on one of my mailing lists. One individual commented that in his experience, customers often demanded that the work be framed, and match their drapes, or they would not even consider buying it.
I have been selling my work unframed, and in addition to that, I have turned down several requests from potential customers recently, who were interested in having me do portraits of them, loved ones, or specific subjects... like their homes.
Here is a slightly edited (I got to correct the things I said poorly, and to add the things I wished I had said, after I hit the 'Send' button.) version of that post:
I am deliberately pursuing a strategy that seeks out only the buyers who are willing to play according to my rules.
At first, this might seem a rather bad idea... cutting myself out of the greater portion of the possible market, but I have valid reasons for doing things this way.
In any business that makes things and sells them, there are two general approaches... either to sell what you make, or to make what you sell.
A contract portraitist would be in the latter category, because first, they sell the job... 'painting an individual's portrait'... and usually, they receive some up-front money... and then, they produce the painting, which must, under the rules of such a relationship, satisfy the client's expectations. There is nothing wrong with this method of doing business; it is just not the method I have chosen.
I prefer to sell what I make... even down to details of whether it is framed or not, and whether the canvas is stretched or not. I believe that there is always at least one 'right' person, for every piece of work that I produce, and after the piece is finished... according to my standards... the last part of my job is to find one of those 'right' people, and to pass the work along to them... hopefully, for enough money to continue working and eating.
This last task would have been almost impossible ten years ago, but with the rise to prominence of the Internet, and the World Wide Web, the task has become much easier.
The customers who find me, and like my work, and are willing to abide by my rather eccentric 'Have It My Way' ethic, are almost invariably the type of people who buy their drapes to match their paintings, and not the other way around. If I were to try dealing with people who wanted me to dance to their tune, I would just wind up having to refund a lot of money, and deal with a lot of unhappy customers
Because I know reasonably well what I am trying to accomplish with my work, and it almost never has the least thing to do with the colour of someone else's' drapes... unless their drapes happen to be the subject of my painting, I am not well-suited to becoming a 'jobber'... a person who sells their painterly skills, to do another person's bidding.
The Internet and eBay allow me to sort through thousands of potential clients with minimal effort and expense, and let those few... maybe only one in ten thousand... who are by their very nature going to enjoy both my work, and my attitude... select me.
The world is a big place, with lots of people, and my entire life's work will easily sell to a vanishingly small percentage of the whole, so there is no reason that I can see, for me to try pleasing people who want anything other than what I am willing to deliver.