A Site for Emerging Artists
Business of art
8 Steps to Jump-Start Your Art Career
Nov 27th
By Carolyn Edlund
I often speak with artists who are frustrated, and sometimes not pleased about how their careers are going. They are looking for guidance, suggestions, or representation. This is totally understandable. It’s tough out there, and can be very discouraging and confusing, particularly if you’re going it alone. Eventually this leads to one very important and unavoidable fact – the bottom line.
The absolute bottom line is this:
Like it or not, if you are an artist and you want to make a living at it, you are a businessperson. And – you’re in marketing and sales.
A lot of questions come up. “How can I find people to buy my work?” “Should I try to find a rep?” “Why doesn’t my work sell?” or even, “I’m not sure what to do, or if I’ll make mistakes, and so I freeze and do nothing.”
Quite often, I go over specific steps with clients to help them understand what they want out of their art career and how to get there. Here are eight basics to get focused and jump-start into action:
- Make a plan. Define what it is that you want to do. Write down your plans, in general and then more specifically. Is it realistic? Are your goals too narrow, or too broad? Write a five-year plan. Where would you like your career to be in 2016?
- Define what you need to do to get there. Who do you need to meet? Where do you need to live? What steps lead up to your goal? Read extensively on how the business of your future career works, and how the successful people got there. Get very clear on the circumstances you will have to create to make it work. Decide if your perceived goals will fit your lifestyle, and your level of ambition. If not, redefine what you really want. That’s perfectly OK. Your goals belong to you.
- Break it down into bite-size pieces. It can be overwhelming to think that you have to find a prestigious gallery or start giving your own workshops if you’re just starting out. Work backwards from the goal, writing down each step in the process, to what you can do today.
- Take action now. Do something every single day to move your art career forward. It may be placing a phone call, improving your website, finding a great photographer to shoot your portfolio, or making a To Do list. Cultivate this habit, because it’s something you are doing for yourself, and it really matters.
- Be willing to adjust. Perhaps you are running into roadblocks, or circumstances are changing. That five-year plan isn’t written in stone. Adapt and get creative with new plans.
- Don’t do it alone. Get a mentor, take a course, surround yourself with people who believe in you, and participate in your community.
- Be willing to pay those people you need to make your business work. Delegate tasks to avoid being overwhelmed. Hire a bookkeeper or accountant, get someone to clean your house while you are working, have someone watch your children so that you have studio time. You might need marketing assistance, a coach or a website designer. You could actually save money by paying for services which would eat up so much of your time that you cannot create.
- Don’t give up. If you think it can’t be done, then you’re right. Persistence is the most important factor in making your plans a reality.
You knew when you started that it wouldn’t be easy, but you also know it’s worth the hard work. Basically you need some talent, a plan, an understanding of how business and commerce works, and a lot of effort. Working toward a defined goal with a specific road map is much more productive than having a vague idea that you want to be “successful”. Successful people didn’t get there by accident, and they rarely made it overnight.
Do you consider yourself to be a successful artist? How long did it take? What’s your best advice for other artists who are starting out?
Print
Digg
StumbleUpon
del.icio.us
Facebook
Twitter
Google Bookmarks
Reddit
email
FriendFeed
LinkedIn
Tumblr
The Great Asheville Arts Experiment
Nov 23rd
Brennen McElhaney
Painter Brennen McElhaney launched Asheville Artists, a new website promoting the arts in North Carolina near his hometown. He describes how he benefits his own business as well as other artists in a community approach to marketing and promotion.
It all started when I secured the domain name AVLarts.com.
For those of you not familiar with Western North Carolina, ‘AVL’ is the common abbreviation for Asheville, NC, which in addition to being where I live has a well-deserved reputation for being an artsy city.
I decided to make a website that would be the go-to informational hub for the visual arts in Asheville – by listing comprehensive directories of local artists and galleries, and publishing an events calendar of art show openings, open studios, gallery walks, etc.
In short, I set out to create a valuable local arts resource.
The website launched on November 15, 2011.
AVLarts.com is clean and simple in design and invites the community to suggest artists, galleries and events to be added.
There is no fee to be listed. However the directories are curated (by me) in order to be valuable and comprehensive, but not exhaustive.
It is also important to me that AVLarts.com be uncluttered, so there are no banners or advertisements.
Sounds like a lot of work. What’s the catch? Where’s the payoff?
Connections.
This project has the potential to position me as a valuable asset for local art-lovers, artists, galleries and those who plan art events — all the people I want to connect with.
After being on-line for only three days, I’ve already made some solid connections.
My plan is to maintain the website for a year and see what happens.
I’m going forward with the philosophy that ‘if you build it (and promote it) they will come.’ I believe that giving back to my community in this way will be well worth the effort by introducing me to people I want to know.
Am I crazy? I guess we’ll see.
Creative Marketing for Artists
Nov 19th
By Carolyn Edlund
A photographer walked through a business expo, carrying an iPad. Seeking commercial clients, he had targeted the expo as a good place to meet prospects. When making contacts at the event, he was able to quickly open his iPad, which was connected to his very polished website, and show his portfolio. Upon receiving a business card from an interested party, he could instantly send an email to them with a link. Nice job! Could you adapt this type of effective marketing to your own business?
A jewelry designer had an idea to approach personal shoppers in his area, offering high-end designs and custom work for their clients. Personal shoppers need to find unusual, creative apparel for their clientele. This designer would be able to offer exceptional value to the personal shopper through a high level of customer service, and the ability to create designs exclusively for interested clientele. After friending his prospects via social media, he planned an initial email contact with gorgeous glamour photos embedded, followed up with a phone call for an in-person appointment. He was gearing up for a fantastic presentation, with solid evidence on how he could offer value. How can you target and plan to reach a specialty market for your work?
A glassblower working on a private commission takes photos on his cell phone of work in progress and instantly sends them to his client to make sure they are “on the same page” – while the glass is still hot! Could this type of amazing customer service work for your business?
Recently, several artist agents discussed a direct mail strategy. It didn’t involve a postcard mailing – their plan was much bigger. They suggested culling your email newsletter mailing list by checking analytics to find those recipients who regularly opened and clicked on links. Use those names to make a “short list,” because your mailing will actually be small. Add in a dream customer or two that you would love to do business with. Now – spend the time and effort to create a spectacular mailing piece. Full color glossies? Accordion-shaped book of your full line? Super creative 3D promo that arrives in a gift box? Even if each one costs $15 to make, you may be mailing to only ten people, for a small $150 cash investment. Wow your prospects with an amazing presentation. Have you tried a similar approach to get the attention of your targeted prospects?
Another artist had a professional video created of herself painting in her studio, which is sent to galleries featuring her work. When the video is shown on a loop, it effective tells her story and allows visitors to get “up close and personal” by virtually entering the studio itself. Do you use creative “sales aids” to promote your work when you can’t be there in person?
Each of these ideas goes above and beyond to sell art and develop strong business relationships. Today, personalized marketing, exemplary service and increased value are expected by customers. What techniques have you used to grow your business by going the extra mile?
What Grade Does Your Art Website Deserve?
Nov 15th
By Carolyn Edlund
For the past several years, I’ve subscribed to updates from Hubspot, and recommend that artists (or anyone else who has a website) check out what they have to offer.
Want to know how effectively your site is working? Check out Website Grader. It “grades” your site on various factors, including whether you have a blog, the amount of traffic your site gets, readability, incoming links and more. Suggestions are given on how you can improve your site to draw more visitors and improve search engine rank.
Update – As of December, 2011, Website Grader has been replaced by Marketing Grader. Check it out here.
And what about that blog? Click on over to Blog Grader and get an evaluation of your blog as well, including email subscription, social media links, average number of links, and metadata.
You probably saw this coming – yes, Tweet Grader, Facebook Grader and Google + Grader are available as well. You can even see how well your press releases are working by visiting Press Release Grader. Whether you are seriously searching for improvement or just want to check it out for fun, Hubspot has a lighthearted approach to all of their social media training and advice.
And Hubspot does have advice – lots of it. Signing up for their mailing list will bring you webinars on every type of web marketing you could ever need. Recently they released an ebook tutorial on how to create a Google+ business page if you want to be on the cutting edge of that platform.
But wait – there’s more! The team over at Hubspot has an entire university. Yes, it’s true. You could be old school and buy the hardcover book Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (New Rules Social Media Series)
Whether you just want to take a peek at your grades, or are a hardcore student, I encourage you to do some learning at Hubspot today.
Who is Really Celebrating Artists?
Nov 11th
By Carolyn Edlund
Entrepreneur Magazine’s website has an inviting-looking contest, asking for submissions to their Indie Merchant Holiday Gift Guide. The very first paragraph states,
This holiday season, let’s celebrate the artisans, craftspeople and other independent merchants who create one-of-a-kind items that make for special gifts. From now until Thanksgiving, we invite all eligible businesses to tell us about ONE item that you sell that is the perfect gift for someone special this holiday season.
[Bells ringing, birds singing]
But then take a look at the FAQ section:
I designed my product, but have it manufactured in China. Can I still enter it?
Yes. We understand that manufacturing is an integral part of doing business. Items do not have to be hand-made.
Whoa—What?!? [Record-scratching sound]
I suggest that Entrepreneur Magazine hold whatever contest they want, but don’t pretend to support and celebrate American artisans and craftspeople when they really don’t. That’s disingenuous at best.
Is there anyone out there in the creative community who doesn’t know that products Made in America are under attack? Items pouring in from China undercut the prices and livelihoods of American entrepreneurs, as well as knocking off artists who design and produce in this country. Having items produced overseas kills American jobs – that’s a fact.
If you’d like to submit your original handmade product to a contest that does respect the integrity of the arts and crafts industry in this country, consider submitting one image to The Arts Business Institute, to appear in a series of three articles on “Great Handmade Holiday Gifts” which will run on Thanksgiving week. Each image selected will be shown with a link back to the artist’s website. It’s free to enter. No items manufactured outside of the U.S. or Canada will be considered.
Send one image of your work + a description + retail price + your website address by midnight on Thursday, November 17, 2011 to: artsbizinstitute@gmail.com.
Carolyn Edlund, the author of the Artsy Shark blog, proudly co-writes content for The Arts Business Institute, a nonprofit which for the past 16 years has taught workshops on the business of art to artists and craftspeople in the United States and Canada.
Featured Artist Leah Jay
