A Site for Emerging Artists
Posts tagged Business of art
Do You Need a Mentor?
Nov 3rd
By Carolyn Edlund
“I’m too shy and lack the confidence to promote my work. I think I need a business partner to help me.”
“Where can I sell my work? I’m not sure where my market is, or how to find it.”
“How can I convince customers that they should buy my art? And that they should buy from me?”
“I’ve got a lot of ideas but am not sure how to go about making them happen.”
“Where can I find funding to make my dream a reality?”
“How does my product line look? Is it saleable? Where am I going wrong?”
These are some of the concerns I hear expressed by artists and craftspeople when they request a consultation. The inspiration and drive to create art is a strong pull, and many of my clients want to make a living doing what they love.
Seminars, webinars, telesummits, and meetings are wonderful motivators. Speakers invite participants to look at new possibilities and concepts. They help inspire creative people to feel great about their businesses, embrace new ideas and become wildly successful.
But what happens when you get back to the studio? How do you translate all that energy and inspiration into reality for your particular business?
This is where “the rubber meets the road.” This is the point at which you plan, set goals and put systems into place to grow and expand. Do you feel confident making this translation? Or do you need personalized input from a mentor?
Mentors provide a huge variety of services to mentees. Conversations vary widely. Does a product line work? Is it big enough, cohesive enough, different enough from the competition? How to market in a way that makes sense and reaches the right potential market. From writing business plans to earning referrals, artists who are entrepreneurs need lots of information.
A mentor can be a friend who is experienced in the business, a member of your guild, a volunteer or a professional coach. Make sure you can work together and feel that the other party has your best interests at heart.
A good mentor will provide the following:
- A personalized approach that addresses your needs specifically.
- An unbiased opinion on your body of work, and a willingness to be honest about what they perceive as working and what needs more development.
- An evaluation of your strengths (you already know your weaknesses).
- An assessment of challenges you have to reach your goals.
- A plan to reach those goals, broken down into steps which are realistic considering your schedule and time needed to complete them.
- Your mentor should ask you to be accountable to them for completing goals you have set. When you run into problems, your mentor will act as a sounding board.
- A “reality check” if you become overwhelmed or feel you are getting off course.
- Encouragement, reinforcement, and ongoing planning to move forward with your business.
In a recent interview about their new book “Starting Your Career as an Artist”, authors Angie Wojak and Stacy Miller state, “Mentors are critical for success. No one does it on their own.” They consider the mentoring relationship, along with being part of a creative community of artists, and regular studio practice, as the basics of a successful art career.
Have you had a mentor? Who inspired you most as you pursued your business as an artist?
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TumblrAre Art and Craft Fairs Dying?
Oct 21st
By Carolyn Edlund
I don’t often go to art and craft fairs anymore. After exhibiting at so many of them back in the 80’s and 90’s, I’ve become very jaded. I can’t be subjective, and frankly wish that I could see them as the public does, and enjoy them more.
So a few weeks back when I walked through a show where I had sold my work years ago, it was a bit surreal. I also found it to be a little tired-looking and sad. The show (which has a good reputation) has shrunk considerably. Quite a few of the exhibitors there have been in the business many years and I recognized several of them – a bit grayer, and still selling the same merchandise they were making twenty years ago. Although the quality of the work for the most part was high, there wasn’t much new – and there weren’t many young artists there, either.
On the other hand, I interviewed a twenty-something artist the other day who has been showing at elite shows and literally selling out of her high-end merchandise. A new breed of young DIY artists and craft enthusiasts have arisen and are organizing and promoting their own shows which are enthusiastically received.
Art festival website forums are filled with artists and craftspeople frustrated with the state of art and craft fairs these days. They are complaining about the amount of buy/sell merchandise that has been accepted by promoters and continues to undercut and diminish the fair experience.
So, where are you on this spectrum? Are you selling retail at fairs and shows and routinely angry about the circumstances? Do you do your homework and walk a show ahead of time, finding out what’s really going on?
Have your regular shows gotten a bit thin, with the quality becoming questionable? Or are you applying to top-tier shows where you feel protected from infringements on the rules, and where only truly handmade work is exhibited?
Perhaps you’ve gone the way of many artists and craftspeople who have decided to leave the show circuit and try other ways to sell their work. You may have even joined the ranks of artists who are unemployed (artists are unemployed at twice the rate of professional workers).
Art and craft fairs are in a state of transition, like many types of commerce and many industries. In these tough times, I have not found evidence that creativity has faltered – in fact, I believe it’s flourishing. I don’t believe the fairs are dead yet, but will transform. What’s your take on this?
How to Generate Buzz for Your Next Studio Event
Oct 5th
By Carolyn Edlund
Are you planning an open studio for the holiday season, and want to draw a crowd? Have you been brainstorming about ways to meet new prospective customers and create interest in your art?
Take a look at some phenomenal ideas that artist Judith HeartSong is successfully using to make her studio a
center of attention and help others at the same time, especially local arts and charities. She recently sent out an email newsletter (see it here) which presents fans and their guests with multiple opportunities to learn, shop and enjoy the arts at her new studio.
Here are a few ways you can use this model to generate buzz around your own event:
- Invite your list to see art demonstrations in your studio space. Judith has a wonderful studio with about 800 square feet of space for groups to meet. Staff from Utrecht Art Supply will be demonstrating oil paint sticks and allowing visitors to try them out and make a project. This brings in professional artists and hobbyists, and a busload of seniors that Judith teaches will make this a special trip from their community.
- Partner with the other arts. A poetry reading is scheduled for an October weekend, offering an opportunity for area poets who contributed to an anthology, which also supports a charitable cause – a gulf coast area food bank and clean up efforts for the gulf oil spill. By providing a venue and inviting the poets to bring in their guests, Judith also introduces them to her art. A drum circle is planned for a future performance, which will attract music fans to come as well.
- Promote your galleries. The Maris Elaine Gallery sells Judith’s work, and she promotes them in her newsletter by way of congratulating them on an article in a regional publication.
- Feature speakers. Are you a guild member, or belong to an arts organization? Invite a speaker, (such as the gallery owner in this case who will talk about the business of art) or other hot topic to bring in a group and make your studio a destination which can’t be missed.
- Give Publicity to Your “Partners”. It’s a smart idea to work with others in a strategic alliance which benefits both of your businesses. Double your audience by cross-promoting each other. Judith does that by partnering with the Washington School of Photography, and inviting her list to their event at another location, while also inviting them on field trips to her studio to photograph interiors.
She also suggests that if you are looking to involve others, call a local college and get an a capella group or musicians to join you at your open studio event. Give them exposure at your venue, while making it more festive and inviting – and bringing in their guests, too. Serve light refreshments and get a party started.
Or, partner with another artist who works in another medium and have more to offer your invitees. Combine your email lists and get out the word.
It’s also a smart move to use testimonials, which you will see on the sidebar of Judith’s newsletter. These are great ways to let others know you are professional and give you more credibility.
Don’t worry if you aren’t making sales right out of the gate – as visitors find out about you, they will return or refer others. Ask them to sign your guestbook and get permission to put them on your email list. With all these great events, who wouldn’t want to hear from you?
4 Things Artists Can Learn from Their Day Jobs
Sep 19th
By Carolyn Edlund
Courtesy Ruth Soller
Are you working all day and making art during your free time? Even if you don’t love your day job, you can take a few tips from how you work there and use them as you develop your own business as an artist:
- Structure. The daily grind at your office or place of business might seem constricting, but the schedule keeps you working consistently on what you need to achieve during the work day. It’s easy to get off track when you are self-employed and work in a home studio. Make a schedule for your art work too – use a calendar to set studio hours, plan goals and keep your deadlines. Unless you deliberately structure your time, you may find yourself losing track of it.
- Separate Environment. Most likely, your day job is at a location where you don’t live. That keeps you focused as well. You get work done at work, and your home is your sanctuary. When you work where you live, it can create havoc. Do you have a studio which is totally separate from your living quarters? Do you ask family members to respect your studio space as a work area? Do you avoid overlapping personal and studio activities in your work space so that you don’t get sidetracked?
- Co-workers. Working as a team with other employees at your day job means that you get input from others, and there is a momentum created around work projects. Who is working on your team in your art business? Don’t lose touch with your art community and become isolated. Stay involved and keep your own momentum going. A mentor for your art business can inspire and teach you, much like a co-worker who is training you at your day job.
- Scheduled Breaks. Lunch hours, coffee breaks and socialization break up the day at an office job. These help you relax and recharge for the rest of the work that needs to get done. Are you giving yourself breaks from your studio work? Deliberately schedule in some down time. Take a walk, stretch, get out of the studio. Marathon sessions can cause burnout and even physical problems from repetitive motion.
How have you structured your art business so that it works like a real business? Is it working for you?
Thanks to painter Ruth Soller for use of her image "Presbyterian Santa Fe" - see more of her work by visiting her website.
How One Artist Reached her Market through Extreme Networking
Sep 11th
By Carolyn Edlund
How many ways can you connect with your audience?
Vicki Boatwright
Vicki Boatright, a Canton, Ohio artist who paints delightful portraits of pets, has mastered the art of communicating and promoting her work through social networking and in person. She presents a wonderful case study of how an artist can get in front of the public, create a buzz and sell to collectors and new friends everywhere.
Her customer base is made up of pet lovers, who purchase prints and originals, or commission portraits of their own pets. In a recent email newsletter, Vicki, who goes under the pseudonym “BZTAT” (Bee-zee-tat), offers readers no less than four opportunities to buy art – custom pet portraits, giclee prints, existing originals of her
contemporary pop pet art, or custom murals – in the sidebar alone!
Her colorful images abound in the newsletter, but the main message to subscribers is a very serious one. Vicki is using her artwork to fund a worthy cause. Okey’s Promise is a public art project 
which brings awareness to the fact that in homes where pets are abused, children are often abused as well. Her Kickstarter campaign is raising funds to paint a mural in several parts which will become a traveling exhibit and produce six highly visible public artworks addressing this issue.
Some other ways Vicki is connecting with new purchasers, collectors, and commissions:
- Her image-laden website contains her story, inspirations, videos, paintings for sale, opportunities to buy customer murals, and products featuring images of her work from Zazzle, complete with “buy” button.
- She offers a “referral incentive program,” sending an ACEO to those who refer new customers
- Gift certificates are available on her site for easy gift-giving
- She is a motivational speaker and makes a point to attend events to get in front of a live audience, such as BlogPaws.
- Vicki started connecting with followers on Twitter by posting “in-progress” images of her work at #BZTATPTG and on Facebook
- She auctions her paintings on her blog and promotes them on Facebook and Twitter – bids are placed as comments.
- Her feline pets Okey and Brewskie Butt have been personified and have their own facebook pages and twitter accounts, which link back to the BZTAT website
- Brewskie Butt is featured on many of her blog posts, with a story of his world travels. Each post is accompanied by a small drawing of the cat character in a different setting, and is auctioned. Brewskie Butt even has his own blog!
- She has publicized her charity work, and garnered articles on pet sites, such as Catster and Bocci’s Beefs.
- BZTAT maintains a very active Google+ page, focusing on animal welfare and charitable causes.
- She has participated in paint-a-thons for charity as well, and created “interactive” murals with participants at events.
- BZTAT has a YouTube channel with an extensive collection of videos.
How are you making the connection with your fans, your collectors, and your prospective customers? Can you think of more ways to make yourself and your art memorable?
Featured Artist Leah Jay
