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5 tips to tackle the artist’s busy season — the holidays
GIVE YOURSELF THE BUSIEST SEASON YET Colder weather might signal a slow season for some professions and trades, but not for artists. Right now is our busy season. Let’s do what we can to make the best of it. Here are five supreme guidelines to follow for making your busy season the best few months of the year in your art business. 1. Focus on one special thing that you offer during this time I know as a creative, you probably have all types of different paintings, ideas, sales and schemes in mind. If you’re like me, you’re already plotting your new year’s resolutions. But right now the name of…
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Challenges of a traveling artist: receiving mail
BUSINESS ON THE ROAD Getting things shipped to you on the road is tough. Of course like everyone, I need my tax info, products for my business, my skincare supplements, and anything else important to me to come in the mail. But when you’re a traveling artist road tripping around the country in an RV, you don’t exactly have a mailing address. So what do I do? Here are some solutions and a rundown of their pros and cons. PO BOXES I can always set up a PO Box, but it’s not a perfect solution. For one, it adds to my long list of things to do before I move. When…
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I love painting custom artwork — here’s why it’s the best
UNIQUE ART FOR UNIQUE FOLKS I love painting commissions — portraits, homes, meaningful places, plants — because custom artwork is always so much more personal. When I paint illustrations just for me, they’re super personal to me and hopefully others can connect to it on a deeper level. But when I make custom artwork for a client to be specific for them, it’s guaranteed to be a meaningful piece of art that they’ll cherish. Painting commissions wasn’t always fun for me. A few years ago I vented about these growing pains here. I used to find them stressful because I had a hard time managing deadlines and adding more work…
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Create multiple income streams in your art business
SAFEGUARD YOUR REVENUE If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this pandemic, it’s that diversifying your income is very important! Having multiple income streams in your art business brings safety and stability to your financial well-being. If your entire business relies on one thing, what happens when something goes wrong with that one thing? For instance, if you only sell artwork online, what happens when there’s a mass power outage? What happens when you have trouble with your personal internet connection for a whole week? In another example, if you only sell at art shows, what happens when suddenly all events are canceled and people are not leaving their houses?…
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Start your art business legally (a resource roundup)
AN ARTIST IS A BUSINESS OWNER To be a full time artist, you must know the world of business. You are a business. You have products that you make and sell. You buy materials to make the products. Money comes in when you sell them. You delve in marketing, finances, shipping, taxes, and more. An artist is a business owner. Of course you are a creative, and that’s probably where most or all of your expertise is. Me too. Maybe you hate strict schedules and get nauseous when you think about doing hard math problems (just me?). But running an art business isn’t like high school algebra. It’s much better.…
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Build a personal brand and make real connections
IN YOUR OWN IMAGE There’s something in your creative business that will bring you success in all the ways: more sales, a bigger following on social media, a more deeply committed audience, more opportunities in your local art community, etc. Are you ready to know what it is? A personal brand. Now it’s easy to talk about a visual brand. This is something I specialize in. Picking colors, fonts, textures, filters, and every aesthetic detail is fun and it’s easy for other people to see if you’re doing it well or not. A personal brand is similar, but it goes deeper — and the average passerby may not be able…
