What Art Marketers Won’t Tell You: The Real Art Business

Posted on May 22, 2013 by natasha

It’s been a long time coming, but I’ve always tried to touch base with reality so that other artists could know and understand that this business is not the easiest thing in the world, despite all the How-To’s and fluffy posts saying how easy and simple it is. Marketers want you to believe that following your dreams is all you have to do. That just doing it is the smartest thing in the world. And when I’m referring to this business, I’m talking about: SELLING YOUR ART ONLINE.

There are many various types of work, genre, stylings and audiences as well as the type of work and projects you will do in your career as an artist. So that being said, variations in pay, consistency of work, career growth and opportunities will exist. In fact, you will never quite know if you will make it work, even if you have something similar and have all the knowledge, experience and fans.

Being a fan does not equal a collector. You’ll find that to be your number one challenge, probably your whole career.

THE REALITY Continue reading →

6 Things Artists (or any Business) Can Learn From Louis Vuitton or Apple

Posted on March 29, 2013 by natasha

In 2005, it had been a year into my newly fledged full time career as an artist. I was doing very well for my family, and making enough money to even take us on vacationsand buy nice things. That is when I began to really take advantage of my personal love of luxury brands. As a personal fan and lover of the arts, namely the fashion and design industry, I was well read on the designers and brands out there. Despite my small, humble upbringing in a small town in Michigan, I had a penchant for beauty and design from young age. So when I had the means to indulge in it, I did.

My first purchase was a limited edition Takashi Murakami designed Louis Vuitton Panda pochette. It was a modest purchase, at some $300-500 (if I remember correctly) but it was a lot of money for me to just fork over. It could’ve paid my rent that month, or a car repair for that matter. But I was a huge fan of Murakami (if you don’t know, he’s a huge fluence on my art today), and the brand Louis Vuitton was incredibly appealing. I loved that it was HANDMADE by someone who had a passion for design (hence the high pricing), was build with the finest materials. But there was more to it than that. They had a long time reputation for one of the most valuable brands in the world (and most counterfeited!).

You want to talk about sustainable business?

Louis Vuitton is a 158 year old company!

How about the computer company, Apple? They’ve been the computer leader since the 70′s!

What Louis Vuitton does, what most luxury brands do or what Apple does is important to artists, because art is a LUXURY. People don’t need art. They WANT art. A luxury is something that enhances and beautifies our life and our world. You have to think of your art brand this way, if you want to succeed. Remember that everything you do, how you present yourself and your work to the world is in line with these ideas in mind.

6 THINGS THAT ARTISTS (or any business!) CAN LEARN FROM LOUIS VUITTON OR APPLE Continue reading →

I Don’t Recommend Becoming An Artist

Posted on March 6, 2013 by natasha

I came across the post by Ben O’Brien, a Freelancer Illustrator, who put it perfectly in his own blog post. It will apply to any type of Artist in this industry perfectly. It’s like he took the words right out of my mouth!

Check out: “I Don’t Recommend Becoming A Freelance Illustrator.” explaining what it’s really like, and how you could pursue it realistically.

It resonated with me, as a decade veteran Artist. Be sure to read his post and ask me questions below about being an Artist, if you’d like!

Holiday Wows and Vacation Woes: Dealing with the retail rollercoaster

Posted on December 11, 2012 by natasha

One of the sad but true realities us artists must face if we are doing this as a full-time business, is to realize that we have to work the same way most retail type business operate. That means that we also have to come to understand the aspects and nature of the business.

#1 – It’s the toughest business to be in.

You should strive to meet benchmarks to grow and maintain a steady business as that means continual growth and the most important part: steady income. Find ways to keep your sanity and keep from quitting when times are tough.

#2 – There are high and low tides.

Some artists (myself included) freak out when business dies down or completely goes dead for a day, week or few months. We forget that this is a normal aspect of the business. We should adapt to it. Expect sales to go down during the summer, Independence Day and most holidays. Apply this to your own personal retail cycles. Some artwork/brands sell differently to different audiences. Different times, hours, days, seasons and holidays. Some people may find business BOOMING during the summer, but slumped during Holiday rush when other artists are banking. *Prepare to store/save money when things are thriving so you’re smooth sailing (or close to it) when business goes dead.

#3 – There will be taxes.

Another hard lesson I had learned myself, is you MUST know how to manage your money. Learn how to bookkeep or afford the help of one now and keep track of your expenses, costs and profits. Know what you are going to have to pay in taxes. Pay ahead, if you can. Try to keep your spending down.

#4 – The rollercoaster ride never ends.

Those moments when you have the best day ever do and will happen. If you’re working hard, making contacts, creating opportunities and keeping on top of things, you should be experiencing some days where sales and emails are flowing. Where your business is thriving and becoming established. Where your name is known to more people than you’d ever imagined. It will be a rush. Sometimes too exciting. Keep yourself from rewarding that moment by being frivolous with your time or money. If things are going well, take a step back and look at your goals and plans. As stated in #2, there are highs and lows. Keep on track with what you want to accomplish and don’t lose sight of that, even when things are looking great. No matter how long you’ve been doing this you’ll find it’s constantly changing and can go from great to terrifying the next minute.

4 Ways To Use Your Talents

Posted on November 3, 2012 by natasha

In my latest blog, I’ve discussed the importance of expanding your art beyond the work itself. Not only for your own personal evolution as an artist, but in a financial aspect. Everything has it’s seasons and sometimes business slows down for work. I notice for myself, the typical seasonal slow downs are holidays, back to school and summer time. Everyone is off on vacation, away from home or busy dealing with the juggling of school plays or sports practice.

For some artists, taking a break is great. For the rest of us, we need to find other ways to make money. And while our goal is to create other automatic streams of income by art licensing, we should consider our potential in working on creative projects that aren’t entirely related to our fine art.

For example, doing projects in design, mural art, teaching an art class to kids or adults and even helping put on events for other artists is an example of things we could do outside our typical work.

KEY is to find ways to make money when the art isn’t selling or sales slow down.

5 Ways To Use Your Talents: READ MORE>