This question has been asked of me more times than I can count: How can I survive as an artist?
It is the dream of many artists to spend their day creating and not think at all about the business. I’m not sure if anyone is blessed in such a way and if they are, they must be extremely rare. Even the person who has an agent or a manager cannot just let the business side go completely, there are too many decisions to make.
I often hear the artist say, “I just need to get into a couple of decent galleries and they will do all of the work for me.” That only works if you meet a very specific set of criteria. First, your art must sell well to the target market of the gallery. If not, the gallery will not spend much effort marketing your work for you. Who’s art is featured prominently on the gallery’s advertising? The big shots, the ones that sell a lot and make a lot of money for the gallery. Second, the gallery owner must have decent business sense and understand marketing. Too many gallery owners just have this dream of owning a gallery and do not have what it takes to make it in business. They must be constantly marketing aggressively. Third (and this goes hand-in-hand with number two), the gallery must be successful. Even if your art fits the market and even if the owner is an aggressive marketer, if the gallery does not sell a lot of art, you are not going to make much money.
There are far more than three criteria for a successful gallery, but that is not the point of this blog post. This only shows that you need to take control of the business end of your art because no one has more invested in the business than you.
I cannot give a complete description in this post of how to survive as an artist. That could easily take up an entire book and is actually what this whole blog is about. What I WILL do, however, is give you a blueprint:
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1. Take control of your business.
This is a mindset that I am talking about. You will know when you have it. I mean much more than just selling your art. To take control of your business, you have to think like a business person. Put your equipment away, dig out a pad of paper and something to write with and turn off the phone. It’s time to write a business plan.
(This next part was borrowed from another web site, but I can’t remember which one!)
Business means structure
Owning an art business (aka being an artist), means you must structure and supervise your working days. Many aspects of running a successful business are essential, notably marketing, administration, accounting and law. Learning these skills (through courses, books or even on the internet) is essential to be able to make a living from art.
Here is a list of some things you should be able to (or must learn to) do:
- Write a business plan
- Promote your artwork to potential buyers
- Effectively negotiate contracts / price your work
- Finance your projects (apply for grants & awards)
- Keep track of your income & expenses (basic accounting)
- Protect your copyright
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Come back next week for part 2!
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Chris O’Byrne
OnlineArtsMarketing.com
