by Maria Brophy
Don’t follow any of these rules and guidelines. Not unless they fit with your plan. I don’t want you to follow my advice, either, not unless it resonates with you. You are the one who has to live with your decisions. So make sure that your decisions are yours, not someone else’s.
As a successful creative, your art becomes your life. Your work life and your personal life spills into and over each other. Your art becomes intertwined with how you spend your days, the people you surround yourself with and the places you go.
This is why it is crucial for an artist to be the sole director of their art, career and lifestyle. No one else can decide for you. It’s important for you to decide where you want to go, and then implement the strategies in this book to help you get there.
WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE TO YOU?
Success has a different meaning for each person. Most of the artists I work with say that they will consider themselves successful once they can support their family with their art.
Some will only consider themselves successful when they have reached a desired achievement or have impacted the world in a positive way with their art.
Only you can decide what success means to you. Below are examples of what success looks like to some people:
Earning a healthy income to support a family
Living a lifestyle that enables you to do the things you love
Developing a reputation for creating meaningful art
Making a true difference in the world with art
Developing a technique that becomes a new standard in the art world
Becoming known as the best in your genre
You need to find your own definition of success, one that feels right for you. On the next page is the Artist Clarity Worksheet, which will guide you to determining what you really want.
IMPORTANT: To get the most out of all of the exercises in this book, don’t type your answers into a computer or electronic device. Instead, write your answers into a notebook or in this book. Using pen on paper accesses a part of your brain that is wired to find answers that are deep inside you. This is what will help you get results. If this doesn’t make sense to you, do it anyway. Often, we don’t even know the answers we are seeking, but when we sit and quietly write on paper, ideas and thoughts come to us.
If you don’t know what to write, then write anything you want, just to get the energy flowing. The process of writing leads your mind to grasp for answers, often buried deep inside you. Take your time daydreaming as you answer the questions. Make sure to enjoy the process—dreaming about your ideal lifestyle should be fun and fill you with enthusiasm (if it doesn’t, keep exploring until you find a vision that does!)
ARTIST CLARITY WORKSHEET
Date_______________________ Instructions: Every 6 months, complete this form and review your previous sheets. Your answers will change as you grow.
What does overall success look like to me? How will I know when I’ve become successful?
(Be specific – if money means success to you, how much do you have to earn a year to feel successful? If it’s a set of achievements, specify what they are.)
What do I want to spend my time doing, on most days? What is the ideal lifestyle for me?
What is the one thing that I could accomplish that would take my art business to the next level?
What is my number one, most important goal for my art business this year?
What do I intend to become known for in ten years?
What new skills do I intend to learn that will further my art business?
How much money do I intend to earn?
Yearly $_________ Monthly $_________ Weekly $__________
NAME of two influential people that I wish to meet this year:
_____________________________________________________
NOW THAT YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT
When we write things down, they become clear in our sub-conscious minds. This is where the magic occurs, because from this point forward, your mind will immediately recognize opportunities that will bring you closer to your goals.
Once you can recognize such opportunities, you will be likely to take action on them, which will lead straight to the goals you’ve written down.
When you are clear on what you want, your mind will also start generating powerful ideas, usually at the most random times (when in the shower or taking a walk). Acting on these “eureka” ideas will quickly bring your goals to you.
WHAT IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT?
Some people tell me they aren’t sure what they want from their lives. But when I press them to dig deep into their childhood dreams, they discover that they really knew all along. Their desires had just gotten buried underneath everyone else’s plans for them.
If you are struggling with deciding what you want, go easy on yourself. Take time to think. Go someplace quiet and clear your mind.
Think back to a time when you were young and dreaming of your future. What did you imagine? What did you dream of? Often we find clues that go way back to when we were children.
Sometimes we don’t know what we want because our desires have been marginalized or suppressed, due to the negative influences from people in our past. This is common for those who have had controlling people in their lives or circumstances that have held them back from taking care of themselves.
Do the exercise anyway. Even if you have no idea what to write, sometimes just by sitting down and grabbing a pen, you’ll get a clearer idea of what you want. Once you start writing with the intention and give yourself permission to explore your desires, you may find that they flow out magically onto the paper.
One extra exercise that will help if you’re stuck: Take a blank sheet of paper and write at the top of it: “What do I want?” Start writing a list of anything and everything, including the small and silly. This exercise will unleash your subconscious mind. You might be surprised at how many words and ideas you end up writing down.
Once you’ve written down a clear, defined list of what you want, it is now able to manifest.
Keep the list or the Artist Clarity Worksheet that you wrote and read it daily. This will help you stay on track and remind you of what is most important to you, so that you don’t get sidetracked. When we stay on track, we achieve what we plan to achieve. Every six months, or sooner if you feel necessary, re-visit your list and update it as you reach your goals. Then replace them with new ones.
Never throw these worksheets away. Years from now you will read them and be surprised at how many of the things you wrote down came to fruition.
HOW TO BEGIN
“The secret to making a living as an artist is that
there are no secrets. Artists find their own paths,
and each path is unique.”
—Alyson Stanfield,
author of I’d Rather be in the Studio
Where does one BEGIN with their art career? It seems as though there aren’t any clearly defined road maps for the art business.
There are lots of books on the market that teach artists how to get grants and residencies and how to enter art contests. But none of these things fit into a long term business plan. You can’t support a spouse and three kids off of contest winnings!
An artist emailed me recently and asked, “I’m creating art but not selling it yet. Where do I start?” There is no one way to create an art career. There are many different variables that determine the best plan for you, such as the type of art you create, the theme, your personality, your desired outcome, etc. There are literally thousands of different paths you can take, and the best one for you will reveal itself as you begin to take action.
The first step is to commit to becoming a master at your craft and creating art that will be of great value to your buyers. Then commit to building a strong foundation for your art business. You create a strong foundation when you:
Know what you want and plan in congruence with that (every decision you make should be with “what you want” i
n mind)
Determine your niche and who your right buyer is (a.k.a. Target Market)
Generate a powerful plan to connect with your right buyer and to get the sales and lifestyle you want
Operate your Art Business like a business
The following chapters will help you work through the steps shown above. You don’t have to get it all figured out perfectly right now—your goals and dreams will evolve as time goes on.
BRAINSTORM HOW TO REACH YOUR
IDEAL CLIENT/COLLECTOR
Every breakthrough I’ve ever had began with a brainstorming session. There is not one book or course on the market that can do your thinking for you. You have to do it yourself.
The reason you can’t find resources to do your thinking for you is because when it comes to art, the answers vary depending on the artist, the type of art, the price points, the fans, location and a hundred other factors.
The exercise below will help your mind access solutions that are right for you. Grab a pen and your notebook, give yourself ten minutes to think, and answer the following questions:
Describe your ideal client or collector. (i.e. people who love horses and live in the countryside who earn over $100,000/year)
Where can you find these people? What clubs do they join, where do they go for pleasure, where do they live or work? (i.e. at equestrian events/races)
What is one action that you can take today to connect with your ideal client or collector? (i.e. make a phone call, join a club, sign up to be on a newsletter list, ask for an introduction, offer to exhibit at one of their events, etc.)
Below are some examples of specific types of artists, and possible action plans to reach collectors who may be interested in their work. Keep in mind, these examples are simplified and are being shown to illustrate a general path an artist can take.
Contemporary Artist: You are a fine artist and your goal is to sell your contemporary paintings to high profile collectors. First, create art that will be of value to your target market. This requires you to refine your skills and master your craft. Next, determine the best way to reach those high profile collectors. It could be via galleries that cater to your target market, or through art consultants or by using an entirely new strategy. Then take steps to become eligible to get into those galleries or to connect with those consultants.
Illustrator: Your goal is to illustrate artwork for the campaigns of Fortune 500 companies. First, generate a portfolio with a few examples of your work that shows your ability. Next, obtain a list of advertising agencies and marketing agencies that work directly with Fortune 500 companies. Then set up meetings to give presentations of your work to those agencies.
Photographer: Your goal is to explore the world and become globally known as the photographer of nearly extinct wildlife, bringing global attention to help save the species. Work on becoming a master at your craft. Connect with organizations who are helping to save nearly extinct species. Next, find a way to work with them, providing your services and contributing to their cause. Find out what you need to do to get hired or raise money to send you to remote areas of the world so you can do the work you want to do.
Pop Artist: Your goal is to become one of the world’s best selling pop artists. First, you would work to build up a collector base through exhibits, online sales and retail or gallery sales. You would devise several different channels to sell high volume art print reproductions. You would develop a newsletter list to keep in constant contact with your collectors and retailers. You would devise strategies to create a frenzied demand for your reproductions.
Surfboard Artist: (This was Drew’s path). Your goal is to become the world’s best known surfboard artist. Refine your skills. Develop a technique and style that will make your work memorable. Next, seek out jobs painting at surfboard factories for the best shapers and surfers in the world. Insist on signing your name to every surfboard you paint. Paint thousands of surfboards over the course of a decade.
Drew followed this plan of action consistently for many years. With time and focused energy, he honed his painting skills and got so good and fast that he was painting up to ten surfboards a day. He became well-known for his surfboard art and companies sent him all over the world to paint. Now, twenty years later, he can say that he has reached his goal.
Use these examples to create your own general art career plan. The following chapters will help you get to the fine details.
Establish a Niche
“It’s okay to do a lot of different things.
But if you want to sell your work,
you have to focus on just one market at a time.”
—Maria Brophy
Establishing a “niche” means to place your focus into one specialty area, creating a specific style or type of work and marketing it to a specific buyer.
When selling art, it’s easier to make sales within a small niche than it is to sell to the impossibly large niche of “everyone.”
Take, for example, an artist who only paints equestrian themed art. Selling art that depicts horses is much easier than selling a general theme. This is because it’s easier to find buyers of horse art; you simply reach your buyers by going to equestrian themed events, races and charities. You are guaranteed that almost everyone at an equestrian event loves horses.
Mary Engelbreit is one of the top-selling illustrators in the world. She reached success over thirty years ago when she developed a popular greeting card line. Later, she went on to license her art for thousands of products. Her colorful illustrations target the niche of women, specifically mothers. Her work is sold on products that mothers buy and in stores where mothers shop. Her illustrations and captions perfectly appeal to her target audience.
It’s much easier to reach a target audience when you work within a clearly defined niche. And then, when you reach that target audience, you can use the right language to speak directly to them and entice them to buy.
In the case of Mary Engelbreit, she wouldn’t sell her products in men’s stores, nor would she market to teenage girls. She is laser focused on her target market, and all of her marketing language and advertising is designed to reach and attract her target niche market.
That’s why this is so effective; when you design your art marketing to attract a niche market, you are speaking directly to them, using language that resonates with them. And when you speak directly to them, they will better connect with your work and want to buy.
Having an established niche gets results in just about any business. When I started writing my blog, I wrote specifically for artists about the business of art.
One of my friends warned me, “If you want your blog to be popular, stop writing for artists. Write for a wider audience.”
He meant well, but he was wrong. I discovered that when I wrote specifically about the business of art, I would get a greater response from readers.
Once I figured this out, I decided to follow my passion and write just for artists. After all, that’s where my knowledge and experience is. Writing for a small niche has gained me more readers, not less.
When I tell artists that they, too, will have greater success if they market within a niche, many tell me that they struggle to figure out what their niche is.
Some artists say they don’t want a niche, because they like creating in a variety of themes and mediums and markets. They don’t want to feel constricted.
If this is you, know this: It’s okay to work on a variety of themes and mediums. Never stop experimenting with a lot of different things.
But if you want to sell your work in high volume, you have to choose a niche to focus on when marketing your art. Focus is necessary if you want to make a living selling your work.
You’ll have a tough time creating financial success by trying to be known as “the artist who does everything.”
If you are one who is resisting selling within a niche, don’t give up on this strategy just yet. Read on, and maybe we can help you carve out a niche that
feels good to you.
HOW A NICHE HELPS YOUR WORK STAND OUT
Below are commonly asked questions that I receive from artists:
How do I stand out in a field that is so competitive?
How do I find people who will love my work?
How do I get my paintings in front of more buyers?
The answer to all of these questions is the same; and that is, to establish a niche. When we focus in one area, and we consistently work on it, we get better and better at it. Eventually, we become the go-to person in that niche. We become KNOWN for our work. Once we are known for it, people will come to us for it. See how that works?
Think of some of the most famous artists and you’ll see they all worked within a niche. I’ll give you a few examples that come to my mind:
Anne Geddes: photographer of tiny babies placed in flowers and plants
Thomas Kinkaide: painter of little cottages in bucolic settings
Jackson Pollock: used a unique technique of “splatter and action” pouring paint on canvas
Keith Haring: a distinctive style of pop art with theme of New York culture
Many artists start by experimenting with lots of styles, until they find something they’re good at that people love. Then they stop experimenting and double down on that style, making it their own.
We can also look at many not-quite-as-famous artists who have found their niche and are incredibly successful. The examples below are all living artists who have built up profitable businesses and are making a good living with their art. I recommend you look them up online and see what they are doing:
Clark Little: photographs the shore-break of waves in Hawaii
Wyland: paints whales and sea life
Michael Goddard: paints playful olive characters in martini glasses
Fabio Napoleoni: paints the theme of sad characters and hearts
