2017

The Art Biz ep. 7: 4 Levels of Business Insurance for Artists

Business insurance!

That’s our topic for this Art Biz Podcast.

Listen in as Claudia McClain, founder of HomeBusinessInsurance.com, addresses the various levels of an artist’s career and the kinds of insurance you need at each point.

You never think about business insurance until someone asks to see your certificate of insurance or, more likely, until it’s too late. Until something bad has happened.

If you are an artist selling your art and you don’t have a specific policy for your business, this episode is for you. Refrain from clicking the Play button at your peril …

Level 1: Homeowners Insurance Only

This is the earliest phase in an artist’s career and is for hobbyists only. You’re making art just for yourself, not to sell.

At the point when you start selling, you are considered a business by the IRS and must take additional steps to protect your business.

Level 2: Incidental Business Occupancy Endorsement

This is a very affordable option for your home studio, which is tacked onto your homeowners’ policy.

It doesn’t cover the instances when you take your art outside of your home, and it might not cover liability when you have visitors to your home studio. That’s when you need …

The Art Biz ep. 7: 4 Levels of Business Insurance for Artists Read

Rural Artist Market (Curious Monday)

Start local, and then expand.

This is a piece of advice I offer clients who are trying to build an audience for their art.

The problem is that this solution doesn’t always work for artists who live in rural areas.

When you live in a rural area, is your best bet to expand your online following?

I’d love to hear from rural artists who have faced this dilemma.

Rural Artist Market (Curious Monday) Read

How to Offer Upgrades for Your Teaching

When you offer services, such as teaching, mentoring, or coaching, seize the opportunity to enhance the experience for your students and clients. This may also be a chance to create extra income for yourself.

I’m talking about offering upgrades to your services.

An upgrade is an offer that adds value to the service for an additional fee.

The most important reason to offer an upgrade is that it improves the experience for your students. The additional income is a bonus for you.

Upgrade Options

Your upgrade offer is limited only by your imagination. Here are some ideas to help get you started:

An additional, but different, workshop or class
Printed and bound copy of your notes
Audio recording of your notes
Video lessons
“Club” membership
A lifetime Facebook group that includes club-only email tips
A package of programs and bonuses, like the Art Career Success System
Personal coaching, mentoring, or critique sessions (live or via video conference)

If you are hosting a multi-day workshop, consider adding:

Private tours
30-minute coaching/critique sessions before or after instruction for the day or an additional coaching-only day at the end
Meals

What can you offer to a large number of people at a reasonable price?

How to Offer Upgrades for Your Teaching Read

5 Lists You Need for Your Art Career

I live by lists. They’re so beautiful on the page: one item after another after another.

Whether we process each item in the order in which it appears on the list or, more likely, get around to them someday in no particular sequence, lists help us create order in our hectic lives.

The most valuable thing about making lists is that it gets tasks, projects, and ideas out of our heads and into a place where we can find them again. At least that’s the idea.

With that in mind, here’s a list of 5 lists (yep, a list of lists) that are useful to artist-entrepreneurs.

1. Your To-Do List

This is the list that you’re probably most familiar with.

Your to-do list consists of urgent or near-future items that you must accomplish. It might look like this:

Pay bills.
Order framing supplies.
Write draft of newsletter.

If you’re disorganized, your lists are probably all over the place – likely on sticky notes covering your desktop or computer monitor. Not the best way to be productive.

If you’re organized, you have a single to-do list in a single place. You know where to find it and how to prioritize the items on it.

Next, you need a place to store the not-so-urgent things. This is …

5 Lists You Need for Your Art Career Read

Ways of BE-ing

Goals are about action and achievement. They’re about DO-ing. Consider these examples:

Gain representation with one gallery.
Increase my newsletter list by 50%.
Create new watercolor class.

You identify challenging goals to move closer to the vision you have for your art career (and life).

And … because you don’t want your vision to get lost in the busy-ness of working toward individual goals, it’s important to remember how you want to feel as you’re striving toward those goals.

With that in mind, I asked my Art Biz Inner Circle members how they wanted to BE in 2017.

Many artists chose a word-of-the-year to answer the question. I thought it would be fun to share with you the wide range of be-ing words, which I’ve grouped into seven categories in this article.

I hope you’ll take a look at this list of ways of be-ing for artists and see if any of them ring true for you.

Ways of BE-ing Read

A.B.E. (Always Be Evolving)

You might have noticed something about Art Biz Coach and me: we’re always changing.

I can’t help it. I am continually learning, so why should my services and offerings remain the same?

I always look for ways to offer more information in a fresh way that best serves my clients.

This is why there is no more Art Biz Bootcamp or Organize Your Art Biz – because I found ways to improve them.

Last year I introduced the Art Career Success System, a 5-month program to grow your art business. This year … Yep! It’s changing. It’s still around, but in a radically different format. (Stay tuned for that.)

Creative Evolution

I believe in personal and professional evolution. In fact, I may be addicted to it.

As an example, I expressed frustration with my coach recently about the fact that I seem to reinvent my programs every year. Won’t it ever calm down? I wondered.

She suggested, gently, that this is my nature. I have an artist’s soul and I like to create things.

Guilty!

There’s such joy for me in growing, planning, and improving. I’m guessin’ that you’re the same. You’re an artist, after all.

You’re all about making and creating. New! Next! Again!

New experiences add to your palette.

New visions force you to think differently.

New encounters ask you to question the same ole same ole.

Ignore these urges at your professional peril because the alternative is stagnation. Stuck-ness.

A.B.E. (Always Be Evolving) Read

How Do You Know If You’re a Real Artist? (Curious Monday)

Does this scenario sound familiar?

You’re at a <party/meeting/wherever> and Smarty Pants asks you what you do.

I’m an artist, you say with confidence (of course).

Not missing a beat, Smarty Pants says, “Oh! My aunt is an artist. She does these …”

You restrain yourself – resisting the urge to stomp your feet and throw a tantrum while shouting, You don’t understand! I’m a REAL artist!

Okay, so what does that mean?

What is a real artist anyway? How do you know if you are one?

Please leave a comment with this post and share your experiences.

How Do You Know If You’re a Real Artist? (Curious Monday) Read

Why Having No Boundaries Is Killing Your Art Career

A neighbor knocks on the door and invites you to coffee during studio time. Mmmmm. Coffee would be good, you think. Do you take her up on her offer?

Everyone in your artist organization knows that you are the go-to guy to get stuff done, so they ask you to chair a committee for next year’s group show. You know your schedule is packed, but you feel a sense of duty. Do you give in and help them out?

Every time your father gets the chance, he insinuates that you aren’t a real artist. It’s really driving a wedge between the two of you. Do you say anything?

You hop on to Facebook to post to your business page and are tempted to click on an old (and previously long-forgotten) roommate to see what she’s up to. Do you do it?

In order to act confidently in these situations, you need to have a solid commitment to the boundaries around your life and career.

Bagging your studio time, agreeing to be the go-to volunteer, allowing people to poop on your dreams, and wasting time on social media are all career-killers.

Here’s how you can handle these situations.

Why Having No Boundaries Is Killing Your Art Career Read

The Art Biz ep. 6: Getting Back Into The Groove

Any change in your routine — holidays, illness, vacations, family deaths or weddings — can bring a slump in your creative work.

Even when you’re completely into your art, there’s often an inertia that keeps you from rebooting and being productive.

Cynthia Morris and I recognize this in our clients and thought it would be juicy content for a podcast.

But first … full disclosure … we went to a yoga class. It was an experiment. What would it be like to record one podcast, go to yoga, and then try another after taking a break? Would we be able to get back into the groove?

It was a tall order and it didn’t quite work. I think you’ll see that we empathize with the topic when you listen to this podcast.

The Art Biz ep. 6: Getting Back Into The Groove Read

What’s Your #1 Goal for the New Year? (Curious Monday)

The New Year brings a time for reflection, but also renewal. There’s a blank slate – a sense that we can accomplish whatever we set our minds to.

These open-ended possibilities are often debilitating.

If it’s possible for us to do anything, why can’t we do everything?

Well, because you can’t. You just can’t.

You don’t have the time, the resources, or the energy to tackle everything you want to accomplish.

That’s why it’s important to prioritize, and this is where goal-setting comes in.

Some people may pooh-pooh goals, but I find that they’re a necessary step to not only getting things done, but also for feeling complete.

When we don’t have a goal and projects to mark off our list, we wander aimlessly and are never quite satisfied.

As you’re planning your year, what do you think is the most important goal you can accomplish in your art business in 2017?

What’s Your #1 Goal for the New Year? (Curious Monday) Read

Upgrade Options

1. Your To-Do List

Creative Evolution

Your Artist Mailing List: Rethinking + Assessing