Hiring an assistant for the sake of hiring an assistant is just asking for trouble.
You must be very careful about the hiring process and who you let into your studio and office.
I wrote this article immediately upon hiring my first employee, with tips for how I made it happen.
How to Hire An Assistant to Help with Your Art Business Read
Seeing January 1 on the calendar is enough to get almost anyone’s blood pumping.
The thrill of starting fresh! The anticipation of creating new benchmarks and attaining new dreams!
Oh, but wait. There’s a lot of crap that you need to get rid of –stuff that might get in your way if it doesn’t drive you crazy first.
What would it be like if the New Year felt . . . well . . . felt truly new?
A Fresh Start: Actions To Take Before January 1 Read
What good is an email list if you’re not using it? (Answer: No good.)
Neglecting subscribers for months or,yikes!, years, renders your list cold. If you’re ready to commit to staying in touch with the people who asked to hear from you, you might need to reintroduce yourself.
It’s not as difficult as it sounds, but the longer you wait, the bigger the task seems.
How To Warm Up a Cold Email List Read
The word “breakthrough” implies that something has to be destroyed so that something new can be created. Consider what you want to change: What needs to break?
Here are 6 ways to expedite your breakthrough, which all involve disrupting your routine or trying something different. Keep working and be open to possibilities throughout the process.
Work Differently to Facilitate a Breakthrough Read
Do you ever wonder what a regular marketing schedule for your art would look like?
This cheat sheet might be fore you. It’s for everyone who finds comfort in knowing what to do and when.
But it’s not intended to be used out of the box. Sit with it. Play with it. Adapt what works for you.
Most of all, enjoy the journey.
A Cheat Sheet for Your Art Marketing Tasks Read
It’s darn hard to hire someone to help with your business. You’ve been working by yourself for so long that you aren’t sure you can trust anyone to do the tasks the way you’d like them done. Or you feel like it’s easier if you just do it yourself. But if you want your business
Are you seeking a profitable art business?
This is the Art BIZ Podcast on the blog at Art BIZ Success. I assume that, if you’re listening, you are interested in an art business, not just an art hobby.
There’s nothing at all wrong with art hobbies. I highly recommend them. But it’s a whole new ballgame when you turn your art into a business. When you begin asking for money in exchange for your talent.
I want to talk about being a profitable artist. What it takes to not just make and sell art, but to also make money. To ensure that you have a positive net income in your art business. Stick with me.
I’ve talked with many artists who try to make a little money here and there, and then find they no longer enjoy making art after trying to sell it. The pressure to make money in a business is real.
Businesses, by definition, seek profit. Breaking even with the numbers can only work for so long. If you’re claiming deductions on a business here in the U.S., the IRS is going to come after you if you continue to operate at a loss. See the “hobby loss” rule for the details and talk with your accountant. Look for similar rules if you are outside our borders.
As I said, this episode isn’t for hobbyists. It’s for you if you are ready to step up and be the boss of your art business. To be the CEO.
The CEO (Chief Executive Officer) is the person at the top of a company’s hierarchy. The buck ultimately stops with the CEO.
You must BE the CEO of your art business. Because, like it or not, that’s exactly what you are.
Let’s break down what that means.
The Art Biz ep. 96: Ensuring a Profitable Art Business Read
I am tired of watching artists and arts organizations live on leftover scraps.
Mind you, the organizations and agencies aren’t cheap with the patrons and board members with the big bank accounts. They are cheap with the artists, without whom their passionate interest would not exist.
Artists, in turn, grow to feel they are not worthy of more.
Don’t get me wrong. Frugality isn’t inherently bad. In fact, it can be good.
I don’t believe in spending for spending’s sake or in extravagance.
But frugality becomes detrimental when it feeds the notion that we are not worthy of more.
Many of my clients develop this sense of unworthiness that is perpetuated by the very organizations that were created to serve them.
I confess that I behaved similarly in the past.
For years I have been writing about how artists can show that their work has value. But I continued to allow the organizers who hired me for workshops to do things “on the cheap,” and I was doing the same with the workshops and events I organized myself.
How can I save money? was my modus operandi.
My first workshop, in 2003, was held at an office building that a friend managed. I recall my parents (!) picking up and delivering boxed lunches to the group.
At a much later workshop, I ran my team ragged making coffee all day long – trekking repeatedly to the kitchen on the other end of the building. Coffee! Because I didn’t pay for a venue that had food service.
No more.
I began attending
Is Being Too Cheap Hurting Your Art Business? Read
I am the queen of systems.
There is a reason why my signature program is the Art Career Success SYSTEM. I believe that when you take the time to put in place easily repeatable steps to do a certain task or implement a project, you free your mind and calendar for the more creative pursuits of the studio.
You have a better organized business and life. You are more productive, fueling the creativity you need in the studio.
We often think of the technology that we use as a system, but the technology is just a means to the end. It’s a tool we use for a specific step (or set of steps) in part (or all) of the systematic process.
My definition of a system is this …
A system is a series of clear steps or procedures for accomplishing a specific task. It could be a task that you do regularly (weekly, monthly, or quarterly) or one that you do infrequently but know that you’ll need to repeat in the future.
You can create systems for almost everything in your art business. As I said, I have even developed a system that helps your entire art business run smoothly. The Art Career Success System gives you a reliable structure that you can turn to at any point in your art business and career. And return to again and again as you evolve.
I think of this program as a complete ecosystem that holds together the meta-systems within the various spokes of your business.
You might benefit from any of these meta-systems within your art business.
In this episode of the Art Biz Podcast, I discuss the 3 benefits to implementing solid systems in your business, how to know when you need to fix a system, and the process for documenting your system.
The Art Biz ep. 78: How to Increase Your Productivity and Creativity with Art Business Systems Read
We’re obsessed with how many likes we get on social media posts or how many views our videos received.
We are consumed by “getting” more followers and subscribers.
But do numbers equal success?
No, of course not. But they are an easy way to measure what is working well and what might need a little tweaking.
This month in the Art Biz Success community, we’re looking into measuring success.
What do you measure?
How do you measure?
Do the numbers tell a story?
Most importantly, you have to know what success means to you before you can discern any insights in the measuring step. Numbers will never be helpful until there is meaning behind them.
I’ve said before that I believe success is measured by the progress you make, not by comparing yourself to others. Check out The Art Biz Podcast episodes #32 (Success Is Complicated) and #71 (Goals for Artists) for more about that.
This new episode gives you a framework.
The Art Biz ep. 74: Creating a Monthly Report for Your Art Business Read
COMPLIMENTARY INFO/ORIENTATION SESSION FOR CULTIVATING CONNECTIONS (AND COLLECTORS)
I’ll also give you a peek behind the scenes at our classes and community.
This event is coming up soon. Will you come?
