If I Was Starting an Art Business Now
EPISODE 91
It’s wonderful to have the benefit of hindsight! In this episode, Richie and I take a trip down memory lane and talk about what we would do if we were starting an art business now!
From developing a cohesive body of work right through to email lists and Instagram strategies, this is a big one!
We’ve chatted about many of these topics individually on the podcast before, but today we’re bringing them together into a road-map of sorts. A step-by-step walk-through of the key areas that we believe are important when building an art business.
Here is a summary of the tips shared in this podcast.
Keep your day job for as long as you can while you build your business and test out ideas.
Immerse yourself in the community. This can be as simple as commenting on Instagram accounts, right through to hosting a workshop or running a market. In hindsight, there was probably a stage where I took on too much in this area, but it certainly did generate connections and provide opportunities for my work to be featured.
Create a cohesive body of work. You don't need loads of pieces and the style doesn't need to be forever, but I would recommend choosing something you enjoy and creating several pieces that complement each other. A body of work is much easier to market and sell than a hodgepodge. If you like doing different things, try organising them into collections.
Share your work on social media. Get comfortable and confident in talking and showing your artwork. Choose 1-2 social media platforms and consistently post using good quality photographs or video and engaging captions. Aim to post at least 4-5 quality posts per week. Remember that, in many ways, your IG profile is your art portfolio.
Build an online home for your business. This doesn’t need to be fancy. A simple website with an option to sign up to your email list is a perfect starting point that you can add to later.
Don't spread yourself too thin. We need to try things to figure out where we fit in the art community, but I believe many artists are doing too many things. Rather than trying to do everything, choose a few things that you can get good at and do really well.
Do the things that you enjoy and suit your personality—e.g., if you love people and sharing stories, consider running workshops or starting a podcast. If you love being at home, look at online opportunities to sell your work. If you want to do more painting and less business administration, apply to galleries and agencies who will market your work for you.
YOUR EPISODE PLAYLIST
If you want to dive in deeper with the topics chatted about in today’s episode, take a look at these biz building podcast episodes!
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Playfully combine watercolour with mixed media mark-making.
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