Making Money From Your Art
Are You a “HO” or a “BO”?
Guest article by Linda Tomsho
“Being
good at business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is
art and working is art and good business is the best art.” – Andy Warhol
Every
summer I look forward to the Three Rivers Arts Festival, Pittsburgh’s
big art event of the year, where hundreds of artists and performers come
to show their best work.
While visiting the Festival, I attended a talk by
Rebecca Harris, Director of the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Chatham University called
“Women Artisans to Entrepreneurs.”
Her
point was that many women artists (and men as well, in my experience)
neglect the business end of things. “I don’t understand all that
business stuff, and I don’t have time for it. I’m an Artist, and if I
create great art, people will seek me out.”
If that sounds like you, the question my business coach, Suzanne Evans, would ask you is this…
“Are you a HO or a BO?”
In other words, are you a Hobby Owner who creates art but doesn’t effectively monetize it? Or are you a Business Owner, serious about growing your market and making a real living?
Essentially,
if you don’t see your art as a business, you’re probably indulging in
an expensive hobby instead of creating a viable livelihood.
If you really do want to become a serious
working
– by which I mean self-employed – artist, then you need to treat your
artwork or your crafts or whatever it is that you produce, like a real
business.
After
all, there’s a lot of competition out there. So if you want to break
out of the pack and make a real living doing what you love, you have to
leverage your talent with sound business practices – and thinking.
1) Think of yourself as a professional artist – right now
You may need to begin by changing your mindset about who you are and what you do.
Even
if you’re still paying the bills by waiting tables or telemarketing,
you need to define yourself as an artist and therefore as the owner of
an art business.
That means you should be studying everything you
can find about how to succeed in your industry. For example, how to get
your work into galleries or how to sell on Etsy…
Depending on what kind of art you create, you should be educating yourself about the lucrative world of art licensing.
You also need to have a website and a social media presence.
Finally,
you should always be thinking about building your portfolio and
actively looking for opportunities to promote yourself and your work.
That means networking at least once a week and attending events where
you can expand your connections.
2) Don’t quit your day job (yet)
Obviously
the plan is that someday your art will earn enough to support you. But
the fact is, most artists or performers I know who are on their way up
have a day job.
Maybe you have what career coach and author
Barbara Sher calls the “Good-Enough Job” – a job that 1) isn’t toxic and
2) doesn’t demand more than 40 hours a week.
In other words, you
can support yourself without getting stressed out and still have time to
work on your goals. Or you can have a side gig that pays the bills.
Either way, if you can think of your j-o-b as a “business loan” for your art business it will make it more tolerable!
3) Always be looking for multiple income streams
Something
that you enjoy doing that hopefully fits in with your creative work and
what you want your life to look like. You could offer lessons to
others… start a podcast… write a book… or sell your work to a greeting
card company.
Use your imagination!
Start small with just
one or two “alternative profit centers,” then add more if you want to.
If one doesn’t work out, you can always bag it and try something else!
4) Create your personal brand
What do you want to be known for? What’s your niche?
You could be like
Linda Barnicott, a pastel artist whose claim to fame is beautiful nostalgic paintings of Pittsburgh scenes.
Or
you might become famous as the photographer who creates those
distinctive images of newborn babies, post-industrial landscapes, or
maybe even dressed-up Weimaraners (it worked for
William Wegman!).
When you have a recognizable brand or niche, you become more memorable.
l design principles, and how to code your own email templates.
ABOUT Linda:
Linda Tomsho is the CIO (Chief Inspiration Officer) of Different Drummer Coaching. As a licensed
Profiting From Your Passions® coach, she helps clients connect the dots between their interests, skills, and experience
to
discover their “right livelihood,” then guides them through the process
of starting their own business using Valerie Young’s “Life First, Work
Second” philosophy.
Linda started her
career in the corporate marketing world but soon realized the cubicle
life was not for her. Being a self-bosser allows her the freedom to
pursue multiple passions including blogging about movies, writing, dog
rescue, cooking, travel, and curating her eclectic collections.
Linda
lives near Pittsburgh with her husband Matthew and canine companions
Bijou and Zelda. She is the mother of 3 adult children, each following a
unique path of their own.
As a cancer
survivor, Linda understands the importance of making the most of our
time on this earth. If you dream of creating a life that suits you and
working at something you love, don’t waste another minute!
And we walked some more. We even walked the beach during the
pre-hurricane storm as high tide rushed in.
