Contrary to belief you CAN make a living from your art. The days of getting the same question “so how are you going to make money?” from friends and family can be far behind you. Before we dive in, I have a question for you. Are you willing to work hard and live equally as a business owner and an artist? If you answered no, and art is more of just your happy hobby, then this blog post is probably not for you. I’m not being mean, I just want you to know what you’re getting yourself into. BUT if you answered yes, and you’re willing to work, here are my top 3 secrets to making a living from your art.
Secret 1. MULTIPLE STREAMS OF INCOME
I put this as number one because I believe it’s the most important in earning enough to live off of or better yet enough to support yourself and others. I’m currently writing this article during the middle of week eight of this crazy Coronavirus quarantine. In February of 2019, I quit my job and went full time on Teluna. I’m currently in 19 shops, making a full-time income. On March 14th, 2020 every shop that carried my products closed their doors due to the Coronavirus. Closed doors mean no sales which means NO INCOME.
If my only income were those 19 shops, I wouldn’t be able to pay my credit card, my rent, my bills, my card printer for my latest order, my seamstress, and more. It was only because I had already started diversifying my income by selling online and blogging that I knew I and my company would survive. One large part of my income was shut off just like that, but the remaining revenue streams were still open. It’s so so important to diversify your income because while yes the stores will eventually open back up, what if they’d closed for good for some other reason? I would be starting from scratch. The famous quote “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” is true.
Below I’ve listed a few of my favorite streams of income for you to try. If this is more of a side hustle that’s cool too! You could choose one or two of these income streams and see how they go. Test each one fully and see what works best for your company.
1. Selling original artwork.
This depends on your art/craft. If you paint you could sell original paintings. These would likely be a much higher price point as they are one of a kind. If you’re not sure how much to charge, read my article about how to price your handmade products.
2. Selling prints of the original artwork.
Selling prints of your originals is different than selling your original artwork because you can make and sell as many copies of an original piece as you like. This allows your fans to purchase your art at a much more reasonable price point and is much less work for you. You can also sell these online and to shops for retail if you desire. (2 revenue streams from 1 product woohoo!)
3. Write about what you know.
Are you amazing at your craft? Do you love it so much that you find ways to bring it up in conversations? Then write about it! Start a blog that shows your art, how you do it, what tools you use, why you love it, etc. People like to know the artist behind a piece, show them who you are! I love helping other people build their creative businesses from this blog. I share everything I learn in building a creative business with you guys because I wish someone had written it for me 5 years ago.
4. Paid Advertising.
Snowballing off of number three, when you build your blog writing about your craft you can sell ad space within your posts or in your sidebar for extra income.
5. Live Events.
This doesn’t just have to be for extroverts! In February I “performed” my hand calligraphy live at the jewelry shop Sophie Blake NY where customers would purchase a card and I would calligraphy a little note inside. I’m the last person who wants to do my art in front of others so this was a big step. Turns out, because art is such an escape for me, I barely noticed people watching me while I got into each calligraphed note. As a painter, you could be painting as a sort of live performance at any kind of event. Think about how much people at a fashion show would love to watch someone like Megan Hess drawing live!?
6. Shows.
If you have time for craft shows do them! Sometimes they don’t turn out as we hope but if you’re at a well-known show, especially around the holidays, it could end up being a decent chunk of your yearly income.
7. Teach classes.
You can create a class and share it on your blog or a hosting website like Skillshare. You create the video once then you’re paid as passive income. Meaning you’re earning money on something that after working on it once, you need to input little to no effort to earn or maintain that income.
8. Custom pieces & Collaborations.
Custom pieces or collaborating with another company or artist can be anything from designing someone’s new logo, a one of a kind large scale painting, surface design pattern making for a company, and more.
9. Textile designs.
Think because you’re a painter that your only medium is canvas or paper? No way! You can take your beautiful designs and have them printed on fabric. You can sell this fabric in bulk or create other products with it, like I did with my clutches and pillows. These all started with a hand-painted designs.
Secret 2. IDENTIFYING YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER
Before you start sending your products out into the world or spending a bunch of money on marketing, make sure you know who you want to reach and in turn sell to, i.e. your ideal customer. An ideal customer is someone who gets their needs met by what you’re offering; they are the people who are most likely to buy your product.
Let’s say you make clay flower necklaces. Your ideal customer is not going to include a 75 year old man whose interests are golf and fishing. They’re more likely a 24-50 year old woman with an interest in home and garden.
If you don’t hone in on this early on then you’ll end up wasting a lot of time and money marketing to people who will never end up buying your products. If you’re not sure how to find your ideal customer I’m writing a post now that will teach you how. (check back soon!)
Secret 3. MARKET YOURSELF
Boy was I getting this one wrong at the beginning. From day one tell everyone you meet about your business. Leave business cards EVERYWHERE. Make sure people know about your products because otherwise how would they know they could buy them? I know this is hard for a lot of us artists because we often compare ourselves to others and have a hard time talking about ourselves and our work. Art is often a personal outlet. It’s hard to talk about your art as your job because quite frankly most people don’t take it very seriously, it’s just the name of the game. You will eventually reach a point when you realize your work is great and if you’re going to make an income, you need to tell people about it. You know people like it and are willing to pay for it and the more they do, the more confident you’ll become at marketing yourself.
Let me tell you a story of an almost lost customer.
I was once at a large craft show at Union Market in DC and a customer walked up to my table and said “Hey I recognize you, you’re a DC blogger, One Broads Journey” I was shocked! I’d never been recognized, (never have again just to point out haha) and I was really feeling myself, until her next words came out…”I had no idea you owned a company.” WOW. I thought to myself, what a bad business owner I was that I was putting enough content out there to be recognized but nowhere was I mentioning Teluna. How could I have spent so much time pushing my blog and posting on social media without sharing my business!?
As soon as she walked away I started speeding through my blog posts and Instagram and realized she was so right. I write about travel, fashion, recipes, the occasional “handmade business” article and my IG was neck deep in outfits, sponsored posts, and my personal life. I only posted about Teluna exclusively on my Instagram business account. How could I have expected her to magically know I was also the owner and artist behind Teluna if I didn’t share that information? It was an embarrassing realization that I’m incredibly grateful for. OBJ has since pivoted to a Lifestyle and Creative Business How-To blog. Something that makes more sense for me and something I’m much more proud of. Please please please start marketing yourself today. You’re amazing, share that with others!
I hope my top 3 secrets to making a living from your art have been helpful to you. If you have any questions please comment below, I’ll do my best to answer any questions you may have.
