No matter what form of art or what business model you are following, you need to market your business to succeed. You need to set goals, expectations and put in place a plan to reach the level you want to reach. You need to figure out what you want and where you want to go and then decide how your art will help you get there. Then you need to do it.
Jim Kukral recently spoke as one of the keynote presentations at Affiliate Summit in New York. His mesage was clear, stop sitting around waiting to see what will happen and start making your future the way you want it. This applies to all facents of the business world and especially to artists. We can’t sit around waiting to be discovered or waiting for that big opportunity to find us. Instead we need to create the opportunity, and shout out what we have to offer.
In order to become successful, we have to believe we can be successful and take the steps to make it happen.
“Is your ego preventing you from making the kind of money you want to make?”
That’s my favorite quote from the entire presentation. As artists, we tend to be our own walls, blocking our paths from success due to worrying about how others view what we create. Is your own view and interest in your work preventing you from taking the risk and jumping out into the unknown success ahead? We are our own biggest obstacles. Artists tend to expect perfection and because we are in control of what we create, often times we don’t settle for anything less… but what is perfection and who defines it? Usually we do.
“A lot of times people don’t really value what they are good at.”
Do you value your skills and talents enough to put a price on them? Giving things away isn’t showing value, it’s demonstrating your generosity, but generosity doesn’t pay the mortgage nor feed the family. There has to be a line drawn that says it’s ok to stop giving it all away for free and start making a living doing what we love.
Let’s be realistic and support ourselves. There is no reason you can’t be a happy, healthy, un-starving artist. We need to plan out a strategy, come up with a game plan and execute it to the best of our ability. We need to take the approach that we have the skills and the necessary resources to reach our goals, and then we need to push ourselves to make it happen.
Watch Jim’s Keynote and then watch it again. Every time I listen to it I hear new pieces of insight that will help me grow my own business… I know you will too! Although some of the content may seem it only applies to retailers, listen again. The advice in this video applies to anyone wanting to make a living doing what they love. If you love to create art, then you need to find your focus and like I said before… Make it Happen!
Some advice – concepts learned from Jim Kukral’s presentation:
- Say what you do. People don’t know what you have to offer unless you tell them.
- Set goals, then work to achieve them. You can’t work to achieve anything if you don’t know what you want to achieve.
- Be different. If you love to paint flowers, make your flowers stand out from the crowd and be recognizable.
- Solve problems. People have a need, be the solution.
- Know your client base. Don’t market to people that love abstract art when you draw cartoons.
- Be the alternative. There are plenty of seashore painters, but if that’s what you love to do, add your own style to make yours something new and different from what’s been seen before.
- Make it easy. Make it easy to view your portfolio, or find the products you offer, don’t make your fans and potential customers hunt around to figure out how to spend their money on your art.
When you’re finished watching, grab yourself a copy of Jim’s new book, Attention! This Book Will Make You Money. This is not a gimick nor a get rich quick guide. This is a book packed with real information written by a real guy that has worked to make it happen. Jim’s keynote presentation is just the tip of the iceberg of advice offered to successfully grow your business… yourself. Read it, absorb it, and put his suggestions in place for your art business.
Remember: “Doers get what they want, everyone else gets what they get.”
Now go make something Happen…
Then tell me what you think!
