Your art is your business
Artists, like entrepreneurs, have a product or idea to market, and they should get out into the market. To do so, artists want (at least) basic business skills and a willingness to approach selling artwork as any entrepreneur could.
If you are serious about building a sustainable art profession, you will find specific steps you need to take to develop and maintain your own business:
Define your Style
Your idea or your approach to your work is what you’ll be putting out in the industry. By deciding what it is you do, how you do this, along with the content, topics, and form/media, you’ll be defining your signature style. As soon as you’ve developed a technique, you can then introduce it seamlessly to your viewers. By identifying your brand or style, you’re unwittingly deciding your audience.
Understand and know your audience.
Who collects your pieces is vital information to have. Every entrepreneur studies the habits of the audience. They understand what prices their audiences are prepared to pay, where they are eager to purchase, when, and how frequently. An artist ought to be aware of this information too.
To prove a point, they understand that buyers will differ at local art fairs than at trade shows or galleries. By identifying your audience early, and re-evaluating frequently, you will be better able to keep up with demand, price your work, and know where to invest your precious time promoting (and more importantly where to prevent ).
You Should Keep Excellent Records.
Every company should keep track of cash going in and cash going out, in addition to inventory. Maintaining and cataloguing your work is essential to your success as an artist. You can’t overlook the fact that often they’re what make or break artists. Using an outside company to archive and store your work will help you begin, so you can focus on creating and leave the stock management to the experts.
