It seems like some artists have all the luck. Do you want to learn some ways to improve your luck as an artist and be one of them?
Luck isn’t just some magical force that only shines down on select artists. It doesn’t require a magic wand, a lottery ticket or even good juju to be lucky. Fortune is created by hard work, dedication and passion and it’s up to every creative to make his or her own.
Most all artists can use a little luck from time to time. After all, the starving artist stereotype does exist — even if it is just a myth. No artist should ever give up because they’re feeling uninspired or a painting doesn’t sell. In other words — you must believe in yourself, in order for luck to strike as well as think and behave in ways that generate good career fortune.
Do you have what it takes to get lucky? Below is a list of inspiring tips written by ArtBistro’s art marketing experts.
Guest Author: The ArtBistro partners. Originally posted on ArtBistro.Monster.com
Honor the Customers You Have
ArtBistro Partner: Carolyn Edlund
Build your business by being proactive and starting with the customers you already have. It’s five times more difficult to get a new client than it is to get repeat business from your existing customer base. Stay in touch via email marketing, social networking and in-person contacts, not just with ads, but also through personal communication that shows you really care about your clientele.
Ask for referrals and testimonials — many people are happy to give them! The leads you get through referrals are often the best ones.
As you cultivate a following, give your fan base a reason to come back by giving great value, customer attention and service. Above all, remember — it’s not about you, it’s about them.
Everything Counts
ArtBistro Partner: Doug Farrick
One guiding principle that has served me well and provided me with my fair share of good luck is the belief that everything counts. Now what does that mean exactly? It means that every interaction, every email and every contact — EVERYTHING counts. It’s often very tempting to “cut corners” or take the path of least resistance, but it’ll come back to bite you when you least expect it. Ouch! Your success is all about your personal integrity and personal brand. Treat it with the utmost respect. And remember, how you do anything is how you do everything.
Be Proud of Your Product and Sell It
ArtBistro Partner: Lori McNee
Thomas Jefferson said it best: “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”
In today’s competitive world, being a successful artist takes hard work and good business skills. Here is your ‘lucky’ four-leaf clover to success:
1. Create your best product.
2. Learn how to sell yourself. If you can sell yourself, you can sell anything.
3. Make use of the free marketing tools and promote your brand and art online.
4. Think like a small business professional.
Market Your Art
ArtBistro Partner: John R. Math
I think new and emerging artists have all thought to themselves, “If I could only get lucky enough to get my art discovered.” I am here to tell you that you make your own luck in the art business by marketing and promoting your art better than the next guy.
It’s you — the artist who is “discovering” and finding the buyers, art galleries and art reps — who’s the maker of your success, not the other way around. The Internet has made it easier for artists to market their art and find their target audience, but it still takes a lot of work. If you want to be “lucky,” you must be willing to do everything in your power to get your name and art seen by the right people.
Put Your Best Foot Forward
ArtBistro Partner: Elisha-Rio Apilado
Art is always evolving. As artists, we must keep up with these changes not only because our passion necessitates new ideas and new inspirations, but also because the artwork we previously thought to be finished might now look painfully incomplete. In an artist’s mind, there’s always room for improvement — or, room for more experimentation to make one idea flourish into another.
Because of these realities, your portfolio should continually be changing. Just because you’ve selected your best work for your book once doesn’t mean you should never touch it again, or that you’ll never (ever) create anything better. That’s just crazy!
Facilitate Your Clients
ArtBistro Partner: Diana Mahoney
The definition of luck is certainly subjective. In terms of what makes a career lucky, one could measure success as it relates to salary, benefits and professional advancement. For interior designers, it’s striving to create intentional, fresh and personalized spaces for their clients. It’s a business of helping others.
Designers are hired for their expertise in a variety of categories, not for their own personal style. Clients want their designer to be the facilitator of their own personal style. A designer’s reputation stems from the positive, personal experiences they create with clients. There are specific core strengths of an interior designer that correlate with success: creativity, good communication, business savvy and leadership rank among the top skills.
Stay Inspired
ArtBistro Partner: Eric Maisel
One way to prove the exception is to remember the reality and the importance of greatness. Demand greatness from your own work. I’m certainly not talking about subject matter choices — we are centuries beyond presuming that an image of a royal gala or a religious scene is grander than an image of a potato or an abstraction. I am talking about things that arise from our heart, our head, and our hands with the power to move our fellow human beings. I am talking about the intention we hold, to create something powerful, beautiful, admirable, meaningful, resonant, or grand.
*****
I hope some of these tips help to inspire your own luck as an artist! If you have any ideas you would like to share, please leave a comment for us. ~Lori
PS. I hope you will join me on my Facebook FineArtTips page where you can share ‘what’s on your easel’ with me, and meet me on Twitter!
You might like to check out some of these other helpful articles:
When Are You Ready to Call Yourself a Professional Artist?
10 Important Things Every Aspiring Artist Should Know: Part 1
10 Important Things Every Aspiring Artist Should Know: Part 2
6 Free Ways to Promote Your Art Business Online
Top Paint Brush Tips from the Art Pros on Facebook
How to Overcome 3 Barriers to Success as an Artist
How Do You Define Success as an Artist?
5 Common Traits of Successful Artists
You are in Charge of Your Art Career
Commissioned Art – Tips to make it a Success!
***Are you interested in Private Consultation with Lori??? (for art critiques and social media advice for the artist)
Great post Lori! A very good reminder for those who are ‘struggling?’ that the power to move beyond that is so often by putting in the effort!
Hi Mark-
I am glad this post gave you some good points to think about.
Happy creating – Lori
There is perhaps a spectrum of what artists want from their life & art. Some artists could not care less about ever showing their art. Some want to make enough money from their art so they can give-up their day job and make their mark. Other artists may have an independent source of income, money is not an important factor in their definition of success. They perhaps want recognition from their peers, or critics and so on. To perhaps have their artworks in a gallery somewhere. Some want just to be written about. It is perhaps true that we all want something on this spectrum and not always to be in the same place on it. So perhaps its time to think about what it is that you want for your art?
Artists seldom, if ever, make much effort to market themselves or promote their artworks and the creativity that built it. Its completely against their nature. They can’t bring themselves to ask for it either. Some can’t recognise that it even exists.
An artist trying to define success for themselves may want to have shows, reviews, recognition and even sales, but in reality, success for most artists already exists by the mere fact that they have acknowledged that they are artists with the ability to create original artworks.
Perhaps the next time sitting around in your studio depressing yourself thinking that no one will ever see your artworks or experience them, let alone buy your artwork, the question: why am I doing this? The answer is: I am an artist and I have the world’s best job. I’m one of the luckiest people alive. I make artworks, they are things of beauty, people like them and some enough to buy them and a select brave group even commission them from me. What more could I ask from Life.
Art buyers are the angels that help put beauty in the world…
Hello and thanks for your beautiful sentiments that ring so true! I am very grateful to be an artist. Artists really do have the best jobs in the world.
Thanks for stopping by for a comment-
Lori
Hi Lori,
Thanks for the great article!
These are really great tips. Thank you so much for sharing them, Lori! I feel as though I am almost there…I just have to keep going and pushing stronger!
On a somewhat side note, but I thought of it while reading the post, I also think sometimes it is difficult to find the balance between being humble and gracious, and being confident and going after what you want.
I am impressed by your presentation and the information is very helpful. I am a devoted painter. I have also spent the last three years finding my own path to marketing my paintings and have managed to combine my love of painting with other interests as a shopkeeper on Ruby Lane. Uchizono Gallery is the name of my shop. The visibility is amazing on this site. I have just started using Facebook, Twitter and Blogspot. Thank you for sharing!
Hello Rachel,
Thanks so much for taking time to read and comment. I am happy to hear the positive feedback. This blog is a labor of love!
Best-
Lori
Painting, painting fantasy dreams of his own thoughts into the potential of adding to nature, to be identical to the subject. Environment, nature, love, love is the Artist. and appreciation for this blog.
Thanks Lori for putting together this post, which I find quite powerful at the moment. Having gotten closer to the level of painting that I always envisioned, I feel I’m at a crossroads of what next, what do I want from my art. The tips and comments (love Maltemi’s reply!) are so helpful and insightful that I’m printing them right now to keep. Thank you for your constant inspiration and hard work!
Hello Christy, so happy to hear this post helped you. I do appreciate the positive feedback and am happy to hear you are having some artistic breakthroughs! That is such a great feeling to have. ~Lori 🙂