Sema Martin busts the myth that in order to make it as a successful artist you have to be world renowned and selling your art at high prices.

We no longer have to rely on galleries to sell our work and, in my opinion, there has never been a better time to pursue art as a career. Social media platforms and website builders have made it incredibly easy for artists to publicise their work to the masses, sometimes without even spending a penny. Goodbye gallery fees!

Selling your original pieces isn’t the only way of selling your talent. You could sell prints, print-on-demand products of your work, take private commissions, teach in workshops or through Youtube and Patreon, or even monetise your art blog. There are so many more options for making money through art then there used to be.

I started out creating colour pencil pet portraits for my friends and family but struggled to go beyond that. Sound familiar? It wasn’t until I regularly posted pictures of my work on Instagram and Facebook that I started to gain national and international enquiries for portrait commissions. That was a life-changing moment and caused me to rethink my career choice.

When I was making enough money from my commissions alone to support myself and my family I decided to take the leap and become a full-time artist. I felt confident that with the right plan of action and determination I could make a go of it and, three years on, my business and art career are blooming!

When it comes to the business of art, what matters is how well you can market your skills and create awareness for yourself. This relies on three main areas: planning, marketing and developing.

Miki & Race, Pan Pastel, Faber-Castell Polychromos and Caran D'ache Luminance pencils on Extra Smooth Bristol Board Paper, A2

Planning

Firstly, identify your goals. What is your mission as an artist? How will you know you have made it? What are you hoping to achieve in the next year? You should display the answers to these questions in your workspace so you can easily look at them and make sure you are still on track. When starting your own business, you are the boss as well as the creator so you need to make sure you are giving enough attention to all aspects of the business, not just the creating part.

You also need to figure out who you are selling to. Identify your target customer by their age group, income level, hobbies and their reasons for buying art. Don’t try to sell to everyone, this is a classic mistake and there just isn’t enough time to pitch to everyone that shows an interest in your work. But always be professional and polite because anyone you speak to could be a potential customer.

Kai, Pan Pastel, Faber-Castell Polychromos and Caran D'ache Luminance pencils on Extra Smooth Bristol Board Paper. A4

Build awareness of your business through search engines, paid search, social media, email marketing and attending events. But remember, the cost of acquiring a customer should never exceed the lifetime value of that customer to your business.

Make sure you manage your time effectively with daily, weekly and monthly achievable goals. Being passionate about your area of expertise, whether it is teaching or taking commissions, will help you stay disciplined.

You don’t need to be an accountant or have experience in managing your own business. I had no experience at all but my knowledge grew as my business grew, which is a more organic and easier way of doing it. You may not have enough money to employ experts so you have to learn as much as you can fabout specific areas.

When deciding how to price your work, always price for profit. If you don’t make any money you won’t have a business that can provide for you. Be really strict about your pricing and don’t let customers haggle with you. You shouldn’t feel guilty about asking for the money – have the confidence in yourself and in your work to ask for prices you deserve.

Content continues after advertisements

Marketing

You can be the best painter in the world but if you can’t market yourself you’ll never make any money. Marketing is the most important part of being an artist but not many actually know how to do it. An easy place to start is to have your own social media accounts and a website where you can display galleries of your work and prices. Since you are your own marketing agent, at least to start with, you have to have a good plan in place.

I have found that the more authentic you are the more customers you get. This is especially true for social media. Don’t just post a picture of your latest work and then do nothing for another week. Potential customers want to get to know you as a person and understand your art. Creating authentic posts of your studio space and talking about what inspires you can really help build the relationship with your buyers. Social media platforms give you the freedom to show off your best side but don’t forget about the relatable human side of your artwork, which is you. Be in pictures with your work. Statistics show that social media posts with a face get around two times more engagement then posts without.

Hunter’s Cottage, Faber-Castell Polychromos and Caran d'Ache Luminance pencils on Extra Smooth Bristol Board paper, A4

Some of my social media top tips would be:

  • Have a consistent user name throughout your platforms so you can be found easily.
  • Grow high-quality and engaged followers. It’s more about quality then quantity.
  • Post interesting content and use call-to-action captions that make people stop and comment on your work.
  • Always congratulate yourself when you reach your goals.

Development

Remember to develop your skills as an artist, since this was the reason you started in the first place. Keep being inspired by others and by nature and keep your creative juices flowing. Don’t get bogged down with the business stuff – but don’t forget about it, either. If you really want to make money from your art, you will make it work. Never give into the starving artist cliché. Art is a real career, you just have to find your own way of making it pay for you. You are not alone. Anyone can be a successful artist, you just need to learn how.

About Sema

Sema Martin’s book How to Start an Art Business is available in both downloadable and hardback formats; downloadble documents are also available. She also has a Facebook group for like-minded artist who are working to make a name for themselves. For details view www.semamartin.com

This article first appeared in the August 2020 issue of The Artist

CLICK HERE FOR SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS

Content continues after advertisement