1. Your Art And Creativity:
The first and most important thing is your art and creativity. Obviously, you have it down.
But when it comes to business you need to do more than feeling confident about your art.
You need to demonstrate that your art has value. I understand that as an artist you don’t care what anyone thinks of your art, but when you want to turn art into business this is a necessity.
There is no shame in doing this because everyone does it.
Have you seen the preview for any move?
They have advertised 50 different awards to build credibility.
Sundance film festival, Santa Monica art festival, grandma retirement home and so on.
Some of them may even charge you but that is the nature of the game.
Once you become recognized and well-critiqued celebrity, it will be easy for you to start making big money as an artist.
Have you manager contact a few artists, critics, galleries and even art teachers to get comments on your work that you can then publish on your website.
You need to do the same. You need to approach celebrities and critics and have them critic your art.
https://www.cshoptv.net/cshopfaq
2. Your Story
Two types of stories drastically affect an artist’s success.
First is their personal story. Their journey to art. Their struggles and challenges. Their success, awards, achievements, and contribution.
Most galleries and shows want to know your story and the story behind your artwork.
You also need these stories for PR and promotions. Do you support a cause or contribute to charity?
Your story is a big element that separates you from other artists when it comes to promotions and marketing. Your story can make or break your artwork easily.
Do you think it is a coincidence that right before a film release is when an actor proposes to their fiance or gets in a fight or gets sued or does something obnoxious?
Nope, it is all planned incidents. These little incidents are stories that gets them press.
When I was in film school, we used to make obnoxious stories of our struggle to promote our projects.
If you can show that you had to sell your blood to start your art career you are guaranteed to get all the coverage, love and sympathy in the world.
In short, you will get the platform to present your art to the world and make money.
So take the time to write your story.
Second is the story of their artwork.
Many artists especially the new artists underestimate the value of recording the story of their artwork.
Your artwork stories give an understanding of what your art is about and helps people create a connection with it.
At the minimum record where it was painted, when it was painted, what you were trying to convey, how long it took, why was it important to create this piece.
A real art lover will buy your artwork not just because it will look good on their wall but because it means something to them.
The story of your artwork creates this connection.
Even if you are creating artwork for fun, make sure to record it and write the story surrounding it.
3. Your Skill To Entertain
Most artists underestimate the value of entertainment.
Your skills and talent is important but equally important is your ability to entertain people while creating your art.
Think if you are paid big money to paint a piece in front of a live audience.
Can you entertain them for an hour or two? Or will they sit and get bored while watching you paint?
Learning to entertain people along with your art will take you far. It will also get you viral on social media.
Some of the artists in demand for live painting and social media are artists who can pain upside down or pain to music.
What can you do to entertain your audience while they watch you paint your masterpiece?
Can you sing and paint, dance and paint, or give political commentary in between, throw some jokes, painting upside down or anything else that can engage your audience.
If not, you need to start thinking and add this skill to your performance.
Next step is to build your website.
I highly recommend avoiding Shopify, Wix or platforms like that.
It is best to build a custom website using WordPress or click funnels.
Your website should cover your story, your portfolio, a store to buy your art, any charity work you do, future events, critics, comments and awards along with contact form to book you for events.
You should also capture emails from people so you can market them your new paintings and invite them to your live events.
One of the things I like to display is art sold.
When people see that other people are paying you big money for your work, your value goes up in their eyes.
They are more willing to buy from you, work with you, or hire you for their show.
One thing to keep in mind is that when you price your artwork, price them for what you want to earn in the future and not what you think you can get today.
What I mean is that if you list your artwork for $250 people will see you as a low-level artist. But if you list the same piece for $25,000 people will take you seriously.
The value of art is quite subjective. People will pay you what you think you deserve.
If you are new in the scene, you think this is out of your league.
But here is the thing, if you aim for a high price you will do things necessary to fetch a high price else you will keep operating at a low level and never make it big.
This is the number 1 reason why the majority of artists never make it.
Now I agree that if you price it high you will not begin selling right away.
You need a strategy to sell low priced artwork. In this case, create a new site. This time you can use a site like Shopify or Wix.
There is a platform called Faso. It is geared for artists to sell their paintings and other artwork. They offer a 30-day free trial.
You can try them: https://www.faso.com
Make sure to sell under a pseudo name. If people see that you are selling at low cost, you will lose credibility and status.
Depending on the style of artwork you create, you can sell your designs.
Create designs for businesses, sell merchandise with your designs on them and even create tattoo designs. These are to help you make a living while you establish as a leading artist.
For this step, I will highly recommend you hire an artist manager if you can afford.
Ask your favorite galleries for reference, they may know a few managers. This is also the fastest way to get your work exhibited in their gallery.
There are web platforms like:
https://www.thumbtack.com/k/artist-management/near-me/
Artist managers are expert at getting you exposure and helping you find great connections. They expedite your growth.
Make sure to negotiate well and have specific accountable goals.
Don’t be vague. Be specific so you do not waste money.
Get some critics to comment on your work.
Do not use online platforms and solicit criticisms from people who want to feel good by pointing out your mistakes.
Everyone’s art can be criticized. Yes, even Picasso’s work is criticized.
We are not looking for a learning opportunity. You that in the background.
Right now you are looking for experts to comment on your work so you can join the league of big artists whose work is critiqued by top critics.
Don’t be afraid of criticism. It can work to your advantage as well!
Then add their comments to your website and create a press release around it.
Your manager can get you some press coverage or go to Fiverr.com and hire a Pr person there.
Then, send your artwork to a few celebrities.
This will cost you some time and work but even if one of them shows it on their social media and says something nice about it, you will instantly gain status.
You can find B level artists that fit in your budget from https://www.cshoptv.net/cshopfaq and http://thecelebritysource.com
Then add their comments and images on your website and again submit a press release around it.
Do the same with social media influencers. Find influencers with a big following then send them your work.
The more people will talk about you the more popular you become.
Next, use your entertainment skills to create a following and go viral.
Don’t just post your work on social media. Entertain people on social media.
Record yourself painting while using your entertainment skills.
For example, paint while dancing to your favorite song.
Don’t let it be just about your art.
Make it about entertaining or engaging your audience.
When you succeed at engaging people online, you will be ready to take that entertainment skill and entertain people on stage.
Donate your work regularly to charity institutions.
You can contact charity websites directly or use websites like https://www.charitywatch.org
And
https://www.charitynavigator.org/
You can donate your work to local charities as well since they are always in need.
Once you donate your art for a charity you will get additional exposure.
This goes on your website and yes you do a press release around this.
When you have a few critics talking about you, celebrities showing your work and a few hundred thousand following you on your social media, you will be able to exhibit your work in most galleries and even book a few live gigs for yourself.
The final step in our journey is to contact galleries to display our work and hold exhibitions.
Have your manager contact businesses, clubs, hotels, charities, and corporations to get a live performance booking.
This is where you make big money for little work.
When you contact them to show them your credibility. Show them the critics and celebrities involved with you.
Offer to contribute a portion to charity, show them a demo reel on how your event will look like.
These organizations are less interested in you and more interested in how they can benefit from you.
You can earn anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 for a few hours of work. It all depends on how well you negotiate.
Another reason why I suggest you have a manager handling sales and exposure while you focus on art.
If you cannot hire a manager at first have your friends or family member do it. You need someone devoting a good amount of time to this and figure what works for you.
At the same time, don’t be afraid to hold your own event.
Here is a little secret, most dentists and doctors and likes of them love to donate and become guest of honor to these events.
Have someone open yellow pages and start calling dentists.
You can hire a sales guy who works purely on commission. If you cannot find one go to https://danlok.com.
He trains people to close sales over the phone. His students will make the calls in exchange for a commission on sales.
Tell them you are having an exhibition and looking for a sponsor/guest of honor.
Tell them you will be running ads and advertising and they will get a lot of exposure. Promise them an exclusive painting for sponsoring.
Guess what now you can have an event and you just sold one of your artwork to this dentist.
There is a good chance that at the exhibition some of his friends will purchase too.
And finally the dentist will display this in his office and now everyone will hear about you.
And lastly, don’t stick to your location. Branch out. Contact organizations in a different country.
A Spanish artist has lesser value in Spain over India. Being a little creative can give you an advantage. Now you are an artist in demand worldwide.
It will take a little effort but soon you and your sales team will find what works for you.
This is when your career as an artist will take off and put money in your pocket.
I know this was a long lesson but now you have a concrete strategy to become a successful artist.
Hope this helps and I wish you all the success and money in the world!
-Magic
