You would do well to follow the patterns of successful businesses and see what the trends are (they all have invested big bucks into market analysis) before randomly deciding to increase or decrease something as complex as pricing.

As the economy rolls on, all businesses are faced with decisions that were not in a long range business plan! Even the big boys are struggling to make sense of changing customer needs and have had to come up with creative and innovative marketing ideas to stay afloat.

If you read our advice on creating and artist’s business plan and think “but I just want to be an artist” or “so and so’s online advice seems easier”, then you are buying into the fantasy world that non-working artists are promoting and will have to make some intelligent choices .

So don’t hyperventilate over the multitude of online social sites. Handle only what you can handle. After all, at some point you have to find the time to create your art!

Know your organizational weaknesses and make a decision to overcome them because if you do not, then every show will become an ordeal……very often it is not the work that is the biggest issue but how we are seeing it and handling it!.

No social networking site is a magic bullet unless you can develop the evolving relationships and have the discipline to keep it up! Work the areas that you can give appropriate time to…but don’t use “lack of time” as an excuse not to work at least two areas online!

Working on commission means you are an artist for hire. Plain and simple.

It takes preparation to participate in an outdoor art show (juried and non-juried) anywhere-near or far and preparations for your show season should take place long before your first show!

Combining creativity and business is also a state of mind and you will be unsuccessful if you cannot switch gears to accept and embrace what needs to be done.:-)

February brings semi-panic to those artists who have not created any type of business plan or course of action for the year and are just about ready to throw up their hands and say “Forget it! This is just too hard!”