“Art Should Sell Itself!” That would be nice. But it doesn’t and it won’t happen. Not in your lifetime. And curiously enough, artists actually know this. But somewhere back in their mind is some group, book or individual whispering that phrase to them and early education is very powerful…..even if it is utterly wrong!

Great article by Penny Sanseverini who promotes ways to sell BOOKS! LOL-Now you think selling art is difficult? Try selling books where the author gets…what, a few dollars for each book sold? Talk about getting out and hustling!

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!”

If you take the time to go back and really think about how something began you will see the value of “simply showing up.” Even those events you feel (actually you are convinced!) might be a waste of your time or effort.

Keep in mind too that none of our success this quarter was by accident. We did not stumble upon clients, burn incense or randomly hope they would show up at our studio….we continued to promote our art via our usual tried and true channels: in person, on Facebook, our monthly newsletters, phone, postcards, email…the point is that we persevered.

With a business to run, and other communication tools such as a website to update, many Facebook pages unfortunately become inactive. How can a business owner make use of a Facebook page without devoting too much time to its upkeep?

The one area in which many artists seem to forget is that the term “non-profit” is a little bit of a misnomer, as in actuality, all non-profits need to make money . But artists themselves are NOT non-profits so do not set yourself up to starve by choosing poorly managed, bogus or ill-fitted charities to partner with . Choose wisely and determine the mutual benefit to both parties.

Our newest Art Career Experts newsletter is coming out this week and for all of those who have been saddled with or have adopted the tag of “emerging artist”, you need to read why we feel (maybe insist is a better word) that you should dump it!

That’s why so many of the art marketing sites on the Internet are so….unreal . From what we have seen, Very few, if any, are written or presented by artists who are creating art as well as selling it….they fill their sites with tidbits from here and there, from many artists, all of which often makes it seem as though one artist cannot accomplish all the necessary tasks!

There is nothing more mind bending than wondering how something is done on the computer and going after the answer yourself. I decided that it cannot be done unless you have a fair amount of time to devote to “the cause.”