Creating a Profitable Art Journey in 2024
In the heart of a vibrant studio, amidst the scent of paint and the rustle of canvas, an artist named Taylor pondered, "How can I blend my artistic passion with savvy business in 2024?" If you find yourself in Taylor's shoes, focused on turning your art into a flourishing enterprise, let’s walk through a practical, step-by-step plan - with actions - tailored for your artistic success. In this article, artists from around the world share their insights and advice.
1. Setting Clear, Achievable Goals
Action: Write down three specific goals for the year, such as generating $60,000 in profit, gaining 1000 email subscribers, or hosting two solo exhibitions. If you are a professional artist, one of those goals should be a profit goal. Then work backwards on how you plan to achieve each goal. Measure your progress on a monthly basis.
If you want to make $60,000 profit, your plan might look like:
I generally make 50% profit from paintings I sell, after expenses including taxes. This means I actually need to sell $120,000 worth of art to make my $60,000 profit. My paintings normally sell at $5,000 each (and I get $2,500 of that as profit). This means I need to sell 24 paintings at $5,000 each this year. That is at least 2 paintings per month. I know that I will sell at least 10 paintings in my upcoming exhibition, so I will take that into consideration in my planning.
Questions you might consider:
How many pieces do you need to create at what profit margin to achieve your goal?
Is your pricing right to achieve this?
Do you have access to enough channels to market?
What would diversifying into prints or merchandise mean for your income?
A Harvard Business Review study found that people who set goals increased their likelihood of success by 70% (Source: Harvard Business Review, 2023).
2. Understanding Your Art Buyers
Action: Create a simple survey for your audience to understand their preferences and distribute it through your email list or social media. As you might have noticed, I always start with research. Here are some questions you could consider asking your audience:
Have you ever bought art before? Could you tell me about that?
What prompted you to purchase art? What was happening for you?
What were you thinking about when you bought the artwork?
Who are some of your favorite artists?
What do you enjoy about my art?
You can also learn how to Discover Your Ideal Art Buyer in this free webinar.
In our recent research asking artists what insights they would like to share about their art careers, Jeff Musser said:
Being an artist is not like other careers. You have to be comfortable with lots of alone time. And the financial benchmarks/payoffs that are typical in other careers take time to hit. You have to build an audience and you have to find your voice. Both of those take time, which is really hard to hear in this era of instant gratification.
Studio of artist Jeff Musser.
3. Creating Systems that Support Your Art Practice
Action: Look at all of the activities you regularly do and create a system for them. This could include a system for packing, framing or shipping. It could be for purchasing your supplies. Or for social media posting. Document all of the steps so it is easy to repeat or to hand over to a studio assistant or virtual assistant when you are ready.
Make sure the systems you create support the life you want to lead.
Erica Stearly (2023) 400 W Pine St No. 201 (Detail)
Here is what artist Erica Stearly recommended in our recent research:
In Dec 2018, I released a new painting every day from Dec 1 - 25 along with a group of artists. I learned so much from that holiday sales initiative that I did something similar in April and again in August. I've kept up that schedule of releasing new work daily ever since.
Having this structure in place helped keep me accountable to myself, and eventually it grew into a schedule my clients looked forward to. It also helps me plan exhibitions, art fairs, and vacations.
But having a four month turn around time also gives me a lot of flexibility day to day to parent my child. Is my kid sick? We can snuggle on the couch while I color correct images. Sleeping? I'll paint. Quietly playing? I'll stuff envelopes at the coffee table. Do we need to go outside and splash in the puddles? Great, let's go!
I am so grateful for the systems I've built, because they accommodate the life I live.
4. Developing a Marketing Strategy
Artwork by Jo FitzGerald
Action: Your main goal should be to get people off your Instagram or other social accounts and into your email subscriber list. All of our global research points to your email list of Ideal Art Buyers being your Number #1 asset for a thriving long term career. Read more about it here.
Schedule weekly posts on social media showcasing your work, behind-the-scenes processes, or artist's story. Ask your followers to subscribe to your email list.
Consider including an email newsletter targeted to your Ideal Art Buyers as part of your marketing strategy. Forbes indicates that consistent marketing can boost sales by 60% (Source: Forbes, 2023).
UK artist and gallery owner Jo FitzGerald says:
If you can embark on a good foundation of social media, marketing and PR this can really be a game changer. I still don't have this cracked, but in my view, producing good art is only a proportion of the work, what sets successful artists apart is the way they market themselves and invest in their social reach.
5. Diversifying Revenue Streams
Action: Alongside selling originals, consider offering limited edition prints, or start a line of merchandise. This could give you new opportunities to test other channels to market, for example selling through gift stores.
If you already work with galleries, consider starting to work with interior designers in your area. There are often more interior designers than galleries in any given city, and interior designers need to specify new products, including art, to their clients. This strategy isn’t right for every type of artist though. Read the blog about it here.
You may also have an income stream outside of your art practice, including a ‘normal job’ or another online business. This is a clever thing to do while you are working on creating more income from your art. You may also be the type of person that loves doing more than one type of activity to create income. Having another source of income can help you be sure that you can cover expenses while your art practice isn’t yet reliable enough - this takes time to achieve.
You are still an artist if you have a day job. The only qualification for being an artist is making things. Yes, I am an artist and I make the work, but I run a small business that specializes in selling paintings. It takes YEARS to build a sustainable business, and it will force you to utilize every skill set you have (and constantly acquire more).
According to the Arts Entrepreneurship Journal, artists with varied revenue streams report 50% more income (Source: Arts Entrepreneurship Journal, 2023).
California-based artist Melissa Thrasher
6. Regular Review and Revision
Action: Set a quarterly ‘business health check’ appointment with yourself. Assess your progress and adjust your strategies as needed.
California-based artist Melissa Thrasher says:
It takes time to build the business side of art and it doesn't end. Business is ongoing and evolving just as your art practice should be. There's no arrival, there's only motion. I remind myself of these things everyday no matter how long I've been at it.
The Small Business Administration found that conducting regular business health checks leads to a 30% higher growth rate (Source: Small Business Administration, 2023).
Want more resources to help you navigate 2024?
Learn about our free resources and courses for artists here.