Business insurance! That’s our topic for this Art Biz Podcast. Stay with me because this is important. Claudia McClain, founder of HomeBusinessInsurance.com, addresses the various… Read More

Start local, and then expand. This is a piece of advice I offer clients who are trying to build an audience for their art. It’s much easier to sell your art in an area where you alread… Read More

I am frequently on the receiving end of artists’ complaints about all of the computer work they have to do. There’s Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and then writing a b… Read More

When you offer services, such as teaching, mentoring, or coaching, seize the opportunity to enhance the experience for your students and clients. This may also be a chance to create extra in… Read More

Plenty of people denounce Valentine’s Day as one that was invented by the greeting card industry, but put me in the column for wanting more love, more hearts, and more s… Read More

I live by lists. They’re so beautiful on the page: one item after another after another. Whether we process each item in the order in which it appears on the list or, more likely, get… Read More

Goals are about action and achievement. They’re about DO-ing. Consider these examples: Gain representation with one gallery. Increase my newsletter list by 50%. Create new watercolor c… Read More

You might have noticed something about Art Biz Coach and me: we’re always changing. I can’t help it. I am continually learning, so why should my services and offerings remain the… Read More

Does this scenario sound familiar? ©Heath Joy Miller, Sea Garden II. Encaustic, ink, shellac, and gold leaf on wood, 36 x 36 inches. Used with permission. You’re at a and Smarty… Read More

A neighbor knocks on the door and invites you to coffee during studio time. Mmmmm. Coffee would be good, you think. Do you take her up on her offer? Everyone in your artist organization know… Read More

Any change in your routine — holidays, illness, vacations, family deaths or weddings — can bring a slump in your creative work. Even when you’re completely into your art, t… Read More

The New Year brings a time for reflection, but also renewal. There’s a blank slate – a sense that we can accomplish whatever we set our minds to. ©Barbara Ferrier, Rock Clim… Read More

One of the first things I ask of my Inner Circle members is to put together a calendar for the year so we can talk about what’s ahead for them and how my team and I can help. If the ye… Read More

A few days before Christmas is the perfect time to share some of my favorite things with you: business and personal tips, recipes, online email classes, and products I love. Skip the fa… Read More

You survived another year as a working artist. Congratulations! Now it’s time to step back and look at all you have accomplished in the last twelve months. This is an annual ritual to… Read More

Recently I was talking with Cynthia Morris, when, in response to who-knows-what, she said with a scowl, “Ideas! I’m so tired of hearing about ideas.” Or something like that… Read More

If you’re like me, you still have a little (a lot?) of gifts to find for the people on your Christmas list. So … let’s help each other out. What Are You Selling That Would… Read More

What I love most about the holidays isn’t receiving gifts. It’s giving them. I love everything about the process: from trying to find the perfect gift for a special person o… Read More

It’s getting to be the time of year when we start looking for new calendars and planners for the New Year. I am highly reliant on my electronic calendar and task lists, but I’ve… Read More

©Rebecca Finch, I will Trust. Oil, 4 x 4 inches. Used with permission. Every morning in my morning meditation, I include a moment of gratitude. I want to remember my blessings and honor… Read More

The Artist’s No-Excuse Weekly Self-Promotion Routine is printed on the inside cover of the 2011 edition of my book, I’d Rather Be in the Studio. Five years is a long time in… Read More

When your income doesn’t match your aspirations, it’s easy to blame everyone but yourself. But my students and clients understand that you have to accept 100% responsibility for… Read More

Do your actions align with your words? What I mean is: if you say that you want a successful art career, are you doing what it takes? Or are you exerting the minimum effort without any… Read More

Two things are certain when it comes to pricing your art. First, it’s a struggle for most artists. The difficulty with pricing art is legendary. You’re not the only one who doesn… Read More

Loyal reader Debra Disman says that she would love to see how artists are using video. ©Debra Disman, Oshun Mural (detail), 8 x 40 feet. Photo by Francis da Silva. Please tell us! What… Read More

The secret to making a living as an artist is that there are no secrets. Artists find their own paths and each path is unique. ©Elizabeth St. Hilaire, My Muse. Mixed media collage of ha… Read More

You thought … It sure would be great to have someone help me with my art business. Any old warm body will be better than nothing. Boy! I am going to have all of this extra time to wor… Read More

©Rosemary G. Conroy, Gratitude Series: Grizzly Bear II. Acrylic on yupor paper, 35 x 23 inches. Artists tell me there is too much work to be the creative director, CEO, chief marke… Read More

You sweat over your bio and artist statement. You make a heroic effort to create interesting content for social media. You work tirelessly to craft a decent artist talk that will engage an a… Read More

The world loves labels. And, yet, many artists would walk a mile out of the way to avoid a label. ©Susan E. Klinger, Coconut Palm II. Pastel, 24 x 15 inches. Used with permission. Just… Read More

Community is essential for artists. Not just for your well-being, but for the well-being of your art. In this episode of the Art Biz Podcast, Michael Keen and I talk about his background wit… Read More

©Nela Dunato, Metamorphosis. Watercolor, ink and acrylic on watercolor paper, 50 x 35 centimeters. Used with permission. Some time ago, I learned to block out days for no scheduled call… Read More

Ready for a new website? Yes, you could do it yourself by using any of the template sites available. But when you take the step to have a site thoroughly customized to your branding and goal… Read More

Doing business on a handshake seems to be the easiest and best way to do things – until we realize it was a really, really, really bad idea. ©Gillian Lee Smith, Morag. Pastel and… Read More

©Jaky Pinnock, What a day! Acrylic on canvas, 102 x 51 centimeters. Used with permission. You have a sales force right under your nose: your collectors. The people who loved your art en… Read More

Every day takes too much thought. – Gwen Meharg Gwen left this comment in our Art Career Success System private group. I was struck by her insight because I had been reading about this… Read More

The history of art is a history of artistic breakthroughs. Consider these significant achievements:  Scientific perspective  Oil painting, and then acrylics  Abstraction (Gasp… Read More

Is it harder to be a woman and have an art career? I’m not talking about the fact that the art world is still male-dominated. I’m talking about juggling roles that are perce… Read More

This month I asked artist/author/coach Cynthia Morris back to the podcast discuss a topic that comes up often with my artist-clients. See if this sounds familiar. You have things you don&rsq&hell…Read More

No matter how many checklists you have, you can’t begin to fathom the crazy things that could happen … the wacky things that people will say, think, or do. ©Nanci Hersh, Co… Read More

Your emails, blog and website have the potential to engage readers or turn them off. How can you design your content so that people keep reading and look forward to hearing from you? ©O… Read More

©Malcolm Dewey, Sunset Over the Links. Oil on panel, 30 x 23 cm. Used with permission. It’s well proven that we need rest and relaxation for peak performance. Artists need to get… Read More

Meeting people and building relationships is the most important thing you can do for your art career. This means you have to get out of the studio and socialize. You must, gasp, be social in… Read More

The follow-up process for students is different than that for buyers and collectors. Once someone has studied with you, they are likely to take additional classes from you, which means it&rs&hell…Read More

Things are heating up in the presidential race and online. And it’s getting nasty. One client asked me how I deal with reading about it all in my Facebook feed and I said, I don&r&hell…Read More

With today’s post, we’re introducing a new feature: a monthly podcast. My previous Art Marketing Action podcast was an audio version of the weekly newsletter, which you can still… Read More

It’s easy to meet people when you’re at an opening of your own art because you’re the host or hostess. Your job is to meet everyone and to introduce your guests to one anot… Read More

There’s an art controversy in my sleepy little hometown of Golden, Colorado. Six bronze sculptures have been recommended for deaccession from the City’s collection. The reas… Read More

As I said in last week’s post: In marketing your art, there are no absolutes. Everything is a test. That was about testing your email marketing results. This week I want to look at tes… Read More

Know that you are not alone in wanting to know the answer to this question. ©Tami Bone, Terrarium. Photograph. Used with permission. It’s asked of me so often that I thought I&rsq&hell…Read More

Know that you are not alone in wanting to know the answer to this question. ©Tami Bone, Terrarium. Photograph. Used with permission. It’s asked of me so often that I thought I&rsq&hell…Read More

In marketing your art, there are no absolutes. Everything is a test. Is it better to send your newsletter on a Tuesday or on a Friday? Will you get better engagement from posting to Facebook… Read More

When I heard about Architecture’s Odd Couple, the new bio about Frank Lloyd Wright and Philip Johnson, I couldn’t wait to read it. I have a thang for architecture, an… Read More

“Ambitious artists hire me because they want more recognition for their art and support as they get their art out of the studio and into the world.” I strung together these words… Read More

As a student of art history, I love reading about communities of artists that evolved organically over the centuries. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall in the Cedar Tavern in the 1940s and… Read More

We’re busy. Busy in the studio, busy at home, and busy in the office. Everyone is so busy that it’s a boring topic. I’ve even made it an important goal to never utter the w… Read More

An editorial calendar is a roadmap for your marketing content. An editorial calendar buys you peace of mind because you don’t have to scramble for what to say or share. Ideas are store… Read More

Creative Content Camp begins on June 17. For 6 weeks this summer, artists are going to be developing loads of ideas for their newsletter, blog, and social media platforms. (Join us!) One of… Read More

Curious Monday is a weekly question that is sent only to subscribers. I’m curious about how you live your life as an artist, how you juggle the demands on your time, and what you… Read More

It’s Friday. My calendar says “Writing Time.” Every Friday at this time is blocked out to write. I like going into my weekend knowing that I have written something that wil… Read More

Living the life as an artist is hard enough, but it’s made harder when those we’re close to don’t support us. We need people around us who can support us emotionally &ndash&hell…Read More

You might be leaving money on the table. People who buy from you once are more likely to buy from you again than people who have never bought from you. ©Eileen Downes, Carol’s Luc… Read More

It used to be that the only way artists knew to promote their art was to send 35-millimeter slide packets to galleries That was about $30 worth of slides with first-class postage and a… Read More

©Sandra Duran Wilson, Lotus. Mixed media, 11 x 9 inches. Used with permission. We all have projects that are part of our lives for longer than originally intended. The more we avoi… Read More

I recently helped Rob, my husband, with a presentation he was preparing on the topic of virtual reality. Now, he’s a smart guy. He has a Ph.D. in mathematical physics, so he wasn&rsquo&hell…Read More

©Ruth-Anne Siegel, A Bright Spot. Oil on linen, 36 x 24 inches. Used with permission. If you ever doubted that routines are important for doing strong creative work, read Twyla Tharp&rs&hell…Read More

There’s a certain point in your business when you can’t grow without hiring someone. Your work is in demand, and you sell the work as fast as you make it. This is a good problem… Read More

You love making art. You probably think it would be great if you could just make art all of the time and do nothing else. The title of my book on self-promotion for artists didn’t come… Read More

Have you ever created a body of work just so you could sell at lower prices? If so, you might have created a problem for yourself. ©Kimberly McClintock, XP. Digital print in various siz… Read More

Every contact you have with someone is an opportunity to wow them with your art and your professionalism, so you don’t want to miss the chance to wow from the beginning. Robert Mapplet… Read More

Even if you work with a bookkeeper and accountant, as I do, there’s still much work to be done this time of year. Every year I learn something new at tax time that I wish I had known i… Read More

Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could call up your genius whenever you needed it? Hey, genius! Help me out with writing this article, please. What would be even more amazing is if Genius… Read More

I sent my first email newsletter on March 25, 2002. When I started, there was one other email newsletter that I was aware of that was published to help artists build their businesses. If you… Read More

Your email list is a means for nurturing trust, for building relationships, and, if you teach, for demonstrating your knowledge. Your list is, as I’ve often said, your most important a… Read More

When it comes to building an art career, I subscribe to Thomas Jefferson’s view of luck: I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. ̵……Read More

You are in charge of your art career. That means you are the person who decides what to do today, tomorrow, next week, and next month. If you’re accustomed to a boss telling you where… Read More

Art Biz Coach has been helping support artists since 2002. There are 25,000 people on my current email list, and perhaps thousands more who have left that list. There are 19,000 fans on the… Read More

When you are ready to be proactive instead of reactive in your art career, look at the naked truth about where you are now. You improve your chances for big business growth when you track yo… Read More

You have a great relationship with your Web designer and hosting service right now, but you can’t predict what might happen in the future. I’ve witnessed so many artists stuck be… Read More

People don’t buy what you do or why you do it. They buy how it makes them feel. -Bernadette Jiwa When I heard Jiwa utter those words on a stage in Denver last year, I had an Aha! momen… Read More

If you have an important exhibition coming up, give it the (virtual) space it deserves. Create a special page on your website just for your show. You probably already have a page for all of… Read More

Every so often, you have to conduct a brain dump. I hear you asking: What is a brain dump? A brain dump is a magical process that gets everything out of your head and onto paper. And, yes, I… Read More

There are no set steps that can take you from the beginning of your art career to the pinnacle of success. [Tweet this] I know you would feel much more at ease if I could advise you to first… Read More

Your art opening is not the end. It’s only the beginning. [Tweet this] Karin Olah speaks at her opening. Photo courtesy Alicia Leeke. It’s common for artists to be bummed after a… Read More

If you have exhibiting your art on your list of goals, as you should, you’re probably overwhelmed. First, there’s the research into potential venues. As soon as you begin the pro… Read More

It’s a New Year and new start. Everyone is talking about either setting goals or why you should avoid setting goals or making resolutions at all costs. ©Marcie Cohen, Snowy Bank… Read More

It’s hard to keep up with weekly emails about your art business, so I thought I’d point out some things that you might have missed or forgotten about this past year. These are 12… Read More

I thought I could get by without a personal review for one year. Or at least I thought I would skip mine. Then I thought that you probably don’t need a reminder either. Who will notice… Read More

In 2000 I had been working in art museums for 10 years and had a great job as a director of education. And I was miserable. I had a choice. I could keep being miserable, or I could do someth… Read More

A hateful email hits your inbox. A surly comment is left on your blog. A nasty response is added to one of your Facebook posts.   ©Doug Baltz, Self-Portrait: Anger. Acrylic, 36 x 2… Read More

1. The janitor who cleans your gallery or apartment lobby. 2. The housekeeper who does good work, so that you can focus on your good work. 3. The gardener and lawn mower who tend to the outs… Read More

Most business and marketing plans are linear, and most artists are anything but linear. What if, instead of having a traditional business plan, you nurtured a holistic approach to your art… Read More

It doesn’t take a genius to understand why nobody came to your art show. Let’s set aside the bad weather, natural disaster, flu epidemic, or major tragedy in the community. And n… Read More

Artists often go out of their way to learn new techniques from well-established instructors. You might drive a long distance, hop on a plane, or invest a good chunk of change. Today's deep t… Read More

One of the most-used business metaphors is the ladder of success. It’s assumed that you start at the bottom and work your way to the top in a nice, progressive fashion. A few months ag… Read More

A feature of my top tweets from the past couple of weeks. This week, my favorites are marked with a *. >>> Report: Super-rich, favoring just a few artists, drive art market latimes… Read More