1.    Not being consistent with my efforts selling art.

Not being consistent with my art sales effort selling has by far been my biggest mistake.

I am still paying for it now. I devoted most my time and energy to what I love, and what I’m good at, painting and marketing.

I’m recovering by working with a sales consultant who specializes in selling to the luxury market and going back to a system to measure my art sales efforts daily.

2.    Not listening to my instincts

Not listening to my instincts has proven almost fatal for my art business.  For example, I had a feeling about a major winery that seemed like a fantastic opportunity.

They actually stiffed me and through me into a financial tailspin.

I’m recovering by embracing my intuition and by learning to use it to my advantage, and to the advantage of those I work with.

3.    Allowing negative thinking to infect my thinking

Energy goes where attention flows and one acts according to ones thoughts.

I am able to recover from inevitable frustration or negativity by exercising and daily meditation.

4.    Not managing my SEO

I thought that I had a sound SEO strategy in place.  It turns out, I do not.

Rather than dwelling on the impact this may have had on my business, I’m on it now and working with an SEO consultant I trust.

There are a lot of shady SEO operators out there who will sell you promises of prosperity.  Maybe I averted disaster by waiting?

5.    Setting goals too high

If you haven’t already noticed, I’m an ambitious sort of gal and that has served me well.

But I have a tendency to set the bar too high, making it harder to stick with my plans.

I’m recovering by reconstructing my action plan so that I can experience more bite-sized victories.

6.    Not firing people quickly enough

If people are not doing their job or delivering the goods, show them the door immediately.

Small businesses cannot afford to carry dead wait.

I’m recovering by embracing a policy of hiring slowly and firing quickly.

7.    Networking in groups that do not serve my market

BNI or the Chamber of Commerce is not where the luxury market can be found.

It’s great if you offer car-detailing services but it’s not a place to find the luxury consumer or other businesses that serve this market.

I’m recovering by only networking where my tribe can be found or where I can find those that directly serve my luxury tribe.

8.    Falling for offers of help from men who actually wanted to help themselves

So this is a hard and icky realization.  I’m all business but not that doesn’t mean everyone else is.

There’s the wealth manager who wanted to make out and then the angel investor who grabbed my, you know what, after our last business meeting.

Some people will assume that you are vulnerable as an artist and try to take advantage of a perceived power differential.

And that is not to say that this is all men.  My advisory board is made up of generous, kind, and respectful men.

I’m recovering quicker each time it happens just knowing that some people are just bad seeds.

Sometimes it takes a while for the mask of truth to be unveiled and I’m not responsible for their deceptions.

I’m sharing these personal challenges with you so that you have no illusions that my success as an artist has been a cakewalk.  It hasn’t.

But each failure has taught me a valuable lesson and reflecting on it has strengthen my resolve to succeed.