I’ve just finished up the first draft of a new book I’ve written called “101 Rules of Selling Art,” prerequisite reading for my upcoming 8-week guided online business course, “Making Art/Making Money.”
As I sat in front of this monitor enumerating 101 rules of selling art, I thought, wait a minute; why not ask 10 artists who I have coached to send me the top 10 things they have learned about selling art?
Each artist’s response was very affirming and really helped focus and edit the book.
So many lessons stand out but the inspiration for this post is a music-selling lesson from musician Daniel Barrett in Austin, Texas, “The weekly check-ins were a rigorous form of accountability. Keep agreements!!”
As an artist I relish my freedom. But complete freedom is a double edge sword. The goods news is that I’m not accountable to anyone but myself. The bad news is that I’m not accountable to anyone but myself.
The only solution that solves this double edge dilemma is to commit to a SMARTER goal and to have a Master Mind, a coach, or colleagues to hold you accountable and offer encouragement.
But we artists exist mostly in isolation. And too often when artists do congregate rather than focus on a specific goal, they complain.
Years ago I attended an artist “support group” in Sacramento. I went and I never returned. It was a complete bitch fest. Everyone complained about not making enough money. Complaining without exploring solutions is the opposite of support.
To be fair, these artists had no clue how to make money from their fine art and they where assuming that the traditional scarcity and permission based art establishment was there only viable option.
Even though this meeting was a drag the experience made me realize that I never wanted to behave like they did.
Here’s your assignment, should you choose to accept it.
Your success can be defined by the average of 5 people you spend the most time with.
- Ask yourself. Are these people the kind of successful you admire?
- Are they honest and do they care enough about you that they are willing to risk your friendship to hold you accountable?
- Do you all keep your agreements to one another?
- What is your contract with yourself?
- Do you have one SMARTER goal that you are working towards each day?
- Who are you accountable to? No one? Anyone?
- Do you hold yourself accountable?
If you need help with this, you’re invited to apply for the one-on-one coaching program.
Please note, time is limited. One-on-one coaching will be unavailable after the launch of “Making Money Making Art” online course.
Did you enjoy this article?
You’re very welcome. Sounds like you’re on the right track.
Judging by the fact that, out of the 5 people I spend most of my time with, 3 are family members and 2 are business partners, I can say that I am pretty safe from being influenced negatively by people from outside the industry.
It’s true, though, that we don’t have a precise common goal, so I’ll have to think about this and see what I can do.
Thanks for the advice, excellent as always.