Show me the Money

Despite the odds, I generated over $100,000 in sales of my art in my first year in business in 2006.

Actually based on cash accounting, I sold $110,580. Based on accrual accounting it was more. See my 2006 Schedule C.

I was then featured in Fortune Magazine, the Wine Enthusiast, and on the Fine Living Network to name a few. 

Did I have experience in public relations? No. I decided not to make that matter either.

How did I do this?

• I questioned authority
• I ignored the gatekeepers
• I started an art business

Is $110,580 in fine art sales significant?  Compared to many of the businesses in Northern California, Apple, Google, the Gap, it is chicken feed.  But for most artists living anywhere, it is a small fortune. Everything is relative.

The Truth will Set you Free

You may be wondering what inspired me to start Artists Who THRIVE and what made me decide to launch an online MBA course for artists in 2013?

One reason is that one of of my previous interns who graduated from the San Francisco Art Academy shared the manual from her lone business course.  Not only were the graphics unprofessional, ironically, the content was misguided, inaccurate, and it was confusing.   

The success of the San Francisco Art Academy has made it the largest landlord in San Francisco. Yet like many expensive art, film, music, theater schools and departments around the globe, it graduates, or does not graduate, thousands of hopeful students with little to no marketable skills or clear direction on how they are going to make a living.

Many of these artists then struggle to pay back the student loan debt that they will be saddled with for the rest of their lives.

So the reason is that I feel ethically obliged to speak the truth and share an alternative that works for me.

To be fair, art schools are not business schools, and it is not a reasonable comparison.

Frankly a business degree is not necessarily going to provide an answer either because the art market does not fall neatly into the expertise of most business schools.

In fact, my brother, the former dean of a business school, could offer me no guidance.

Art schools are in the business of teaching art, not business.

But we need to have an honest and long overdue conversation about the realities of success as an artist because the truth will set you free. 

If you would like to know when the MBA Online Course for Artists will be available be sure to register your email under “GET Weekly Strategies.”

Get HELP. All types of artists from across the globe are benefiting from the one-on-one business consulting services that I am offering on a limited basis, including:

• film makers
• jewelers
• healing practitioners
• mixed media artists
• musicians
• painters
• photographers
• writers

But in the spirit of full transparency, there are a rare few who have not fully benefited.

Why? Because I tell these artists what they do not want to hear;

1. “There is no magic formula,
2. artists are actually not ‘discovered’,
3. and artists alone are responsible for their success and all of the work it requires.”

Although my mentor Wayne Thiebaud, an American art icon, encouraged me to pursue painting full time, he could not teach me how to get paid. Even though his paintings were selling for over a million dollars, when I asked him how I could paint full time and make enough money he said, “I don’t know, I’m not a business man.” 

In that moment I faced a strange, yet common, disconnect. Then, I had an epiphany. Art that sells is appreciated by a target market and that is business, BIG business.  Art and business are not like oil and water, that is simply a self-limiting belief. 

Why don’t many artists embrace business? Maybe because they just don’t yet understand or appreciate business basics? Maybe it’s because they don’t yet know that they no longer need permission from the gatekeepers of the traditional art market to sell their work. 

A common stereotype is that artists can’t embrace business because they are incapable so they shouldn’t trouble their pretty little heads about money. This is absurd. Artists can actually have a natural advantage in business because successful entrepreneurs are highly creative.

Back to you. I only wish that I would have had one of me when I was building my art business. Why? Because it would have saved me a whole lot of time, money, and aggravation.

None of us succeed alone. If you are stuck and you cannot find the answers, or the expertise that you need to help you build or grow your art enterprise, don’t wait. Save yourself some time, money, and aggravation and get help TODAY.

I look forward to helping you THRIVE.

“The greatest investment you can make is in yourself.” Billionaire Investor Warren Buffet

Most successful people have had mentors along the way. I’ve worked with career, life, and business coaches, and with the exception of one, they each served me very well.

These investments in myself are now paying great dividends.

Unfortunately these coaches and business consultants did not posses the experience to coach me around developing my art business.

Most artist coaches will try to guide you through the traditional permission and scarcity based art business model, exemplified in traditional publishing, music, film, and gallery representation.

There are many artist coaches who have very little direct experience in the art world.  Probe and find out what specific experience they have.

Ask if they have marketed and sold art themselves.  How much?  What?  To who?

Ask what they’ll be coaching you on.  Are they “creativity coaches” or “business coaches?”  Both are valuable but there is obviously a big difference.

Find out how they structure the coaching, the price, the terms, payment.  You know, all the nitty gritty details.  It’s your time and your money.  Get the facts.

A good coach or consultant is not going to be cheap.  But how much do you spend on supplies and equipment?  How much was art school tuition? Still paying back loans? This investment could actually help you make money.

Coaches should not be representing you too.  Why?  If they are coaching and representing you they cannot be objective about your concerns because their own financial interests are at stake.

I’ve been asked to represent artists countless times but I won’t.

Why?  Because I have my own art business to run, Ann Rea, Inc., and this demands most of my energy.  And the mission of Artists Who THRIVE is to advocate for artists’ creative freedom and  business savvy so that they can stand on their own two feet and thrive financially.

Bottom line.  A coach should be working their way out of a job.  Be clear on your specific objectives sooner rather than later, or you’ll be paying for coaching endlessly.

Remember these things when hiring an artist coach:

1. You only get what you want, when you know what you want.
2. Keep your expectations in check.  A coach can’t help you solve challenges overnight that you may been grappling with for most of your life.
3. Do the work.  It’s like hiring a personal trainer.  They can’t exercise for you.

Graphic Artists Guild

Recently I interviewed, Haydn Adams, the current national president of the Graphic Artists Guild.

As the Guild says, “We know you have talent, but business savvy usually must be learned.”

The Guild’s mission is to: “promote and protect the social, economic and professional interests of its members.”

“The Guild is committed to improving conditions for all graphic artists (including, but not limited to: animators, cartoonists, designers, illustrators, and digital artists) and raising standards for the entire industry. The Guild embraces graphic artists at all skill levels.”

As a fine artist I have found the Guild to be a very valuable resource so I wanted to share it with Artists Who THRIVE community.

Listen to the recorded interview.