Seven Important Tips I Used to Make My First Million From Art

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For the first 15 years or so of my life being a full time artist, I was also a part time waitress.  I sold art, but it wasn’t consistent and I needed the waitress gig to keep me afloat.  I really enjoyed this time!  I wasn’t on social media or even thinking about the internet, so this was strictly analog.  I did tons of shows, art fairs, holiday markets and all the things. My income was a decent side hustle, but it was not full time.  I was also in school, first an undergrad BFA, then a grad school MFA. Between course work and teaching, building a business was not high on my list of things to think about… at all. In fact, having a “business” selling art was generally looked down upon by the institutions I was a part of.

The general expectation after grad school is that I would try to become a college painting professor and sell my work through a gallery.  Neither of those options were immediately available or even attractive to me, so I needed to change my thinking… radically.

Most of these happened organically over time as I eased into the social media world. I started thinking about ways I could sell art to my social media followers.  To help you also get to this point, I’ve identified the seven most important tips I used to support myself as a full time artist.

tip number one: you need to start thinking like a business

A small business has to care about things like profit margins, demand, customer service and lots of other things.  I went from only caring about the art I was making, to thinking how I could price and offer it to my audience in the best way possible. 

tip number Two: stop working with galleries

I don’t have anything against galleries, and I would work with one again in the right circumstances.  However, galleries may or may not be able to sell your work, and most take 50% of the sales price! There isn’t even a clear path to connecting to a gallery, so most are dependent on developing a relationship over time.  I didn’t like having to depend on a gatekeeper to decide if my work was worth selling, so I stopped even trying to make it work.

tip number Three: focus on creating a highly-functional art commerce website

I enjoy taking the bull by the horns, eliminating the middle man and controlling as many aspects of the process as I possibly can.  Waiting for other people or institutions to declare my work as important or viable was, frankly, dumb.  This way, I could take my business and career into my own hands, and let it rip.

tip number Four: feedback from your audience is critical

Selling a couple of pieces of art might be lucky, but selling a lot of art?  That takes planning and paying attention to what people are responding to.  You can do this is in real life at an exhibition, on social media in the form of engagement, or in your sales in the form of actual revenue from your art.  This allows you to do two things: 1) create more of what makes your artist soul happy, and 2) make more of what people want.

tip number Five: Christmas is your bestfriend

The rumors are true.  People spend a lot more money at Christmas. From mid-November to mid-January, I often make between 30-40% of my entire year of revenue. It takes a lot of planning and focus to make it all work, but it’s a great time to sell art!

tip number Six: price tiers expand your market reach

Providing multiple price options let me access different audience budgets. I have no-brainer merch for twenty bucks, and I create 6-figure commissioned projects at an international airport… while doing everything in-between! Offering multiple price points increases your market reach to any and all customers, regardless of their budget.

tip number Seven: use “shop updates” to drive demand and exclusivity

Instead of selling all the time, every 4 to 6 weeks, I do a shop update that is only available for that weekend.  This drives urgency and scarcity, and provides me with a good studio rhythm where I can batch my time and focus. 

If you need help pricing your art, I have a handy worksheet that will take the mystery out of it!  You can find it at www.josielewis.com/pricing or by clicking the button below.