We’ve all been there. Staring down the barrel of some crazy, ambitious goal, some dream, wondering how the heck we’re ever going to pull it off.
A trend I notice in my own life is a lot of amazing artists and creatives doing awesome work dreaming of someday making a living from it. We want to get started, but we’re missing a lot of important pieces. We look at everyone that’s making it and think we need what they have just to get a foot in the door.
That’s not actually true.
There are all kinds of things we could have before we start selling our art, but the reality is that we don’t actually need most of them. They’re just barriers that we put up to keep from taking a risk and doing what’s really important – actually selling our work.
Here are the top 5 things that you absolutely, positively do not need in order to sell your art (and the top 5 things you actually do need).
Image by *eddie
1. Business Cards
What I really mean when I say “business cards” is any of those standard office items that act as a barrier to getting out there and starting. This could be a printer, a fax machine, an assistant, anything besides your art, really.
Sure, eventually you’re going to need a few things, but they should come as an answer to an actual problem rather than a prerequisite for doing business. Heck, in most cases, you don’t even need a business license to get things going.
You don’t need business cards or any of that other junk, but here’s what you do need: intense focus on your art and simplicity. When you’re trying to get off the ground, you don’t need the self-inflicted resistance that comes with all the business gadgets.
Focus on creating your art and finding people who like it. That’s all that matters right now. Besides, the less you need to run your art business, the less you have to sell to keep running your art business.
2. An Art Degree
Here’s something really important that we should get out of the way. Education comes in so many different forms, and even though a classroom is a valid one, a degree is completely unnecessary if you want to start your own business and sell your art.
There are very few people outside of the corporate world who care if you have a degree and, dare I say, those people are a waste of your time and energy anyway.
Here’s what you need instead: A burning desire to learn and change.
No one who buys your art cares if you have a degree, but they do care that you have an education and an opinion about what you create and sell.
Luckily, those two things are easily attained for a lot less than the cost of tuition. If you have a hunger to learn, you’ll find all the education you need for free.
3. An Agent
Someday you may get to the point where you need someone to look out for you and help make good business deals so that you can focus on creating, napping, and taking exotic vacations.
Today is not that day. In fact, that day just might never come.
There’s nothing wrong with hiring someone to keep your best interest in mind, but always remember that no one cares as much about your art or your business as you do. Learn how to take care of your art business yourself before you outsource it.
You don’t need an agent, but you do need basic business aptitude.
Don’t worry if you haven’t got it now. There are all kinds of ways to pick it up.
The fastest is to just get out there and start doing business everywhere you can. You’ll screw up, lose money, get burned, and learn a lot of hard lessons. But if you keep at it, you’ll fail forward.
The safest way is to read every art and business blog you can, take business classes and start as small as possible.
The best way is probably somewhere in the middle. You’ve already got a great start reading Lateral Action (you smarty).
4. A Masterpiece
If there’s one thing that aspiring artists continually destroy their businesses with, it’s their own self doubt. This is a topic for a whole other discussion, but the thing to take away is that you do not need to create the world’s greatest masterpieces in order to make it as a professional artist.
There’s a market for every type of art and you don’t have to be the very best in the world to sell yours. You just have to be the best in your customer’s world. That means being the best thing available to them in their own sphere of influence.
Think of the last piece of art you paid for. Did you buy it because it was the most technically amazing piece of work you’ve seen or did you buy it because it told a story you liked?
People like art that looks good, but they buy it because it makes them feel good.
Better technique comes with more practice. Practice telling better stories and the technique (and money) will follow.
Here’s another secret the pros don’t tell you. No one paid attention to them when they started either.
People pay attention to things that their friends tell them about. When you’re starting out, your job is to be persistent and tell stories that people want to share.
5. Permission
No one can give the permission you need to sell your art. I totally understand the need for approval – I’ve been there many times myself – but it’s a dangerous rabbit hole to go down.
You see, asking for permission and waiting for approval is a carrot on a stick. Once you decide to chase it, you’re forever grasping. Every step you take is on the back of someone else’s approval and the further you go, the more of it you need.
Not a good place to be.
You don’t need permission or approval to be you and do what you do.
Without doubt, it’s the hardest thing to overcome, but the rewards for doing it are endless. You’re not good enough the day someone tells you that you are. You’re good enough when you’re tired of waiting for that day.
At this stage, skill and aptitude have nothing to do with it. Hard to believe, I know. Truth is, everyone starts out “not good enough.” Only the people that actually start end up becoming good enough.
My Confession
Here’s a little confession: I’m pretty new to the writing world, myself. I’ve got no credentials beyond my award winning book report on Oliver Twist in 10th grade and if we cross paths tomorrow, I’ll have no business card to give you.
Do I write the most beautiful prose you’ve ever read? Heck no. But every day I try to tell stories that connect with people that are like me and it seems to be working.
That’s why I’m writing this post for you. You’re not going to come find me just because I’m here, so I’m out finding you.
The most important thing you can do when you start selling your art is anything. Sure, you’ll get a lot of things wrong, but then you’ll get a lot of them right.
Think of everything you wish you could have before you get started and then imagine how you’d begin if you could never have it.
Start there.
Over to You
Can you think of anything else you don’t need to start selling your creative work?
About the Author: Tyler Tervooren helps extraordinary people improve their lives by doing really scary things at his site, Advanced Riskology. He’s currently on his own quest to join the top 1% of the world.
Tweet
It’s easy to get carried away with the set-up and the dream, and to fail to commit to the output of real art.
Two things I try to remain mindful of:
(1) You don’t need to be the best, or even in the top 10% or 20% of whatever your niche is to succeed – you just need to DO IT. When people say, “Hey, that’s not so awesome, I could do that”, the correct answer is, “Great! But…you’re NOT doing it.”
(2) Work harder than everyone else AT YOUR ART and you will succeed. You just will.
To be lonely is the abscence of another
To be alone is the prescence of oneself
osho zen
At some point in life the unknown of the dark must be answered
We must all greet the sun at it’s dawn
We will see the sun, we are not sure
The darkest part of the night ,
before the thin line of light lines the earth,
the darkest part is when
we are the light
a light upon ourselves
light of our own realized truthz
c grenke
Ren, #1 is great point and even I sometimes find myself doing it. I’ll see someone’s handiwork and say to myself, “big deal, I could do that.” But I’m NOT doing it, and they are. That’s what matters.
Hi Tyler!
Great post and I’d add one for artists looking to sell online:
You don’t need a perfect or expensive website.
I know a lot of people put off promoting themselves online until they have the best written, best designed website, and quite often it just needs to be good enough.
Good enough and ticked off is far better than perfect and never finished.
Soo true about the agent part.
My best friend has been trying to “make it” as an artist for as long as I can remember. He’s put his faith in so-called agents many times and ended getting better results when he just gets out there and does it himself.
Most artists can literally talk all day with great enthusiasm about their art and it’s meaning, but when it comes to getting out and “selling” it, the excitement turns to fear or laziness.
For me, when I started seeing the marketing and selling process as art itself, things started to get moving much easier. It helped with the whole “I’m an artist not a sleazy salesman” feeling that a lot of artists face.
Tyler,
You make some good points here. But, I will take issue with point #1. Artists need to treat their business as a business. That means they need to invest in having the proper tools to help them operate the business effectively and professionally.
Frankly, if someone is constrained by not being able to afford basic business tools such as business cards, and other such things, they are not in a position to create a business model that sells their art.
It doesn’t matter what business a person wants to start, if they are underfunded, lack a solid understanding of the business they are in, or have unrealistic expectations about what it takes to be successful, then they are going to fail.
That point aside, your other comments are correct. While having an art degree, an agent and a masterpiece can be helpful, they will not overcome a lack of initiative and desire.
One of my art heroes, Constantin Brancusi, said this: “To see far is one thing; going there is another.”
Amy – great addition. Selling, online or otherwise, is a process of building up. You don’t need to start out perfect, you’ll get close enough eventually.
Andy – When you believe that the art you make can make a difference to people, selling it feels a lot less sleazy. It’s a hard mental game to beat for a lot of people, but if YOU don’t believe in your product, why would anyone else? Thanks for the comment.
Barney – Thanks for the input. You say you disagree with point #1, but when I read your response, I think we actually agree. The point I’m trying to make is that when you’re starting out, you shouldn’t waste your money on things that aren’t going to make you more of it or help you expand your influence. Understanding your business is still paramount. I just hate to see people buying all kinds of things they think they need just because they saw someone else that had them. That’s never a good “investment” strategy.
nice post, tyler. so true about permission–we often wait for experts or others whose opinions we value to give us the green light. sometimes when we talk about projects, etc. too much, fear and doubt creeps in and derails us before we can even get started!
thanks for the reminders!
Hi! Great post and insight Thank you.
I wonder if where you live makes a difference but here in Canada if you don’t have a degree and follow a certain path your work is not taken seriously and the galleries wont show you first and second the your value will never be set for collectors. I think in New York and paris is the same.
If the goal is to sell, is it still “art” and not something to decorate a living space… I don’t know…
Believe it or not, this has turned my day around and helped me kick the Bad Attitude of Monday. Thanks.
Now if only I could carve out some more time to do some hard work in my studio without interruption.
A studio!
So many artists want to go the old route and set up a studio but street art is wildly popular where I live.
In fact, there are some pieces I’ve seen locally that have blown me away – what’s better is how you can sit down and chat with the people about their work instead of them being smug.
There’s something awesome about wandering around the city and randomly finding a piece of art
Fauve said:
“I wonder if where you live makes a difference but here in Canada if you don’t have a degree and follow a certain path your work is not taken seriously and the galleries wont show you first and second the your value will never be set for collectors. I think in New York and paris is the same.”
I say:
That’s another thing you don’t need to start selling your art — a gallery!
Thanks for the awesome post!
I totally agree with you – many times artists get caught up in waiting for the right moment, or the big break, or the newest artist toy, when really all you need is an intense drive to make it, and the willingness to pursue your dream no matter what anyone else says.
I do think it is necessary to have a certain spot where you can do your art (especially if it requires an easel or some other piece of furniture) but a lot of art-making is really pretty portable, (sketchbook, notebook, camera, etc.) but I see what you’re getting at with having to have a studio. I’ve never had a formal studio, just a corner in a room that is also used for something else.
A studio, good one Murlu.
Whatever space you have available to do your thing, there’s your studio.
Great stuff. Yes, it is so easy to get caught up in the “I’m not good enough” loop, sell yourself short, or decide to just take another month to *really* work on your skills.
Not worth it. I’m not good enough by miles, but people dig what I’m doing and I figure I’ll learn stuff along the way.
Well, reading this post has certainly come at an appropriate time for me. I’m feeling completely stuck trying to make a start on selling, while worrying about creating the perfect branding and logo and worrying when I’ll actually have time to make the art …. you know how it goes. I had [yet another] idea last night which doesn’t fit in with the advice I’ve had so far …
Thanks for the blogging equivalent of a gentle slap around the face … maybe I’ll get things straight in my head now.
Good post Tyler, and grats on the guest post spot here.
I have businesses cards, but rarely use them. The people that want them don’t need them (we’re connected somewhere else, be it Twitter, Facebook, email, etc). I’ve got a website that functions just fine as a business card.
Like what you said about not needing a masterpiece…a lot of pressure built in to that concern.
Hi, I found your website on the list of the 50 Best Blogs for creative thinking. Congratulations. I’m always interested in creativity of all kind. Great site.
One of the best things I’ve ever read…and I can vouch for all of it thru my own experience. I’ve been pretty successful at what I do, and I can tell you that I still don’t have a business card, an agent or a college degree. I also don’t have a masterpiece yet, but I’m still working on that!
Selling my art has been one of the hardest things because you totally put your ego on the line…you’re just ASKING to be rejected! But when people write to me about how my stuff has changed their lives, it gives me fuel to keep pressing on.
Some advice I just read that was really good was to just shoot (photography) and show. Keep doing that over and over and you will not only get better at your craft, but you will sell, eventually. It might take time, but just continue that shoot and show.
Thanks for the further encouragement in your post. Cheers
Willie – I’m all about the learn along the way approach. If you wait until you know everything, you’ll never get started because that state just doesn’t exist.
Julie – Glad I could help. Hope I didn’t slap too hard.
Nathan – Yeah, not only do you not need those business cards to get started, you don’t need them to stay moving or for any other reason, really, when you’re working primarily online.
Art degrees and the ability to articulate concepts behind one’s artwork are important in the old guard artworld, which is where you’ll find the work selling from tens of thousands to millions.
This successful NYC gallerist admits he gives more weight to artists’ CVs with MFA degrees:
http://edwardwinkleman.blogspot.com/2010/05/all-i-really-need-to-know-i-learned.html
You can sell work to online customers for a few hundred dollars, but the first point of contact with an artist’s serious collectors remains galleries and traditional art spaces. For now. Even artists who boast about bucking the gallery system started out in it, and gained their crucial contacts that way.
But if you’re selling printed work for a low price, or decorative art, or affordable commissions – all of which falls under the umbrella of ART for many outside the old-school artworld – sure, the advice in this excellent article applies.
@ Elizabeth – Good point that the gallery system is currently the gateway to the highest fees and wealthiest collectors. It will be interesting to see to what extent that changes as self-publishing and self-promotion online become more common (and more respected) in future.
One trend I’ve noticed with book publishers is that many of them now expect authors to be promoting themselves online, so that a lively blog / online presence is a definite asset if you want to land a book deal. It remains to be seen whether the art world will follow suit.
@ Tyler – That reminds me, I’ve run out of business cards…
I really like the image you chose for this post. It reminds me of a saying I heard one time “The world belongs to those who ask.” It really is true that you are whatever you say you are. I made a website that lets artists sell their art for free without charging % of sales fees or listing fees like Etsy or Ebay does. Doesn’t get a lot of traffic yet but as more Artists join, it will get popular quick. Just an FYI.
Thanks for this. I was getting all worked up about my first “meet the artist” at a little art shop where my work is sitting (for the first time) and now I can breathe and realize that I can actually enjoy it and talk about why I love doing it and the joy I see in nature that inspires me. I think I will have a great day tomorrow! I am living the journey of where I want to be and what I want to do.
You are so right about not asking for permission. I have seen artists, who do wonderful work, dissolve in self-hatred when some juror passes over their work for some subjective reason.
If you create it and YOU love it, success has been earned. Please yourself and others will love it as well. If they don’t , so what. If it gives you please, ENJOY!
Wonderful article! Thank you. Straight to the point and ultra inspiring. Everything you wrote about what artists dont need is true. Im a witness! Keep doing what you do to assist dreamc chasers like me. Again, thank you.
I really liked this article. It is so true!