Ah, you’re an artist. You know you are good at your job and you probably are someone who makes inspired artwork. But it’s not like you can invite the whole world up to your house to see your artwork. Asking someone to your home to see your etchings, well, that just does not seem to strike the right business note, right? Well, not to worry. You don’t have to call your clients to your home or give them the wrong idea. All you have to do is use the internet to set up your website, start selling your artwork and get pots and pots of money.
But wait, the website Lifehacker points out that it’s not going to be as easy as that . There are thousands of artist online who display their unique artwork and not all of them are successful. Yes, you might have a really beautiful talent for making wonderful creations but what if no one wants it? For example, you might be a talented landscape artist and you might have a wonderful website. In fact, your website easily draws in about ten to twenty viewers per hour but very few of them actually end up buying any of your creations. This is not good, as art is your livelihood and you need to monetize your creations one way or the other. You know that people like your work but why is it not selling?
Making Money from Your Artwork: One Way or the Other
Although this may seem a little difficult in the beginning the website Getpaidforyourcreativity points out that adaptability is the name of the success game. As an artist, you want your artwork to be known and in demand. This means that you need publicity and you need customers. Both of these go hand-in-hand and we’ve got just the right tips to make the process work for you.
Start Early – The process of earning starts by using every resource open to you. For example, you might already have a website but that’s not enough. As an artist, you have to reach out to your traffic, fans or customers through as many platforms as possible. The very best way to do this is through social media platforms. Setting up a Facebook account, or a Twitter account is the best way to display your artwork to a big crowd but in the shortest possible time. It is more than likely paying customers will stumble across your artwork and come directly to you with a contract job. You can also try connecting with other artists in the same field. For example, if you are a terracotta artist, it’s a good idea to connect with other artists in the pottery, ceramic, stone, marble, field etc. Established artists usually have a lot of work and if they like your work, they are more than likely to recommend you to commercial or private customers. This is one of the ways All of this means you have to start building an online reputation and online potential customer base as quickly as possible.
Create Art That People Want – The site Steve Pavlina states that this might have already happened to you. A customer comes asking for terracotta horses. You hate horses but you know you can do a good job. The base reality here is that you are creating something that your customer wants. Yes, you might not like horses but the customer does and he wants ‘YOU’ not some other artist to do the job for him and he is willing to pay for it. This does not mean your creativity, personal vision or artistic commitment gets affected. It just means you use far lesser creativity than normal but your customer is happy. He will recommend you to other people and you will be able to pay your bills. If you are not willing to do this, be prepared to see far less talented artists zipping by you financially and artistically.
Adapt Your Art – Think about it. You have a creative standard but you do have thousands of unfinished pieces sitting in your studio. Why are you letting so much of your creativity go to waste? Haul all of it out and publish it or promote it for alternative users. For example, if you are a landscape artist with several so-so pieces in storage, why not sell them to calendar companies, as computer wallpaper, list it on merchandising websites or print it on umbrellas, T-shirts, mouse pads, etc. The choices are endless and quite lucrative. Adaption is the name of the game and it is very, very profitable. The business website Business Insider state that artwork will always be in demand. However, it is the job of the artist to make his artwork as accessible and convertible as possible. As we’ve said, the demand for adaptable artwork is there but you will have to step up and be proactive in catering to the demand. This does mean compromising on your artistic goals and your personal expression. If you want to know how to make money from art, the simple answer is that you will have to make intelligent choices, tweak your artistic goals and increase your commitment to making your career a success.
