
The Thriving Christian Artist
The Thriving Christian Artist
338 - 5-Minute Mentoring: 5 Ways to Know If an Idea Is Worth Pursuing
When you create art for a living, there’s a lot more on the line than when you’re a hobbyist. You can have the same level of enthusiasm with an art business that you had in your hobby days - more, even.
But if your family is counting on the income from you selling your art to put food on the table, that puts a different type of pressure on you and your art.
Naturally, if you’re going to make a living creating art, it has to sell.
So when you’re out there doing your creative thing, how do you know whether you’re going to be able to sell enough art to pay the bills?
In this episode of 5-Minute Mentoring, I’m sharing a list of 5 ways to know if pursuing a full-time art career is right for you.
Could you use some guidance on how to build a business that helps you thrive spiritually, artistically, and financially? Here are 4 ways I can help:
1️⃣ Get my FREE Guide, “5 Biggest Mistakes Artists Make When Pricing Their Art” Struggling to price your art in a way that feels authentic to you and your faith - but still makes you money? Make sure you’re not making any of these mistakes!
Download here ➡️ https://thrive.matttommeymentoring.com/5-biggest-mistakes-when-pricing-art
2️⃣ Read the Book: Check out my book “How to Price Your Art: Pricing with Confidence for Sales & Profit” on Amazon ➡️ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097XBP733
3️⃣ Create Art and Profit: Discover how to create the art you love while still providing for yourself financially in my “How to Price Your Art” workshop.
Get more details here ➡️ https://thrive.matttommeymentoring.com/how-to-price-your-art-evergreen
4️⃣ Ready to truly thrive? Join the Created to Thrive Artist Mentoring Program to discover how to build your art business and live the abundant life Jesus promised you as an artist in His Kingdom!
Click here for details and to enroll! ➡️ https://www.matttommeymentoring.com/artmentor.html
Connect with me online: https://thrive.matttommeymentoring.com/stay-connected
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Did you know that there's a surefire way to recognize whether the idea that you have to go take your art into the marketplace actually has the potential to make money? Well, I'm going to give you five ways to know that beyond a shadow of a doubt here today on 5-Minute Mentoring.
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SPEAKER_00:Have you ever wanted to have someone in your life who you could ask real questions about your art, your business, and even your walk with the Lord? Well, that's exactly what we do every Friday here on Five Minute Mentoring, where I answer one question from one of my awesome podcast listeners in order to help you start really thriving as the artist you know God created you to be. Well, hey, my friend, hope you're doing well. Listen, I get so many artists that come to me in our mentoring program thinking that the thing that they want to do is going to just automatically make money because they're passionate about it because they feel God gave them the idea and, oh, it's going to be great. And so many times, so many times they get frustrated because they've not really thought it through the whole way. And as I've looked at things over the years, I've realized there are really five signposts, if you will, that you have to look at along the way to realize if an idea actually has the opportunity to really get wings, if you will, and go somewhere in the marketplace to begin to bring income into your life. I actually was drawing this out the other day in our mastery program, which is our higher level mentoring program inside Creative Thrive. We had several of us here for a couple of days here in Asheville doing one of our two-day in-person masterminds. And I was trying to explain this concept to somebody, and these five things just kind of came out. And I was like, I don't even know if I've ever put these together before, but wow, this is really good. And so I wanted to share it because I just thought it was really, really that good. It brought a lot of freedom to people. So what are the five things? Well, when you're considering looking at an idea, all right, or a concept, or even thinking about your art. Does this have the potential to make money and get out there in the marketplace? The first thing you got to look at is, does this opportunity, whatever it is, align with the vision that God's given me for my life and my unique design within that? Again, If God's given you a unique design and a vision for your life, anything that he's going to do is going to be in line with that. The reason I start there is this. So many people start out thinking, oh, I can do that to make money. And then I can do my art on the side. I can do that because I know a lot of other people are making money with that. And then I can do this other stuff, you know, just for fun. Or maybe I'll make enough money on that thing that I really don't like. But then I'll be able to make enough money to do my art and that sort of thing. And listen, that is a surefire way to get frustrated and to get down in a mess and down a road that you do not want to go down. Why? Because you're pursuing things that are outside of God's plan for your life and outside of your unique skill set and gifting and ability and design and all that. So you got to know that, you know, that, you know, if the idea is not aligned with what God's called you to and your unique design, kick it out. All right. That's the first thing. Second thing is, does this thing bring you creative fulfillment? Again, a lot of people will try to take an art idea in particular into the marketplace and start making it and selling it simply because they see other people doing that and they think, oh yeah, I can make a lot of money from this or I know this will sell or this is really hot right now. But listen, it gives them no creative fulfillment. If this thing doesn't really light you up inside, trust me, it is not worth pursuing. I can honestly say every day that I have been making baskets over these last 10 or 12 years and going in the studio and weaving and that sort of thing. I have loved it. And if I didn't love it, I wouldn't do it. Why? Because I believe that Jesus died that we might have life and have it to the full abundantly. I believe that it's part of God's design in my life to love the things that I do. Now, that doesn't mean there's not some work days. That doesn't mean that some days it gets tedious. But overall, am I fulfilled? All right. So number one, does it line up with the vision and unique gifting? Number two, does it make me creatively fulfilled? Number three, do I have the artistic skill and ability to actually pull this thing off at the level that it needs to in the marketplace? All right. Just because you've been a hobbyist for years doesn't mean that all of a sudden you can pull the trigger and boom, you've got work that is of the quality and of the aesthetic to be able to hold its own in the marketplace. That's one of the things that we work so hard on in the mentoring program is helping each other to critique work, learning where those weak spots are, learning to begin to grow in your unique voice and find that unique voice that God's put inside of you so that you can, at the same time, you're increasing your uniqueness and your voice, you're increasing your skills and you're developing art that will speak and stand alone in the marketplace. All right. So voice And it's huge, that artistic skill and ability, making sure that that's there. Creative fulfillment, making sure that it aligns with your vision that God's giving you and your uniqueness. Number four, does it have market potential? What do you mean by that, Matt? Well, I mean, just because you love to do something doesn't mean anybody's buying it. So one thing that you always want to do when you're considering taking what it is, this idea that you may have into the marketplace, Look around. Are there other people doing something similar to this? Or are there other people that have tried this and failed over and over and over again? That may be a clue. Now, you may say, well, I've got a unique take on it. I've got a unique way of doing this that will really get people jazzed. Well, okay, that's great. But you need to make sure that there's a desire in the market for it. And you don't always know that exactly, but you can begin to pick up clues in the market, whether or not something has potential. And you can also pick up a lot of clues. If you've read my book, How to Price Your Art, or you've listened to the podcast about pricing your art or anything like that, you realize that market research is a big part of learning how to begin to price what you do in the marketplace. So same thing true with marketability. Does the idea that I have have the potential to get out there and actually meet a need for people, meet a desire for people, fulfill an unmet desire, whatever it may be? For example, if you're thinking about doing an online class or an in-person class, you want to look and see, are there other people that are doing classes on this? How is that going? Am I getting feedback? interest from the people that are following me to do that sort of class or that sort of artwork, whatever it is, knowing that marketability is huge. And then lastly, I want to say this, as you're looking at whether or not this has the potential to be something you want to pursue, the last one I think probably is one of the most important things. Does this facilitate the lifestyle of that you want to build. This is so important because I've seen so many people over the years build businesses and pursue things in their life that really just become a glorified job, end up trading time for money, really become more of a headache than just having a job. And at the end of the day, they're like, I thought this was my dream, but I built it the wrong way. One of the things that we teach artists to do in the the season of life that you're in. And when you know how to do that through the things that we teach in the mentoring program and all the things that I'm talking about here on the podcast, you begin to realize that, hey, there's a lot of different ways to build a business. There's a lot of different ways to bring income into your life, but you have to be intentional about it in order to be able to build the kind of life that you want to live. Like for me, I'm a middle-aged guy that these last 10, 12 years. I've been building my family, building a business, building, you know, just build, build, build, you know, kind of in the thick of it. Some people are there, as you listen to this, you may be in the later stages of life. Maybe you're kind of trying to turn down a little bit. Maybe retire, do your art for fun and just as a small part of your part-time income. Maybe you're just starting out in life. Maybe you're a stay-at-home mom with some kids at home. You'd love to supplement your income. Or maybe you're somebody that's trying to move away from a job and actually transition into your art full time whatever you're doing again as you're thinking about this idea does it have potential Make sure you consider lifestyle and you plan it in a way that benefits you. All right. So what are the five things again? Vision and uniqueness. Does it fit with that? You know, the way that God's wired you and the vision that he's given you. Number two, does it creatively fulfill you? Number three, do you have the artistic skill and ability to pull it off? Number four, does it have market potential? And number five, does it really flow with the lifestyle that you want to live? My friend, if you'll use those five skills, Signpost is a way to evaluate ideas. I promise you, every time you will stay in alignment with who God has called you to be. I love you, my friend. I hope this is a big encouragement to you. Make sure that you like, subscribe, comment, and share. And until next time, remember, you were created to thrive. Bye.