The Thriving Christian Artist
The Thriving Christian Artist
430 - My Best Advice for Artists Who Want to Sell Their Art
So you’re ready to step out and sell your art. Great!
That’s obviously a key part of being a working artist, especially one who wants to be a full-time, works-for-themselves, thriving artist.
But how does someone, especially a newcomer, go about selling their art? Where should they start?
That’s the subject of this episode of 5-Minute Mentoring: my best advice for artists who want to sell their art. I’m sharing what I would want to know if I was just starting out selling art. This advice will give you a leg-up on how to go from striving to thriving in your art career.
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When you’re ready to stop striving and start thriving, here are 4 other ways I can help:
1️⃣ Get my newest book, God’s Plan for Living: A Simple Roadmap to Your IDEAL Kingdom Life. Most Christians want to live the abundant life Jesus promised - they just don’t know how (and it’s not for lack of trying!). In this new book, I share a simple framework for living based on God’s Word that will enable you to live fulfilled and thriving as a Christian, no matter how you’re designed or assigned in God’s Kingdom. Purchase here ➡️ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BZ34CNFY
2️⃣ Learn a New Framework for Living: Watch this free 60-minute, on-demand workshop I created called “How to Start Thriving as the Artist God Created You to Be,” where I share a simple, Kingdom-based framework for living that anyone can use starting today. Click here for details and to enroll! ➡️ https://matttommeymentoring.mykajabi.com/ew-optin-how-to-start-thriving
3️⃣ Connect with God: Discover how to connect with the Lord and discover His intention for you and your art in His Kingdom in my course, How to Connect with God to Create & Sell Your Art. Get more details here ➡️ https://thrive.matttommeymentoring.com/how-to-connect
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
Thanks for listening! You can also watch this podcast on YouTube at youtube.com/matttommeymentoring. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!
Connect with Matt online: https://thrive.matttommeymentoring.com/stay-connected
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People often ask me, Matt, what's your best advice for an artist that wants to sell their work? Well, I'm going to tell you today here on 5-Minute Mentoring. Hey there, I'm Matt Tommy, and over the last 10 years, I've helped thousands of Christian artists all over the world start thriving spiritually, artistically, and in the marketplace, while at the same time building my own super successful art business. If you're ready to bust through the roadblocks that have held you back for years, create the work you love, and really live the life you know God created you to live in His kingdom, then you're in the right place. My friend now with over a million downloads, you're listening to the thriving Christian artist podcast. Hey, my friend. So glad you're with me here today on five minute mentoring. You know, there's a so much. that I could say to an artist that is wanting to sell their work. I mean, my goodness, that's why we started the Created to Thrive Artist Mentoring Program years ago and why thousands of artists have gone through it and successfully turned their hobby into either a part-time or full-time business. There's so much to be able to tell. But, you know, if I had a chance to sit down with somebody and they said, Matt, I know you could go in any direction, but tell me what's the one thing that you would say is the best advice for me as an artist that's wanting to sell my work, I would say this, find out who is your most likely ideal client. You've got to research, you've got to dig, you've got to find, you've got to get out there in front of the market, you've got to sell some work, you've got to be in some shows, you've got to get some data, look at what other people are doing, but you've got to find out who is the most likely candidate to be your ideal client. Why is that important? Is it making great work important? Yeah, making great work is like assumed, right? Being a fabulous artist is assumed, right? You got to be making great work. So that's not even a question. You got to be making unique work. That's not even a question. You got to be doing it in a way that's masterfully competent. That's not even a question. The questions often come down to, now that I'm doing that, how do I grow my business and how do I do it in a way where I can measure the results and really, you know, get a plan together for consistent cashflow? And it all comes down to this idea of who your ideal client really is. See, most artists, when they're starting out, because, you know, they don't have business experience, because they've never developed a marketing plan, because they've never really tried to grow a business out of their art, they just kind of take this shotgun approach thinking, well, everybody's my, my client, I'll sell it at church, and at the farmer's market, and at this art show, and maybe I can get into that, and I want this store, but just anywhere they can, and what happens is a lot of frustration builds, all their, you know, efforts are really thrown out in a lot of different directions, and you lose the real power of focus, but when you learn to identify your ideal client, and you realize, hey, this is the person that's most likely to buy my art, then every marketing opportunity that you're considering gets to go through the filter, if you will, of this one question. Will this marketing opportunity get me closer to or further away from my ideal client? I have people all the time in the mentoring program and at conferences or whatever, they ask me, well, Matt, should I do this? Should I advertise in a magazine? Should I do this show? Should I be in this opportunity or that opportunity? I said, I don't know. I have no clue. There's gajillions of opportunities to market your art. So the one question, the one question, the most important thing you got to ask is, is this opportunity going to get me closer to knowing who my ideal client is or not? If it doesn't get you closer to your ideal client, if it doesn't put you in front in a way that you can build connections that lead to sales, it's not worth doing. But it'll get my name out there. But if people will see me, yeah, that's great. But listen, you've got a limited budget. You got a limited amount of time. You got a limited amount of energy. And if you're asking my best advice, I'm going to say go all in. Go all in on getting in front of that ideal client and going deeper with them. Now, there's a lot that I could say, much more that I can do in a five-minute mentoring. That's why we have the Created to Thrive Artist Mentoring Program. You're developing your ideal client and knowing who they are and how to develop connection with them is one of the core things that I go pretty deep into the program. so that you have real clarity in that. If you want help with that, I'd love to help you. You can join the mentoring program at any time. You can see the link right here below to find out more information about that. But suffice it to say, if you are looking for the way to get the most bang for your buck in your marketing and you're thinking, Matt, what's the most important thing, most critical thing I can do right now? It's It's put all your focus on getting in front of that ideal client so that you can deepen connections that lead to sales. When you do that, my friend, listen, your life will become a whole lot more simple. All right. I love you, my friend. I hope this is encouraging to you. And remember, until next time, you were created to thrive. Bye.