Is Your Art Business Making Money and Profit at Art Shows and in Art Galleries?
Episode 11 Show Transcript - Empowered Artist Podcast
Hobby to Artpreneur mind-shift to becoming a full time artist
Of course, you're going to these art shows and selling art! Otherwise, you wouldn't go back if you didn't have that dopamine hit of making an art sale! But when you come home, did you add up the time you spent marketing yourself at that art show, setting up your tent and your table, getting all of your products ready, all the money you spent buying things for your setup at the art show? Then did you add up what you sold and the cost of what it took you to get your butt out to the art show? It's really important in our art businesses that we're adding up to see what our profits are.
The formula for profits is revenue minus expenses.
So what's left over is our profits. We have to add that up every month to see what our art business is making.
What questions do you have for me? Let’s do a Q&A episode!
This blog I know is gonna drum up some questions so leave me a podcast voicemail now (and anytime!). Go to JennaWebbart.com/podcast. Give me a thought or question, and I would love to do a Q&A episode.
How are you investing your art business profits?
When we make profit in our art business, what are we spending it on? A lot of artists I talk to go and spend it on more art supplies, but in order to grow your business, it's important to invest in things that will grow your business. Learning how to market yourself. Learning the business plan that will work. Spending it on more art supplies and creating more art that you don't know how to sell yet is not going to help you.
How are you investing your time and energy to grow your art business?
It’s really important, especially when you're a new artist, to say yes to as many opportunities as possible and get exposure. But we can't go down a rabbit hole, repeating things if they aren't bringing us significant profits and our business. That's why my students come to me to learn my signature Artpreneur Academy Roadmap, so they can start making a full-time living as an artist. In my Artpreneur Academy program, I have a VIP membership where students come to me once a month with the biggest challenge on their heart and their minds of whatever they're not able to move forward with on their business. And then on camera, I've coached them through their challenges. I'm going to share just a snippet of one of these conversations that I'm having on a VIP call with a student named Jeffie. Jeffie is probably a lot like you because she's a lot like most of the artists who come to me before Artpreneur Academy, who are spinning their wheels and hustling, going to all the art shows, or submitting their artwork to galleries, and they're getting into the galleries, but all their profits are being eaten by the commission the galleries are taking or they're going to the art shows. But all the profits are really being eaten up by the time you're spending and the money you're spending. It's really interesting...You'll hear what Jeffie has done with the profits she did make at the art show. So I think this will be a really helpful conversation for you to hear.
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The Artpreneur VIP Call Snippet:
JENNA: Hey, welcome to the June VIP meeting. That's Lola snoring. I have a couple bulldogs down here.
JEFFIE: I mentioned that I made a thousand dollars in a day, but I, last year my art group didn't do anything for a year cuz of covid. We didn't, weren't out there. But the year before that I was excited and sold a thousand dollars, but then I put all my expenses together and I was a hundred or $200 in the hole and as soon as cuz of everything that I had bought. So I really hadn't made anything but. You know, I was a hobby, I guess, and paid for my art supplies. And the first thing I did after being so excited, I went to Michael's about $500 more arts. So I'm still back in the hole again.
JENNA: well good on you to look at that as expenses and look at, you're looking at it as profit, so you've got a leg up because a lot of people aren't even really viewing it that way. And that's okay. You joined our Artpreneur Academy for a reason.
JEFFIE: Yeah.Yeah.
JENNA: You're about in module two, you're gonna start lots of spreadsheet work and, looking at your expenses and so you're gonna.It's gonna dig into that, huh? Yeah.Yeah.You are.Yeah.Yeah.I look at some of the stuff that I sell and I think, well, that's like two or three days wages for somebody, but then I look at the other way. So it's a good mindset to change.
JEFFIE: Absolutely.
JENNA: I'm excited for you. I'm excited for you, and I'm so excited for people who are relying on just going to art shows when they bring their business online. Because it's so much more time efficient. And so when you're new as an artist, saying yes to just opportunities is a great thing. But you really, to sustain, you have to have an online business as well. I remember. When Kristen H. joined Artpeneur Academy, she had been going to art shows for over 20 years. And so the Artpreneur Academy brought her business online for the first time. And so that was really exciting and I just,I love that.I have my own reasons for not doing art shows, for my health. but I've done them. I've done them. But at the end of the day, I would look at the time I spent, the money I spent, how much I'd have to market myself. I'd sell things. And it would be fun and I'd meet people. Energetically I'd be spent, and then I'd go home and then I'd add everything up and look at the profits. And I was like, wow. Uh, doing this online on repeat and learning how to make money in my sleep is gonna be a lot better for me.
JEFFIE: Right. Yeah. I'm getting older. I'm thinking if I don't do it now, it ain't gonna happen. So I if it was back in my head like five years ago,I got a domain name and I thought I'm gonna do something in five years. Here I am. It's never too late.
JENNA: It’s never too late.
Wasn't that conversation with Jeffie super interesting?
I'm sure that you've been there too.
How to make a plan for your art business goals.
Your Homework is to evaluate your joy, profits, and plans!
It's still great to go to the art shows if they're making profit. If you're finding joy. So I would evaluate, what is your motivation for going to the art shows? What is your motivation for having your art in a gallery?
My other challenge for you today is to put your expenses and your revenue into a spreadsheet and see what kind of profit you're making at the end of the day. If you want to grow your profits and your revenue, I definitely think you should check out Artpreneur Academy. I love helping my students. I have a proven roadmap to get you there. Click here to learn more about Artpreneur Academy.
3. Evaluate where you're spending your time. It's just as important as where you're spending your money. The things you're saying yes to are taking away from other things you can be saying yes to. Just remember there's always an opportunity cost. If you take a minute to sit down and think about where you want your business to go, where do you want it to be in a year from now or three years from now? And just take some time to plan that and invest in where you want it to go. That time and planning is invaluable. It's up to us to take control of our life and own our destiny. I have always believed if there is a will, there is a way. Instead of just going with the flow, it's really important to take that minute. Not even that minute, really be intentional about where you're going and you'll thank yourself later.
Learn more about working with me to get the support you need in your art business
Love and Positive Vibes,
Jenna
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