Putting the effort in to create a successful art business takes a lot of work but it is so worth it in the end! It’s about getting recognition for your art and earning money so you can continue doing what you love.

But let’s be real, there are no magic wands or fairy dust, and it can get overwhelming and confusing at times. I’m sure you know exactly what I mean.

This checklist will give you a good overview of what you need to do to move your art business forward.

While there are multiple ways to build a successful art business, there are some fundamental things we all need to do in order to grow.

Let me simplify this...the two key elements we have to focus on are:

Creating art.
Figuring out how to get your target audience to fall in love with your art.

You have to figure out what it’s going to take to make sure your target audience is:

Interested in you
Become fans
Become subscribers
Become happy customers

Here is a simply view of that journey:

Spend some time on this and figure out how to create a successful customer journey, it will be worth it in the long run. As you can see, what you need to do is simple - but actually doing it never really feels that simple. There’s a lot that goes into figuring these 4 steps out - before you even get started, it helps to know who your target audience is, who is buying your art?

But, keeping things simple is the aim of our game, because when it’s simple, it’s doable. So, here is a step-by-step checklist to walk you through the steps you need to take in order to get your target audience to fall in love with your wonderful art.

Warning: Every artist's journeys looks different. So take what works for you from this checklist and ditch anything that doesn’t work for you. Things might also happen in a slightly different order, but hopefully, the checklist will serve as an amazing overview as to what you should be focusing on and when :)

SUCCESS MINDSET

Step 1: Develop the mindset for success

Having a mindset for success is super important.

You can have all the talent in world, but if you have the wrong mindset you will absolutely struggle.

A big part of this journey is about developing yourself to become the artist you want to be. It’s not just a one-time thing, it’s something we have to do daily. We get to control how we think, how we feel and what we do in response to everything, so let’s be really conscious and thoughtful of this.

Success is no accident, building a successful career doesn’t happen by accident. It all starts with what’s going on inside us:

Our thoughts
Our feelings
Our choices

Chose to think and act like a successful artist, every day, and you will succeed so much faster and with less resistance.

Your Foundation

Step 2: Get clear on your vision and goals

Planning ahead is a huge part of getting to where you want to be.

It takes you out of the grind and hustle and everything is a bit clearer afterwards.

The vision you have for your art career is the direction you want to be heading and what you are looking to achieve.

It is vital to keep a firm hold on what that vision is because when you reach a rough patch your vision will give you the motivation to keep going.

Step 3: Research and understand your market

It’s really important to know your market and know what else is out there, so take the time to research online to find out what other artists in your niche are doing.

They could be in direct competition for your art, or they could be in line for the money in your customer's wallet or purse. Your competitors could be other artists, companies, or even retailers such as home furnishing stores. When you’re researching online, consider what can you bring to the table that others aren’t already.

You may want to look at significant artists who have a similar style or work in the same genre as you. What are they doing that makes them successful?

Step 5: Who is your target audience

If you want to sell more work, get clear on who your target audience is.

So, the first thing you need to establish is: Who are my ideal customers?

Who is going to:

Love your art
Pay the right price
Purchase from you again and again

Once you know who your ideal customers are, everything makes sense, and everything becomes easy, especially your pricing strategy and your marketing and social media strategy.

Step 6: Buy a domain name and set up web hosting

If you have’nt done so already, now it’s time to buy your domain. This is pretty simple to do, just head to any domain and hosting site, such as BlueHost, Fasthosts etc. there are loads out there so just type it in Google. Or if you’re using a site such as Squarespace or Shopify, they sometimes include a domain name with your purchased plan, so it’s worth checking first.

If you want to reach a worldwide audience, try and get a .com domain rather than a local domain just to your area or country.

Step 7: Set up the admin side

There are so many different applications and services out there, so I’m just going to mention a few that we use and love.

Google Suite, is great. You can easily set up new email addresses for your domain. You can download the Gmail App so that you have your emails on the go.

Another great one is Google Drive. It’s so good because you can store all our work documents and files on Google Drive, which is great when you’re are collaborating with someone on a project as all the files can be accessed from different computers, rather than storing stuff on a hard drive.

Asana is great for managing tasks, getting organised with everything going on with your projects and being able to see it all in one place. You can create different tasks for different team members or projects, so you can always check up on the progress. You might not be at the right point for this now, but it’s brilliant for further down the line when you’re ready and it’s also really good to just keep yourself on track with what you have to do.

Google Calendar is another good one if you want a place where you can block out your schedule and tasks for the day. You can schedule your day and set reminders and notifications. It can be really helpful so your day doesn’t disappear from you.

Step 8: Look into the official stuff

This step really depends on where you’re at in your journey right now, so not all of it might apply to you at the moment, but probably will in the near future.

So, setting up your accounting, such as bank account and accounting software is something we all have to do, as we have to accept payments at some point.

Registering for tax will vary depending on where you’re based in the world, so it’s worth getting in touch with a local accountant who can help you.

At some point, you’ll also want to look at registering your business, for example, trading as a Limited Company in the UK, or an LLC in the US, but you probably don’t need to get started on this until you’re fully trading. There are pros and cons to registering your company, so definitely take time to look into it, so you can make a more informed decision.

Step 9: Branding Your Business

The look and feel of your art business is important because it not only sets you apart from other artists but it’s something that will attract your ideal customer. Get really intentional about how you want your website and branding to look a feel, think about what will make you stand out from the crowd.

Brand design helps craft the experience and feel for your customers - really think about what you stand for and your values - all these things will help you to create an incredible brand and shape the personality of your art business.

BUILDING YOUR AUDIENCE

Step 10: Getting Setup On Social Media

Social media is a powerful tool for you to grow your audience. Never before have we had so much opportunity to get in front of our dream audience like we can now, thanks largely to social media. It’s incredible the reach we can have when done right.

Every single one of us can grow a huge following of engaged fans and attract our dream customers through it.

It’s not a question of if you can, it’s a question of will you do it?

I’m here to tell you that there’s no secret formula you need to figure out and you don’t have to create some complicated setup in order to make it happen either.

The key is actually to keep it simple.

There are so many social media platforms out there, it’s really easy to get overwhelmed by them, so when it comes to your career, try and focus on one platform when you’re getting started - and concentrate your time and energy on growing it successfully.

I promise you’re going to make much bigger strides by focusing on one platform than focusing on 5 platforms.

The first thing to ask yourself is, “where is my audience hanging out online?”
The chances are that your audience use multiple different platforms, but you might have spotted that a lot of posts and conversations happen more on Instagram than Facebook. Or you might realise that Pinterest is the place where your audience are going to look for art.

Another thing to consider is your personal preference. There’s no point getting on Instagram if you don’t really like it! It’s less likely that you’ll stick at it.

Step 11: Create a content plan for social media and start posting

Now you know what your #1 social media platform is going to be, let’s figure out what types of content you need to be creating.

Knowing what types of content will appeal to your audience can be one of the most overwhelming parts of keeping up with social media, so the key is to keep it simple.

What should you share on social media?

Make it personal, and let your personality shine through. Here are 6 types of content you could pick from:

Studio and behind the scenes information
Your content (blog posts/videos/podcasts)
Your art
Your inspirations
Your methods of working
Your works in progress

When we categorise it like this it becomes so much easier to manage. We know what we have to create, so we can get on and make a plan to create it’

It helps to see what other artists people out there doing who have managed to grow a big social media following.

Step 12: Get connecting

Being an artist and working alone can be a lonely experience, so I can’t tell you enough how important networking is. Get out there and start connecting with people, because you will benefit from it sooooo much.

Start telling people about your art, not in a salesy way but because you want to connect with like-minded people in order to build relationships.

Share share share and you will get more back, I promise you. People will get to know you, your art, and they’ll want to know more and ultimately buy from you because of the connection they’ve built with you.

There are lots of communities online and offline, so seek them out and get involved. Smart Artist Hub’s Studio Stars membership is a great place to get support. With support and guidance every step of the way.

Relationships are fundamental to building a successful business. Don’t hold yourself back, because you never know who you’ll meet who might help you and I promise you it will take you to amazing places.

You have to get yourself and your art out there - even if you’re an introvert. So, make the time for it.

Go and do some research and write down relevant groups online you could be part of and also look up local art groups. Some things you try might not work out, but when you find something that works for you, you’ll be glad you did this.

Step 13: Set up an email provider to gather email subscribers

Having a social media following is great, but the next important step is getting people to subscribe to your email list, because this means they are really interested in you and your art and ultimately giving you permission to contact them more regularly.

Once they’re on your email list you can nurture them through valuable emails and build a closer relationship with them, and in turn, they’ll likely become a customer of yours.

Mailchimp is a great platform for getting started with this and really easy to use and free at the beginning when you have a small number of subscribers.

Building the Smart Artist Hub’s email list has been one of the best things I’ve done. It’s been the most successful marketing tool because people join our email list, love the content we share and get to know what Smart Artist Hub is about.

Don’t underestimate the power of building a list.

Step 14: Start Getting Email Subscribers

Before you even have a website launched you can begin getting email subscribers, in fact, I’d highly recommend you start building your email list first, so that when you launch your website you can tell your subscribers about it and drive traffic to it from day one!

Getting email subscribers can be as simple as creating a landing page where you tell people about your work and invite them to sign up to find out more.

Step 15: Create Your Website

If you don’t have a website yet, now it’s the time. It’s so important to have an online portfolio where people can view your work and find out more about you.

There are some really easy website platforms you can use such as WordPress, Squarespace, and Shopify.

Step 17: Building Your Audience

At this point, your main focus should be to build an audience of people who love what you’re doing. This will always be a huge focus of your career, but at the beginning, you need to give it your all to build momentum.

This is something you’re going to have to constantly do, and I mean every month, every week, every day. What are you doing to really get your art out there?
Are you doing something every single day to help you grow? Consistency is absolutely key, but artists often forget this, they’ll do a little bit here and there, and then they’ll get sidetracked and fall off the bandwagon completely.

Are you really spending the time to learn everything you need to know in order to grow? Reading books, researching and exploring new ways to connect with your audience. Are you putting in the time each day to grow your email list, your audience, your traffic?

If you want to get good at playing the piano, 5 minutes of practise a day isn’t going to be enough, or even once every other day. You need to be putting in practice every single day. An hour a day minimum will really help you gain momentum and make strides. You have to make time for it and build into your schedule.

GROWING YOUR AUDIENCE

Step 18: Getting Customers

Create a plan for getting your audience to become customers.

Building an email list and a social media following is so great, but the next step after that is to think about how are you going to turn your audience into customers who will want to buy from you?

This is often down to the customer journey: When someone discovers you (on social media or on Google for example) how are you attracting them to become a fan of your work? What will make them want to follow you to learn more about your art?

Think about what kind of content would make them want to become an email subscriber, and then think about how you can nurture those subscribers over time. So, they absolutely want to buy your work because they have got to know and love you over the recent weeks and months.

Step 19: Growing Your Audience

At this point whilst you are developing your wonderful community you still need to be focused on building your audience, adding lots of value and working to attract your dream customers.

This is the day-in and day-out part of your art business where you have to keep at it. Stay focused, have clear aims and goals, and keep going above and beyond to wow your followers.

SCALING YOUR JOURNEY

Step 22: Expanding Your Journey

You need to be constantly looking at everything you’re doing to grow your career and spot how you could improve and develop. You need to be constantly networking and connecting with like-minded people, seeking help from those further along than you, and constantly working on yourself.

This might be through meditation, reading inspiring business books, surrounding yourself with people who get you and who are positive and uplifting.

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In conclusion, your main focuses on an ongoing basis would be whilst creating work:

Working on yourself and your mindset
Staying focused on your mission - always having clarity
Constantly looking to know your audience better - asking questions,
Thinking about what you’re going to be doing every single day to grow your audience and taking consistent action.
Tracking your growth - knowing your numbers
Creating an amazing experience for your followers and customers
Working on getting more customers
Reviewing everything - what’s working, what’s not. Getting feedback from your audience and customers to help you keep growing in the right direction

It’s clear that as an artist, you have to manage many different things. That means you runninng the business aspects of your career, organising shows or selling your work, and marketing your work. - the works.

Pursuing a career in art is a long-term commitment and getting your art noticed by the right people is an ongoing process.

I see many people – artists and business owners alike – who apply a few marketing techniques, only to throw in the towel if they don’t’ see immediate results.

Don’t be one of them!

There is no need to implement all the strategies.

If you put just half of these methods into practice, you’ll find your reputation growing and new opportunities arising.Keep in mind that this is about YOUR dreams and YOUR passion.

Stick to your beliefs and create art which is a true expression of your being.
Follow your goal with all your passion, all your efforts, all your talent, and skills.

Stick to it and you will see your audience grow and the career you have dreamt of unfold.

What are you waiting for?