GROWING A CREATIVE BUSINESS -

Growing a creative business?

Here are a few tips I’ve gathered along the way. As artists, we can all learn from each other and I continue to learn every day. I hope you do too.

If you sell your work online, your artwork looks only as good as the photograph. Collectors want to see how the work looks in a room and know that the colors are accurate. They need to be able to visualize the art in their home, and beautiful photos make your work look its best. I use both my iPhone and my DSLR camera and edit most of my photos in Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop, but there are lots of editing tools available.

If you want to grow your creative business, you have to have plenty of work to sell. The more you paint, (or make, or design, etc.) the better your work becomes, the more you define your style, and the more work you have to sell.

Spend time engaging with other people on social media. Talk to them about your art. Why you create, what inspires you, how you work. Collectors love to know the artist and the story behind the art.
Talk to people in person. If you want to grow your creative business, there is nothing like a human, real-life connection. Host a show in your home, offer to do a pop-up in a local store, or join a local art fair or co-op.

Buy the best quality of paint you can afford. You don’t need every color and every medium, just enough to mix the colors you need. I like Golden, Liquitex, and Charvin mostly. I do use cheap brushes though, but if you are just starting out experiment with a higher quality brush. You might find that it makes the paint easier to handle. Once you know how they work with the medium you use, you can experiment with different types. If you want to grow your creative business, you need to start with good tools.

Keep your eyes on your own work. We all love the inspiration of other artists’ work and I enjoy a scroll through Instagram as much as the next person. But at the end of the day, make your work, your work. Not a copy of someone else’s art. The whole point of creative work is expressing yourself in your own way. You’ll grow your creative business by being yourself.

Know what lights you up, and paint that.
Carve out time. Creativity needs time to play out.
Give yourself permission to play and to spend time doing creative work. See previous step.

Believe in your own voice and what you have to say. Keep painting, or making, or whatever creative thing you do. It’s part of who you are and no one can take that away from you. Growing a creative business takes effort and time. Believing in yourself and the value of what you do gives you the energy to keep at it.

Want to read more about creativity? Or how about my personal creative journey?