How To Make Money as an Artist

Photo by JP Valery

My clients are artists who want to figure out a way to make a comfortable living off of their work. This system will help you THINK rich so that the actions you take will MAKE you rich. I've designed my framework to offer one simple way to get this going for you as soon as possible. If we have a brain that favors instant gratification, and a desire to make big things in the world or do cool stuff, why wait? 

It all starts by looking at your finances, in order to ground yourself in something realistic and tangible. Once you have created and priced your product or offering, you need to make sure you can meet your revenue goals.

STEP 1: DISCARD THE STRUGGLING ARTIST BELIEF

In case you need to hear it, you can be successful. You deserve wealth. You deserve what you desire and have 100% ability to make it happen. You can be a prolific and heart-centered artist AND make a boat load of money off of your work. No exceptions or excuses, and no more "struggling artist" mindset.

Step 2: SET YOUR INCOME GOALS

Figure out your minimum monthly cashflow requirement (the amount you need to get by, without having to work a side job). This number includes all of your necessities (gas, rent, healthcare, groceries), as well as minimum lifestyle perks (dinners out, travel, events). Now you see what number you're working with for the rest of the steps.

NOTE…. If your product is priced at $1,000, and your monthly rev. goal is $1,000, you’ll need 1 customer. If your goal is $5,000, then you’ll need 5 customers a month. Important to understand this right now before going any further.

Step 3: PRICE YOUR WORK

This step is important because you’ll be taking a few things into account to come up with this number: the definable outcome for your client/audience, the market comparisons of what people are paying for products within your league of experience and expertise, and the number of clients/customers needed per month to meet your min. monthly cashflow requirement.

Come up with a number that feels good and KEEP MOVING through the steps. 

Step 4: DEFINE YOUR VALUE

This goes for the value that you have put into making it, and the value that your clients will get from having it. Identify your creative process and everything it took for your to develop this (tools, workshops, coaching, schooling, degree programs, throw it all in), because that is all valuable.

Step 5: ACCOUNT FOR TIME

You aren't selling time (never sell your time!), but the time you take counts as value. To account for timing, you can build upon what you know so far: how many clients or customers you need per month to hit those revenue goals. You’ll want to figure out how much time it will take you to service that many clients.

It’s important to look at the time it will take because you want to avoid rollercoaster income months. You spend time marketing and getting clients, meet that number, then stop marketing because you are working with cilents. What happens when your client engagements end is that your pipeline is empty and you have to pivot to marketing again. It may take a few months to get new clients again.

Next, double that number. If you come up with 20 hrs/wk to meet that ideal revenue, then doubling that creates a 40 hr work week. There is a lot of other stuff that you have to do when you run a business: marketing, admin, etc.

IMPORTANT: make sure that doubled number is within the hours that you are willing to work. That is how you create a business that you enjoy!

STEP 6: WORK YOUR SYSTEM THEN REFINE IT

Keep it moving and innovate on your financial plan until you find a flow that works. Give your process enough time to produce results that you can observe, not one or two sales but a succession of results that give you a fair snapshot. 

If the number you come up with in the timing step is way more work than you are willing or able to accomplish, go back to your program or product and ask, can I charge more for this? Maybe it’s not priced high enough. If you can’t, then you need to build in more value so you feel confident and justified charging more (more outcomes, deliverables, product). If you cannot do that, then adjust your income goal and be okay with less. If THAT isn’t possible, and you can’t charge more, then your business is not profitable.

Learn more about my coaching programs, and how to create a collaborative support system that enables you to live your professional or artistic dream with ease and clarity! Click here to learn more.