10 Mindsets Of A Successful Artist

Artist Entrepreneurs

The way you think can make or break your art business. Surrounding yourself with positive mentors and removing yourself from negative people will help you to get past any roadblocks you might encounter throughout your art career.

Professional artist definition – A professional artist is an artist who makes a profit selling their products and services.

Anyone can become a professional artist with dedication, hard work, and the right mindset.

Below are 10 mindsets of a successful artist that will lead you to success.

10 Mindsets Of A Successful Artist

If you ask any successful artist what they have planned for the future, they will be able to share their visions and ideas with you quickly.

Successful people live their life as if they have already fulfilled their dreams. They know exactly where they want to be three years from now, five years from now, and even ten years from now.

People who wish they could be an artist have a different mindset. They imagine what it would be like to live an artist’s lifestyle but are unwilling to do anything to attain it.

If you want to be a successful artist, you will need to cultivate a certain mindset.

You might have heard Henry Ford’s quote, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.”

Henry could not have said it any better. Your mindset is very powerful.

The outcome of your life will be determined by the people you associate with and the quality of your thinking.

You have the ability to change your mindset. Over the years you have programmed yourself to either fail or succeed. Below are some common mindsets of successful artists that will help you to reprogram your thoughts so you too can become an art entrepreneur.

Vision

A successful mindset starts with a clear vision of your objectives.

Where Would You Like To Be:

• In a year from now 
• Five years from now
• Ten years from now
• Where would you like to reside in ten years

What Is Your Financial Vision:

• Get out of debt
• generate enough money for vacations and fun activities
• Pay for child’s college
• Support your family

Think about your vision and how it will feel when you achieve your goals.

Live every day as if you were already where you would like to be.

A vision is the blueprint of an artist’s art marketing strategies.

A successful artist knows exactly what they are trying to achieve.

For example, the artist will know:

How much art they need to sell each month

How many prints they have to sell each month

How much profit they will receive per sale

How they will market their products

The vision can even be more detailed than the list above. The more specific you are with your vision, the easier it will be for you to develop a marketing plan that will produce positive results.

Related Post:

Artist Vision and Mission – Online Business

Passion

What you get out of your business regarding financial stability and personal gain is based on the efforts that you put into it.

If you enjoy what you do, it will reflect on your business.

Many jobs are involved in operating an art business. You will have to continue to paint new paintings, talk about the subjects you create, write about the subjects you paint, and promote your artwork on social media.

You will be inspired to write and talk about your artwork if you have a passion for the subjects you paint.

Promoting your art will not feel like a chore if you enjoy what you are creating.

Evidence shows that people who are passionate about what they do are both happier and more productive during work.

It is safe to say that if you do not like what you do, you will not put in the effort to make your business succeed.

Some successful artists create art they do not have a passion for because they do not have confidence in the subjects they enjoy creating. There will be times when you have to remove self-doubt and get out of your comfort zone.

Work towards your passion. After all, success will mean nothing if you are not happy.

Related Post:

Art That Sells – What Artists Need to Know

Planning

If you do not have a plan, you do not have a destination.

Planning requires you to research, compile data, and make decisions based on the facts.

A business plan will ensure that you pay attention to your art business’s broad operational and financial objectives. (Source: Small Business)

For example, if you want to earn money for a vacation, you will have to decide how much art you will have to sell and where you will sell and market your products. This goes back to having a clear vision of what you want to achieve.

Your business plan will change over time. Maybe you have reached your goals, and you want to expand. For example, perhaps you have paid for your child’s college and wish to pay off your mortgage. If that is the case, you will have to set new goals and develop new plans to achieve those goals. 

It doesn’t matter if you are an actor, a writer, an artist, or own a restaurant. Writing a plan that will help you achieve your objectives is the only way you will gain success.

Keep in mind that a business plan is not set in stone. For example, if the plan you are implementing is not showing positive results, you will want to work on a different strategy. 

The journey of successful artists is not black and white. There will be many obstacles along the way, and the vision will change as the business grows. Therefore, your business plan will need to be revised to reflect your new goals.

The artist success stories you read all over social media did not happen overnight. They spent years and many hours of hard work to get to where they are today.

Related Resources:

How to Write Goals You Can Achieve Workbook

Believe

It is so important for you to believe in your business and the business decisions you make. 

Your beliefs determine a significant portion of your life. They inform your decisions, dictate how you react to different circumstances, and even affect how you interact with the people around you. (Source: Entrepreneur.)

If you have self-doubt, you will be discouraged from taking risks, and you will always second guess your thoughts.

Not every plan that you put into action will produce the results you might be hoping for. Still, if you believe in yourself, you will be able to troubleshoot the situation and revise the plan to deliver positive results.

A successful artist gathers information, studies the data received and determines if there is a more productive strategy they can implement in the future. They have confidence in every decision they make because they know that they can alter a plan at any given time.

There is no self-doubt when it comes to making business decisions. All of the ideas you come up with will not produce the same results no matter how great a plan you think it is. Success comes from gathering information regarding the outcome of the plans being implemented and tweaking or discarding the plan to see quicker growth.

Customers

Providing excellent customer service should be at the top of any business’s mission.

There are thousands of artists that are out there trying to sell their art.

One way to stand out from the crowd is by giving excellent customer service.

Take the time to get to know your buyers and build a relationship with them. 

The first component of a marketing plan is to get your work in front of your target audience. The second step is to turn potential art collectors into loyal art collectors. 

Turning customers into raving fans can easily be accomplished by going the extra mile with your customer service.

Happy customers tell up to 6 people about their pleasant experience with a business. These people are the ones who will help you to build your art business faster. 

Related Posts:

• Sell Artwork Online By Knowing Who Your Audience Is Part 1
• Sell Artwork Online By Knowing Who Your Audience Is Part 2
• Simple Strategy For Finding Your Target Audience

Ask For The Sale

To land a sale, you can not be afraid to ask for a sale. This all goes back to believing in yourself and your artistic skills.

It is essential to promote your product and let people know that it is available for purchase.

Tell everyone about the latest piece of art that you have created.

Go on your social media sites and share your art images and provide links to where they can purchase.

Tell your family and friends.

Send a newsletter to your email list.

Please do not show your new art once and forget about it. Sending information about older art is as important as highlighting new paintings

Don’t Be Afraid

During your art career, you will need to try new things to build your business.

Don’t be scared to try something new because you are afraid to fail. You will only fail if you do not try.

If a plan works, you will be one step closer to your goals. If the idea does not work the first time revise it, or throw it away and try something different.

Embracing failure will make you a stronger business owner.

Not every plan you implement will work. In fact, most of them will fall flat.

Creative People who succeed are the ones who learn from their failures.

Did you know he was fired from the Kansas City Star because his editor felt he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas?” (Source: Property Update)

Steven King has published 61 books, 200 short stories, and had over 30 best-sellers. 

But did you know that one of his most successful books, Carrie, was rejected by 30 publishers?   

When something does not produce the results you were hoping for does not mean you failed. It is a learning experience, and it is one step closer for you to reach your goals, that is if you have learned from the experience. 

Manage Money

Businesses are based on cash flow.

You will need to purchase supplies, equipment, marketing, and pay yourself. You need to spend the money that you generate wisely, or you can quickly start to see your paycheck diminish.

Look for the best deals on supplies and equipment. I purchase most of my art supplies at Blick Art Materials. They have the best prices and their shipping costs are very reasonable.

You need to spend money to make money. Make the most out of your marketing plan before you start to invest more money.

Know exactly how much money is coming in and how much money is going out.

Become An Expert

Take the time to learn everything about art and become an expert in your field.

You will be able to solve problems quickly, plan more efficiently, and you will be able to reduce unnecessary stress.

The more that you learn, the more valuable your business will become.

Dedicate time to enhance your artistic skills. Professional athletes and musicians work on their skills throughout the year. An artist should do the same throughout their journey.

There are many online tutorials for artists on Udemy.

Starting an artist business takes more than just enhancing your art skills. Learning how to market your products and services is as important.

You can either search for specific topics online, or you can invest in some online business tutorials. Udemy and CreativeLive have professionals explain how they achieved success.

Pride

Take pride in everything that you do.

You have learned the skills to become an artist. You have learned the skills to become a business owner.

From this point on you will continue to learn and grow as an artist and a business owner.

Be proud of your actions.

Entrepreneur Mindset And Practices

An entrepreneur is defined as a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.

Once you start selling your art online, you are an entrepreneur. You are investing in your business. Yes, selling art is a business.

Business is defined as the practice of making one’s living by engaging in commerce.

So you are in business if you are trading a product or a service for money.

Do not let these words scare you. They are only words describing what vision is.

I already talked about the mindset of an entrepreneur, let’s talk about how to be successful.

Larry Alton created a slideshow for Entrepreneur that explains the ten steps you will need to take to become successful.

The ten steps Larry outlines in his slideshow are:

• Love what you do
• Take baby steps
• Learn from others
• Learn how to self-promote
• Constantly take action
• Make a plan
• Build a reputation
• It’s never too late to start
• Build your “A-team”
• Be mindful of your attitude

To learn more visit 10 Steps to Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur.

Final Thoughts On Successful Artists

These are ten mindsets of successful artists. If you fall behind on any of these topics, take the time to work on them and make them your strengths.

It takes hard work to become a successful artist and build a thriving art business, but you can do it with the right mindset. You can live your dreams. Whatever you want out of life can be achieved.

Success will come when you step outside of your comfort zone. Asking people you do not know for their email address might feel awkward. Writing blog posts about yourself might be a challenge for some. Answering questions at an open house event might be terrifying, but once you get over those fears, you will have the ability to achieve your goals.

As children, we learned skills like walking by trying until we could walk from one side of the room to the other. There was no self-doubt. There was no one telling you you could not do things. You just worked o a specific skill until you could do it.

You have to have the same mindset to become a successful artist. Do not stop trying until you have reached your goals.

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