Are you becoming discouraged by the lack of art sales you are receiving? In this post, you will discover why you should review your art goals and how it will help you to generate more sales.

“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”
~ Albert Einstein

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How Often Do You Review Your Art Goals

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Have you recently looked at the piece of paper that your goals are written on, or are they in a pile of papers never to be found again?

Have you written any goals for your art business?

Many people fail at their “goals” because they just think about them in their head. At that point, it is a dream, not a reality.

When goals are written down on a piece of paper it becomes documented. The documented goals will then be attainable.

I have met many artists who are frustrated with the lack of sales they are receiving.

The first question I ask them is, “What are your goals?”

In most cases, I hear a lot of “ums” and “ahs”.

They are not only frustrated because they see other artists successfully selling art online but also because they have no direction.

They do not have a clear vision of what they want or how they can achieve it.

Having a goal is the first step you must take if you want to achieve anything in life.

A goal is defined as the end toward which effort is directed by Merriam-Webster.

You must have a destination before you can take flight.

If you are discouraged with your art sales, start by writing and reviewing your goals on a regular schedule.

Here are some tools to help you write attainable goals that will build your art business.

How to Write Goals You Can Achieve Workbook

Painting Repeat Patterns by Hand: A Daily Practice by Cleo Papanikolas on Creativebug!

Artist Goal Planners in Light Blue

Artist Goal Planners in Light Pink

Month Goals Printable

Weekly Goals Printable

How To Accomplish Your Goals

Once you have your goals documented you will want to create a plan for how you will achieve them.

For example:

If someone has a goal of losing one pound a week they can achieve that by reducing their caloric intake by 3,500 calories in a week. This is equivalent to about two slices of bread a day.

They have a goal and a strategy on how to achieve the goal. Their goal is to lose one pound of weight a week. Their strategy is to reduce their caloric intake by 3,500 calories per week.

The next step is to review the outcome of their efforts. In this example, they should weigh themselves weekly. This will provide them enough information to rewrite their strategies if needed.

What are the two results the person will see when they weigh themselves after a week?

One they will have lost the weight or two they will have fallen short.

The strategies they have used should stay the same if they reached their weekly goal. If something is working do not try to fix it.

If they have fallen short, they will want to assess their strategies and develop a new plan of action.

You can see in this example why you should review your art goals on a regular basis.

When you review your art goals regularly you will be able to fix any issues in a timely manner. The last thing you will want is to find out is that you have been wasting your time and energy on a strategy that does not produce positive results.

How Often Should You Review Your Goals

If you have noticed from the example above that the person reviewed their goals and strategies once a week.

Why is it a good idea to review your art goals once a week?

By reviewing your goals once a week you will be able to adjust your plans immediately. If a strategy is not working you will be able to tweak it or discard it entirely without wasting too much time.

Here is an example of how your goals can be broken down.

Year Goal
6 Month Goals
3 Month Goals
1 Month Goals
Weekly Goals

This example provides a long-term goal, mid-term goals, and short-term goals.

The short-term goals and mid-term goals will help you to stay on track adjust any strategies that are not producing positive results.

Writing goals in this way will prevent you from derailing and keep you focused on what needs to get done in order for you to reach the finish line.

Here is an example of how a goal might look from the How to Write Goals You Can Achieve Workbook.

This is an example of an artist wanting to sell enough art for a vacation.

We will call this artist Jane.

Jane wants to take her husband on a vacation getaway for their twentieth anniversary. Jane’s daughter just started college, so money is tight at this time but if she can sell enough artwork she will be able to surprise her husband with a wonderful vacation.

She has done her homework and knows that the total cost of the vacation will be $4,000. She has twelve months to generate the $4,000.

She broke the $4,000 dollars into twelve months which came to just shy of $335 per month.

Jane sells her original paintings for $200 so she knows she will need to sell 20 paintings in twelve months to reach her goal.

Jane would have to sell 1.66 paintings a month.

Let’s take Jane’s Goal and see if it follows the S.M.A.R.T. Goal acronym.

Goal – Sell enough art to take her husband on vacation.

Specific – Needs to generate $4000 in one year.

Measurable – It will take 20 sales to reach the goal.

Attainable – Jane already has fifteen paintings completed. She would only need to create five additional paintings in a year and promote them to sell. This is attainable.

Relevant – Selling 20 pieces of art will help Jane reach her goal.

Time – Jane has twelve months to achieve her goal.

Now that Jane has a sharp vision of what she wants and knows exactly what she needs to achieve her goal she can get to work developing strategies that will guide her to the finish line.

Download your How to Write Goals You Can Achieve Workbook.

Jane’s goals are broken down so she can easily see the progress.

Every month Jane can review her goals and see if she is on track or not.

The information Jane gathers will help her to make educated decisions so she can reach her goals and enjoy a nice vacation with her husband.

Live your goals

By reviewing your art goals you will be living your dream.

Every morning wake up with your goals in mind.

Plan your day accordingly.

Ask yourself these questions:

What do I have to do today that will bring me one step closer to accomplishing my goals?

Are there any strategies that I have to change?

What strategies are producing positive results?

Before you go to bed, think about the progress that you have made.

Ask yourself these questions:

Was I able to accomplish everything on my to-do-list?

What projects do I need to focus on more?

What was the outcome of today’s efforts?

What can I do different tomorrow to help me get closer to the finish line?

When you are done answering those questions give yourself a big pat on the back. You deserve it. You are working hard to reach a goal you have set in place.