3 Mistakes New Artists Make

Hey there dear art friend,

If you are a new artist, or rather an artist who is just starting to sell your work, then this is for you. I talk to a lot of new artists who are struggling to build consistent income from their art. And almost all of them have three things in common. 

1) Trying too many different things

I often see new artists overwhelm themselves early on in their journey of building a consistent income. They’ve got a website and an Etsy store; they’re listing on Saatchi; they’re posting on social media. New artists tend to be all over the place and wondering why none of it is resulting in consistent sales.

And I get it. When you don’t know what’s going to work, you do all the things in hopes that one of them is the answer. The problem with trying to do everything is that you get overwhelmed. You have no focus. And you can’t do anything well because you’re all over the place. This leads very quickly to exhaustion and a cycle of second guessing yourself and your art, followed by a decision to try yet another new thing. It’s no wonder you feel overwhelmed and discouraged.

So, what’s the alternative?

Getting focused on the activities that actually move the needle for your business. And I know you’re about to ask “well then, what are those activities?” Which leads me to the next mistake I see new artist entrepreneurs making.

2) Not working with a mentor

Last week, I talked about learning from somebody who is where you want to be in your career. This will save you so much time and energy because the right mentor is going to show you exactly where to focus your efforts.

I can’t tell you how many mentors I have worked with or learned from over the course of my journey. I am a huge believer in learning from someone who already knows what I need to know and cutting out a lot of wasted time and frustration. In my experience the right mentor is always worth the investment.

All right. Let’s get back to the question about what activities you should be focused on right now because it ties in directly to the third mistake I see new artists make all the time.

3) Getting discouraged by their lack of sales

When I see artists getting discouraged by their lack of sales, they often then lower their prices and second guess the quality of their work. The real problem here is that new artists just haven’t built an audience yet. Four out of five times, your lack of sales is due to simply not having enough eyes on your work. Tying to sell without an audience of people to sell to is very frustrating.

So, by all means you should focus on building your audience

To review, the three mistakes I see most new artists make in their business is trying to do too many things, trying to figure it all out on their own, and trying to sell without an audience. That’s it.

I hope you found this helpful!

All my best,

Jennifer