5 Common Artist Fears And How to Overcome Them

Hello dear art friends,

As I talk to more and more artists about building a thriving art business, I hear the same concerns over and over. Today I want to dive into the top five most common fears and show you how you can overcome each one in your own business.

Fear #1: You take the plunge into your art business and won't make any money from it.

This by far is the biggest fear pretty much everyone has and I get it. If you’ve never sold your art before or built a business before, the possibility that you put in a lot of time and effort into this thing and don’t make any money at it is a very real concern. I have so much to say about this. I could go on for an hour, but I’m going to keep it short.

First, if your art is good, if your art is at a professional level, then you can absolutely make consistent income from it. All you need is a plan, the ability and determination to take action on it, and faith in yourself that you will do what it takes in the moment to overcome the obstacles that come up. Now I’m not saying it is going to be easy. But, I truly believe that there is success available for those who are willing to do the work.

Fear #2: Showing your face on camera.

So many of us artists are introverts and we have been told that we need to go live and show our face on social media in order to be successful. But, the thing is you don’t have to go live today. You don’t have to go live ever if you don’t want to.

It is true that the more you can show your face along side your art the better but it isn’t an all or nothing situation. You can baby step your way up the ladder. Maybe you start with a photo of yourself in your studio or a picture next to your latest painting. You can then try some video of yourself working. I still to this day have never gone live on Instagram but I have baby stepped my way up to recording videos like this no problem.

Fear #3: Rejection.

Whether it's applying to a gallery or a show or whatever, rejection is one of the fears that holds artists back most. The truth is there is a ton of rejection involved in building up your art business because it requires you to put yourself out there. But the way to minimize that sting is by 1) only applying for opportunities that you really think are a good fit, and 2) applying for enough opportunities that you aren’t obsessed over the results of any one in particular. Getting rejected happens for so many reasons, but you also have to know at your core that your art isn’t going to be for everyone. And that’s ok. It doesn’t need to be.

Fear #4: You’re not going to be able to handle the success if it comes.

I hear this a lot from moms with young kids who are trying to squeeze in their art business in the margins and are worried that they won’t have enough time to take care of their business if they make too many sales. This is what we call a champagne problem. The solution here is just to trust in yourself that you will handle it if it happens. You might need to get some part-time help, or let your customers know to expect longer shipping times. But if you can trust that you will figure out whatever might come up you will be ok.

Fear #5: You’re not very tech savvy and will have a hard time with selling online or making prints.

This is a problem that can be solved in a few ways. You can either hire someone to take care of the things you just don’t want to touch, or you can take the time to learn yourself. The real problem is that you’re looking at all the tech you have to figure out and piling it all together in your head. And its a big pile. But you don’t have to figure out everything right now all at once. You just figure out what you need to know when you need to know it. Baby steps, and the confidence in yourself to solve problems as they arise will get you there every time.

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I hope by hearing this list you realize that you are not alone. I help artists deal with all this stuff inside my Palette to Profit program. 

All my best,

Jennifer