Can You Make Consistent Income From Your Art?

Dear art friends,

When I talk to artists, I always ask them what their business goals are. And though the monetary answers I get from people vary a lot depending on their personal situation, the one answer that I get over and over is that people want to make consistent income from their art. So today I want to talk about what that means for an artist, and if it's even possible.

As you know, the thing about being an artist and making consistent income is that it's not like a 9 to 5 job. There’s no regular paycheck. And when you’re only relying on original art sales—which can come very sporadically when you’re just getting started—it’s easy to get into a mindset of lack. Every day you’re just focused on the fact that you haven’t sold a painting in a while. And that is not a great place to operate from or to generate more sales from.

The key to building more consistency in your income is diversifying your income streams. This can look different in every business depending on what you make and what avenues you want to pursue. But a super simple example of this is selling your original artwork online and in a gallery as well. I’m not saying galleries are the answer for everyone, but you can see how now there are two people working to sell your art and two different audiences viewing it. This is going to increase your sales in general, and provide more consistency in your income.

So what does this look like in my own business?

I personally had 17 different income streams in my business in 2022. I know this sounds crazy, but I promise you that it's not. I share exactly what those income streams are and where my money comes from with the members of my Palette to Profit program. But what I will tell you now is that at this point in my business, I always make at least $5000 a month. And some months I make up to $20K. That fluctuation depends on when I release new collections or send new work to my galleries. So from a consistency aspect I can count on at least $5k a month, plus more most months.

This is what works for me and this is what is achievable for an artist looking to get more consistent income. Focus on diversification, and you will get there.

All right. That’s it for today. I hope after reading this, you’re feeling inspired to work on diversifying your own art business. But before that, if you are truly just getting started with selling your art then the first thing I recommend doing is building your audience. Fortunately audience growth and diversification go hand in hand, and you can read more about how I suggest you grow an audience of collectors in the free pdf here.

Thanks for reading!

All my best,

Jennifer