THE INSPIRATION PLACE PODCAST
414_Make_a_Living_From_Your_Art.mp3
Miriam Schulman: If you ever looked at another artist and thought, how are they actually making sales? Not likes, not compliments, not vague interests, but real sales. This episode is for you because what you’re about to hear is not theory. It’s not going to be me yap yap yap the whole time. These are artists who are inside my Artist Incubator and my Inner Circle program, who stopped waiting around to be discovered and started doing the things that actually moved the needle. And today they’re going to be sharing with you what works. Some of them were all over the place underpricing their art, depending on low profit craft fairs or flea markets. And if you didn’t even have a real website or an email list, some were still working full time jobs while trying to figure out how to make the transition into being a full time artist. But what made the difference wasn’t just one magic post, one viral reel, Or one lucky break. It was focus. It was raising prices, building an email list, putting themselves in front of the right audience, and learning how to follow up. And maybe most importantly, it was learning how to keep going when their brain wanted to tell them, this won’t work for me, or I don’t think this is working. So as you listen, I don’t want you to think, oh, that worked for them because they’re different. No, I want you to watch for the pattern because these artists all have different styles, markets, locations, personalities, and different starting points. But the reason these artists got results came down to one thing. They stopped waiting and they started taking action on the right things. So let’s get into it.
Speaker 2: It’s The Inspiration Place podcast with artist Miriam Schulman. Welcome to The Inspiration Place podcast, an art World Insider podcast for artists by an artist, where each week we go behind the scenes to uncover the perspiration and inspiration behind the art. And now your host, Miriam Schulman.
Miriam Schulman: Hey, by the way, in case we haven’t met yet, my name is Miriam Schulman. I’ve been a professional artist for over 25 years. I’m the author of Artpreneur The Step by Step Guide to Making a Sustainable Living from Your Creativity, published in 2023 by Harper Collins. And yes, for the past seven years, I’ve mostly focused on helping other artists grow their art businesses. And that’s what you’re going to learn about today. So coming up are Brett and Megan, and what I want you to do is listen for what happens when an artist stops trying to do everything. And finally gets focused. Because this is one of the biggest shifts I see with artists. They’re not lazy, they’re not untalented, and they’re definitely not lacking passion, but they’re overwhelmed because they’re pouring energy into too many ideas, too many directions. Sizes offers, venues different advice from the internet, and then wondering why nothing is building momentum. So in this next clip, listen to how focus changes the way these artists approached their business and how that clarity turned into real results.
Bret Neathery: For me, I was all over the place. Now that I’ve gone through the artist incubator program, it’s been humbling because it allows me to see how if you’re focused, you can actually be successful in selling your art. Because I was frustrated, I felt like I was getting burnt out before. And this allowed me to sort of rejuvenate what I thought I could do. And this was great because it allowed me to really become a much better marketer of my art.
Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan: Before I met Miriam, I was in a full time job focusing on that and very little on art, and really not knowing how to sell and not even aware that I needed help. And when I was ready to make the transition from engineering to art, this program came right at that perfect time to help me. But before that, I was just focusing on whatever opportunities that came to me rather than me going to them, because I was just comfortable in my past job and was not really putting an effort. Being in this program really changed that attitude. Now I go for it. I chase the opportunities.
Miriam Schulman: I want you to listen to both shift, because this is the difference that the right venue can make when you’re in front of serious art collectors, not flea markets and craft fairs. That’s a sales strategy.
Bo Sapphire: Before I joined, I was mainly doing small craft markets or craft festivals, sometimes even still doing flea markets. So there were like much on the low end. Profit wise. And once I joined the program, I focused more on art shows. So I was doing art shows full time. Get rid of the flea market. So I was able to meet more collectors and sell more original work.
Miriam Schulman: This next section is one of my favorites, because this is where you’re going to hear the shift from passive hope to active opportunity. A lot of artists are waiting for someone to find them. They’re waiting for the gallery to call. They’re waiting for the collector to DM them. They’re waiting for the grant, the feature, the opportunity, the invitation to join a gallery. But successful artists don’t just wait for opportunities, they go looking for them. So I want you to hear how Megan went from not even knowing where to send her energy to putting out 15 different pitches, and one of them led to an $8,000 grant, which, by the way, it was initially 8000. It ended up, I think, being 12,000 by the time everything was done. She wouldn’t even have thought to apply for it if she hadn’t started searching. This is what happens when you stop waiting around and start prospecting like an Artpreneur.
Megan Maberry: I didn’t know where to send my energy. I didn’t have a lot of direction, so I was kind of all over the place and not really getting anything done efficiently. And so I was just making things out of a place for love, for doing it and getting in the Artist Incubator helped me sort it out to where my business grew way faster.
Miriam Schulman: And, Megan, let’s just remind everybody you didn’t even have a website when you joined the Artist Incubator a year ago, right?
Megan Maberry: Yeah, right. I owned the domain, but I hadn’t put it out there yet.
Miriam Schulman: And just so you guys know, Megan has quit her teaching job. And am I wrong to say you won that grant that you applied for?
Megan Maberry: You’re right to say I’m a finalist, and then they’ll figure out who funds it when I get on the stage. Yeah.
Miriam Schulman: Megan, who’s being very modest, has won an $8,000 grant that she applied for as a result of the Artist Incubator.
Megan Maberry: Yeah, we had some training about pitches. I didn’t really understand the concept. I guess I was kind of like waiting around for people to message me. And then when I found out the way I was supposed to be doing it last month, I was like, oh man, I’m going to go put out like 15 pitches and just see what happens. And I had to search for who to pitch for. And I pitched for this grant. I didn’t know about it until I went searching for something just pitch to locally. And the grant ended up being the only one that responded to me. And then I ended up getting the grant. I live in Galveston and Houston, and it’s a group out of Galveston called Vision Galveston. It’s a philanthropy group. And every year they put on this program where they put people on the stage in front of a bunch of donors to get their projects funded. So it’s really competitive to get in. So I wrote a grant to use some historical landmarks and make these big couture head pieces and find some underrepresented populations to model them. And then I’m going to hire a photographer and have an art show and then share those results also with our tourism board. That just kind of shows like, this is really the fabric of the island.
Miriam Schulman: Now, I want you to listen to what happened when Brett stopped pricing from fear and started pricing from confidence and belief. This is such an important moment because so many artists tell themselves, oh, art won’t sell for that in my town. My town won’t pay for that. Or if I raise my prices, the sales will stop. But Brett did raise his prices and sold more than $30,000 in artwork within a few months. So the lesson here isn’t just charge more. The lesson is that buyers often take your art more seriously when you take it more seriously first.
Bret Neathery: I saw results probably within 30 days. It was that quick. You know, I started in February, and by June I had already sold over $30,000 in artwork. So to me, the proof was right there. And what Marianne offered. And the first thing I think when we sat down, Marianne, I said I wanted a plan so I could do this full time. And he said, first thing you need to do is raise your prices. I always try to see my art way too low, and it didn’t hurt my art sales at all. Actually, it helped in the long run. It also gave me the confidence to go out and do more big, larger paintings, because I had sort of this mindset that I needed to have everything from 12 by 12 to 48 by 60 in my portfolio. And that’s not necessarily true. What it offered is really what I needed. I needed, first of all, to be on a team of other artists who were going through the same things. I was, you know, the same experiences, the same noise out there being part of the Inner Circle group. I got to hear that, hey, I’m not alone in this. I got to hear how other people were dealing with it and it really helped me in the long run. I didn’t want another boiler plate approach, you know, to how to do this. I wanted something that was met my specific needs, but I also got to feed off what the other artists were dealing with. And I’ve learned so much, really. I think that’s probably one of the most valued part of the inner circle that you get is you’re in a group with other artists that are going through the same issues, the same experiences and the same problems that you are, but you also get to share with their successes. So that motivates me as well. But the other part of it is the one on ones that I get with you, Miriam. Those have been invaluable as well because, you know, sometimes it just helps to just have a strong focus on exactly what I need to do personally.
Miriam Schulman: This next part is the piece artists love to skip and then wonder why they’re exhausted. Can you guess what I’m going to say? Email marketing. Not because email is glamorous. It isn’t. I get it, but because email gives you a way to stay in touch with the people who have already raised their hand and said, yes, I’m interested. So Beau sold an original artwork after following the Black Friday email strategy. Megan built a list of 150 to 170 people who actually interact with her, and Sangeetha set a goal of getting 200 people on her email list and a quarter. And she did it. This isn’t random. This is a system.
Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan: I just want to be clear with everyone that you have to take action based on what Miriam says. So I was someone who did not have any systems in place when I joined, so I had to based on what she said, I had to start a website. I mean, I had to change my website to a better one. I had to set up email. I had to look for publicity. I had to take a whole bunch of steps and create that system before I started seeing results, because I was at a place with nothing was in place. So I want to be realistic that you have to take action. So for me, it took a couple of months because I was an absolute beginner and I started seeing results come in slowly. Like I had to say that I’m an artist because I just made the transition. So a lot of things had to work out for me before I made changes because I was such a newbie, but I surely did. I decided to be patient. I decided to change my mindset. It may not happen in like a month for you. It might happen in two months. For me, it did take a couple of months, but surely I started seeing results. The point I want to make is you have to take action. And Miriam has some great, great strategies, which I loved. That really worked out for me.
Megan Maberry: Well, my results.
Bo Sapphire: Were really immediate. I had to do so many changes. So the first success was to switch my website host to squarespace. And then I had a whole new website. And when I followed your Black Friday email marketing, and then right after that, I had online sale of my original piece, which was the first time because I’ve never sold anything original on my website before that. So that was the first hint. And then I also increased my price of both G clay reproduction prints and original work in the past year. I think I must have changed the price like at least twice. And I’m pretty happy with the pricing right now and it works great. I’ve had returned collectors who came back to the art show to purchase more from me. I’ve had collectors who bought from me in person and then bought from me online later on. So I think email marketing was definitely the biggest change.
Miriam Schulman: Now this next part matters because strategy only works if you actually do it. And the thing that stops most artists from doing the strategy isn’t lack of information, it’s mindset or imposter syndrome, or taking low sales personally, or trying something once and then deciding it didn’t work. It’s telling yourself this won’t work for me because I’m different. My situation is different. So I want you to hear how these artists talk about mindset not as fluffy self-help, but as the thing that kept them taking action even when the sales didn’t happen right away.
Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan: And then I tried to allocate now, like at least an hour a day to just put into practice. Whatever I learn each week, an hour a day is something that works for me. It may not work for some other people, but even if it’s an hour a week, what I would say is just put it into practice. One thing that you learn.
Miriam Schulman: Now, I want you to listen for where the sales are actually coming from. This is important because artists like Love to Overfocus on Instagram. I know you do. I know you really want it to work. It’s passive income. Art fantasy camp. But I want you to hear from these artists who they used art shows, email lists, websites, galleries, framers, in-person conversations, and collectors coming back again. That’s what I want you to notice. It’s not one platform. It’s not one magic place. It’s putting yourself and your art in the path of real buyers and then having a way to stay connected.
Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan: So you went through my website, how the main page should have been, how it can create an impact and what paintings to actually show. For example, I had paintings in there which did not really match with the theme of my current set of paintings I was doing. So there were inputs from you on getting a little bit into it, and also About Me page, even though you did not go into detail like how to like structure it, what was wrong with what I had there? Yeah, a lot of cleanup was done and people love my website now. They think it’s very professional. It stands out really well. It shows me as the brand. They can look at my website and really tell, hey, it’s it’s hers. So those inputs are really valuable.
Bret Neathery: The book is a great resource, and I go back to it quite frequently throughout the process because it just reinforces all the things that Miriam said. You give the opportunity to hear the problems, the trials, the frustration that we all have as artists, and you get to feed off the solution that Miriam offers and you’re like, oh, why didn’t I think of that? And then you can go out and you can do it. We get to feed off each other’s artists, and we get to build our strength and numbers because we can hear that other people, again, are sharing the same thing that we are.
Bo Sapphire: Well, I build my audience with the email marketing. So after I joined the program, I did a few more automation email contents. So whenever people join my email list, so I have all these emails already written and then they’re ready to send to them, you know, weekly basis. And so after two weeks, I would say then they would remember what I do, who I am, and, you know, like what kind of art I make and stuff like that, or more like exclusive contents about my art from the email marketing.
Megan Maberry: But while I built an email list, it’s not giant yet, but it’s enough that people interact back with me. I think I have between 150 and 170 people on my email list now, and that didn’t exist before when I joined the Inner Circle and we did the messaging vault. That part really kind of helps clarify the customers that I was looking for and how I could connect with them.
Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan: I had a few goals. Not everything was directly related to selling a certain amount of paintings or making a certain amount of money. One was to hit an audience building goal, which was to have at least 200 people in my email list within a quarter, so I definitely hit that to attend a certain number of art shows to put myself out there. So I hit that goal. I had definitely an income goal for the first six months. I was very close to hitting that and pretty happy with it. And also my other goal was to change my mindset about how I do things, and it’s always work in progress, but the program has been very helpful. So I would say like, yeah, I’ve hit that goal too.
Miriam Schulman: Megan, I think your goal was to quit your day job. Is that right?
Megan Maberry: It wasn’t initially my goal, but towards the end of my first year in, it became the goal.
Bret Neathery: My goal was sort of the same as Sangeetha and Megan. I wanted to figure out how I could do this full time, and I needed a plan to do that. And so I accomplished that goal be quitting my job at the end of the year, becoming a full time artist. So that’s something that I definitely did. I wanted to see that I could actually produce a revenue stream that would support me. And so been able to do that. And then I think much like Sangeeta, I was I started out with, you know, several different goals, but I really those were the main two that I needed to accomplish. And so far, everything has been working out great.
Miriam Schulman: Tell people how much time you spend on your day job.
Bret Neathery: Right now it’s been a lot. And so it’s become sometimes a little daunting, but I don’t think I would have had half the success in my art business if I wouldn’t have been in the inner circle. Because again, I’m kudos to Marianne. You know, she allows you to sort of push away all that noise that’s out there and really focus on the things that make a difference in your art careers, because she’s done it before and she knows the ins and outs, and I think that’s exactly what I needed. So for me, I spend probably over 60% of my time on my work job. And then when I can fit it in early mornings, evenings and stuff like that, I work on my art, but all the other stuff that goes along with it. You know, the marketing, the selling, you know, working with galleries, those are the things that just are really it gets overwhelming at times. So I’m really looking forward to doing it full time, you know, starting next year.
Bo Sapphire: My most important goal was to, wow is to do this full time and support myself making a living. And I am doing that. It is a lot of work, a lot of traveling, but I’m doing it. So and a lot of the success comes with having a good mindset, be open for changes and hustling. Well, at least that’s what it is for now. But just for the business, it’s just that there are a lot of things that can make me feel, oh, am I doing this right? Like, am I doubt myself about doing this art business full time?
Miriam Schulman: Yeah.
Bo Sapphire: Sometimes I, you know, take things personally, especially if I had low sales or like people not responding to my art. So those were the moments that I needed the mind coaching the most is to just having a reset, recharge and go back to the Zen and then restart. So that’s been a huge help.
Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan: I think mindset is you.
Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan: Kind of overlook it because like, exactly like Beau said, you don’t have the best days every day. You need that mindset, especially when things don’t work out. You don’t have a money coming in due to art sales. It’s the mindset coaching that really keeps you going. Otherwise, you’re thinking, none of these strategies will work if you don’t have the right mindset. So for me, it’s like a life changer.
Miriam Schulman: The strategies work no matter what. It’s just that if you don’t have the right mindset, sometimes you don’t do them because you’re thinking to yourself, this won’t work for me. Or like, oh, I might as well give up, you know? Absolutely.
Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan: I think that’s.
Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan: The right sentence. Yeah. They won’t work if you don’t do it with the right mindset.
Miriam Schulman: So or you do it kind of halfway or you try something once, well, that didn’t work. But really you need to try it more than once to get it to work.
Megan Maberry: Everyone’s really kind of having very similar insecurities and different packages. So like for me, it’s going to be like the imposter syndrome. Should I really be calling myself an artist or it’s the scarcity mindset. So sometimes people are asking questions about that. That’s just slightly different from the circumstances you have. And then you can really listen and think about it without having to even ask any questions in the group.
Miriam Schulman: So Sangeeta, which has been best for you? Website galleries or i.r.l.
Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan: That in-person experience has been the best for me. You can do multiple things in person. You can, you know you’re there as an artist. You can talk about it in person. That’s the best way to sell. You can collect email, which is one of the best ways to get email from people who are actually looking for art, not just from your friends and family or your neighbors. People are there to look at art and buy art, so that’s the best venue to collect your audience and sell art.
Miriam Schulman: Bret URLIRL galleries. Where do most of your sales come from?
Bret Neathery: It’s probably been a 5050 mix from the gallery that I’m represented by, and also just selling through my website.
Miriam Schulman: And then you also got some IRL from when you drop stuff off at a framer. I thought.
Bret Neathery: Yeah, I did local framer took some stuff in and client walked in and saw my painting and loved it and called me up and bought it, you know, before I even got it online. So that was sort of a neat deal too. You had to convince me to raise my prices because I thought living in Springfield, Missouri, you know, that there was a perception that my prices need to be lower than they would in another market. And that took a little bit of coaching on Miriam’s part to get me to really believe in myself and my art, but also that people are willing to pay, you know, a little more for your art. It wasn’t like I raised my prices 50% or anything like that. But, you know, I was selling my big paintings like at $3,500 and Miriam’s like, if they’re going to pay 3500, they’ll buy it for 5000. And so raise my prices up several thousand dollars. And, you know, still I’m selling paintings. So that’s the really, I think the value that Miriam brought was just sort of get me out of that mindset of, doesn’t matter what market you’re in, it doesn’t matter what type of art you do. It’s about having a good messaging and good marketing and you can sell your art.
Megan Maberry: Part of the reason I wanted to do The inner Circle is so that you would push me because I can be a pushover in that way. And you’re a little more no nonsense. And then our latest discussion. We arrived at a price that was comfortable enough for me, but I know I still need to go higher. But you’re helping me get there.
Miriam Schulman: Everybody tells themselves that story. This won’t work for me because I have this special situation. Nobody has a special situation. That is why during the boot camp, I shared the story of Kayla. So Kayla is an artist who lives in Arkansas, and I had the same discussion with Kayla that I had with Megan that I had with Brett, that I had with Sangeeta, that I had with all the artists. She was getting $1,500 for her large commissions, but I knew her collectors would pay more. So she raised it to $3,500. And she had a collector who had previously paid the lower price come to her by the commission at the higher price, at $3,500. And not only did he not complain, but he ended up buying more art from her at the higher prices. It was the same size commission, but she charged $2,000 more. And Kayla lives in Arkansas. She came to me with all these same stories that I hear from all. Like you guys all think you’re original, that you have this story I’ve never heard before. Mary, you don’t understand. People will get mad at me. They’re waiting to buy it at the lower price. I’ve heard it all before. I’m on to you. I’m on to you. Before we wrap up, I asked every artist to share what advice they’d give somebody who really wants to see results. And I want you to pay attention to how practical their answers are. No one says wait till you feel ready. No one says manifested and no one said, post more. They all came back to the same thing. Take action. Apply what you learn. Pick one thing to focus on. Schedule the time and keep on going. That’s the difference.
Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan: The number one thing is you taking action based on all the strategies and things that is in Miriam’s program, because that’s what ultimately works. And I would say every week, pick one strategy that you want to try out and focus on that because there’s so much information and you can get overwhelmed even though there’s a step by step procedure to do this. So based on that, pick one thing you want to focus on for that week or two weeks and really try it out instead of trying to do everything all at once, which may not work for you, and also try to focus on the mindset coaching too, which is super valuable along with the strategies that you’ll apply.
Bret Neathery: If you take the time to really focus on, you know, taking pieces of what you think will work for you and applying those to your everyday. Of being a full time artist or even part time. Like I’ve been this last year, you really see the results and it’s been inspirational for me to really see how fortunate I am to be part of this group, because you start to see the results as you apply the techniques that Miriam suggests. So just, I think just doing it and doing it as much as you can and as often as you can.
Bo Sapphire: Whatever you learn from the program, you have to apply it into practice. So actually like make the actions and make them happen. And that’s the biggest advice I can give.
Megan Maberry: I think to be successful, you really have to schedule out the time, whether it’s you schedule per week or schedule per month. For me, I couldn’t go down the checklist didn’t my brain didn’t work like that. But I did have to go learn first how to prioritize things rocks. Pebbles, sand style. And if you just set aside an hour a week and make it consistent whenever you can, put that in on the weekend or whatever day, you have a little more time, your lunch break or something like that.
Miriam Schulman: All right. We’re wrapping up. Not one artist said, I made sales because I finally hacked the Instagram algorithm. Not one, not one artist said everything changed because I waited for the right person to discover me. And none of the artists said I just needed more information before I could begin. What you heard was focus raising prices, artists, building websites that actually present them professionally, artists collecting emails. You heard artists pitching for grants and opportunities. You heard artists getting into better rooms. You heard artists selling through galleries, websites, art shows, framers, and follow up. And you heard them say the part that most people don’t want to hear. You have to do the hard work. Not all at once. Not perfectly. Not with some fantasy version of confidence where you never doubt yourself, but consistently. So pick one thing. Apply it. Build the system, strengthen your mindset, then do the next thing. That’s how artists make sales. Now, if you’re ready to make consistent sales, there’s so many ways you can work with me. You can start by just getting my book Artpreneur request it from the library or your local bookstore. If you want, you can also sign up for my free masterclass, How to Sell More Art Without being Insta Famous and put in all these practices like these artists did today. If this helped you see what’s possible for your own art business, make sure you hit subscribe. Because every week I share practical strategies to help you sell more art, build a real audience, and become the kind of artist who doesn’t just make beautiful work, but gets paid for it. Now, I want you to tune in next week because I have a really good episode planned for you next week. We’re going to talk about my art website philosophy, which website platforms I recommend and which ones to avoid. And I’m going to tell you why. So make sure you hit subscribe so that you don’t miss a single thing. And I’ll see you same time, same place next week. Until then, stay inspired. Bye for now.
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to the Inspiration Place podcast. Connect with us on facebook at facebook.com/SchulmanArt, on Instagram @SchulmanArt and of course on SchulmanArt.com.
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