If your goal is a life of art and creativity, then learn about business. Why? Because the right business mindset will help you thrive as an artist. If you are serious about taking control, consider this eye-opening business perspective for artistic people.
- Artists are important.
- Creative inspiration is vulnerable. Be careful. Don’t lose it.
- A business-mindset can open the path to an artful life.
Are your eyes open to what is possible? Or are you limiting yourself?
I used to have a bias against the business world. I saw the unappealing side. It seemed far removed from art. But I was missing the potential.
If you think business has to be slick salesmanship, take another look. It doesn’t. You can apply business skills in a creative, ethical way. That’s what this post is all about.
Picture yourself empowered with the skill to guide your life and career path. Imagine creative, artistic business building.
You Must Value Yourself and Your Art
Art brings tremendous value to the world. Creative, artistic people are wonderful.
You have to believe that your work provides value.
If you are going to sell to people, give them something you believe in. You will find motivation by respecting yourself, your work, your audience, and your clients. Ultimately, you need to provide value to people.
This does not mean you should wait until you master your craft so that everything is perfect. In fact, start as soon as you can. Focus on providing value and constantly improving.
Where to Start
Your goal is to maintain your creative spirit and enjoy life. How will you succeed?
Here’s a plan:
- Start creating now. Don’t stop. Build momentum.
- With experience, fine-tune both your art and your money-making skill.
- Learn new perspectives and skills.
- Use the internet effectively.
- Be persistent and adaptive. Your work will compound.
Hold on to Your Creative Inspiration
Discovering your artistic inspiration feels great.
But be ready to fight to keep it alive.
If you don’t protect yourself, the demands of life and work can drain inspiration. Take care of yourself. Don’t end up stuck, apathetic, and disappointed.
Why do people lose artistic inspiration?
- Feeling too tired from other life responsibilities (like an unfulfilling job)
- Compromising too much. Sacrificing personal artistic vision to please others.
- Getting little attention
On the other hand, what keeps the creative fire burning?
Build a Creative Life
Creative people have vision. Whether you are a watercolorist, a poet, or a musician, harnessing creativity and then executing your plan is a core creative skill. Translate this skill into the rest of your life.
Sustain your creativity by building it into your world and your career.
You don’t have to approach business in ways that do not appeal to you. Learn diverse business models. Discover what works for you.
Business doesn’t need to be slick and selfish. On the contrary, helping people can tie into business very well.
Business Philosophies for Altruistic Artists
You can build a business that is good for you and for others. Everybody wins. Here are some basic business philosophies to keep in mind:
Serve Others
Serving people is a fundamental business concept and it is a good, altruistic, smart strategy. Do you want to achieve customer satisfaction? Then you need to you figure out what people need and how to help them. Click here for ideas on engaging with your audience and developing business perspective for artistic people.
Understand People
To effectively serve people, understand what they like or need, and what inspires them to make a purchase. This is where empathy can be a business skill. Learn to connect to people’s emotions. Grow your skill as a creative person by stepping outside your world and thinking from different perspectives.
Innovate
Exercise your artistic mind by stretching your creativity. To innovate, a good approach is to research, experiment, and apply your creative thinking. Stay ahead of competition and be competitive by innovating new ideas, unique products, smart design concepts, clever lyrics, or whatever you do best.
Social Responsibility
The most admirable businesses are responsible members of society. Think about building connections with people and community organizations, which also helps you. For example, many street art organizations connect their efforts to community building. Can your art improve the lives of others?
Your Artful Journey
A few fortunate people find quick success.
For everyone else, success requires vision, dedication and patience. Many talented artists need time to develop and be discovered.
So, if you cannot have instant gratification and you need to be patient, how do you manage?
Find inspiration in the journey. Make a path for yourself that nurtures your creativity. Start now. Don’t delay. Then, fine-tune over time.
Think of it this way – If you can spend some of your time being creative, and enjoying it, you have something to build on. You don’t need to get rich quick. Just find to a way to start earning money. Then build, build, build. Your skill at monetizing through your art will grow, and your artful journey will open up opportunities.
Open Your Eyes to Opportunity
Step one: Believe there is opportunity, and that you can find it.
When I was a young adult, the internet was young too. I was not studying business models or making the connections I can see now, but there was great potential.
Looking back, I know that early adopters to technology had a head start. In part, its because they took action when there was little competition. However, there is something else, and it still exists today – the internet created a whole new landscape of possibilities. Open your eyes to this opportunity.
Please consider the tremendous potential of online business. Think about products or services you can promote online that will provide value to people.
Implement this eye-opening business perspective for artistic people.
Compounding Effect of Ongoing Effort
The work you do will compound over time. So, think of your creative efforts as a giant, ongoing project. Many online entrepreneurs report that after slow growth and sustained effort comes skyrocketing success.
The compounding effect of ongoing effort is precisely why the best time to start is now. If you’ve already started, it’s time to push to the next level.
You don’t need to start as a skilled expert. You need to practice, make mistakes, and learn. The way to get better, and to build an audience at the same time, is to publish content now.
You may have heard that artists need a signature style or must define their audience. Some people emphasize marketing or networking. The truth is that all these things help, but you don’t need to start with everything figured out. Instead, you need to start, build, learn, and fine-tune.
Develop a Signature Style
Your signature style will help people recognize you and find you. You will gain followers who like your style and know what to expect. The internet algorithm will know your style.
On the other hand, isn’t experimentation at the heart of art? Think of musicians who changed their style unexpectedly to make a fantastic breakthrough album.
There is a happy balance – a signature style with room to evolve. So, be prolific. Pay attention to the response of your audience. Learn to understand what reaches people. Let this understanding guide you while you stay true to yourself.
Build Marketing Skill
Marketing is another compounding process because you learn from data and experience. With time, you will see patterns in what people respond to. This will help you understand the needs of your customers and how to help them find you. You will grow more comfortable engaging with your audience.
Build Connections with People
Making positive connections with people is wonderful, both within and beyond business. When people come together to help each other and work together, everyone wins. It makes good sense to intentionally work towards positive and sustained connections with others. This is yet another opportunity to compound ongoing efforts towards a positive business outcome.
Expect Change, Adapt and Pivot
In the arts, the avant-garde are the innovators of new concepts, styles, and techniques. An avant-garde mindset is perfect for modern artful business.
Change will happen fast and it won’t stop. What we can do is be observant, stay modern, adapt, and pivot. The ability to learn with change and innovate in the present will be a great asset.
Closing Thoughts
I love to see people inspired to express their creativity. I encourage everyone to add an artful element to the world.
At a younger age, my eyes were not open to all the possibilities I can see now. But so much is possible. This is eye-opening business perspective for artistic people, designed to benefit anyone who takes it to heart. Thanks for reading.
Published June 5, 2023
