In this episode, I’m doing something different and sharing my money odyssey from an interview with Parker Stevenson of The Bottom Line podcast by Evolved Finance. I reveal: How my dad taught me to balance my checkbook (and how it was quite different from my mother’s suggestion). How I learned to ask for money by collecting money for charities as a little girl. That I set the curve in my accounting classes at the University of Wyoming. How I gamed the system to get cash because I knew the...

Heather Beardsley’s art has been influenced by extensive travel and residencies in diverse cultures. This started with her year in Vienna as a Fulbright Scholar and then continued for several years until the pandemic shut down her residency in Kyiv, Ukraine. Like everyone else, Heather had to pivot upon returning to the U.S. She used the downtime to her advantage by getting organized and shaping her career path. In our conversation in this episode of The Art Biz, you’ll hear how she managed...

In this episode, I want to start a conversation about one of those things that can get in the way of feeling successful: Money. In particular, I want to dive into income sources for artists. Where does the money come from? I discuss: Why you might want to branch out and sell more than originals. How to categorize your income sources so that you can better understand the possibilities. How to analyze where the money has come from in the past so you can plan for the future. 📖 To read...

In this episode, I talk with Jan McCarthy, who wants you to know that there is plenty of life to live after 50. And even 60. She describes herself as a maker because, in her eyes, that term encompasses more than the word “artist.” Jan has started businesses, founded organizations, designed interiors, organized fundraisers, dinner parties, retreats, and workshops, and made plenty of products and art. Jan and I discuss: The creativity workshops she has organized for corporations. How she...

In this episode, I talk with Sarah Becktel about her sources of income and how she has increased her income by 25% in the last 3 years by being very deliberate about where and how she shows her work. Sarah does sell through galleries, but she has recently increased her self-sales by 400% by focusing on 3 specific types of indoor shows every year. She breaks them down as follows: One indoor art fair, which she considers her solo exhibition for the year Two fine art and craft shows One...

In this episode, I talk with Kimberly Santini about a variety of topics, including how she used Covid as a sabbatical to figure out what she really wanted from her art. We also touched on her dedication to blogging and why she continues the habit after so many artists have given up or neglected their blogs. The bulk of our conversation focused on how Kim uses Patreon to teach and build a community of artists. We discuss: What she charges for her Patreon patron tiers. What each tier...

I can say with confidence that artists who happily embrace their role as CEO of their businesses do better than artists who fight it and wish they didn’t have to deal with the grind. Wishing won’t make it go away. It only makes you more frustrated, anxious, or resentful. This doesn’t mean that you need to fake joy whenever you’re paying bills. It means that you accept that it comes with the territory. You rise to the challenge because you know it’s a necessary step toward achieving your...

While not everyone will be interested in your art, you can choose to focus on those who genuinely love your work. To embrace what is rather than wishing for it to be different. In this episode Cathy Nichols went from 5,000 to 107,000 Instagram followers in 3 years by researching who they were and why they were following her. She shares valuable insights about how she continues to grow her art business with joy and authenticity. We discuss: How Cathy researched who her followers were. What...

In this episode, I talk with Danielle SeeWalker, a Húŋkpapȟa Lakȟóta citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Native American stories are too frequently told from an historical perspective, but Danielle and other contemporary Indigenous artists want you to know that they’re still here. They never left. We just silenced them for too long after stealing their land. Danielle has beautiful stories to tell, from which we can all learn. And she’s dealing with the same stuff as other artists:...

Every artist I have ever worked with would like to squeeze more time from their busy calendars. After all, you are overflowing with ideas. You’ll never have time to make everything you want to make, and that is incredibly frustrating. In this episode I share 8 tips for time management along with 2 truths to consider. 💡 HIGHLIGHTS 2 Truths about Time Management Time management is a lie. Instead, focus on self-management. The important stuff always gets done. 8 Tips for Time Management ...

Artist residencies, in whatever form they take, are invaluable to an artist’s growth. But there are barriers to doing residencies—primarily the time commitment and cost. In this episode, I talk with Shannon Amidon, an artist who has created a residency especially for artists who might be parents or caretakers and can’t commit to a month or more that some residencies require. In my research on artist residencies, I have discovered how helpful it is when the residency involves some kind of...

There's no getting around the fact that you need confidence in your at and in sharing it with others. It's also true that you will be plagued by doubt and fear at points throughout your art career.  It might be helpful to know you are not alone. It happens to everyone, and you're going to be okay.  In the meantime, you have to get through the days. In this episode I talk about 6 tips to help you project confidence while you're trying to regain it.  Load up on experience. Spiff up. Work on...

If you are an artist who loves to travel and explore new places, this episode is for you. I’ve been wanting to dig into the subject of artist residencies for a long time now. Fate put me in touch with Amy Clay. In this episode, Amy and I talk about her life as a professional artist-in-residence. She’s gone anywhere from 4 to 6 months at a time, stringing together one artist residency after another to fulfill her lust for travel and build what she calls her visual library. We discuss: How...

Meeting people and building relationships is the most important thing you can do for your art career, especially when your goal is to be a full-time artist. This means you have to get out of the studio and socialize. In this solo episode, I discuss: Why everyone you meet is a potential buyer, collector, friend or fan. Where you can network, and why you shouldn’t bother with artist organizations that aren’t a good fit. There are many art worlds. You have to decide where to build your...

My utter bliss is to help artists make business systems that streamline their lives so they can spend more time in the studio. So when Skip Hill said he needed a system for following up with his collectors and important relationships, I knew I wanted to help. In this episode of The Art Biz, I walk Skip through the steps to create a plan for nurturing his relationships. We go through these steps to create his plan: What do you want to happen? By when does it need to happen? Or … How...

Before the internet, artists were completely dependent on others to show and sell their work. We need to take a moment every now and then to be grateful for having the world at our fingertips. For being able to instantly send images of our art out into the world. For friends around the globe we would never have met 30 years ago. In this episode, I talk with artist Barbara Muir, who is unabashedly happy about being online. She reminds us of all the good things that happen because we are so...

In this episode of The Art Biz, I’m joined by Kristen O’Neill, a team member of mine and an accomplished artist who recently created a 30-day daily art lesson challenge for her online followers. But in the end, it may have been more of a challenge for her than it was for the participants. Kristen and I discuss what she hoped to get from this challenge, how she organized it, how much of it was planned ahead, and what her workflow was like—including all of the platforms she used to share the...

With nobody going anywhere in the spring of 2020, I contacted artist friends Lisa Call and Janice McDonald to see if they wanted to gather regularly to discuss art documentaries. Our little “club,” such as it is, was in business. To date, we have met 57 times to discuss the art documentaries together. It’s important that we are reminded we’re part of something bigger than ourselves and what goes on behind the closed doors of our studios. In this solo episode I talk about why we do this as a...

Four years ago on a beautiful January day in Colorado, I attended an art destruction party. Two artists were slowing down in their production and wanted to ensure that subpar work wasn’t left for family to deal with. Nor did they want their names associated with that work. Although I’ve been imploring artists for decades to get rid of work they think isn’t of the highest quality, it was still difficult to smash that first pot and tear that first watercolor. In this episode of The Art Biz I...

The vast majority of the marketing we do is passive. We send emails, post to social media, and broadcast podcast episodes. Then we wait and hope for positive results. For better results, activate your marketing by thinking of all the ways you can communicate on a personal level. Yes, active marketing requires more work, but I promise you’ll get better results and enjoy it more. In this solo episode, I walk you through how you can activate your marketing for 5 art business scenarios. Read...

We’ve spent many months worried about inflation and a possible recession that may not ever happen. It would be terrific if we didn’t have to concern ourselves with such things, but the economy affects everyone’s business in one way or another. Today’s guest on The Art Biz is Elaine Grogan Luttrull of Minerva Financial Arts, a company devoted to building financial literacy and empowerment in creative individuals through education and coaching. We recorded this episode several months ago when...

The sales process is rarely discussed in artist circles. We often think of sales as a single step. Either someone buys your art or they don’t. There’s’ so much more to it. Yet, many of us think of sales as a dirty word, which is a bit ridiculous if we want to grow our businesses and careers. Artists need to adopt a new mindset surrounding sales in order to be successful. My guest on this episode of The Art Biz is Miriam Schulman, artist and founder of the Inspiration Place, where she helps...

Your Decision Filter: 8 Considerations for Making Decisions for Your Art Business With host Alyson Stanfield   Read the “almost” full transcript, see featured artists, and leave a comment: https://artbizsuccess.com/marketing-mix   ~ 8 CONSIDERATIONS ~ You understand WHY you are doing it. (3:04) You are willing to devote the time and energy to it. (3:32) You enjoy it or are excited about starting. (7:09) You have the systems in place to support it. (7:40) You are already doing it and...

There are so many ways you can sell your art and so many different avenues for earning money from your talents. I’ve highlighted a wide variety of options for earning money from your art on The Art Biz podcast, but today’s conversation is a first. I’m joined by Katie Hunt, the founder of Proof to Product, to learn more about wholesaling. She has helped thousands of brands get their products on the shelves of large retailers like Target, Nordstrom, The Container Store, and Starbucks, as well...

This episode is a solo episode in which Alyson Stanfield, of Art Biz Success, reveals the details of the new Art Biz Accelerator program. It was recorded during an info session for members of the Art Biz Connection community and includes: 3 Success Workshops during the year Open office hours with Alyson The Salon, a group for discussing art ideas and happenings in the art world  Full membership in the Art Biz Connection community Additional training as needed First posted:...