I have had many people ask me recently what's the hardest business hurdle to overcome in order to take your business to that six-figure level and beyond? I think this is such an important question. I think it really important to address the fact that when we start talking about a business moving into the six-figure range and beyond that we aren't talking about the importance of making money and we're also not really talking about the money side of the business. That's not the topic that we're addressing.
What we are addressing is that fact that a business, in order to not only survive but thrive in this day and age needs to bring in at least six-figures. And the reason we have to talk about that is because artists, especially, don't understand that that is the case and they don't understand the reason for it. If you're not understanding that right from the get-go then you are most likely not setting your goals correctly or accurately monetarily for your business and that's where the struggle begins. And that's where most businesses will fold or flail for a really long time because they are not able to bring in enough. Artists if this is something you struggle with then this episode is for you.
I'm working with the most brilliant artist in my Profit Canvas course right now. And the biggest question that came up at the beginning of Module 3, which is our last module, where we start to put together all your marketing and really start to bring in sales was, "can I actually sell via email? I don't believe it's true." Well, guess what, I have news for you. You actually can and you can do so in a way that is not only ethical but built with integrity and get your people on the other side super excited about what you have to offer and gets them engaged with you more and it makes them trust you as a business owner on a deeper level.
So, are you ready to hear about how that happens and how you can make that happen yourself? Let me just dive into that right now. I'm so super excited to be talking to you about this today. Because it is the hugest myth for artists to think that you can never sell over email and I understand why. Because a lot of people are weary of emailing at all.
Here's something you should understand, it takes people about 7 points of contact to begin to trust that a business is for real. That a business is serious, that there here to stay. It takes people 7 points of contact on average. Have you questioned the idea of selling through email, then this episode is for you.
I'm really excited to talk about this topic today called Email Service Providers. I've had a number of artists who are taking my course, called The Profit Canvas right now, along with other artists in the Artists in Business community writing to me asking me about really important questions about how to treat and approach and use your email service provider in your business with your art.
So what I thought I would do, this is such an important topic that I want to expand upon but for the moment I just want to touch upon some of the most important points that you need to take into consideration as you begin to use your email service provider. And then afterward I'm going to talk to you about how you can get more information on this in a workshop I've put together for you.
So, first and foremost, is your email service provider is essentially the home for your list. You really want to take it seriously because it's the home for all your past and potential clients. Now if this an issue you are dealing with in your art business then this episode is for you.
So it is the holiday season and in fact, Christmas is right around the corner, just a few weeks away. There are other holidays going on at this time of year, as well, and one of the biggest questions I have received recently is from artists thinking that they need to wait till the new year to make offers because they do not want to inundate people at this time of year. Here's the problem and this is the topic at hand for today's episode The Holiday's are the perfect time to make offers to your most ideal clients.
So, first of all, during the holidays not only are people open and willing to listen more so to offers then they are any other time of year but they actually want offers to come to them that are appealing because they want to buy. They want to buy gifts. They want to buy special things for themselves. They want this time of year to be about giving and about abundance but investing in things that are meaningful to them. You have to keep that in mind because if you don't know who your true ideal client is and you're just sending offers out to the ethers hoping that some might stick then that could be a problem. Now artists, if this is something that you have believed then this episode is for you.
I have a question for every artist, of every discipline listening to this episode today. Do you feel like you are in tech hell? Do you feel like your entire business rests on the notion of you being able to overcome your tech learning curve? That honestly feels like it will likely never happen. I have to tell you if that is the case, first of all, you are definitely not alone. And secondly, I want to tell you a story of what happened to me as I was starting my business. The one that you are witnessing right now, Artists in Business, in the very beginning.
When I first started Artists in Business, I knew that I needed to learn a lot about tech. Now I'll preface by saying that I was in the midst of creating my first 6 figure business was a consulting company where I created online marketing campaigns for business worth between 2 to 5 million dollars. I also worked on the business development side of the businesses, where I would help businesses understand who their most ideal client were and do market research to connect with the right clients to pass on to their sales team so they could make more sales. This was a really fulfilling job for me.
Now when I transitioned from consulting to working on just this company full-time, Artists in Business suddenly I realized, oh no I do not have that team in place for myself. I am going to have to learn how to do this for myself. The first thing that artists need to understand, as I've learned, for myself and in also in working with hundreds of artists at this point is that you actually should be hiring people to help you with the tech side of things unless it is your forte. Unless it's something you love to do and it is a strength of yours. If it is not then you should be hiring out. Now if this is something you struggle in your art business then this episode is for you.
So I wanted to talk with those of you today who really want to start your business but have these massive hurdles that you feel are holding you back from actually taking the first step. And by first step, I mean, the first in a new direction. A direction that the opposite or slightly to the right or to the left of the direction you've been going in but has not been working for you. That hasn't been bringing the sales you need to really get your business off the ground. That really brings in the sales you need to convince yourself and give you the confidence you need to believe that this could actually work.
Now before that actually happens, it doesn't feel possible a lot of times. It feels like you might be the anomaly where your work is never going to sell. Even though you know there are so many other artists who have similar work to you or more importantly not as refined work as you who are making amazing progress in their businesses, thriving along the way. It still might make you feel like yours will never get off the ground. But here is my question how will know unless you try. Artists, if you are struggling with breaking through this barrier, then this episode is for you.
Charl Coetzee is a guitar player who has traveled the world playing with some of the most renowned bands on the planet. After becoming one of the most successful guitar players in the world he knew he wanted to give back. He's now the owner of guitarskills.com, which is an online learning platform, teaching guitarist how to play blues and rock guitar. In addition to publishing guitar products, Charl also heads up a marketing agency serving entrepreneurs in multiple markets.
In our discussion, Charl shares his journey on building a multi-six-figure business online after having such a successful career as a musician and how now is the perfect time for artists to build businesses that are not only profitable but create change in the lives of those you're meant to serve. Artists I can't wait for you to hear this episode.
www.guitarskills.com
My coach and mentor is Ryan Levesque best selling author and founder of the ASK Method. A method that helps business owners from every industry discover and connect on a deeper level with their true ideal clients. So they can have businesses that serve people, the right people, on the highest level.
I was honored to speak at the very first ever ASK Live event that took place in Las Vegas just a couple of weeks ago. Now I was really excited because I was asked to give a small talk called a moment of inspiration. The inspiration and drive came from a series of events in the past that helped build my business to what it is today.
The bottom line here is that we don't do this alone. Running a business is tricky. It's not that it's harder than being an employee and doing a great job for another business. It's that the work we do to in order to make it run, successfully, feels like a risk. Now if this is something that you struggle with in your business then this episode is for you.
This week I'm talking a lot about stopping short because it's truly the main reason most artists fail to have successful businesses. In fact, it's arguably, the main reason most business owners fail before their businesses hit the one year mark.
There are so many factors to consider when you try to build a business that matters and actually makes money. The key for a business to survive, of course. But sometimes there are just too many setbacks that cause to have to pause, go back to the drawing board and start again. And that can cause even the strongest and bravest of them all to throw in the towel and give up. But the truth is that those who find a way to keep on going in spite of what anyone else might be saying are the ones that break through and thrive. Artists, if you are struggling with breaking through that barrier, then this episode is for you.
When I first started my business Love + Water Designs I was terrified that the marketing plan I put in place for it wouldn't work. That I wouldn't sell anything and that whole business would fold, leaving me looking like a complete failure. And guess what? It did. All of those things.
I felt, in fact, like a complete failure. For a long time. I felt like every other business owner was looking at me like I had no clue what I was doing, like would never figure it out and like I was destined for failure forever. Terrible story to tell yourself, by the way. So much so that I couldn't see the forest for the trees when someone actually did extend a loving hand to help. And then another. And then another. Before I knew it so many wonderful people were reaching out to help me, in various ways, to get my business back together and running. But when you tell yourself you might never see it happen and believe that in your hearts of hearts, it's hard to hear anything else.
I learned very quickly that maintaining a beginner's mind, not thinking, staying in action and just doing was the key to getting past the impossible voices in my head telling me I needed to revert back to stories from my past. The reasoning on why you should maintain a beginner's mind and celebrate small winds is what I talk about in today’s episode.
Róisín O’Farrell is a successful Irish Artist, passionate about two things: painting and teaching! She teaches anyone who loves to paint how to paint better and how to nurture their creativity. And, she also loves nothing more than to help artists and creative entrepreneurs to get their business mojo going.
She grew up surrounded and immersed in a family of talented artists, which was something she took for granted. She had into a career in Marketing and Customer Relations.
Her grandmother had rediscovered her life in her 70’s, travelling around the world in her 80’s and had her first short stories published shortly after. She showed Róisín that it’s never too late, and her achievements became part of the story of what the women in her family can do when they just go ahead and take the first step.
So she I took a year out and painted, like a job, everyday, and she now has an incredibly successful career as an artist, as well as an online career teaching artists all over the world how to become better painters and build their own businesses with and for their art.
In our discussion Róisín shares her story and anecdotes that will give every artist hope and inspiration that you can build a business with your art, your way.
Ryan Levesque is the CEO of The ASK Method® Company and author of the #1 National Best-Selling book, ASK – as featured by Inc. Magazine as the #1 Marketing Book of the Year and by Entrepreneur Magazine as the #2 Must-Read Book for Budding Entrepreneurs. The ASK Method® Company was recently ranked #462 on the Inc. 500 list of Fastest Growing Companies in America and named the #7 Fastest Growing Company in Austin, TX.
Ryan has used the ASK Method to help build multi-million dollar businesses in 23 different industries, generating over $100 million dollars in sales in the process. And since then, his student entrepreneurs have used the ASK Method in thousands of different industries to launch and scale their businesses online.
In our discussion, Ryan shares his personal experience witnessing how one artist grew his business exponentially by applying the ASK Method principles, and how you can begin to implement the ASK Method to discover and connect with your true ideal clients. Artists, this is an episode you don’t want to miss!
A major force in 21st century concert music, Victoria Bond leads a dual career as composer and conductor. Her compositions have been praised by the New York Times as "powerful, stylistically varied and technically demanding," and her conducting has been called “impassioned” by the Wall Street Journal and “full of energy and fervor” by the New York Times.
Victoria Bond’s recent activities include a performance and recording of two chamber works by members of the Chicago Symphony, a performance of orchestral work “Bridges” by the Cleveland Institute of Music, the premiere of oratorio “The Reluctant Moses” by The Choral Society of the Hamptons, a performance and recording of trumpet concerto “The Crowded Hours” in Chicago and lectures for the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera.
In our discussion Victoria shared the kind of anecdotes that a successful woman in an industry traditionally dominated by men has, and these are words every artist working to stay true to their specific craft in spite of any roadblocks or challenges that may arise will benefit from.
Victoria’s Website- http://www.victoriabond.com/
Shane is an International Pole Dance and Acrobatics Coach & Performer, Speaker and Podcast Host from the UK, although he started as a fitness instructor. With a passion for helping his clients as much as possible, he stumbled upon Pole Dance as a fitness program and saw immediately how much it helped build strength and confidence in those who were practicing it on both the inside and outside.
From there, Shane began to teach Pole Dance workshops, building a following of students who were experiencing incredible transformations in their lives. He now has an international following and teaches workshops all over the world.
In our discussion, Shane shares how taking the road that felt right in his heart, but didn’t necessarily make sense in the moment, led him to a career and business he could have never anticipated.
Artists, if you feel your work might be too “niche” to grow into a business, this episode is especially for you.
André Aciman is the author of several novels, including Call Me by Your Name (winner, in the Gay Fiction category, of the 2007 Lambda Literary Award) and a 1995 memoir, Out of Egypt, which won a Whiting Award.
Born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt, he is currently distinguished professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where he teaches the history of literary theory and the works of Marcel Proust, and has at New York University, Princeton, and was a visiting distinguished professor at Weselyan University.
In our discussion, Andre so graciously shares the story of how writing became his career, and so became his “business” in spite of the direction he thought his career was going to take. He found this path when he began to listen to a few people who encouraged him to follow what was in his heart who seemed to recognize what that was before he did.
If you know you’re an artist who has a burning desire to turn toward the work that comes from your heart of hearts because you know it will serve more people than you could otherwise, this episode is for you!
Lin Eleoff is the kind of lawyer who wants to help you avoid having to hire a lawyer. She wants to show you ways to do the legal stuff yourself so that when you’re ready to hire a lawyer, you’ll have done most of the work already.
Ultimately, her mission is to empower you by informing you how to run an online business that’s not only compliant with the law but also keeps the bad guys out–the ones who stalk online entrepreneurs who don’t bother to protect themselves because they think they’re not big enough to be seen. Internet thieves are looking precisely for business owners who are exposed.
Artists, if you are wondering when the right time is to look into the legal side of your business, this episode will help you get everything taken care of, fast and right, so you don’t have to think about it anymore.
Matthew Kimberley is the creator of Professional Persuasion and author of the self-help classic, How To Get A Grip. He trains sales teams and helps very small personality-led businesses get more customers. In our discussion, he shares his top ways artists can begin to grease the wheels of selling more on a regular basis by doing something every artist is born to do: sharing your work with the right people on a regular basis.
Artists, if your fear of selling is seriously holding you back from growing your business, this episode is for you!
After years as a fashion photographer, Jonas Leriche felt a greater calling. It was time for him to take a journey inward toward a transformation as an artist and photography was the only way he felt he could make this journey.
After quickly becoming one of the most sought-after artists in Europe and the U.S. and building his art business through incredible relationships with galleries combined with his ability to reach his ideal clients on his own, delving into the rich layers of his photographs enables him to connect with deeper layers within what he describes as his authentic self. His ultimate wish is that his art will also awaken his viewers to a process of reconnection with what is essential to their own lives.
For those of you who are looking for inspiration on taking your art to the next level of business growth by staying true to your purpose and vision as an artist, this episode is for you!
Christina Empedocles is an artist, illustrator and designer turned personal finance expert, focused on helping other artists and creatives build stable financial lives to support themselves and their families and their incredibly important work.
In our discussion, we talk about how it is possible to work both sides of the brain as an artist to build a business that supports the work you are meant to create in the world and serves those who resonate with it on the highest level.
This is an incredibly motivating, inspiring episode you don’t want to miss!
Christina’s Links:
http://www.insightpersonalfinance.com
Christina’s Book Recommendation:
Stephen Greco is an editor, cultural journalist, and author. His most recent novel is Now and Yesterday, published by Kensington. A former editor of Interview and Trace magazines, Stephen has consulted for advertising agencies, not-for-profit arts organizations, and individual artists and entrepreneurs.
In our discussion he so graciously shares stories and anecdotes that help contextualize two sides of the table when it comes to running your business with your art: the business side and the artistic side. I promise, this is an episode you don’t want to miss!
Beth Inglish is a contemporary abstract artist who creates expressive work by connecting to the energy that resonates from her spirit. Creating art became how she learned to communicate and it gave her the outlet to find her voice. In her paintings, Beth uses line and color to share her story of transformation and paints from the abundance of her joy.
Beth is also the founder of Nashville Creative Group, a community dedicated to support, help and cultivate community for the artists of Nashville. In our discussion Beth shares how she was able to grow this community into one that artists from all over the country would like to become a part of.
I got an email from a really dear, sweet artist in my community the other day who is so kind and so nice at all times. And has the most lovely offers in her business that she is just getting up and running. She is in the Emergent stage, which means she just started to sell her work in her business but she hasn’t gotten to a point of consistency yet. So she is selling sporadically but she is building. Her whole focus is on marketing because in the Emergent faze it’s important to focus 80% of your efforts in your business on your marketing so that you can do two things. Consistently get the word out about your work and that you are here to stay and continuously discovering and refining the ‘what you know about your true ideal clients’.
However while building your business mistakes can happen, which occurred to this artist, but what you do from that mistake can help grow your business. The question on what value can you give your most Ideal Client when a mistake occurs is what I talk about in today's episode.
Our brains are wired to feel a certain comfort level around a certain amount of money based on what we’ve been accustomed to in the past. So when we begin to make more than that in our businesses, our brains can view that as a threat to what it is used to.
This causes more artists to stop building their businesses than you can imagine because they don’t know how to get past that certain level of comfort in order to allow for more cash to flow in.
I doubted this when I first started my business but as I learned first hand how true this really is, I started to find ways to identify when I was self-sabotaging my own success so I could consciously turn that around to make the amount of money I was at first uncomfortable with. I share some of the most powerful tools I used to accomplish this in today’s episode so you can use them for yourself as you continue to grow your business with your art.
When I work with artists who aren’t sure why they’re not connecting strongly with their most ideal clients, the first question I ask them is “have you been working on your ideal client pick up line?”.
When they look at me as if they have no idea what I’m talking about I explain that if they’re not working to connect with their ideal clients by testing out lines on them then they’re not doing their job, and their clients are never going to notice them.
It’s our job as business owners to take ownership over our own need to connect with our clients on a regular basis, and if we’re not then we’re going to leave our businesses to suffer.
It’s easier than you may think to come up with lines that work- and I have five for you to use and adjust to suit your unique circumstances, which is what I share with you in today’s episode.
Finding the cash you need to start your business with your art or take it to the next level of growth can be the most daunting, overwhelming feeling that can easily send every artist into a state of chaos and panic, and, in many cases, cause them to give up entirely.
The fact of the matter is that as artists we are business owners by default but we are rarely taught or have the formal training to run our businesses like an entrepreneur, so we not only don’t have the right tools to begin but we usually don’t have the right mindset to take on learning those tools that will help us implement them and begin to see results.
Luckily, there is a remedy for this that involves staying true to your Vision and Mission as an artist and acquiring the skill set you need, quickly and simply, to begin building a business that is meant to last for both the short and long term.
In this episode, I share my story of how I first learned to find the money I needed to produce my first show in NYC, which lead me to understand how to shift my mindset from an employee to business owner overnight. I can’t wait to share it with you and support you as you continue to do the same in your own business with your art.
Want to take part in a simple Challenge that will show you how to connect with your most ideal client while finding the money you need to invest in your business the right way, to see inevitable growth?
Go to bit.ly/artmoneymagic to enroll, and you will receive details in your email inbox on how to participate immediately. I can’t wait to see you there!