The Artist's Business and Marketing ToolBox: How to Start, Run and Market a Successful Arts or Creative Business

Starting and running a successful art business is just like running and starting and running any other business. To create a vibrant and sustainable art enterprise you need to have a basic understanding of how business works. You don’t need an MBA but you do need know what questions to ask, where to find the answers and have the ability to look at the world in a different way when needed.
In today’s competitive environment there is no shortage of any type of goods or services and that includes art! The “flattening” of the world through technologies like the internet and social media have made it easier for artists anywhere in the world to get their art noticed. The good part about these technologies is that they have evened the playing field between artists with big budgets and those with limited resources and the whole world can now be your marketplace. The bad part is that you now have a lot more competition.
In art school they probably didn’t teach you much about the business end of selling your work or what it takes to run a company. Don’t worry, you don’t need to enroll in business school to get a good grasp of the basics – you will find them this book. The Artist’s Business and Marketing ToolBox gives you real life examples you can use as well as over 80 forms to help you develop your business and marketing plan.
Whether you just want to make a few extra dollars selling your art or you want to make art your full time profession you owe it to yourself to learn about running a business and the fundamentals of marketing. The difference between many successful and not so successful artists may have a lot more to do with their grasp of business and marketing than the art they create
In the Artist’s Business and Marketing ToolBox you will learn the basics of:
· Starting a new business
· Developing your brand
· How to take advantage of opportunities and capitalize on your strengths
· Understanding the business planning process and putting together your own plan
· Accounting and finance that you need
· Becoming more productive in creating your art
· Managing and organizing your company
· Developing and implementing effective marketing strategies for:
o Public relations
o Advertising
o Selling your art
o Pricing your work
o Effective web sites
o Networking
o Using social media
· Developing a Visual Business and Marketing Plan
If you are looking for another book on how to get your work into a gallery (although I cover that as well) then this book is not for you. If you are interested in putting proven business techniques and tools to work for you then the Artist’s Business and Marketing ToolBox is a great place to start. Don’t worry if you think that you need the skills of an MBA or accountant to be successful. Passion, creativity and hard work are what counts the most and luckily most artists have an abundance of all three! Be prepared to put in some time and effort to develop your business and marketing plan and don’t forget to use the creative side of your brain.