Nowadays, everyone who has a creative spirit can earn a profit by doing what they love best: creating art. There are many platforms online that allow artists to use their skills to sell their work.
However, having talent alone will not be enough to make them successful. There are other skills that artists must develop and harness.
Whether you want to venture into children’s book self-publishing or want to be a popular webcomic artist, here are the traits that will make you successful.
Be Disciplined
When you have a typical 9-to-5 job, you have a boss or an employer to answer to. You have a schedule to follow and a place to go to start your work.
However, resigning from your work to follow your dreams suddenly gives you so much freedom and many, instead of thriving, buckle under it. Not everyone can say they are most productive when there is no one to monitor their activities. Some, when they lose their regular routine, will slack. After all, now you have so much time in your hands to work, you do not have to keep a schedule. You can work whenever you feel like it.
That mindset is destructive. Every procrastinator knows that not keeping a schedule will make you waste an entire day. You would not get any work done at all.
An artist who creates and sells their work online is a business owner. A business owner needs to have discipline in order to run their business and lead their staff. Being your own boss requires discipline.
Be Organized
As soon as business picks up and you start making a name within the industry, more clients would want to work with you or buy your products. You need to develop a process that will allow you to fulfill orders on time. Otherwise, your life will be a mess. You would miss deadlines and make a lot of people angry.
It is best that you start creating a process to smoothen transactions even before things become busy. If there are tasks that you cannot do or if you want to focus all your attention to making art, you can hire freelancers to work with you for the meantime
Know How to Market
Do not wait to be “discovered.” If you are confident that your work is good, then start learning how to promote it. You do not have to hire a marketing expert to help you out. Observe what other artists in your field do to promote their work and apply these strategies for your own work.
Most importantly, learn how to navigate social media as a business owner. If you need to grow your following, you need to use appropriate hashtags that consumers who may be interested in your work would most likely browse. Join communities of artists and art fans online.
If you have a website, use the best practices of Search Engine Organization (SEO). This will allow your website to appear at the top of search engines which will bring more eyes to your art.
Have the Right Mindset
Being an artist online will not be easy. While you are doing something you are passionate about, at the end of the day, it is still business. You need to work hard before you see results.
As an artist, you need to be patient. Success might not be swift. That is why you also have to be committed. If you are in this venture in the long haul, no amount of waiting or negative comments can make you quit. No matter how good you are, there will always be bad people who want to bring you down.
Not everyone has the freedom to follow their dreams. Give it your all and, eventually, you will find success.
