10 Ways You Can Grow Your Art Business

1. Introduction: Imagine this. Imagine seeing your designs on prints, cards, mugs, T shirts and more. Imagine earning income from what you love to do. Creating art. Imagine selling products and having them drop ship directly to your customers. Know inventory. No shipping, no hassles. So just all of this excite you. Does it get you excited? I know. I just even think it was possible. Like what I could. I could really do all of this. And now it's happening. My name is Shelly Hits. I'm a lettering artist and watercolor artists, and it was just a little over two years ago that I really got in to art myself. I was writing my book Broken Krantz, still color of an author of over 40 books in Author, Coach. And so I have a whole other business where I do that. But I was writing a book, Broken Krantz still color, and I wanted to include adult coloring pages. I wanted to hire someone, and I just sense the Lord saying, You do it, I'm like me, I can't do it. I'm not creative And I created seven coloring book pages for that book, and the rest is really history. I mean, here I am now with the thriving art business. I had my first online business in 2000 and four as a side income and then went full time in 2011. I have the entrepreneur bug in me, you know, that's who I am. That's what I do. And so I applied it very quickly to my art. And now I'm gonna teach you how to do that as well. 2. 4 Foundational Keys: one of the things that they don't teach you in art school is marketing right? I myself himself taught. But I know a lot of artists that went to our school and that never ended up doing anything with their art because one thing they didn't teach was marketing and business. And I was talking to an older couple. They're retired now in our church, and they were both. They both went to our school, and the woman in particular, she ended up into a career that really drained her creativity. She didn't end up using her art, and she was like, Shelly, you know, um, I just can't believe you're actually earning money doing this and that you can't, you know, can do this and make it And I said, Well, I just really believe one of the things that's really missing for artists, especially if you go to our score. Whatever you're doing is really understanding the business side of it, the marketing side of it, and with especially now in this day and age. Today we have the Internet, we have online opportunities, go lore, and so there's so much more opportunity. But how many of you feel like you still need some business and marketing skills to something that can be learned. But so many of you just have never been taught. And so part of what this is's in equipping in an empowering just to teach you some of these skills and just open your mind to what might be possible with your art. So there's four foundational keys before we get into the 10 ways that I've earned and come through my art and you can, too. I want to start off with four foundational keys that are gonna be really important as you just even think about or start a business. One of my mentors, not Tommy. He talks about that. When you're on artists and you're building a business, it's like you're on a bridge. It takes time to build a business. It's a process. Any thriving business has gone through steps. I started my first website in 2000 and four. I did not go full time and quit my job as a physical therapist until 2011. That was seven years, and so you know, sometimes it can be accelerated and it could be a lot faster then that And that's what I pray for, all of you, that God just gives you an acceleration. But just know that it is a process. It takes time, and it being in that mindset, you It helps you to avoid discouragement and disappointment. How many of you have ever felt discouraged or disappointed when trying to grow in our business? I know I have, like, I tried something and it felt like it failed miserably. I didn't even earn back the money I had spent, and I was just ready to give up altogether. And I was getting ready to go to a mastermind in March for my our business. And I felt like the Lord immediately was like, Shall you only tried one thing. You only tried one thing one way, and you're ready to give up. I think it's just it takes so much courage to be an artist. Do you guys agree? Takes courage to be an artist and to put yourself out there and to take those risks and you know, to take those steps of faith. And it's so easy to get discouraged when that failure comes, or when something doesn't happen as quickly or when we want it to happen. And so I just want you to to be reminded that this is this is a process and you're on a bridge and that there's layers. I have built my business in layers, so people that know me well know that you a lot of things and they're just like Shelly. How do you do everything that you're doing? Or maybe you have a lot of interests in art or other things, But I think artists aren't actually creative. We're naturally idea people. We naturally like. We We come up with different businesses and ideas all the time and being a creative entrepreneur. Whoa. When you're building a business, you know, if this is a hobby, then yes, you can just try and do all sorts of things. But if it's a business, there really is wisdom. And having focused, I love this acronym. I don't know who came up with it first. What? I teach this all the time. Follow one course until successful. That's an acronym Focus. Follow one course until successful, and I also want to add at an profitable. So if you're trying to work on a business and you're working on it and you're working on it . And then all the sudden you get another idea and you're like, this one hasn't even become successful or profitable yet. And then you start working on this idea and this idea hasn't become successful and profitable. You start working on another. Can you see how it's gonna be hard to get mo mentum in any one direction? And so I'm gonna be giving you a ton of ideas. We're gonna be talking about a lot of different things. I'm not saying that you have to go and do all of these today. Does that make sense? So for me, what I have done is it's been layering. So I started with art. We started with a new online business with websites, things like that affiliate marketing. Then I started with our publishing company and that was then successful and profitable, then added author coaching that was successful, improbable, then added. They are so you know what it means. So it's like and now I have a team of six people that work for me in some sort of part time capacity. Some are more than others, but I have a lot of people helping me do what I'm doing today because I was able to just layer and add one thing at a time. And, of course, like there's been moments where the overwhelmed sets in and I am like, you know, Okay, what am I supposed to be doing? But that's where we come back and just press into God and ask him, Where is it that you have me for right now? There's often seasons because, like even with our art, their seasons, like we're coming into a big, big selling season for art, it's Christmas. It's black. Friday, it's It's a time when a lot of people wanna by art, and it's a season to sell art. But then afterwards, like in the summer, sometimes it gets a lot slower. And so it's good. You should know, like there's layering their seasons and then to diversify, so to create multiple streams of income. You know, if you're relying on one source of income alone, that can be kind of risky, especially with our, which is typically sales, you know, it's it's a you know, type of business that relies a lot on sales, and they can Sales can come and go like pretty much our entire business. My husband and I relies on sales, and so because we have so many strings of income coming in, God is just able to revive for us in different ways. And sometimes if this stream of income is less one month, it seems like then he'll, like, bless this one, and this one's better. And so it's really great as an artist to really consider and having those multiple streams of income. Then I would encourage you to be willing to put yourself out there. How many of you have have not posted online consistently yet about your artwork or what you're doing as an artist? One of the biggest things I think that has helped me to grow my our business is just putting myself out there. I was talking to a local artist recently, and she was like, Shelley, I just can't believe things are just taking off for you. You know, I've been selling my original art. I'm I'm, you know, doing all of these things. I'm my Etsy shop is taking off. I am, you know, publishing art books and there's all of these things happening and I told her. I said, You know, I think part of this. I'm just unwilling to put myself out there. And now you know, my friends and followers and people who know me are like, Oh, Shelly's like, open to commissions or she's selling her artwork or, oh, I want something you know from her and and so I just want to encourage you today. This is my challenge to you. If you don't yet have an INSTAGRAM account to set up in its degree of my cones, search on YouTube how to do it or whatever you need to do. Get a teenager to help you but set up in instagram account and start posting consistently. It was in November. It was november 5th 2016. I looked it up. Yesterday I started posting daily to a brand new art Instagram account. You know, I now have over I don't know 8000 followers, and I've met a lot of you on Instagram. I've met so many friends I've had on people com and want to buy my art because I'm posting it out there. It's scary. I get it. It's scary, but when you put yourself out there There's so many more opportunities that can come. So, my friend shape Bynes of kingdom driven entrepreneurs. She says God can't direct. Ah, parked car. Let me have that sink in a minute. God can't direct apart car. Sometimes you just need to take those steps. Sometimes you just need to do something you to take those steps and you to put yourself out there. And then God will start directing you. He will start giving you okay now I wish to go here much to go there with Sometimes we just needed get the car started a men and a really, really easy way to do that for any of you is whether or not you have an instagram or Facebook. Either one Those both of those air. Great. Start posting regularly and start sharing your art. And I started sharing when my art was awful. Like I didn't know it at the time. I just was excited, you know? And I was just sharing and but you could scroll back of my your creative adventure. But I love that, though that it's there because it's part of my journey. It shows my progress. It shows all of the the growth that I've had is an artist. And, you know, I just started posting consistently my husband's grandpa. When we saw him the last time, he had a question for us. He says so are you working? And, um, you know, I said, Yeah, yeah, we have our own business and we're doing this and this and this and this and his response was, Oh, so you don't have a job? I was kind of taken aback, and I was like, What? Yeah, of course I'm working harder than I've ever worked in my life. How many of you realize that when you are working, whether it's part time or full time as an artist, a lot of people will not get you? A lot of people will not understand. A lot of people will give you that deer in the headlights look like What? You're an artist? What? How does that work? How are you making income with that? And, um, you know, my my girl is like, you have to have job. You have to retirement and you have to have this. You have to have that. When I was a physical therapist, I worked as a physical therapist for 12 years. I went to medical school, left brain, but God's waking up my right brain. Amen. And when I was a physical therapist, I got instant respect from Grandpa, but also from anyone I would talk to you. They say, Oh, what kind of job do you have? What do you do? And when I say physical therapists, instant respect. But now that I'm a writer and an artist and I make a living doing that, people are like they look at me like I have two heads or they look at me like, How does that work? And so how many of you are have just a little bit of fear of what people will think? If you really start taking your art business seriously and it, it really becomes a significant side or a full time income? Have you ever had that fear of what people will think? But I want you just to think about it like Is there anything? Maybe something someone has said to you? Um, Julia Cameron, the of the artist's way. She calls him creative injuries. Sometimes we've had a creative injury, a voice of someone somewhere along the way. That's like you can't do this. So that's not good enough for who are you to do this Or, um, art artist isn't a real job, right? Like Grandpa, it's a real job. You need to go and get a real job. I'm like I am more fulfilled. I am happier than I have ever been in my life, adding art to my career, being an artist. And, you know, I just didn't let it bother me. But, you know, there will be people that will try to shut you down. Or or there may be those voices from the past that may come up and say, Why even try? You know, you just need Teoh. You know, stick with your real job. Just stick with what you know and, you know, that's kind of where I was earlier this year. It's like, OK, I think I'll just stick with what I know and what I've been successful in. And so just something toe to think about, because fear can stop us from pursuing our dreams. Fear of what others think. You're a failure, fear that we aren't talented enough fear that we won't make enough money, which is scarcity. And so I want you to really think about, like, what is the root of a fear that you feel like when you start thinking about having a business full time? Maybe it's a fear of the bookkeeping. Or maybe it's a fear of how am I gonna keep up with orders once they start coming in? What is the fear that holds you back? Put it out there, toe, identify it and say I recognize that you're here. But I am not gonna I'm not gonna listen to you not listening to that voice anymore. I'm gonna listen to the voice of God. Who says you can do this? You can do all things through Christ. Who gives you strength? You are more than a conker. I have given you gifts I want. I want you to let your light shine. I don't want you to hide anymore. I don't want you to let fear stop you anymore. I don't want you to let fear hold you back anymore. This is a quote that I I painted and I let her. It says courage is fear that has said its prayers. So a lot of times I still have fear. I have fear. Every time I post something on Instagram, you know that fear. It doesn't always go away. But what I'm realizing. I heard someone say a spear is excitement without breath. So a lot of times when we feel that fear, it's actually more of an excitement. You just need to breathe into it. And courage is fear that has said its prayers. And so a lot of times I'll just say, You know, I just need to do it Afraid And I just want to encourage you to go out, begin posting your work, begin doing the things begin learning the skills that you need toe learn business and marketing. Is there learned skills? We don't have to be afraid of that. We can learn little by little Layering by Larry were on a bridge slow and steady wins the race, right, Go out and do not hide your your light Let it shine. There is someone right now that needs the joy in the gift that your art can bring. And you don't have to be a starving artist, So I cannot tell you how many people since I have told them what I'm doing in my business and how it's growing. Tell me that I can't make money doing this. Have you ever been told that I cannot tell you how many people told me You can't make money ? Is ours how you know you can't do that? You can't have a career. You can't do what you you can't can't get kick it And it's this starving artist mentality And I'm like, but I'm doing it and I've only been doing art for 2.5 years. Uh, if I can do it, you can do it. If we can do this together, right? We're in this together, and so you don't have to be a starving artist. So why listen to me? Well, I started earning income as an artist in December of 2016 and so far this year I've earned over $26,000 as an artist or about 2900 month. So it's not a full time income yet. I'm not making millions of dollars, but I am making ah, significant income with my art. I've had an online business since 2004 so I've been in business since 2000 and four and then my husband and I have been full time entrepreneurs since 2011. Let me explain what this means. Neither of us have other jobs. Like my husband took kind of like a side job for a little while, you know, back in 2012. But like since 2011 like neither of us have had a study pay track, like for with another job. Like we're both doing this. I know a lot of artists there, you know, their spouses air still have a full time job. And all of this stuff, like we don't like this is what we do. So when I say that like, I'm a full time entrepreneur, I mean, like, we my husband and I like this is our This is all that we do. So, um, you know, that's kind of, um, one thing I wanted to mention. And then what? You'll learns 10 ways to earn income as an artist. Believe me, if I can do this, you come to how diversifying your income can help you grow in our business much faster. You may struggle if you're only relying on one income stream, and then I'll share one thing that tripled my earnings on commission artwork and much, much more 3. Option 1: Sell Original Artwork: the 1st 1 is the most common. It's to sell your original artwork, and also as we go the power point, I've underlined the word that you'll fill in on your worksheet that way, like you can just follow along really easily. So this is what most people think of when they think of being an artist. Is just selling your original artwork. You get to create what you want. You create your own designs your own paintings, your own from your imagination. You know, you create the artwork and then you sell your original artwork. You can sell it online at art shows or in art galleries. So I'm gonna just share case studies as we go along, because these are actually things that I have done. Personally, I'm not just I didn't just do a bunch of research and and just regurgitating something. These are all things that I have personally done. My step of faith was we have a local watercolor society group and they were having an art show, and they commissioned me to create a hand lettered sign for their art show. And I was like, Sure, I could do that, you know, and I created the sign for them. I brought it to the meeting, but I wasn't gonna enter the show because I wasn't good enough. My art wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to be in a show. Have you ever had those thoughts before? So I what? To the meeting that night? And I brought the commission piece. You know, it's said, you know, the Pikes Peak watercolor Society on it and all of that, and I just kept on seeing Put a piece in the show, put a piece in the show, and it was a small, small artwork show so you could do something small, so I I just couldn't shake it, So that was in a Wednesday. So on Saturday, I just sat down and I was like, I just painted a floral piece, a watercolor floral piece. Five by seven. It could be small. And then my friend from the Pikes Peak Watercolor Society helps me frame it. She dropped. She helped drop it off for me because I was on my way to the artist master right. A entered a piece in the show, and then I put myself out there online, and I posted on Instagram a picture and I posted on Facebook a picture of the painting, and I talked about entering into the art show and I said, My husband mentioned if it doesn't sell well by several people were like, Well, if it doesn't sell, I want to buy it I was like, Really? Because it that boy and I just I wasn't selling my own work. I was still I was teaching, but I wasn't selling. And so the our show came a went and I didn't sell in the art show, which only a few pieces did. But then afterwards I contacted those two people and I said it didn't sell. Would you like to buy it? Both of them said yes. So I painted a 2nd 1 and when I painted the 2nd 1 I painted 1/3 1 so they could choose which they wanted. And when I painted the 3rd 1 I posted on Instagram reach out to me. She's like, Can I buy that one? And that she got the 3rd 1 That one stuff of thing led to selling three paintings, which then I was like, Oh, people actually want to buy my artwork. Oh, and then it lets you reviving my Etsy shop and then toe where I am today. But sometimes it just it requires a stuff of faith. 4. Option 2: Sell Custom Artwork: two is to sell custom artwork, so custom artwork is different in that you know, people get to choose what they want. People love custom artwork. They love commissioning you for a piece, especially if you're a lettering artist like you can customize to their name. You can customize so much their favorite Bible verse, and they love that. But it's not your specific imagination and design. But when you do commissions and you sell custom artwork, it's important to know your limits and what you can and can't do or what you want to do and don't want to dio. And to really be able to have a good understanding of what you'll accept and what you won't . I'm sure your case study of my learning experience with commission work. I have been commissioned for different art pieces, and there was someone locally that reached out to me, and she was like Chile. I have someone that wants me to make something, but it's more about lettering, and I just don't think it's for me. And I ended up combi on a phone call with him, and he told me what he wanted and, you know, he was wanting to create something that would he would Then, you know, you make some prototypes, sell some of those and then his school and goal was to sell it to a place like Hobby Lobby or Mardell or something like that. And I was so honored that he would consider me and I was just so excited cause I started selling work. I started getting commissions and I just I said yes, I was like, Yes, yes, that sounds good. This is exciting, you know? I got into it and I gave him the 1st 1st 2 rounds of edits and I was like, Whoa, I'm way in over my head because what he wanted and my skill level at that point, it was just not matching at that point. And at first I was really disappointed and I was really discouraged in myself, like I'm not good enough. And it's like, No, this is just not the right fit. Does that make sense? Sometimes it's just not the right fit. And so I ended up having a really good conversation with him, and I just shared with them. I said, You know, I know someone who's been a lettering artist for 40 years that I really think could give you the depth and the experience that you really need on this project. How about if you just pay me for these initial sketches that I gave you and I can refund you? The rest is he paid me and full upfront. And I said, if if you prefer not to go further with the sketches I've given you, I will refund all of your money. You just tell me which option that you want. So he allowed me to keep, like, a certain amount of money for the initial sketches. And then I refunded him the rest of this money. I referred him on to my other lettering artist, calligrapher friend in the local area, and a big weight lifted off my shoulders because, I mean, it was stressing me. Oh, have you ever had an experience like that with a commission where it just, like, stresses you all in your like, why did I say yes? And so it's really important, especially in the beginning, when you're excited and you just wanna you just want to take anything and everything. I want to caution you that it is exciting it is amazing, but also know your limits and also realized like like right now, people are gonna want a ton of artwork for Christmas and a lot of times that want commissions and custom our work. But no, the hours that you can put into it And don't stress yourself. Oh, right. Have freedom to say no. Sometimes that two letter word is the best thing. Let's practice. No, but thanks for thinking of me. I'm not able to right now, But thank you for thinking of me. This sounds like a great project. Let me refer you to my friend. I would love to do this. I just can't right now. Let me refer you to an artist. I think that would be a great fit for you. And, you know, it's great. Great opportunities, but it's good also to say now. 5. Option 3: Digitize Your Artwork: The third option is to digitize your artwork. This is a really, really great opportunity to sell your art on products, prints, cards, stationery, mugs and more. I mean, really, the sky's the limit. Once you digitize your artwork and have it in a high quality digital format for made for prints, then you can do so many things with it. It allows you to scale. So what do I mean by this? Well, when you're creating, original are working, creating custom artwork that's trading your time for money because you're you have to be creating that. And that's fun, like we love to create, right? It is fun, but we only have so many hours in a day. And so you're going to reach a point where it's like, Okay, I can't take anymore customs. I can't take any more commissions. I can't do anymore. I don't have any more time like you can only take so many. And so this is a way to be able to scale your business with the time that you have, and that way, like you create the design, you digitize it, and then you can use that design on multiple products forever like it's amazing. When I first started digitizing, it was like, so fun. But, you know, people started asking me for prints and cards of my work and how many of you are in that place where, like, people are asking you, but you're just kind of like, But I don't I don't know how, like it feels so overwhelming. And that's kind of where I waas and I was just like, you know, you know, having to do get the software and having to figure no other process. And like, every time someone would say That's man said Thank you so much, I'm just not in the place to do that yet. After that first initial art show, I entered a second art show and my friend Rihanna. I don't know if she's on here right now, but she encouraged me. At first. I wasn't gonna do this. Second are shown should surely just just do it, you know, enter something. And I got the idea of a watercolor world map. I have a class on skill share. White teach how to do that. And so I thought I could do my watercolor world map and then choose a phrase toe letter with it, and I decided to choose the phrase adventure awaits the rape, and I made it. I framed it. I entered it into the show and it was really fun. We had opening night and, you know, nobody contacted me initially about wanting that piece. But then the next day, one of my friends, she actually saw it on Facebook. So again, I'm putting myself out there. I'm sharing what I'm doing. I'm posting my art, and she's like, Shelley, I love that piece. I want to buy it like also let you know when we worked it out. Well, then somebody called me. My contact information was with the peace, and they called me and they said they said they wanted the peace, too. So I painted and lettered a second original. But then when I realized that, like two people wanted this design, I thought, you know, I think this would be a great design to be my my first to digitize. So that was my first digitizing project was digitizing the watercolor world map, and I now have it on prints on cards on a gold foil print, and someone just recently contacted me. We're gonna talk about this later. But they licensed the watercolor world map painting for it will cover. And so that was so exciting as well. It mean it's just amazing. That was my first experience. And I got hooked because I was like, Oh, the entrepreneur and me was like, Oh, my goodness, I could do so much with this. I can do this. I could do this, do that, you know? And it's just been amazing. So I'm just gonna show you a few samples from my Etsy shop. So you can see here are some things that I have created with my designs. So this, but first, more art supplies. Pencil pouch. This is something that has been pretty popular. And it has my hand lettering on their How cool. Is that, right? I loved I got the idea for that phrase, and I'm like, I have to use this somehow. And when I saw the ability to do that product, I was like, I want to do that. So in my fall collection, I released this camp mug and in my winter collection, I'm gonna be releasing ah, glass mug. You know, so you could do different types of mugs. I'm doing them by drop shipping. So I'm not stocking inventory, and it's just it makes it really easy. So here are some prints and cards with my design. Give things. I am selling my Brush Strokes workbook that teaches brush lettering in my Etsy shop. But the design on the cover, that watercolor and the lettering and everything. It's my original design that I digitized for the cover. And then I used that same artwork for a thank you card. Here's my adventure awaits the brave, and this is now a print that sells in my shop. There is so many opportunities that you can have. Here's a gold foil prints to one with my lettering, one with the world map and the lettering. Just so many different options of getting ready to release some brand new products. Ah, in my winter line, I'm gonna show you a few this because I want to show you what's possible. Once you start getting into this, it's just so exciting and you have to see, like what is resonate with your audience? What are they wanting? What are they selling? But I love, you know, being able to offer different things. One of the things I'm doing for Christmas is this. I don't know if you can see It's like a gold foil card designed with the word joy on it, but its gold foil. And it has my logo and gold foil on the back. There's a gold foil lined and below is not fun. It's so simple but so elegant and just so fun. And I like this one because I can use it personally, like I'm personally creating things that all used to like joy. This is not just Christmas. It's like I could use this for someone getting married or someone having a baby or something that's joyful in someone's life, like, but these are really fun. So this is what I'm really excited about. I hope you can see it. These air note pads, so there's like 50 pages in each of them. And how fun is this? It's my watercolor floral designs here, and then my lettering. It's a to do list. Isn't that also like you can use this for groceries? You can use this for a prayer list. You can use this for your business. I'm gonna be using these and then like it's just glued at the top. So then you just you know, you could tear it off. There's 50 pages, so if you take two weeks vacation, you know it's about for a year. But how fun these air. But I'm really excited about coming up in my winter line, and then I'll have a glass mug as well. And that's gonna have the word joy on it as well. This one I am waiting for another proof, um, you know, just printed on one side because it's glass and it shows that. But this is a really fun. I don't that I'll be sharing as well. So isn't all fun. And I mean, I'm sure every product line launched that I have will have something new and something that that I add to the different things that I offer. But that's the power of digitizing. Not only doesn't allow you to scale, but you're able to create all sorts of different products. And like if you're in the calligraphy or lettering industry you can create for weddings. The wedding industry is huge. You could make a ton of money creating invitations and all of those sorts of things. Once you have those skills of digitizing, I will share a resource that will teach you where I will teach you step by step, how to digitize watercolor paintings, drawings and hand lettering. So be looking for that. 6. Option 4: License Your Artwork: So the fourth thing is till license your work and I kind of mentioned this earlier is that you can license your artwork. So knowing how to do this can potentially triple your income from commission work. So this is what I said I was going to share with you. So when I started getting people asking me, will you do this? Will you do that? And then I was realizing Oh, wait, you know the entrepreneur mindset of me. I'm like, Wait, like, how does this all work? Like I own the copyright of my artwork. So if they want to use this commercially like and then I started researching and researching and researching and found out all about licensing. And so depending on the license that you agree to with your clients, you can charge a lot more. And I were I see a lot of people, I think, on instagram that are giving away their work. They're not understanding. I think a lot of artists don't understand the copyrights and the licensing and all of that , and so therefore, to start charging enough like when it comes to certain things. And so it's really important to know like no these things and to know Okay, like you own the copyright of your work. And if somebody wants to have permission to use it commercially or if they want to purchase the copyright, which that's a really big deal, that means you cannot use that artwork anymore than you need to be charging enough to give that design completely away to them to use on whatever they're gonna use it on. And so it's really important for you to understand this and to know this, especially when you're doing a custom artwork for your clients. And so I talked about, I was licensed it to one of my artwork was licensed for about cover. I already created it. I already had it and I didn't give away the copyright. I just licensed them to be able to use it on a book cover for a certain amount of years in a certain amount of countries. You know all of that, and we have a contract in place and all of that, and so was able to do that. And then my my design is on another book cover for my friend Dawn, and she commissioned me and she really came up with the concepts and the colors, and we worked together from the very beginning. But I was, um you know, I I was nervous because I was like, Okay, this is what I feel like it's worth. This is what I feel like I need to charge. And when I told her that amount, I was like, Who? I think she's probably say no. And they said yes. I was like, Really, uh, Artemis is like, really? You'll pay me that much for to do this, you know, like inside. I'm thinking I didn't say that's her, but, um, but I was just like, okay, you know, like I I stood my ground and I was like, Okay, my art and this license that they want and this thing that they want, it's valuable. And if somebody says no, that's okay, you know, it's OK. You know, if if somebody's or or you can, you know, talk about some other ways that you could make it a value for both of you, a win win for both situations. This is really, really important. I just think that this is a big thing that's overlooked in the art, just our industry. So that's definitely something to keep in mind. 7. Option 5: Wholesale: number five is wholesale. This is where you sell directly to stores or toe buyers. So instead of selling directly to a customer, who's gonna buy it and use it for their own personal use? Or, you know, for a gift or something like that, you're selling to a buyer you're selling to a store, and typically the wholesale price is gonna be 50% of the retail price. So if you sell a print for $20 wholesale would be $10 typically you're going to have a minimum amount that they have to buy in order to get the wholesale right. You're not gonna give wholesale rate for someone just buying one print that doesn't make it worth your while. The reason it makes it worth your while is that these people who buy wholesale, they buy him, and so they're buying multiple products from you, all in the same order. And so that's why it makes it worth it to you to give that 50% discount. So a lot of stationery business is the minimum is $100 or 150. If you do, high end art is gonna be a ah lot higher you know, So it just depends on what industry you're in and what you're doing. I'm in stationary and my my end goal right now, unless the Lord, you know, changes the direction of our business, which he often does. But right now my end goes to create enough cards and prints that I have. I can have a wholesale catalog and then my husband, CJ he's going to kind of be our sales person and go out and start contacting individual boutiques and stores and small little shop owners and that sort of thing, and really try to sell our cards and prints in wholesale. And that's when I really think as a business owner, it's going to be worth it is selling one card here, there. One card, one put one card, one print. It's really hard to get traction into just to make a lot, but when you start selling wholesale and you get a $200 order here, $100 order here, $500 order here. Then it starts adding up. Does that make sense? And we're not there yet because typically, they say you need anywhere from 24 to 40 designs before. You can really have a good catalog for someone to buy wholesale. We're not there yet, but that's what I'm working towards. But I have sold to a subscription box company. So is a lot of you, I think probably have subscribed to subscription box cos we're seeing them, you know, in your feet where people are unboxing and they get these things every month. Well, these subscription box cos they're looking for products to put in their box every month. So this might be an option for you to start researching subscription box companies and start reaching out to them. Say, Hey, I'm an artist. I have Prince, I've cards. I have this or have that And I'm just interested in to seeing, you know, if we could partner together and you can offer, you know, my products to your customers. So there was a specific subscription box company that I approached. I said, I'm a publisher. We have over 50 books, and I would love to be able to offer my books to your your clients. And I've known a little bit about them because one of my author coaching clients had gotten a have gone a contract with them. So, um, I approached them and we ended up making a deal in a January of this year. And I didn't count this as part of my my my total sales for this year for my art, as I count that Morris for my publishing company. But I just wanted to tell you I have had experience at least selling in bulk to accompany not yet my art but my writing. And so they purchased over 7000 copies of my book Awesome, Right? And that was a good payday. That was good. You know, next year they enjoyed working with me so much so you could be a good client. Treat your customers really really well. They enjoyed working with me. They got a lot of great comments about my book. They said my book was one of the most popular books they'd ever had. I was like, What? That's the favor of God, Right? But they're doing two of my books next year, and I'm like, Whoa! And they said they want to work with an exclusive team of writers and artists and stuff in 2020 and they want me to be part of that and I'm like that is an incredible opportunity in it in 2020 is probably when they'll start using some of my artwork and my prints, I'm depending where my business is at that point, depending What happened? You know what's happening at that point, I don't know. But when I was able Teoh to do that, I reached out to several of my artist friends and I said, Hey, this there, this, you know, subscription box company they're looking for. Artists are looking for writers. They're looking for people. Why not, you know, contact them about your art. At that time, I was not digitizing or I didn't have any prints or anything to offer. And one of my friends, I'm Rihanna. She took me up on it and she contacted them. They purchased 10,500 copies of her art prints, 10,500 coffees. Amazing. Right? And so there are opportunities out there that if you just if you look for the opportunities and you connect and you pray and you know the Lord is the one that gives us the best connections, right, he's the one that helps us and just like I connected Rihanna to that company. Deborah connected me to that company. And so sometimes, you know, people are the connectors. You know, God uses them. But just open your mind to what might be possible and what opportunities might be out there . 8. Option 6: Affiliate Partnerships: the six opportunity to earn income as an artist is affiliate partnerships. I think a lot of artists aren't really aware of what this is. I want you to think of it like a referral fee. So we have, you know, different people. We had a massage therapist, and she's like, If you were first someone to me, I will give you $10 off your next massage. That's a referral fee, right? Um, um, if you you know, there's real estate people, If you refer someone to me, I'll give you this or I'll do that or they'll give you a gift or something like that. But what happens is there's a lot of companies online that if you promote their products, they will send you money. They will send you a referral fee. I have this with a couple of my products right now. Some other people do, but basically you want to make sure it's something that you believe in something that you, someone that you trust, you don't want to be referring people and, you know, just doing it for the money. Now. I've been there in that place before, but I've been doing this since almost the beginning, like when I first started my websites in 2000 for one of the easiest ways is an artist. To make money as an affiliate is to sign up for the Amazon Associates program, just Google Amazon Associates program. You'll find information if you're not sure, you know, search on you. Two people will be talking about it. There will be blocked post how to sign up, what to do, how to create the links. But I used to do this. I cannot do it anymore because they don't They no longer support Colorado in their program . But when I used to do this, I would very easily make 100 to $200 a month. How many of you have people asking you like almost every day what supplies you're using? If people are already asking you and you know, you know, as your posting a zehr putting yourself out there, you're going to get people that do. Um, you can put together a list on either on Amazon like they have a place you can put together like a wish list. You may have seen other people do this, or you can put together a list like on your website if you have a website or on a Facebook post or something like that. But use your affiliate links and you know, you tell people these are my affiliate links. These are the things I use and I love. And it's a super simple way to start making some income by what you're already doing, right. You could also promote classes or courses you love. So I took a class last year on Wash. I just was interested. I had bought Wash and I didn't know how to use it. And so I got, like, really involved in it, and I loved it. And it was it was all about different florals and was really fun. So the teacher reached out to me and said, Shelley, would you like to be a an affiliate for the class? I'm gonna be opening it up again. I was like, Sure, and so some of you may have gotten that email if you were on my email list at that time, but I sent out an email and I said, Hey, I love this class. I took it. It was so fun here. Some of the things I created from it. She's opening it up again, and she also has a free course. So I could also send an affiliate link to the free course. And then if someone signed up to the paper course, I would still get credit for it. Well, I ended up making $200 just by recommending a course that I loved. Did I get rich on it? No. But why not diversify your income? Why not take advantage of all of the opportunities that are available for you as an artist ? Right. And so it's just something to be thinking about and considering. And if, if you have a class that you really, really love or an online program that you really, really love, reach out to the owner and say, Hey, I would love to be an affiliate. Do you have an affiliate program? 9. Option 7: Sponsorships: the seventh way is sponsorships, so you could become a brand Rupp or an ambassador. This is where, like you're promoting a company and their products. You're using there products in exchange for, like, getting free products. So a lot of times they will give you free art supplies, and then you'll use those art supplies on social media. You'll tagged them. I actually have an ambassador program for your creative adventure. You know this is an opportunity, because how many of you know that supplies cost money, right? Yes, supplies, costs money. If you could get supplies for free, that frees up money that then you can use for other things. So even though it's not like cold, hard cash like it's money that you don't have to spend, some companies will reach out to you. Like I personally did not announce that I was taking applications for ambassadors. I personally sought out those people that I wanted to be an ambassador because I just I didn't have time to sort through a bunch of applications. I think I have nine right now, Um, that are random fasteners. Company isn't reaching out to you, and you really love their products, especially if it's a smaller company. Reach out to them. So I have personally been a brand wrapped for three different or an ambassador for three different art supply companies. The first company was, I think, was Bria. Reese was the 1st 1 I had 11 of their giveaways and we were talking and again, just, you know, I was giving them like I wasn't trying to be a brand rep for them or ambassador. But I was just like, I just really love these glimmerings And have you thought about this and this? I was giving them some ideas for marketing and stuff, and they're like, Would you like to be a ambassador like, Yeah, that'd be fun. So, um, I was, you know, and they gave me a bunch of supplies. And then Pantelic. They create watercolor sketch books different, and they have different kinds of supplies. Mixed me to surprise other things. But I was using their watercolor sketch book, and every time I would post on Instagram. Guess what I would do. I would tag them so I would tag pen Talic like that's the supply I was using, and I wasn't at the time necessarily doing it to try to get their attention. But they just start seeing my work and they reached out to me and they're like, We love your work. Would you like to be in a master? Both of those companies reached out to me and I went ahead and step down from doing that with them in January just because my business was kind of going a different direction. And it was just a little bit too much time for me to really devote to do enough because I had a post on social media like once a week and all that. But then my favorite brush pen right now is the super fine rush pan from Zebra and also the Tom Bo through new Suki hard pen. Both of those pence. They're about the same, and I love both of them. So I reached out to Tom Bow to see if I could be an ambassador for them. I wasn't chosen, but I noticed some people that has similar followings to me getting to be random bastards for zebra, and I thought, Oh so I reached out to them and I you know, a lot of times your emails will go to the other box. And so I didn't hear back. So I commented on one of their posted. Hey, I had set you and a message. Direct message. Did you get it? I just want to make sure. Well, then they saw my message and we started talking. I shared with them like thes air. The things that I can do for you, I teach on skill. Sherry and I have this following on Instagram identidad it up. They invited me to be in a master, but I sought them out like I took the step to seek them out. And I'm still in ambassador with zebra and I still love their stuff. We've formed a really great relationship, and it works well for me cause I use their pen all the time. If you get into a relationship with a brand or with a company where you're not using their products all the time, then it becomes more. It comes more difficult. But that's just something to consider as well 10. Option 8: Publish Art Books: the eighth way to earn income as an artist is to publish our books and or are instructional books. So how many of you currently have published art books? Self published, you know, printed them off on your computer. Whatever you've done, how maney currently have that. So I want you to start thinking I'm a book person. I told you I have written and published over 40 books. I teach people how to do the have self publishing a self publishing expert like so I couldn't not talk about books, right? It's a passion of mine. And I just think all of you have something that you can share with the world regarding art in a book format, Self publishing is the easiest way. I mean, traditional contracts air still great, and people are still getting them every day on Instagram just because they're posting their work. They're growing a following and publishing companies are reaching out to them. But I have self published all my books, and I earn a really good amount of my income from self publishing, So I have my brush strokes work looking so proud of it. I meant for them to be top spiral, but my printer accidentally printed a bunch side spiral, so I have them both. Right now, I'm gonna be restocking the top spiral soon. But this is like 168 pages under 70 pages of instructional information. It's just so, so good. And it's in such a blessing. We have earned so much just from the initial pre orders. And you know, just the initial launch. It's I just launched pre orders at the end of August, and it's middle of October right now. So it hasn't even been two months, and they're just selling really, really well. People want toe, learn, they want to know. And so I really believe all of you have some sort of knowledge you can put in a book. I have a Kindle look, calligraphy for beginners. This is on Kindle on Lee, and this book is It was a very short book, but very, you know, very good information. And I have used this book more as like a way for people to get to know me and that I have this business there it is. Look at that guy's and still has the best seller tag. Well, thank you Jesus. Um, so you could start with a short Kindle book, and what I did was they consign up as a bonus to buying the book to get myCFO calligraphy, online videos and workshop. So if there's something that's hard to explain in a book, you can always record a video and then put a link to it either an unlisted YouTube video or , um, you know, on a password protected page on your website or something. I have it in a a little member area, and then I'm building my email list. But with people that are buyers, they're getting a great quality information, and then they're being introduced. And maybe they'll then by my brush strokes workbook. So it's a lead. And also to my brush strokes workbook The Hell fun Is that? So this year? Since June, I've already I've published written, published to art books one a very She no short Kindle e book on Lee, and then one was a very intense project. My Rush Strokes workbook. So definitely consider, like what look topics could you write on it? And if it's already been written, that's okay. Like you have your own audience, you have your own people that we're following you that will buy what you have. There's, you know, there's other calligraphy books. There's other brush lettering, books. I don't think there's a brush lettering, but quite like the one I have right now That's as comprehensive, but there's a lot of other workbooks and brush lettering books, but my audience and people that are finding me on etc. Are buying my book. And so if I would have never taken the stuff, I would have never, you know, had that opportunity. My next book, I think unless you know, I don't know what God's gonna do. But a book that I have in my heart for 2019 is more of an art book, and it's gonna be more of like a journal and guess it'll be devotional material. But then also my artwork. And so I'm really excited about that. I do have a lot of free training at my site. Training authors dot com. If you go to training authors dot com forward slash free, you can check out all of the free resource is that I have, um, and that a lot of people have self published books just using my free resource is I have paid resource is too. But check out the free ones first and see, You know what you think about, um, about books and self publishing. And so I like I told you, I already told you my case Study with my own books. 11. Option 9: Teach Inperson Workshops: so something else you can do is teach in person workshop. One of the things that you may want to consider is consider teaming up with someone who has an audience already that's interested in what you teach. So you know, the hardest thing about an imprint person workshop is selling the seats. You know, unless you have a really big following already or unless, like, you're really part of a vibrant art community in, you know, your town. That is the hardest part. This is really a great way to earn additional income. And even if sometimes if you have a small group like you know, you can really just pour into those few people. But then I'm just make sure you're charging on what you need for that class notes make it worthwhile. I have also done a one on one session. She just three shots me on Instagram. She's like, I can't make it to your you know, an in person workshops right now. But would you consider doing a one on one? I was like, Oh, but I was like I hadn't thought of that before, But I had to, you know, charge what I felt like, you know, You know, my one on one time would be worth, and I you know, I gave her the price and she's like, Okay, and she signed up. We had an amazing time. We're still friends today. She's, you know, still like learning for me and buying for me. And so that is really fun as well. But I want to encourage you. Don't let a lack of degrees or credentials stop you from teaching. What? You know how many of you have stopped from teaching because you don't have a degree or you don't have a credential. I just want encourage you not to let that hold you back. So my very first art workshops, Some of you may have heard this story I was teaching for my local library, so that's another great opportunity. They paid me like, $50 which is not a ton of money, but they paid me something. People were able to sign up to a list for my, you know, sign up for my email list. I was able to get experience and get some exposure, but it's my first time teaching and in person. Art workshop was for the library and I was telling my story of high just got into art again . And it's a passion mine now and I want to teach it. And someone in the class was like, I can't believe you're teaching art without an art degree. And I was like, Oh, no And immediately shame whispered, See, you should be doing this. You're not good enough. You don't have the credentials, you don't have the degrees. Why are you doing this then? The Lord whispered, No, you are good enough. I took a deep breath, and I proceeded to share my my friend Kimberly Del Coco story that although she was a high school dropout, she ended up being in middle management for like, I think, a Fortune 200 company managing college educated people know how. How's that even possible? Only God, right? She she worked hard. She was a fast learner. She didn't let a lack of degrees stop her. I really believe there's a lot of you that have something very important and very fun, and that you can share with other people like you can share this gift of art with others. You can teach and be paid for it and yet you're allowing us to hold you back. And if I would have allowed that lady's comment to me that day just to stop me or to hold me back, I would not be teaching on skill share like I am. I have over 13,000 people who have taken my classes on skill share from around the world. I have 25 classes on skill share, and then I wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to teach at gathering of Artisans. It's a conference for Christian artists, and I got invited to teach on self publishing, which I feel very confident, comfortable teaching on that topic. But then on brush lettering and it was teaching for that workshop that, you know, fueled me to finish my workbook. So it gave me the deadline. I was just gonna bring a few worksheets to the workshop, you know, and then the works like you can do this, you can. You can write the book, you can finish that you can publish. I was like, Really? And I took the big, scary steps. I hired a graphic designer. I did all these, and it's like it has been one of the best things that I did, even though it's been one of the hardest projects that I've ever worked on, and it's been very profitable to. I remember last year in July of 2017 I looked back and in my journal I said, But I want to create a print book for lettering but it's gonna be hard. It's gonna be This is gonna be that you have to learn in design. What if it doesn't sell? And I due to a journaling, And I felt like the Lord said to get back to me. What if it does? And what if it opens doors for you that couldn't be opened otherwise? And I still don't know all the doors that may open because of writing that workbook. But being able to teach a gathering of artisans I did not seek that out about Tommy sought me out. He asked me to to do it, and again it's because I was putting myself out there, was saying about the things that I was doing and that is teaching in person workshops is teaching online and all of these things I was sharing those things that, you know, God brought the opportunity to me. And it was an amazing experience. I loved it. I was able to really earn decent money like thousands of dollars doing it, you know? And so it was just a great, great opportunity. I would encourage you not toe let a lack of degrees or credentials stop you from doing what God has created you to do. Because if God has called you to do it, he will equip you. He will provide for you. He will do what only he can do. A meme. 12. Option 10: Teach Online Classes: number 10 is to teach online classes. So I just kind of talking about this and skill share is a great place to start, and they already have an audience. And anyone can teach a class on skill share any one of you right now, I poured all of my school shirt classes with my iPhone and with Aboya might be a y a boy. I just took my boy and Mike in there. I have a little goose neck tripod and it just sits over my my work area. I just record myself. It doesn't have to be like you're in a professional video studio. People don't expect that on skill share, you know, they're paying like, $13 a month to get thousands of classes, so they just wanna learn from you. Any one of you right now could take knowledge that you haven't start teaching on skill share. Skill share by far is my biggest money earner. Up to this point, I started in 2000 and 16 December 2016 and I went back and I counted just on skill share. Since 2016 I've earned over $20,000 teaching on sculpture. I earn about $1000 a month now, and I'm not even really even promoting it anymore. It's like passive income. You create the classes and then they pay you for how many minutes people watch your classes . It does take time to get some momentum on the platform. Any kind of marketing does take some work, but it is just a really great way to get experience. So I just put myself out there and then, like I said, other opportunities started coming because I was already teaching and I was already it was getting great reviews, great feedback on the classes. And to be honest, the reason I published my first skill share cost was because they were doing a competition . And in December of 2016 if you published a sculpture class you also got and if maybe five people sign up for your class or something, there was something like that. You got a free one year membership to sculpture, so I was doing it for the membership Onley. God knew that I would then go on to teach 25 classes and reached 13,000 people you know, in growing, and it would be a significant, you know, part of my income going forward as an artist, but it's a great place to get started. They have a challenge every month, a teacher's challenge, and they will help you. They will walk you through the steps in the technology, and they have trainings on how to do it. And it's free to use its Frito Upload your classes. It's free to get started and then you can start earning income. And, you know, just put yourself out there. I'm a teacher, right? I'm a teacher. I teach online. I have classes on skill share, and so it's really a great starting place. I've known a lot of people that it was the starting place for their career as a self taught artists, and that's true for me, too. It was my starting place, so thank you. Skill share. Teachable is another great platform to host your online classes, so they will take a percentage a small percentage if you are not on their monthly plans or whatever. But as's faras, I know the most recent research I've done. You could start for free. They'll take a percentage on small percentage dope and then you could host your classes on there. And then you can have classes that you give and that you sell to your following. I start on skill share. But now I'm transitioning time teaching premium courses hosted on my own website. 13. Your Project: So your project is to write down a list of what are your next steps? I have a seven step process in the class. Resource it. Download the pdf. So I have for you and in the seven step process. Pdf, it will walk you through how to prioritize which of these 10 to start with. And then I want you to write that down. And I want you to make a list of what are your next steps and post that in your project area so that I can see what you're doing. I can comment on that, and you can really have a solid plan of action moving forward. So this isn't just information, but it can be transformation for your business. 14. Next Steps: congratulations. You finished the class. I hope that you've been inspired, encouraged and that you learned a lot of information that you can now apply to your art business. So now what are your next steps? Well, you should have already done your project, which is to determine your next steps. And I want you to take one action today. Even if it's just five minutes or 15 minutes, that will move you closer to growing your our business again. My name is Shelly Hits. And in this class I've taught you 10 ways that I've personally earned income as an artist and you can too. And if you've enjoyed this class, I would really appreciate it if you would leave a review. The reviews just make my day. And it just helps encourage me to create more costs is a more content for you. So thank you again for joining me in this class and I'll see you next time