Thinking of Yourself Like a Business

There is a key difference between artists who can make a living from their art and artists who can’t seem to pull in sustainable income. That fundamental difference lies is in their business model – or if there even exists a business model at all.

Unfortunately, many artists spend hours practicing, studying, performing, and strengthening the skills they need to make their art. Yet there is an endemic lapse in understanding what they need to do to make their art profitable.

What most artists need is a perspective change. They need to see their art as competing in an economy. They need to see their artistic brand as a small business – a start-up trying to grow.

The first step an artist needs to take is to understand their product.

Understand Your Product

Your art is a product. It may not be romantic to hear it put this way, but think of how it functions in its industry, not how it feels for you to produce it.

Put another way, you need to distinguish between the art you make for you and the art you produce for customers to consume. There is often overlap between these two separate kinds of art, but that won’t always be the case. This is because:

Your Art is Competing in the Marketplace for the Attention of Consumers.

Like any business, you are selling a product to consumers. Your art is subject to consumers’ desires and the greater market trends that influence consumers. Sometimes there is a feedback loop where the process reverses, and art can influence market trends and consumer desires, but that is usually not the case.

That leads us to the next point: who is your target audience?

Understand Your Target Consumer

Who are you trying to speak to through your art? What kind of demographics are you trying to relate to with your art? What demographics are you trying to attract to your product? Understanding your target consumer is essential for marketing your product effectively.

The Attention Economy

What are ways you can get out in front of your target audience? As artists, you must understand the attention economy that drives modern business. What platforms does your target audience use for work, play, and social media?

This leads to the third point: Understand Your Industry

Understand your Industry

How will people consume your art? YouTube? Spotify? Amazon? Etsy? A local farmer’s market? You need a marketing strategy to get your product out in front of your target audience at the cheapest possible cost.

Who are your competitors? Is there a network of artists you can join to help grow your brand recognition? Are there official organizations like trade unions or guilds you need to be aware of when engaging in business?

You Are a Lean Start-Up

As an artist, your brand is not just a start-up but most likely a lean start-up. This means you probably don’t have the backing of wealthy investors. So, you need to be very careful about how you spend your initial investment (which is probably coming from you or Mom or a rich Uncle), and you need to track how you are using any money you do make.

This is where real business practices come into play. You should form an LLC and open a business bank account. You’ll need a website and a marketing strategy, and this work may require more than one person – more than just you.

The first couple of years may be tough – this is true for any small business. But with patience, diligence, and a passion for learning, you can turn your art into a sustainable, even profitable, business. All you need to do is start thinking like a business owner – read, learn, explore and experiment.

It all starts with a little perspective shift.

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Also on TheatreArtLife:

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