F.I.N.A.L.L.Y.!!

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abstract art, art, art marketing, Artist, artist's resources, economy, hard work, selling art, selling art online, successful art business, successful artists, working

When I started this art business, it couldn’t have been at a more oportune time.  The housing market was on fire and people were buying and selling like crazy.  All of that moving and redecorating kept me super busy.  I worked 16 hour days sometimes just to keep up!  My income was only limited by my ability to work and the time needed.  Back then I was only selling originals which meant a lot of physical labor for me.  I definitely paid a price for that, but the profit I was making was out of this World.

Then it all came crashing down. The bubble burst!

Like many artists I found myself lost and barely able to stay afloat for many years.  I had thousands of dollars worth of supplies sitting in my studio, but no one was buying much.  I kept creating, but watched so many paintings languish in storage.  I had sales. I worked harder.  I spent more hours marketing.  I decided to start offering prints.  Then I marketed those like crazy.  16 hour days came again, but for less per hour than servers make without tips.  But I kept the faith.  I held on.

So many of my artist friends let go and went back to regular jobs.  I considered it many times myself.  Some got angry and bitter, and I lost a few along the way over petty jealousy (even a small sale could cause snarky remarks).  Others held on tight and stayed the course right along beside me.  We celebrated even the small triumphs together.

I am so happy that we are FINALLY seeing the turn around.  My income is right where I want it to be and I no longer have to kill myself for it!  My prints are selling at an amazing rate and commissions come a few times a week.  I take 2, 3 and sometimes 4 days off each week.

It’s really perfect.  Finally.   Yes, it could all crash again, but for now I will just keep a big smile on my face and keep on creating!

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http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-sharon-cummings.html?tab=artworkgalleries

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D.O.G. Days Of Summer…

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animals, art for sale, art marketing, art sales, artists, big dog, dog, dog days of summer, dogs, fawn, fawn mastiff, marketing, mastif, mastiff, mastiffs, pet portraits, pets, selling art, summer, Summertime, summertime blues, sunshine, travel, vacation

It’s that time of year again.  Around the second week of July I start to get frantic emails from other artists asking me why the sales have all dried up. Some are so afraid of the lack of traffic and sales that they fear that the online art market has crashed.  These emails come from people who are relatively new to selling their work on the Internet.  Relax.  This is normal. Sure I am still making regular sales, but only at a fraction of what I earn most of the time.  This part of the year it always slows down to a crawl.

Why?  It’s Summertime!!  And folks who have been trapped inside all Winter are finally able to get outside and enjoy sunshine and green grass.  Families go on vacation, prepare older kids for college, go to family reunions and travel a lot in general.  It is not a time for decorating your home or office.  There is plenty of time for that when you are stuck inside 9 months out of the year.  Those in academics do not get paid over the Summer which is something I always factor in since I married a professor.

So what can you do?  I find that this time of year is a great time to do some traveling myself.  I plan trips to visit family and old friends every year.  My husband and I head to the beach as much as possible since it is not crowded and prices are super low.  Studio cleaning is always on the agenda as I love the freshness of organization come busy season.  You can also enjoy the freedom to create artwork that is fun and free from thoughts of marketability.  I have been stocking my stores with new items in preparation for the Fall rush.  It is a lot of work that has no reward at the moment, but I expect it to pay off later.

Join a new site.  Learn a new Social Media avenue.  Take a photography class. Forget about sales for awhile. They will come back.  They always do.  For now just enjoy this doggone Summer!

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Artists: Are You F.L.E.X.I.B.L.E.?

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art, art for sale, art marketing, artist's resources, artists, best selling practices, career, earning a living, fine art america, flexibility, how to sell art, how to sell art online, income, make money with art, making a living with art, making money with art, online art sales, pod, print on demand, print on demand sites, prints, Redbubble, sell art, sell art smart, sell artwork, selling art, selling art online, sharon cummings, society 6

There was an article released yesterday that has a lot of artists in a panic. You can read the article here:

http://fineartamerica.com/newsletters/five-percent-commissions.html?fb_action_ids=10201203263082635&fb_action_types=og.comments&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582

I will summarize it for you to save you some effort.  Fine Art America is warning artists that all other Print On Demand (POD) sites are moving to a percentage business model.  By in large, the new payment to artists will be a mere 5%. That definitely sucks.  Fine Art America claims to be one of the few remaining POD sites that still allows a “set your own price” model.  Some sites like Society 6 do allow us to put in our desired profit for some of their products.  Others are set for us. The same is true for Redbubble.  I agree that it is not ideal, but I find benefit to those two sites nonetheless.

I like Fine Art America and am currently making an amazing income with them. I am making more selling prints through FAA than I ever have for my entire print career.  But what I have learned with online selling is that all good things can come to an end.

So are you flexible?  One thing is constant in online art sales and that is change.  Things WILL change.  Sites that are booming today may go belly up tomorrow.  But there are always new business models to take their place. Years ago I was on a site called Boundless Gallery.  It was the BEST art site going for years and I made a TON of money with them.  It was perfect and all of the best selling artist were very happy.  Then they changed their business model and I saw the end coming.  Instead of bitching and moaning about the inevitable failure of a terrific site, I made sure I was FLEXIBLE and I branched out into new territory.  I tried different things until I found a few ideas that worked.  And those same ideas that worked back then no longer do.  But new ones have taken their place.

I have NEVER been without steady income in spite of things like eBay changing to a model that completely demoralizes artist.  I got off of that horrible site.  Boundless Gallery died a quick death and I survived.  Other sites have come and gone too.  The housing market crashed and I STILL made a great income every single month.

Why?

I remain flexible.  I do not panic and worry about the future.  I simply keep creating and marketing myself.  I focus on the tools that are available to me today and I use the hell out of them!  If new tools are offered in the future, I will use them too.  I will always find a way to get my work out to the people that desire it.  Always.  The selling platform doesn’t matter to me as long as I am willing to market myself.

If Fine Art America changes their current business model to artists disadvantage, it may be that I set up my own print shop in my garage.  I have enough space and enough money to invest in my career.   I’ve been poised for this for the last 3 years.  I already KNOW how to market myself!  Or another site might come along that is even better.  I am ready to bend and adapt.

For now I believe FAA is the best POD site out there.  I hope it STAYS that way!  If you have not tried them, have a look: http://www.fineartamerica.com

As an artist, I implore you to constantly be willing to change.  Do not stay stuck in “one way” mentality as it will be your downfall.  There is so much out there for us!

Inner Strength…

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abstract art, art, art marketing, Artist, artists, artwork, career, challenges, contemporary, contemporary art, creativity, hope, inner strength, life, marketing, modern, modern art, painter, perseverancec, sharon cummings, strength

You hear it said often that success “looks” a lot like hard work.  I disagree.  The most successful people I know make it look easy.  It doesn’t look like work at all.  It would be more accurate to say that  success “feels” like hard work.  To make it as an artist you have to have a lot of “inner strength”.  Yes, you will be praised but you will also be severely criticized.  You will make sales, but you will also spend countless hours emailing/talking on the phone with people who never buy.  You will create amazing pieces but sometimes sit back in disbelief each day as the days turn into months or years without that work selling.  You will make artistic friends and creative enemies.  You will have days when you are so motivated to create that you feel as if your soul and brain will burst out of you into the Universe and you will have days where it feels an effort to sign your name.  Mostly you will have to market yourself like crazy.  You will eat, sleep and live marketing.  Social media marketing.  Business card marketing.  Brochure marketing.  Art show marketing. Cost per click/pay marketing.  It has gotten to the point that when people ask me what I do for a living, I pause because I am a “marketer” more than anything else. But dig down deep during these times and find that core fortitude…you are an artist.  Never lose sight of that….keep creating and tell them “I am an artist.”……

Find “Inner Strength” here:

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/inner-strength-abstract-painting-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

Finding Balance

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abstract art, abstract art for sale, art, art for sale, art marketing, Artist, balance, balanced career, buy abstract art, buy art, career, Chinese symbols, efficency, Family, focus, hard work, health, healthy, peace, selling art, sharon cummings, success, successful art career, successful artist, time management, working, working moms, yin and yang

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/perfect-balance-2-yin-and-yang-stone-rockd-art-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

It can be difficult to find balance in your life when you have so many demands pulling you in different directions.  Family, friends, work, health, etc. all need a place.  I create and list a lot of work and many have asked me things like “Do you sleep?”  I get 8 hours a night. I also market my work heavily and some have wondered how on earth I do it.  With experience, I have become extremely efficient at marketing.  I am also pretty handy with the camera and scanner.  I do most things quickly….I always have.  Patience is not one of my virtues!  I not only run a thriving successful art business, I also grow an organic garden, care for my daughter, care for animals and cook/prepare 95% of my own meals (Celiac).  I shop for my family, clean house and exercise every single day.  I go to dinner parties, family gatherings and art shows.  I play Scrabble.  I do not have extra hours in the day.  I am just big on balance and scheduling.   I do not allow myself to get distracted in web surfing or reading endless posts on Facebook.  I stay focused.  I have time slots for my work and I stick to them.  This ensures I have time for what is important in life.  I eat on a schedule too.  By keeping all that I do in priority when I am working on them or experiencing them, I never run out of time.   If I am at the park with my family, that is what I am doing and thinking about….not work. If I am working, that is my focus.  Some things you cannot help coming into your life to throw you off, but I have found that MOST of what keeps us from using our time wisely is useless.  How many cat memes have your read?  How many political posts? Farmville?  Tweets about what you had for lunch?  Do you sit on the toilet and get lost in a magazine?  Do you watch T.V.?  I don’t. That is how I do it…I do not waste time, so that I have plenty of it for everything I want in life!

Got Frenemies?

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art, art business, art marketing, Artist, artwork, competition, enemies, faabest, frenemies, friends, gratitude, help, loving your enemies, making friends, marketing, marketing art, sharon cummings, the art of business, the business of art, work, work satisfaction

 

Frenemies is a funny term, but it is one that often best describes online relationships where two people are direct competitors selling a similar product to the same audience.  I have been creating, marketing and selling my artwork online for over 10 years.  I started on eBay which was a brutal place for a fine artist and from what I hear, it still is.  That’s when it all started….where I learned to distinguish friends, enemies and frenemies.  Unlike many artists, I am a business person first and an artist second.  I have a direct way of communicating online.  I am ALL business which ruffles some feathers greatly.  The insecure, sensitive and overly emotional types can easily get offended by my style of typing.  Regardless of how I have been viewed by others, I have always offered my help.  I have spent many hours chatting, emailing and posting in groups so that emerging creatives can learn what I have had to acquire the hard way.  I share my secrets to success.  I congratulate others when their work is doing well.  I relentlessly encourage those that are still struggling to sell their work.  I do it because I like people and I enjoy seeing others triumph just as much as I enjoy my own rewards in this field.  EVERY sale is a victory for artists because it means that people are buying art.  And it they buy someone else’s work it also means they might buy mine.  I believe a lot of artists would have more “friends” and feel better about themselves if they learned that it is just as much the art of business as it is the business of art.  And if they would realize that the potential for art sales is astronomical….the pie is big enough for ALL of us and that when someone offers you some help….take it with gratitude no matter how it was delivered.  I will continue to help others regardless of the enemies and frenemies I acquire along the way…..because I am grateful that I have had the opportunities and successes that allow me to do so.  

Learn more about my work here:

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-sharon-cummings.html?tab=artworkgalleries