5 Tips to Beat the Feast or Famine Cycle as an Artist

When you work for yourself there are times when everything is selling and money is coming in on a consistent basis. Life is good. But there’s also times when everything comes to a stop. I can tell you from personal experience, that’s a super scary feeling. I want to talk a little bit about things that you can do, so when business slows down, you don’t become the cliché starving artist.

For those of you that have been following me you already know that I recently went from a steady paycheck to owning my own art business,. About three months into following my dream, I got hit with a massive slowdown. It was pretty unnerving and even made me question my decision to pursue my art full-time. Thank goodness, I planned really well before taking the leap or I would have been in heap of trouble. Instead of getting discouraged, I decided to employ some strategy to my business. Down below I’ve listed five tips to help you during these slow periods. Some of these tips I’ve already implemented and others are works in progress.

(1) Treat your art like a business

All businesses struggle at some point or another. It’s just the nature of things. Businesses still run even during slow periods. People still show up, clock in, and get to work. You may baulk at the idea of treating your art like a business. I completely get that we’re artists first, but you’re also a business and dare I say a brand. Please keep in mind that this is merely my opinion. What works for some, may not work for others

Yeah, I know, running our art like a business seems counterintuitive to what we are. We’re creatives. We’re free spirits. We go into the studio when inspiration strikes! Unfortunately, this is a recipe for failure. If you try to fly by the seat of your pants, you will see your true potential as an artist stifled. We need routine in our life, like it or not. Treat your art career like a job. Set a schedule for yourself to go into the studio. It doesn’t matter the time of the day. If you create better at night, schedule your time then and protect it all costs. Writers live by this mantra. That’s how they’ re able to churn out novel after novel.

After you’ve created your schedule, set tasks for yourself. If you are uninspired to create that day then work on other tasks that can make your business better. Who knows while working on a mundane task, inspiration might strike and fortunately for you, you’re already in the studio.

Setting this routine is super beneficial whether you’re making a thousand dollars a day or zero. Try setting a schedule for at least a week and see how productive you can be.

(2) Get Organized

I can’t stress this point enough. If you just try to wing it each day, you are going to struggle down the road. Trust me on this. I tried to wing it and got absolutely nothing done. I now keep a small black notebook on my desk where I keep a running tally of things I have to do. I have an obsession with creating lists and checking things off. Everyday I check my large desk calendar (I’m old school) and update my list. If I don’t get something done for the day, I just move it to the top of the list for the next day. I definitely suggest getting a notebook or even creating an excel spreadsheet. It’s a game changer for how productive you can be.

I also schedule all my posts for my social accounts a month in advance. For the record I don’t use an auto scheduler. I don’ t like them. I also don’t stick to my schedule religiously, because I like things to be organic. Imagine if you get busy and forget about posting until the last minute. You then have no idea what to talk about. This way you’re always prepared whether you stick to your schedule or not.

When times are slow, I now spend my time organizing and planning my business, that way when the busy times hit and I’m swamped with commissions or have large projects that I’m working on, I’m fully prepared from the business and marketing standpoint.

(3) Marketing

Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter is not only about connecting, which is a huge bonus, but it also offers free marketing for artists and entrepreneurs. I can’t stress how important marketing is. Marketing is key for any business if you want to survive. When I say marketing, I don’t necessarily mean constantly trying to sell to people. What I mean is consistently posting to social media, engaging with people, answering DM’s, and emails in a timely manner.

How you present yourself is as important or even more so than your art. If your art is amazing, but you don’t know how to market it, there’s a high chance it won’t sell. I’ve seen artists that literally create scribble and were able to sell, because they understood the power of marketing. Never stop marketing yourself. If you ever think you’re doing it too much, think about every time you go on Youtube, you get hit with a pop-up window to sign up for Youtube Premium. They have no shame and neither should you.

(4) Create a Blog

If you don’t already have a blog, I strongly urge you to create one. I know blogs seem like they are almost a thing of the past, but let me tell you, they aren’t. Blogs still pull a lot of weight online. Think about when you google something. What normally pops up? Youtube and blog posts. If you are trying to reach a larger audience the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) power of blogging is unmatched. Every week when I post a new blog, the traffic on my website skyrockets. If you have no idea what to write about, you can use the blog as an online journal or better yet use your Instagram posts as blog posts.

I would recommend having a few posts created before launching your blog. I release one blog post a week on Wednesdays, I normally spend two to three days at the beginning of the month drafting posts for the whole month. Keep in mind it’s unlikely you’ll see a ton of traffic going to your blog in the beginning, but remember, you’re setting yourself up for the future.

(5)Generate Passive Income Streams

Passive income is probably the most important tip. First let me explain what passive income is. According to NerdWallet.com, Passive income is a cash stream that requires little or no daily effort to maintain, unlike active income, such as cash earned from a full-time job.

So for example, you create a beautiful piece of art and then create prints of it. That one piece of art can generate income for you well after the original piece has sold with little or no effort. Other examples of passive income are creating merchandise. I’ve created stickers, T-shirts, coffee mugs, and even an adult coloring book. You can also create an online instruction course, that can continue to make you money way down the road. Another idea is to sign up to be an amazon affiliate. What’s cool about that is when people click on the links you share, you earn a few cents. A good friend told me that you’re not going to get rich from passive income, but pennies make dollars. Remember when you run a business you’re playing the long game.

Hopefully these tips offer a little bit of help to get you through the famine, so you can rock when it’s time to feast.

Until next time,

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.