HOW TO MAKE YOUR ART A BUSINESS

This is an article “How to Make Your Art a Business” by Marc Primo Warren

If there’s one icon who successfully made money out of his art through business ventures, it’s got to be American pop art legend Andy Warhol who established a multi-million dollar empire that comprised paintings, film, and other creations.

During the late ’60s, just after surviving an attempted murder at his studio, Warhol ventured into business art wherein his creations made money for themselves in a more corporate approach. Simply put, the genius artist treated his works (and even his celebrity) as commodities that would earn him profits and, ultimately, marry art with money.

Today’s modern artists continue to derive pointers from Warhol’s model, and with the power of social media and the digital age, more are making money out of sheer creativity and a Wi-Fi connection.

Want to make money out of your art? Here are a few ideas that can inspire you to start a business.

Sell your prints

Visual art is very much in the digital age and there are already a good number of illustrators, painters, and photographers who are carving a name for themselves in the industry online. The unique selling point of prints provides art fans the same novelty of an artist’s original pieces for a lower price.

Visit sites like Society6 which sells online prints for a portion of the commission, or directly sell them via your social media pages or websites. Most art lovers today are looking for something fresh or novel rarities which somehow level the playing field among new artists and established ones, so there’s really no reason not to try your luck online. Look for genre-specific sites or communities where you can create your own print gallery and sell your pieces to a more appropriate audience.

Share your technique

Because of COVID-19, more people have finally discovered the power of video conferencing and webinars which offer other ways to showcase your art skills and make money.

Share your techniques by offering online classes to aspiring students and advertise your own pieces while you’re at it. Some good takeaways from connecting with other creative individuals are: 1) You get to share your skills and ideas; 2) You can learn from them as well; 3) You can sell your work online.

Interior designers, painters, and graphic designers are very much in-demand these days and there are plenty of available platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, or Messenger Rooms, as well as web tools that can simulate interactive classroom settings.

Of course, you’d have to market your classes any which way you can, and the best way to earn some online publicity is by sharing your art works or expert tips on your social media pages. That means you would first have to establish an online presence and get your credentials out there to gain public interest and a significant following. Once you’ve signed up a few students, go and teach them what you know and gather feedback and testimonials that you can post online to increase your artist cred and reach more potential clients.

Get your works licensed

Most professional photographers are already familiar with sites like Getty Images and Shutterstock, but if you are a musician or videographer, you can also get your works licensed and sold for profit.

Artlist is one such favorite for both professional and amateur composers that curates their licensed music in one unique and easy-to-use platform. On the other hand, sites like Viralhog and Video Elephant sell videos for advertising, news, or social media purposes allowing amateur videographers to get even their crude yet viral clips paid.

Learning about how these sites work and getting your pieces proper copyrights can be a lucrative business that can also get your art more media mileage online.

Go for it!

By combining creativity with a dose of business savvy, making money out of art can be a walk in the park.

Even if you don’t reach the heights of success that Warhol did, with the internet’s help, getting your work out there for others to appreciate and earn from it is surely easier now than ever before.