One of the keys to building an art business that lasts is cash flow. It takes money to make and market art. And then there is always a waiting period between when money leaves your bank account to pay the bills and when you get income from your efforts to pay yourself.
 
 "If you haven't licensed your art before, you may wonder how long it will take to make money. Of course, it can vary and each artist's experience will differ. But below I have outlined the 7 basic stages that will give an idea of what to expect:

"As you can see by this example, it can take some time to get the money flowing. Sometimes things move faster but I want you to prepare for this type of time line. If you understand it going into it, you are less likely to get frustrated and give up.

"Once you have things in the licensing pipeline, you start to get very excited at the end of each quarter and watch for the mail carrier!

"Some artists will buck this system and seem to become huge overnight. It is easy to become a little envious. One of my clients once told me that in her experience, it is the artists with slow and steady growththat do really well in the long run, many who are overnight successes lose their appeal to consumers just as fast."

So slow and steady wins the race - but you have to start to win.

If you have been following this series, you have already:

Talk back about your licensing experiences and questions by posting a comment here.



P.S. If you want to know "Five Things Artists Should Consider Before Deciding to License Your Art", join me and Tara Reed*  on Wednesday, March 10th at 4:00 p.m. Pacific. Click here to register. If you can't make it, register anyway to get the recording and content outline.

Tara is active in licensing so you will get the latest information and advice that works. After all, we want you to build an art business that lasts and helps you make a better living.

If you prefer learning on your own, check out these resources.


*FTC Disclosure: When we find artists like Tara Reed who have deep, proven experience in a topic that will help you make a better living making art, we put them front and center.  When these fine folks offer services and products that are first class, sometimes we agree to help each other get the word out to you with an "affiliate" arrangement, which means that we will earn a small commission for referring you to their resources. Those are marked with an asterisk.

Cake image from The Cake NinjaNo, not a real Elephant. Eewwwww!!! 

I'm talking about how to accomplish something that seems very large and overwhelming, like managing your art business and marketing your art certainly can. 

I KNOW how it feels. I'm faced with it every day of my life, just like you. And a few years ago, after I got over the realization that I would have to INVEST more time, money and brain power into myself and my business than I ever dreamed, I got v-e-r-y overwhelmed and wanted to run away. And sometimes I did. I'd hide under the covers and mutter things like, "Oh My Gawd! This is going to cost me thousands!!"

And then I did something smart and hired Aletta de Wal for some one-on-one coaching time (hint: you should too) and she taught me something wonderful:  She told me, "Yes, you do have to invest in yourself, but you don't have to do it all at once."  She said, "I know times are tough and it seems overwhelming, but if you DO NOTHING, no one will know who you are."  She suggested that I make a list of all the things I wanted to do for my business and my marketing. Then she said to start with the smallest. And I did, and then I did the next thing, and the next, and pretty soon my business was doing better than it ever had.

How do you "Eat an Elephant"?  One bite at a time.

PLEASE, I know times are tough and it's soooooo tempting to stop investing, to stop spending money on your business and marketing. But I'm telling you, it's a mistake. Yes, be frugal, be wise, have a long-term plan and keep going, just don't stop. 

P.S. Soooo, for those of you who have pondered whether or not licensing your work would be something good to do, here is a first step:  Take this class, it's on Thursday 3/10/10 (that's in two days if you're reading this blog post on the day I wrote it). Really, this is good stuff: 

Five Things Artists Should Consider Before Deciding to License Your Art. It's only $29.95 and THAT is a wise investment in your future. Come on now, just do it. Skip the double vanilla caramel lattes for a couple of weeks and you've covered the cost. See, that wasn't so hard. Get the info and register by clicking here. And when you're wildly successful write to me and we'll celebrate with a yummy elephant cake!

Thousands of Blogs tell you how to make a better living making art. It's great to have so much free information at your fingertips. Isn't more information what everyone wants? Yes and No.
 
Yes, as long as you can filter what you read for usefulness to you with a questions like these:

• Does the author have experience working with artists like you?
  
  
• If the advice is about painting, will it work for you as a sculptor?
  
  
• Will the information help you solve your art marketing issues?
  
  
• Will applying the information make it easier to run your art business?
  
  
• Will this advice leave more money in your pocket?

No, if you end up in overload - the gap between how much information you find and what it takes to turn it into useful knowledge.

One of my aims is to keep you from feeling overwhelmed and to simplify the business side of art. I don't have experience in every single nook and cranny of the art world. No one does. But I want to answer all of your questions. So I collaborate with art world insiders* with deep "niche" knowledge and experience working with artists.


February Sponsored Spotlight: Art Licensing

Here are three highly recommended resources to help you decide whether or not you should license your art:

Stay warm and dry!



P.S. *FTC disclosure: When we find artists who have deep, proven experience in a topic that will help you make a better living making art, we put them front and center.  When these fine folks offer services and products that are first class, sometimes we agree to help each other get the word out to you with an "affiliate" arrangement, which means that we will earn a small commission for referring you to their resources. Those are marked with an * asterisk on our web site, in ArtMatters! and our tips.