The 5 Things You Need Before The 4th Quarter

In order to take FULL advantage of this upcoming 4^thquarter, it is my belief that you need to have a few key elements in place in order to move forward and make the most out of this holiday season! These things are fairly simple and really something that every artist should have even if you’re in the very beginning, but I feel like a few of these might surprise you.

 LISTEN to this entire post plus descriptions of each item in the Artist Academy Podcast episode titled: The 5 things you need before the 4th quarter.

Take a guess what do you think they should be? Moving past the obvious “must have art” foundation, the next 5 things are also essential for any growth. It is my tested belief that as long as you have the fundamentals down, the rest is just up to how hard you work. How bad do you want it? Are you willing to put the extra time in to do the things that will eventually lead to a sale? Or do you just want the instant gratification? Okay let’s be real, the instant gratification thing sounds fantastic and I will say that once you do the hard things, the things that don’t grant immediate profits, eventually you will get to the point where sales do come in almost effortlessly. And I say effortlessly meaning that once you’ve made habits out of doing the small things, they won’t seem very hard anymore and you’ll build and build up to a point where your past customers and recommending you to new customers and all of a sudden, it won’t feel like you’re begging people to hire you anymore. I remember feeling like I was begging and feeling like I couldn’t turn anyone down out of fear that I wasn’t going to get another chance to paint for anyone ever again if I did price myself too high or ask for too many things before we began the project.

Anyway, I wanted to come on and just talk a bit about the foundations for the 4^thquarter. These are the things you need to have checked off your list in order to move forward and really get after it and make this upcoming holiday season your most profitable one yet!

In the Artist Academy Advanced Membership we are getting ready to start a 4^thQuarter Success Plan starting September 1^st that walks you through the process I made up last year that led to me making about 80% of my yearly income in the 4^th quarter. Those efforts carried past the holidays and into January and February, I was so busy I could hardly think and I’m not suggesting you drive yourself crazy or over work yourself, something I have to remind myself not to do as well, but the plan is to FILL your calendar. I want this to be every member’s most profitable year yet so I wanted to first sit down really quick and just talk about the fundamentals. The things you need to have first, before you can earn crazy profits later.

1. You need to have a website: Somewhere for your customers to land other than social media.
   
   I get way less engagement on Instagram than I did last year which just over emphasizes my own point to myself to get people on my website and email list. Listen to this podcast episode for my recommendations on which hosts I recommend using for your site and shop.

2. Promotional material aka photos of your work.
   
   The most important thing is your artwork, the second most important thing is how you display it. I’ve invited artists on the podcast before who aren’t very far along in their art career but you’d never know it by looking at their photos.

Click HERE to watch a video where I lay out the exact steps I use to take amazing photos with my artwork t use as promotional material for the holidays. It only takes a few hours and you’re done for the entire 4^thquarter!

3. You need a pricing structure. Luckily, I’ve put one together for you: www.Artpricingguide.com

I remember I used to end every conversation with a client with, “but I’ll fit anything into your budget,” meaning I would work for next to nothing if they asked me because I didn’t’ have anything else going on so please don’t say no. Now, I still say that I will fit anything in your budget but it is met with a completely different mentality and I’m not scared at all to pass a low paying job down to someone who is just starting out or who needs experience. If it isn’t profitable, I’m not doing it, unless it’s for a charity that I strongly believe in like Big Brothers Big Sisters, or a similar circumstance. Staying firm on your price from the get-go is a MUST when you’re first starting out and helps you demand respect from clients. Create your own at www.ArtPricingGuide.com

4. You should know who your ideal customer is.
   
   Did anyone expect that? Basically, you have to know who you’re going to target before you make a plan.

The first thing we do inside the 4^thQuarter Strategy framework is make a marketing plan. We set goals and work backwards from those goals and set clear plans on how to achieve them.

Don’t worry, for everyone not sure exactly what that is, you can dive into literally the first video I ever did inside the Artist Academy. It’s in your Artist Academy membership site! If you’re not yet a member, you can apply HERE.

5. Treat your art business like a business.

This is kinda foo foo-y I know but I really want to get this into your heads before we start. Treating it like a business means you’re painting when you don’t want to. You’re looking at profits and margins and all of the stuff that moves your business forward instead of keeping it as a hobby. I can help you with this process in the Artist Academy – Advanced. I LOVE this stuff which makes it really easy for me to break it down for you in easy step by step tutorials with done for you templates. Let’s make this upcoming 4^thquarter the most profitable one yet!