Mixed Media Artists That Want To Make Money Series I: Part 2

Hope everyone had a wonderful time over the holidays and got to take a few days "off" from creating! As I'm aware this post is well past due which I apologize in advance, I wanted to really organize my thoughts to convey the message that I believe is super important. In my first post of this series, I told you about the power of taking a few days off from anything involving your creations to find your "muse." In this second part of series one, I’m going to introduce to you something that will save you a lot of trouble and something that I had to go back through my grad school notes and dig up. I knew it was worthy enough to search through the avalanche in my closet as during a consulting practicum before graduating college, I had to memorize the entire thing before presenting to a company the findings while on a team of 5 others.

It’s called a business model canvas….

If you’ve never heard of this, that’s awesome because over 3000 bloggers blogging about making money and claiming to help you, that I took time to scan through over the week, never once mentioned anything about this! There were a few bloggers that did say "business models" however, were utterly unrelated to what I am about to discuss.

This is what secured a HUGE business deal B2B for a company wanting to enter a market in a different location. They are at the top of their game now, thanks to the time that was taken to break down each part of the business model and reveal which areas needed more work and how to make this happen (which is exactly what my team did, and I will tell as much as I can). Still, under a nondisclosure agreement, I cannot reveal the companies involved.

I can most certainly reveal the dynamics and logistics of the entire ordeal!

--This post contains affiliate links. If one of these links is clicked, it will open in a new tab within your web browser. When you make a purchase from the link, I will be smiling, and it will cost you nothing additional!

Ahhhh, the entire original business model canvas before I tailored it to the world of art! Thanks, Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur authors of the Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers. This is actually a breakdown of the crucial areas, where I got the whole idea from and how to tailor it B2C.

Now let's tear it down even further into a more art world kind of way and focus on a specific direction to get started with! If you went to school to study art, they probably briefed over the business aspect leaving you with a huge void that you might be trying to grasp at straws trying to fulfill as you enter art shows and chances to win awards.

There we go, that's way more interesting and artistic! Start with What Do You Do? And then follow the arrows. This is going to be your primary focus for right now.

What Do You Do? 

This may seem like a straightforward and obvious question. I was surprised how many times I've messed this one up while speaking with people I see daily. This is the moment where you have to be completely honest with yourself. If you are not good at a specific area of art and customers, keep making offers with price quotes that make your eyes dazzle...

That's ok...

You don't have to be good at everything so do not force it. Instead, consider forming a partnership with another fellow artist that is more of an expert in that niche. I will provide more about this aspect of Part III and how to do it so that you receive money also.

This is where finding your "muse" comes into play! When I first took a few days off from creating in August 2017, I utilized my time to start journaling, and of course, I went beach glass hunting. In my journal, I started out with a prompt that I recreated from a few articles I read about being introverted which I most certainly am.

This is my journal from August....don't take this is as a bad thing it was actually indeed awakening once I got back into the mix! This made me realize that I was not meeting my dreams like I thought I was and I was thrilled that I took this moment to regroup.

How Do You Interact?

What can you incorporate into your business that will enhance your customer relationships? When you are creating art that you feel others would like then selling it, its a completely different aspect than working on commissions. When accepting a commissioned work of art, it's essential to communicate effectively with your client and make sure its exactly what they want involving them at the most crucial steps. Such as after you complete the sketch, before entering the "awkward stage" of the artwork, and before varnish sealing the deal. If you offer to have it done earlier but run into an issue that it might take longer to complete, communicating this promptly and an additional offer of a discount or a bonus incentive.


If you haven't reached the point of commissions yet, don't panic! It has nothing to do with the art that you have created so don't take it personally. It does have everything to do with how you are representing yourself.

Do you have a business card available to give to anyone that asks what you do? Do you go out of your way to your local community looking for impossible possibilities?

I go into art galleries around the area looking like a complete fool when I walk in, to leave the door with a new business deal not even realizing what happened!

You never know what will happen until you just try!

I was usually not even in my "artist's best" attire, which has always made me a little anxious that I'm going to get my only professional outfit filthy from the salt on the car this time of year.

How Do You Reach Them?

Where are you selling/and or attempting to reach the customer segments that you are helping?

Are you attempting to reach people locally or at a distance or just online?

What will these people be gaining from this?

Whether you are a boss babe selling your art or trying to make some extra cash on the side, it's never too late to take a closer look at who you are reaching and how your message is getting to them so that you can actually utilize this "reach" in the near future for conversions. We will get to that point soon and I will explain everything along the way. For right now just focus on which marketing channels would best represent your artistic creations.

Who Do You Help? 

(I put this one here purposely even though it doesn't make any sense right now)

What problem are you solving for your customers?

Which customer segment are these customers arriving from?

Where on Earth do they live and what kind of BS do they deal with every day that they would feel the undeniable urge to return home to their sanctuary and want to view your art that graces their walls?

How does this market segment relax? Dive farther and seek out further answers other than Google analytics....I've already been there and sorry Google but you didn't tell me that my clients love to enjoy a pint of Ben & Jerry's while sitting at the end of a pier when they've had a bad day....they now instead go home to stare at an abstract that I've created trying to extract something meaningful to them and find their "happy place" much quicker and I'm delighted that I've reached another human on this level!

Series I: Part 3 picks up on the other side of this business model canvas. This is where you will take your value proposition that sets you apart from the millions of artists and formulate a game plan of actions to get your creations in the right places. If you feel like taking a break before heading over there check out my artworks for sale on my website!