Artists In Business

Did you know that 90% of small businesses fail every year in the U.S. in large part because they don’t have a financial plan in place for their businesses that is designed to create predictable, consistent revenue?

You may have known that from being a member of the Artists In Business community because this is something I talk about all the time.

However, if you’re a member of the Artists In Business Insider group or the 14-Day Art Biz Challenge group, you also know that one of the largest factors that contributes to ensuring your financial plan for your business actually brings you results is knowing, without question, who your true ideal clients are.

And, if you’ve listened to my episodes 115 and 116 of this week, you know how truly difficult it can be to uncover who your true ideal clients are- and that those 90% of businesses that fail have owners who have not truly uncovered their true ideal clients.

So I want to put a stop to that once and for all for all artists who are serious about growing a business with and for your art. Because if you don’t have this dialed in, you are likely missing the mark BIG TIME on WHO truly resonates with your offers, and furthermore how and where to find them.

Let’s dive into that in today’s episode.

ASK, by Ryan Levesque

Download ASK for free with the Artists In Business free audible.com trial:

www.audibletrial.com/artistsinbusiness

Today I want to talk about the importance of making an offer that sells by leading with your theme.

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Last week we were talking about how to take the first step to fulfill your good, better, best scenario. If you want to know what the good, better, best scenario is just go to the link below!

http://bit.ly/aibbarriers

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The scenario helps you set-up a revenue goal for yourself that begins just outside of your comfort zone. This means you can actually ease yourself into making a certain amount. Then before you know it you are reaching the goal that you never thought you would be able to!

I’ve seen this happen with my own business as well as with many artists that I have worked with time and time again.

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In last weeks discussion, we talked about you making an offer for the first time. It was all about just putting an offer out there. This could have been by the signature in your email, via social media, or by emailing a friend or family member with “here is a piece or an offer I have and here is the theme behind it. If you happen to know anybody that would be interested please share.”

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Now the reason it is so important to share the theme instead of the offer itself is because that is what people are truly resonating with.

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I have the most incredible story to share of my own of how I learned that lesson the hard way at a very young age. I never forgot it!

CLICK HERE to hear about that lesson!

Please share your theme below in the comments below.

Your theme comes from you WHY! This is a very important component to understand in your art business.

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I have a free training coming up, starting on April 15th called the Profit Canvas free training where we go into detail about your Why story. It is where we establish your Profit Ladder for your business. The foundation of this begins with you discovering your Why story or your Why theme.

If you are interested in being added to the Profit Canvas waitlist go to the below link:

http://bit.ly/pc19waitlist

Here is the bottom line, to market online with integrity and in a way that you feel great about and also in a way that your ideal clients are excited about you have to lead with your Why theme! You do not lead with the offer itself. The reason is because people are actually drawn to your work because of the Why theme first and then the work secondly.

Your Why theme also contextualizes for them what is so important in their lives that resonates with them about this piece or about this offer.

It is a two-way street. And a win-win situation when you lead with your Why theme.

In preparation for the Profit Canvas training coming up on April 15th post what you consider your Why theme in the comments below the video.

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Next week I’m going to talk about why your Why theme is so IMPORTANT to create a business with your art that has revenue of high 5 or 6-figures that is around for the long-term. And that also creates consistency and predictability.

CLICK HERE to Leave Your Questions About the Episode!

Last week we set up your good, better, best scenario for bringing in more revenue. In doing so you’ve created the space and the permission for yourself to begin to bring in more then you have in the past.

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I’ve talked about in the past weeks is that when we as artists begin to make more money as business owners a lot of resistance can come up subconsciously that we could have never anticipated.

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The reason for that is because all of us have a very specific relationship to, with and for money.

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It can be something very small or very large but regardless every single day we are dealing with money. As a result, we have an internal temperature setting that keeps us feeling safe and secure with a certain amount that we are able to bring in.

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To break through that temperature takes a lot of conscious awareness and a lot of will power to make it happen.

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When you make 6+figures as an artist in business it does not mean that you personally made 6 figures but that your business made that revenue and you were able to take a salary from that. When you are able to do that then you know you have a business that has created predictability and is sustainable.

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Now when you make more money that is outside of your comfort zone resistance comes up and you will begin to think that you have to put a stop to this.

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This is not a conscious thought and is totally normal.

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The best being that number that you feel you want to make. The good number being just above your comfort zone. Better being the number between the two.

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To complete this exercise just take one action to begin to share what you have to offer in your business and how much it is.

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There are a number of ways to do this. To find out the ways simply watch the video and I will explain to you the different ways to share your offer.

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Post in the comments below the video how you shared your offer.

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If you are interested in being added to the Profit Canvas waitlist go to:

http://bit.ly/pc19waitlist

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CLICK HERE to Leave Your Questions About the Episode!

What is your internal temperature when receiving revenue?

This is such an important question that we’ve been going over the last couple of weeks. The reason it is important for artists to begin to make 6-figures as a business is because when you make that amount in your business the business can then afford to pay you a salary.

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Here’s the rub...

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The big issue that almost every single person runs into, myself included, is that when you start to make more as a business owner you step into a new position of power within ourselves. A new form of internal leadership is gained, a self-empowerment.

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In order to take that step, we are inevitably faced with challenges that we’ve never really looked at before. That we never thought would be an issue before. The one that I am referring to here is when you start to make that 6-figures as an artist in business.

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Now the question I posed last week was is it harder to make 6-figures? Or is it harder to internally accept and receive the 6-figures revenue that comes into your business and know that you’ve gotten yourself to that next level?

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9 times out of 10 it’s the later that is harder!

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Stepping into your power and being able to receive that revenue will jar your nervous system like nothing before.

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Last week I talked about how when I made my first 6-figures I immediately invested $34,000 into a coach. That was the wrong decision for me to make at that time.

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Why did I immediately invest that $34,000? That is the most important thing to look at because it gave me the perfect opportunity to grow because I did it for a very specific reason.

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We have the most charged energy around money because it is an energy in our lives and we have to deal with it every single day. So we have relationships to it that are so personal to us that will start to come out when you start to break past what your nervous system is use to making.

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What I want to share is that as an artist in business in this day and age It is important to make high 5 or 6-figures in revenue. You then need to pay yourself from that revenue because that is how you can create longevity, consistency and predictability in your business with your art.

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I invite you to embrace that idea!

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Allow your resistances on this idea to come up but now take your first action step in setting yourself up to make enough that is just outside of your comfort zone.

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Here’s how you want to do that, create a good, better, best scenario.

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To create this scenario just take the number you came up with from last week about how much you envision yourself making as an artist to feel like you could have a sustainable business. Take that number and put that down as your best then work backward to come up with a better and a good. Your good should just be outside of your comfort zone.

Did you know that there was something more important that you needed to conquer before you actually begin to make 6 figures as a business owner?

That thing that you need to conquer or have an awareness of is what I want to share with you today.

Last week I was talking about the significance of making 6-figures as an artist in business, especially on the online space.

Now to clarify more on this, when we speak about making 6-figures this does not mean that you personally have made that amount. What we mean is that your business made 6-figures and can now afford to pay you a salary from that 6-figures.

For those of you just starting out, you might be thinking I just made my first $1,000 what does that mean for me?

It is a little bit different when you are just starting out. When you make your first $1000 what you need to look at is, how much do you need to take out of that and what is the bare minimum you can use out of what you made to reinvest to duplicate your results?

This is what you want to do to begin to build your business and have a snowball effect.

Now the question is what is the hardest part when you first make this money? Is it actually making that amount of money or what happens to you when that money comes to you for the very first time?

I started sharing a bit of my story of what happened when I made my first 6-figures as a consultant and an online marketing strategist.

If you missed that story then to hear about it just CLICK HERE!

When I made my first 6-figures I should have been excited but what happened was I ended up being in shock. I become like a deer in headlights.

I was unsure why I was so uncomfortable with the fact that I made this amount of money but I had the urge to use that money to help me grow even further. I wanted to hire a coach to assist me with this growth.

What ended up happening was that I found a coach that was not the best fit for me at that time and charged more than I was able to afford to pay at that time. She charged $34,000 to work for her for the year.

You might be thinking who in the world spends that much to work with a coach? Now big companies that make multiple 6-figures or millions in their business do hire coaches for that amount because they can afford to and make back the cost right away.

Now when l went back through my revenue and was figuring out what I had done I realized by giving away that $34,000 to this coach brought my revenue down to exactly what my parents made when I was growing up as teachers combined.

Next week I want to dive further into the lesson I learned from this in the meantime in the comments below the video let me know when you sit with the amount of money you envision yourself making in your business, how does it make you feel?

CLICK HERE to Leave Your Questions About the Episode!

Why you need to be a 6-figure artist in order for your business to thrive for the long-term! (and what that even means..!)

I wanted to share a story of a friend of mine and how he learned this lesson.

When I was just out of undergrad, I was 22 years old and a good friend of mine had just got cast in a Steve Martin film. Now, this was a huge win for him as he had been training and auditioning for quite some time. His salary from the film was over $100,000. Instead of looking at that salary as money for his art and work as a business he rather perceived it all for himself. Because of this within 8 months all of it was all gone. 

He bought expensive items and believed that his next gig was right on the horizon. What happened to him though was he ended up back at square one with nothing!

When this happened to him I thought to myself "No way did I want that to ever happen to me!"

But I still ended up having to learn this lesson the hard way. 

I will be sharing more of my story next week on what I did the first time I made 6 figures in my business but for now, if you could share in the comments below the Facebook Live video on how much do you think you would need to make in order for you to feel like you were on the right track? 

(If you haven’t registered for my How To Make Your First $1K Selling Your Art Online live workshop yet, where I go into detail on how to craft the perfect offer, be sure to do so by clicking below!) 

Click below to register for the workshop!

http://bit.ly/aibtraining

CLICK HERE to Leave Your Questions About the Episode!

Do you know how to make an offer online without question or hyperbole?

Over the last few weeks, we've been talking about how to craft an offer online.

Every artist needs to know how to craft the right kind of offer to the right people in order to start to build a business that is long-term and sustainable. Also, to begin to create offers that have consistency and predictability.

What you are looking for is offers that bring you in revenue you can count on!

LAST WEEK you had a chance to share your Why Theme question via social media as a test to see what reactions you may receive from your audience!

THIS WEEK I share a challenge with you based on this exercise.

During my workshop, “How To Make Your First $1K Selling Your Art Online”, we look at how to expand make an offer online without questions or hyperbole!

(If you haven’t registered for my How To Make Your First $1K Selling Your Art Online live workshop yet, where I go into detail on how to craft the perfect offer, be sure to do so by clicking below!)

To register for the workshop click on the link below!http://bit.ly/aibtraining

CLICK HERE to Leave Your Questions About the Episode!

Are you ready to start a meaningful relationship with your potential clients, or are you still looking for a one-night stand?

When you meet someone you can foresee you have something in common with, and you want to pursue a relationship with them, whether it’s a friendship or other, you definitely take the time to get to know that person and begin to share parts of yourself with them that relate to what you most have in common.

Similarly, in your art business, you want to begin a quality relationship with your ideal clients by sharing with them what you most have in common: your art!!

However, it’s not just your art that you want to share with them- that actually comes much later- it’s the reason you create your art that is of most interest to them, which can be found within your Why Theme.

LAST WEEK you had a chance to create a question for your potential clients, in relation to your Why Theme, that goes one step past your Opening Line.

(Did you miss last week’s exercise, along with the Why Theme and Opening Line exercises? If so, go to them now: CLICK HERE for last week’s question exerciseCLICK HERE for Why Theme  CLICK HERE for Opening Line)

THIS WEEK I’m challenging you to SHARE your Why Theme question via social media as a test to see what reactions you may receive from your audience!

The exercise is to share your question on whatever social media channel you use most (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, etc) and paste the link to your post in the comments below!!

There is no better time than the present to take action and test this, and you have absolutely nothing to lost and everything to gain by taking this step.

CLICK HERE to Leave Your Questions About the Episode!

Do you ever wonder how much consideration you should take when figuring out revenue in your business?

Kelly Richmond Pope is an accounting professor turned documentary filmmaker who studied how whistleblowing impacts fraud detection and prevention in organizations. She directed and produced the award-winning documentary All the Queen’s Horses which explores the $53 million Dixon, Illinois fraud, the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history.

Artist's I can't wait for you to hear this episode because Kelly and I talk about how important revenue is to take into consideration in business with your art. We also discuss how it can be the most creative part of growing your business.

LINKS:

www.kellyrichmondpope.com

CLICK HERE to Leave Your Questions About the Episode!

Are you wondering how to craft offers for your business that truly resonate with you?

Jennifer Dasal is the curator of modern and contemporary art at the North Carolina Museum of Art, where she has been employed since 2008. She holds an MA in art history from the University of Notre Dame as well as a BA in art history from the University of California, Davis. She has also completed PhD coursework in art history. On the side, Dasal hosts the ArtCurious Podcast, a bi-weekly show exposing the unexpected, the slightly odd, and the strangely wonderful in art history.

LINKS:

http://www.artcuriouspodcast.com/

CLICK HERE to Leave Your Questions About the Episode!