How To Launch Your Art Career in 2024 (seriously)

Summary

This video script offers an Art Career 101 guide, emphasizing the pivotal role of social media for recognition and financial stability. It suggests leveraging platforms like YouTube for accountability and marketing, focusing on quality content creation with good lighting, audio, and storytelling. The speaker shares strategies for standing out in the art community, such as identifying unique selling points and tapping into market gaps. The script outlines phases of career development, from starting out and strategy to scaling back content for quality and expanding through email lists and community involvement, aiming for a sustainable art career.

Takeaways

• 😀 Social media is a crucial tool for artists to gain recognition and financial stability, regardless of personal feelings towards it.
• 🎨 Artists should choose the platform they are most comfortable with and use it to showcase their work and progress.
• 📈 Consistent posting on social media can serve as a form of accountability and motivation for artists to work on their art regularly.
• 📹 High-quality content creation involves good lighting, audio, and storytelling, which are the fundamentals for success on social media.
• 🔍 It's important for artists to understand the community they want to be a part of, including the main players and current trends.
• 🌟 Artists need to identify what sets them apart from other creators, which is often referred to as their comparative advantage or unique selling point.
• 🚀 Starting out involves getting organized and beginning to market oneself through chosen platforms like social media or in-person events.
• 📈 The strategy phase involves developing a coherent marketing plan, identifying one's identity as an artist, and considering various income streams.
• 💰 Passive income streams, such as YouTube AdSense or Skillshare courses, are recommended as they require less ongoing effort once set up.
• 🛍️ As the artist's career progresses, they should consider scaling back on content quantity and focusing on quality to make each release an event.
• 📧 Building an email list is essential for long-term career stability, as it provides a direct line of communication with the most engaged followers.

Q & A

What is the primary role of social media for an artist according to the script?

Social media serves as a tool for artists to gain recognition and financial stability, allowing them to market themselves and hold themselves accountable for their artistic goals.

How can artists use social media platforms like YouTube for their benefit?

Artists can use YouTube to post videos that not only serve as a means of growing their income and building awareness but also as an excuse to work on their artistic goals, such as practicing different art forms.

What are the fundamental elements for creating successful content on social media?

Good lighting, good audio, and a good story are the fundamentals for successful content creation on social media.

What is the importance of identifying and understanding the community and trends in the art niche?

Understanding the community and trends helps artists to figure out how successful creators make their content, what tropes they use, their equipment, and how they can adapt these elements to fit their own unique style.

What is a comparative advantage in the context of content creation?

A comparative advantage refers to the unique qualities, outlook, perspective, skills, or knowledge that set a content creator apart from others in the same niche, helping them to stand out and offer something different to their audience.

Why is transparency about one's art career journey considered valuable in the script?

Transparency about one's art career journey is valuable because it provides a roadmap and real-life proof of the strategies used, which can be a resource for others looking to build their own art careers.

What are passive income streams and why are they recommended for artists starting out?

Passive income streams are revenue sources that do not require continuous active work once set up, such as YouTube AdSense or Skillshare courses. They are recommended for artists because they provide a steady income with less ongoing effort, allowing artists to focus on their creative work and marketing strategy.

What is KOJI and how can it benefit artists according to the script?

KOJI is a platform that serves as more than just a link-in bio service for artists. It allows artists to organize and consolidate their online presence, including social media accounts, email lists, and digital products, and even make money directly from their profile by selling products and services.

Why is it suggested that artists should consider scaling back the quantity of their content in phase three?

Scaling back the quantity of content in phase three is suggested to focus on increasing the quality of the content, making each release an event that people look forward to and cherish, rather than overwhelming them with constant content.

What is the significance of building an email list for an artist's long-term career?

Building an email list is significant because it provides a direct line of connection to the artist's most engaged followers, offering a more stable and long-lasting form of communication that is not dependent on social media platforms, which can be ephemeral.

How can artists expand their reach and solidify their careers beyond social media?

Artists can expand their reach and solidify their careers by getting involved in their community, collaborating with others, starting podcasts, and most importantly, building an email list to ensure a direct connection with their audience that is not tied to any single platform's lifespan.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Embracing Social Media for Art Career Growth

The video script emphasizes the importance of social media as a tool for artists to gain recognition and financial stability. It encourages artists to choose a platform they are comfortable with and use it for marketing and accountability. The speaker shares personal strategies, such as using YouTube videos for both marketing and practicing art skills. The summary also touches on the importance of quality content creation with good lighting, audio, and storytelling. It advises artists to study successful creators in their niche, understand community trends, and identify their unique selling proposition to stand out.

05:01

🛠 Developing a Marketing Strategy for Artistic Success

This paragraph outlines the three phases of developing an art career: starting out, strategy, and scaling back for quality. The speaker confesses to guiding viewers through a roadmap, starting with marketing oneself on social media or other platforms. The strategy phase involves understanding one's identity as an artist and leveraging passive income streams like YouTube AdSense or Skillshare courses. The speaker recommends using platforms like Koji to organize online presence and income streams. The final phase suggests focusing on quality over quantity of content and building an email list for long-term career stability.

10:02

🌐 Expanding Your Art Career Beyond Social Media

The final paragraph discusses the importance of not relying solely on social media platforms for an art career, as they are impermanent. It introduces the fourth phase of the roadmap: expansion. This phase focuses on building an email list, which is considered the 'holy grail' of marketing, ensuring a direct connection with engaged followers that can outlast social media platforms. The speaker also encourages getting involved in the community through interviews, podcasts, and collaborations to expand brand awareness. The ultimate goal is to create a sustainable art career that provides financial stability and allows for a creative practice without the need for constant availability.

Keywords

💡Social Media

Social media refers to digital platforms that allow users to create and share content or participate in social networking. In the context of the video, it is presented as an essential tool for artists to gain recognition and financial stability. The script emphasizes that regardless of personal feelings towards social media, it can be harnessed to market one's art and build an audience.

💡Content Creation

Content creation involves the process of producing various forms of content meant for distribution on different platforms. The video discusses the importance of creating consistent and quality content on social media, such as videos, vlogs, or painting processes, to grow an audience and establish a presence as an artist.

💡Algorithm

In the context of social media, an algorithm is a set of rules that determine the order and visibility of content in a user's feed. The script mentions fighting the algorithm, implying the need to understand and adapt to these rules to increase the visibility of one's content and grow a following.

💡YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing platform mentioned in the script as an example of a social media platform where artists can post videos to showcase their work and grow their audience. It is highlighted as a dual-purpose tool for both marketing and as a means to work on artistic goals.

💡Niche

A niche refers to a specific segment of the market that has similar interests, needs, or preferences. The video emphasizes the importance of living and breathing the niche one wishes to enter online, understanding the community, and identifying trends to tailor content creation strategies effectively.

💡Comparative Advantage

Comparative advantage is an economic term that refers to an entity's ability to produce a good or service at a lower opportunity cost than its competitors. In the video, it is used to describe what sets an artist apart from others, suggesting that identifying and leveraging one's unique skills, perspective, or approach can lead to success in the art world.

💡Passive Income

Passive income is money earned with little to no effort after an initial setup. The script suggests starting with passive income streams like YouTube AdSense or Skillshare courses, which require less ongoing work and can provide a steady income while the artist focuses on other aspects of their career.

💡Koji

Koji is mentioned as a platform that serves as more than just a link-in bio service for artists. It allows artists to organize their online presence and income streams in one place, sell digital and physical products, and even take commissions and donations, making it a comprehensive tool for managing an art career.

💡Marketing Strategy

A marketing strategy is a plan for reaching a specific marketing-related goal in a focused and achievable way. The video outlines the importance of developing a coherent plan for marketing oneself as an artist, including understanding one's identity, comparative advantage, and various income streams.

💡Email List

An email list is a collection of email addresses used for sending newsletters, promotional materials, or other information to subscribers. The script positions an email list as the 'holy grail of marketing,' highlighting its importance for direct connection with followers and as a means to ensure the longevity of an artist's career beyond social media platforms.

💡Expansion Phase

The expansion phase, as described in the video, is a stage in an artist's career where they focus on cementing their career for long-term stability. This involves building an email list, getting involved in the community, and branching out to ensure a lasting impact beyond the lifespan of any single platform or trend.

Highlights

Social media is a crucial tool for artists to gain recognition and financial stability.

Artists should choose a social media platform they prefer and focus on it for content creation.

Posting consistent content on social media can be a challenge, but it's essential for growing an art career.

YouTube can be used for both marketing and accountability, helping artists work on their goals.

Content creation doesn't have to be complicated; simple videos can be effective.

Good lighting, audio, and storytelling are the fundamentals of successful content creation.

Understanding the community and its main players is key to succeeding on social media.

Artists should identify their unique selling proposition or comparative advantage in the art community.

Being different in the market is more accessible than being the first or the best, especially for beginners.

The speaker shares their comparative advantage as transparency and focus on strategy in their content.

Building an email list is vital for long-term marketing and career stability beyond social media platforms.

Passive income streams like YouTube AdSense or Skillshare courses are recommended for artists.

Koji is introduced as a platform to organize an artist's online presence and income streams.

Scaling back content quantity and focusing on quality is suggested in the later stages of an art career.

Artists should aim to make their work an event that people look forward to and cherish.

Expanding an art career involves community involvement and direct connections with followers.

The ultimate goal is to build a sustainable art career that provides financial stability and creative freedom.

Transcripts

you guys are here for how to launch your

art career 101 right

oh thank god okay let's get started the

first thing

that you need to know about

is social media now you might hate

social media or you might love it but

either way it is a tool for you to use

to get what you want that being

recognition and financial stability so i

want you to pick the platform you love

the most or hate the least and run with

it okay but how do i post good

consistent content without taking time

away from making my art and how do i

even grow on social media fighting the

algorithm and keeping up to date feels

impossible i get where you're coming

from but social media is a tool that can

be used both ways both as a means of

marketing and as a means of

accountability the benefit of posting on

a platform like youtube is that you can

use videos that you post online as an

excuse to work on your goals as an

artist i don't just use youtube as a

means of growing my income and building

awareness for who i am as an artist but

i also use videos to work on drawing

heads portrait drawing i also use videos

to try acrylic painting and oil painting

and just

you can post vlogs and painting

practices you don't have to make content

like anyone else makes content there are

plenty of creators out there i know one

personally that just post painting

processes and a voiceover and make tens

of thousands of dollars every month from

their paid products and the other stuff

they have going on with their art career

which we will cover later in phase three

but all you need to do is record the

process as for how to make quality

content i think good lighting good audio

and a good story are really the

fundamentals for success if you have

that you are golden content creation can

really be as complicated as you want it

to be you can make really simple videos

or you can make really in-depth videos

like i make you can make content however

you want to make content everything is

up to you so i recommend that you pick

one to two platforms and just post just

make stuff

and then once you have a good handle on

the basics of creation that's where

strategy comes in there are two things

that you need to know to succeed on

virtually any social media platform the

first is what the community is like that

you want to be a part of who are the

main players in the community people

like lee ellison radio rahman jazza for

example slu those are big creators in

the art community you want to figure out

how they make their content what tropes

do they use what kind of lighting do

they have what are their camera angles

what camera gear do they use and then

you're also going to want to start

paying attention to the current trends

in your community you want to live and

breathe the niche that you want to enter

online and the second thing that you

need to know arguably the most important

is what sets you apart from all of those

other creators every single content

creator is unique everyone has a brand a

look a specialty this is also something

that sometimes called a comparative

advantage what do you have that all of

those other creators don't what unique

outlook or perspective or skills or

knowledge set you a part in your content

what can you do to take the niche to a

new level how can you present new

information or a new approach this might

be an editing style it might be

the same content presented in a more

engaging way a thing always said in

marketing is that you can either be the

first the best or different the first

and the best are really hard to achieve

especially as a beginner there are

probably already lots of people in your

niche but how can you be different

that's what you want to figure out let's

look at my content as an example i don't

just post studio vlogs and painting

processes but i'm also really into the

data the numbers i post content about

entrepreneurship social media growth and

how to start making money as an artist

that is information that a lot of other

art youtubers really share and i'm more

transparent than a lot of other creators

i post like exactly the numbers of how

much money i've been making as i

progress in my art career because i want

this whole channel to exist as a

resource for you i want you to start

building your art career and then being

able to look back on all of the videos

in this channel to see exactly what i've

done i am not just telling you the

roadmap that i'm using right now but

all of the videos on my channel exist as

like a real life proof of the road map

as it developed my career and that is my

comparative advantage my willingness to

share what other creators don't and my

overarching focus on strategy when i was

just starting out i really wanted

information on how much money i could

make as an artist but there weren't a

lot of videos out there especially for

the stuff that i wanted to make so i

noticed a gap in the market and i filled

it with my own content and once you've

identified your comparative advantage

and your identity as an artist and a

creator it's really just a matter of

time of making killer content and being

patient it took me six months to reach

100 subscribers here on youtube and over

a year and a half to reach 1000 but ever

since hitting 1000 in september my

channel's been growing really well ever

since so just stick in there be patient

but i actually have a little bit of a

confession to make because you see

when i mentioned that roadmap before

i've actually been guiding you along

this roadmap the entire time

and we're on phase three phase one was

what i like to call the starting out

phase or more absolutely getting your

together you're figuring out how

you want to market yourself be it on

social media or some other way like in

person through conventions or on a blog

and you just start doing it phase two is

the crucial strategy phase this

is when you're going to want to start

developing a coherent plan for your

overall marketing strategy you want to

figure out who you are as a creator who

you are as an artist and what your

comparative advantage is for your

business so this is the part where you

start thinking about making money now

there are tons of ways of making money

as an artist you could go the

traditional route of having your work in

galleries or you could sell prints

originals or whatever you'd like in an

online shop you can also sell a course

to places like skillshare you could have

your work in art fairs uh conventions

i don't know like restaurants cafes

boutiques i mean the sky is the limit

you can do whatever you want but that

being said i highly recommend you start

out with a couple of passive income

streams passive income streams are not

directly linked to your creative output

you basically make them or set them up

once they make money in the background

this is stuff like youtube adsense it

could also be a skillshare course or

digital products these are easier income

streams to set up and they don't require

a lot of active work from you after you

get them going this is a really great

way to have money trickling in while you

keep working on your marketing strategy

and start building out other more active

income streams that require more

attention like an online shop or trying

to get your work an exhibition or a

gallery once you have some smaller

income streams set up and a little bit

here and there trickling in add in

another one maybe a patreon or an online

shop just keep adding income streams

making sure to have a healthy balance of

active and passive until you have enough

to make ends meet okay this might be

starting to sound a little bit

overwhelming and like a lot of things to

market but this is where koji comes in

the sponsor of this week's video koji is

so much more than just a lincoln bio

service so they are the best lincoln bio

service for artists like genuinely but

there are a place where you can have all

of your income streams and your entire

presence online in one place it is so

easy to organize it looks great i have

my twitter my instagram my youtube

channel uh my email my email list you

can send it for my newsletter i have my

workbook there my notion templates my

patreon i have what else i have a tip

jar i have

my affiliate links i have my website my

online shop like so much of my presence

online my entire presence online is

found on my koji profile and

it isn't just a place where you can have

links you can actually make money from

your profile so you don't have to worry

about conversion rates or even having a

website because having a website let's

face it is actually really expensive um

and it's time consuming to maintain so

you can sell digital and physical

products directly on your koji profile

you can take commissions you can take

donations you can take tips you can

again build an email list and so much

more koji has hundreds of mini apps on

their marketplace i don't even have time

to talk about them all from being 100

honest but there is limitless potential

with your koji profile it is honestly

a great place to be and i would really

recommend it for each and every one of

you guys i

am new to working with brands on this

channel and i only want to take

sponsorships with companies that i

genuinely believe in and koji is one of

those so it's a really great service i

would really wholeheartedly recommend it

and if you guys want a video where i

show you a heads up your own koji

profile let me know down in the comments

and i didn't make that but anyway when

you're in phase three

you're gonna have a lot of stuff going

on

and the time that you have to make art

might take a hit trust me i know

but at this point you probably have a

fairly solid marketing strategy you are

used to posting on social media and you

have a good grasp of what you're doing

this is when you should start

considering scaling back the quantity of

your content and increasing the quality

so this might totally be a hot take but

i would argue that the artists with the

best marketing strategies are the ones

that make you drop everything when they

release a new exhibition or post a new

video you drop everything that you're

doing and you cherish their work like a

fine wine it is an event when they do

something and then they off for

three months and you miss them with

social media we can get a little bit of

everything all of the time there is an

endless sea of content always at the

ready but here's the thing art is not

content

the goal here remember

is to launch your art career not to

become a content creator there is a

difference we are using social media as

a tool to get what we want recognition

and financial stability but you don't

have to use social media like everyone

else does

the drop model the posting schedule for

artists should be different than other

content creators we are a different

class of person we are not a lifestyle

vlogger or a tech reviewer it takes time

to make what we make

and we should give that the respect that

it deserves so don't be afraid to post

regularly make your art an event that

people stop what they're doing to go and

experience and now we're in phase four

expanding remember you do not own the

social media platforms or the art

galleries or conventions or art fairs

you sell your work at they could vanish

at any moment phase four is all about

cementing your career to actually have a

stable income for the rest of your life

you want this student you can retire on

okay internet careers burnout they're

short they're fast you want to surpass

that you want to exist beyond that

and you know how you do that

an email list an email list is literally

the holy grail of marketing okay

an email list is a direct line of

connection to your most engaged

followers that email list that will live

far beyond the lifespan of a social

media platform okay youtube might go

down tomorrow but email lists baby those

are forever okay and you don't need

anything special to start building an

email list

i build mine through koji and my website

two great options but i'm calling phase

four the expansion phase because it

really is all about direct expansion you

are not only expanding your longevity by

building an email list but you also want

to branch out and get involved in your

community this might look like being

interviewed on a podcast starting a

podcast

collaborating with other artists in your

niche you want to spread the word and

spread the brand awareness of you out

into the world and at this point you're

probably already well on your way to

building an art career that will last

the test of time

that will guide you through your entire

life

your art will change and evolve but

email lists and social media platforms

they will follow you to the end

and at this point you have built a

career that does not rely on you being

available 24 7 and you probably have

more time for your creative practice

than you ever have before

and that

that is literally the dream

so

does this cover everything

no it doesn't but it should help you get

started

if you liked this video and you want to

support the creation of more like it

consider supporting me over on patreon

and thank you again to koji for

sponsoring this video i hope you guys

have a great rest of your day and i will

see you in the next one okay

okay

all right

what are you still doing here

seriously you have so much work to do oh

my god leave