I am so tired of hearing people say that you cannot make a living as an artist. Creative souls are always being told to get a “regular” job. Being an artist can be a “regular” job if you work for it. To clarify, my definition of an artist is anyone who does something creative like singing, dancing, acting, writing, art, music, graphic arts, and so forth.
“Getting established as an artist is difficult.”
With the popularity of social media, digital marketing, and e-commerce it has become easier to build brand awareness, generate sales worldwide, develop a following of customers, and interact with fans.
Despite the benefits of online marketing, most people do not realize the amount of work that goes into developing an artistic lifestyle for yourself. In the beginning, the artist plays many roles. Not only are you the artist, but also the salesperson, bookkeeper, social media manager, customer service rep, distribution, marketing, publicist, inventory, plus any other roles they may play like mother, wife, or volunteer. Most often they maintain a full-time job until they can make a living off their art. This requires hours of time before or after work building their business from the ground up.
Despite the stereotypes associated with artists, they are some of the hardest working people you will ever meet.
Can you make money from art?
If you attend a juried craft show like American Craft Council, you will see that a career is possible. Tons of talented artists from across the country converge to this craft mecca where artists can walk away making 5 figures or more in only 4 days.
You may say that those results are not typical. However, there are thousands of artists all across America who will not become famous but are still able to sustain a quality of life rivaled against any doctor or [insert any profession here].
E-commerce has been a game-changer for the industry. Allowing anyone to sell their works, talents, and skills. Every day, creative people on websites like Etsy and Fiverr are making money selling their talents as artists, writers, editors, graphic designers, and everything in between.
Visit a business website like Forbes, Business Insider, or CNBC Make It and read articles about people who have earned six-figures or more doing every from writing press releases to voice-over acting.
Perusing the Etsy site, I found one shop owner who had been in business for two years and had over 80,000 sales. The cheapest product in her shop was $2.50. Let’s say 80,000 people bought one item for $2.50. Do the math: 80,000 x 2.5 = 200,000 in two years. On the low end, she made $100,000 a year selling homemade stickers. Her profits were obviously much more because her average sale was higher than $2.50. This is just one example of many like her. I just wanted to illustrate that there are plenty of people living a financially stable life as an artist.
Money isn’t the objective here, living a creative life you are passionate about is. If you are doing what you love, then you are most likely not chasing the money anyway. You are chasing the lifestyle where you get to do what you love most, be your own boss, have a flexible schedule, and determine your own level of success based on how hard you work. Let’s face it, there are some professions that people go into knowing it will not make them a millionaire like teachers, artists, musicians, and social work. They do it because they enjoy it.
Besides, financial success is based more on your behavior anyway. As long as an artist does not spend more than they make, have a rainy-day fund, then they are on their way to becoming financially secure. We’ve all heard the stories about millionaire musicians who went broke because they could not manage money properly. Heck, there are tons of lottery winners who go bankrupt shortly after acquiring their jackpot.
No matter what your occupation is if you do not manage your money you will be broke. There are tons of people in “regular” jobs that are struggling to make ends meet and living paycheck-to-paycheck because they do not make enough money, or they do not know how to manage the money they do make.
Artists can maintain a financially stable life. Stop believing that they cannot.
What about benefits?
Another part of having a “regular” job is health benefits and retirement funds. Guess what? They can get those, too!
Artists have the ability to obtain various types of insurance and benefits through independent vendors, including health insurance and retirement options. If you Google this, you will see there are a good number of providers. A single-member LLC can open a solo 401K, giving you flexible contributions, profit sharing, and a lower tax bracket. The solo 401K is also referred to as a one-participant or individual 401K. Please consult with your financial advisor to see what works best for you and your business and never take tax advice from me. Ever.
Financial Bottomline:
Yes, job stability, healthcare, investments, retirement, and not getting into debt are important but all those things can be accomplished if you handle your money properly and live within your means. There is no reason that you can’t follow your dream of being an artist, manage your money correctly, and make a great career out of doing what you love.
Why do people discourage the arts?
It is easy for people to reject something they do not understand, like someone following their passion. Society tells us we have to go to college, get a “good” job with health and investment benefits, get married, have children, and stay at that job no matter how miserable until it is time to retire. Anything outside of that communal thought and you receive backlash.
Besides, lots of people are miserable with their life and will never be able to comprehend the idea of someone following their passion. Do a Google search for “Are Americans happy?” The results will amaze you.
Putting yourself out there and saying to the world that this is my talent, now pay me for it is unfathomable to the majority of people. It is scary to be on your own, forging your own path, and putting a lot of hard work into an unknown outcome. Will you make money in your first year? Can you make consistent money? There are a lot of unknowns starting out. The unknown outcome is what prevents people from even trying.
People don’t understand why someone would not want to take the easy route in life that a stable job with benefits, salary, and pension provided. It’s not easy being an entrepreneur.
Loved ones often try to deter prospective artists by asking what work they could possibly get with an art degree. There is conflicting data about the number of people with art degrees actually working in their field of study. Some data suggests a large number do not. Either way, there are lots of people with degrees in all types of fields that do not work in their area of study. It is not just limited to artists. I can name 5 friends right now that all work in an unrelated field that has nothing to do with their college degree. I’m sure you can do the same.
The 2014 Census found that 75% of graduates in the science and technology fields were not working in their degree field. No one is exempt from this possibility. These numbers are irrelevant because there are so many factors that influence why someone does not work in their field of study. A graduate could have hated it, found more profitable work elsewhere, or got married and decided to stay home with the children. Who knows?
The reality is that you do not even need a degree in art to be an artist. Lots of people hone their skills at home or through online classes to learn their artistic talent.
How do you know if you are going to succeed as an artist?
Success is determined by hard work and your mindset. Just like in any profession, there are professionals that do well and some that do not. Name any job; insurance agent, financial planner, real estate investor, mechanic, hairstylist, and you will find some doing great and some that are struggling. It all comes down to hard work, having some talent, and not giving up. Then you will find success.
Jeff Goins writes in a blog post for Medium.com that there are two types of mentalities, Starving or Thriving when it comes to determining who will be successful in establishing themselves as an artist. Obviously, having a thriving mentality is going to help you become successful. If you are flexible, develop a network, hone your skills, collaborate with others, take the right risks, never work for free, and reinvest in yourself and your business then you have the basics of a thriving mentality. This mentality can also be applied to other careers.
Encourage children to be artists.
Being creative is great for children. Art has a lot of benefits for everyone. Studies have shown that students perform better academically and behaviorally when exposed to art. Students are more likely to find schoolwork more enjoyable, reduce disciplinary actions, and improve writing. Another study found that students improved higher-ordered thinking, reading, math, and verbal skills.
Let them decide their career path without being influenced by others. Who wants to be 90 and look back on their life with regret thinking what would have happened if they had only pursued their dreams? There are retirees who become full-time artists and I’m so happy to hear this because they are finally following their passion.
Encourage them to think outside the box; to be entrepreneurs, not employees. Give them room to grow their creative skills, become who they really want to be and not tell them who they need to be. With room to explore they will decide what fulfills them in life and figure out a way to make money doing it.
Let creatives choose their own path.
I read an article written by some guy with a doctorate degree about how to talk your child out of becoming an artist. I will let him stay anonymous because he has every right to his opinion. His entire blog post said parents should be telling their children that art is too risky, they will be “happier” if they only do it as a hobby, they need to get a “straight job,” they will go into debt trying to be an artist, they will be forced to get a real job because their creative career will fail, and then no one will hire them because no one wants to hire an actor, filmmaker, painter, etc.
Let me say a few things:
- Why would you not want your child to follow their chosen career path? Letting them know about the risks and advising them that it will be difficult to get started is one thing, but to blatantly say that it is too risky and do not try at all is another.
- I love creating things! I want to do it all the time. I was the happiest when it became my full-time job, not just a hobby that I had to wait for the evening to do.
- “Straight jobs” aren’t so great, especially when you prefer to be doing something else. Not to mention, people can lose those jobs, too, and there seems to be a reduction in the size of benefit packages each year, as well.
- The only way you are going into debt is if you continually spend beyond your means. Thousands of people in “straight” jobs are in debt. When you first launch your creative career, you may have to waitress a few nights a week or maintain a day job in the beginning. As long as you are paying bills on time, living frugally, and making enough to cover the bills you currently have there is no reason to believe that you will go into debt.
- Maybe their creative venture will fail. With hard work and determination, there is a higher probability of success, but there are times when careers fail. Even if that happened, why would they not be able to get a job? If anything, it makes them a better candidate because they had the gumption and bravery to dip their toe into entrepreneurial waters.
Here is the reality:
If your child chooses a creative career it will play out in one of four ways. They are the following:
- They won’t put in the effort, grow impatient, throw in the towel, and find a new career.
- They start their artistic journey in one direction but end up in a career that they had never thought to explore. For example, an inspiring fashion designer who posts her designs on social media is recognized and offered a job designing doll clothes for a major toy company. This is a totally unexpected career path, but it gives her the opportunity to learn new skills while she continues to work on her designs as a hobby in hopes of one day launching her own line.
- They get a “regular” job because they need money right away, but they continue to do art as a hobby and use it as a side hustle to make extra income and feed their soul. If they continue to grow the side hustle, they can eventually transition to art full-time and quit their day job.
- They put in the hard work, hone their talent, don’t give up, and become a successful artist who can support themselves by making a living doing what they love.
The definition of success is different for everyone. My definition of a successful artist is anyone doing what they love and being able to provide the lifestyle that they want for themselves.
The next time you hear someone say that being an artist is not a good choice tell them to shove it. They simply do not know what they are talking about.
And if one day in the near future your son or daughter approaches you and says, “Mom/Dad I want to be a singer, songwriter, musician, graphic designer, writer, journalist, ceramist, painter, watercolorist, photographer, filmmaker, etc.” Your response better be, “How can I support you?”
On Instagram or Facebook using #tracyscreativelife tell me:
- What artistic career you did not pursue because you were talked out of it?
- How you supported a child who chose a life of art?
- Your thoughts about art as a profession.
