business planning

I’m a planner. If you’ve taken any of my courses, or even read my book, you anticipate that there will be at least one plan involved. Often with every lesson. It doesn’t do much good to learn a bunch of stuff without figuring out how to implement it right away. In fact, that’s more like consuming than learning.

In talking with my students and clients, I know how devastating this year has been. Of course, I didn’t really have to talk with them to know that their plans had been stomped on, but it helps to get the full picture.

The pandemic has wreaked havoc on everyone’s plans. Canceled shows and travel. Shuttered studios and exhibition spaces. The spouse used to leave for work and give you space, but now you’re stumbling over one another. And the kids! Suddenly the kids are at home and you are tasked with the awesome responsibility of their education.

You’re on Zoom all of the time, so that brief sigh of relief you felt for not having to get dressed and put on makeup was short-lived.

In the early days of the outbreak, I encouraged my clients and students to plan just 1 week at a time. We didn’t know what was going to happen. How long things would be closed. I wanted them to control what they could and not worry about months ahead.

We now know that Covid is going to be with us for the foreseeable future. The planner in me said, Okay! Time for a new plan!

Living the artist’s life doesn’t necessarily flow with owning a business—with gaining valuable business skills that help you earn income from your creativity.

But every so often I come across artists who are just as interested in learning about business as they are in being an artist. And I feature them in my interviews on the podcast and blog.

Miriam Schulman is one of those artists. She discovered a gift secondary to her art—a curiosity about how the art business works. Combined with the fact that she loves to talk and ask questions, Miriam found her calling in her weekly podcast, The Inspiration Place.

But it was a lot of work to start, and it’s a lot of work to keep up. If you have ever considered starting a podcast or sharing your story on a podcast, this episode of the Art Biz Podcast is for you.

In this interview you’ll hear about:

• Miriam’s background in engineering and corporate finance and how she found the courage to transition to a full-time artist.
• How she promoted her work early on and why she still believes in using a brag book.
• The teaching spot she created called The Inspiration Place to collaborate with other artist teachers.
• What gave Miriam the idea to

With today’s post, we’re introducing a new feature: a monthly podcast.

My previous Art Marketing Action podcast was an audio version of the weekly newsletter, which you can still find online here and on iTunes.

I’m not sure what will happen in the future, but I am committed to deliver at least one content post a month in audio.

Are You Impatient About Your Art Career?

In this podcast, I talk with artist/author/coach Cynthia Morris about how to set up your art career for success – so that you’re in it for longevity, and not for instant gratification.

These topics came up (talk about thinking big!):

• Legacy
• Empowering yourself
• Vision

Listen in