Understanding Your Value As An Artist

We always see the VVS diamond chains, the large stacks of cash and the expensive
bottles of champagne. Our eyes are used to gravitating towards the beautiful women and
foreign whips. We are even starting to understand the music business more.
However we are missing the education. We get the game from the likes of Master P,
Diddy, Jay-Z, and Birdman etc. But we are still missing the formal education. Why do so
many artists have issues with their labels over money? How are artists still getting
trapped in deals that leave them stuck in their own career?
The music industry is growing at a rapid pace. There’s more money and opportunities for
an artist to succeed. With the growth of the Internet came an evolution of a creative’s
canvas. The problem is that when we have unlimited ways to make money, it gets hard to
truly know our value. A million dollar deal isn’t broken down into how those million
dollars have to be paid back. How is an artist supposed to not only make money, but also
keep it coming past the deal?
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Create Your Art

An artist is not an artist without art. The first step to making money off of your art is to
create it. You have to live your art in order to survive off of it. Creating should never be
forced. What we create at our most vulnerable moments often times leads to our most
beautiful outcomes.

Dedicate your time and money into growing your art

Nothing in this business or life in general comes easy. It takes years to get comfortable in
your skin. It takes practice and failure to learn your speed. In the beginning you will put
all of your time and effort into one direction of your art. As you get older your palette
will grow and so will your patience. The more money you invest into improving your
craft, the better you will manage your time. Your priorities will go towards what makes
you feel good and profitable.

Track Your Spending

Part of making money off of your art requires discipline. You have to treat yourself like a
business. You have to embody your art so that wherever you go your art is represented
through your image. With making art comes a lot of adrenaline that will cause you to
spend money on more ways to improve your art. The high from creating something out of
nothing can get mismanaged if not tracked. You have to get into a habit of tracking your
spending. Whenever you spend money, know why you are spending it. All money out
needs to serve a purpose. Every dollar has a job.

Find a Market That Appreciates Your Art

After investing your own money into your art its time to see how the rest of the world
perceives it. Don’t show the core of your art without planning the rollout. Perception is
reality and the failure to prepare will lead to a world of misunderstandings. Create your
own blueprint and stay in your lane. People will begin to follow your aura. Your art is an
extension of you so networking is key. The more people you know, the farther your art
will go.

Put a price tag on your art or the process of receiving your art
Once you are comfortable with your art and know how much it costs to produce your
work you can then upcharge. If it cost you $5 to make your art and you add $10 to make
it $15 for the consumer you would make back twice your investment. You would make a
200% profit off of your own art.

Start a Business

When you make your first sell you are technically in business but to be officially in
business you would start an LLC. That LLC will legally separate you from your business.
Your business is its own entity. Your art has its own identity. Starting an LLC is the first
step to owning your work and earning residual income. Those royalty checks hit the
owners of the company first. Creating a business around your art will protect you in the
future.

Track your spending and record who supports you
As you sell more of your art, track how much you are spending and record who is
supporting you. Find out why they are supporting you. Get to know more about them.
Having the pulse of your supporters is very contagious. The attention on your art grows
exponentially the more you know about your support system. The more time you invest
in them, the more they will reciprocate it.

Assemble Gatherings of Supporters

When your supporters begin to grow, start gathering like-minded groups together. The
common saying is that your network is your net worth. This is only part of the equation.
Grow your audience one person at a time. Be relatable by being understanding. The more
people you genuinely know the faster your growth will be in the future. Anybody can hit
the lotto. The key is keeping the jackpot. You want to make those that support you feel
special because they are. They could be supporting a million other people or things, yet
they are supporting you. Grow with your support. If you do that you will always have a
core base to keep you afloat.

Wholesale Prices/Bulk Orders

Always have a wholesale price for bulk orders of your art. You don’t want to limit
yourself or put boundaries on your potential. Even if you don’t get bulk orders for
another 5 years, you still want to be prepared for moments of rapid growth. If you sell
your art for $15 for one purchase, discount it at purchases of 10 or more. Remember that
you are a business. You are an asset. Set up your price-points so that can have middlemen
in distributing your art. That gap in your retail price and wholesale price allows money to
be made for others as well. Your wholesale prices allow others to eat off of your
leadership. If you are moving units of your art you are believe it not inspiring someone
behind closed doors. Reward those that want to invest in you by having fair numbers.

Look for Partners

Never sign a contract without knowing how much money you can bring in on your own.
Contracts are partnerships. Don’t sign your time and life away to terms that you don’t
fully understand. If someone wants to partner with you, they see value in you. They see
an amount of money or opportunities they can get by being associated with you. There is
nothing wrong with this but make sure you go back to what you tracked and recorded
internally. You know exactly what you bring to the table. Never take less than 51% in a
deal pertaining to your art. You own your art. You own the rights to it. Never let someone
take what you live and sacrificed your life for.
Understand your value and keep doing what you love to do…

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