{"id":254377,"date":"2025-05-23T21:57:07","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T21:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/art\/top-mistakes-artists-should-avoid-and-more-business-tips-by-art-coach-alyson-stanfield\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T21:57:07","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T21:57:07","slug":"top-mistakes-artists-should-avoid-and-more-business-tips-by-art-coach-alyson-stanfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=254377","title":{"rendered":"Top mistakes artists should avoid (and more business tips) by art coach Alyson Stanfield"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Alyson Stanfield<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Alyson Stanfield is an art business coach and consultant \u201cwho works with ambitious artists who want to take control of their careers\u201d. She is the founder of Art Biz Success<\/a>, host of the The Art Biz podcast<\/a>, and author of I\u2019d Rather Be in the Studio: The Artist\u2019s No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As an artist, I have benefited from the many resources available on her platform and I was delighted to be recently a guest on her podcast about my blog and how it has nurtured my journey. It is therefore a great pleasure to interview her and collect her advice and testimony. <\/strong><\/p>\n

You have worked with thousands of different artists in your live workshops, online courses, and consulting. Are there some common mistakes that artists should avoid?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where to begin? I think I got on a roll with this list, but I want to keep each point, which I have ranked in order of importance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

#1 Mistake: Neglecting their studio practice. <\/strong>I never thought I\u2019d have to convince artists about how important it is to show up for the work, but some artists would almost do anything other than facing the hard job in the studio. You can\u2019t wait for the muse. You just have to get to work. Without the art, you are not an artist and have no chance of a successful business or career.<\/p>\n

#2 Mistake: Skipping the fundamentals, l<\/strong>ike mixing colors or knowing intimately about the materials you use. You need to know your materials inside and out. You need to know how to prepare, complete, and finish an artwork, including how to properly mat, frame, hang, or install it. It\u2019s evident when an artist tries to take shortcuts or doesn\u2019t know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n

#3 Mistake: Not understanding how critical it is in the art business to begin, nurture, and maintain professional and personal relationships<\/strong>. When you don\u2019t follow up with leads or opportunities, or when you don\u2019t follow through on promises or meet your deadlines, you will quickly get a reputation as flaky and unreliable.<\/p>\n

#4 Mistake: Sending the wrong message online.<\/strong> It all starts with good photographs of the work. If you can\u2019t get good photos of your art, hire someone. They\u2019re that<\/em> important\u2014especially when you\u2019re submitting them to shows and opportunities. I\u2019m terribly annoyed by social feeds that don\u2019t show any art. I follow you because you\u2019re an artist. Show me your work!<\/p>\n

#5 Mistake: Saying Yes to projects that aren\u2019t aligned with their goals.<\/strong> For example, agreeing to a pet portrait commission when you are a sculptor. Don\u2019t. Do. It. You\u2019ll hate every minute of it, hate the person for asking you in the first place, and hate yourself for thinking it was a wise decision at some point.<\/p>\n

#6 Mistake: Relying on a single sales venue, be it a gallery, your website, or social media.<\/strong> You can\u2019t control social media platforms and never know what will happen to them or when they\u2019ll adjust their algorithm. And you never know how long a gallery will stay in business. You really need to diversify how, when, and where your art is seen.<\/p>\n

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The term success can cover different aspects. How do you help an artist identify what success is for him\/her?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You are correct! The word \u201csuccess\u201d is loaded and, if I\u2019m being honest, it\u2019s a word I\u2019d like to shed in 2022. But for the sake of your question, let\u2019s assume that there is a way for each artist to arrive at a specific definition.<\/p>\n

For some, it\u2019s about visibility and recognition from institutions. For others, it might be sales and income. But I suspect it\u2019s a mixture, as you said, of many different aspects for most artists. It takes into account their ambitions and their limitations that might come from family, financial resources, lack of training, etc.<\/p>\n

When I work privately with a client, we start with their vision. I ask what they want from their art, which is deliberate phrasing but often perplexing to artists. This question is a way to get at their definition of success.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Can you share about the different ways an artist can work with you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes! Thanks for asking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I like to start by mentioning that my blog https:\/\/artbizsuccess.com\/blog<\/a> has been around since 2004 and The Art Biz podcast<\/a> since 2016 (and in a different format than that much earlier). My point: I produce a lot of free content and it can all be accessed day and night. The search function on the blog page is fantastic. I encourage artists to look around and get to know me through what\u2019s free for them.<\/p>\n

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When you need more structure, I can support you through my online programs, which change three times a year. They\u2019re created around a seasonal focus area, with content developed from nearly two decades of helping artists.<\/p>\n

In 2022, our focus areas are Create Opportunities, Boost Your Online Marketing, and Get Organized. These programs are hybrid on-demand learning modules + live training + live Zoom sessions so our members can interact with one another. We have an active community forum filled with intentional and ambitious artists.<\/p>\n

I also have mastermind groups for artists who already have a strong foundation in place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m rethinking (always!) a lot of what I do and am really enjoying working privately with high-achieving clients. It\u2019s rewarding to work so closely with someone and witness their growth and transformation. You may see me streamline my offerings in the future.<\/p>\n

Finally, you started your career working in art museums. How did you start your own business?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Apologies in advance for this longish answer, but there are some good business lessons <\/strong>within the story.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In early 2001 I decided that life was too short to go where the museum jobs were and that I wanted to live in Colorado. I decided to start an art consulting business. Buying art with other people\u2019s money sounded like a lot of fun to me! And I was serious about this.<\/p>\n

When one is serious about a business, one gets business cards. Before I left the Wichita Art Museum, I hired our museum\u2019s contract designer, who was incredibly talented, to design my business cards, logo, envelopes, and letterhead. Yep, I even had letterhead printed up.<\/p>\n

Stanfield Art Associates was conceived in Kansas and built in Colorado.<\/p>\n

When I worked in museums, it was our membership list that was our bread and butter. Those people received free entry, invitations by mail, newsletters, and discounts at the store. Our membership list was always up to date. They were who we worked for above all.<\/p>\n

So I started my own list of contacts using my FileMaker Pro software. <\/p>\n

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To this day, I contend that your contact list is every businessperson\u2019s\u2013artist or not\u2013most valuable marketing asset. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I stress this throughout my programs, and mentioned it as the #3 mistake artists make in the previous question: Neglecting personal and professional relationships.<\/p>\n

I started sending letters of introduction (on my new stationery) to everyone I knew telling them what I was up to\u2014asking them for referrals. I sent press releases to the cities and institutions I was connected to and got a short write-up in the Oklahoma City business journal. Then I started sending letters of introduction to the Denver arts community.<\/p>\n

Very little came of this. I got one consulting gig in Tulsa for an old high-school buddy who saw my article in the Oklahoma City paper. And I got a framing and installation gig from my landlord who was connected to the City of Englewood, Colorado. I\u2019m reminded of this experience every time an artist says, \u201cI sent out 500 postcards and received no responses.\u201d You\u2019ve got to have more of a plan than a single marketing strategy.<\/p>\n

The letters of introduction were my entire plan, if you can call it that. Sending letters isn\u2019t a plan. It should be a small part of a larger plan. I did meet some gallerists and others in the art business because of the letters, but I had no consistent follow up or follow through.<\/p>\n

I had no system. I had to figure it out, and that\u2019s why I\u2019ve made it easier for artists to nurture relationships by providing artists with reliable business systems in all of my programs. There are aspects of staying in touch with people that might seem risky (like that first contact with them), but there\u2019s almost a guaranteed payoff for it. In my book, that eliminates a lot of the risk.<\/p>\n

After that bust came the surreal period around September 11. The last thing anyone was thinking about was buying art. The last thing I wanted to think about was marketing my new business.<\/p>\n

What I was<\/em> getting at this time was inquiries from artists who had heard that I left the museum and was starting my own art consulting business. They didn\u2019t exactly know what I was trying to build. All they knew was that they wanted help selling their art.<\/p>\n

Almost all of them were looking for an agent. So, I thought, \u201cI could do that!\u201d Then I thought some more. I didn\u2019t know anyone in my world of galleries and museums who wanted to deal with agents.<\/p>\n

Instead of serving as an agent, I decided to help artists learn to be better agents for their work<\/strong>. I have never looked back and couldn\u2019t imagine being in any other line of work.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/artbizsuccess.com<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/instagram.com\/alysonstanfield<\/a><\/p>\n

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