Do you feel behind the curve because you aren’t as tech savvy as you need to be to start selling your art online? Are you worried the tech glitches and your own learning curve will stop you from growing your business in a significant way?
I recently spoke with an artist who said she was considering not selling her art online because she couldn’t get past her own tech limitations. Creating her website was a nightmare enough, she said- “a full year of tech hell I never want to repeat,” to be exact. She couldn’t imagine what it would take to begin selling her art online, but she knew she could be missing out on potential sales if she didn’t figure out how to “figure out this online thing.”
“I’m in a conundrum,” she said. “Help!”
Can technology be intimidating and confusing? Yes, especially when you don’t have a background in it. Can learning how to implement technology into your business take time and effort? Most definitely, especially when you want to grow and scale your business, and create unlimited revenue growth.
But if you want to sell your artwork as an artist online, and you are getting hung up on whether you can or can’t make that happen because of your own learning curve, you are missing a very important piece of your business development puzzle.
Here is my three-part answer to Carol’s conundrum that I know applies to many artists facing the same dilemma:
1. A Master Business Plan Will Override Your Tech Fears
When there is a gap in understanding how to initiate growth in any area, we often begin to focus on the minute details that aren’t nearly as important as learning how to bridge that gap. In Carol’s case, the gap lies in not having a business plan in place that she can see will bring her inevitable results. Having the kind of plan that combines your vision for your art with a way to directly reach your most ideal clients and action steps to go along with it make all the details- including technology- an implicit part of the journey you are about to take that brings you joy and fulfillment.
2. It’s Not The Tech, But The Strategic Tech Choices You Make
Having a business plan in place you feel 100% confident about, both on an emotional level and a practical level- meaning you have a specific way to determine measurable results for every action you take- enables you to schedule time in to handle your tech learning curve to fulfill the highest priority activities you need to get accomplished to see inevitable growth take place. The emphasis here is on highest priority activities, which leaves out the majority of tech (and other) details you don’t need to take on- for example, trying to learn Photoshop or JavaScript because you think you need to build your own website is a waste of your precious time, but learning how to implement a Facebook ad campaign for your best offer is a most valuable use of your time as both a business owner working toward growing your business. Having that list of focused actions gives you the chance to work through your tech learning curve faster for each action you know you need to take, and gives you the motivation to do so because you understand where it will lead you.
3. You Have Unlimited Tech Support, Regardless Of The Direction You Choose To Take Your Business
The tech world today is literally booming with support for every kind of technological implementation non-tech savvy people need help with. When you are focused on exactly what tech you need to know for your business growth, you will find help and support in that exact area all around you. Just Google your topic and, voila! You have the answers you need- including ways to hire help at a very low cost so you can delegate some of the hardest parts to an expert to complete it for you in no time.
I am very pleased to share that I now have a program I’ve developed called The Artist’s Master Profit Plan that walks you through a step-by-step process of putting your custom business plan in place, finding immediate ways to increase your revenue and the most important technology features you need to implement to measure your growth.
This program came from one artist’s request- Willy Somma- to have a marketing program that helps artists understand, implement and measure results for whatever your offer is for your specific artistic discipline. I realized her request was at the core of every question I receive around how to grow your business with your art online, like Carol and so many others.
In celebration of this new program, I’m offering a limited number of strategy sessions for those artists who are feeling like Carol and Willy to help you get your business tech plan underway and to see if this program is right for you. So be sure to book your session today and begin to grow your business with your art, your way!
