Back at the beginning of October, I posted an article called Art: Not Just a Hobby, that spring-boarded me into a fact-finding mission. I wasn’t given all of the tools necessary to make my passion into a career—so I need to find them for myself. I thought perhaps other young, emerging artists such as myself may benefit from this journey, and so I wanted to share it.

My very first question was, “What are other artists and freelancers doing?” I needed to find some successful artists, see how they are doing business, and what they did to get there. I asked around, hit the library, and did some heavy web surfing to come up with some answers. I’ll share what I have thus far.

5 Key Tips for Getting Started in the Art World

1. Make more art: Pure and simple, content is king! Make more, talk less. But don’t sacrifice quality for quantity.
2. Improve networking: Even when you think you know enough artists, it’s best to know more.
3. Researching business: There are a plethora of art-appropriate options for businesses, making money, and making sure that it’s is tax legal.
4. Marketing, marketing, marketing: Facebook, Twitter, and other social media can really help catapult you into the public’s eye and get the word spread.
5. Shows and publications: You have to get yourself exposed, and social media can’t cover it all. Experience here is a great thing for meeting real life buyers and collectors.

Those five steps seem relatively simple, right? Sure they do. But in execution, it’s not as streamlined as you may think.

So what do you do now? Well, get started, of course!

For example, I have a show next month, and need to make new art for it, which takes care of Step 1 and 5. I’ve Tweeted and Facebooked about said show, and have already started talking to some of the other artists that will be featured in it. There’s Step 2 and 4. I started my UStream painting program, which has helped me create more art, meet other artists, and attract more visitors to my website. That’s Step 1, 2, 4, and 5 in one go! So far I’ve got a decent start.

That only leaves Step 3: Business. It’s not an easy thing to tackle, so I’ll give it its own post as the next part of this series. As of right now, I have a tentative plan for what I will do. Each artist will have different needs, but luckily the business world can be approached from many angles.

So there you have it: the five basic principles behind beginning to make art your career. I’m glad I’ve started to find my answers and make some plans—time to get out there and make it happen!

Next: Art in Business