Successful Art Business, Planning and Marketing Tools and Techniques You Can Use

A basic part creating your business and marketing plan is conducting what is called a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis.  SWOT analysis is a staple in most business programs but I bet you didn’t hear much about it in art school.  The first part of conducting a SWOT analysis is doing an inventory of you or your firm’s business strengths and weaknesses.  Your strengths are areas which you can capitalize on, they help identify your competitive advantages and provide ideas on how to market your brand.  Weaknesses are areas on which you need to improve and they may be a hindrance to your success and growth – either fix your weaknesses or figure out some way to get around them.  You need to know your strengths and weaknesses in order to develop effective strategies for your business. Read more

I am going to be presenting some of the things you need to do to when starting a new creative business.  Even if you have an existing company you should take a look at these topics and make sure that you are positioned for future growth and success.  I like to think of these areas as the “nuts and bolts” which build the foundation for your company.

Some of the areas we will be exploring in future articles include: Read more

The creative economy: define success to achieve it

Nine questions to help you get there 

In working with creative individuals I have found that it is hard for many of them to define what success means. “I want to be a successful artist working in my studio” seems to be about as far as many of them can go in defining their success.

When you ask other entrepreneurs what success means they will describe their success in terms of being a market leader, capturing market share, developing new and innovative products, their distribution chain, market capitalization and the financial rewards. Thinking in these terms is not so easy for many creative types.

Success for many creatives is simply being able to pursue their passion – not a bad measure of success for any business. In some respects many businesses have to work hard to instill and keep passion thriving with their owners and employees. Passion for one’s work will get you a long way but it is not a guarantee of success. Read more

Brand is usually associated with the marketing world. For some the definition of brand means your logo or logo type. Today brand has come to encompass much more than marketing to include your product or service, the quality you provide, how you treat your customers and the total experience provided by your company. It goes across all business functions and is determined by your employees, customers, suppliers and stakeholders. Read more