What are the fundamental basics every artist needs to build a sustainable art business?

There are six fundamentals: (1) A website you own—never build on rented land like social media alone. Your website must allow commerce, have clear pricing, visualization tools, and multiple product options. (2) Print-on-demand capability to offer a range of price points without inventory risk. (3) Email capture—always be growing your list through pop-ups, sign-up sheets at fairs, QR codes, everywhere possible. Email is the best owned attention you have. (4) Run regular marketing and sales campaigns—new releases, studio sales, holiday offers. Treat it like any business. (5) Tell your story consistently—people buy from people they know, like, and trust. Your art is the commercial; your story is the program. (6) Show up consistently, even if imperfectly. If you can’t post daily, do weekly. If not weekly, monthly. Just never go dark completely. These basics haven’t changed in 20+ years and won’t change by 2055.

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Asked by synthesized from teaching · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2026-05-01