What should an artist do first if they're just starting or want to audit their current setup?

Audit the six basics and score each one to five: (1) Website you own—Google your name, is your site first? (2) Print-on-demand—are you taking advantage of it for your price range? (3) Email list—do you have one at all, even friends and family? (4) Marketing campaigns—are you running any sales or promotional campaigns? (5) Your story—can someone learn about you in 30 seconds on your site or social? (6) Consistency—honestly assess your showing-up pattern. Make the list, identify your lowest score, and fix that first. Don’t wait for next quarter or better economic conditions. Start today, because the runway you have is longer than you think and delay is the biggest tragedy, not lack of talent.

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