I have a revenue source that's working, but I'm tired of it and want to try something new. Should I pivot?

No, don’t pivot. This is a critical mistake many artists make. If you have something working—for example, a robust commission business—the market has spoken. They love that product. Success is really, really hard to achieve. When you have it, you need to squeeze that opportunity as hard as you possibly can before considering anything else. Often, artists want to pivot because the work is time-consuming or they don’t feel fulfilled, but they haven’t truly maximized the marketing and potential of what’s already working. Instead of abandoning it, find ways to support it—hire understudies, streamline processes, delegate—so you can double down on the demand. Take the successful revenue stream as far as it will go, until it stops producing, before moving on. Nine times out of ten, people take their focus away from what’s working before they’ve gotten everything they can from it.

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Asked by an artist with a successful commission business wanting to change direction · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2020-08-05