What is the biggest mistake artists make regarding their expectations about selling art?

Most artists have expectations that are completely out of whack with reality. They believe they can create their art, put it on the internet without doing any marketing, and immediately have a huge business with sales magically appearing. Some think that after two years or after making ten social media posts, they should be seeing significant sales. There’s a huge gulf between these expectations and reality. When you have the wrong expectations, it becomes a cancer that derails you, demotivates you, depresses you, and makes you question everything. The reality is that building an art business takes three to five years of consistent effort, often with minimal sales in the early years. You must come to terms with the fact that no one is entitled to anything except what they earn through their own marketing efforts and consistency. Properly setting expectations from the beginning is one of the greatest assets you can have.

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Asked by general teaching point · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2023-07-19