Why is it so important to have the right perspective on timeline and competition in the art business?

Perspective changes everything. Social media sells a false narrative of overnight success—young people with private jets and luxury goods. This isn’t normal or realistic. Building any business takes time in the trenches. But here’s the advantage for artists: you don’t retire from this business, so you have your entire life to get it right. If you’re in your twenties and do your five to seven years of grinding, your thirties through eighties will be golden. Setting proper expectations—that it takes three to five years—prevents you from quitting in month three when results disappoint. This is you versus you, not you versus the competition. The real question is whether you can mentally endure selling $2,000-$3,000 your first year, then $7,000 your second, and recognize that’s over 100% growth and real progress toward traction. Most people see that and think they’re failing when they’re actually succeeding. The competition is incredibly low because almost nobody is willing to do the marketing and work like a real entrepreneur. If you simply decide to do that, you’ll be in the 0.001%. The opportunity is blue ocean, but most people won’t take it even when given the roadmap.

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Asked by general teaching · Answered by Patrick Shanahan and Nick Friend · art-marketing-podcast · 2022-01-08