http://hollyvanhart.com/ (Holly Van Hart) is a visual artist based in Silicon Valley, and a Clark Hulings Fund https://clarkhulingsfund.org/accelerator/ (Business Accelerator Fellow). In this episode of the https://clarkhulingsfund.org/chfpodcast/ (Thriving Artist Podcast)™, Holly and Daniel discuss the ins and outs of building a sustainable business practice: deciding on the direction to take your business, standing out in the online marketplace, and how collaboration benefits a business plan.
Navigate Strategically, Network Intelligently:“I sell my work through galleries and licensing, interior designers, and directly to buyers. With each of these, I get to know the players, which one is a match, and pay attention for when they’re ready to take on new artists.”
“It’s important to stay connected with all the people in the art world you want to work with, but also other artists with similar tracks.”
“With multiple artists, I’ll have phone calls to trade ideas, referrals, best practices—sharing specifics so I can learn from them in a way that’s beyond what I could read in a book—real life examples of what’s working today for individual artists who are on some track that’s similar to mine.”
“Staying connected helps you stay accountable. It’s critical to keep these connections and keep learning from other people around us.”

Marketing to Sales:“I have my plan written down and every day I’m looking at what needs to be done to advance the plan. I think ‘OK, what is the next step to get to the place I want to be.’”
“I keep a sharp eye out for what seems to be working and what doesn’t so I can shift as needed from one thing to another, or come up with something new.”
“There are millions of great artists in the world, you have to do something to get yourself above the noise of it all.”
“I don’t mind letting people see the process and where I go wrong, that’s part of the creative process and what people are interested in.”
“I had sales experience in the tech world, and you get used to hearing a lot of ‘no’s’ before you hear a ‘yes’, so I learned to roll with that.”

Artist as Primary Stakeholder:“Artists have to be held accountable and produce measurable results—they have a client base to please.”
If you make art as a hobby—which I did for many years—you can just make it and if it doesn’t sell, no worries. But if it’s your profession, you need to have a plan.”
“As an artist you are creating your own career and business, it’s a blank slate you can write for yourself.”
“The sky’s the limit no matter what you’re selling, that’s part of the opportunity and part of the challenge, because you can get distracted going down a path that doesn’t yield much. You need to find the right combination that works for you.”
“You need multiple [revenue] channels: I love making original work more than taking the steps to sell prints, but getting your work out there in a broader way is good for everybody—for the artist and those who are selling the artist.”