How can young creators start making money?

Any work must be paid. Although the creative process will never lose its value, it also requires monetary incentives. Establishing yourself in the art world can be more difficult than in other fields. To finally bury the myths about poor artists, The Fashion Vibes editors turned to an expert and learned how to competently sell their creativity.

Maria Luttik (LQ MARIIA), creator of the best-selling immersive exhibition project DEEP INSIDE/GHT

Today’s agenda includes a step-by-step recipe for making money from creativity.

The first thing to realize immediately and without illusion is that art is a work. Pharrell Williams once rightly noted: “Art without labor often turns into sacrifice. And doing business without art is pretty boring.”

Yes, this business is very unusual because money here always comes second to the desire to create. But these are incredibly important, because creating without reward would be unbearable. Like every business, it has a structure and everything starts with the product. In our case, from the work itself.

Ask yourself: What exactly do I want to create?

Or even this: why do I want to create this? There must be a “why” to overcome all the “hows.” You need to find the intersection of the subject you are interested in with the needs of society. The more points of contact, the closer the success is because people tend to share their daily needs with each other.

At the same time, the subject should be completely “yours”. He can become famous only by reflecting the interests of society, but it will not satisfy the creator.

This stage can be structurally represented as follows:

• Find out what you can talk about (and work on) forever;

• finding the intersection with the pain, desires, and desires of others;

• Understand how your work will change the world.

What is it: deciding on the form

Then you need to decide on the format of the work and answer the main question: What is it? Canvases, sculptures, exhibition projects, public art, installations and much more. When the goal takes shape, you will have a clear understanding of material investments and the opportunity to indicate the level of income and future life.

At this stage it is important to create your realized image. Or rather, the image of the writer you were created to be. And you should definitely love it. Now let’s start visualizing your goals: describe your dream exhibition, its timing and investment level.

Monetization: the right pass

Once you complete all the previous steps you can start making money starting with market research. Find 10 authors (living or dead) whose success is similar to the success you are aiming for. There is no need to evaluate their work, the main thing is to analyze the format of their activities: recognition, sales scale, business structure, quotes, etc. Each artist’s style and presentation method is different, but the business model can be observed, which will provide an understanding of pricing.

It is equally important to create a portrait of the future target audience and model avatars. The target audience of my projects is as follows: managers, curators and owners of contemporary art centres, galleries and exhibition halls; collectors (we write about their portraits, reasons for purchase); exhibition visitors (who are also buyers of goods); Students of the programs I teach in between project openings.

Once you’ve completed your research, define your product line. My list includes exhibition projects and their box office collections, works, products and education.

Making money: how

You need to master social media management, basic marketing and funnels. Perhaps later you will entrust this to a specialist, but at first it is important to immerse yourself in the matter. Manage social networks, publish your work and reveal meaning as if the number of subscribers is representative of the target audience in millions. Over time, future partners will come to your accounts: galleries, museums, brands and buyers.

Working in a public space will not only ensure a fan base and increased sales, but will also ensure unity among haters. Don’t be distracted by their comments; They don’t mean anything of value. Enjoy your first sales, which will definitely await you if you follow all the recommendations.

Photo: DEEP INSIDE/GHT fair press center