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The finished, commissioned, pastel art work by Kathy Shell, incorperating the two photos below and placing the family together for Christmas, in the art work.
Earning a Living as an artist. The Website.

Get yourself a professional looking website.

If you are not good at web design consider trying to trade your skills for the skills of a professional web designer, many people will trade skills with an artist, don’t be afraid to ask or stop asking if you get a knock back.  I estimate for every ten times I ask if someone will trade skills with me, I will have one successful exchange that benefits both parties making the trade.

You can get a website for cheap I use a Weebly Pro account. and I  love it, they also have free web sites to get you started and you can upgrade to the pro account when you are ready. Many people have been successful using www.myspace.com, www.facebook.com, and www.youtube.com to promote their work.  I have a Kathy Shell fan page in facebook.

Obtain your one domain name or user name that is easy to remember, yet describes your work.

 Be careful how it will read to others.

My first two experiences with a domain name were not successful. I tried r.k.shell.gallery.com  and I got people wanting to buy sea shells, not works by Kathy Shell. Then I tried kathyshell.com and even spent $500. Having that sign written  on my car, only to overhear people reading out, Kathys Hell, not Kathy Shell and that was why my domain name became the hyphenated, Kathy-shell.net, it is now. It once was kathy-shell.com but I made a mistake of registering the .com version of my name with a company that wanted hundreds of dollars a year for me to use it. Another costly mistake, I made doing exactly what I recommend people not do, having had a fool for a teacher, I self taught myself, most of the web skill I know, hence the amount of mistakes I have made as a web developer.

Having pictures that do not load well for your viewers is another costly error as you will lose repeat viewers, cad drawing.is something worth looking into if you are designing your own web site.

Be sure to copyright your images before posting them on line.


 
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A pastel portrait by artist Kathy Shell, from a photo, an example of turning an art form into a successsful service based business, attending to customers needs.
You need to treat art as a business if your business is art.

If you think that artists do not need to work, that it is all play and creating when you feel like it, then do everyone a favour and call it a hobby, don’t expect grants from public money, the world does not owe artists a living.

Art is our choice and we should not be subsidised if we are unable to earn our living at it anymore than someone, should get, a grant to go and play golf all day instead of going to work.

Lol, J, OK I have got that off my chest. Being a professional artist is going to involve very long hours of work and becoming multi skilled.

I have known dozens of talented artists who cannot earn a living at art, because they have not grasped that we need to develop four different types of skills to succeed in the arts and indeed, most professions.

 

1.       Talent We need the talent or skill to have something to sell.  Develop this. Make it a lifetime commitment to be on an ongoing search for knowledge and learn from everything and anything you can, while not contravening the copyright of others, make sure you didn’t have a fool for a teacher, by insisting on being ‘self taught’.
Yes, one can be self-guided, but expertise is learned from experts.

2.       Public Relations skills.If you are not skilled in public relations, then learn these skills. It might be easier to employ someone to do the PR for you, but the truth of the matter is, that unless you have an income aside from your art, few artists are going to have the funds to pay for a good PR representative. So learn how to do this for yourself.

3.       Business skills. It does not matter how well you create, paint or how good the items you have to sell are, nor how well you are able to market these, using your PR skills, if the business side of things breaks down and you make unwise choices accounting for and usuing the income you make.  There needs to be a balance of all skills.

4.       Diversify. Art is a non essential, item. If you look at how the stock market fluctuates, then realize that art is also going to fluctuate, only the fluctuation will be wider. 
No  one, can tell you in advance what artistic skills might peak nor suffer in the next fluctuation. 

Take the example of the need to diversify, from what happend during the last big depression to my own artistic family, who all survived based on the actions of one family member, my mother, the only one who diversified her skills. 

My father the architect, rated at the time as one of the top 6  architects in Australia, had no essential sevice skills and was unemployed during the last depression.

My uncle, one of Australia’s best musicians at the time, a man who during the peak of his career, left millions to charities due to the success of his career, had no other developed skill aside from his musicianship and he could not make enough money to provide a home for or feed his family during that depression as  people would not pay for his, non essential service, skill.
 
My mother, a dress designer, was able to diversify, from making high end fashion to designing clothing to fit people with deformity, then accept commissions to make military uniforms and her income as a young woman in her twenties, supported three families of six adults and three children, all because she was prepared to diversify her artistic skills when the need arose and not be too proud to take orders or work with heavy harsh on the hands, military materials.

When I informed my family that I intended to be an artist, they were 100% behind my doing this, they never told me that ‘I would not be able to earn my living at the arts’, as many tell artists. They did however insist that I have diverse talents and essential skills.

Back then, I did a science course as my essential services ‘fall back on, if I needed it’, diversification from art. These days with my interest in web design and reliance on computers I would probably choose to study for and have IT Jobs as my essential industry, fall back, should I have times when art needed  subsidising with other work.

Develop varied and essential service skills and your integrity as an artist is protected and you have the financial stability you need as a base to develop a successful artistic life. Happy creating :-)


 
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Another portrait commision by Kathy Shell, in artist's pastels, completed to a clients instructions, showing the combination of artistic talent, PR skills of working with the client and the business ability of marketing commissioned portaiture as a service.
 
 
I have packed all the art print cards, fridge magnets and postcards in the caravan, ready to pop out on the tables under the caravan awning in the mornings, while we are touring around Victoria and east coast Australia, during 2010. Australia.

Reg will be sitting outside and we will have a simple, hand crafted, Welcome sign, up and be as unobtrusive, as we can be, while letting people know they are welcome to enter out caravan awning studio to view my work. This is how I hope to pay for the fuel, tyres and vehicle services on this landscape painting and travel writing tour.

Reg enjoys selling small items, though I am thinking, as we will be on power, in caravan parks most of the time, that a small receipt printer like the smaller version of these, epson receipt printer, might be an asset to us. We used one like that, for years, whenever we did exhibitions and in our gallery, it does make it easy when you have a few sales in rapid succession, saves you trying to keep up with things writing everything down.  Lol, I do not expect to be rushed, at breakfast hour in the slow pace of a holiday caravan park, but I can hopeJ.

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I have illustrated this post with some of the functional art items we will be selling from the caravan awning studio, while we are on tour. These are caps, T Shirts and key rings. I do not sell these on line as I only have a few.  You can view and order, my popular fridge magnet art at http://www.fridgemagnetart.com or purchase them 'Direct from the Artist', n tour.

 
 
 
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The potential to earn your living at writing is enormous, this is how I am doing it. 
This is a long, two page e-how, blog.

A friend I met through my gray-nomad blog, and who is now a facebook friend, asked me to explain to her how I am able to sell my writing. She is hoping to pick up some ideas from me, to help her earn income writing. This blog post is for you and all other aspiring writers. Please feel welcome to comment, I don't consider myself an expert writer, we can all learn from each other, I'm interested in how other writers succeed also.

Since I was a child, I wanted to be a writer, just as I expressed a desire to be a painter, and sculptor and I began to study how to do these things early in my life and I continue to learnt. I was aided by my mother encouraging me to write draw and paint, and begin tuition aside from what I could learn in regular schooling, early in life and I’ve maintained that habit of seeking out information in those areas that interest me and a good practice habit, in my creative arts and I have also been proactive in telling people that this (being a writer, painter or sculptor), ‘what I do’.  You will not be treated with the respect of a professional, if you yourself don’t act professional in the pursuit of your creativity and your public relations surrounding your work.  So let it be known widely that you are ~ a writer, if you want to earn your living writing.

My latest effort to earn money at my writing, was last Monday, when I arrived at gym and needed to pay for a course on top of my already several hundred dollar gym membership, I asked if I could speak to the manager of the gym, first, before I made my payment. This request was met with a troubled look and I beamed in pleasure and reassured them that it was not a complaint. They offered to get me a fitness trainer to speak to and I insisted that, ‘No thank you, I do need to speak to the manager of the gym’.

I was asked to sit down in the lobby the manager, a  young woman,  greeted me warmly and I explained to her that I was a motivational speaker and writer with an interest in fitness, health slimming  and nutrition and I planned to do the 8 week Extreme Measures course beginning the following Monday and that “if I was to blog about it, on their web site as well as mine, it would bring them many new customers for the following Extreme Measures  course and I could bring their web site up to date “ which I told her, “was always months out of date”.   I paused, and then mentioned that “the eight week Extreme Measures course was being advertised on their web site as a 6 week course and this was one of my skills, writing web sites”.  I paused again to allow this to sink it.  Then I said, “and I do not even want payment to do this, I would be very happy to do it in return for my doing the Extreme Measures course fee free”.

Then I stopped and let her think about her reply and answer me. She said ‘they had a very good motivational writer for their web site. That Aquamoves was not a private gym it was run by the city of Shepparton and that she as a manager had no powers whatever and therefore would not be able to do any such thing’, but she thanked me for my offer, I thanked her for listening, smiled and we shook hands and parted.  I paid for my Extreme measures course and decided that this example of how I ask for work, was simply the best explanation to anyone of how I have been able to earn my living in the arts. I look for areas where my services could be put to good use and without being pushy, I let it be known, what service I can provide, how this would assist the business to whom I offer the service and how I would like to be paid.  I do not go door to door to private homes but I do make a business to business approach, that is how it is done, in business.

A more subtle form of advertising is that I also wear a T shirt, carry business cards have a car sticker all stating my name and that I am an Artist, Author. If people do not know, then how you consider yourself skilled in a field and seek work, you will not receive work. Most creative work jobs are never advertised, they are created for someone whose skills are seen to benefit a business. Whatever your creative skills are, be assertive and let others know you are eager to provide a service for a fee and don’t be too proud to offer your skills for free as this can be an enormous learning tool and a way to be out there doing the job and having your work seen by potential employers.

As a writer I look for a need, I offer to fill it, sometimes even voluntarily, I train for positions, again, many voluntary ones, I counsel where I have the skills to do this, I promote other businesses  and organizations I think are worthy of promotion, such as the we are slimming forum below.   I have ghost written for no fee, as a stand in editor of a magazine, for a Doctor not knowing how to word his research paper for a medical journal, and co written self help  booklets published by an organization aimed at helping people overcome problems. I gave voluntary  telephone counselling for almost a decade written  gardening info for free on an online chat forum, for years and then I’ve both learned and shared on weight release forums during the almost three years I have been slimming and this all counts as writing experience gained.  Any professional writer will advise you to write every day, at least 1,000 words, just keep the flow of words up, practice and learn, keep letting people know you are a writer and look for and grasp those opportunities that will suit your interests and style of writing.

During the decades that I have done all that free writing, learning, sharing of info just for the love of it. In doing voluntary writing.  I have had examples of my writing 'out there', where it can be seen by people who might offer me work so that when I do make an approach to someone, such as I did, when I spoke to the manager of Aquamoves Gym, and ask them for some form of remuneration for my writing and explaining what I'm prepared to  do and how they will benefit, I know I will get a lot of refusals, but I will also be accepted, sometimes straight away, sometimes after a 24 hour thinking think it over period and occasionally out of the blue I am offered a paid writing assignment many months later.

You first of all need to love what you are doing, let people know you want payment to do it, ask for work, create your own work. And if you want to write for a living, almost any writers will tell, you must write every day, at least 1,000 words.  There has to be the love of the art form within your core.

What should you write about?

Lots of web sites on how to make money writing will tell you to search for popular key words and subjects and write about those, that is not me. How can I write about things I know nothing about, just because it’s selling?

I would recommend writing about the things you know about, your interests, never mind trying to please everyone, you can’t, there will be others who have similar interests to yourself, these are the people you become interested in and write for, find out what their needs are and offer them a service through your writing, write for the love of writing, not for the money, but let people whom your writing could benefit, know you are interested in being paid.

Other than that, just be yourself.  I was reading someone’s blog today and she intersperses her blog with her beautiful fabric crafts, her family and shared her life’s ups and downs openly and sometimes with humour and sometimes in frustration and even swearing.  I felt I knew this woman, and liked her, she was real, her writing wasn’t fake, and it exuded with her personality.  She is a good writer.  It was obvious that she was not writing about this week’s hot topic, she was writing about the dog going to the vet or the kids to the dentist, and it was all real life, filled with real people’s emotions and highly readable, and she had a large reader base. That’s what I mean by “allowing your personality to move into your writing and writing about your interests and what you know”. Just be yourself.

I write about those things that interest me, that are my life, I do this mostly through my blogs, and occasional ‘how to’ booklet, a little reporter work or magazine article, and yes I do have files containing potential chapters of novels, filed away.

I have written and had published self help booklets, over thirty years ago and I’m proud these are still in publication because the self help style information I write does not tend to date a great deal. This is the style of writing I enjoy best and I could write about  any phase of life I’ve lived and therefore been interested in and I just  wish I had the tremendous gift of humour and because I still consider I am learning my craft, I do a great deal of free writing, I study writing, I practice writing, I have ghost written for voluntary organizations all in the name of improving my skills and the sheer love of writing about subjects that interest me.

I have a passion for travel, see my http://www.gray-nomad.com  blog Then there is my love of motivational quotes and humour over at http://www.fridgemagnetart.com  and my interest in healthy lifestyle and weight loss at http://www.artslim.org  I have been recommending anyone Looking for Online Weight Loss Support? Then why don't you pop by and check out www.weareslimming.com.au/forum as my blog is all about what is working for me and reporting of health and weight loss news, it isn’t formatted into a how to do it, work book at this stage, my own slimming journey is not complete yet.

When I read magazines I usually find typos and poorly quoted passages, like the teacher offering a ten day course to be held on Monday the 19th. If you see things like this, that’s a perfect opportunity to seek employment at that magazine as a writer because you can see they need a good proof reader’s skills.

Could you be a travel writer, a music critique, a gourmet food writer?

If you travel through various countries and use the services of different companies, have you considered offering a story about your trip to a travel magazine and also in turn telling the travel agent that you are a travel writer, showing them an example of a published article, and asking for a discount or even free accommodation to review a service.

My sister visiting from California and my family received free passes to Sovereign Hill at Ballarat and also to their sight and sound show, during the evening, on the basis that she was visiting Australia as a travel writer and she has visited Malaysia entirely at the expense of the Malaysian air lines just as I too visited California and stayed at Yosemite, dined in San Francisco and went to the Metropolitan Opera with tickets provided free for the music critic, (no not me J ) in the family.

In our family my sister was always considered the writer who also painted and I was the painter who also wrote. lol, strange thing is that in retirement she now paints more than writes and I write more than I paint, lol J.

My sister, the more gifted and natural writer of the two of us, writes with a sharp wit, I greatly admire and a flowery style,(which I don’t desire for myself), one way with words that’s become so embroidered with musical terminology, I barely know what she is saying now. I can’t read her style of highbrow writing any more than she would consider I could write a shopping list, J.. lol J The thing is, we have each found our own style and our readers find us. Her readers and mine would rarely have anything in common.

The friend who asked me to write this blog entry is approaching retirement age, and I have to say, don’t ever think it’s too late to take up writing for a living as while you might be a has been on the professional tennis circuit at retirement age, in writing, you have a wealth more experience to draw on, so you are never too old to write. Youth and lack of experience and knowledge of varied surroundings is not a deterrent to writing either, if you write from the heart about what you know, Anne Frank, wrote from her heart, about the world she knew, a small attic. The Diary of Anne Frank shows how readers what honest writing, not writing that has been contrived to earn money. It is easy to read the difference.

I will not try to give tips on proof reading and editing, these are not my greatest skills, and others can explain these writer's tools better than I can.  Use all the proof reading skills you can learn.  At the same time, don’t aim for perfection before submitting your work, as perfection is never likely to be achieved in a creative work, and you need to balance proof reading, editing with being forgiving and not too harsh a judge of your own work, or you never will submit your finished work for publishing. So when you think your writing is OK, (not perfect), submit it. If it is not picked up and accepted by others, it is not a rejection of you as a person or a writer, it simply was not what they were looking for, or they have another writer or they are like aquamoves, run by city council and you have submitted your work to the wrong person and need to go further to find the top of the chain and submit again.

Remember, it isn’t personal if your work, your approach, does not sell, there is a lot of work available for writers, just keep looking for the needs you think you can fill and keep asking. J.

I knew no short cut way to comunicate how much it is up to the individual to write about those things that they feel a writters passion for.  This post isn't meant to be about me, it's about YOU, taking your creative passions and being able to express them and even being able to earn a living doing what you love most, by simply being yourself.
Happy writing, happy creating J