Key Takeaways

An art mentor can benefit new craft business owners in many ways, including marketing, branding, and visibility.
They can help you build a strong business foundation from the very start, as well as structured systems that make scaling easier.
Creative coaches keep your mind focused by sharing mindset practices to ensure you stay on track and take action consistently.
You’ll learn how to price for profit, and how to grow traffic to your products online, and in person.
With art mentors, you’ll move faster, skip over common obstacles and start to make sales faster than if you tried to grow your business alone.

It’s easy to forget that when you’re starting a handmade business that even though you’re selling very cute things, it’s still an actual business…and there’s nothing easy about that! When it comes to the creative side of things, we know that artists have that down. But the business side? Well, that may not come as naturally.

This is where investing in art mentorship can make all the difference. Us creatives, we are brilliant at coming up with creative ideas for products, our website, packaging…but the really important skills, like knowing how to price our work, don’t always get the attention they need and unfortunately sometimes end up being our downfall.

So let’s talk about what exactly an art mentor can do for you, and when you should consider looking into getting some guidance in your handmade business.

Turning Art into Income

We all start out with a different story. Many of us have have been artsy craftsy our entire lives, doing art for fun until someone said, “Hey, can I buy that?”, and got our wheels turning. Some of us worked a 9-5 for years, and finally realized there’s more to life than waking up and commuting 5 days a week.

But no matter how we arrive at this epiphany, we all have to get through similar challenges to realize our goal of making money with our art. The majority of creatives have a lack of marketing knowledge, so this automatically creates a huge obstacle. Because as you know, you can make beautiful things all day, but if no one sees them, you’re not going to make any sales.

Other hurdles that artists will run into include not knowing how to create a cohesive brand, and not getting enough eyes on their products. Understanding how to create a brand around your products is a major part of marketing. You want your business to stand out and be instantly recognizable…not everyone knows how to do this.

Additionally, getting enough online and offline visibility is a common struggle for artists. With so many options these days, it’s hard to know what ‘works’ and what doesn’t. Should you be selling your work on social media? Your own website? Etsy? The list goes on.

And we haven’t even gotten into good old overwhelm, imposter syndrome, and perfectionism yet. They always appear right when things start to get good, don’t they?

All this to say that as a new craft business owner, you have a lot working against you, even if you’re already a talented artist. It’s important to understand that a handmade business will not survive on your passion alone…and that’s where art mentorship programs might offer a little assistance.

What is the Role of an Art Mentor?

I got an email the other day (true story) from a woman I don’t know, telling me in not very nice words that my website was a scam. That was news to me ;)

She seemed very pleased with herself and made sure to tell me that she sold her crafts online for free!!!!! (with many exclamation points to prove her point!!!!). After I laughed and blocked her ass, I thought about all the non-scammy reasons I love the coaching side of my business so much.

First of all, I started calling myself a creative business coach after considering myself just an artist for my entire life. Do you know how ridiculously difficult it was for me to make that jump mentally? I had to meditate every day on it for hours (serious). I spent thousands on coaching and courses (I walk the walk), and still barely stuck with it…but I’m so glad I did.

I love watching my clients’ faces light up when I offer them an idea they never considered, connect them with another artist, or successfully help them map out their creative niche.

I love giving pep talks and mindset tools to those who are truly struggling to believe in themselves, and then watching them THRIVE and kick ass.

I love being an art mentor for craft business owners because I know how hard I struggled in 2010 when I was starting out, and I feel like my clients are mini-Dani’s that I can still save (lol).

I graduated in the middle of a recession and was bouncing between design jobs. My anxiety was off the charts, and I was not in great shape mentally, physically, or financially. I wanted control of my schedule! And I didn’t want to have to work in a cubicle doing computer drafting work so that maybe in 10 years I could be considered a ‘real’ designer.

But starting my art business was really hard. This was all before Instagram and there weren’t really many coaches for what I wanted to achieve anyways. So I built what I would have wanted for myself back then.

Art mentors serve many purposes, but in my opinion, the most important aspect of this role is to be the person who has been there, done that, and can guide you through every step of the process, helping you shortcut your way to success. That might look like mindset help one day because no one bought from your sale, or it might look like getting an opinion on where to focus next because you’re overwhelmed.

An art mentor is there for all of that and more, and I find this work so absolutely fulfilling…call that a scam if you will.

Do you need an art mentorship? No. You can be cool like that rude lady and do it on your own for free. But for those who do not want to do this alone, and would love to skip over some of the hard parts and save time and money overall, artist mentors like myself exist and can help guide you.

How an Art Mentor Can Help You Market Your Art

So what types of things can an art mentorship help you with? It can vary from coach to coach, but here’s what I personally help with (pretty much everything!).

Building a strong foundation

Having a solid direction and base in your craft business is where many artists slip up in their creative journey. Crafters that take the DIY route can of course do quite a bit on their own, however, they tend to miss out on a lot of the strategy that those investing in art mentorship are benefiting from. In my experience, this lack of strategy always comes back to bite you in the end.

The problem when starting out in your handmade business is that you have waaaaaay too many options. Too many niche ideas. Too many product ideas. Too many platforms to sell on. Too many places to promote your work.

There is no focus, no clarity, no clear path to success, and oftentimes, a lot of doubt. That’s why creating a solid strategy from the very beginning is critical to your future success!

This is also why this is the first thing we tackle together inside of Handmade & Paid. I even have a designated 1:1 call completely dedicated to this so we don’t miss a thing. You can expect a lot of epiphany moments, tons of clarity, and excitement knowing that you can finally get moving in the right direction!

Creating systems

Ok boring? Yeah. Necessary? Also yeah. So let’s make the best of it ;). Why does an artist need systems? Don’t we just make art, share it, then rake in the dough? Sure, you can do that and make money, it’s absolutely possible! But consider this - if you are lucky enough to make quick sales right off the bat, what happens later down the line?

Right now, making stuff and making sales keeps things simple, flowy, and fun! But you’re not doing any favors for your future self. Imagine something you make or post goes viral and suddenly you have more sales than you can fulfill? (Rich, unorganized girl problems).

You may be forced into canceling orders, or hiring expensive, last minute help to get it all done. Then you’ll be forced to create a system for next time anyways. Isn’t it better to get ahead of that moment before it arrives? Can you imagine having to turn down your dream brand collaboration simply because your simple setup can’t accommodate it?? I’ve seen it happen, and it’s a nightmare!

Another example. We all know most artists don’t want to spend all day marketing. However, this is exactly what you’re signing up to do when you fail to set up a marketing system in your handmade business.

Imagine having to post on social media daily for the rest of your life (ugh) just to make sales, and if you stop posting, so do the sales. Your goal should be to get off this never-ending hamster wheel of marketing hell, and developing the right systems with the help of an artist mentor is the number one way to accomplish that.

Dialing in your mindset

I used to think this was some woo-woo ish that wasn’t relevant to such a practical and logical artist like myself. Unfortunately, I was sorely mistaken and learned the hard way. Understanding the role of keeping a positive mindset as you build a small creative business from the ground up is so important I could spend all day talking about it and still have more to say.

The reason for this is that when it comes to scaling a craft business from zero, your growth will not be linear. You’ll go through long periods of time where you won’t make a dime.

You’ll launch new products that totally bomb even though you’re so proud of them. You’ll put a lot of time into a website that maybe doesn’t do anything for you right away.

And I’m not going to sugar coat it…this all sucks really hard.

The good news? The good news is that everything is still within your control. You need to adapt the mindset that your progress will be up and down, and that as long as you keep moving forward and taking tiny steps regularly, you will build up the momentum and sales you’ve been dreaming of.

Running a small business sometimes requires that you have BLIND TRUST in yourself for long stretches of time with zero evidence that things will work out in the end. In other words, it’s no picnic.

Mindset is the daily element of your business that you need to maintain in order to keep up momentum and prevent yourself from giving up. Creating a consistent mindset practice is absolutely pivotal in helping you build your dream craft business.

Pricing for profit

Here’s a common scenario I often come across when speaking with wantrepreneur artists. They start making some products for fun, and then unexpectedly, a friend or family member asks to buy it. Then they either give it to them for free or significantly underprice their work.

Ok I know, I know…it’s someone close to you so you gave them a deal. But when the actual shop goes up, the prices are still shockingly low. The big question is:

Why do craft artists constantly undervalue and underprice their work?

I think there are a lot of contributing factors that go into this question, but personally, I think that it’s a combination of 3 things:

1. The general track record of how society views crafts as a silly children’s activity

2. The thought that art is not ‘necessary’ to survive, it’s a ‘nice to have’.

3. Lack of confidence or imposter syndrome

We could talk about that all day, but my point is, there’s a lot of reasons that creatives naturally undervalue and underprice their art...but that doesn’t mean you should fall victim to this mentality.

An art mentor will quickly allow you to see what’s possible. How far you can go with your art business, and all the opportunities you can take to get there. They will expand your mind and get you EXCITED to reach difficult goals.

It can be hard to get out of your own head when you’re working on this alone. This is why building your handmade business alongside a seasoned entrepreneur, plus other creatives with similar goals is key to your success. You’ll get regular feedback as well as new perspectives and motivation to continue, even on your hardest days!

Growing your online presence and traffic

I know if you’ve attempted to drive traffic to your art online in any form, you know how difficult it is unless you already have an existing audience. Even then - if your art is not the reason why those people followed you to begin with, you’ll still have a hard time capturing their interest and making sales.

To make things worse, there are 7 billion options when it comes to getting people to find your work, whether that’s online or in person. And everyone is sure that their idea is the best.

So this is another area where it’s helpful to get some guidance. However, the real challenge is not just picking where to market your work, but staying consistent with it…even when you’re hearing crickets.

You know what’s tough? Posting your artwork on Instagram to 293 people 4x a week with almost no engagement. Or blogging for 6 months, writing thousands of words with no tangible results to show. I can almost guarantee you’ll give up when you’re up against this unless you have support.

And that’s exactly why you need an art mentor or a community to push you through. Because once you make that first sale, you’ll have renewed faith in yourself, and you’ll see that it’s all been worth it, and then you just keep going.

Save time and money with an artist mentor

When you’re starting out with your craft business, it’s as if you’re pushing a boulder up a mountain. You have to give yourself some time to grow momentum before sales become more regular, and people are finding you faster.

For many craft artists, this can take years of trial and error, doubting themselves, making costly mistakes, or wasting time going in the wrong direction. Someone who has been through this already can help you move through this stage much faster. They will see problems before they even arise, saving you time and expensive mistakes.

If you’re on your own and things aren’t going so well, it’s extremely easy to get in your head and convince yourself that this just isn’t going to pan out. But these are the dream crushing thoughts I’m out to destroy as a craft business coach.

When you’re checking in regularly with an art mentor, it’s way easier to recognize these thoughts quickly, get help squashing them, then keep moving forward.

Another huge perk of art mentorship programs, is that you can take advantage of shortcuts and running into common obstacles like not pricing correctly, selling in the wrong place, or picking a niche that makes you feel trapped.

Changing your mind or pivoting in your creative business is totally fine; however, you’ll want to do it sparingly and very strategically so you don’t confuse your followers.

If you think through all your options from the very beginning and get to the heart of why you’re starting your handmade business, you’ll set yourself up for a smoother business journey with more clarity, confidence, and success.

Making more sales

Now that you’re moving faster and you’re clear on your path, you’ll start making sales faster because you’ll have avoided mistakes and created momentum more quickly.

You’ll feel confident about your pricing and your products, knowing that everything is cohesive and makes sense. Because of this, your customers won’t be confused. You’ll know what you need to do to scale, and more importantly, what not to do.

Working with art mentors can also open you up to new ideas for growth. For example, you might be hesitating to reach out to a local shop where you want to sell your crafts, a craft coach can give you the nudge you need to take action.

They will also understand your strengths which is an important element to factor in as you grow and can suggest some ideas unique to you based on this knowledge.

Is Art Mentorship Right For You?

How do you know you’re ready for some guidance? While I recommend getting help from the very beginning, especially because this is where you’ll run into the most friction and have the highest odds of giving up, getting help at any point in your journey is beneficial.

If you’re ready to stop wild guessing your way to handmade business success, come join us inside my group coaching program for artists and crafters, Handmade & Paid!

It’s time to start getting paid for your art! Don’t waste another day putting off your dream job. Book a free Creative Clarity Call with me at the link below to take the first step.

Click to Book Your Free Creative Clarity Call!

Frequently Asked Questions

An art mentor is essentially your shortcut to success. They will see holes in your business and mindset before you even realize they exist. This will allow you to avoid costly mistakes and wasted time, and skip to the success and sales part much faster.
It’s recommended to start from the very beginning of your business. This way, you’re building a solid foundation and a strategy before you waste time throwing spaghetti at the wall. However, anytime you hit a plateau or can’t regain momentum is another great time to invest in help.
You’ll benefit in many ways, however, having an expert answer all your questions in real time as they appear is one of the most beneficial aspects of working in an art mentorship program.

Turn Your Craft Hobby Into Profit With Art Mentorship