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xMordu — Guide: How To Start Taking Yourself SERIOUSLY
#advertising #artist #commissions #guide #marketing #online #sellers #selling #start #taking #yourself #how #an #seriously
Published: 2017-12-19 23:31:21 +0000 UTC; Views: 756; Favourites: 30; Downloads: 0
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Did my obnoxious pink banner make you cry a little? Good. Get those tears flowing. It's time to get serious about our art.
Even if you don’t plan on making your art into a business, you should read this.
(Sorry if this post is quite long, I like to space things out for easier reading!)
1. Don’t undersell your art.
You should be making AT LEAST minimum wage, if not more. Art is a trained skill. It takes YEARS of practice to hone your skill. You've been training for years. You've put in countless hours of work into practicing your art. Why should you sell it for next to nothing?
Here's how you can learn to price things better:
Figure out how long it takes you on average to finish a commission, and then calculate from there. Multiply the number of hours by your wage. For example, 2.5 hours at $10 an hour would mean you would charge roughly $25 for that kind of commission. (2.5 x 10 = 25)
There’s a handy tool called the Cash Clock that you can run while you draw and it’ll give you an idea of how much you should charge. It’s extremely easy to use, and you can also download it if you want to use it offline.
When you undersell yourself, this tells people:
- That you’re desperate for money. (And even if you are, it’s not good to come off that way, because people will absolutely take advantage of your desperation.)
- That you don’t value your talent or your time.
- That your final product won’t be worth the full amount that you should be charging.
This includes adoptables, as well. If you've had an adoptable for a long time and just want to get rid of it, lower the price by $5 and see if anyone bites. A month later, lower it by another $5. Be patient with selling adoptables! The key is to find the right person who will want the adoptable.
Underselling is also bad for the “Artist Economy”. Here is a post from Steve Argyle that explains why underselling is not only bad for yourself, but it’s detrimental to online artists as a whole:
twitter.com/Steve_Argyle/statu…
2. Stop putting yourself down.
Listen, I know it can be hard sometimes. We suffer for our art a lot, whether it be from getting little notes on something you worked hard on, not selling commissions, or facing art block. But here’s the thing: A lot of people don’t like to see you suffer. No one likes to see you call your art “shitty” over and over.
When you often put yourself down, it sends several messages:
- For one, expressing large amounts of negativity will always deter people. Let your art and your attitude towards your art inspire others.
- For the fans who consider themselves “beneath” you in terms of skill, it tells them that they also suck.
Have you ever seen a really good artist who says something like “Just a shitty doodle.” on something that you think looks really awesome? And then you look at your art and kinda start thinking... “Well if they consider that shitty, then I guess I’m pretty shitty too.” It’s a bit of a reach, but you can’t tell me that there aren’t people that think that way. - And of course, it just sends the message that you generally lack confidence in your work.
Now, I’m not saying that you’re not allowed to feel these things, or even that you’re not supposed to post them. If you really need a place to vent, the best thing to do would be to make a personal blog, something that’s separate from your artwork. Those that come to your page for your art won’t have to see your personal baggage-- it’s a win/win for both of you. And you can absolutely advertise this blog on your art blog for those who want to offer advice or comfort. (Though don’t spam your followers with this.) The key here is that viewers actually have to click through to a separate page in order to see this kind of thing.
Take pride in your work, and let it show through you.
3. Make a ToS (Terms of Service) page:
If you take commissions online, you should absolutely have a ToS page written up. Having a ToS page will protect you from anyone trying to screw you over, granted that you use it correctly.
You will need to link your ToS page to EVERY commissioner upon inquiries about a commission. Make sure your clients understand your terms BEFORE they pay, not after. This removes any liability from you if they try anything suspicious.
Things I would recommend including:
- Turnout time: How long do you usually take to complete a commission piece? Give yourself more than enough time. If you normally have a queue for commissions, give yourself a good few weeks to complete a piece.
- Payment options. Most of us take payment through PayPal. Make sure that’s noted. Also note that you take payment up-front. Always take payment up-front. Some artists do a rough sketch and then once the client approves, they get paid. That’s fine too.
- Cancellation policy. Assume that somewhere down the line, someone will ask to cancel their commission.
Consider this: What if you’ve already finished most of the commission? What then? Simple! Get paid for your time. You do not need to refund someone if you’ve already done the work.
Now, if you hadn’t even started the commission yet, then refunding them should be no problem, since you haven’t used any of your time on their commission.
Also consider: If your turnout time exceeds the times listed, are clients allowed to request a refund?
These kinds of decisions can vary from person-to-person, and that’s fine. Some people are totally fine with doing refunds, others will refuse to refund once an order is placed. All that you need to do is make sure that your customers understand your terms.
Other things I would recommend regarding your terms of sale:
- USE INVOICES. In the invoices section, there is an area titled “Terms and Conditions”. This is where you include your Terms of Service. You can copy/paste your entire ToS (which is probably best), or you can just link the page/document.
The area looks like this:
This is to protect you from PayPal disputes. If you have your terms listed on an invoice, and the person pays that invoice, they are automatically agreeing to your terms whether they read through it or not. Which, I mean, they should read through it. It’s pretty hard to miss-- We don’t do “fine print” like people do in commercials. It’s all laid out for them.
I know that all of this legal crap can be pretty scary, but thankfully PayPal makes it pretty easy, considering all you have to do is drop it in that box and you’re covered.
If you’d like to see some examples of other people’s Terms of Service pages, I have linked several here that you can take a look at:
- My ToS: concupio.weebly.com/terms-of-s…
- SpartaDog’s ToS: www.spartadogillustration.com/…
- SpottyJaguar’s ToS: spottyjaguar.com/terms.php
You’re welcome to copy information from my ToS page. I’d ask the others if they’re okay with you doing the same. (I got a lot of my ideas/info from SpartaDog, so I’m sure he’d have no problem with you doing the same, but I’d ask just to be safe!)
I'll probably end up updating this post with more information later. I hope this has helped you in some way!
If you have any questions, I’d be more than happy to help you!
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