1. Focus on the major things not the minor things

So many people seem to mistake movement for achievement and end up just frantically doing 'busy' work, but feeling so stuck and wondering why they’re not making progress. The problem is that a lot of us focus 80% of our time on the minor stuff, rather than the major stuff that’s actually going to move the needle. One of the best things you can do to avoid falling into this trap is to track your activity. Make a list of all the things that you’re working on throughout an average day and then go over that list and decide whether each one is a major or minor task. For example, a minor task would be replying to emails or creating a graphic, whereas a major task would include focusing on vision and strategy, or working...

For the first time, I included shipping (in Australia) in the price of my paintings during my latest exhibition. Usually, a shipping estimate is added on to the cost of the painting, and can be up to $300 for some of my larger works. While most people expect to pay this, it is a nice surprise when I tell them it’s included.

It's had a great response from customers! I thought it might make it simpler to offer just the one price. I raised the price of my paintings to cover it, and made sure there was a little extra for packing materials and time. I know roughly the cost to send most of my painting sizes now, so could build this into my final price.

I can still spend up to an hour packing large paintings, so will need to compensate for this more in the future, but this has been...

While dreaming of having a studio assistant to clean your brushes, deal with customers and make you coffee may seem like a faraway fantasy, a virtual assistant may actually be closer than you think!

Virtual assistants (VA) are big news right now, and while it may not be possible to employ someone to work with you in your studio full-time, an overseas or remote virtual assistant could assist you with the business side of your practice, and do all the things you don't like doing, such as creating content for social media ;)

There are sites like Fiverr and Upwork, which are great for getting one-off jobs done, such as graphic design, but if you need regular help with bookkeeping, sending newsletters, responding to customers and creating social media content, then hiring a part-time VA...

There is a certain amount of content we need to regularly produce for our art businesses. This may be blog posts, social media posts and newsletters. Rather than spending time creating these each week, why not put aside a day or two at the beginning of each month, and get it all done in one go!

Content planning days make batch-creating your content so much easier, so that you never get stuck wondering what to post! By getting organised with your content planning, you can plan out all your content without feeling overwhelmed. Source ideas for content that supports your overall annual goals and set yourself to batch-create your content in no time with these tips below.

Action Steps

• Start by gathering your ideas into an ideas folder and make a note whenever a content idea comes to...

Ever needed a statement or resume in a hurry, and had to search around on your computer through old files to find the latest version? I certainly have. It can be stressful and overwhelming, and more often than not, I end up creating the whole document again from scratch.  No more! I now keep a document folder on my computer called 'Art Files' where I store all my artist statements, resumes, bios and other paperwork related to my art business, included a sub-folder for all the latest versions so I can access them quickly.

Writing an artist statement is not an enjoyable task for many, yet it is something we regularly get asked for -  from galleries, exhibition organisers and independent or freelance employers. Keep your statement up to date, so that when you get asked for it,...