If making money with your art feels harder than it “should” be right now, I want you to know something important:
This isn’t a personal failure.
And you’re not behind.
Most working artists I talk to are busy—really busy.
They’re updating their website. Refining their artist statement. Reworking prices. Perfecting an Instagram post. Watching what other artists are doing and wondering why it looks so much easier for them.
And yet… sales still feel inconsistent.
Stressful.
Too quiet.
Here’s the belief that quietly keeps a lot of artists stuck (even if they’d never say it out loud):
That if you were really good as an artist, sales would just happen.
That selling is supposed to feel natural, organic, or passive.
And, that right now—because “sales are bad everywhere”—there’s not much you can do anyway.
So instead of selling, you prepare.
You perfect things.
You wait for a magical moment when it all feels clearer—and you finally feel “ready.”
The problem?
Preparation doesn’t create income.
Connection does.
The shift most artists need isn’t a better planner, a cleaner studio, or a fancier website.
It’s this:
👉 Put outreach first. Every day.
Not mass marketing.
Not complicated funnels.
Not trying to copy what bigger artists or entrepreneurs are doing.
Just real, human, one-to-one connection.
Talking to people.
Starting conversations.
Building relationships with buyers, collectors, collaborators, and clients—one person at a time.
You don’t need hundreds of people paying attention to you to make $3–5k months.
You need a small number of right-fit humans who know you, trust you, and feel genuinely connected to your work.
Selling stops feeling scary when it stops being abstract.
When it’s no longer “the market” or “the algorithm”…
and it’s just a person on the other side of the conversation—things change.
If things have felt hard lately, don’t take that as proof you can’t make this work.
Take it as a sign you’ve been focusing on the wrong actions.
Connection first.
Consistency second.
Everything else can come later.
You’re closer than you think.
Cheers,
Kate