Art Business Bootcamp

A successful art career is only 50% making great art
—
the other half is getting that art seen by the right people.

As Art Directors, we have a very different perspective from artists—one that is critically important for artists to know in order to become successful entrepreneurs. Over years of hiring artists and giving portfolio reviews, it was very clear to us that artists were not getting the business education they need to get their work seen by clients and fans. So in 2014 we compiled all the top questions artists ask us and offered our first Art Business Bootcamp live at a convention.

We knew we hit a nerve when we were flooded with requests begging us to make the Bootcamps available online. So we’ve taken everything from our combined decades of experience as art directors and artists, the content from our live courses and our famous onesheets, and input from the hundreds of artists who have already taken our Bootcamps, to make this course the most effective way for artists to take their career to the next level. These 3 Bootcamp modules are designed for you to go through in order, each one building on the skills learned in the previous sessions, so we’re offering them as a package. At the end of the cycle, you’ll have the knowledge to Get Found, Get Hired, and Get Paid…and get back to making more great art.

“The bootcamps gave me the structure I needed to plan out a larger-scale series with deeper narratives and also forge a deeper connection between my audience and myself. I learned how to focus my time on not just the execution of my work, but also the presentation and marketing concepts behind it.”
—Candice Broersma

“I sent emails, but I never heard back from any art directors. Once I started following the Bootcamp formula for emails, I got a whopping 75% response rate. The Bootcamps offer a lot of personal attention, they practice what they preach and it works!”
—Dougie Hoppes

MODULE ONE : GET FOUND

we give you the tools and strategies you’ll use to boost your signal and get noticed:

• Learn techniques to get noticed by paying clients.
• Master social media and adapt your work to different platforms.
• Follow the roadmap to building an engaged fan base.
• Adopt tricks to authentic networking that doesn’t make you cringe.

“The advice is brilliant and the community as well is amazing and it’s great to be able to keep coming back to that community for support and feedback.I would recommend it to anyone who is feeling lost with the direction of their art business and wants to have a good grounding in what they need to do better.”
—Emily Hare

“After joining the bootcamp I immediately had access to the best support group I’ve found in this industry. I would absolutely recommend bootcamp to anyone interested in leveling up their creative career.”
—Marcelo Gallegos

MODULE TWO : GET HIRED

Now that you’ve got some attention, in Bootcamp 2 you’ll learn to convince clients you’re the one they want to hire:

• Build a portfolio that instills confidence in clients and art directors.
• Make sure your website is drawing people in, not driving them away.
• Confidently sell yourself without begging for work.
• Know what to add to your portfolio to get the jobs you want.

“I had no previous art business experience outside of what I could glean in bits and pieces from artist blogs. I knew that access to the community of like minded artists motivated enough to take part in this course would be extremely valuable in and of itself. The modules plus the active encouragement of the group has pushed me out of my comfort zone and into a lot of events I would have previously been too shy to attend, with confidence and insight into how to make best use of those opportunities. The effect has snowballed, and I can only say that taking part has been a huge success for me professionally..”
—Bruce Brenneise

MODULE THREE: GET PAID

Nothing scares artists more than talking about money. In Bootcamp 3 we’ll show you there’s nothing to fear in the fine print:

• Negotiate terms and prices confidently and to your benefit.
• Finally learn what all the legalese means in creative contracts.
• Set up a template contract that protects your best interests.
• Know how to follow up with clients and what steps to take if communication goes quiet.

HERE'S WHAT YOU GET:

• 16 Video Lectures

• 6 recorded 2-hour Q+A sessions

You have lifetime access to these and ALL FUTURE Q+As

• Written Course Materials

• Accompanying Homework & Worksheets

FAQ

Q: Is this course good for (designers, authors, doll makers, contract killers)?

Yes, the Bootcamps are totally adaptable to every kind of creative freelancer. Everyone needs to do self-promotion and networking — that’s Module One. If you have a website or need to show examples of your skills, that’s Module Two. And everyone needs to understand invoicing, chasing money, contract terms, and legally protecting your work, so Module Three has you covered there.

Q: What is the difference between doing a course live and doing a recorded version?

With the gumroad version, you get the same written material, access to the community groups for each class, and access to the recorded live video sessions no matter when you register. And once you join a class, you are always welcome to re-take the same class anytime we do another live version of the course.

Might be good to mention, we have a Slack group. If you sign up for the bootcamp we'll give you a full 30 days access to the Slack group for free.

If you want to support our work through membership to that (seriously) awesome community, you can grab that here.

Q: How long will I have to see the material? Is there a time limit?

You have forever access. The whole point of this project is to get artists the knowledge they need. We’re not going to take it away!

Q: Why do you suggest taking a month for each module, isn’t that a lot?

This isn’t college, you can’t write this paper with one all-nighter. We’re info-dropping a LOT of material on you. All you really need to start optimizing your art career you get in the course materials. But it’s a lot and it can be a little overwhelming. We include the recorded Q+A sessions so we can be your guides through the material a chunk at a time. The idea is that you’re working along with the class, putting the methods directly to work on your own social media and sites as we progress.

You will have access to ALL the info on day one. You will have access to all the recorded Q+As and invited to any future live sessions. And since we know that even a month isn’t enough, there’s the Slack group you can join to keep asking, keep learning, and keep sharing with artists that have gone through the same material.

Q: I’m a struggling artist, paying for classes feels like a lot for me to afford.

We get it, and it’s the “struggling artist” that we're working to make an endangered species. 

The truth is that any amount of money will make it hard for some people to join.

We want you to value and charge for your own work and we can’t do that if we don't do the same. We’ve priced the course at the minimum we can to cover all the work and costs on our side (video recording and editing, website building and hosting, etc).

Q: Are there discounts floating around?

No AND in our Slack group we let anyone there become an affiliate with a 20% commission payout. That means for every person that signs up, you get paid. And we don’t cap it. So not only can you get your course for free…you can actually make money on top. You’re welcome :)

Q: I'm not convinced.

Cool. Before you go, we have a free/pay what you want series of PDFs on our Gumroad page. Grab them for free if you want and see what you think.

And, before you go, check out the testimonials above in italics. 

These were all struggling artists when they came to us, and now they’re succeeding at making the art they want and getting paid to do it. 

Can you afford to keep struggling on your own?

If you have a question that wasn’t answered here, ask us by emailing info@makeyourartwork.com and we’ll answer (and probably add it to this FAQ)