Make Real Money (and Real Connections) with the World’s First Trade Association for Artists

If you’re an artist, your first priority is probably making money from your art, so you never need a day job (or supplemental income) again.

The good news is that the art market is booming.

Annually, buyers purchase over $45 billion worth of art, and much of that art comes from artist entrepreneurs just like you.

You’re an artist who has decided to take control of your own destiny and make a living from your art on your own terms – so there are some “insider secrets” I’d like to share with you.

You already know that making money from your art means you need to pinpoint your target audience, price your work appropriately, and successfully sell your art.

What you might not know is that once you’ve starting selling your artwork and having some success in the art world….one of the very best things you can do for your career is get access to a community of artist peers who have the same goals you do.

Joining an artist community can:

• Keep you from feeling lonely and isolated because you spend a lot of time in your studio.
• Connect you with other artists who are serious about selling their work (instead of hanging out with hobbyists who just want to complain about how difficult it is to market themselves).
• Give you access to smart marketing advice that is tailored specifically for artists, instead of trying to work with business coaches or marketing experts who don’t understand the reality of what artists struggle with, and give suggestions that don’t make sense in the art marketing world.
• Save you money and aggravation by helping you get health insurance as a self-employed artist (yes, really!).
• Give you concrete help with legal challenges, including how to create contracts for your client work, and how to fight back if someone steals your work.

The Artist Community Is At a Turning Point

The fine art industry, and the artists who supply it, is at a turning point.

Every great art movement is the story of small groups of visionaries working together to change the system.

In 1867, Claude Monet saw that the French fine art business was tilted against artists who were doing original, innovative work – so he got together with a group of then-unknown artists (like Degas and Manet) and they put on their own art show, outside the French mainstream.

Their show was a huge success, and Monet’s group of rogue artists gave birth to Impressionism, arguably one of the largest movements in the history of art.

Stories of artists forging their own paths have occurred over and over again.

From the Young British Artists, to the New York Armory show, to Gertrude Stein and Picasso, artists find a way to lead into the next movement of history.

The Internet has accelerated this process, and more and more artists are creating their own paths by using the Web to collaborate, connect, and launch their own movements.

But the problem is – many artists don’t know how to tap into the overall artist community, even though many of them desperately want to be part of something larger than themselves.

The Hidden Problem for Artists

I’m Cory Huff, and I’m a business coach for artists.

I’ve been helping artists sell art online since 2009, and I’ve helped hundreds of art entrepreneurs figure out how to navigate the hidden path of the fine art career.

I literally wrote the book on selling art online. Harper Collins published my book, How to Sell Art Online: Live a Creative Life on Your Own Terms, in the summer of 2016. I’ve done guest lectures on marketing at schools like Southern Methodist University, Pacific Northwest College of Art, and the Fashion Institute of Technology.

My mission is not only to teach talented artists to sell their art online, but to dispel the “starving artist myth” forever. It is possible to make the art you want, live the creative life you want to lead, and make good money doing it.

There is no reason artists need to take a vow of poverty in order to create their art. Because of Abundant Artist training programs, dozens of artists have been able to quit their day jobs and make art full time.

But don’t take my word for it…

Over the past few years, I’ve launched a number of successful courses for artists, including my flagship course series, How to Sell Your Art Online.

Through these courses, I often get into discussions with our course members about their biggest struggles as artists.

Most commonly, artists say they’re struggling with marketing their work and making a full-time living from their art.

That didn’t surprise me, because a lot of artists struggle with trying to make a living without having to be beholden to big galleries. Many artists have a hard time pricing their work, getting the word out about what they do, and getting paid what they’re worth.

What did surprise me was finding out that a lot of artists feel really isolated, and they long to connect with a larger community.

“I really wish I could connect with other artists,” is a statement I’ve seen over and over again in our discussion threads.

The good news is that building a community with other artists can solve both problems: Your community can help you sell your art, and it can also help banish isolation and that feeling of “separate-ness” that you’re struggling with.

That’s exactly why I started The Abundant Artist Association.

#1: Our Exclusive Online Artist Community

Our active community is the “water cooler” for hundreds of artists who gather online to talk about marketing their art, encourage and advise each other, and build relationships.

The Abundant Artist Association Community includes artists from every part of the world. As a member, you’ll be able to connect with other artists who work in similar media, including all kinds of painting (even digital), sculpture, photography, mixed media, and more.

Our online community is an easy to access Facebook group, and you can contribute to conversations (or kick off new ones) any time you want.

Discussions are lively in our online community, and there is so much for you to learn and so many people to connect with. We’ll welcome you in with open arms, and we can’t wait to help you!

#2: Monthly Artist Entrepreneur Challenges

Each month, The Abundant Artist Association Community will host a business-building challenge to help you set goals, get more commissions, and grow your online presence.

These challenges will inspire you to action every month, so you can move forward with your art business.

Each optional challenge includes:

• A new artist host from the community, to guide and inspire you.
• Assignments for completing the challenges, customized for beginner, intermediate and advanced artist entrepreneurs.
• Tips and tricks on business-building from artists of many different media and genres.
• A live strategy and accountability call for challenge participants.

Each month, you’ll have a clear step that you can take, to strengthen your business and participate in the art community.

Previous challenges and master classes include landing commissions, productivity practices for artists, and working with art directors. In one challegne, our beginner participants focused on creating commission packages they could easily promote, while intermediate and advanced artists sought out more (and better paying) commission projects. Many members of the community landed their first commission, and several beat their previous commission records by orders of magnitude.

#3: Access to Group Health Insurance for Artists

As you probably already know, health insurance in the United States is complex and expensive. Many full-time artists struggle to find insurance, or decide to drop their insurance completely because the cost is prohibitive, leaving them in danger of being bankrupted if they get hit with a costly medical emergency.

Now I’m delighted to announce that The Abundant Artist Association has partnered with an insurance broker to offer affordable group insurance to its members.

Similar to employee plans, you must pay for your insurance, but with our Association discount, it will often be cheaper than what you could get on the open market.

The Abundant Artist Association will not actually be providing your insurance – you’ll have your choice among many of the country’s largest insurance providers.

Right now, rates for individual artists with no dependents start at $395. The more people we have in our group, the better the rates will be – so your costs may drop as more people join the Association.

#4: Legal Advice for Artists

The Abundant Artist Association has also partnered with lawyers who specialize in intellectual property law to offer online legal clinics and group consultations for our members.

Instead of having to pay a lawyer an outrageous hourly rate, you can get help during these clinics and consultations for a fraction of the price.

You can get help if your images are stolen, or someone infringes on your copyright, or get legal advice on contracts, payment disputes, or other common art business problems.

#5: Access to Top-Notch Online Marketing Programs for Artists

As a special perk for Abundant Artist Association Members, I’m giving access to some of my most popular online marketing programs for artists.

Hundreds of artists have learned how to marketing their businesses effectively using these programs. You can learn how to get your first online sale, build your business using social media, create effective sales funnels, and start an effective media outreach campaign.

#6: Negotiating with Corporations, Government Agencies, and Galleries So Artists Can Get Paid What They’re Worth

As a trade association, The Abundant Artist Association will advance the interests of artists by negotiating with corporations and government agencies to create better sourcing processes and move away from the dreaded "spec work" problem.

Right now, most companies only do a cursory search to make sure their art sourcing is legitimate, and buyers are not trained on how to check if an artist has the copyright to an image.

Our goal is to be able to approach large corporations and say, “We represent a huge number of artists, and we want to talk to you about ways you can improve your methods for sourcing art." We will advocate with corporations to help them improve the way they source art and cut down on art theft and copyright infringement.

We will also work to help artists avoid the pitfalls of predatory galleries or other art businesses.

Collectively, we will push galleries to adopt more open practices, including sharing collector lists, doing more committed marketing for artists they represent, and offering more favorable commission splits for proven artists whose art sells well.

In a nutshell….no. It’s completely different.

Other artist groups have the tendency to perpetuate the “starving artist” myth. Members often just get together and talk about how hard it is to sell their work.

That’s not what this group is about. Your membership in The Abundant Artist Association will move you forward as an artist, and help you bring in more money from your work.

It’s also a place where you can collaborate and learn from other artists, get your questions answered, and build a supportive community of people who have your back.

In our online community (and in the monthly challenge calls), you’ll get business feedback from me and several hundred working artists who are focused on growing their businesses and selling their work.

I know there are a lot of inexpensive artists professional development organizations that are focused on helping artists get better at making art.

This organization is more expensive than other groups, because we focus exclusively on teaching you how to make sales and grow your business.

The business knowledge and support that you’ll get from other members is invaluable. Many of our members tell me their memberships have literally “paid for themselves” within the first few months because of the extra sales they’ve made.

What courses will I get access to as an Abundant Artist Association member?

As a member, you’ll get lifetime access to all the courses in the Abundant Artist catalog. That includes:

• How to Sell Your Art Online 101: Get Your First Online Sale
• How to Sell Your Art Online 201: Sales Funnels for Artists
• How to Sell Your Art Online 301: Media Outreach for Artists
• How to Sell Art on Facebook

To get information on all our courses, visit this page.

What makes this group different from my local art association, or other online groups for artists?

Art Associations are great, but they are almost exclusively focused on helping artists improve their artistic technique, not learning business skills. Some associations have occasional guest speakers or juried shows, but business skills and connections are not what these associations were formed to do.

We understand that there are a lot of online communities for artists, too. Some of them are helpful, but a lot of them are a waste of time and energy.

We are a professional trade association with live, in-person meetups, online trainings and more, not just another Facebook group. We are focused on helping artists by making their finances and lives better.

I’m a successful artist who doesn’t need business training. Why should I join?

You may not need the business training that we offer, but we have group health insurance discounts and industry connections you can't get anywhere else.

If you have succeeded, you realize how lonely it is at the top, and we can help you connect with other successful artists. In addition, we could use your help with our industry advocacy – the voice of successful artists will only make the art industry better.

Can I get more details on the health insurance plans?

Sure. We wrote a blog post about it here.

Is this only for American artists?

No! If you’re joining us from outside the United States, you can access everything in the Association, with the exception of the health insurance discounts.

That means you can take advantage of the courses, the challenges, the community, and other opportunities. Because The Abundant Artist blog has tens of thousands of readers from all over the world, we have international artists in this community from the UK, France, Canada, and other countries.