Why Being A Square Peg is Now Your Greatest Art Sales Asset

I first realized that I wasn’t choosing the easiest route through life on a visit to the school careers teacher.

“I want to be an artist!”

His response was to produce reams of statistics “proving” exactly how many ways this was a bad idea. Did you know that its statistically provable that anyone daring to even look at working in the creative industries can expect a life of grinding poverty, depression, lack of financial support and opportunities and to die a sad and lonely death, possibly resulting in being eaten by your own pets as a final indignity? This was pretty much the information I got from the careers teacher.

He adjusted his creased nylon suit, fixed me with his dead eyed gaze and advised…

“OK, but realistically you need to get an office job. Then you can do your art as a hobby”.

Thankfully I was a know-it-all 14 year old full of attitude, bluster and self righteous confidence and I duly ignored him. I did start to realise though that perhaps creativity didn’t fit easily into the pigeon-holes of life.

Do you sometimes feel like a square peg in a round hole ?

All your life have you felt like a square peg, fighting a never ending battle against the systems that strain to hammer and bash you kicking and screaming into that round hole? Well the good news is that the creative force that has always driven you to take the road less travelled [or the road strewn with potholes and cowpats as it seems sometimes] is a POWERFUL force that can help your art career to blossom and your artwork to sell successfully.

Here’s the great news. Square pegs make excellent ARTrepreneurs!

The creative personality traits that you were told were bad, difficult or unrealistic in the past are the exact same ones that will make you a brilliant ARTrepreneur. How cracking is that?

So, at school or work if you ever got into hot water for:

• Daydreaming and letting your mind wander.
• Questioning authority.
• Not accepting things the way they are and questioning the status quo.
• Just being a little bit different.
• Having a burning and driving need to create which others just didn’t seem to have.

Well these are the very qualities that will work in your favour if you want to control your own life by promoting your own artistic business. Hooray

Creativity is one of the most important ingredients for business success and us square peg artists have that in bucket loads.

So, let’s turn it round and look at it another way:

Creative thought processes [disparaging labeled daydreaming at school] allow you to think outside the box when it comes to promoting your art. The creative mindset allows you to visualise the possibilities of the life you can create through selling your work successfully and to think of innovative ways to achieve it. Your creative brain gives you a head start in business and marketing.

Questioning authority is a definite bonus. You won’t accept it when people tell you that you can’t make a living from selling your art, as countless [generally unhappy] people will always delight in doing. If you believe in your work, even when others don’t, a little self belief can carry you through the toughest times when sales are poor and life is hard.

Never accepting the status quo keeps you moving forward. If you refuse to accept things the way they are you will eventually get them the way they should be. My Dad taught me a wonderful Lancashire saying, which is “You get what you settle for” and it’s so true. If you refuse to settle for less, you will keep striving to create a happier life for yourself on your own terms, with your own efforts, from your own artistic and creative skills.

Being different rocks. Never be afraid to be different. In cheesy business and marketing speak this is your “unique selling point”, the thing that makes you stand out from the crowd. A fresh new approach can help your creative business go places.

Your artistic life force is the final piece of the jigsaw. This burning creative drive will power you forward in the face of adversity to achieve your goals and build your creative career. The normal knock-backs associated with getting out into the world of business and selling your work {which can be a scary process, I know} can be overcome by the all consuming desire to create more great art.

NEVER underestimate the power of your creative life force. It can move mountains when channelled in the right direction. You just need to find that focus and you will be unstoppable.

So take a deep breath. You are the PERFECT FIT!

So right now, take a deep breath and throw out any negative thoughts you may have ever had pounded into you about never quite fitting in to the “normal” scheme of things. This is a GOOD thing.

Have confidence and rejoice in the fact that you are a wonderful and unique square peg. This makes you THE PERFECT FIT for success as an ARTrepreneur

Do you consider yourself to be a square peg? Has it helped or hindered your artistic career? Share your stories in the comments below.

Helen Aldous is an artist printmaker, web designer and online marketing specialist from the wilds of Yorkshire, England.

Her blog, www.artonomy.co is a resource of business, marketing and survival savvy for creative folks. You can find her on Twitter @ArtonomyBlog