Customer Service
Don’t think of this as a throw-awaycategory. Without customers, your business is just another pretty webpage and that printer isonly a $500 paperweight with an expensive drinking habit.
Pretend everyone you meet is a customer. Unless you are working under an obscure pseudonym, you are representing your business with your every action. Behave in a reserved, professional manner on every message board, in every chat room and in every e-mail. On the Internet in particular, the more popular you become, the more closely your every personal action becomes scrutinized and judged.
Prioritize all of your communication and deal with it promptly and courteously. Use your spell-check if you have sloppy spelling habits, and avoid cute-isms and slang. Your customer generally knows you only through your specific interaction with them, and you should always maintain a professional, up-front and friendly attitude. Don’t avoid the person with that overdue commission, or blow off that query about an order because you already mailed it. Even a quick note that something has come up will set someone’s mind to rest and make you shine. Customers will come back if they are treated well, and return business can be a massive part of an artists’ income.
A Side-Dish of Business
Not everyone is cut out to keep meticulous records, stay on top of orders, do art to order, deal with demanding customers or maintain and run their own equipment. What’s more, art and art products are luxury goods in a fluctuating, competitive market economy.
There are a host of halfway options for you if the idea of a full-fledged, in-house business being your entire income is daunting. There are many businesses that specialize in printing, if you prefer not to have the hands-on approach, and many even offer fully automated shopping carts and storefront services. You can choose the level of involvement that you want with your customers, from absolutely no involvement for low risk and lesser profit, to dealing with every detail for much greater profits and appropriately greater risk. There are benefits and drawbacks to both, and it is a market that can be eased into.
The most common advice you’ll find seasoned artists giving to new faces is: don’t quit the day job. It takes time for a store to gather steam and an artist to get a name and gathering of fans. One highly suggested way to start is to keep (or get) your part-time job and develop a feeling for how many people are interested in your work with one of the lower risk, less time- and money-consuming options. You can ditch the day job and move into a higher profit niche once you’ve got some comfort in the idea and have some experience under your belt in dealing with some of the gritty little business details that can be so intimidating as a new business owner. There’s also nothing that says you can’t maintain more than one kind of storefront, if you find that each has its own unique advantages.
Closing
Breaking into the business world isn’t impossible or even terribly difficult, but it can be intimidating, and it can help to have a little bit of guidance. I’ve found that artists are remarkably helpful peers; very few are jealous of their business secrets, and many are more than willing to answer questions and help others out. Being part of an active art community can be as valuable as reading a hundred articles on the subject. Don’t be afraid to ask questions for fear of looking foolish; nearly everything I’ve learned, I’ve learned by doing the wrong way first, and I, like most artists, am happy to save someone else the trouble of making the mistakes I’ve already made.
Be meticulous in your bookkeeping, be courteous and professional in your correspondence and have fun with your art. May you find success and fulfillment in the field of your choice!
Article by Ellen Million.
