Turning Creativity into Profit: Mapping Out Artistic Business Success

When: Saturday, May 6th, 1-3 PM
Where: Grinnell Arts Center - 926 Broad St., Grinnell
Instructor: Tahmi DeSchepper
Cost: $30

Most creatives don’t have a business background, which makes building a successful business around your art a real challenge. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with data and well-meaning suggestions from friends and talking heads on the internet – but how do you tell what will really move your art sales in the direction you want to go?

This seminar will be helpful if you’ve ever had trouble answering questions like these about selling your art:
 Can I easily meet my financial goals doing what I’m doing now? And if not, how do I decide on a direction for growth?
 There are so many important things I could be doing to move my business forward, but if I only had time to do one – which do I choose?
 My business isn’t doing what I need it to do, but I have no idea what to try next to get things moving into a better direction.

At the end of this two hour seminar, participants will gain the knowledge needed to create a visual map of their business, an understanding of the high level strategies that will be needed to achieve the take home pay they want and an understanding of the various “levers” that can be pulled to change the results that a business is creating. Although this approach works best with online sales because of the amount of data that can be collected, strategies for mapping in person venues (like art shows, farmer’s markets, and brick and mortar stores) will also be discussed.

NOTE: You do not need a pre-existing "business" to get value from this seminar! Whether you are just thinking about selling your art, have attended the odd farmer's market, or have been selling your art at craft shows for years, these strategies should prove helpful to your goals!

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Tahmi is an award winning artist and Grinnell College alum who has been running her creative business selling jewelry since 2002. She has exhibited at fine art festivals around the country, as well as at shows catering to the handmade wholesale markets like the American Craft Retail Expo, The Buyer’s Market of American Craft and NY Now. Tahmi was able to successfully pivot to an online only business in 2019 and currently sells most of her work through Handmade at Amazon (Amazon’s Etsy competitor) as well as her own stand-alone website, www.tahmi.com.

CANCELLATION POLICY: Registrants may cancel their enrollment 48 hours (2 days) before a class begins for a refund or credit. After this deadline, no refund or credit is available. GAAC/The Stew reserves the right to cancel classes due to a minimum enrollment not being met. In that event, participants will be notified and will be able to choose between a refund or credit for a future class.