How Does One Become A Professional Artist?

People have asked me this: “How does one become a professional artist?”

Now that I look back, I realise that being a professional and working artist, with emphasis on “professional”,  goes beyond talent, imagination and skill.

“My word is my bond.”

I picked up this principle when I worked in a bank. It is a phrase used by stock brokers on the trading floor, wherein agreements and financial transactions are made and delivered without signing any documents.  This is a value that was deeply ingrained in me ever since, and one that, I believe, makes me a valuable artist to work with.  As a working artist, it is important to be regarded as someone reliable and trustworthy, whether it comes to being punctual at meetings, responding to email messages quickly, following through on a commitment, and completing a project on or before the agreed date.

Language is of the essence.

When writing professional correspondence with clients, be mindful of your tone, choice of words and grammar. Emojis, smiley faces and LOLs are reserved for chat messages with friends.  I would also recommend to keep cute language and emojis at a minimum when responding on social media because nowadays, our chosen platform serves as a window to our work. This applies especially to the name or handle we assign to our social media accounts. So please think carefully and choose a name that can easily be spelled and remembered, and one that you feel reflects your brand best.  Finally, for as long as the purpose of the written transaction is about work, keep the language polished.  It will remind clients that they are working with someone who takes their work seriously.

Let your “office” reflect who you are.

Let’s face it. Not many of us will have workspace that clients will be able to visit.  With the internet, however, we are able to set up a virtual office, a room of our own, where people all over the world can visit at any time of the day.  Whatever platform we choose,  whether it’s Tumblr, Instagram or Facebook pages, it would be best to be mindful of the quality of our photos and the visual content that we post.  Keep the selfies, duckface and OOTDs to a bare minimum if it’s not relevant to what you do. Save the passive-aggressive quotes for your personal FB account.

Putting our best foot forward works to anyone’s advantage, which means going the extra mile with good composition, cleaning, adjusting the tilt or brightening of our pictures.

Uphold industry standards when stating your fees.

As a working artist, you get paid. And frankly, discussing money is perhaps my least favorite part about transacting art.  Good news though: it gets easier over time, I promise.  You eventually gain confidence in the discussing money as you learn to pick up financial language that is neither demanding or imposing.

But the most important thing for artists is to never undervalue yourself.  Please. To begin with, stop working for free.  Unless it’s a charity, an NGO or a cause that is close to your heart, you must get paid that is commensurate to your efforts.  Back in the day, we were at the mercy of industry movers for exposure in getting our name out there — simply because there wasn’t any social media available for us to do the work ourselves.

The promise of exposure as payment  does not work anymore in this era. Unless it’s some really high-profile client of massive proportions, or one that you think will be a fruitful springboard for your goals, exposure simply does not pay.

Be humble and grateful.

This is one practice I’ve done for as long as I can remember.  After meeting a potential client in person or over the phone, or when a project has been concluded, always send a message of thanks. This goes such a long way.

Thank them for their time and their effort to come meet with you.  Thank them for their ideas. Thank them for the experience.  To this day, I still thank the key people who gave me a break when I was just starting in 2004.  It makes such a huge difference simply saying ‘thank you’ for the opportunity to work together and for their support, big and small.

The world is small and things have a way of finding its way back to you. When you plant the seeds of kindness and exercise sincerity and goodwill, people will sense it and will be more than happy to pass your name to someone else.

Of course people will remember you for your talent, but being remembered for your character is simply priceless.