The Arts Commission presents the Well-Fed Artist workshop series and accompanying online toolkit. Made possible in part by the Ohio Arts Council, these free workshops focus on business and entrepreneurial training for creative types.

Vendor's Licenses for Artists FAQ and Web-links

To vend or not to vend – that is the question. You do need a vendor’s license to legally make sales in the State of Ohio, but many artists don't know this or understand how it works. If you're participating in Artomatic 419! and plan to sell your work, you'll need to get your vendor's license before the event. It's important to get your license, but it's also important to understand how to collect sales tax and file your sales tax returns. Even if you don't make a single dollar in sales, you will still need to file a sales tax return, or you will be fined by the state.  Learn who needs a vendor’s license and why, what kind of vendor’s license you need, how to obtain a vendor’s license, step-by-step, and how to file sales tax returns.

Contracts for Artists Workshop Handout
Writing Your Artist Statement Workshop Handout
Money Management and Saving for Artists Workshop Handout
Getting Into Galleries 1
Getting Into Galleries 2
Pinterest, Instagram and You

Resources for Toledo-area creative business owners:

Top Ten Local Business Resources for Artists (and others)
Top Ten Free or Cheap Creative Business Resources
Save Money to Grow Your Business: Toledo-area Resources
Sample Contracts for Artists
Guide to Local Art Fairs
Business Entities for Artists

Interviews with successful Toledo-area artists with advice for those at earlier stages in their careers:

Claude Black, jazz pianist
Jane Bradley, writer and novelist
George Carruth, sculptor
Penny Gentieu, photographer
Leyla, bellydancer
Joel Lipman, poet

The downloadable articles below cover the subject matter of each workshop, as well as links to other online resources.

Free Money for Artists

A representative from the New York Foundation for the Arts came to Toledo to present a workshop on funding your artistic career through grants and fiscal sponsorship. No online article for this.

Name Your Price: Smart Pricing Strategies for Artists

Pricing is a major concern for artists – how do you put a price on work that is so dear to your heart? Very carefully. Value yourself and your time and figure out what your target market will bear.

Learn: how to calculate your costs, different strategies for pricing your work, how to price for friends (when everyone’s a friend), and about the three Cs: cash, check, and credit

Selling Your Work Online: Simple Websites, Etsy, Lulu, Ebay, and their friends

Whether you’re already hangin’ with Etsy, Lulu, and the rest, or you think those are some really weird names, you’ll pick up some valuable information at this free workshop.

Learn: how to put together a free or low-cost web presence for yourself and your work, about shopping carts and accepting secure payments online, and the basics of selling your work through the different online marketplaces.

And the three-part Marketing for Artists series:


Do Your (Market) Research: Who are your customers and where can you find them?

The first step in marketing your work is to determine who your target customer is. For artists, this can be a museum, a collector, a theatre-goer, an artistic director, a publisher, an editor, or a talent scout. Everyone who plans to make a living in the arts has some sort of a customer or end-user.

Get started by: describing your target customer, in detail, learning where they are and what they want, and finding resources to get you where you need to go.

Brandtastic: Let your customers know who you are and what you stand for

Once you know who your customers are, you need to share with them who you are in a way they’ll understand. Your “brand” is just that – the packaging that expresses you and your work to the world. So much more than just a logo or a website, your brand will guide your marketing efforts for years to come.

Learn: what a brand is and why you need to have one, the importance of differentiating yourself from your competitors, how to express who you are, and how to share that with your target market. No online article for this workshop.

Expose Yourself: Let them know you’re out there

You’ve done your research, you’ve built your brand, now you just need to make a connection with the right people. The challenge is to speak to your target customer in a way they’ll be able to hear you, and there are plenty of innovative approaches to promoting yourself and your work.

Find out: how to craft your communications to appeal to your target customer, how to get the most bang for your promotional buck, when to say no to strategies that aren’t right for you, and how to stay relevant and “top of mind” with your customers




Social Media Marketing for Artists

So you’re on Facebook, maybe you tweet, blog, podcast, or watch funny cat videos on YouTube, but how do you use social media tools to promote yourself and your work, and get results?

Social media pros Stephanie Elton and Amy Drill, of Hart Associates, will give you: an overview of the various social media tools and sites, strategies for making an impact, and time for Q&A.

Websites and Blogs for Artists

How - and when - should you promote yourself and your work online?

Quick Website Brief
Websites and Blogs for Artists - Definitions
Websites and Blogs for Artists - Useful Links
Blog Editorial Calendar
How to Use the Blog Editorial Calendar