How I Make Money as a Cozy Self-Employed Artist ✿ The BIG Q&A: Finance, Taxes, Small Biz, Confidence

Be Careful… Without a rabid fanbase online you won’t sell almost anything, if you do get that far there’s a lot of non-art work. Don’t quit your dayjob until it gets rolling enough to pay expenses and you have a 3-6 month emergency fund. Not everyone who tries can make it so don’t become homeless dropping everything for the dream. Best to you all, good luck! 🌸

I AM a financial and tax expert and you did an EXCELLENT job explaining business, taxes, and finance. You gave some of the same advice I give new business owners. Great job! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 The ONLY thing I would add is to set aside money once a year to hire a CPA for tax PLANNING. All good CPAs always pay for themselves.

Small tip that I learned from another YouTuber (Caroline Winkler). As someone who struggles with ADHD and Executive Dysfunction, it's really hard to motivate myself to do things, even if I really WANT to do them. Her advice has really helped me a lot, even in a state of panic and anxiety. Ask yourself: Can I physically do this one task? If the answer is yes, it takes all the emotional turmoil out of the equation for me. I take literally each step I need to do at a time at face value. If it is a physical thing I can do, I focus on it until the next step and it just rolls one into the other until I have a whole video on YouTube out for everyone to see. May not work for everyone, but breaking it down instead of trying to categorize everything I need to do all at once and having a mental breakdown really helps with my own abilities and I'm hoping the same advice can help anyone reading this, too :3

fear of failing, fear of being seen, fear of being judged... dang thats real. I appreciate the clarity.

To be honest, I get really nervous when talking about money, but I'm a huge fan of pay transparency and want to help others who are looking for a career path that might better fit their needs ❤ I hope this helps!

OK, I am a lady who followed my passion and turned it into a career. I retired early and now just hobby work. Your level of business sophistication, savvy, and professionalism is astounding. First, kudos to your parents. Clearly they did an incredible job parenting. Your comprehension of business is spot on. Great advice for your followers. I'm so thrilled to have seen this video. You will always be able work as a consultant, if you choose to because your value to companies is off the charts. Thank you for sharing.

To everyone reading this, I sincerely pray for that whatever is causing you pain or stress will pass. May your negative thoughts, excessive worries and doubts disappear, replaced by clarity and understanding. May your life be filled with peace, tranquility and love

Im also 22. I just decided to finally take the leap to starting selling my work. I've never sold any art even though many friends and family members have suggested I should do, and that they would buy my work. I've struggled with low confidence since I was a kid. But If I don't start now, then I never will.

You sound so much like my daughter. She came to me at 16 y/o wanting to start her own creative business, and I have been helping her along. She is now running an Etsy shop, but finds that when she gets in front of people at shows and fairs, she does a lot better. Etsy is good at vacuuming up the $$ in the corners of the room. It is a lot of work, and diversifying is a critical part of success. It is good hard work. Best of luck!

I feel like what ppl don't realize is that they gotta have a passion for not only art but also selling stuff and the buisness aspect. Cuz otherwise ur just gonna lose ur passion but I think you've found the perfect balance between your art and buisness!

I love how transparent you are about your income, it always feels a little taboo and you crushed it

I hate in interviews when they ask “why do you want this job” well mainly it’s because I don’t want to starve to death, not because I want to donate two thirds of my life to making someone else rich.

It probably took you so much bravery and thoughtfulness to make this video — talking about money and profit in the smol art space (especially cute art) is hard because people tend to look down upon & doubt a career in this space. But I’m grateful you did it! Thank you for taking your hard work and success and turning them into inspiration for everyone 💖

"I finally understood that they (parents) still love me no matter what, that I'm worthy of love. Even though I'm not exceptional." UGH that hit home so hard, currently I'm in the exact same boat and trying to work on myself to not let my fear of failure or imperfection keep me from even trying to do stuff. Thanks for sharing that 💗

I'm barely 2 minutes into the video but I would like to say thankyou. I've been talking about starting an art business and how I would make it work. Everyone has told me not to get caught up about the money, to just make art because I love it and see where it gets me. But I want to make art a living, I want to make a business. You're the first person to stop the guilt I feel when I plan my art business and money and how I could profit. Maybe I'm not a romanticised artist, im an artist with a business mindset! So thank you :)

If I may add my two bits worth on the matter: on most of the businesses it’s not what you sell but how; you’re selling a story, a persona, a message, a moral, the atmosphere, character of the artist (or whatever that may be, and so on and so forth), more than a material product. And that’s why customer awareness and such is generated through marketing and sharing and not through the product selling itself. That said, warmest congratulations on your business and achievements.

I don't have a small business but this is overall amazing advice for EVERYONE and thank you for being so open about all of this.

"any time you spend on your craft is not wasted, you will bear the fruits of your labor in time" ❤ this video was so heartwarming! thank you for the gentle reminders, love your content <3

this is inspiring to me, people are told to do well with art by being good at art, and that's it, but no artist is ever told how to sell themselves or what to expect. this is the first person to explain how to actually do it and how to survive

I by chance came across this video, and when you said “you’re worthy of love, even if you’re not exceptional” it absolutely broke my heart. My daughter is 24, and very much has a mindset like yours. With that being said, I dote on her with love, and praise her for all she does, and yet she still has a sense of “not being good enough” sometimes. I’ve watched 14 minutes of your content, and I can say with confidence, you are exceptional! You’re running a small business successfully at a very young age. How many individuals your age can say that? You’re doing great hun! Don’t let anyone make you feel otherwise!! Big hugs! ❤