If someone else is making good money in your profession, then it’s possible. But, but… NO!  If you work hard, continue to improve and start to believe in yourself and your talents, combined with placing a higher value on your time, uniqueness, contribution, and so on, you can and should make money. People with far less talent are making more than you so drop the limiting story that you are not good enough to be paid well and to make a fortune.

You must make money, enough money to keep the dream alive (and your partner and parents off your back). Far too many talented and creative people had to quit and give up because they weren’t able to make enough money to keep pursuing their dream. Having to pay the bills and constantly not having enough money to do so killed their motivation. For this (creative life) to work we need some money coming in. Where does it come from for the creative person? That is the beauty of it. There are all kinds of ways to boost your bottom line and bring in bucks other than straight salary. There are royalties, licensing agreements, speaking fees, product sales, consulting, teaching, advances, endorsement deals, and so on.  There are also some other straightforward ways to make your money make more money, including savings, investments, real estate. We want to focus our energies and money on things that will make us more money without having to work for it. Right?

The goal is to make more doing what we enjoy. That said, why not try to get the most you can for yourself? To do that, you must value your time (and energy) enough to demand that you get paid what it is worth (usually more than what they are offering) and seek out higher paying opportunities, because you put a price on the time you are trading for your wages.

To me freedom has always been and always will be my number one goal. I also realize that to achieve this you need two things, one of which is money. (the other is a story you tell yourself of making choices that lead to freedom). I could write a whole travel guide about freedom, because it is that important. I believe that ‘s what every creative professional wants (that and a lot of love for their work and for them). The freedom to choose how you spend your time, what you work on, how you go about that work, and where and when (and how) it is displayed and distributed is HUGE.  Money is more than a little important in making that happen.

ACTION TIME

When you look at what kind of money is coming in each month, do you feel you are paid enough for all the time, energy and effort you put forth? If you aren’t making enough money (and who is) ask yourself, why? Before you begin blaming others, the art world, a lack of time, yada, yada, yada, do some soul searching. Have you truly given it your best shot? Do you have trouble charging what you are worth? Are you hustling and looking for new business as hard as you can? Do you enough to market yourself? Are you getting repeat customers? Are your skills dated? Is your art stale? Have a reputation as being difficult to work with?

ACTION TIME

Add up every source of income you can think of (Look at old invoices, checkbook registers, and so on for clues) Look for areas where you can make money. Which of these can you build on?