Matt Tommey: Artist, Best-Selling Author, Speaker, Entrepreneur and Artist Mentor
Struggling to price your artwork in an ever-changing inflationary economy? You're not alone. Join me, Matt Tommey, on the Thriving Christian Artist podcast, where we'll explore the delicate dance of pricing art that honors both your craft and the realities of today's financial climate. As artists, we often hesitate to raise our prices, fearing we'll burden our customers or risk sales. But in this episode, we dive into why your art deserves fair valuation and how to navigate pricing amid inflation without compromising your passion or livelihood.
We get down to brass tacks, discussing the tangible costs that affect your art business – think studio rent, materials, and the unseen hours of creativity poured into every piece. Let's talk numbers, strategy, and the heart behind your work, ensuring you communicate the true value of your art to your audience. By the end of our time together, you’ll be equipped with practical steps to confidently price your art and thrive in God's kingdom as a creator. Ready to embrace your worth as an artist? Tune in and transform how you price your masterpiece.
Read the Blog: https://www.matttommeymentoring.com/blog/why-artists-must-raise-their-prices-to-keep-up-with-global-inflation
Join Created to Thrive: https://www.matttommeymentoring.com/artmentor.html
Stories of Artists Who Are Thriving: https://www.matttommeymentoring.com/storiesofthrivingartists
Struggling to price your artwork in an ever-changing inflationary economy? You're not alone. Join me, Matt Tommey, on the Thriving Christian Artist podcast, where we'll explore the delicate dance of pricing art that honors both your craft and the realities of today's financial climate. As artists, we often hesitate to raise our prices, fearing we'll burden our customers or risk sales. But in this episode, we dive into why your art deserves fair valuation and how to navigate pricing amid inflation without compromising your passion or livelihood.
We get down to brass tacks, discussing the tangible costs that affect your art business – think studio rent, materials, and the unseen hours of creativity poured into every piece. Let's talk numbers, strategy, and the heart behind your work, ensuring you communicate the true value of your art to your audience. By the end of our time together, you’ll be equipped with practical steps to confidently price your art and thrive in God's kingdom as a creator. Ready to embrace your worth as an artist? Tune in and transform how you price your masterpiece.
Read the Blog: https://www.matttommeymentoring.com/blog/why-artists-must-raise-their-prices-to-keep-up-with-global-inflation
Join Created to Thrive: https://www.matttommeymentoring.com/artmentor.html
Stories of Artists Who Are Thriving: https://www.matttommeymentoring.com/storiesofthrivingartists
Speaker 1:
Welcome to the Thriving Christian Artist, the podcast, where we hope you connect with God to bust through the roadblocks that have held you back for years, create the work you love and really live the life you know. God created you to live as an artist in His kingdom. I'm Matt Tommey, your host. Let's get started. Well, hey there, my friend, it's Matt, and welcome to another edition of the Thriving Christian Artist podcast. You know today's economy is throwing everybody for a loop, with the results of COVID and all of the government intervention into our economy of pouring trillions of dollars of money which has reduced our purchasing power. It affects everybody. You've seen this at the grocery store. You've seen this at the car dealership. You've seen this at the grocery store. You've seen this at the car dealership. You've seen this with housing prices going up. Some prices up 10% or 20%, other prices almost 100%, 50%, 70%, all over the board, wherever you may be shopping and whatever you may be shopping for.
Speaker 1:
But one of the things that I find really really interesting in mentoring artists every week is that so many artists feel really bad and emotional even about charging more for their art in these inflationary times, and the reason they feel bad many times maybe you're in this place is because you're feeling the squeeze yourself and you don't want to charge any more for anybody else, because you think that that may actually reduce your opportunity to sell your work. And I want to just encourage you that you are again not a philanthropic endeavor as an artist who's got a business. You're an artist that's out there to make a living from your work. You're not doing this just for fun. You're not doing this just as a hobby. I hope you're doing this actually to begin to create financial provision for your life through the gift that God's given you, which is your art.
Speaker 1:
And we have to be, you know, cognizant of what's going on in the market and make sure that our prices are in line with that. And so the first thing I would say is you can't let emotions run your perception of what your prices need to be. The second thing is, you certainly can't put your idea of what you can afford or can't afford into the pricing of your art. The fact is, if you were charging $1,000 for a piece of your art in 2018 or 19, that $1,000 is not the $1,000 that it used to be in 2024. It's very, very different and, in fact, uh, you know, the the average price of a house back in 2019 was in the you know two hundred thousand dollar range. Now it's over four hundred thousand dollars in the united states, and so you've got to start looking at your art business and your art pricing from a business perspective, not an emotional, not a feeling, bad perspective, not a well, I can't afford that perspective, so I can't charge other people that You've got to look at the real issues that are driving your costs, and so I want to give you some practical steps today about how to begin to think about that.
Speaker 1:
Number one begin to assess your real costs. Like where have the cost of things gone up for you, like your studio rent, maybe, or the utilities that you're paying, your personal living expenses, your business expenses that you're paying for every month, your material costs, all of, I guarantee you, all of those things have gone up and they're going to help to give you a clear picture of where you need to start, you know, raising your prices and incorporating those into your pricing. Number two I think it's really important for you to, as you're talking about your art and you start realizing what you really need to be charging, start really focusing on, you know articulating clear value you don't want to be talking about. You know how art costs money. You want to be talking about things like investment. You want to be talking about, um, you know the time and energy and effort and creativity that that you put into each piece, the heart behind it, letting people understand what it really means to make a living as an artist and what it takes to make a piece of art and why this is a great value, no matter what price it is.
Speaker 1:
Also, you know, I think and I've said this for years I had a business coach of mine tell me this years and years ago and we've just kind of always lived by that you know, anybody can make a 10 to 20% increase on your prices every year and and most of your clients will never even realize it and we try to do that in our business and our our art business just constantly giving small increases in order to make sure that we're keeping up. But I think just going by the adage of gradual increases can be really, really, really helpful for you, just as a normal practice, rather than just having to come into a time like this and be like gosh, I need to double my prices or or whatever, and listen if you need to do it. You got to do it in order to make a living, but maybe you do that over the course of a year rather than in just, you know, one fell swoop. Also, the last thing I would say is this just stay informed about market trends. You know you as an artist and as an entrepreneur, you don't have the luxury of just staying in the vacuum of your studio. You got to keep up with what's going on and how things in the world like politics and elections and government policy and monetary policy, how all those things really affect your prices. Listen, if you're one of those people who thinks that elections don't matter, I think you realize they do, and no matter where you are in your political beliefs, I think it's really really important, as a business owner, to look at how what's happening in politics affects what you do as a business owner and affects your potential clients as well. We all have to keep those things in mind, as we are all trying to be a part of a society and a culture that is good for everybody, one that's growing for the consumer as well as the business owner, and so stay informed about what's going on. You know, one of the best ways to stay informed and to stay up to date on what's happening in the art world is to be a part of our Created to Thrive Artist Marketing Mentoring Program.
Speaker 1:
We have a program that has been going since 2016 that has proven results for our members. The folks that come in to our program and stay with us over the long term see incredible results in their life, not only financially, but also emotionally, spiritually, in their creativity. It's just an incredible place to be. If you're still one of those people that's trying to figure everything out by yourself, just bouncing from free podcast or free podcast free worktop to free workshop YouTube video to TikTok video and trying to piece it all together, I guarantee you you're slowing down your progress and you're increasing your frustration, and we would love to stand with you and be a part of helping you make this year your breakthrough year where you can really start experiencing incredible breakthrough in your life. You know, while every story of people that are in the program is different, I got an email a couple of days ago from one of our members, wendy, and she said this and again, I can't offer this as a promise to you of what would happen in the program, but this is just one of the many, many stories that we see all the time of what happens to people. Wendy said, matt and team. I want to thank you guys for this excellent program.
Speaker 1:
I have more focus and over almost four years so she's been in the program four years I'm seeing my art pieces sell frequently with higher price tags. In December, I had a successful three-day event at the Utah State Capitol building, generating sales of well over $7,000. In March, I participated in the St George Festival, where I sold $2,500 worth of artwork. April and May brought even greater success with the art in public places yielding nearly get this $14,000 in sales, with my art gaining significant traction. I now face the fortunate challenge of swiftly replenishing my inventory. I just want to encourage others who are in the program, and I encourage all artists in the mentoring program to embrace the guidance provided and make the most of the modules by actively implementing them. The mentoring program to embrace the guidance provided and make the most of the modules by actively implementing them. Having been a student of Created to Thrive since October 2020, so she's been in almost four years now I've witnessed a steady improvement in my sales each year. Over the last six months, there's been a remarkable surge in sales, highlighted by the recent high value art pieces sold through the art in public places organization. Additionally, my artwork has been juried into prestigious gallery on Canyon road in Santa Fe, resulting in another successful sale.
Speaker 1:
And she just goes on to say thank you. Listen, you may be listening to that going gosh. I wish that could be my story. Well, listen, she told you exactly how to do it. Become a part of Created to Thrive. Let us help you. Let us help you start doing the best that you can do with your art and begin to grow from where you are into the things that God has for you. And listen, your story will be different. Your numbers will be different, your experience will be different, but you will see growth in your life, because that's our commitment to you is to help you grow in every area that you need to grow in as an artist.
Speaker 1:
So listen, click the link that's right here in the show notes to become a part of created to thrive. There's really no better time especially especially in times of financial difficulty and craziness this is the time to be sharpening the tools that you're working with, developing yourself as a marketer, developing yourself as an artist and being out there when everybody else is running scared with what's going on in the economy. All right, I love you. My friend, thank you so much for being with us today. I hope you'll click the link and become a part of created to thrive. You can also see a blog version of this podcast at the link. That's in the show notes as well, and I hope you'll check that out and give me a comment there.
Speaker 1:
Until next time, friend, this is Matt. I love you. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time here on the thriving Christian artists podcast. Hey, thanks so much for spending a few minutes with me today on the podcast Listen. I hope it's been a huge encouragement to you on your journey as an artist. Hey, also, before you leave, make sure to hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any of the other episodes of the Thriving Christian Artist podcast, and also be sure to connect with me on Facebook, instagram or at my website, which is matttommymentoringcom. Until next time. Remember, you were created to thrive. Bye-bye, thank you.