Multiple Ways to Learn
Watch Video Lessons at Your Own Pace- Assignments Included
- Peer Feedback
- Switch Courses as Often as You Like
- Access to Schoolism Webinar Archives
- Watch Video Lessons at Your Own Pace
- Assignments Included
- One-Time Purchase
- Unlimited Course Access for Life
- Peer Feedback
- Access to Schoolism Webinar Archives
LIVE Classes
personalized instructor feedback
- Watch Video Lessons with a Planned Curriculum
- Scheduled Assignments with Deadlines
- Personalized Paint-Overs and Real-Time Feedback From The Instructors
- Watch Video Lessons and Peer Feedback as Often as You'd Like
- Ability to Contact Instructor with Questions
- Digital Certificate of Completion
- Weekly Class Meetings LIVE on Zoom
- Access to Schoolism Webinar Archives
Course Description
There’s a lot more to running a successful art business than just doing great art. Since the launch of Schoolism in 2005, Ben has been the silent owner in the background operating the business while Bobby Chiu and Kei Acedera made the art that the studio became known for. Art school might teach you how to become an artist, but it doesn’t teach you how to become a businessperson. This class seeks to help bridge that gap.
In this course, Ben will talk about the process of setting up your business, running it, and managing the money you make. The chapters of this class progress in roughly chronological order, starting with why you should start an art business, how to organize your business activities, and tips for things like minimizing your taxes, handling clients and customers, and growing your business. No part of this class is personalized financial, legal, or business advice. These are simply the principles that worked when getting Imaginism Studios off the ground, and hopefully they will help you in your art business too.
Lesson Plan
LESSON 1Overcoming Fear
The first obstacle that any business needs to overcome is fear. In this chapter, we will rationalize your fears through knowledge and show that there’s nothing mystical about starting a business. All you need is a process and the willingness to adapt.
LESSON 2Getting on the Bus: Preparation
If you think of the various stages of running a business as stops on a bus route, this is the bus station. In this chapter, we’ll cover the groundwork that you need to do to get your business off on the right foot and talk about the importance of having a book and box.
LESSON 3The First Stop: Spending Money
This is Stop 1 of the business bus route, where the benefits of having a business become immediately apparent. Compared to simply buying art supplies as an individual, spending money as a business can actually SAVE you money. We’ll talk about how all that works in this chapter.
LESSON 4The Second Stop: Retail
Stop 2 of the business bus route is mainly retail, where you’re selling products either online or in person. Among other things, in this chapter, we’ll talk about doing business at conventions outside your home country, tips for providing excellent customer service, and what to do if you encounter a nightmare customer.
LESSON 5The Third Stop (I): Work-For-Hire
Stop 3 is a big one, so it’s split up between these next three chapters. This first part of Stop 3 is about dealing with clients, tips for quoting, and the pitfalls of people wanting to pay for your work with something other than money.
LESSON 6The Third Stop (II): Contracts, Etc.
At the second part of Stop 3, your client WILL pay you with money, but you’ll have to sign a contract first, so this chapter offers tips on how to decipher one. Not legal advice, but hopefully helpful nonetheless.
Part 3 Resources - Sample Contract (Fairly Fair Fairy Faire)
Part 3 Resources - Sample Contract (Way of the Rabbit)
Part 4 Resources - Sample Licensing Agreement
LESSON 7The Third Stop (III): Scale
The last part of Stop 3 is essentially where your business outgrows the sole proprietorship model. In this chapter, we talk about invoicing, foreign clients and taxation, and how to scale your art business.
LESSON 8The Fourth Stop: Incorporation
Your art business leaves Stop 3 altogether and goes to Stop 4 when it becomes “too successful”, and this chapter talks about how you will recognize when you’ve reached that point. With success comes more income which leads to more tax, so there are some ideas here for maximizing the former by minimizing the latter.
LESSON 9The Fifth Stop: Touchdown
This might be the endgame for your art business. At Stop 5, the world is your oyster. You might choose to grow further after this point, or you might retire. This chapter covers some of the things that you might encounter when financial security is within your grasp and how you might transition out of your business on your own terms.
MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Ben Chiu
Ben Chiu is a founding owner of Imaginism Studios and Schoolism. Behind the scenes, Ben is the one that artists, including other Schoolism instructors, go to for advice running their art business. Over the past two decades, Ben has accumulated practical knowledge and experience in virtually every aspect of running an art business, other than how to do the actual art.