The next step…

So I have set up my website and busily propagated it with images. I have steadily built my blog. I have a web presence. What now? I do not know what to do next to take my work from a nice start to a functional small business model. It all just seems a bit scary…really taking the next step to get myself out there. Let alone getting my head around video set ups to film my art process. I have so many aspects to manage and really need to develop my business skills. There is so much to learn at each step and I feel stuck. I am continuing to develop my unique body of work that is clearly identifiable as my style….Cheryle Bannon creations. My art works range in size and have a few different aspects but all link together nicely. My art jewellery range has become a nice way of incorporating my art into unique boutique jewellery. The question is how to market myself in a way that attracts like minded people who ar drawn to what I do.This is the challenge as an artist. I am not simply marketing a product as each piece is personal and a part of me. So in reality I am marketing me. Not an easy thing to package but many have done it and done it well. Yes there are good models out there but I need help working out what this looks like for me. So I have decided to enlist the help of a coach and mentor. A friend recommended Cath Connel who runs.spicycat.com   and looks like a viable local Melbourne pathway to getting some help. One of the good aspects is that for a small membership fee I can become part of a small business community. I do need that sense of community as one of the challenges of small business can be isolating. That said it is hard for me to say that I need help as I tend to want to be independent and in charge of my art world. Okay, yes….when it comes to my art I am a bit of a control freak and a stubborn Taurus who knows what she wants.
Getting someone else to seriously critique my work and website from a business and product based point of view is seriously scary. It helps that she was recommended by a friend so I guess it is time to take the next step on my brave little adventure of creating a successful small business for my art. Wish me luck and please leave any tips or advice you have learnt on your own adventure. When we are brave enough to start sharing and asking for help we allow new doors to open. So here’s to new adventures and being courageous, asking for help and enjoying the ride as it takes us to new and unexplored territories.