The Professional Artist Mindset: What It Really Takes to Succeed in 2026

The Professional Artist Mindset is what It really takes to succeed in 2026. Becoming a Professional Artist is hard work and no easy feat, technology has made it easier for people to enter the market without learning the true skills required. Our competition may not even be real people in today’s world of art, it may be artificial intelligence? If being a professional creative entrepreneur such as artist or musician is so tough then why do people do it? Creativity is inside you and those that choose to let it out create a beautiful world from their talents for the rest of us. Being an artist is a drive inside you that can be very hard to keep buried. Many cities when starting to rebuild will introduce the arts first, then restaurants, and then business. Culture comes first! So even though there are opportunities in the neighbourhood artists still have a hard time making money, why is that?

I recently did a podcast interview for the Cashing in on Creativity Podcast with Miriam Schulman. Schulman is an artist / artist coach from New York City helping other visual artists create successful businesses. She wrote a book called the “Artpreneur” as a guide to go along with her courses. After our conversation and reading her book I realized much of the same issues in my career and much of it has to do with mindset. Do you have the mindset to be in business? Are you focused on the customer? Are you operating as a business owner? This is where many artists go wrong. The mindset is what really needs to change to let you sell your art.

Being a professional artist takes so long to master properly that many artists don’t move out of that mindset. They have taken years to learn their craft that many times you never feel as though you have reached the finish line. You keep practicing and practicing and practicing. This makes you hold onto your art out of love, instead of treating it like a product and letting it go. Most of us with successful creative businesses spend more time marketing and building relationships than creating art. The practice becomes the doing. A good friend of mine that is a professional violinist says he spends 75% of his time marketing and 25% playing and that’s at a professional level.

Many times we focus on trying to be like others in our market and not enough on being ourselves. We stop putting ourselves into the mix and stop being unique. Then technology comes along and makes everyone look the same. The secret is you! Art is suppose to be unique to the artist but too many artists fall into the trap of looking like everyone else because they don’t want to put themselves out there, but that’s why we are buying their art in the first place. So add you to the mix and don’t be afraid to let people know about you.

To sum it up here is what you need to do:

• Change your mindset from being an artist to being a business owner.
• Market your business, treat your art as a product and not a lifeline.
• Keep your business unique by adding you to the mix

About the Author

Bruce Outridge has been a media entrepreneur for over a decade helping creative entrepreneurs build successful businesses. He is a professional cartoonist, podcast producer, radio host, and produces two television shows for Your TV. He has been passionate about helping people have successful careers and you can learn more about Bruce and his work at www.bruceoutridge.com