Miriam Schulman is an accomplished artist, artpreneur, and founder of The Inspiration Place. She’s built multiple six-figure art businesses. Her journey to becoming a successful artist began after a career in the corporate world. The events of September 11th led her to pursue her true passion for art.
She’s dedicated to helping other artists achieve success in their own businesses, which is why she created the Artist Incubator Coaching Program. The program is designed to guide artists through the process of building profitable and sustainable art businesses. With her guidance and support, artists can achieve their dreams of making a sustainable living from their creativity.
Miriam is also the author of the book, “Artpreneur: The Step-by-Step Guide to Making a Sustainable Living from Your Creativity,” and hosts The Inspiration Place podcast, which is in the top 1% of all podcasts and is listened to in over 100 countries.
Listen in for some great takeaways from Miriam’s journey in the corporate world to launching a successful entrepreneurial career doing what she loves, following her passions, and helping others do the same.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in…
- Learn more about Miriam Schulman and her business [3:55]
- Miriam shares what “Embracing your inner weirdo” means [7:36]
- Miriam’s “Passion to Profit” framework [11:57]
- Selling in alignment with your values leads to opportunity [18:51]
- How to get in sync with the future of marketing [22:37]
- “Romancing” customers to deepen their brand commitment [27:10]
- What business owners can learn from the “Belief Triad” [29:58]
- How empathy for customers plays into buying psychology [32:13]
- How women’s underwear brands help us understand the buying journey [35:37]
- What Miriam did today that put her in the right mindset for success [37:51]
Miriam shares what “Embracing your inner weirdo” means
The word “weird” in the original Scottish meant “fate” or “destiny.” Over time, as the supernatural became vilified, the word took on a negative connotation. But when you’re embracing what’s weird, you’re embracing what’s magical about yourself. You’re embracing your destiny. You’ll attract people who know, like, and trust you.
In “Artpreneur,” Miriam talks about the five things you need to focus on to build your business: Producing a marketable product, pricing, prospecting, promotion, and productivity. The first question people always ask is, “What makes art marketable?” It’s not about pleasing people or selling to the masses. It’s not about figuring out what’s popular and copying that.
Miriam makes the case that any art that was ever looked at is never neutral. The best artists in the world always have a point of view that contrasts with what came before. What makes good art? A unique point of view. It’s polarizing. You need people to love you and hate you and never strive for mediocrity in the middle.
Miriam’s “Passion to Profit” framework
Miriam’s framework helps you become a better entrepreneur. What does it consist of?
- What are you producing?
- How are you pricing it?
- How are you finding your customers (prospecting)?
- How are you selling it?
- What systems are you using so you know what to focus on (productivity)?
Many creatives think their problem is that they don’t have a big enough audience. But the bigger issue might be their price point. People might make greeting cards that are $5 a piece. They’d have to sell thousands to make a living wage.
What can you create per week? Multiply that by your price. Does that add up to the income you want? People don’t take that simple first step. So you either have to change what you’re producing, change your prices, or both.
What is the second biggest problem she sees? HINT: It has to do with social media and email marketing. Listen to learn more!
Selling in alignment with your values leads to opportunity
A large segment of the population has the money to spend on art. They care about the values of the organizations that they’re shopping with. Someone might care more about sustainability. Others care about ethical employers. Others care about diversity, equity, and inclusion.
They want to know what your values are. You can’t be afraid of turning people off because they’ll form opinions either way. You might as well have them dislike you for the right reasons. Don’t spend time, effort and energy on people who aren’t aligned with your values.
What business owners can learn from the “Belief Triad”
The “Belief Triad” consists of believing in yourself, what you’re selling, and the buyer. What does that look like? How many times have you thought, “She won’t buy my things” or “She won’t pay these high prices.” We project negative thoughts on someone else.
But you have to believe in your buyer more than they believe in themselves. If they’re coming to buy your art, they aren’t trying to decide if your art is worth spending $5,000 on. They’re trying to decide if they are worth spending $5,000 on to get the painting they want. We can’t forget that they’re part of the triad.
It’s not about getting a yes at all costs. You need to understand what’s going through the minds of your customer when they’re saying these things. When someone says “It’s too expensive” it may not actually be what they’re thinking. Tease out if that’s their true objection or if something else is going on.
Learn more about Miriam’s entrepreneurial journey and what you can gain from reading her book in this episode of Mitlin Money Mindset™!
Resources & People Mentioned
- Get a FREE chapter of Miriam’s book, “Artpreneur: The Step-by-Step Guide to Making a Sustainable Living from Your Creativity”
- The Minimalist Entrepreneur: How Great Founders Do More with Less
Connect with Miriam Schulman
Bio
Miriam Schulman is an artist and founder of The Inspiration Place, where she helps other artists learn how to profit from their passion or become better artists. She’s helped thousands of artists around the world develop their skill sets and create more time and freedom to do what they love. Her art and story have been featured in major publications including Forbes, The New York Times, Art of Man, Art Journaling magazine, What Women Create as well as featured on NBC’s “Parenthood” and the Amazon series “Hunters” with Al Pacino. Schulman’s forthcoming book with HarperCollins Leadership Artpreneur is scheduled to be released on January 31, 2023. The Inspiration Place podcast is in the top 1% of all podcasts and is listened to in over 100 countries.
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