Here's an Online Artist Summit to Help Build Your Art Biz


Online "Summits" are a great (often free) way to learn from dozens of professionals in a given field and nab a few new tricks to advance your art biz, without spending the money and time it would take to attend a similar conference in real life.

They can be a great resource, but you need to understand they're a marketing tool for the event organizers and speakers (which is a totally cool way to earn money with your art, BTW) so you'll need to take a few steps to make sure you have time to hear the speakers who will benefit you the most, and avoid being overwhelmed by a bunch of information you don't need.

Read on for a free pass to a virtual Fine Artist Summit that starts TOMORROW (November 22, 2019) and tips to help you get the most out of it. These tips will apply to any virtual summit, so they should be useful even if you miss this one.

Here's the link to get your free pass to the virtual Fine Artist Summit in case you already know you want to go and don't want to read the rest of the post. It's fine. Really. I won't cry...much. ;-)

First of all, what is a virtual summit?

In short, it's an online gathering of professionals who come together to provide input and training on a given topic like finance, starting an online business, or how to build a business around your artwork.


You get the benefit of potentially hearing from a wide variety of experts on the topic (often for free during the summit dates) and the speakers get the benefit of potentially getting their face, services, and products in front of a much larger audience than they might be able to do by themselves.

Virtual Summits are Marketing Events That Also Provide You a Benefit

And rather than collecting proceeds from ticket sales, the event organizers benefit by selling something like a "VIP Pass" or "All Access Pass" that gives you lifetime access to the conference to watch anytime you want, rather than trying to cram everything in during the live event. This pass is typically discounted in advance of the event and goes up in price once the event begins or shortly before it ends.

This is how they pay for the resources, like hosting, marketing, and webcasting these events require. What's left over is their profit. AND THAT'S TOTALLY OKAY. Here at Starving Artists Anonymous we love artists and other creators getting paid a healthy living wage, RIGHT!?! ;-)

Just had to throw that out there because every time one of these events comes around I see someone in the comments screaming that it's a scam because "YOU DON'T GET IT FOR FREE LIKE THEY ADVERTISED yoU HaVe to gIve TheM YoUr eMail!!!"

Yep.

You'll have to give them your email.

And you'll start receiving emails related to the event and likely a few other things the event organizers want you to know about. If that bothers you, just scroll to the bottom of any one of those emails, hit UNSUBSCRIBE and save yourself a few points on your blood pressure reading.

How to Get the Most out of an Online Summit

Block Out Time

But as long as you're okay with fellow artists exchanging something of value for your email and a chance to market to you (you should be, and you might want to consider how you can do something similar) you can stay on their mailing list for as long as it's valuable.

Take a few minutes to review those emails (or the info/sales page you land on by following the link) and pick just 1-3 of the talks or interviews to watch each day. There may be a particular speaker you've heard of or a specific topic you've been meaning to learn more about, like applying for grants, or how to write better ads. Just pick a few and forget the rest.


Things to Consider

Your Schedule

Most of these events only give you free access to the topic for a certain period of time (like 24 to 48 hours from when the talk goes live or is first released), so pick your topics and block out time in your schedule to watch. If you end up with more time, and the speakers are great, you can listen to a few more. But don't get caught up in trying to finish them all.

Your Goals  

Choose topics you were already wanting to learn more about or are already working on, over ideas that just sound interesting or you think you "should" be learning about. There's always another day and another summit for things you aren't yet working on. You'll get more out of really absorbing 3-5 talks over the course of the summit than trying to half-listen to all of them.

Your Budget

You can get free access to the talks in the summit I've linked here for 24 hours after they go live. If all of the topics or speakers look like something you'd want to have access to for longer, then you might consider buying the pass and rewarding the organizers for putting on a great event. But only if it's going to be a good investment for your business.

Attend Live if You Can

Once you've chosen your topics, block out time, set a reminder, and attend "live" if you can. Quite often you'll have a chance to ask questions of the speakers in a chat feature or on the Facebook page. If it's a subject you're already working on, this is a great chance to ask questions from a pro about additional resources or something you might be stuck on. It's also a good way to expand your network. I've made some valuable business connections just by being active in the comment section.

Follow the Speakers You Find Helpful

Most of the speakers will be offering "freebies" of their own to get you on THEIR mailing list. If you found their talk valuable, go ahead and sign up for their freebie and then pay attention to how they market to you. This can be an education in itself - for free. Pay attention to what you like and especially what they say or do that gets you to take some kind of action. Those are things you may want to consider doing in your own business. Same goes for things that really turn you off - though obviously you'll want to avoid doing those things. ;-)

Join with a Friend or Group

It helps to have an accountability partner and/or someone to discuss what you're learning with. Find someone here on SAA, over at the Starving Artists Anonymous Facebook page, or send Krista an email and let me know to look out for you!


Here's the link to sign up - drop me a line or a comment if you do join and let me know which talks you're planning on attending. Since my main business is helping artists and other creators spend less time selling and more time creating, I'm looking forward to "How to Multiply the Reach and Income of Every Artwork" and "How to Write About Your Art and Show Press Release." Which speakers look the best to you?

See you around!

Krista ~ The Runcible Raven

Krista helps artists and other creative-types spend less time selling and more time creating through coaching, digital marketing, and virtual business management. If you'd like help moving forward, finding more clients, or otherwise wrestling your business back from the Ogre of Hustle and Grind so you can get back to painting, writing, teaching, or whatever runcible task you're genius at, visit her at The Runcible Raven and she'll get you sorted. She'll also tell you what runcible means if you ask nicely.


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