Career Counseling

By appointment with Susan Joy Sager via phone, email, or in person (if you are in the Portsmouth, NH area). Contact ArtBiz by email at ssager@artbiz.info for current fees and to set up your appointment today!

Are you looking for someone to help you get started in your art or craft career? 

Do you need help to run your art or craft business more successfully?  

Do you know someone who would benefit from some outside help but won't ask for the assistance themselves? 

If you answered yes to any of these questions, send an email to make an appointment to have a career counseling session with Susan Joy Sager. 

Individual career counseling sessions include self assessment and goal setting by you with recommendations and contacts provided by ArtBiz.

Topics might include:

- pricing,

- portfolio review,

- designing a marketing plan,

- public presentations,

- business planning and review,

- proposal writing, as well as

- just plain encouragement and support.

Ongoing career counseling sessions can also provide much needed deadlines for creative busy people who would rather be in the studio than the office.


Self Assessment Questionnaire:

Take a few minutes to do the Self Assessment exercise below.  Read over the results analysis to see where you are at present in your goals to sell your work.  This exercise may help you to focus on what you need to next to further your business goals.

Circle the answer that best describes your current situation. 

What is your level of education and experience?

a) I have a degree in art/craft or I have done an apprenticeship to learn my art/craft and the business. I continue to attend as many workshops as I can on both art/craft and business.
b) I have a degree in another field but have taken numerous workshops to learn both my art/craft and how to run a business.
c) I have taken a few workshops in my art/craft.

I want to make my living by:

a) selling my work full-time.
b) selling my work part-time and maintaining another source of income.
c) working at a non-art/craft job.

I prefer my income to be:

a) it doesn't matter as long as I earn enough money annually.
b) a regular paycheck supplemented with sporadic sales of my work.
c) a regular paycheck.

My studio includes:

a) all the equipment I need, a large work space with adjacent office and showroom to meet customers, and space to store my inventory and ship my work.
b) a decent work space with the basic equipment I need.
c) a space in a spare room or part of my garage or basement.

My portfolio includes:

a) digital images and color slides taken by a professional photographer, black and white photographs, a publicity photograph of me working in my studio, and a shot of my booth.
b) color slides of some of my work and a few photographs.
c) I don't have a portfolio.

The following sentence describes my art/craft work:

a) a line of several different pieces created in multiples with a distinctive style as well as a series of one-of-a-kind pieces.
b) some pieces made in multiples and some one of a kind pieces.
c) many different styles - I like to experiment and never make the same thing twice.

Which description sounds like a customer who would buy your work:

a) likes to collect unique things for the home as well as purchase handmade gifts.
b) I guess they like to buy unique gifts or for themselves but I'm not sure.
c) I don't know who my customers are.

Where would your customer see your work?

a) at numerous fairs, juried shows, shops, advertisements, or my annual studio sale.
b) at a fair or studio sale a few times a year or in a group show once in awhile.
c) I don't show my work often.

I belong to the following organizations:

a) my local, state, and national art/craft organizations.
b) my local art/craft organization.
c) I'm not a joiner of groups.

What are your goals for the next five years?

a) I want to support myself with sales of my work earning a livable wage.
b) I want to keep the security of my other job but if the sales from my work continue to increase, I will consider pursuing my craft business full-time.
c) I want to make pieces I enjoy without being concerned about sales.

Self Assessment Results:

If you chose mainly:

a) answers:

You are probably already earning a living from the sales of your work. You have a good background in the arts/crafts and business, the studio and portfolio you need, you know who your customers are, are promoting your work through several venues, and you know the importance of networking and lifelong learning.  Keep up the good work!

b) answers:

You enjoy the security of a paycheck and yet you have a strong interest in supplementing your income with selling your work. If you should decide to make the transition to earning all of your income from selling your work, you are learning valuable skills through your part-time selling experiences. Consider career counseling if you decide you want help to plan a transition.

c) answers:

You enjoy making your work but are either not interested in selling it or are unsure of how to go about running a craft business. Consider career counseling if you decide to start earning all or part of your income from selling your work at some point in the future.

After reviewing the results of taking this self assessment, you will either see that you are a) already successfully selling your work, b) poised to start selling your work fulltime, or c) that you need to take additional steps to learn more about how to sell your work.

Some of you may decide that selling your work to earn your living is not for you. If you are interested in selling your work, take a few minutes to see what strengths and weaknesses you noticed in the self assessment and pay close attention to those chapters that relate to your weaknesses in my book, Selling Your Crafts, available through ArtBiz or Allworth Press or a book store near you..