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mid week artist mentoring

Self employed artist mentoring: your self worth

Some people have that little fairy in their life that constantly says "you're AWESOME!!" from the moment they wake up, to the moment they go to bed.

I do not have that.


When i'm rich, i consider hiring a personal assistant just for that task :D

I wish a bunch of us etsy people would meet monthly just for those purposes. But that isn't possible because it just so happens, we're all over the world.

First off...let me tell you a little secret: NOBODY will take you seriously if you don't take yourself seriously.
That doesn't mean that you have to be like everybody else. It doesn't mean you have to follow the crowd. You're artists and you're better than that.

We all feel the need to create as humans, but some of us are crafters, some of us are artists and some of us waste our talents.

NEVER EVER let ANYONE tell you you're anything LESS than what you are. Listen up: this also includes asking for a discount on your work, dealing with people who don't understand things take time, or dealing with people who say shit like "the shipping price doesn't justify the price of the item", or the most common disrespect: DOING STUFF FOR FREE!!

Or  doing stuff for free and not being appreciated.
 don't get me wrong, it's great to lend your skill and help someone else. Not everything has to have a price tag on it, but some of us are also trying to make a living with our work, and giving out freebies when you're trying to prove that you got the skill, isn't going to work to your advantage. And doing stuff for people who don't appreciate, is counteractive because it doesn't form the right energy you need to succeed. It pulls you down. The feeling one gets when properly appreciated for something they do that they LOVE is way greater than the feeling one gets when they do something they love as a favour, knowing their work is not 100% valued.

proven fact: people will more likely show more respect and treat you as a professional when you have a fee than if you were to do stuff freely.

Also, remove people from your life that treat you less of what your work is with their words. Guess what.....art isn't the same. Not everybody will see it the same. What one person likes, the other won't. If someone says to you "wow...that's the price?! and it SELLS?!?!"....then you don't need that person in your circle of encouragement. You need to surround yourself with people who  respect what you do. And i'm not trying to be mean, but usually, most of the time, the people who will say things like that, aren't close friends anyways, so why even care what they think?

Bottom line, if there's anything you do and people want it, don't do it for free. Don't sell yourself short. Don't under value your finished product. Don't do favors if the appreciation isn't there. Be a professional. Or don't...not everyone wants to be a working artist. That's ok. Use this for whatever else you want to achieve.

Not only  that, you'll end up putting yourself in that sort of mental frame that says "YES!! what i do is GREAT and it's worth it to pay for!". If someone asks you to do something, it means not everyone can do it. Therefore you are SPECIAL and you should treat yourself as such and value yourself accordingly!