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Managing the business of being an artist is one of the biggest challenges many creatives face when it comes to making a living. Enter Beth Moeller. As an advocate for the arts, she founded Arts Spark as a division of her website and digital marketing company IMC Interactive Media Consulting, which has been developing websites since 1996 and has evolved into social media, branding, print design and e-commerce services.
Jade Warrick spreads the joy that art can give
With Arts Spark, Moeller is using her business experience and professional resources to “help artists with the business of being an artist.” As such, she works with artists designing individual websites, collaborating on arts festivals, music and theater productions, and creating e-commerce artisan markets.
Q: What prompted you to get involved with the arts?
A: I’m not really an artist. I have an interest in art. I play in a community band. I started piano lessons when I was in second or third grade. When fifth grade rolled around and we all got to choose an instrument, I picked the flute. I enjoyed playing all the way through high school. I was in a pep band in college.
Q: How has art shaped your career?
A: Arts Spark is a digital platform to help artists with the business side of being an artist. We really focus on the marketing and branding of an artist, so really helping them understand how they can do their work and how they can get the word out.
Q: What challenges have you faced infusing art into your work?
A: The challenge we see is when we talk about branding, they see that as too corporate. Changing the language we use with artists and instead of saying brand, we talk about look, feel and the image they want to portray. It’s essentially branding, but without using the phrase branding.
Q: What advice would you give to upcoming artists launching their careers?
A: You need to brand yourself when you’re starting your career. That means not just a Facebook page and Instagram profile. You need your own website. You need to be able to sell your art online if you choose to do that.
Don’t undersell yourself. One of the biggest things I hear all the time is people saying ‘you’re young artists, how about you do this for free, for exposure, because you’re devaluing your work and your experience and your education.’ There’s a value to the work you create. Figure out how much it costs you in materials, figure out how much it costs you in time, what you feel you need to do for this to make a living, and price your products appropriately.
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