How To Prepare For The Holidays
The most profitable time of year is coming!
The winter holiday season is one of my biggest money makers as an artist. I get more commissions, sales of original work, inquiries about gift cards, and print orders than any other time of year. It’s nearing the end of August and that means Holiday Season prep is kicking off!
Today I want to walk you though what I do to prepare for the Holiday Season as a full time painter. I’m going to show you what I do month to month to ensure that I reach the entirety of my audience, get new eyes on my paintings, and sell as much art as I can. Just by having a plan for the winter season will get you much further than some of your contemporaries in art sales.
The following schedule can seem overwhelming. When you look at it, note how I break things into small steps and ease into the work. This is a guideline as a rode map, and even I will deviate from it when needed. The point of planning out all of this so far in advance is to eliminate the stress.
August
Idea Generation
This month is all about looking at trends, managing your schedule, and preparing your current inventory.
Week 1: Read the trends
The first week of August is usually when Etsy puts out their holiday trends report. I’ve attached the 2023 report here for reference. This week I will dive into this report and see what trends my current artwork can relate to.
The 2023 trend report has mentioned evergreen decoration (not the color, but like an heirloom), budget minded shoppers, practical/activity minded hostess gifts, and zodiac/constellations.
Color trends: candy pastel, Red, and high contrast neutrals (browns)
Apply it to your artwork: I make abstract geometric paintings, use gold leaf, and have very bold artwork. Doing a zodiac themed series of paintings, in the sub $300 range, featuring gold leaf work is a no brainer. I will make a few paintings that will have the color trends the report talked about in the sub $400 range as a luxiry heirloom gift. Lastly, I will look into making an activity type of gift with my artwork on it. I’m thinking puzzles.
I will be using the projects here as the examples for how I’m using my time.
Week 2: Carve out your work time:
This week is all about managing your schedule from August-December. Look at your calendar and mark out each day you will have time to create and when you might be on holiday or out of the studio. Block out the time you are going to have to work on everything and be practical about what you can make. I would also block out extra evening hours for when November comes around.
The most important thing to do here is look at your deadlines. If you are offering commissions, when do they need to be dry and mailed out by to get to the buyers home by? During the holidays you need to give plenty of time for shipping. Like a week more than you think.
Here are dates to consider:
October 9: Thanksgiving (CA)
November 23: Thanksgiving (US)
November 24: Black Friday
November 25: Small Business Saturday
December 3-December 24: Advent
November 27: Cyber Monday
November 28: Giving Tuesday
December 7-December 15: Hanukkah
December 21: Winter Solstice
December 24: Christmas Eve
December 25: Christmas Day
December 26-January 1: Kwanzaa
December 26: Boxing Day (UK, CA, AU)
December 31: New Year’s Eve
Then you are going to take the ideas you came up with last week and break them down into the smallest steps you can.
Zodiac series:
12 zodiac signs, in their constellation form, painted on 12x12 in panels. Each panel takes 6-9 hours to paint (3 sessions), 2 weeks to dry once finished, 2 days for the varnish to be applied and dried after, 1 day to photograph (if I schedule it correctly with my photographer), 1 day to make social media images for, 1 day to list on the website, 1 day to make emails promoting the image, 1 day to make video content to promote the painting, 1 day to turn it into a print and list on website.
That’s the typical steps for every painting I make from start to finish. Each painting will take 11 active days of work, almost a month with drying times included, to get it sold. A lot of the effort can be stacked with other works in progress to help shorten time. I can do the social media work for 6 paintings in the same 2-3 hour session.
What this means is that I need to get painting quick to reach my launch date goal or October.
In this week I also make sure that any summer/fall projects that I have currently are being wrapped up and accounted for.
Weekly Tasks:
Order all surfaces/materials for the zodiac work I’ll be creating
Take inventory of what I’ve already made and could still sell this year
Take note of important dates
Choose cut off days and when commissions will be open
Choose when the shop will be open for holiday sales
Decide what print-on-demand items i will be making
Email your mailing list a newsletter of what is coming up
Week 3: Marketing Plan
This week, on top of getting some painting done and my usual work (like Twitch), I’m making my marketing plan for the next 4 months.
First, I look at my capabilities. I can send 5 blast emails per month, daily posts to Instagram, 4 podcast episodes a month, daily reels to Instagram, and the opportunity to show my work at a local shop.
Currently I don’t have a shop to display my work in the books, because I’m planning on being out of town for a significant amount of time. If I was going to be in the studio more, I would spend this week trying to get a coffee shop show for October or November.
Realistically, I’m not going to want to post to Instagram every day unless I use a scheduler app. I’m going to plan in my calendar to spend 3 hours each Monday making content for various social media platforms for the week. Still posts, reels, blogs, anything.
I’m going to focus on showcasing the work in a home like setting. A painting displayed on the mantel, a video of me wrapping up one of the zodiac paintings, a collection of photos on detail shots, inspiring blog posts about giving a unique gift. Using an AI generator will help you get more captions and is a great tool that you should sleep on.
My goals:
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week, showing the process of making the Zodiac series and others if time
5 Instagram posts a week showcasing summer colors and transitioning into fall tones.
3 reels a week! Using trending sounds and blog post style content for people to learn about my work and my brand.
One email blast a week keeping my email subscribers used to seeing me in their inbox.
Weekly Tasks:
4 days in the studio painting
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about holiday commissions coming up
Week 4+5: Launch Holiday Commissions
I’ve had commissions open for all of late summer but now I’m going to niche them down and open up 5 spots for holiday commissions. This will be sent to email subscribers first and then to the public through my website and Instagram.
Commission Tasks:
Make images for the commissions
Make clear deadlines and expectations for people looking to commission you. (what kind of art, price ranges, delivery times)
Add in a Rush Order option for those who are booking last minute.
Limit how many you are offering.
I know that I am going to be out of town for a large part of the fall, which means I won’t have time to make as many commissions as I’d like. Instead I’m going to offer a different kind of holiday commission after the 5 spots fill up.
People like getting something they can open as a gift, so I’m going to create a box that share’s the experience of a commission to the giftee. The commission will be a joint experience between the gifter, giftee, and myself. I’ll create the painting in the new year when the holiday rush is over. The box I mail out will be cute, compact, and essentially hold a note and giftcard. During this week I’ll figure out exactly what that will look like and take photos of the gift box.
Weekly Tasks:
4 days in the studio painting
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about limited holiday commission spots with examples
September
A month of making and marketing
Week 1: Make and promote
This week you’ll be creating your project ideas and marketing material. It’s a heads down week and you’ll need to be on top of your time. Make sure you are honoring your days off and if you feel overwhelmed, see what you can cut from your project.
Weekly Tasks:
4 days in the studio painting
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list a sneak peek on your big project
Week 2: Order samples
I’m planning on making puzzles of my artwork to sell, so this week I will order samples of 3 puzzles I intend to make and see how they turn out. I’ll also spend time making a list of all prints I want to offer in November and ordering one of each for marketing material.
Weekly Tasks:
4 days in the studio painting
Order samples of puzzles
Make mockups of puzzles
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about a ‘Fall Refresh’
Week 3: First Batch
This week I hope to be done with 6 of the 12 zodiac paintings and make my first appointment to get them photographed in high resolution. I’m also continuing to promote commissions if I haven’t filled the spots.
If I have time this week I’ll pick up branded thank you notes and make sure my packaging material is ordered and on it’s way to me.
Weekly Tasks:
4 days in the studio painting
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about the shop closing next week
Week 4: Close the shop
Having the shop closed for two weeks creates a sense of anticipation for your collectors. Starting this week I’m showing sneak peaks of the zodiac painting’s I’ve already made and generating hype for the launch.
Weekly Tasks:
4 days in the studio painting
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about A New Collection
Week 5: Promotion push
3 weeks till I launch this collection. I’ll be painting a lot, telling my email subscribers that something glittering is coming and getting work started on my commissions.
Weekly Tasks:
4 days in the studio painting
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about your live streams/coffee shop shows/ podcasts/ etc
October
Week 1: Zodiac product completed!
This week I make the listings and add in a countdown timer to the website. Any last minute fixes to the work is done and the paintings are photographed. Mock ups are made, shipping times noted, and a special livestream to showcase the artwork is scheduled.
This week I push for new email marketing subscribers to sign up to get a first look at the new collection.
Weekly Tasks:
4 days in the studio painting
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about a new collection being launched next week
Week 2: Zodiac Paintings email list launch
I like to plan for a 3 day launch of the email marketing list, and then make it public after. Thursday-Sunday is great, but do what works for your schedule. This week I’m sharing any and all sales I make, showing a reel a day of the zodiac paintings, and reminding the email list of their discounts.
Once the collection is public then I’ll do even more promotion and might buy an ad.
Weekly Tasks:
4 days in the studio painting
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about Zodiac launch!
Week 3: Fresh Off The Easel
If there are any remaining paintings that I want to make, commissions to work on, etc, I’m making those this week and continuing to promote the zodiac collection.
Weekly Tasks:
4 days in the studio painting
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about gifting a commission, zodiac project, holiday commissions closing next week, etc
Week 4: Gift a commission promotion/ Holiday Commissions are closed
This week I’m pushing my “Gift A Commission” set where I will mail a gift to the purchaser or the giftee with the Commission Box (name TBD)
At this time I wont be taking any new commissions that have a holiday deadline.
Weekly Tasks:
3 days in the studio painting
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about a Giveaway happening next week OR a gifts under $100 list
Week 5: Giveaway
If you’ve got the time for it, this is a good week to offer a giveaway. I like to give away prints from a print on demand website. Giveaway’s are an inexpensive way to get a lot of eyes on your work. Make sure you have clear prizes, winner chosen date, and details on how the winner will be chosen.
Other wise keep working on those commissions + affordable originals!
Next week it will be time to promote prints and accessories, so make sure your listings are ready.
Weekly Tasks:
3 days in the studio painting
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about the giveaway, remaining painting inventory, etc
November
The Final Push
Week 1: Print shop and Activity gifts open
This is my print on demand week. I’ll be promoting Puzzles, tote bags, fine art prints, and more. I will also be launching any new paintings I’ve made over the last month and getting them out the door as soon as they’ve sold.
Print on demand is excellent for the holidays, they are pros at shipping and can deliver world wide, which your original artwork might not.
For my work, I’ll be offering prints of the entire Zodiac series, despite if the originals sold or not.
Weekly Tasks:
3 days in the studio painting
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about your prints, puzzles, and accessories
Week 2: Promotion week
This week I’ll be making lots of content for the internet, sharing my favorite prints, offering the Commission Boxes as a fun way to make a modern heirloom, etc.
This week will be the last week to work on Commissions and to tidy up any loose ends.
Weekly Tasks:
3 days in the studio painting
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about Commission boxes, what I’ve been painting, newslestter
Week 3: Commissions Finished Deadline
It’s time to be done painting. If you are an oil painter you might need to be done sooner, as oil paintings take longer to dry in the cold. Sign, date, and let the work rest.
Weekly Tasks:
3 days in the studio
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list a teaser for black friday
Week 4: Commissions Photographed Deadline
If you can get photos done of all your Commissions and other finished work before now, then do that! Otherwise this week make getting photos done a priority before you have to mail out the work.
Weekly Tasks:
Photograph finished work
2-3 days in the studio
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about next weeks sale, any last work, or a local show
Week 5: Black Friday/Commissions Mailed Out
I don’t love doing Black Friday deals, but occasionally I put a 10% discount on the shop for the ecommerce holiday. Be mindful that anything you promote today will be drowned out quick and that big companies are sending out 5 emails a day to get people on their website. I’d consider doing this sale at the beginning of the month, but it’s up to you.
This week will be BUSY at the post office so make sure you give yourself plenty of time as you’ll want to mail out your commissions to your buyers by this week.
Weekly Tasks:
Mail things out!!
2-3 days in the studio
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about Black Friday! and that the shop is closing soon
December
The Last Call
Week 1: Shop closes this week/ ship out everything
Pick a day for the shop to close as you’ll need to give the post office as much time to ship things out as possible.
If you are able, this could be a fun time to host an open studio for locals only. This way you can continue to sell work and not worry about shipping. Have a few creatives over to your studio and call it a Holiday Market.
Weekly Tasks:
Pack and ship sold work
2-3 days in the studio
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about the shop closing
Host an open studio?
Week 2: Gift Card shop opens
This week I like to open the gift card shop. Explain what people can use it on, that you can send a fun email to the giftees explaining what they can get from the shop and your services. I’d spend a little extra time with Canva to make it special.
Weekly Tasks:
2-3 days in the studio
Spend 3 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 6 times (3 photo, 3 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about gift cards
Week 3: Ease Up
You should be all done with mailing things and selling them. This is a good week to start compiling things for your taxes and make sure all your ducks are in a row.
Weekly Tasks:
Collect receipts and numbers
Spend 2 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 4 times (2 photo, 2 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about wishing them a happy holiday
Week 4: Gift Card shop is closed/ Thank you
Time to close the gift card shop and let the shop be closed for a few weeks.
At this point I like to write thank you cards to anyone who bought an original painting and other such things.
This week you might start seeing photos of people showing off your work in their homes, make sure you are sharing this work to your followers and on your website!
Weekly Tasks:
Spend 2 hours on content creation
Schedule the content made
Post to Instagram 4 times (2 photo, 2 reels)
Stream on Twitch 4 times a week
Email mailing list about wishing them a thank you and what they can expect in the new year
Week 5: Time off!
You’ve done it! Congrats on a successful Holiday Season. Take a little time to reflect on what you could have done easier, what you liked about the process, what you could automate, what you didnt like, etc. Then enjoy a well deserved holiday break.
Weekly Tasks:
Don’t work!
Host and artist Stephanie Scott breaks down the practicality of the art career with topics including: sustainable creative practices, social media skills, and the mindsets that keep it all together. New episodes every Tuesday!
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Website: http://www.stephaniescott.art/brushwork
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Podcast Cover photo by Maryna Blumqvist https://instagram.com/picturemaryna