As 2025 began, I reflected on my art business accomplishments in 2024. I wrote a list of all of them, including all of my exhibitions, sales, awards, publicity, the continued support from my collectors and followers, and the new relationships I made during 2024. It was quite a year for me! My next thought was, OK, now what?
We artists often motivate ourselves by working towards goal after goal, but it’s important to maximize the impact of each of our wins (whether big or small). After all, things like getting into an exhibition, being awarded a residency, making a body of work for sale, or hosting an open studio involves a large investment of time, hard work, and money. It only makes sense to get the most out of it after putting in so much hard work!
Four Ways to Keep the Momentum Going After a Big Win
First Things First
What do I mean by a “big win”? It could be a new relationship with an art enthusiast, acceptance into a gallery, receiving an award for your artwork, finishing a new series of work, reaching a marketing goal, getting mentioned in the press, or any other type of goal that advances your art business.
Acknowledge Your Success
It’s important to celebrate your progress and the milestones you’ve reached. Write the win down on a list of accomplishments (and be sure to add it to your CV if it’s relevant). Take some time to relish the good feelings of accomplishing your goal.
Recognize Your Efforts
As you celebrate your success, reflect upon the persistence, creativity, and dedication it took to get to where you are right now. This can help you the next time you face an exhibition rejection or a tough day in the studio—it’s a powerful reminder that you have grit in the face of challenges.
Take Follow-Up Steps
You can rest on your laurels now, right? Nope. Success is not the finish line but the starting point for sustained growth. Follow the following four ways to maximize your benefit from your big win and to use it as momentum to keep on growing and reaching new heights.
1. Reflect and Plan for the Future
As previously mentioned, you want to celebrate your big win and recognize the hard work that got you there. But you need to dig deeper: Why do you think you achieved this goal? What tactics or strategies made the difference? What will you do the same or differently next time? If you used marketing channels (such as social media, networking, email newsletters, etc.) as part of your effort to reach your goal, how did each channel perform?
Can you gather feedback from collectors, audience members, gallery owners, or others? The more information you have, the better you can know what’s working and what isn’t. Evaluate sales trends and audience engagement trends. Is this data telling you something valuable about what collectors most value in your work? For example, you may notice that there is a consistent favorite size of artwork or color palette that sells the most.
After spending a lot of time reflecting and analysing, it’s time to set new goals based on what you’ve learned. Define your next big projects or milestones, such as expanding into new markets, growing your email list, or launching a new series.
3. Strengthen Your Marketing Strategy
You owe it to yourself to leverage your success by adding it to your marketing strategy. How? Use recent wins as content for your website, blog, or social media. Be sure to write about them in your email newsletter. You can post more than just one post that tells the world about your win: you can show “behind the scenes” about the work you did to earn that win, testimonials (especially from the sale of an artwork), or success metrics. It may feel like bragging, but you are essentially telling your audience that you are a successful artist who ought to be taken seriously. This really does color the way people perceive you.
Consider how this win could be used to expand your audience. For example, you could use it as a springboard to explore new platforms or strategies, like Pinterest, reels, or collaborative projects. Your big win could serve as a push for you to target new audience groups such as interior designers, art consultants, or galleries.
Lastly, use the win to boost your engagement. Ask for feedback by using polls or surveys to engage your audience. Share work in progress to keep followers invested in your journey. Try to form connections with your well wishers.
3. Follow Up with Supporters
We truly depend on other people to achieve our big wins, don’t we? Whether it’s a collector, gallerist, curator, interior designer, art lover, art show organizer, or publication writer, we depend on others to say “yes” to us and our art. These people should be thanked and these relationships should be nurtured and cherished!
Send personalized thank-you emails or (even better) handwritten notes to those who supported you. Highlight their role in your success, such as “Your encouragement made this milestone possible.” People love to know about the impact they have on others!
You could consider creating a loyalty program for your collectors, offering them exclusive previews, discounts, or other special content.
Lastly, think about how you might publicly thank your supporters, such as on social media or in a blog post. Don’t betray your collectors’ privacy unless they’ve given you permission to share their information, but it’s possible to express your gratitude publicly without naming your supporters.
4. Maintain Momentum
You may need to take a short break to rest after a large goal is met, but be sure to get back into the swing of art as soon as you can. It’s important to keep showing up, not only in the studio but in your marketing efforts. Stay consistent with your marketing efforts, even after achieving success. Create a content calendar to ensure regular updates and fresh engagement. Don’t wait until your next win to post again to your new followers—nurture that relationship by posting regularly.
Invest in yourself. Continue to grow your skills as an artist and entrepreneur by attending workshops, taking courses, or hiring a coach to continue growing your skills.
Stay Flexible. Be open to new opportunities, collaborations, or directions in your artistic journey.
Onward and Upward!
Whatever your most recent win is, I’d love to hear about it and celebrate with you—and I want to watch you use that win to catapult your art career to new heights! I hope this post has given you some solid ideas for how to leverage each of your wins and set the stage for new goals. I’ve created a downloadable checklist for you with the Four Ways to Keep the Momentum Going After a Win. I hope you find it helpful!
What’s your next big goal as an artist? Let’s grow together—reach out directly!
