Update: My Art Studio Saw A 186% Growth In Profits

Justin Erickson

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Published: March 29th, 2022

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Justin Erickson

Founder, Justin Erickson Art

$876

revenue/mo

Founders

Employees

Justin Erickson Art

justinericksonart.com

from Vancouver

started January 2017

$876

revenue/mo

Founders

Employees

Discover what tools recommends to grow your business!

Discover what books Justin recommends to grow your business!

Want more updates on Justin Erickson Art? Check out these stories:

1. I Redesigned My Art Business And Am On Track To Open My Own Studio (2024) ➜

2. On Developing A Career As An Independent Artist And Graphic Designer (2021) ➜

This is a follow up story for Justin Erickson Art. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published almost 4 years ago, check it out here.

Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.

Hey there, my name is Justin Erickson. I am an artist and graphic designer and I run a little studio called Justin Erickson Art.

The majority of my products feature Entomology, Ornithology, and the language of flowers in some way. Our most popular product in 2021 was a set of five greeting cards called “A Message of Hope” followed closely by prints of my painting “Liquid Morpho Butterfly”

Since our last interview with Starter Story, we have experienced a 186% growth in profits. I hope to see that trend continue into 2022.

Tell us about what you’ve been up to! Has the business been growing?

So much happened this past year! Here are some of the highlights.

Since our last interview with Starter Story, we have experienced a 186% growth in profits. I hope to see that trend continue into 2022.

With my profits, I was able to purchase the equipment to produce a majority of my own products here in my home studio. Reducing my production costs by close to 60%. I now have the ability to fill orders for greeting cards and open edition prints as I receive them.

One of the most surprising successes from this past year was Tiktok. If you aren’t already on the platform get it! It has proven to be an incredible tool for promoting and marketing my business. It generated 54% of my website traffic from Social Media in 2021.

My latest product is a first for the business. I was able to produce a giclee quality limited edition print of my painting “Liquid Sasakia”. Essentially it’s a near-identical reproduction of the original.

Most of my sales are from new customers but I do have a handful of repeat customers that consistently come back to restock greeting cards, buy my latest prints, or commission me to create custom artwork, or graphics for them.

I keep a master list that documents the amount of money these clients have provided my business, what they purchased, and if I know it, their birthday. What I like to do is send each of them a little birthday card each year. It’s a really easy way to maintain a relationship.

Every holiday season I pick out a handful of the clients that benefited my business the most or mentored me in some way throughout the year and I send them a small gift including a handwritten letter. Usually focusing on them, and my gratitude for their support.

What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?

Despite this past year's success, there were a few flops. Mind you some of those flops were the result of the global pandemic and beyond my control. A few were absolutely my fault!

A single piece of work should create multiple streams of revenue. Be it through print sales, licensing agreements, or small products.

This past year I signed up for 9 different arts markets and received the opportunity for gallery representation across the city. Most of these events were postponed and then canceled or adapted to a digital format. They were a lot of fun but I didn’t earn my initial investments back.

I gave a few new products a try. Like mugs. I ended up giving them away over the holiday season. A few months ago I misjudged a sample group's feedback that led to overproducing prints.

Not every decision is going to go as planned.

What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?

This year I plan to expand into the surface pattern market. I’ve taken a few classes to expand my skills and I’ve been dedicating time to building a new portfolio for the industry. By the time this story launches my licensing portfolio should be live on my website.

I’m also working on a few lapel pins, a new line of greeting cards, bookmarks, and a handful of original paintings. Not sure when those will be ready but when they are I guarantee they’re going to be all over my social media!

In the next five years I would love to see my home studio expand into a storefront. It’s been a dream of mine to open my own gallery. Offering a range of products from original artwork by local artists, to prints, to gifts, to custom picture framing. I catch myself thinking about it often.

Have you read any good books in the last year?

Lately I’ve been listening to the following podcasts.

3 Point Perspective The Illustrative Podcast discusses ways to practice, offers challenges, and advice to creative businesses.

The Honest Designer Show is a group of friends who discuss the design industry honestly. It’s about the good clients, the bad clients and what they don’t teach you in university.

Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?

To my fellow creative entrepreneurs out there. A single piece of work should create multiple streams of revenue. Be it through print sales, licensing agreements, or small products.

I am a fairly slow painter. So It’s important that I stretch the income from a single painting as far as I can. In the past year I created 10 original paintings, 21 sketches, and 25 digital graphics. Each has been used in multiple different ways. Such as greeting cards, wrapping paper, prints, fabric, etc.

Not everyone has the money laying around to purchase an original painting. Make sure you offer products that hit multiple different price points. You earn more in the long run.

From time to time I will stumble across another creative business that will post about a painting or new product once, for it never to be seen again. Don’t do this, you’re going to get discouraged.

Plan anywhere between five to ten posts about a single painting, or product and spread it out over a few weeks or months. The algorithm is set up in such a way that only about ten percent of your followers will see something you post. Posting frequently increases the odds of your reach. Spam the newsfeed! thoughtfully.