Are you an artist looking to grow your art sales consistently — but without the stress and burnout of constant marketing? You’re not alone. That’s why I created a simple, repeatable 5-month marketing plan designed to help you triple your art sales while protecting your creative energy.
Hi, I’m Jessica Craddock, and I’ve taught dozens of artists how to triple their income within their first year of working with me. Today, I’m sharing the latest version of that process — the very same formula my clients use to build sustainable, thriving art careers.
This video post breaks down the five-month cycle I teach artists to follow for exponential growth — a cycle that gives you time back while helping your art business work for you, even when you’re not actively selling — but you can also get the cliff's notes below!
Why a 5-Month Marketing Cycle?
This isn’t just an abstract idea — it’s a carefully designed, proven strategy that balances flexibility, action, and rest so you can grow your art business sustainably. The five-month timeline breaks your marketing into manageable phases that build on each other, creating momentum without overwhelm.
Depending on your goals and available time, you can cycle through this plan once or twice a year—or even faster if you want to accelerate growth. Each phase focuses on specific, concrete actions: from clarifying your vision and researching key contacts, to creating events, nurturing leads, and scaling your content. By following this sequence, you ensure no important step gets skipped, and your efforts compound over time.
What makes this cycle truly unique is that it intentionally includes space for reflection, creativity, and self-care. If you’ve heard the term “feminine energy” — meaning rhythms of inward focus and replenishment — this plan honors that by alternating between deep, grounding work and proactive outreach. That built-in balance helps prevent burnout, so you keep your passion and energy alive throughout your journey.
In short, this is a solid, actionable marketing plan that guides you step-by-step — making growth achievable without sacrificing your well-being or creative spark.
Month 1: Imagine, Ground & Reset — Get Clear on What You Really Want to Create and Share
Imagine setting aside dedicated time to step back from the daily grind and check in with yourself as an artist. With a notebook or journal in hand, you ask: What story do I want my next collection to tell? Who will connect with this work? What price feels right both for me and for my collectors? How do I want to talk about my art authentically?
This month isn’t a fluffy creative exercise — it’s the essential groundwork that will guide every marketing move for the next five months. Your answers become the blueprint for your messaging, pricing, outreach, and the kinds of opportunities you seek. Without this clarity, your efforts can feel scattered. With it, every step is purposeful and aligned.
You might journal your goals, brainstorm themes, and draft pricing plans — gathering your thoughts and building clarity around your vision.
If this feels overwhelming, that’s normal. Inside Revive Your Spark, I provide step-by-step exercises and templates to help you break big questions into manageable, inspiring actions — so you finish this month with a clear, actionable plan.
Month 2: Research Your Art Ambassadors — Build a Network That Spreads Your Work
Now that your foundation is set, month two shifts your focus outward to finding the people who can help you amplify your art’s reach. These “art ambassadors” might be galleries, local businesses, influencers, or collectors who naturally align with your style, values, and vision.
This phase is much more than just making a list — it’s about identifying real partners who can open doors to opportunities you might never access on your own. When you build relationships with the right people, they become your advocates, introducing your work to their communities and networks, exponentially expanding your visibility.
Why is this so powerful?
- You multiply your reach without increasing your effort. Instead of trying to find every buyer yourself, ambassadors help spread the word authentically and enthusiastically.
- You gain credibility by association. Being connected with respected galleries or influencers lends your art a seal of trust that helps new collectors feel confident buying from you.
- You create new sales channels and opportunities. Ambassadors might invite you to shows, pop-ups, or collaborations that bring fresh eyes and customers to your work.
- You build long-term, sustainable relationships. These connections don’t just help once — they grow over time, supporting your career for years to come.
How do you find these folks? Start by researching on social media, joining local art groups, browsing industry directories, and tapping your existing network. Look for people and organizations whose values and audience align with yours.
Once you have names, the next step is reaching out with personalized, thoughtful messages that show you understand their work and explain clearly how your art complements theirs. This isn’t about pushing a hard sale — it’s about starting genuine conversations that lead to mutually beneficial opportunities — we'll dedicate time to this outreach process next month.
Month 3: Take Action & Create Opportunities — Show Up, Share Your Art, and Start Building Genuine Connections
Now that you’ve identified some wonderful people and places who can help share your art, month three is about taking friendly, manageable steps to bring your work into the world. This could mean participating in local gallery shows, joining pop-up events, setting up at markets, or collaborating with other creatives or businesses.
Seeing your art in person creates something special — it builds trust, sparks conversations, and often leads to more meaningful connections than online alone. This is where you start turning relationships into real opportunities.
Here’s how to think about it without overwhelm:
- Start small. Pick one or two events or venues that feel like a good fit and take it one step at a time.
- Reach out with simple, honest messages — think of it like inviting someone to share in what you love, not a sales pitch.
- Prepare what you need: maybe some business cards, a portfolio, or photos of your work.
- Plan a gentle follow-up to thank people or answer questions after the event — this helps turn interest into lasting connections.
One of the best ways to nurture these new relationships without feeling like you have to be “on” all the time is through newsletters. When someone signs up to hear from you, you can send them thoughtful updates, stories behind your work, and exclusive sneak peeks — all at your own pace. This keeps people engaged and helps turn casual fans into loyal collectors over time.
If any of this feels like a lot to manage, don’t worry. Inside Revive Your Spark, I’ve created easy-to-follow checklists and scripts that break down how to confidently pitch events, prepare your materials, and follow up — plus templates for writing newsletters that feel natural and authentic, not pushy.
With the right tools, this part of your marketing becomes less about stress and more about sharing your passion with people who truly appreciate it.
Month 4: Focus on Sales & Lead Nurturing — Turn Interest into Loyal Collectors with Careful Follow-Up
By month four, you’ve been showing up, sharing your art, and — importantly — collecting leads along the way. These are the people who’ve expressed interest in your work by attending events, signing up for your newsletter, or connecting with you personally. Now it’s time to gently turn your attention toward nurturing those relationships and making it easy for them to become loyal collectors.
This isn’t about pushing anyone to buy. Instead, it’s about providing the information and connection your leads need to feel confident and excited about owning your art. Thoughtful follow-up, whether through a personal email after an event or regular newsletters, keeps you on their radar without overwhelming or salesy pressure.
Here’s what this looks like in practice:
- Send a warm, friendly follow-up to thank people you met, answer any questions, or share more about your collection and story.
- Use newsletters to tell behind-the-scenes stories, share updates on new work or upcoming events, and offer exclusive sneak peeks or offers that make your community feel special.
- Make sure you have a clear, easy-to-find place for people to sign up for your newsletter — like a landing page that highlights your current collection and invites visitors to stay connected.
If writing emails or newsletters feels intimidating, you’re not alone. That’s why Revive Your Spark includes ready-made email templates and simple guides designed specifically for artists. These tools help you craft messages that feel authentic and engaging — no writing expertise needed. With the right support, nurturing your leads becomes a natural, enjoyable part of your art business that leads to consistent sales over time.
Month 5: Scale with Evergreen Content — Let New Leads Flow into Your Sales Funnel (Without More Work)
After spending the last few months showing your work, connecting with people, and nurturing leads, it’s time to set up a system that keeps all that momentum going — even when you’re not actively promoting. That’s what Month 5 is all about.
By now, you’ve created a landing page for your collection and written a handful of newsletters or emails that share your story, offer insight into your work, and guide people toward buying. In this final month of the cycle, you’ll plug those emails into an automated sales funnel — and then focus on attracting new leads with evergreen content.
Here’s how it works together:
- When someone discovers your art — whether at an event or through a search — they land on your page, sign up for updates, and are automatically added to your email sequence.
- From there, they receive a thoughtful, pre-written series of emails (crafted in earlier months) that shares your process, answers common questions, and gently invites them to buy — all without you lifting a finger.
- Meanwhile, your evergreen content — like blog posts, Pinterest pins, or YouTube videos — is out in the world, continuously attracting new eyes and feeding them right into this system.
It’s a beautiful handoff: content attracts, your landing page captures, and your emails convert.
What makes this so powerful is that it works quietly in the background, long after the initial effort. Someone might stumble across your work six months from now and still be guided into your ecosystem, feeling just as seen and nurtured as someone who met you in person last week.
If the idea of setting up automated emails or evergreen content feels overwhelming, Revive Your Spark walks you through each step. You’ll learn how to choose the right topics, write in your own voice, and set everything up so it flows naturally — giving you more time to create, rest, or start planning your next cycle.
This is where your art business starts to feel less like a hustle… and more like something that runs steadily and sustainably, with your best work doing the heavy lifting.
This Is Where Your Art Business Starts to Work for You
By the time you complete this five-month cycle, you’ll have something many artists never give themselves: a solid, repeatable system that works with you — not against you.
You’ll have…
- A clear vision and plan that reflects who you are as an artist
- Relationships and real-world opportunities that expand your reach
- A way to nurture interest into sales without burning out
- A collection of emails and content that keeps working long after you write it
- And the confidence to know what to focus on — and what you can finally stop chasing
And the best part? Each time you run through this cycle, your foundation gets stronger. More content. More visibility. More relationships. More sales happening quietly in the background.
If you’re excited about this approach but don’t want to build it all from scratch, Revive Your Spark was designed for exactly this moment. Inside, you’ll get the full structure — along with scripts, templates, and guided steps to help you put it all into action without the overwhelm.
Your art deserves to be seen and sold — without you working around the clock to make it happen. Let’s build the system that makes that possible.
