Gaining Marketing Skills Quickly by Leading a Creativity Challenge with Kristen O'Neill (#145)

In this episode of The Art Biz, I’m joined by Kristen O’Neill, a
team member of mine and an accomplished artist who recently
created a 30-day daily art lesson challenge for her online
followers. But in the end, it may have been more of a challenge
for her than it was for the participants. Kristen and I discuss
what she hoped to get from this challenge, how she organized it,
how much of it was planned ahead, and what her workflow was
like—including all of the platforms she used to share the
content—and most importantly, what she would do differently if
she were to do it again.


First posted: artbizsuccess.com/challenge-oneill-podcast


 


Highlights




Details of Kristen’s 30-Day Art Challenge and what she hoped
to get out of it. (1:29)




How Kristen shared the challenge while honoring her email
list expectations. (6:10)




Creating and organizing a workflow that worked all month
long. (10:42)




The time commitment and unexpected challenges behind the
challenge. (16:35)




Lessons learned from the challenges of this challenge.
(22:25)




Staying motivated and accountable throughout a challenge.
(27:52)




Tracking the participation, success, and results of the
challenge. (30:15)




The value of Pinterest for artists. (38:30)




What Kristen would do differently next time. (41:07)




This Week’s Action


Your assignment this week is to consider how you are stretching
yourself in and out of the studio these days.


Mentioned




ArtBizConnection.com




Kristen on Instagram




Kristen O’Neil Art




Related Episodes




Art Biz Podcast Episode 78: How to Increase Your Productivity
with Art Business Systems




Quotes




“I’m always looking for different opportunities and ways to
reach out to more students and interact with more painters.”
— Kristen O’Neill




“It’s really important to honor what you say you’re going to
do with your list.” — Kristen O’Neill




“I picked up lessons more quickly than had I done the same
amount of work spread over a longer period of time.” —
Kristen O’Neill




“If you haven’t figured out your system ahead of time, it’s
going to be harder than it needs to be.” — Kristen O’Neill




“Often we spend so much time guessing what is the right way
to do something, and we could put that energy into just doing
it.” — Kristen O’Neill




About My Guest


Kristen O’Neill paints the essence of landscapes based on real
locations, including those from recent collaborations with
long-distance hikers. Her Oregon Coast Trail series was featured
in a solo exhibition at the Grants Pass Museum of Art.


Kristen graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
and now lives in Southern Oregon where she has become passionate
about teaching art. She teaches both online and in-person, leads
a field trip program that has taught art history to thousands of
5th graders, and is an Artist Mentor for Alyson Stanfield’s
community since 2018.