John Bishop Fine Art : Podcast · John Bishop

Starting the New Year with a Bang: Podcast

January 25, 2023·23 min·2 clips

John spent $8,000 on an exhibition and sold nothing—until a surprising turn saved the show.

Host John Bishop of John Bishop Fine Art shares his annual goal-setting retreat and recent business developments. He outlines the expansion of his art business and a new non-profit venture. Bishop details the five strategic "pillars" adapted from another source to structure his yearly planning. The first pillar is a production plan to create adequate, sellable art for scheduled events like an April art fair. A prospecting plan aims to actively seek new collectors beyond their passive Houston studio presence. The profit plan focuses on increasing income through higher prices and vendor management. A promotion plan ties marketing and public relations directly to sales generation. The fifth pillar is a productivity plan to work smarter, not just harder. Bishop recently oversaw a solo exhibition for Bogdan called "Nature Remembered," featuring large, limited-edition photographic works with environmental themes. The exhibition cost $8,000 to $10,000 to produce, following a poor Q4 sales period. Despite a well-attended opening with hand-addressed invitations and catering, initial sales were zero. The following week, five pieces sold to two different buyers, covering the exhibition's costs. The new Romanian business, Barbarossa Productions SRL, was created to facilitate Bishop's visa status and property ownership there. Their new non-profit, Ariparte, aims to support Romanian artists and has just received corporate approval, pending 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. Bishop emphasizes that integrating this non-profit adds complexity to their business planning. He also mentions a professional development goal to continuously learn new skills. The episode has a conversational and reflective tone, blending business advice with a personal narrative. It is structured as a monologue update directly addressing the listener. Artists and small business owners, especially in the creative fields, would find this episode highly relevant for its practical planning strategies. Listeners seeking highly produced interviews or art technique tutorials might find the solo format less engaging.

As heard by us

A New Year planning session that keeps the business side of art in focus.

John Bishop spends a New Year planning trip to Austin thinking through how to keep an art business moving. The episode stays close to the work itself: setting goals, opening a new Romanian company, and making sure marketing, sales, productivity, and professional development all…

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Why you'd press play

If you want an art business to map out its year out loud, start here.

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