Meet Richard Hart

We were lucky to catch up with Richard Hart recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Richard, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

As a kid liking sports I always searched for information that would help me perform better. Ultimately all roads led to dedication and commitment. If I wanted to be an athlete and enjoy whatever sport I was doing and be good at it, there had to be a plan in place. By seeking this out I learned to embrace the suck and just do the work. There are no short cuts and positive results are earned not given. A strong belief in self is an important trait because ultimately you’re betting on yourself.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I guess I could be identified as a “late bloomer” as far as being an artist is concerned. I graduated college with a fine arts degree but never pursued as a career until about 4 years ago. Without aging myself too much – I went decades before picking up the pencils again.

Social media is largely responsible for the exposure of my art and how I was able to monetize it. Starting out I posted some sketches on Facebook relevant to the conversation topic not expecting anyone to like or care about it. Surprisingly I was immediately contacted by people wanting to purchase originals and prints. That got the ball rolling. I went from having a few hundred friends on one social media platform to 40,000 in a matter of months. One image alone received 250,000 views and comments. I really had no idea what skill level I was but this response level assisted my decision to pursue art full time. However, the main reason I chose this path is for the sheer joy and happiness it brings to people. It’s very emotional and personal so I’m committed to doing my best on every custom piece. I also continue to draw the images I like so that I’m not just only doing what other people want or like.

I’d love for anyone reading this to link up with me on one of my socials.

Instagram – @richardhartjr

Tik Tok – @richardhart_art

Facebook – Richard Hart
Richard Hart Art
LinkedIn – Richard Hart

Website – https://www.richardhartart.com/

Please say hello

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

People skills are paramount to anything you do. Having charisma and social energy aren’t traits you’re born with so like muscles they have to be developed and exercised. I’ve come to understand that many art buyers not only want the art but they want the story behind the art – the creator. I’ve had many prospects on the fence until we got to know each other. Once they learned who I was, embraced my passion and commitment to what I do, they not only became buyers but followers as well. Listening, asking questions and being genuinely interested in who is buying my art and where it’s going to be displayed disarms even the most difficult person and forges relationships that live past the sale.

I’ve always advocated what some describe as the hedgehog approach to my career. This simply means find the one thing you can become exceptional at, love doing and sustain financially and then commit to it 100%. And by commit I mean GRIND day in and day out.

And on the topic of “grind” – staying consistent, effective, and focused without burning out is pretty much mandatory for long term sustainability. Motivation fades. Systems don’t. I’ve always married myself to plans that track progress and keep momentum going versus trying to always be perfect. Routine and Structure don’t go in the same sentence as “artist” but to survive, unfortunately, they have to.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

Since social media is the anchor to my business, collaborators or other social media influencers open to posting content with me always increases my reach. Basically their followers see my work giving it more exposure. For example, I’ve done drawings of athletes or musicians that agreed to co-post the finished product and the results were always very positive. A good percentage of their followers start following me and sometimes they reach out for custom work or prints of originals already completed. Always a big win for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.richardhartart.com/
• Instagram: @richardhartjr
• Facebook: Richard Hart
• Linkedin: Richard Hart
• Twitter: @richardhartart
• Youtube: @RichardHartArt

Image Credits

None