Everyone agrees that the economy has taken a turn for the worse. New credit is a challenge, the dollar has taken a dive, food and fuel prices are on the rise, and real estate has hit rock bottom. In short, people are hesitant when it comes to spending because they aren’t sure where the economy is headed.

The art market has been impacted as well, as people have less income to play with. Selling art is a challenge even in a healthy market—and the present economic times make it seem almost impossible. If you’re going to survive, you’ll have to adjust to the prevailing conditions of the day.

Here are a few tips:

Readjust your prices—Ride with the market and adjust your pricing as quickly as possible. Artwork sitting on the shelf doesn’t do anyone any good. Your artwork is like real estate, and will reflect higher values at any given time.

Reduce what you’re asking in the galleries—In hard times, it makes sense to lower the asking price to keep your talent in front of the people who will buy. Art, like anything else, will fluctuate according to supply and demand.

Consider selling your work on an installment plan—Just make sure you’re not tying up works of art that can sell outright by placing them on installment.

Barter your artwork—Believe it or not, you can barter your artwork for everything form dental work, legal services, construction work, to the work of other artists and home furniture. Once you start thinking in these terms, the ideas will begin to flow.

Get involved with online networking resources for artists. This is where online research comes in handy. Tough times can actually be a springboard to success—because they make you think In ways you wouldn’t have imagined otherwise.