A few people have pointed out that 'Art Is Broken' is probably not the most inspiringly positive title for this project . . .
 
Yes, the title is 'a tad negative' :-)  I'm open to suggestions, but there is an important point I am trying to make:
 
The artistic profession, as a business, is very much broken. Most artists continue to struggle because we have not yet learned or applied the lessons that many other types of businesses have learned and documented over the last few decades. We continue to approach our product creation and marketing without a clear understanding of how to build a legitimate business from our efforts. 
 
Let's compare the average artist - who will be typically be struggling financially, and working too hard for what they do receive - vs more successful entrepreneurs:
 
The Artist:
 
Most artists follow a consistent pattern: create some work, list it, and wait for it to sell. If it doesn't sell, create more of the same thing, maybe a little better or different, and wait for it to sell. If it still doesn't sell, then we work more and more on our marketing, spending unreasonable amounts of time posting online, advertising, participating in shows, consulting with other artists, etc.  Some artists start to achieve sales this way, but even these 'successful artists' can usually be found working ever-increasing hours, and enduring more and more stress, to sustain their 'success'
 
The Successful Entrepreneur:
 
Over the last few decades, many companies have succeeded wildly, and many more have not. Many of those who have succeeded have followed a certain pattern - either deliberately or through a bit of luck:
 
1) The vision - they see some pressing need in the world, and they have a vision for how they can improve it. This doesn't have to be world-changing, just something that's pressing and important to somebody.
 
2) Customer Discovery: most artists skip this step, and that is our critical mistake. The successful entrepreneur will take their vision, in it's simplest form - a simple description, mockup, or prototype - and begin to talk to potential customers. Their goal is to find out: does anybody really care about my vision? Is there a real need for what I want to create? Who needs it, and why? How does my vision and my perception of their needs fit with their reality?
 
3) Refine and repeat: if you followed step 2 correctly (it's easy actually - just talk to people!), then you should now have a much better idea of your marketplace. Continue to refine your hypothesis, and then put your ideas back in front of customers and refine it more.
 
4) produce your product and refine your marketing: after you know that you are creating something that people really need or want, then it's time to start making it and selling it (and to continue to actively communicate with your customers to refine your product and your marketing. 
 
If you've done steps 1-3 correctly, step 4 becomes much easier - you know exactly who wants your product and why, and how to reach them. You have a very good chance of succeeding wildly.
 
If you haven't done steps 1-3, step 4 is a neverending struggle. You have a very good chance of failing with this approach, until you eventually run out of time, money, and energy. Most artists skip steps two and three - we go directly from step one 'vision' to step 4 'create a product and sell it', without the proper market understanding to be successful.
 
The successful entrepreneur, and the struggling artist or other struggling businesses, will both work long, hard hours and pour a ton of personal energy into building a business. But, exactly how you structure those efforts will determine the long term success of your business. If you're going to be working so hard anyway, why not be a bit more scientific about increasing your chance of success?
 
Where to go from here?
 
Go to google and search for 'customer development'. Most of the articles will seem unrelated to your business of being an artist, but read them anyway. Then, think about how you can apply these principles to your art business.
 
Do other types of business ventures deserve financial success more than you do? Or, do they know something you do not? Are you building a business, or are you content to just be another struggling artist?