A Site for Emerging Artists
Posts tagged Business of art
How to Define Your Dream and Plan Goals
Feb 2nd
By Carolyn Edlund
Here is some good advice I heard the other day at a womens networking breakfast, which is valuable for entrepreneurs launching their businesses, or just dreaming of making a successful career. That is to define, or quantify your dream to set concrete goals and make them achievable.
Do you have a dream such as “selling more work” “making lots of money” or “being a full-time artist”? That’s all good, but in order to actually make this happen, you need to understand what those dreams look like. Visualize yourself and your situation when it’s complete. See yourself winning the race, not just running it. How does it feel? You can get as detailed as you like, as you imagine yourself having completed your goal, enjoying the fruits of your labor.
Then, put some numbers on it. How much work do you want to sell? Five paintings a month? $1,000 worth of jewelry per week? $100,000 worth of artwork this year? Thirty percent more than last year?
Likewise, if you want to show your work in exhibitions, define how many and on what level you plan to do this. If you are looking for freelance jobs, how many per week or month do you want? If you are planning a body of work, how many pieces are in it? How many hours would this take?
Make sure your goals are achievable. Setting goals that are unrealistic will just lead to frustration. Break down your plan into a quarterly, or even monthly basis.
Then work backwards. What needs to happen this month? What do you need to complete by the end of this week? What can you do today to work on your goal?
I’ve always found that last part to be very important. Start your efforts now. Even if all you can do today is make a detailed list, or a couple of phone calls, it gives you momentum to work on your goal, and follow through. Each day do more work toward achieving it. Measure your progress. You can make adjustments if things take longer or go more quickly than planned.
Knowing that you have started working on your dream, and that you know what the results look like are very motivating. Stay focused and see what you can achieve this month!
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What a Gallery Show Can Teach You
Jan 19th
This post is reprinted with permission from Artist Career Training. I highly recommend owner/coach Aletta de Wal as a complete resource for artists who want to learn marketing, promotion and great business practice.
By Robin Sagara
Robin Sagara
Last week I helped a client with the opening reception of his gallery show here in Los Angeles. I work with artists from all over the world and rarely get to see them in person, so this was a rare treat.
It was a busy, successful show, and being there in person reminded me of some great gallery “do’s and don’ts” and I want to share them with you while they’re fresh in my mind.
So, you’ve got a gallery show. Now what?
If your art career is a sentence, which part of the sentence is the show? Most artists I speak with view the show as the end of the sentence, the period, the culmination. It’s not. The show is a comma, just a pause, not the be-all, end-all and not the final point. It’s good to keep that in mind. The sentence analogy is from Aletta de Wal and she’s right. Perspective: what happens at the show is just part of a bigger picture. Remember this when you’re feeling overwhelmed or panicky, or when you’re counting on this one show to make or break your career. It won’t.
Leave more time than you think you’ll need for marketing and promotion.
Six months is not too soon to start. Really, the time will fly by, so get going on it! Sure, the gallery will probably do something to help but remember: The days of the gallery doing all your marketing and promo are gone. Long gone. Start sooner rather than later getting the word out. Take photos to document the show for your website and follow-up marketing.
Present yourself as a very successful artist.
Promoting the “starving artist” image by wearing old shabby clothing and sporting an attitude isn’t going to help people perceive you as an up-and-coming artist whose work they want to buy. Dress like you respect yourself and your art, because if you don’t, they won’t.
The gallery staff are critical to your success.
Don’t alienate them by making demands or treating them badly, even if they treat you badly. It’s their territory, honor that and don’t lock horns. Tact and clear communication will help you get what you want and need. Introduce yourself to all the staff. They will help you in ways you never expected and offer creative solutions to the inevitable bumps in the road.
Work the room.
Move around, talk to people. I know, I know, it can be intimidating if you’re an introvert (like me). I always feel awkward but I do it. Remember that you will greatly benefit from it, it gets way easier with practice. People will notice, they’ll ask you questions, you’ll start to form critical relationships. People will feel like they’re part of your world, and your art, and that’s a very important part of the buying process.
Work your mailing list signups.
If you just put a mailing list signup sheet out you probably won’t get many names or addresses and it won’t help you build your oh-so-important mailing list. Instead, ask people if they want to be added, or have a friend do it. Just write down their info as they dictate it, painless for them and you’ll get valuable contact info for the future. Don’t leave it to chance.
Oh, and check with the gallery about who owns the names and addresses you collect at the show. A mailing list is a huge asset for a gallery, so get clear beforehand on who gets what and how it can be used.
You sold something at the show? Yipee! Didn’t sell a thing? Still, yipee!
Selling something at the show is great, but it doesn’t always happen. Getting a show is an accomplishment in itself, and many artists never sell a thing at their first few shows. Remember, this is all a comma in the sentence of your art career, not a period. It all fits into a bigger picture, a bigger plan. Sales at the show are nice, but the bulk of the sales will likely come AFTER the show, from the follow up and ongoing marketing work.
Sell it, but don’t give it away.
Doesn’t matter who the person is, they should pay for your art. Friends, relatives. Really. Show them the price list. You’re in business to sell your art. The very best way people can support you and appreciate you is to pay for it, just like everyone else does.
You can’t do it all yourself, learn to delegate.
You’ll need to be available to circulate and chat with potential and previous buyers (buyers become collectors of your work over time). Get some help. As the saying goes, “Hire your weakness” and have competent people supporting you. Maybe someone for the mailing list, someone to help with the arrangements/food, someone to…
Roll with the punches.
Stuff happens. Unexpected stuff, awkward stuff. Do the best you can and improvise a solution. Forget to bring some red dots to mark sold work? (Yeah, yeah, that would be me.) There is probably an office, gift shop, or a reception desk in the gallery and they likely have some dots or at least some sticky notes and a scissors. Improvise.
Follow-up after the show.
Very important. Get those names and addresses into your mailing list software, follow up with people who were interested in your work or just thank everyone for being there to support you. Oh go ahead, give them a call or drop them a postcard with a lovely hand-written note. The bulk of your sales, long term, will come from follow-up.
_______________________________________________
So, hope this was helpful! If you’re ready to seriously “put the rubber to the road,” I WANT to hear from you.
Don’t forget, 15-minute consultations are complimentary. We had lots of responses from the last tip and it’s been great getting to know y`all. Truly! To set one up with Aletta (getting clear, strategy, coaching) or me (you know what you want to do, you need help and advice about getting it all done) email me: robin@artistcareertraining.com.
As always, all my best to you and yours!
P.S. Check out gallery dealer Kathy Swift’s “What I Learned As A Gallery Dealer That I Wish I Had Known As An Artist.”
A Disaster and a Valuable Lesson
Jan 14th
By Carolyn Edlund
Back in the 1990′s, I had a rather unsettling experience, and learned a valuable lesson in the process. After setting up my booth at an art show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, I went to park my car. When I returned, my booth was missing – literally. Running closer, I found that my (former) canopy was lying tangled and twisted, halfway down the bank of the Susquehanna River, with an upside-down golf cart on top of it.
An employee of the show promoter was driving that cart, with a passenger, and had stepped on the gas rather than the brake. It took out half a glass artist’s booth and totaled mine. I realized how incredibly fortunate I was to have been out of my booth for the few seconds that it took to destroy it. However, two people were taken to the hospital on back boards by EMT’s, which was the worst part of the accident.
A few weeks later, I received a check for several thousand dollars for my loss, and promptly called Flourish Company and ordered the very best display canopy they made, with all the bells and whistles.
That disaster taught me a valuable lesson which could have saved my own business. I was lucky in that I was the victim in that situation, and that the show promoter carried insurance. How easily could I have been in their shoes? I’d been working without insurance for too many years, and this was a wake-up call. I had heard horror stories (like the jeweler at a show who had a gust of wind break their case, sending a flying shard of glass which cut off a customer’s nose). But could that happen to me? Could that happen to you?
Insurance covers both property (like your studio, and your inventory) and liability (any claims made against you for loss or damage others may suffer due to your negligence). The Crafts Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) reports that
about 69 percent of working artists are not properly insured against an accident or disaster that might damage or destroy their equipment, tools, supplies, or inventory.
- Are you under the impression that your homeowners insurance policy will cover your home studio? It does not, unless you have a rider to that effect on your policy.
- Do you believe that your personal auto policy will cover your valuable work while you are driving to a show or for business purposes? Think again. You may need a Business Auto policy.
- Are you aware that if you sell work from your home studio, you are open to any claims from a customer who is injured on your property? Consider getting a Businessowner’s policy.
The Crafts Report features an excellent article by Patrice Lewis on this subject, which gives lots of useful information.
Sit down with your insurance agent and learn how you can protect yourself and your work by obtaining proper coverage. You can also visit sites like the Artist Help Network and CERF, which list insurance carriers who tailor plans for artists and craftspeople. Often artist guilds and organizations have plans which offer insurance plans at reasonable premiums to members as well.
Turning Artists into Businesspeople/Interview with MICA Dean David Gracyalny
Jan 10th
by Carolyn Edlund
David Gracyalny
Are you an artist with the desire to make a career in your field, but feel that you don’t have the business knowledge to be successfully self-employed? This is a common problem, which has been exacerbated by a general lack of business education at the undergraduate level in many art schools and university art programs.
I had the opportunity to speak with the Dean of Continuing Studies at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) , David Gracyalny, about this need, and a new graduate degree that the school is offering to educate and prepare artists for the challenging business world.
The past few decades have been a time of immense change in the way artists do business. Gracyalny speaks about “returning distribution of creative product to the creator,” or giving control of art business and sales to the artists themselves, a trend which started back in the 1970’s and 80’s and is rapidly becoming a new business model.
The Master of Professional Studies (MPS) degree at MICA is a 14-month program, alternating brief “residencies” (which are actually long weekends) where the students meet with faculty and each other, with intensive online courses lasting eight weeks. This degree is described as “small business administration for artists and designers.” Structured to be convenient for students in the work world, it can actually accommodate international attendance.
MICA is an art school with a superb reputation in the United States, and their MPS in the Business of Art and Design program is the first of its
kind in this country. Course selection includes Financial Management, Marketing (including social networking), Art Licensing, Human Resources, Contracts, Taxes, Intellectual Property, and Public Speaking, among other subjects. These are specifically tailored to relate to the creative community rather than general businesspeople.
Gracyalny cites a statistic from the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the lifespan of small businesses: Sixty percent will fail within the first four years. Eighty-five percent of the surviving businesses are run by people with business training. This makes it essential for artists planning to become self-employed to learn the art of business.
Interested? The application deadline is rapidly approaching. Check out MICA’s website for more information.
Oh, and about those of us who are still disappointed that we didn’t get enough business know-how as undergrads? Thomas James of Escape from Illustration Island has written an “Open Letter to Art Students Everywhere”. I think he makes some excellent points.
Plan for the New Year by Building on Your Current Success
Jan 2nd
By Carolyn Edlund
Are you thinking of business strategies for 2011? There are many different ways to publicize, market and sell your artwork, and you might want to try a few new avenues to sell your art in the new year.
Prioritize by reviewing your business plan, and set goals for each quarter of 2011. This will help focus your energies, and allow you to be accountable and measure your progress. Do you want to set up a Twitter account? Does your website need serious updating? Are your current sales methods less effective due to the sagging economy? Choose a couple of goals; don’t overburden yourself with too many projects. SMART goals are measurable and achievable. Being overwhelmed just leads to frustration and failure.
One of the most effective strategies for growing business is to focus on the clients you already have. Look over your existing customer list, and determine the people who have given you the most, and repeat business, during the last year or two. This will generally be about 20% of your customer base. Staying in contact with existing customers is a major driver of future sales – in fact, acquiring a new customer is 5 to 10 times more expensive than selling to existing customers. Build on your current success by continuing to sell more work to those clients; asking for testimonials and referrals, and communicating with them by email marketing, newsletters, direct mail and even phone calls.
Courtesy Judith Heartsong
Take a look at this article from Inc. magazine for ideas on how to keep in touch and sell to your base. This may sound geared towards corporations, but in fact it applies to anyone in business. If you are an artist wanting to sell your work as a full-time career, that’s you.
Building on your current success also means strengthening relationships you have already made over the past year. After you make a sale, or participate in a show, do you just move on? Think of how you can grow that connection into a more permanent business source. Relationship marketing is increasingly important; advertising is less effective than it used to be, and word of mouth referrals are just about the most powerful sales tool you could have.
What are your New Year’s resolutions and plans for growing business? Who would you like to make a connection with to grow your art career?
Visit www.judithheartsong.com to see more of her portfolio.
Featured Artist Julia Hacker
