January 5, 2009

 ACE Newsletter

2010 Business Plan, GOALS and Template:

Good morning First of all a big THANK YOU to those of you who value our experience and advice enough to invest $17.99-$24.99 in our art marketing audios and ebooks! It is indeed a labor of love, not a way to get rich :-).  Quite frankly it's more of a donation for the time we devote to keep you motivated, inspired, involved and informed in your art career!
Any business requires a capital outlay of money and we know our books will save you thousands of dollars in the long run!
Now for some great tips!

STEVE:

 We are now in the month of January, named after the Roman god Janus. Janus had two faces, one to look forward and one to look back. That is what we need to do now.
 
Looking back.  
First, start with what you accomplished last year. After what has been such a rotten year economically, a look at all the positive events is in order.
Second. Look at how these accomplishments helped you realize or move toward your goals. Look at what you planned to do and didn't get done. Did that hinder you or did you end up taking another path toward your goals?
 
Let me explain how I am defining goals in reference to the business side of our art. Making $500, $5000, $50,000 this week, month, year is a goal. Going to six art shows this month would be a step in achieving this goal. While participating in the shows is sort of a goal in itself, it would be a sub-goal to the first goal. In other words, making the money is important, how you do that is secondary.
 
Let's say your goal was to get into such and such a gallery. Did you do it? Yes? Great. The next question is, how much of your work did they sell?
 What you want to look at is how what you did or didn't do last year moved you toward or away from your desired income. This is what you need to know to be able to plan ahead for 2010. What did you do last year that was not on your plan? Did it help? Did it lead to another way of reaching your goal?
Going back to the example of doing art shows, if you sent out a newsletter or called your collectors letting them know that you were participating in such and such a show and ended up selling pieces online because of those calls, but the show itself wasn't so great, what did you learn? If you sat at home called your collectors/potential collectors and made more money than you did by driving 500 miles setting up a tent and display, working a show for 3 days or more than taking it down and driving home, all the while paying for gas, meals and lodging, perhaps you should spend a little more time making direct contact with the people on your list. Am I saying then that you drop the shows and just stay home making phone calls and sending emails. No, but you might want to spend more time and energy on direct contact.
 
Remember the 80/20 rule. Twenty percent of your effort leads to eighty percent of your results. Look at what worked last year. Build on that. We do want to work smarter not harder. It's hard enough already. If you didn't love doing it, you probably wouldn't.
 
Keep you eye on the ultimate goal. Think of it as a destination. Your plan is your mapped out journey. You might get to your destination by a different route than you planned, but if you didn't have that map and follow it at first, you would still be sitting in the driveway.
 
Time to get out to the studio and work towards those goals
 

 THERESA:

Many have privately emailed business plan examples to me and that's great! I thought it may be a good idea to share a basic business plan template  that will allow you to take it, tweak it and make it your own! As Steve said-go on and make a list of what you accomplished. Sometimes it is so easy to get wrapped up in your many goals that you can forget how far you've come!

Some basics never change. For example, evaluate your goals. Look at where you are now, then look at where you want to be. But it does not stop there.
You HAVE to write down HOW you want to reach those goals and when!
 
Let's also clarify that this is NOT an art plan. There is a difference! A business plan is designed to focus you on what you need to do with your art product to bring home a paycheck. An art plan is where you want to be artistically. You may want to learn a new aspect of what you do or try something different. And it may turn into something that does bring home a paycheck. But it does not have to be! So separate the two.

Business Plan Template Example:

Goals: Write down what/where you want to be financially

ie: A.  To organize and implement  plans that bring in both active and residual INCOME in order to  maintain and surpass current lifestyle and provide a steady income within the parameters of what I do now
ie: B  Make enough every month to make my car payment
ie: C  Earn $XYZ this year with art sales. (this  is a common goal but useless without going on and writing down HOW you are going to achieve this! See further down)

If you need to be more specific, do so!

Current Plan:

What are you doing now? What did you do last year? Write it ALL down! Be very specific . Then you can see which ones did not meet your expectations and which ones did. Reread what Steve wrote. The following are just examples

1. Sell originals at art co-op
2. sell prints on website
3. Ebay and Etsy
      a. originals
      b. prints
      c. tote bags
4. Art shows
      a. local
      b. out of state
5. Participated in juried shows
6. Held home art parties
7. etc.


New, additional Methods to achieve Goals

 After seeing what you did last year you are better able to add or eliminate what you did and want to do this year. This is where you not only think about what might work (you never know) but list the places that might work. Here are a few ways to break it down

1. Online Sales
      a. Ebay-expand offerings
         1. ACEO’s
         2. Prints
         3. Originals
         4. Tote bags
         5. Tee shirts/kits, etc.
      b.  Website “Buy it now’s”-Add small items, add collectibles, etc. 
      c.   set up Facebook
      d.  Etsy-research it
      e.  Specific art Galleries   (write them down)
      f.   Put videos on YouTube
               1. who I am and what I do
               2. how to silk screen a ,,,,,,
               3. etc, etc

2. Art instruction (at location, online, in your studio?)
      a. private lessons
      b. art workshops (where?)
      c. work at school, etc etc.

3. Art venues: (where to display?)
      a. local restaurant
      b. hardware store
      c. little studio at warehouse
      d. street shows
      e. local art festivals, etc etc. (name them)
      f. art studio tour
      g. work in front of XYZ restaurant every Sunday

4. Website
       a, update galleries (or make one, or change one, etc)

5. Current promotion
       a.Website
       b. update email listings, blogs. (possible email preview of blog)
       c. note cards and postcards.
                  Note cards  for prospect & client
                  Post cards
       d. personal contact
                 (call before shows, etc)

6. Create a body of work to be available for shows and sales
       a. an art product a day (or week)  whatever it is you do
       b. work with X to get display built for art product display, etc

7. Art Galleries
       a. Gallery X
       b. Gallery Y, etc.
       c. Form a co-op gallery?
            1. call art friends
            2. research, etc etc.


I think you can  see the format and where you can add or subtract areas to fit your particular art. Once you start this format, you will find yourself becoming more detailed (which is good) and adding to your list and breaking it down into bitesize pieces rather than sitting down to a full size banquet.
 
Review this list daily. When you have completed something, mark through it in RED. A power color :-)   You may find it additionally helpful to make a monthly "to do" list to get your goals done. Got an outdoor show in April? Fix the tent or display NOW! See?

Take the time to make this a comprhensive plan. Then year after year, you can tweak it, not rewrite it.

Now-go on and get started!

A reminder....

If you are local to the North Carolina area, we are holding a workshop at the Jerrysartarama Store in Raleigh NC on Thursday, January 14 from 5-7 pm.   It's a great opportunity to meet us in person and let us help you get motivated for your 2010 art marketing goals!
Our remarkable seminar is a whopping $10.00 investment in your future and you can register online at:

http://www.jerrysartevents.com/ja14mybubufa.html

Space is limited so act now!

Until later,

Theresa and Steve

Jumpstart your art career with our audio books and instant downloads of our e-books 

Click on image