Consumer demands are changing. Customers want more immediate access to the best relevant deals and are using the Internet as the primary way to redeem coupons. Now, one in five smartphone users use mobile coupons and the demographics of coupon users are shifting. AN excerpt:

Developing a strong work ethic has never stunted any artist’s creativity. And whoever thinks that is simply looking for an easy out! So with that in mind, if you need your ego stroked and your hand held, and my “get ‘er done” directness offends you, there are plenty of other bloggers making big money soft peddling the “artist life fantasy!” So I won’t apologize for skipping the feel good stuff because if you are serious about making a living with your art, you will be more interested, and won’t mind, getting down to brass tacks and making a Plan of Action for the year!

You would do well to follow the patterns of successful businesses and see what the trends are (they all have invested big bucks into market analysis) before randomly deciding to increase or decrease something as complex as pricing.

As the economy rolls on, all businesses are faced with decisions that were not in a long range business plan! Even the big boys are struggling to make sense of changing customer needs and have had to come up with creative and innovative marketing ideas to stay afloat.

If you read our advice on creating and artist’s business plan and think “but I just want to be an artist” or “so and so’s online advice seems easier”, then you are buying into the fantasy world that non-working artists are promoting and will have to make some intelligent choices .

It is telling that the most often asked question in our art marketing seminars is “How do I price my work?” The artists who ask, regardless of what they just heard from me in the seminar, are searching for an easy, magical formula for instant success. And top of their list is the thought ” skip the rest-just tell me how to price my art so I can sell”

Can’t accept a compliment gracefully? What we learned about dismissing or negating a compliment was that you are essentially telling the person giving you the compliment is that “his/her tastes are not very good.” Think about that and it will make sense!

So don’t hyperventilate over the multitude of online social sites. Handle only what you can handle. After all, at some point you have to find the time to create your art!

Know your organizational weaknesses and make a decision to overcome them because if you do not, then every show will become an ordeal……very often it is not the work that is the biggest issue but how we are seeing it and handling it!.

…….it is always good to remember that we sent men into space without “how to” ebooks