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The Fast and Easy Shortcuts to Success?

ace — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 11:00:43 +0000

ACE Newsletter (teaser!)

The Fast and Easy Shortcuts to Success?

by M.Theresa Brown

An interesting discussion began the other day when, on a yahoo group message board, a list of the 12 ways to be successful as an artist were published. The 12 steps were “OK advice” but pretty generic and from a popular Internet art marketing site and I responded to the post with the following:

“Oh my, real world experience counts for a lot in these discussions.

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”

Those artists are not understanding or accepting that there is no single answer. I tell them it is the “whole package” which is the key to pricing their art. But even putting the “correct price” on a piece of art will not sell it!
From what I have seen and heard, very few artists today are willing to work as hard as it takes to develop that package

They pop from one guru’s message to another looking for the yellow brick road and a way to the top with as little effort as possible:-) And along the way, they go nowhere because there is always the underlying voice telling them “but that’s a lot of work” or “I don’t know if I can do that” and off they go looking for a message that sounds more in keeping with what they’d like to do.”

Want to read the rest of this insightful article? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletters and enjoy articles from us and our knowledgeable guest artists by signing up for our FREE newsletters at Art Career Experts.

BTW-did you notice the “teaser” form of writing? This seems to be the era of a new news form of Internet writing. Gone are the days when the summary of the whole article was in the first paragraph. Now most headlines when you turn on your computer are questions. “Did the man jump from the building?” “Did the war end?” The old time newsmen would roll over in the grave.

The art school “cult.”

ace — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 11:04:35 +0000

The mother of a 25 year old student called me again yesterday. I had been on the phone with her the month before for over an hour as she poured out her concerns about what was happening to her son in college in his fine arts program.

“The changes have been alarming! My talented yet sensible son has changed his appearance, his attitude, quotes Lenin and promotes Marxism. I ask him about his job prospects but he just dismisses his father and I with some comment about “You don’t get it, It’s not about the money.” Yet he’s $45,000 in debt with school loans. How do we get him out of there? It’s awful-it’s like some kind of cult!”

During another hour long phone conversation I had to repeat my advice from before-there was nothing that she could do. It was not him calling me asking for advice; it was her. She had purchased our ebooks with the hope of him gaining insight but he had so far refused to even listen to them. Our August newsletter addresses the issues of what is happening in the Arts programs in our nation’s liberal arts colleges and universities. The leanings towards socialism, communism and Marxist views is certainly not new. The churning out of students unprepared to earn a living in the world with their painting or printing degrees is not new. The accumulation of tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt is not new. The unhappy views of unhappy professors is not new.

So what is happening? The mother had been told that students’ brains were not maturing until they were in their 30′s today. What sort of bullshit is that? Parents and schools today are turning out a whole generation of whiny, dependent child/adults , thanks, in part, to their 24/7 hovering and dumbed down, federally funded education systems.

This blog is not long enough for the “rest of the story” so pick up the rest of it in our free newsletter!

The argument against donating art to charity auctions…..

ace — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 11:09:43 +0000

An excellent, well written article from the Huffington Post by Matt Gleason and parodying what we promote! We too have arrived at the same conclusion that this writer has. And it is a brave stand as nothing ruffles feathers like telling an artist that donating CASH to a good cause rather than his art makes way more sense! It is what we do……besides, confess…don’t you usually donate that piece that no one has bought yet? Or the one you do not think will ever sell? Or convince yourself that it is feels better and grander to say you donated a $500.00 piece of art to a good cause rather than really pulling out “just” $25.00 or $50.00? Or better yet, donate your piece and buy it back for full price if you truly want to participate in a totally charitable way?
Below is an excerpt from the middle of the article…read the whole thing and you will see a well put together argument against charity auctions!

………….I would love to hear the story of the artist whose career rocketed to success because he or she donated a work to a charity auction and this act alone tipped the first domino toward an avalanche of success coming his or her way. This narrative is always implied. I’ve never seen it happen.

Charity art auctions are the emptiest of promises to artists: you give us your work, you get nothing in return except a party invite to an event where you are a second class citizen. Watch as the price of what you really will let your work go for is nakedly advertised to the select group of people to whom your work is meant to be seen as rare and desirable.

Suppose you want to at least deduct a donation of your art to the charity, guess what? The law only allows an artist to deduct the cost of materials. Meanwhile a collector can buy your work for the minimum bid, have it appraised at its full retail value and donate it to some other good cause for that top dollar amount…………

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mat-gleason/charity-art-auctions-_b_872953.html

If “Art Should Sell Itself” then how come I’m so broke?

ace — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 16:07:15 +0000

This is an article that I just wrote for the jerrysartarama SPLATTER blog so follow the link for the “rest of the story!”

“Art Should Sell Itself!”

That would be nice. But it doesn’t and it won’t happen. Not in your lifetime. And curiously enough, artists actually know this. But somewhere back in their mind is some group, book or individual whispering that phrase to them and early education is very powerful…..even if it is utterly wrong!

Artists who feel that their Art needs to only be displayed and the buying public will flock to their studio or booth at an art show and push money eagerly into their hands can be seen everywhere. and are easily identifiable by both their attitudes and how they dress.

The “Art Should Sell Itself” artists are especially prevelant at Art and Craft Shows where they can be seen reading a book, or instant messaging on their cell phones, or lounging sleepily in their chairs. They ignore possible collectors completely, or stand in front of their booths blocking the entrance and engaging in conversations with friends and relatives. Or they are gathering in groups with other vendors to complain about the show. They are wearing their “official artist clothes”…..cut off shorts and flip flops and many unconsciously spend a lot of time trying to perfect their perception of what an artist is supposed to look like and do. Sometimes the green hair helps…..

Read the rest here: http://www.jerrysartarama.com/blog/post/2011/06/09/If-Art-Should-Sell-Itself-then-why-am-I-so-broke.aspx

Do I really need Facebook?

ace — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 11:33:53 +0000

We can always use an extra laugh and I thought this funny email making the rounds pretty much said it all! Actually the “over 30″ remember life before it was controlled by electronics and it is always good to remember that we sent men into space without “how to” ebooks

Sent by an over 55 yr old……………..

When I bought my Blackberry, I thought about the 30-year business I ran with 1800 employees, all without a cell phone that plays music, takes videos, pictures and communicates with Facebook and Twitter.
I signed up under duress for Twitter and Facebook, so my seven kids, their spouses, 13 grand kids and 2 great grand kids could communicate with me in the modern way. I figured I could handle something as simple as Twitter with only 140 characters of space.

That was before one of my grand kids hooked me up for Tweeter, Tweetree, Twhirl, Twitterfon, Tweetie and Twittererific Tweetdeck, Twitpix and something that sends every message to my cell phone and every other program within the texting world..

My phone was beeping every three minutes with the details of everything except the bowel movements of the entire next generation. I am not ready to live like this. I keep my cell phone in the garage in my golf bag.

The kids bought me a GPS for my last birthday because they say I get lost every now and then going over to the grocery store or library. I keep that in a box under my tool bench with the Blue tooth [it's red] phone I am supposed to use when I drive. I wore it once and was standing in line at Barnes and Noble talking to my wife and everyone in the nearest 50 yards was glaring at me. I had to take my hearing aid out to use it, and I got a little loud.

I mean the GPS looked pretty smart on my dash board, but the lady inside that gadget was the most annoying, rudest person I had run into in a long time. Every 10 minutes, she would sarcastically say, “Re-calc-u-lating.” You would think that she could be nicer. It was like she could barely tolerate me. She would let go with a deep sigh and then tell me to make a U-turn at the next light. Then if I made a right turn instead. Well, it was not a good relationship.
When I get really lost now, I call my wife and tell her the name of the cross streets and while she is starting to develop the same tone as Gypsy, the GPS lady, at least she loves me.

To be perfectly frank, I am still trying to learn how to use the cordless phones in our house. We have had them for 4 years, but I still haven’t figured out how I can lose three phones all at once and have to run around digging under chair cushions and checking bathrooms and the dirty laundry baskets when the phone rings..

The world is just getting too complex for me. They even mess me up every time I go to the grocery store. You would think they could settle on something themselves but this sudden “Paper or Plastic?” every time I check out just knocks me for a loop. I bought some of those cloth reusable bags to avoid looking confused, but I never remember to take them in with me.

Now I toss it back to them. When they ask me, “Paper or Plastic?” I just say, “Doesn’t matter to me. I am bi-sacksual.” Then it’s their turn to stare at me with a blank look. I was recently asked if I tweet. I answered, no, but I do toot a lot.”

P.S. I know some of you are not over 50 . I sent it to you to allow you to forward it to those who are.
Us senior citizens don’t need anymore gadgets. The tv remote and the garage door remote are about all we can ha

Are you sure you want a Critique?

theresa — Mon, 30 May 2011 21:26:26 +0000

Critiques. If you are an artist, you cannot escape the universal usage nor overexposure of the word, “Critique.” It is used randomly about the art world to the point where you either embrace the concept or reject it entirely. In art, Critiques are used in grade school, in art lessons, art lecturers and schools of every caliber. But without a doubt it has gained widespread usage on the Internet message boards! But is a critique really what all these artists are asking for?
A description of the word: “Critique has been used as a verb meaning “to review or discuss critically” since the 18th century, but lately this usage has gained much wider currency, in part because the verb criticize, once neutral between praise and censure, is now mainly used in a negative sense. But this use of critique is still regarded by many as pretentious jargon…..”

You can read this in its entirety in our newsletter! If you are not signed up (hey it’s free!) then pop over to Art Career Experts and we’ll add you to the list!

Graphic Guild Lawsuit dismissed

ace — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 12:30:03 +0000

This information may have passed you by but the dedicated efforts of the Illustrated Partnership of America and many involved artists who wrote letters and emails in support of the IPA and artists’ rights to their own work!

Each of these developments involves an effort by third parties to define artists’ work and/or royalties as orphaned property, and to assert the right, in the name of the public interest or class representation, to exploit that work commercially or to appropriate the royalties for use at their sole discretion.So far, judges have affirmed that copyright is an individual, not a collective right, and that unless one explicitly transfers that right, no business or organization can automatically acquire it by invoking an orphaned property premise. Now the challenge for artists will be to see that Congress does not pass legislation to permit what the courts have so far denied.

So the news below in the article is good news indeed!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Graphic Artists Guild Lawsuit Dismissed

Last week the New York State Supreme Court, New York County, dismissed all claims in a million dollar lawsuit brought by the Graphic Artists Guild (GAG) against the Illustrators’ Partnership of America (IPA) and five named individuals.
In the lawsuit, GAG asserted claims for defamation and interference with contractual relations, alleging that IPA had interfered with a “business relationship” GAG had entered into that enabled GAG to collect orphaned reprographic royalties derived from the licensing of illustrators’ work. GAG alleged that efforts by IPA to create a collecting society to return lost royalties to artists “interfered” with GAG’s “business” of appropriating these orphaned fees.
In her decision, Judge Debra James ruled that statements made by the Illustrators’ Partnership and the other defendants were true; that true statements cannot be defamatory; that illustrators have a “common interest” in orphaned income; and that a “common-interest privilege” may arise from both a right and a duty to convey relevant information, however contentious, to others who share that interest or duty.
Regarding a key statement at issue in the lawsuit: that GAG had taken over one and a half million dollars of illustrators’ royalties “surreptitiously,” the judge wrote:
“Inasmuch as the statement [by IPA] was true, [GAG]‘s claim cannot rest on allegations of a reckless disregard of whether it was false or not. Truthful and accurate statements do not give rise to defamation liability concerns.” (Emphasis added.)
And she noted:
“The plaintiff Guild has conceded that it received foreign reproductive royalties and that it does not distribute any of the money to artists.”

The complete article is here:

http://ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/2011/04/graphic-artists-guild-lawsuit-dismissed_27.html

The Power of Social Networks

ace — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 01:30:32 +0000

The Power of Social Networks

Although I have shared my insights and successes about social networking before, (especially Facebook) , there is nothing I can improve upon in the following article from marketing book author, Penny Sansevieri!

I am constantly encouraged at how many artists, once they see their business as a business, discover that ALL businesses operate in essentially the same fashion..and that their business is no different when it comes to the basics such as marketing, social networking, customer relations, etc.

Enjoy this nice, clearly written article from a writer’s perspective and see how it applies to you as an artist!

http://www.jerrysartarama.com/blog/post/2011/04/04/The-Power-of-Social-Networks-by-M-Theresa-Brown.aspx

First Complaint from a client-Customer Service

ace — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:34:28 +0000

Recently on another message board devoted entirely to artists who paint one particular subject (all styles, etc) someone had dealt with a first complaint from the client and was asking how to handle it.
I am blogging my reply here because it is relevant to any artist who works on commission…no matter what you paint. Also realize that there is no ONE answer to handling a client’s complaints…..it is all a package-you, what you do and how you present yourself and your art to the world (so to speak) References to ACE are because it was originally posted on another site
__________________________________________________________________________

Oh my, this is actually a complicated question with lots of replies based on so many factors, but OVERALL, The whole complaint issue can be resolved ahead of time by YOU being (or learning to be) the one in control

Working on commission means you are an artist for hire. Plain and simple.

The other determining factor in your “complaint meter” is PRICE. Price determines everything.

With over twenty years and thousands of portraits behind me, I find that the more money people invest in my portraits, the more cooperative they are. Seriously. The $300.00 person will, without exception, ask for more changes than the client who just invested $5,000.!

But there’s much more…..although staying in control means you are the expert and the professional, you need to be skilled enough to be able to do what you have been hired to do! You are, after all, working for them

I have found many artists who never practice their craft until they get a commission and then wonder why the client is unhappy.
Your client should not be your guinea pig
Many artists I know, give painting workshops and the next thing they know their happy students are getting a commission (good) but the instructor is getting phone calls and emails from that student wanting to know why their new client is not happy with the results (bad) …the photo is not clear, the eyes are in shadow, etc., etc………..If you are skilled enough and have painted enough, and know what your subject really looks like, then you know how to work around bad photography.

You are confident of your abilities because you have practiced! And along with that comes your PEOPLE skills.

Browse the articles on my other site, www.artcareerexperts.com and find the one about how to stop clients from coming back for changes AFTER the sale. It took me investing a lot of money into non-art marketing information to discover THAT sales technique (I had to learn it too)
In summary and fact, (and I stress this in my ebook- ) clients do respect your professional opinion and expertise more if you “charge” enough money for your work! They put more value in your opinion as the expert. “price determines everything.”

Theresa
The Portraits: www.MTheresaBrown.com
The Artist’s Day: www.mtheresabrown.blogspot.com
Art Classes: www.ArtStudentAcademy.com
Career Artists: www.ArtCareerExperts.com

Why you may not be ready to become a business

theresa — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 16:13:15 +0000

Oh wow-there is a long thread on another forum that I belong to with advice from many, various artists on “starting a fine art business” being thrown around like it was a recipe for biscuits! I am always amazed at how quickly someone will take advice from someone who may not be where they want to be! (think about that)
Finally after browsing through dozens of replies-all honest and well intentioned, but still lacking in real life functionality, I saw the real problem underlying all the comments and I have copied my reply here because it is so relevant to all artists.

There is nothing magical about the word “business”.So many artists feel that they must justify this somehow. It does not happen overnight and I constantly remind artists that it is hard work. It is a state of mind. Combining creativity and business is also a state of mind and you will be unsuccessful if you cannot switch gears to accept and embrace what needs to be done.:-)

Do you need to have a sales/use number in order to sell the occasional painting? No. But you sure do if you are going to “collect” any sales tax on that painting! Sales tax is not included in your gross profit. You are temporarily holding it for the State. And often artists rush out to get a sales/tax number and then are surprised to find themselves paying a fine at some point because they had a month of no sales and forgot to send in a report (any way).

Keep this whole thing in perspective. There is no need for an artist to “justify” her expenses to anyone.(and I use “her” as this seems to be a predominantly female trait!) Not to her friends, not to her spouse, not to her relatives. Art is no more expensive than golf, video games, gardening, fishing, scrapbooking or any other hobby that someone chooses to have. Only in art does one’s hubby (and I see this with women ALL the time) say “you can sell this, Honey and make some money”. Well why doesn’t he take his fish to market and pay for the boat? Or his golf score last week to sell and amaze on Ebay? You see my point.

So relax. Only when you find your sales REGULAR and “real” should you even consider going the business route. Regardless of all the “easy” ways to sell your art that “experts” all over the Internet are selling or advising, use plain old common sense. There is no such thing as an easy business .

Now go have fun at your easel and don’t be pressured into a premature decision! Art and Business can be fun, exciting and stimulating but only if you accept the mindset AND your sales justify this decision!

Theresa
Art Career Experts