Your relationship with a collector doesn’t end when the work is purchased.

It has just begun.

Discuss.

Some friends will see it on Facebook, most won’t.
Some followers will catch your tweet or your +1 post, most won’t.
Some people will read your email or blog post, some won’t.

©2010 Cheryl Laube, Why. From the "Being Woman” Series III. Archival digital print, 17 x 22 inches.

Six artists scheduled a one-night-only art show in the boutique hotel just down the hill from me. I know two of them fairly well.

I received an email announcement (bulk blast) from one of the artists about 3 weeks before the event. I added the date to my calendar.

Then . . . silence. I heard not a peep from anyone else.

I looked forward to the event, even though I wondered why I didn’t hear more about it since it was so close to me.

Being the Art Biz Coach, I entered the artists’ makeshift gallery on the night of the shindig and couldn’t wait to tease one of them. “I’m here even though you didn’t invite me,” I said.

Her response was one of surprise. She said she had been talking about it on Facebook for a long time. Of course, she was very apologetic and perplexed as to why I didn’t hear about it from her.

Facebook as Curator

Chatting something up on Facebook is fantastic, but it can’t be your only promotion avenue.

Have you noticed how Facebook decides what they think you want to see? If someone has hundreds of friends, it’s darned near impossible to get to the top of someone’s Home page feed every day.

When is the last time you spent the day going through the feeds of all of your friends and page likes? (Please say Never!)

And when is the last time you really paid attention to invitations for Facebook events? C’mon, be honest.

Diversify Your Marketing Message Delivery

You must use all of the weapons in your marketing arsenal to get attention. This means a combination of social media, email, and snail mail (postcards, in particular).

Very few people will see it in all of these formats, and you’ll be blessed if those on your list act on a single notice from you.

Don’t trust social media alone to deliver an important message. Don’t trust email or snail mail alone, either. You need a combination – a 1, 2, 3 PUNCH!

Have you had a similar experience?

By Tara Reed

So you’ve heard about art licensing and think it sounds amazing! You can create art and have several people pay you for the rights to use it. You don’t have to do any of the marketing, selling or credit card processing. Heck, you’ve heard about people who make millions doing it so why shouldn’t you?

Well… it’s not that easy.

I will begin by telling you it is possible to earn a living licensing your art and that it can be done. I built my business from the ground up and absolutely love the whole process.

I will also tell you that it isn’t for everyone. One of my missions in writing, teaching and speaking about art licensing is to give artists a realistic view of what this business is and not a pie-in-the-sky “anyone can do it!” perspective.

Reality Check

1. It takes time to start making money . . . and by time I mean it can take 1-3 years so you need an alternate source of income while you see if your art is a fit.

2.  Speaking of art being a fit, not all art is suited to licensing. Art for licensing is art that will work on and help sell products. That is the whole point. Manufacturers looks for designs to use on their products so consumers will buy them. There isn’t a lot of abstract art being licensed, for example. But you will never see snowmen or roosters leave the stores because people always seem to want to buy things with snowmen and roosters. (Not necessarily together, of course.)

3.  There is a lot of competition. In recent years more artists have become aware of the idea of licensing and there are more people talking about how to do it.  A lot of artists who used to work for manufacturers have been downsized and have entered the pool of artists licensing their work. This means your art has to be that much better. Manufacturers have a lot of choices so you need to put your best art forward to land that deal.

4.  You might be asked to create quickly. There are many times when deadlines will be tight so if you don’t like creating on the turn of a dime, you might not love the process of licensing your art.  Or, if you choose not to do things quickly (which is your choice since you are in business for yourself) you simply won’t get the deal.

5.  You need to be determined and you must be able to handle rejection . . . or crickets. (Meaning no response at all.)  Art licensing is not for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of work to create your art and market your art. It takes a firm sense of self and the ability to listen to and learn from feedback when your art isn’t selected. You also need to be able to keep creating and marketing when you submit art and never hear anything back.

6.  Changes to the art is more of a rule than an exception. In point #2 I mentioned that the whole purpose of the art in licensing is to help sell products. That could mean that a manufacturer who is interested in your work might ask for changes based on trends they are seeing in the marketplace or requests they are receiving from retailers. 

I would guess that about 80% of the work that I do is changed in some way between when I show it to a manufacturer and when it lands on a store shelf. It might be a color change, size change, or layout change. You have to know that you and the manufacturer are partners, trying to create the best product possible in hopes of lots and lots of sales. That is, after all, how you earn your living.  (Most art licensing deals are done as a royalty based on sales so the more products that sell, the higher your royalty check!)

I’m feeling like the first 6 points could be construed as a bit negative but they are simply some realities of this business. It is better to know about them before you devote a lot of time and energy to creating art for licensing, right? If you know you hate to work on a deadline you can save some time and look at other money making options for your art.

The Good Stuff

Let’s finish up with some things that I absolutely love about licensing! (You will find that some of these points were mentioned before as well.)

7.  When licensing your art is really working, you will be paid for the same art by multiple manufacturers. This is a concept I love. I love that I can create a holiday collection and license the rights to use the same art to different manufacturers for different projects. It makes sense to me. Why sell the art outright to a company who will only use it for paper plates and napkins? Instead I can license it to a company who makes paper plates and napkins, then to another who makes ceramic plates, and another who makes rubber stamps, etc. It is like a game to come up with art that will work across a variety of products and then connect with the people who choose the art.

8.  You get to collaborate with manufacturers. This is one of my favorite things. Like many artists, I work alone in my studio, which is in my home. Not a lot of water cooler talk or heading to lunch with the gang. My co-workers become the licensing managers and art directors across the country who I talk to and brainstorm about art and product design. Very often I have art that they like and then we come up with some changes or additions to make it really fit for them. It’s so exciting to later see it in the stores and remember the conversations when the ideas were born.

9.  You don’t have to focus on one product and manage all aspects – from production to marketing to sales to shipping and returns. Starting a greeting card business is a full time job. You have to study the market, create the art, invest in production and then figure out how to get the word out about your great creations. You don’t have time to also manufacture ceramic dishes, handbags and picture frames too! With licensing, you focus on the art and find the people who are making and selling and shipping – leaving you time to get back to creating the art.

10.  It is so incredibly cool to go into a store and see products for sale with your art on them! After 8 years licensing my art I am still delighted each and every time it happens and hope I never become immune to the feeling. I’ve heard artists say it’s selling out to have your art mass produced but I wholeheartedly disagree.  I think it is a very fun, interesting and satisfying way to make a living.

Tara Reed finds some of her designs on products on the shelf.

There you have some pluses and minuses of pursuing a career in art licensing. There are those who will read this and think to themselves, “This is simply not for me.” If you are one of them, I wish you much success in whatever you decide is a fit. Others will be intrigued and want to learn more. If you fall into that category, I invite you to visit my website and blog to learn more.

About the Guest Blogger
Tara Reed is a successful licensor of her art and teaches artists how to follow her path at ArtLicensingInfo.com. You can visit that link, sign up for her bi-weekly newsletter, and receive her Beginner Basics audio program for just $10. Her creative juices flow in her Portland, Oregon studio.

With so many good documentaries about art available, it’s time to update my list. Add them to your queue, watch them online when you can, or find clips on YouTube.

These are too good to miss.

Tops on My List

The PBS series art: 21. A pioneering series on artists making art today. Don’t miss a single episode.

How to Draw a Bunny  – The mysterious art, life, death of Ray Johnson. I haven’t seen it in a long while, but it made an impact and is still at the top of my list.

The Woodmans – I watched this in 2011 and had to move it toward the top of the list. The artistic family of ceramist Betty Woodman, the tragic death of her talented daughter, photographer Francesca Woodman, and how their art triumphs. (The rest here are in no particular order.)

My Architect – The life of Louis Kahn, through his son’s eyes.

Glaring omission from the original list (thanks for catching it, John) – #20: Rivers & Tides – Follows “landscape sculptor” Andy Goldsworth as he creates ephemeral works of art using objects found in nature. Terrible website, by the way – not at all reflective of the film.

A documentary on Morris Louis that I saw in his traveling retrospective. But I have no title or resource for it. It’s just terrific and I’d love to see it again.

Painters Painting - An amazing 2-part film featuring key figures in American art from 1940 to 1970.

Helvetica -Yep, a whole film about the typeface. Very fun to hear all of these designers talking about typefaces and visual communication.

Herb & Dorothy - Who hasn’t seen this lovely film about two unlike art collectors?

Valentino: The Last Emperor – I adored this movie about fashion designer Valentino. It’s gorgeous to look at.

Exit Through the Gift Shop – Banksy’s film about street art. Is it a documentary or not? It certainly makes us question how art is made.

Waste Land – More than a film about art, this is about an artist (Vik Muniz) affecting social change through art. The stories are heartwarming, the people are beautiful

Others Worth Watching

Rothko’s Rooms – About Mark Rothko’s Seagram paintings at the Tate Modern and the demand he put on exhibiting his work. Often available for viewing on OvationTV

Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision

Any film about Christo and Jeanne-Claude – All of them show the amazing, unconventional (and laden with red tape!) process that these artists go through to make their vision a reality.

The Rape of Europa - The story of American GI’s whose duty it was to return art stolen by the Nazis.

The Art of the Steal – Definitely a one-sided view of relocation of the Barnes Collection from Merion, PA to Philadelphia.

Sketches of Frank Gehry – The Sydney Pollack documentary about the famed architect.

Matthew Barney: No Restraint – An inside peek at Barney’s work, with his partner and collaborator Björk, aboard a whaling ship. A little too bloody for my taste, if I recall.

Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow – About the personal universe created by German artist Anselm Kiefer on the grounds of his estate in the South of France. Haunting soundtrack!

Add your own art documentary choices in a comment.

If you like this article, please tweet, share, or +1 using your link of choice below.

Coming up next: Fictional movies with an artist as the central character – real or imagined artists.

Joseph Beuys famously said “Everyone is an artist,” referring to his belief in a universal human creativity and the power of art to bring about revolutionary change.

Beuys Felt TV performance. Photo by Lothar Wolleh.

Lately, many thinkers have been using the word “artist” to describe someone who acts as a force of change – who does something different to shake up the status quo and make us look at life and work in new ways. Read Seth Godin’s definition of art. Read his book Linchpin to see how he uses “artist.”

Godin is so influential (I am a huge fan and follower) that many, many people have adopted his definitions of art and artist.

Deep Thought Thursday

Here’s the problem: If everyone is an artist, where does that leave you? What do you call yourself?

How does what you do differ from the “artist” who discovers the cure for an epidemic or the “artist” who maneuvers a brilliant business takeover?

On the heels of last week’s post about the importance of systems link to last week, here’s a system framework inspired by a question from Kerry Thompson.

What do you do after you’ve finished a work?

©2011 Kerry Thompson, Café Friends Nursery. Acrylic on cotton canvas, 61 x 77 centimeters

Finish the Details

The work shouldn’t be considered complete until you do the following with the physical piece.

• Sign it!
 Sign your art wherever you can, and however you do it best.
  
• Add the date on the front, back, or underneath – where and when it’s appropriate for your medium. 
Many artists don’t like to date their work on the front because it doesn’t look as fresh. That’s fine, but date it somewhere. Dating is a way that helps you claim credit for copyright and will be used by the curator that mounts a retrospective of your work in 30 years.
  
• If appropriate for your medium, make an identification card for the back that includes the complete credit line: Name, title, media, dimensions, and price. 
This is enormously helpful for venues.

Document It

• Record details in your inventory database. 
Don’t let that artwork out of your site until you have done this.
• Have artwork photographed, or do it yourself if you have the proper equipment.
• Name image files according to your standard.
Images are easier to find if they are all named in the same manner. I suggest starting the file name with your name:
  

lastname-abbreviatedtitle-imagesize.jpg

• Add the image to your inventory record for that piece.
• Resize images to three or four standard sizes that you use most often.
Create a digital file folder for each artwork and differentiate your digital images using your naming convention. This takes some time to do now, but it will save you time and frustrations in the future. 

Using the example above, your image files might look like this:

hart-redsky-600.jpg
hart-redsky-300.jpg
hart-redsky-72-300px.jpg
hart-redsky-72-200px.jpg

• If you’re in the U.S. file a copyright claim if this is part of your practice.

Tell People About It

• Blog about the work. 
Be sure the complete credit line is visible with the image, and that viewers will know it’s for sale.
• Edit the text from your blog into a descriptive sentence that you can use on your website or social media profiles.
• Add the descriptive sentence to your inventory database.
 When you do this, the sentence will always be with the work, and you can copy and paste it with abandon.
• Upload the image to your website. 
Double check to make sure that your name and credit line is visible whenever the image is enlarged.
• Upload the image to any online sales venues you use. 
(Etsy, RedBubble, etc.)
• Share your newly completed work on social media sites.

What did I forget? Please leave a comment below or send a tweet to @abstanfield.

There are six principles of no-excuse art marketing that guide my teaching and my book.

The first principle, I believe, is the most important. It states:

You are in charge of your career. You have control over words, prices, artwork, and your image. People will take as much from you as you give them, so guard this power to remain in charge of your destiny. Accept 100% responsibility for your actions and make no excuses.

It might seem as though your power is in the hands of galleries, curators, granting agencies, collectors . . . anyone but you! But all of these people have only as much power over you as you give them.

In his book The Success Principles, which I never tire quoting, Jack Canfield writes:

You only have control over three things in your life – the thoughts you think, the images you visualize, and the actions you take (your behavior). How you use these three things determines everything you experience. If you don’t like what you are producing and experiencing, you have to change your responses. Change your negative thoughts to positive ones. Change what you daydream about. Change your habits. Change what you read. Change your friends. Change how you talk.

Commit to yourself that you will guide your own path – that you won’t accept situations that make your stomach turn, that you won’t adopt others’ definitions of success, and that you won’t bow to conventional ways of doing things in the art world if they don’t match your values and vision.

You know what’s best for you. Go after it! Seek guidance and inspiration when you need it, but trust your wise self.

Never blame anyone for your perceived failures. When you assume control, you bask in your successes – knowing that they were hard-earned. Likewise, you must also accept responsibility when things go wrong.

Seems like a fair deal to me.

#Photographers How important are the national portfolio reviews? What do they do for your career/biz?

.@wtek challenges all #artists to make a bowl on Super Bowl Sunday – 2/5. Accept? hammermarks.wordpress.com/super-bowl-cha…

Holy Cow! How to Succeed at Selling to a Niche Market twrt.me/2216b2 via @ArtsyShark

Physical media has stronger emotional impact than e-marketing ow.ly/8q3RR via @marciasmantras

How to use Pinterest in your art marketing via @meganauman ow.ly/8pNdY

Got your G+ vanity URL yet? ow.ly/8vb0E It looks like this: gplus.to/abstanfield

Amazing intvw re de Kooning show. Gives insights into how curators work/think. Must read ow.ly/8wij8

Bumblejax can print your digital image on acrylic, bamboo or aluminum. Coupon on my fan page: ow.ly/8wtHi (expires 1/30)

24 best publicity tips fr 2011 via @PublicityHound ow.ly/8wBEP

Wanna know your neighbors’ names? neighbors.whitepages.com Fun! And a little scary

Love this post from Kate Vrijmoet, which shows the extent she goes to to get a pose from her model ow.ly/8zdu4

Artists should bookmark Professional Guidelines fr @HarrieteE ow.ly/8AwGv

Read abt Damien Hirst’s Spot Challenge for art collectors hyperallergic.com/44431/required…

Tips for artists using social media. I’m quoted in this article ow.ly/8AXO8 via @mashable

Today’s DTT comes via Twitter and @JuliaKirt.

When is it okay to stop making art?

Systems can save your butt, but only if you work them as they were intended.

What needs to get done that isn’t? For example:

• You’re not updating your contacts database often enough. Every time you go to send a mailing, you have to spend a couple of days adding names.
  →You need an efficient system for collecting names in a timely manner.

• You’re missing important deadlines.
  →You need a system for recording, reviewing, and meeting deadlines.

• You’ve neglected your blog.
  →You need a system for capturing ideas, writing drafts, and editing posts.

System Components

Most systems need:

1. Defined results: What do you want to happen?
2. Software or paper & pen to record data.
3. Identification of other people involved and their tasks.
4. Clear articulation of the steps and how they build on one another.
5. Commitment to a regular check-in (e.g. Thursdays at 10 a.m.).

It’s that last item on the list that is often the kink in the process.

Systems Check

Systems don’t work by themselves. You have to work the systems.

You must be committed to the system you put in place, which is why my system might not work for you. It has to be a good fit. You must turn any system into your system.

If you discover that your system is flawed, change it! Find out which component isn’t working for you and give it a tweak.

If you catch yourself saying, “I’m not good at X or Y” or “I’ll never be able to Z,” do a little digging. Is it because you don’t have a trusted system?

Do you have a good system you’d like to share? Has it been difficult to create a working system for some aspect of your art business? Please leave a comment below.