Art Print Issues

French Incent Buying Art - Guggenheim Vegas Closing - Using Whitey Ball in a Down Market - ArtExpo Vegas a Conservative Go

Signs of changing times:

• The announcement came last week the French government is so distraught over slipping in worldwide art sales, falling to third behind China, it is offering interest free loans for its citizens to buy fine art.
• It in a sad, but not completely surprising item, the Las Vegas Sun reports the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum there is scheduled to shutter next month...sigh. But, in the perfection of hindsight, looking at Vegas marketing then and now, it seems logical it would not work.

Sin City Is the Name of the Game

You may recall Las Vegas formerly tried to tout itself as a family friendly destination with water slides, the Wizard of OZ's Yellow Brick Road at the MGM, roller coasters and so forth. However, it didn't take long for the shine to wear off that idea before Vegas reverted to true form. It is, after all, called Sin City for good reason. The popular and effective "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" slogan that replaced the family theme has been successful because it pointedly captures the allure of Vegas.

In retrospect, the familiar saying, "You can't make a silk purse out a of a sow's ear" now seems appropriate to putting one of the most prestigious fine art museums in Vegas. As the Las Vegas Sun article points out, there were other problems, but at the heart of it, it just wasn't a good fit. The closing of the Guggenheim speaks volumes about culture, or lack thereof, in Vegas, and to a degree how specialized the interest and marketing of fine art is. The wisdom of crowds theory dictates the taste for Vegas is gambling, dining, nightclubbing, extravagant shows and forbidden fruit with not much energy or enthusiasm for fine art experiences.

In the tradeshow business, the take on destinations such as Las Vegas and San Francisco is they are great convention, but largely lousy tradeshow towns. Simply, the distractions are too powerful to keep crowds on the floor for smaller shows. Behemoths, such as Comdex, draw so many attendees they override the common wisdom. That said, it is only fair to note some small tradeshows such as the annual West Coast Art & Frame show do well there regardless. And in fairness to Vegas, there are but a a handful of cities worldwide that could sustain a Guggenheim museum.

You Can't Put Round Art into a Square Frame, No Matter How Glittery the Frame

The moral of the Guggenheim Vegas story is you can't force something where it doesn't fit. Put another way, swinging for the fences in an attempt to clear the bases with a Grand Slam homerun grandiose idea is not always a winning strategy. For art marketers, this lesson could not be more true, especially in a down economy. Looking back, the concept of an exquisite fine art museum in Vegas was a grandiose idea gone awry. The baseball analogy provides a nice segue to discuss employing a strategy called "Whitey Ball" for art marketers in a down market.

The Whitey Ball Strategy for Art Marketing in a Down Market

In the 1980s, the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team didn't have big hitting sluggers on its roster. Its huge ballpark with faraway fences didn't suit having them on the payroll. Instead, the team's wily manager, Whitey Herzog, used his creativity to build a team around speed and slap hitting singles batters. During his tenure, Herzog picked players who were fleet of foot with the ability to steal bases, move fast to plug defenses and thwart their opponent's offenses. Whitey always sought as many chances at bat he could get for his players. Essentially, he adapted his strategy to conform to what he had to work with. The results were spectacular with three National League pennants and two World Series appearances, including a World Series Championship in 1982.

Piling Up Singles in Today's Economy Is a Great Strategy

Whether you are an independent self-representing artist or a big time publisher, this is a good time to employ your version of Whitey Ball marketing. For those serious about sustaining and building their businesses, smart marketing is more crucial now than in good times. Maintaining your marketing edge now will, when the economy turns, put you far ahead of those who hunker down and do nothing.

NINE IDEAS FOR USING WHITEY BALL MARKETING WITH YOUR ART BUSINESS

1. Accurately assess your resources, opportunities and goals. Doing so serves to keep your expectations real.
2. Give your business every chance at bat it can get. Look for all the publicity and media notice you can garner - there are more opportunities than you realize. It all matters and it all adds up when you find and use them.
3. Shore up your defenses by tightening non-essential spending keeping funds available for the best opportunities.
4. Go for the single when you get to bat. The first step to getting a run is to get on base. The first step to getting repeat sales is to establish a relationship with a potential collector or gallery
5. Carefully weigh your options. When it comes to deciding how to allocate your marketing budget, employing the carpenter's credo to measure twice and cut once is a wise idea.
6. Renegotiate with your suppliers to get every discount, value added service and the lowest prices they can provide you.
7. Explore every viable means to diversify your distribution channels. Going forward, alternative, creative marketing is a fact of life no matter what the economy is doing.
8. Do whatever you must to make sure your customers are happy and your service is par excellence.
9. Don't buy into fanciful untried ideas (Or, if you must, start small and play conservatively. If it's good, you'll have time later to ratchet up your participation.)

Your Best Ideas Likely May Come From Doing Something You Were Sure You Would Never Do

To get creative, it helps to get outside your comfort zone. Try thinking about doing things differently, much differently. For instance, consider where have you not been, what have you not done and what you would never do. A marvelous brainstorming activity is to take a large sheet of paper and write down all the people, places and things you would never approach or do in your business. The harder you think about it and the more ideas you conjure up, the more likely your best out of left field (baseball pun intended) idea will come.

ArtExpo Las Vegas is a Conservative Go

Is there a correlation or lesson about the ArtExpo Las Vegas show and the closing of the Guggenheim Hermitage? Of course, especially if you believed Vegas had become an art mecca. I fell under that spell. Like many others, I was a strong proponent of the ArtExpo Vegas show last year. I devoted several encouraging posts on Art Print Issues and another on the very popular AbsoluteArts.com blog, where I contribute frequently.

My post show follow up was more sanguine. Like the folks at the Guggenheim and many others, I felt Vegas offered promise. Seeing the museum close and the ArtExpo show last year come off smaller than anyone would have hoped for and now in tougher economic times, it's hard to muster great enthusiasm for the 2008 show. Still, the industry is down to few choices for shows and this is one of them.

If you have the resources, ArtExpo Vegas can work to your advantage to exhibit there.

I met several self-representing artists who were thrilled they made the decision to go. The smartest advice is to go expecting the best, but also be prepared for something less than that. By doing so, you are poised to react to a good outcome and will negate the deflation of a bummer experience by having acknowledged the possibility of it. Exhibiting there, especially as unknown artist is akin to gambling, don't play with money you can't afford to lose. Go with a good marketing plan, use solid money management to keep losses to a minimum and play hard and smart and pray for a hot streak

What the artists with whom I met that had a great ArtExpo Vegas show had in common was they had unique well developed thematic styles that appealed to certain buyers with substantial open to buy budgets. In other words, in each case it was a single buyer that made the difference for them. This scenario is likely to happen again this year, but understand the buyers are selective. It doesn't mean your images aren't good if you don't succeed. It could be they are not right for those buyers who attend. Being able to know the difference only comes with experience. If you lack it, seek the advice of others to get an honest, if not brutal, assessment of where your art comes in.

The art print market is evolving and so are the venues and media that report on, promote and support it.

What we are witnessing is the rapid deconstruction of how things were done in the past. It is far from an art industry problem. You can find reports of all kinds of shows and media contracting from their once bulging sizes. It's harder to find where the business is going. Some to the Internet, some to targeted marketing and some to marginal players folding their tents.

To maximize your return, you need to pay close attention to help you understand how the business is evolving. Playing Whitey Ball with your marketing will help you sustain your business as you wind through the challenging times we find ourselves in today.

Noah G Pop Puts Pizazz in ArtExpo New York 2008

Pop artist Noah G Pop rocked this year's 30th Annual ArtExpo New York show, which took place February 28 - March 3. It is obvious he seeks to put more glide in your stride, more hip in your dip, more zig in your zag and more cut in your strut. In other words, this dude knows how to throw a party and have fun. That he manages to do it around promoting his art makes him just that much cooler.

When it comes to enjoying success in the art business, marketing and promotion are the twin synergistic generators that drive (AIDA) attention, interest, action and desire. Noah gets this in spades and that he effectively executes around making these waves as a SOLO exhibitor makes all he does more impressive.

Putting POP in Promotion, Party and Prints

In Noah's case, you find a confluence of terrific visual art and fun promotion creating a memorable experience for all involved. You can see for yourself, his party and attendant promotion pack as much punch as his art.  Both deliver on the promise of visual treat and stimulating exciting times.

His art is themed with the Pop influences of decades past, but as with any talented artist, he manages to make it current and specific to his artistic vision. It is no surprise he did well with his Jene NYC piece, shown here. It is hot, colorful, sexy, glamorous and fun. All the things one can hope to experience when attending ArtExpo New York.

The Fun Is Back, Let's Hope It Stays

Noah singlehandedly managed put back into ArtExpo a component that has been missing for some time. And, I'm sure he did it on a budget that would put to shame some of the corporate or show producer managed invitation only parties that run on the sedate side. The history of the experience of ArtExpo was there were always happenings. You didn't dare miss the show or the parties around it. The exciting open-to-all party element has been sadly missing in the past few years. As the show declined in size, it lost some of the zest that had made it special. Thanks to Noah G Pop, the fizz is back and the buzz around his art and his next party, which he already planning for next year are already in full swing.

Here is the content of his post-show email. Read it and you'll see he hasn't stopped having fun. And, while you are reading it, think about how you can put some fun of your own into your own art promotion:

3 More Important Things I Want You to Know Direct from the Noah G POP Playbook:

1)     First, I would like to thank everyone that attended my opening night bash at the Star Lounge and believe me there were a lot of you.  Our counter finally stopped somewhere north of 400 guests including artists, models, actors and a whole plethora of all-around cool people.  The vibe was definitely one of peace, love and FUN, FUN FUN!  I so much appreciate the support of each and every one of you.  Personal highlights for me included my Mom and Dad, my brother David, my sister Farrah, NYC Fashion Designer Grace Edwards, Iconic NYC Socialite, Philanthropist and Human Rights activist Zelda Kaplan, two of my favorite artists, world-renowned Painters Fabian Perez and Ford Smith and of course, it wouldn't be a party without the Naked Cowboy.  Also, special thanks to Rob Base who showed up and performed his hit single, "it takes two to make a thing go right". 

Now, for those of you that missed it; DON'T PANIC!  I will be hosting an evening of art, music and modern dance at the Grand in April (details to follow) and believe it or not, we have already begun planning our opening night bash for ARTEXPO NY 2009 (seriously).  Cue the cocktail music!  Yes!  This one will be bigger and better (think skylight cruise) and YOU ARE INVITED SO SAVE THE DATE!!!

2)    I would like to thank everyone that stopped by my booth to look at my work.  Thanks to your support and interest in my art, we had another killer show selling at least one of each piece with the big winner being Jené NYC who now has 5 new homes.  Thank you, thank you thank you. 

3)     I just saved a bundle on my car insurance!  I kid again.  I wanted to take a moment to speak to all artists but particularly my fellow SOLO artists.  Sharing your gift with the world can be a wonderful and magical experience.  It can be filled with excitement and joy but can also be stressful at times.  As someone that has personally experienced the broad spectrum of emotions that can accompany an event like artexpo, I applaud you for having the guts and the drive to share your art with the world.  For those of you that had a great show, I congratulate you and for those of you that would have liked to have a better show, encourage you to keep pushing, keep learning from your experiences and keep striving to share yourself and your art.

With this in mind, if I can be of any assistance to you in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions, comments or simply to bounce some ideas off of each other.  After all, we artists have to stick together.  Be on the lookout for Noah G POP Management in 2008.

I thank you for all of the support that I have received over the past year and of course, most importantly, Enjoy my art!

With much love and respect,

Noah G POP

For more information call 646.413.2366or email me at noahg@noahgpop.com.  Friend requests at www.myspace.com/noahgpop.

www.noahgpop.com

Some other observations about this year's ArtExpo

The final tally on its Website for exhibitors has a count of 467 companies. It's possible there are more, but even with last minute additions, it's hard to believe the exhibitor list came anywhere near the 600 touted by show management for the '07 show. The number of blog posts about the show is down from last year too. Here are a few I found you might find interesting:

Manuela Valenti looks like she is making good on her ArtExpo experience. It looks like she used this video in her booth. Regardless, it's terrific use of video to promote her art. Congrats!

Natasha Wescoat provides insight on her ArtExpo Las Vegas experience

Adan Lerma provides a running commentary on his experiences in 2007 & 2008 here

It's great to see Noah putting forth his energy into ArtExpo. For all the show has suffered from changes in the marketplace, revolving ownership and other circumstances out of its control, it remains the single best place to showcase artists in the print medium. There is still no place like the Big Apple for such a show. The Las Vegas show last fall proved nothing can come close. Let's hope the promise of young energetic talent like Noah G Pop and his contemporaries help revive the show's sagging fortunes.

Is the Next Big Thing About to Happen?

I've been a huge fan of futurist Watts Wacker since I first heard him speak to a group of tourism executives circa 1999. His presentation was fascinating and full of compelling information.

He was as riveting a speaker as any I've heard. That he managed to mesmerize his audience of business executives while wearing long hair, shorts, sockless loafers and a rumpled button down shirt made him more interesting. It was a rare encounter where I found myself thinking, "How fun it must be to be that smart, that cool, that self-confident and worthy of having organizations fly a person in and pay them thousands to hear their ideas for a mere 90 minutes?"

At the time, his international bestselling book, co-authored with Jim Taylor, The 500 Year Delta: What Happens After What Happens Next was riding high on the charts. And, his subsequent books, Visionary's Hand, and The Deviant's Advantage plus his latest, What's Your Story?: Storytelling to Move Markets, Audiences, People, and Brands provide more profound and practical insight from this informative oracle.

Finding a Way to Fill the Yearning for Authenticity Can Drive Your Art Career

A key fact I landed on from The 500 Year Delta was in the monumental changes we are living through, there is a societal yearning for authenticity. Today's digital world, including giclees, doesn't allow much for it. If you can figure out how to create true authenticity in your art career and properly promote it, you will reap great rewards.

Wacker's always thought provoking monthly newsletter is penned by him and published by his company, First Matter LLC. The essay most apropos to this blog is from the February 2008 issue. It does not disappoint. With permission, here it is:

Keep Your Eyes Open I’m Convinced it’s About to Happen by Watts Wacker

I can’t help but keep thinking about this being the 40th anniversary of the ’68 Chicago convention and the tragedies of both Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Especially now that so many have suggested that we are at the same, or at least, similar crossroads today, I just keep thinking about it.

I actually disagree with the assessment of similarity to the two periods of time. In 1968 the social mood was much more “down with authority” ... today? ... it’s much more like “are you prepared? ... and is there such a thing as being an authority?” We want our institutions to be prepared for the future and we’ve not so sure they are so.

There was an artist who captured the ‘60’s, Peter Max. Peter’s an amazing man. Philanthropist, humanitarian, environmentalist and philosopher ... he is the most successful living artist in the world. He truly was the catalyst for connecting art and business. Max was the first person ever to have his work placed upon everything from bed sheets to sneakers. His product was out-licensed to the tune of $1 billion (yes, billion) before 1970.

While he would likely refer to himself as a neo-expressionist today, he has traveled from realist to pop artist (maybe archetype on this one) to his latest definition. His prescience in seeing how “the poster” was on the cusp of unprecedented ranges and intensities of color (all at inexpensive and high quality) allowed him to connect romantic, playful and psychedelic. He created the yellow submarine for the Beatles. Toulouse-Lautrec would have been proud. Peter readily says that his love of the cosmos and childhood expectation of becoming an astronomer was a major source of inspiration for the art of the 60’s. He captured a period of time.

Today, we should be looking for “that look”. What I mean is, what is the look for today? We’re far enough “in” to the 21st century. And, like Peter, I believe it will be somebody born in Europe ... developing years in Asia ... than blossom in the USA. However, in the 2010’s it will be some other order and more than likely an artist who blossoms in Asia. Keep your eyes open ... I’m convinced it’s about to happen.

I'm in agreement with Watt's observations and predictions. If you want to read my TalkBack comments on his site and peruse some very interesting links related to Watts' commentary, go here.

This post comes on the close of the 30th Annual ArtExpo New York show where in its heyday none other than Peter Max used the venue to further his career. Wouldn't it be great if the artist whose talent will rise to grab our collective consciousness as Watts' envisions was exhibiting there this year? That fantasy aside, given the changing dynamics of the art market, I wouldn't bet on such a notion. It's far more likely the art print market and its primary venue will undergo untold major changes before the next big thing comes calling. Just as The Beatles and Peter Max helped revolutionize music and art by being different and not of the status quo, I believe the next big thing will break out of some yet unknown venue or channel.

Five Ways to Market Your Art Direct

We pause this blog for a little shameless self-promotion.

An artist friend who I met after he read my book, which resulted in a series of consulting sessions over the past two years, has decided to take up the offer from a publisher to join his ranks. He had long held the notion that with his considerable business expertise and decent financing he would self-publish his work. He had begun to do that and also to shop giclees of his work to galleries in his local area. Additionally, he also managed to get some of his giclees put in the gift shop of a prestigious venue in his area.

I'm being slightly cryptic here because the ink is not dry on the contract and he has what I consider a terrific idea for an approach to working a niche. If all goes well, he will have a coming out party at the upcoming 30th Annual ArtExpo New York show at the end of this month. When I can share more details,I will be happy to do so.

My friend has recently been re-reading my book, How to Profit from the Art Print Market. It was interesting for both of us to observe what he was going through with the development of his print career. In many ways, his circumstances were exactly as I described in the book. This was down to my mention of having a marketing maven full-time to help grow the business as a key component of self-publishing success for many, if not most artists. His wife is a gifted driven very successful designer in the home furnishings field. Their company has for more than a decade supplied household name brands with licensed designs of all sorts. While she would be perfect in this role, she does not have the time to put her career on hold to help his. Nor would it make financial sense for her to do so.

Left to his own devices, this artist began to realize the difficulties for an unknown artist to be both marketing maven and full-time artist. Plus, he still puts in time at the design business as needed. The bottom line is the uphill battle was starting to look overwhelming given the plausible vision he has for his art and career. As the luck most often found in the residue of hard work would have it, a contact in one of the galleries led him to perhaps the most ideal publisher for his genre and his circumstances. I'm quite happy for him things are going to work out.

What he found was in reading and re-reading my book was two years after his first reading, the basic advice from what to do, what might happen, what the commission structure offered would be and many other things were still spot on and valuable to him in his decisions and dealings with his new potential publisher. It was heartwarming validation for me the underlying advice continued to hold water even though the business continues to undergo substantial, if not monumental, upheaval and change.

More Signs of Change for the Art Print Market

The state and health of the trade magazines and tradeshows that serve the industry are as much a harbinger of how things are working out as any. In October 2006, I put 20 years of tradeshow experience on the line and predicted the Decor Expo Baltimore show would be a bust. That was harsh given the inaugural show was still six months away in April 2007. While I have no official word, I notice the February issue of Art Business News has omitted the 2008 Baltimore show from its Calendar. Not a good sign things are working out. Further, the Web site for the show has no exhibitor list. Since this is a primary tool for enlisting more exhibitors, one can only conclude the show is being quietly mothballed, or in serious trouble. I'm left wondering if another prediction of a sale for the Art and Framing Group by current owner, Summit Business Media LLC, can be far off.

ArtExpo Booth Sales Appear to Be Well Off Previous Year Figures

Meanwhile, the aforementioned 30th Annual ArtExpo New York show appears to also be struggling to bring in the same number of exhibitors as last year. A check today shows 374 companies listed as exhibitors. The list has been updated regularly over the past month with more than 100 exhibitors added to it. Nevertheless, it remains well behind the 600 exhibitors published by the show producer last month. The trade magazines that serve the business also are showing a decline in ad pages. These are pretty good indicators it's rough patch for the art print market these days. The cover story of the ABN issue was on the state of the art economy interviewing some veteran players in the market. While most found some ways to put a bit of positive spin on their outlook, none was overly optimistic.

Five Ways to Market Your Art Direct

It's a good time to review what you are trying to achieve from a business perspective for your career. I'm not talking about a year end review and goals for the coming months. I'm thinking more about what you want for your career financially and awareness. It could be like that of my friend who seeks to find an audience and appreciation for his work and to get the work to market in a way he could profit from the effort. Besides reaching a vastly larger audience, the appeal of the print market for most successful artists who embrace it is it provides them a way to generate repeat cash flow from the effort in creating an original.

I have said it before, but believe it bears repeating. Artists ought to be developing their own direct revenue streams with collectors. Easy to say, harder to do. But when you consider the traditional means are not nearly as robust as before, it provides extra impetus. Here are some ideas for how that might work:

1. Alternative spaces, such as coffee shops, restaurants, building lobbies and waiting rooms. There is a skin care salon located here in tony Paradise Valley that also offers art from local artists. The patrons are a perfect demographic for art. And, they are spending leisure time in the salon on a repeat basis. It works for the artists and the salon owner on multiple levels.

2. Create your own shows. You don't have to have a gallery to do this for you. Decide you are going to do it and follow though. You can create a show in a public space; perhaps a local community college, a church, a rented hotel room. Build some excitement around the uniqueness of the show with publicity or charitable components. Plan far enough in advance to get a good date not competitive with other activities. Enlist your family and friends to help you generate word-of-mouth.

3. Web sites and blogs. Are you selling direct from either? If not, why? Of course, you don't want to compete with any established galleries with an online site or physical location. Why not have exclusives for the galleries that are promoted on your Web site or blog along with exclusive images available only through you? eBay just announced it has new pricing. Apparently, the past year has been difficult with sellers abandoning the once juggernaut for other venues. It might be worth revisiting it for another shot in 2008.

4. Work with other artists. Get other visual artists, or musicians or poets to create a happening. Find ways to collaborate on art and promotion. The group dynamic could be very dynamic and stimulating. You can use something like Meetup that offers tremendous potential to the person with energy and a good idea and a dash of promotional verve.

5. Get in catalogs. The Guild, which is one of my most favorite for indie artists, offers a tremendous platform for sales and visibility for artists through its Artful Home catalog and Guild Sourcebook. It is by far not the only one, but if you are interested, you can act now to submit to its annual juried entry submission process. The competition runs through February 29 and is administered by Juried Art Services, which you should check out for all its offerings. A catalog or sourcebook such as this is one degree of separation, but you ship directly and you get promoted and create a relationship with your customers.

Bottom line is now more than ever, you have to think and act for yourself. The more you take your situation under your own control, the better off you will be. I'm sure there are plenty of other great ideas. If you have any and want to share, the comments section below beckons.

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Creative Publicity Pays

Here is a great question from a loyal reader (And a pretty good answer if I do toot my horn myself):

Dear Barney, You mentioned publicity. Can you give us a few ideas on creative publicity and how to and where to? What magazines do you suggest and what about free publicity, as well? Thank you, Janet Vanderhoof

Thanks for the excellent question, Janet. The best most effective publicity doesn't just happen. It comes about from a pre-planned coordinated effort to raise awareness for an artist. Too often marketers underestimate the power of publicity because it is not bought as a commodity like advertising. Just because it is complementary doesn't mean it should be taken lightly.

Before beginning a PR campaign, one needs to determine what the goal is. Getting publicity is a good thing alone. Getting publicity in the right media for the right reasons is a wonderful thing. Wasting time chasing the wrong media with the wrong goals is disheartening. The goal could be to become better known within the industry or some segment of it. Or it could be to become better known locally, regionally or nationally. It might be any combination of these segments. Or, it could be something completely different. It must suit you and your needs. The more ambitious the goal, the more planning and brainstorming it will take to pull it off.

Do You Need to Target Consumer Media, Specialty Media or Trade Media?

There is consumer media, specialty consumer media and there is trade media. One can target all if you are ambitious, organized and energetic enough to manage it. If you have read my book and this blog, you know I believe becoming a student of the business you want to conquer is imperative. That is, know what the trade publications are doing. Read current and back issues thoroughly making a concerted effort to understand what is going on with them, especially with their PR columns and features. Take the time get to know the editorial staff. They are always busy, but the right approach will win some time for you.

My recent blog post about Joy Butler and Nicole Kidd on stealth marketing is a perfect example of how an author and fine jewelry maker seeking publicity got the attention of people who can help them. Both targeted media influences who stood a chance to help them ratchet up their profile with the right audience.

The trade publications serving retailers, art dealers and picture framers are Art World News, Art Business News, Decor and Picture Framing Magazine. You should have them on your radar screen, especially the first two mentioned. There are numerous artists "how to" pubs such as The Artist's Magazine, but I don't think targeting them will help you grow your business. It would more of a vanity bragging rights move to go after them.

There is a host of specialty consumer magazines targeting the art market, you need to spend some time at the library or a good magazine store or a Borders to study which of these might be appropriate for you. Frankly, I think top shelf glossy consumer art magazines are out of range of the most artists, including the typical reader of this blog. But, don't be shy and never be afraid to dream or to tackle the impossible. It's always free to ask and as Wayne Gretzky says, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." Sometimes the neophyte blindly charging in where others fear to dare is the one who gains access to things considered out of reach by those who study and think too hard before acting. Carrying the hockey analogy further, the highest percentage shots are the ones with the best angle to the goal.

The trade pubs don't have the pull they once did. The audience they serve is much smaller and more finicky, but they are still important and worth studying to learn what publicity opportunities they offer to artists. You will be surprised at what is possible with a diligent respectful campaign to get your items published in these books. If you can swing some advertising in them, do it. It's good for the magazines that serve the industry and the added visibility will give your publicity more credibility and punch and vice-versa.

If you want to target consumer media, whether print, radio or television, you have to have to stand out from the crowd. There are so many media outlets today that it is a constant chore for them to find suitable content. But, what they are looking for is something unique, something different, often with a human interest perspective. A charitable component is always a booster.

How about making a goal to get x number of national trade media placements, x number of local media placements and x number of regional media placements in 2008? It just takes planning and persistence. Make a reasonable achievable plan and break down the steps necessary to turn the plan into action. Don't take on more than you can reasonably handle. That is a prescription for losing patience before you succeed.

Some mags, like the trade pubs are easier to deal with and have shorter deadlines. Others, like national consumer mags are months in advance on publicity. Newspapers work on shorter deadlines. Local broadcast media often is only working a couple of weeks in advance for many stories. Decorating shows on cable are targets. Any and all of these are great targets, especially if you weave a cohesive plan to work as many as make sense together to create synergy and momentum. To find ideas, you have to train yourself to read and review the newspaper and magazines and other media not for entertainment or information, but as sources. When you see an item of interest, even those things not art related, ask yourself what you would need to do to emulate it, or do it better.

Analyze Who You Are, What You Do or What You Might Be Interested In Doing?

Do you paint fast? Do you paint subject matter out of the ordinary? Are you a charming character? Are you an outlandish larger than life character? Do you paint unusual subject matter. Do you have compelling personal interest story? Are you doing something worthwhile that will benefit a charity? Do you paint pets or kids in unusual settings? Do you do performance art with your visual art? Can you hook up with a performing artist to present your visual art in concert with music or performance? Have you created a thematic body of work that would grab the interest of local or regional media? These are just examples, you'll need to plumb your own situation to find what works for you.

Online Media Is Growing in Importance

I urge you to not overlook the burgeoning influence of Web sites and blogs to be creative media outlets. If you have the right art, Boing Boing could be perfect. Or it could be a business blog that appeals to the right segment as the aforementioned Nicole Kidd successfully targeted. Get Heather on her Dooce blog to notice you and suddenly hundreds of thousands of the Baby Boomer parent readers of her blog know about you. Research a list as on Technorati of the blogs with the greatest amount of page views for ones you can target. If you choose to forgo traditional media altogether and concentrate on online media, you can make a real dent. Natasha Wescoat continues to impress me with her tireless effective ongoing cutting edge efforts in the online world. If you do golf art, then getting some golf bloggers to mention you would be excellent. You just have to go where the interest and content fit your plans and product. The possibilities are endless. The research might lead you to subject matter you hadn't previously considered.

Broadcast PR to Traditional PR Outlets Is Always a Winner.

Take advantage of PR outlets such as PRWEB to broadcast a press release to thousands of media. My advice is to fund your press release at least at the $80 level at PRWEB. By comparison to any other media spending, this could be the biggest bang for your buck. You can also try Now Public if you are on a budget, but you won't see the reach of a funded PRWEB press release.

To get your arms around an idea that can be utilized in media in an ongoing way might require you to think about it for sometime before you get clear on what your UAP (Unique Art/Artist Proposition) is. But, if you cogitate on it long enough, you will figure it out. Your first thought may only be a step in the right direction. You may need to alter your course to adjust to changes in plans or because the opportunity is not what you thought, but is still something worth pursuing. There is no quick fix to working publicity effectively.

None of this happens because you wish it so. It requires the 3 Ds...Desire, Discipline and Details. That is, you have to truly want it to happen, you have to apply yourself with dedication and you have to study to know how to work as smart as hard to get the payoff you want. Putting it all together is not an easy task. But when you consider what other efforts have the potential to do so much for you, you'll likely agree a job worth doing is worth doing well, especially in the area of public relations.

As with anything else, the more quality time you put into it, the better your results are certain to be. But to make it happen, you have to plan and then you have to act. Once you do, good things will happen you couldn't imagine beforehand. My all-time favorite quote is from Goethe who eloquently and passionately brings this notion to light:

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832) )

Ten Points to Ponder for Your Art Marketing Plans

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'. - Bob Dylan 1963

It takes an admitted bit of hubris to include lyrics from one of the most enduring and powerful protest songs from Bob Dylan's oeuvre for a mere blog post. But, hey in the spirit of the holidays just passed, I hope dear readers you and Bob Dylan will forgive the trespass.

Dylan's epic words were written in tumultuous times. The Civil Rights movement was fulminating while the Vietnam War was beginning to rage full on over there. Here at home young people, angry Baby Boomers, were being politicized as never before as a result of being drafted to serve in arguably the most unpopular war America has ever fought. I have little doubt if involuntary conscription were a feature the current Iraq War, it too would have galvanized the populace, especially young people into action to make it equally as unpopular with the same divisive consequences as Vietnam caused. And, Dylan's lyrics would be apropos now as then.

The reality now is we are engaged in an unpopular war that has lasted longer than both World War II or the Vietnam war with a cost so high, the debt will still be being paid by the children of generations yet unborn. But our volunteer army and relatively stable economy have kept most of us on the sidelines praying for a reasonable end to an interminable situation. That said, the focus of this post is the state of the economy and how it affects visual artists in the print market.

Making a Mark, Making a Difference in Your Town

We've all seen or heard of the "Day in the Life" type series where hundreds of photographers spread out around a city or area to capture its essence on film. Arguably, the most famous and ambitious would be the Day in the Life of Africa project. An offshoot of such an idea comes from conceptual artist Carl Pope with his The Mind of Cleveland project where he asked people to share their inner voices in 10 words or less to become part of a poster-mural artwork for Case-Western University's Humanities Week. It also will become an art exhibit at the Cleveland Institute of Art.

Projects like these are worthy on multiple levels. They raise awareness for cities or countries, they raise money for needy causes, they raise awareness for the artists who participate in them. The question then becomes what can a single visual artist, or perhaps an art league or art school do to create such a worthy project for their town or region? I think plenty could be done. One of the things they have in common is one person had the idea and energy to make something happen, to make a difference.

Depending on how fast one works, as with Carl Pope, it could be a solo project. Or, depending on how well one plays with others and exudes leadership qualities, it could be a marvelous collaboration. The project doesn't have to be a day in the life. It could be a year, a week, a month or have no time frame at all.

For example, my hometown is Alton, Illinois. It is a picturesque hilly river town situated on the Mississippi just east of St. Louis. If local artists there decided to paint whatever about it they find special the results could be produced into a book to be sold online, in local gift shops and visitor bureaus. Individual prints could be sold via Imagekind.com. A Web site could be created. It could become an annual project. The proceeds could be used to fund an existing charity or a new one if that were more appropriate. The sky is the limit on what and how such a project could be used and how much good it would do.

What might you personally get out of starting such a project? Notoriety, new customers, new galleries, a wider circle of influence, sense of accomplishment, benefit of doing something worthwhile for others and your hometown.

If you have read my book, How to Profit from the Art Print Market, (click on the cover top right of this page for more details of this shameless bit of self-promotion, which is something I hope each of you practice regularly), you know Stephen Covey is someone I greatly admire. I paraphrase one of the things he says here, "There is no limit on the amount of good one turned-on person can do."

It is easy to fall prey to the false notion and think our individual contributions can't make a dent or difference. Stephen Covey and I would disagree. If there is a nugget of inspiration in this blog post for you, then seize it, turn-on and turn it into something good for your community and yourself. You'll never regret you did.

Happy New Year!

P.S. An excellent tool to help you conceptualize and manage such a project is The Brain touted in my previous post. 

Seven Break Out Art Marketing Ideas

Is working and marketing inside your comfort zone paying off for you?

• If you are not getting the results you want from your marketing.
• If you are frustrated with your sales volume.
• If you desire to have greater awareness for your art, you ought to be thinking of unique ways to do something about these things. It may be time to shake up your thinking and start with some fresh ideas for your marketing methods.

CONSIDER WILD ABANDON

If your marketing is average, mundane, run of the mill, ho-hum and just like everyone else's you are putting tremendous pressure on all other aspects of your business to make it successful. It means your art has to be extraordinary, your customer service off the charts and business acumen second to none. There was a time, not all that long ago, when a formulaic approach to launching a print career was doable. Such is not the case eight years into the 21st Century.

Im not a devotee, but nevertheless do confess to the guilty pleasure of occasionally watching the hit TV program "Dancing with the Stars" for its pure pablum for the brain. Besides charisma, and a modicum of talent and a fan base, those who go far are able to shed their inhibitions to let loose and dance with passion and wild abandon using their bodies in ways that outside of the dance floor would be considered embarrassing lunatic behavior. As viewers, we love the spectacle and appreciate the dancers' ability to leave the modest outer child in the dressing room so the wild inner child can come out and entertain us.

It occurs to me that if one pursues creating and marketing art with the same level of intensity as displayed by these non-professional dancers who put themselves far outside their normal comfort level of behavior, it would open doors you might not even know existed. I'm not suggesting embarrassing lunatic behavior for your marketing, but rather to stretch yourself to go beyond what you might normally do. How far you go is up to you.

How do you get your art to market? Increasingly, the traditonal means are less powerful as aids to art marketers. The recent three-part story on ArtExpo here shed light on how this is so. Not to say tradeshows and trade magazines don't have a place in the art marketer's arsenal, they do and can still deliver new buyers effectively even if their potency has ebbed in the face of changing times.

So what other creative means are there for print artists to find new collectors? The following is a list of some novel art marketing ideas you can use. They are just concepts, mostly borrowed, some with new twists, but all things you could be doing that will help ratchet up your sales and awareness. Think of them as brainstorming exercises to help you break out of the marketing doldrums:

1. Collectors Club - This hardly qualifies as a new idea. It's been used by sucessful print artist for decades. The twist for artists here would be to start now regardless of how many prints or buyers one has. Who says you have to wait until you've published hundreds of prints and have thousands of buyers. Start now and begin to build your own loyal collectors from the ground up. You can study such diverse artists as Michael Godard, Edna Hibel, P. Buckley Moss and Thomas Kinkade to name a few who have effectively used a collector society to grow their business and market share.

2. Get into retail stores - Again, not revolutionary thinking unless you haven't done it. I have known artists who were able to do shows several times of year in their local Nordstroms store. Nordies doesn't need your help marketing. If you pick a lesser known store, you can offer to do some co-marketing and publicity. In the spectrum of retail goods, art is a relatively sexy product. Keep this in mind and use its potential in your pitch to retailers and in your marketing with them. This recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle, "The decor store as gallery" should give you inspiration and ideas.

3. Get publicity - How creative can you be in doing something newsworthy? Donating another piece of art for a charitable function is at once worthy, overdone and tedious. Don't take me wrong, you'll get mileage from such activities, but it's not cutting edge  or out there with originality. Think about what you can do that is worthy, slightly or very outrageous and specific to your art? How far out of your comfort zone can you go to get your local/regional media interested in you and your art? It doesn't have to be lunatic theatrics, but if you've got a hidden wild streak that in you that can be brought out for fun and profit, why wouldn't you use it? Those aforementioned dancers, even those who are actors, find themselves shaking their booties and acting well out of character and are finding they have the ability to release aspects of themselves they weren't even in touch with. Can you shake it loose in some ways with your marketing and publicity efforts?

4. Outdoor art - Painting a mural with a message on a public wall is one idea. It is trite and not original. But if you look at what Wyland, the marine artist, has done with his 100 whaling walls for inspiration, you realize you can put as dramatic a twist on things as you have the chutzpah to attempt. In Wyland's case, he's taken it a step furhter and set up the Wyland Foundation. What outdoor canvases can you conjure for yourself? If you can paint large scale, or project your work large scale onto an outdoor screen or wall for a cause, or for the hell of it and it makes sense in some way to garner media attention, go for it.

5. Start an art Meetup group - The neat thing about the Meetup concept is you get to define the purpose. Maybe your group will meet monthly to do art walks in your area together. Maybe you will meet to do field trips to museums or wineries. Here's an idea: partner with the wineries in advance and a local artists group, you could do an art & wine affair. Or as in point #2 above, seek out some retail stores to partner with. The only thing stopping you are self-imposed limits on your ingenuity and willingness to take charge of your marketing. Meetup groups can become great social networks as well as business networks. You'll get from it what you want from it and what you put into it.

6. Free art - Print up a bunch of prints and have them ready to give to appropriate people for free. You can tell them if they like the work, they can send you a check, or make a donation via a Paypal account on your Web site. You can tell them to call or email you and like the band Radiohead did its new album that gained great publicity, tell them they can pay what they think the art is worth. Offer to send send them a Paypal invoice to make things convenient. Don't be afraid to suggest the price they should pay for the print, but let them know they can pay more or nothing at all. Figure out how to get your local media involved so you get free publicity from it.

I've written here about the British artist Banksy and Australian artist Hazel Dooney who are both controversial and who are both giving away their work and gaining much more publicity from it than they could afford to buy by doing so. Both these artists have prints on their Web sites that they offer as free downloads. How can you do them one better?

7. Graphic wrap something wild and/or unique - Graphic wraps for cars and buses is old hat these days. You see it all the time, so it's not quite as effective as when new. Think about the concept artist Christo, he's wrapped the Reichstag in Germany, put saffron gates in Central Park and had dozens of other auspicious art installations. Now you may not have the budget and audacity to do something quite so grand and outrageous as that, but what can you think of that could be graphic wrapped that is different? Something that will get lots of attention for you and your art? List all the things you would never graphic wrap. You are bound to come up with some ideas from that sort of brainstorming exercise. How about: Awings? Windows? Buildings? Refrigerators? Bars? Dance Floors? Bandstands? Roofs? World's largest postcard? World's largest coffee cup? You get the idea...

Kick your creative genius into thinking on a different scale and use it to figure out ways to break out of the doldrums of ho-hum everyday marketing. If you are ready to deliver your art on scale from gaining wide exposure, you'll find yourself in another league before you know it.

50 Top Tips for Visual Artists

Sometimes the best thing a blogger can do is to use the forum to pass along information to let readers know about wonderful resources available elsewhere. The Australia Business Arts Foundation just published on its Web site one such resource. The ABAF asked 50 industry leaders for tips to publish as 50 Top Tips for Visual Artists. The results are broken into these five categories. Each is a downloadable PDF file:

1. Developing and maintaining a client base
2. Documenting artwork
3. Exhibiting artwork
4. Marketing
5. Media Relations

There are some very good ideas presented. Each of the 50 come from different art industry professionals. Of course, I'm biased to the Marketing section and was pleased to see a distant Davey (we Daveys all seem to be related one way or the other) relative added item #10 to that particular section.

The ABAF programs offer tremendous support and resources for artists. It is to be commended for the scope and depth of the services it provides the Australian Arts Community.

Street Smart Stealth Marketing Pays Off

Recently, I received an email from Joy Butler. She is the author of a new book, The Permission Seeker's Guide Through the Legal Jungle: Clearing Copyrights, Trademarks and Other Rights for Entertainment and Media Productions (Guide Through the Legal Jungle) 

It covers much more than most visual artists need to know, but the parts that relate to the business of being a visual artist are invaluable. Butler provides easy-to-follow directions on how to go about getting proper permission to properly clear the rights to copyrights, trademarks and other rights for entertainment and media productions.

If you have need to know how to legally incorporate a quote, music, artwork, flim clips, people's names, faces, brand names, life stories or other sorts of protected materials into your work, you need this book. Conversely, if you want to know the best way to properly allow use for your own copyrighted images, it will help you there as well. It includes more than fifty pages of resources and forms for you to use. This could easily be well worth the $13.57 Amazon price many times over for visual artists.

I'm impressed enough by the book to recommend it to you. However, if Butler had not contacted me with an offer I couldn't refuse, I would not know about it. She found me because I have published an Amazon Listmania list, Business & Marketing Books for Visual Artists. Her simple offer was to send me a free autographed copy of her book with the condition I add it to my Listmania if I found it appropriate. No strings attached. Upon review, I was happy to oblige.

My brother is a leading legal authority on franchising which makes heavy use of trademarks and copyrights. I showed him the book and he was quite impressed. That's a high compliment because he is rarely easily impressed by such things. Joy Butler publishes a useful book and uses street smart savvy and a little elbow grease to ferret out prospects to help her market it. I'm sure she will be successful with her efforts.

If you are a reader of Clint Watson's Fine Art Views blog. You recently read a post of his about artist Hazel Dooney giving away copies of her latest print free. I commented on it because it fits with my views that there are new and unique ways artists like Dooney are using to gain publicity. She's getting another bump from me right here. Her free prints have multiplied and amplified her marketing in ways no other marketing can reach.

How many ways can you think of using unique marketing promotions to help you get notoriety otherwise unavailable? If you start thinking creatively about it, you will be surprised at what you can do to help yourself. Butler's book is a worthy addition to any serious artist's bookshelf. For the price of a few minutes of her time to write me and a few bucks to send me a copy, she's gained more exposure to a targeted audience than she could get anywhere using mainstream media. Learning how to use guerrilla tactics like this in your own business will take you a long way towards gaining the success you want.

Here is another great example of how stealth marketing can work for you. Because I am a marketing geek at heart, I subscribe to Michele Miller's superb Wonderbranding, Marketing to Women blog. In timely fashion, just a few weeks before my wife's birthday, she posted about jewelry designer, Nicole Kidd. Turns out Nicole has been sending Michele useful tidbits of information for a long time without ever asking for anything, not even a reply. Just a simple friendly gesture. Michele's blog is one of the most successful and highly read marketing blogs and as such she gets voluminous email. She also has a huge list of potential topics to write about, so for her to mention Nicole, it had to be something special.

Turns out Nicole is something special. When I saw the link and read the post, I knew I would find something on her Web site that would be a perfect gift for my wife. I emailed Nicole and we had some very nice communication, including a phone conversation. She is a dynamo with passion and energy and just plain fun to talk with.

I placed an order and it was filled and delivered on time as promised. My wife loves the unique necklace and earrings and I'm proud every time I see her wear them because she looks great and I know she is wearing something not store bought and because stealth marketing really really works. Some of her favorite stones are turquoise and peridot, her birthstone. Look what I found for her on Nicole's site.

These are but two examples of how using inexpensive creative marketing paid off for the marketer. Like Woody Allen says, "90% of success is showing up." How soon you get your marketing efforts to show up in the right places is up to you. Get started now.