Choices, Choices

Some of you may be aware that I'm trying to re-boot my (almost nonexistent) art business, and have been researching the best ways of doing so (see my last post for some of the things I've learned). So right now I'm working on branding. I'm not going to try to define branding, as it's a bit of an abstract concept, and not that easy to describe in a few sentences. There are lots of articles that can help you with that; just google "branding for visual artists", and you will find tons of helpful information. I think "Branding 101 for Artists: How to Create a Strong Brand for Yourself and Your Art" by Gregory Peters on emptyeasel.com is one of the best articles I've read on the subject.

Anyway, I digress. Part of creating your brand is using the same "logo" or image on all of your art sites. Right now, the image I have on my facebook business page, my pinterest profile, my twitter profile, and my blog looks like this:

I like the image; I think it stands out and works well compositionally (not a real word, apparently). The problem is, it comes from one of my collages, and I don't think it really represents my work as a whole. Looking at this, people would probably get the idea that all I do is collage. Also, a lot of my work, even the collages, reflect a strong sense of the sacredness ( is that a word?) of nature, which this image really does not.

So I've been working on creating some new ones, and I was hoping I could get the benefit of opinions other than my own. I would appreciate any kind of feedback: which you like best, how any or all could be improved, comments about composition, color, subject, anything. I hope you'll feel free to let me know what you really think; believe me, you're not going to hurt my feelings if the criticism is constructive. So here they are, in no particular order:

 1

 

 2

           3

 4

 5

 6

7

I may do more, but I'm pretty tired of photoshop right now.  Thanks in advance for your help!

Some Things I've Learned

First of all, I have to apologize for not getting around to reading everyone's blogs, and for not posting anything on my own blog for such a long time. As some of you may know, I've been spending most of my time researching the best ways to sell art online. I have also, after debating for some time, decided to build a new website. There is so much to learn; it can actually be quite overwhelming for someone like me, who didn't grow up in the tech age. But I was determined to do my best to figure it out, so I kept plodding forward.



One thing I discovered is that I wasn't labeling my images correctly for SEO. SEO, which most of you probably already know, is search engine optimization, which basically means making it easier for search engines to find your content and be able to understand what it is. I was surprised to learn that google can't really read images, so this is pretty important. Of course, since I have around a bazillion or so images, re-labeling them took a long time. And that's just one little part of this art business thing. By the way, the best article I've found about SEO for artists is by Tom Dupuis at Online Media Masters.

Here is a comparison chart of print-on-demand sites; here is a good an article about print-on-demand by Christopher Kerry. This article compares and ranks the best website platforms.

I won't go into everything I've learned, because there are lots of people who understand it better than I do, and have written great books and articles, and have made really helpful podcasts and YouTube tutorials that explain things very well. My biggest obstacle is that I wanted to make a new website that combines ecommerce, a blog, and print-on-demand. I had questions like, "Which is the best platform for artist websites?";  "How much technical expertise do you need to be able to use the various platforms?"; "How do I move my domain from my old site?"; "Which ones can have a print-on-demand page embedded in them?"; "How can I use social media to drive traffic?"; "How much does all this stuff cost?", just to name a few. Yikes, right!? And with all this business stuff, will I have time to make art?

http://theabundantartist.com/shopify-hosted-solutions-review-artists/

I knew I needed to do extensive research, and that there would be a big learning curve. So, here's what I did. First, I was lucky enough to find How to Sell Art Online by Cory Huff of The Abundant Artist. This is the best online art business book I have read; it's clear, concise, and lays out all the basics. He also has podcasts, a blog, classes and videos on just about everything pertaining to art and online business. And no, I don't get anything for saying this (I wish!), I'm just telling you what I think. In fact, I'm about as far from an expert as you can get, which is why I decided to share what information I'm finding helpful with others who, like me, might need a little steering in the right direction.

Then, I started taking all the free webinars and tutorials offered by most of the well-known art business coaches, of which there many: Ann Rea of Artists Who Thrive,  sample webinar here); ART2LIFE with Nicholas Wilton; Alyson Stanfield of ArtBizCoach;  Make Art That Sells with Lilla Rogers; Robert Brandl's WebsiteToolTester , which is great for comparing website platforms, types of ecommerce, etc., with lots of good YouTube videos; Gary Bolyer; Brainard Carey's yourartmentor.com, which offers free podcasts and webinars; Jason Horejs's Red Dot Blog with links to his extensive offerings of Art 2 Market YouTube videos, often in conjunction with art print and market expert Barney Davey. There is lots more free help out there, as I'm sure you'll find once you start looking around. Most of them offer free information as a teaser for getting you to take their entire online course, but if you take the free introductory ones and then go and watch their other videos on YouTube, you can find a lot of helpful information. Also, many of them offer free pdf instructions or worksheets that go with the webinars. You can print these out or download them onto your computer.

Learning how to target your audience is another important thing to learn, and one that I have particular trouble with. Click the image above to read the article.

I realize that this post is getting rather long, and one of the things I've learned through my research is that people don't want to read online. So if you need to know anything more specific and I can point you in the right direction, feel free to comment here or message me on facebook. Oh, I should also say that I've pinned quite a few helpful articles to my Online Biz How-to board on Pinterest, so you might want to check that out.

And lastly, lets not forget the most important part of all this -

Connections II

mixed media collage, 8 x 8 inches

making art!



Addendum: I just found an awesome site that gives you excellent detailed reviews of website builders, how to use them, and tons of really relevant and clear information about anything and everything to do with websites. It's called Website Builder Expert, and it even has a quiz to help you figure out which website builder is best for you. I highly recommend it!

The Life of an Artist, part 2

Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen Gallery, Berea, Kentucky

As you may know, I've been posting questions on my blog and on facebook, attempting to get information about selling art online. My goal is that we all share our knowledge in hopes of helping one another. Unfortunately, I didn't get many answers to my questions (not a large enough data base), so I have decided to supplement with my own research.

 website header

Question number 3 in my informal art business survey: What online venues have you used for selling art, and if you have, which one(s) have you found most successful? Some examples include: your website or blog, etsy, Fine Art America, Saatchi, artspan, artsy, ebay, Pinterest, facebook, instagram, Shopify (which apparently can be used with facebook, instagram, twitter, and pinterest), redbubble, zazzle, etc. 

Unsettle article about selling on etsy

I got two completely opposite opinions about etsy - one who sells a lot on etsy, and one who does not. This corroborates other things I've heard. A friend told me he knows someone who makes a living selling on etsy, but I've also heard that it's not a good place to sell since they opened it up to non-handmade products. I've also been told that it's better now that they've made some changes, though I have no idea what those changes are. Another said she sells mostly from facebook and her website.
To shed some light on the whole etsy question, I found this article, Etsy Pros and Cons by Ariane Foulks on her art business blog, Aeolidia. The article consists mostly of the opinions of people who sell on etsy; it's worth reading because it gives you a feel for what selling on etsy is like, both good and bad, along with a few suggestions from Ariane. One of the biggest pros is apparently that everything is already set up , including the payment process system. Other major advantages seem to be that customers are well-aquainted with etsy, and so are likely to trust the sellers, and there's lots of help available through community boards. Disadvantages are lack of control, limited design choices, and tons of competition, because so many sell their products on etsy that it's easy to get lost among the masses. And, of course, there's the cost: 20 cents to list each item, and etsy takes 3.5 percent of the selling price. An excellent article by Britany Klontz comparing etsy to setting up your own ecommerce site is also worth a read.

From 12 Best Sites to Buy and Sell Art - Dashburst Blog

Obviously, I can't research and report on all these online sales venues, but there is no end to the number of articles on the internet that do. To be honest, I have read so many of them that my head is about to explode, and have come no closer to being able to make sense of it all. There are simply too many variables - what type of art you're selling, whether you sell giclees, how much money you need to make, how many followers you have, whether you want to license your work to be printed on paper, canvas, t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc., how much you can afford to spend on promoting your site, and so on.

business card

I'm certainly not an expert on this subject; there is LOTS to learn about selling art online, and I don't have time to wade through even a small part of it. But I will share with you some things that stood out to me and seemed to have the ring of truth.

1. In my investigations, I found that most of the people who claim that you can make a fortune selling art online have courses, webinars, or coaching services they want to sell you after they lure you in with "free" information. The free information is pretty generic and generally just consists of common sense statements with exclamation points. Some of it is helpful, though; many have blogs, newsletters or podcasts that you can take advantage of, and maybe glean some useful information.  I can't speak to whether their trainings are helpful, as I don't have money to spend on them.

2. Almost every art business coach says that the number one most important thing to do is to build a large email list and send out frequent newsletters. Generally, they advise you to collect the email addresses of people who buy your work. The problem with this is, since I have mainly sold through galleries, I have no information about the buyers; gallery owners do not usually share the names of buyers with the artist, for obvious reasons. This one stumps me, as they don't exactly tell you how to build an email list, and I'm not sure what I would put in my newsletter; I don't have that much 'news' to report. But I'm definitely going to look into it, and will share what I find out later if you're interested.

3. Another point which I hadn't really thought much about is finding your niche market. In other words, what sets your work apart from that of the other bazillion artists out there? This does seem a bit counter-intuitive; I'm always being told that I should paint things most people want to buy. I could make lots of money, I'm always being told, if I would paint landscapes, or do pen-and-ink drawings of Cincinnati, or paint pet portraits, for instance. These aren't things I feel passionate about, and I would not be happy doing them; consequently, I don't think they would have that essential quality - whatever that is - that touches people and draws them to an artist's work. The important thing is to develop your own artistic voice, to which certain buyers respond. These buyers become collectors of your work, and will introduce your work to others.

4. Tell stories. People want to know about you as a person, how you make your work, what inspires you and why. They want to feel engaged with you as an artist, which helps them to engage with your work. Initially this seemed a bit surprising. I've always thought that my life was pretty boring, and that people didn't really care about who I am as a person. When I think about it though, it makes sense; I always look at the bio section of an artist's website, and enjoy finding out more about them. It helps me to gain insight into their work, making it richer and more meaningful to me as a viewer. I'm always fascinated to find out about their processes, and to see work in progress.

Lance Rubin, an artist who has spent about ten years exploring this subject, has this to say about selling art online: "To sell successfully, you need to have what people want. You need to have an abundance of the art for sale (choice for your buyers, and I mean 30-100 available pieces), a sales record (your buyers can see that people buy your stuff), it needs to be the size they want, and the color they want, and fit their pricing needs all at the same time. It should also be unique and creative. I have also noticed that a warm palette art sells much better than cool or cold palette. People also prefer credentials of some kind and a backstory or personal information about the artist. Whew! Who can pull all that off at the same time? It ain't easy."

So, after all this I'm afraid that my research has not been very successful. I've found almost no real definitive answers, and my questions have just raised more questions. I will have to leave it at that for now, but I'm continuing to research it, mostly by trial and error at this point. I will keep you apprised of what I find out. Right now, I have set up ecommerce on my artspan website, and am in the process of enabling prints on demand for some of my work. I'm also considering setting up a shop on Fine Art America, and connecting it to my facebook page; I was told by a friend that it wasn't difficult to do.

Oh, yeah, and I need to find another gallery or two to sell my work, since the Promenade Gallery was sold.

To quote Alyson Stanfield, "My hope with this lesson is that you understand the value of action.
I give you lots of ideas on my blog and in my newsletter, but there comes a point when you have to stop gathering ideas and information and start taking action.
How about today?"

Decisions, Decisions- Please Vote!

This is not a matter of great importance- just something that bugs me.  If you visit my blog regularly, you've probably noticed that I change my header frequently.  The reason for this is that I'm never satisfied with any of them, once I've looked at them for a few days.  Does anyone else have this problem, or is it just ridiculously perfectionistic ol' me?   I used to be a graphic designer; could that be the problem?

So, if you don't mind, I'm asking for a little help- I put my graphic designer pants back on (which were very tight, since they're from back when paste-ups were done with actual paste!), and came up with some new ones.   I'm posting these, along with a few older ones that I think might be acceptable, and I'd appreciate it if you could tell me which one you prefer.  Or, if you have other suggestions, I'd love to hear them- believe me, if you say you hate them all, it will not hurt my feelings.  The question is: what should I do instead? 

Thanks in advance for your opinion!  So, here they are:

#1)  The one I'm using for the header right now.

#2 



#3

#4

#5

#6

#7




Again, thanks for lending me your eyes and brains!

Doors and Windows

There's an old saying...

I'm sure you're familiar.   It goes something like...

"When one door closes,

another door opens."

Or is it, "When a door closes,

a window opens."?

You're probably wondering if I have a point here, which I actually do.  Some of you may recall my recent post, where I ranted on and on about how much I hate applying for exhibitions.  Well, the rejections have started rolling in, and I could just hear the doors slamming!  I started to feel a little... less than hopeful, I guess you could say.  

But then, yesterday, a strange and unexpected thing happened.  I got an email from a gallery saying that they have chosen me for a solo show!  I'm still not convinced that it's not some sort of mistake.   I hear a voice in my head saying, "This just doesn't happen to me."

As a student of Buddhism and other philosophies, I know that our thoughts do create our reality.  I think we expect what we get used to, and those thoughts can become a habit, a pattern, a self-fulfilling prophecy.  My point is this: when you're busy focusing on the closed door, it's hard to notice the open one.

The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.
- William James

Just Do It!

 "No Whining!" poster from my classroom

 Last week, while I was on Spring Break, I spent at least two entire mornings working on art exhibition submissions.  I really didn't want to, but I figured it had to be done, and since I was off, I couldn't think of any good excuses not to.  For additional motivation, I gave myself a little pep talk.  "JUST DO IT!" I yelled at myself.  "SUCK IT UP!" (Yep, that's my pep talk- told you it was little.)  I was more than a bit frustrated, because usually I procrastinate and procrastinate, until I've managed to miss the deadline.  Then, I curse, but I still do the same thing the next time.  Sheesh!  In the past year or more, in fact, I had missed nearly all of them.  Of course, I want to be in the shows, I just don't want to do the actual entering.  I hate the entire process; to me, it's like torture.

It's not the rejections that bother me; I got over that a long time ago.  I wish I had kept all the rejection letters I've received over the years, because I'm pretty sure I'd have enough by now to wallpaper my studio.  What better reminder of the power of persistence than that?  Or, I could use them to make the world's biggest collage!  Sure, years ago, when I started doing this, I'd get all depressed when I got a rejection.  I haven't really come all that far in the self-confidence department; I've just done this long enough that it doesn't faze me any more.  (Sticks and stones... )

Art Exhibition Applications

What does bother me is that it's just a boring, time-consuming pain in the butt.  Here's what I mean.  First, you have to figure out which shows to enter.  I should clarify here.  Finding them isn't hard; it's deciding which ones are worthwhile that can be tricky. There are so many factors to consider.  For example, is your art a good match for the theme, or for the venue?  What does "Healing Art" really mean?  What type of work do they usually show?  You have to do some research, so you're not just wasting your time and money.  And speaking of money, some are pretty expensive to enter; if the fee is over 30 dollars or so, I usually mark it off the list.  Shipping is quite expensive, so is it best to limit your entries to shows within driving distance?

Then there's the submission process itself.  Emailing images is easiest, but most want them on CD, which you have to put in the proper padded envelope with the proper paperwork, take to the post office and weigh, etc.  What's worse is that each show has stipulations for how the images should be sized and labeled, and it's different for every single show!  For example, one wants them at 300 dpi, with the shortest side at least 1200 pixels.  The next one will be 72 dpi with no side longer than 450 pixels.  I've never been able to re-use a CD, ever.  The labeling instructions are also incredibly specific.  First name.last name_first 2 words of title. jpg.  Or, first initial last name_entry number_title.  Or anything else you can think of, as long as it's not like the labeling for any other show.  I've even seen one that stipulated that you must use "inches" when giving the size, not " or in.  Are you starting to get the picture?

A mess of CD's and crap.

If you're applying for a solo show, they're going to want various other documents as well, such as your statement, bio, resume, exhibition proposal, and possibly even invitations from past shows.

Seriously?  Could some of this stuff not be standardized somehow?  Maybe it's just me, but this makes my head spin around until I want to spit pea soup.  Did I mention that I hate this?

But, the good part is that every once in a while you get something like this:

And then your piece goes on a little journey- if you get it framed and sent out on time.

World Dharma Mandala by Sharmon Davidson

What I wouldn't give for a full time secretary!  Any takers?

Questions

I've been thinking a lot lately, and quite unproductively. Maybe it's just a malaise brought on by the constant snow, but the truth is I feel I'm in a deep, soggy rut.  The kind of rut you can't get out of on your own; you're in serious need of a push or two, or it may even be time to give up and call AAA for a tow.  Because I'm just spinning my wheels, and sinking deeper and deeper into the muck.  (extended metaphor- nice!)

 Like this towboat pilot, I can't get off the bank; I'm just churning mud.  I'm stuck.

If I had to zero in on one particular theme amidst the huge tangled mess in my brain, it would have to be frustration.  The source of my frustration is this: I spend quite a bit of time making my art, but then I don't really have any time left to promote or sell it.  I don't have time to apply for shows, or set up an etsy store.  My frustration has almost reached critical mass- the point where I consider giving up.  And I'm not a quitter; to the contrary, I tend to just keep beating my head against the same wall until either it moves, or my head starts to bleed.  (Wow, two extended metaphors in one post- am I a literary genius or what?)

So, something's gotta give- either my head or the wall; either the barge or the bridge, you know?  And when it hits, there's bound to be a lot of pain for somebody, and I think we all know it's not the bridge.

I gave up on this dream once before, because I had no choice.  But now I'm trying, and I just can't seem to get off the bank. 

Alright, this part (above) was written last night, and I'm now finished whining!  Ugh- disgusting!  I just did my taxes, and the numbers were kind of discouraging, if you know what I mean.  I'm moving on to more practical things, such as questions that some of you may be able to answer.

Questions:

1.  How many years can you claim a business loss on your taxes?

2.  How much does it cost to have an etsy store, and is it worth it?

3.  I know this is hard to answer, but has anyone made a profit from selling things on etsy?

4.  How do you generally get into shows- i.e. personal contacts, applications, other?

5.  Does anyone do art outdoor art fairs, and if so, do you make much money?

6.  In what way do you make the most money from your art?

As always, thank you for your help (and for putting up with me!).  If you know anyone who you think might know the answers to any or all of these questions, please direct them to me, or me to them.  And I promise to get an attitude adjustment before the next post!

p.s.  I'm really not all about money (if I was I'd probably have some by now!), but it's either a business or it's not, you know?  Also, it would be incredibly nice to be able to quit my day job...

 

Self-portrait: definitely my best side!  haha!

Business Questions/ Issues

Okay, maybe I'm crazy- never mind, the jury's pretty much in on that one- but do these images look the same to you? (not counting the business card part, of course) The top one is the original artwork, and the pic on the business card should be the same. They look alike in the folder on my computer, but when I post it- well, the colors are sort of - different, to say the least. I've tried it 3 times. Also, the background of the card is black, not gray. I sent this to a printer, and now I'm wondering if this is what it will look like when it's printed. Yikes! Does anyone understand what happened?



Mystery solved. My son explained that it looked that way because the printing company wanted it in CMYK color mode, instead of RGB, which is used on the internet. Who knew? Apparently not me. So this is what my business card will finally look like.

Now I move on to issue #2: Shipping artwork. It's not really the HOW to ship that I'm wondering about, it's the WHETHER to ship at all. Or maybe it's HOW to afford to ship. To put it more simply, is it even worthwhile to enter shows that aren't close enough to enable you to deliver the work yourself? The price of shipping seems to be rising dramatically. I recently shipped a piece to an exhibit in Jasper, Indiana, near Evansville, which is probably about 4 hours from where I live. It cost me almost $80.00 to ship it there and back! Is there a cheaper way to ship than UPS? What it comes down to is that unless I make a sale or win an award, I'm out a lot of money. So, do I stop entering shows altogether, only enter the few close to home, or win the lottery?

More Business of Art Business

Here are some examples of business card designs, or just backgrounds, that I've considered and discarded.







Thanks to my good friends Dona Iona Drozda and Kathleen Krucoff, along with important info from R. Garriott, I have once again changed my mind about the business card thing. And no, I'm not being sarcastic; this is a good thing.

Dona and Kathleen gave me wonderful advice, including that I should check out R. Garriott's post about having business cards printed (link above), and the VERY convincing reasons not to do them yourself. Two reasons in particular stood out in my mind: 1)frustration due to poor print quality, images not lining up with the cards, and PAPER JAMS, and 2)it actually costs more to print them yourself. The cost thing is self-explanatory, but frustration due to technological problems drives me CRAZY! Here is the expression on my face when I have computer problems of any kind:

Obviously, this is not my face; it's a picture of my son Colin's girlfriend from a really funny "emotions-of-the-day" refrigerator magnet they made (sorry, Lindsey!).

So, I'm off to do a different design, and have it printed.

The Business of Art

Believe me, the last thing I ever wanted to be was a business person. I just had no interest in it whatsoever, and naively believed that it had nothing at all to do with my life. This was many years ago, of course. There were many, many things I didn't know at that time; so many that I didn't even know what I didn't know, if you follow me. When I thought of being an artist, I was sadly ignorant of what that would entail.

In the meantime, a lot of life happened, prompting me to put my artistic career on the back burner (actually, it wasn't even near the stove) for quite a long time. Eventually, I began to make art again, and at this point some practical concerns had begun to enter my head. Such as: what do I do with the art I'm making? If I want people to see it, and preferably even to purchase it, how do I accomplish this?

To make a very long story short, this was where I came right smack up against the "business" thing. I had to face the ugly truth that in order to be an artist, I also had to learn how to be a business person (unless I knew someone who would handle that for me- no such luck). This was a pretty revolting revelation, considering the fact that I had no business training of any kind, and had not even taken a typing class. I had no idea where to start.

So began the slow and painful process in which I drag myself, kicking and screaming, through each little tiny step on the way to learning how to conduct the business of art. I am not very far along with this endeavor, but I am beginning to make progress.

I have been trying to design a business card for some time now, but have never really been satisfied with any of my designs. Now that I have several different people waiting for me to send the cards I promised them, time's up. So I just stayed up late last night and said, "Whatever I come up with, that's it." So, for what it's worth, this is it.



Now, how do I get it to print on those little cards?