Art Marketing Boot Camp™

Why Editors Don't Notice You, and What You Can Do to Get Noticed

“Call me immediately,” said the e-mail from a reader of my radio magazine. Because it appeared urgent, I was curious and phoned, only to get an earful about a story we had done about this person’s competitor and why the story should have been about this person instead. The rant went on for 10 minutes about how this person was the pioneer and had done amazing things, and our story was misguided because the person we had featured was not as strong as the person I was talking to.

I was told, “You should have known. It’s your job to do your homework and know who is doing what.”

Wrong.

Though I respect people whenever possible, and though I let this person’s rant go on and on because it’s important to talk things through, the one thing I feel that was wrong was assuming that we, a press organization, should have known about this person's accomplishments and the status of their career.

I did not know. My editor did not know. No one on our staff knew.

Why is this important for you as an artist to understand? Stick with me for a minute.

You see, people like this person, who was upset that we did not give the coverage or story that was “due,” assume we know about all their accomplishments.

We all get very close to our own world, and sometimes we assume that others know about us because of all the efforts we have made.

But this person had made no effort to make us aware.

As publishers of three art magazines, two art newsletters, and some radio industry publications (Artists On Art, Fine Art Connoisseur, PleinAir, PleinAir Today, Fine Art Today, Radio Ink, Radio Discussions, Radio + TV Business Report), I can tell you that we are fairly busy people. We see and hear from hundreds of artists, we are flooded with press releases, exhibition information, and images of work, and we cannot catch it all.

And though you may think you have done a good job of keeping someone informed about all the things that have happened in your life and career, there is a strong chance that they're not aware, even if you’ve made contact a couple of times.

In the case of this person, I’d only met and talked with them one time, by phone, two years ago. I had no way of knowing about what had been accomplished — it had never been shared with me. And even if it had been shared once, chances are it wouldn’t have stuck.

The point of all of this is that “you should have known” is not true. Assuming an editor knows your history and story, and that when something comes up for a feature, they will think of you — that’s assuming an awful lot.

Though I’m sure I’ll regret saying this because it means I’ll get more calls and e-mails, it is your responsibility to make editors and writers aware of you. Just as I suggest for advertising, you must make contact with some frequency and consistency, and never assume anyone knows about or remembers you.

Imagine being a gallery owner who receives 50 e-mails a day from artists wanting to be in the gallery. Most of those messages are deleted without so much as a look. But if they see you consistently (and you don’t become a “stalker” by sending too many e-mails), they might start to become aware of your name, and at some point might look into things a little more.

This is true in advertising with potential buyers, it’s true with galleries, and it’s true with members of the press.

Never assume anyone knows anything about you.

Always assume the responsibility to make sure others know.

It’s a delicate balance because if you’re in touch too often over too short a time, it will backfire. Unfortunately, some will pester editors, get indignant, and demand coverage after even frequent contact hasn’t worked, and end up burning bridges — which could result in no future coverage. After all, press isn’t a given. It’s not a right, it’s a gift if you find an editor willing to give you coverage. (You may be the only one who thinks you deserve it.)

The other reason repetition is important is because editors are often working on features or special issues they need to fill, and you want them to think of you when they need you. For instance, if an editor comes up with a feature on waterfalls, they may think about all the waterfall painters they know and contact them for images. They may not think of you unless you’re already top-of-mind. If that editor recently heard from you and saw your waterfall painting, you might get included.

There are lots of ways to become top-of-mind, starting with meeting someone in person at an event. Still, I meet hundreds of artists, and I can’t remember them all. So what can you do to stand out and be memorable in that brief moment? Handing me a business card or a postcard with your work is a start, but frankly, not a great one, because my pockets are filled with cards after an art event and most just end up in a folder somewhere. Though it may get referred to some time, it’s not likely to create top-of-mind awareness.

If you’re just one of many, you don’t stand out, and if yours is one of 30 cards I receive in a night, it will just blend in. You need to be unique, to stand out and to get noticed in a way others won’t. That means you need to be prepared if you know you’re going to meet people who might be able to help you. You’ll need to come up with your own unique method of standing out — and doing so appropriately. For some artists, it’s about branding with the way they dress. (“Remember me? I'm the one that always wears Victorian dresses.”)

Don’t do what everyone else does. Zig when they zag.

Remember, there is no “should” with editors. This person said, “You should know because it’s your job to know.” Maybe that’s even true, but editors are human and can remember only so much.

All the “should” falls on you. It’s your career, so you should take the responsibility to make sure others know about you.

The Land of Danger for Art Marketers

 

Imagine walking through the Sahara desert. In every direction you look, you see what seems to be miles and miles of sand. The hot sun is beating down on you and you’ve run out of water. You’ve slowed your pace, and you’re in danger of collapsing and baking in this Sahara oven if you don’t find water soon. Then, as you see the sunlight reflecting off water on the horizon, you muster all your energy to run toward it. But as you get closer, you find there is no water. It’s merely a mirage.

As artists working on our own marketing and branding, we often feel like we’re in the desert. We feel barely able to make it, but then something gives us hope, something gives us the feeling that we’re making great strides — but it’s only a mirage.

Recently I was having a discussion with a company and I asked the marketing team about what percentage of the market was aware of their brand. Boldly, they said, “We know that at least 75 percent of the people in the art world know us.”

It was a mirage. 

I was feeling especially kind and non-confrontational that day, so instead of challenging them and giving them a much-needed dose of reality, I simply asked how they knew.

They told me about all the things they were doing and all the places they were doing them. Frankly, it wasn’t much and hadn’t been going on for long, and they had barely scratched the surface. By asking questions, I was finally able to get them to come to that conclusion on their own.

Their perception had been that they were known, even a household name, but it was all a self-imposed mirage. The reality is that they were barely known, if known at all.

As a marketer, your self-confidence (or your ego) can kill your business. When you think you’re doing well, when you think you’re doing everything you can, you start to believe that is enough.

Recently, right after I was on stage and speaking at the opening of the Plein Air Convention, a young woman walked up to me, introduced herself, and asked politely, “Who are you, and what do you do?”

Gulp.

I’m at my own event, with my tribe, I’ve spent tons of time and money on marketing, I’ve told my story a thousand times, yet this person was unaware.

I felt completely stupid and realized I had become overconfident.

The next morning, when I went on stage, I started Art Marketing Boot Camp with my story, because if there was one person there who didn’t know it, chances are there were others.

As someone recently told me, “You cannot tell your story enough.”

Remember that marketing team? After all my questions, I told them that there was a very big chance that they were known by only a small percentage of the entire market. Others might be aware of the company’s name but not know what it does.

We all grow so close to our marketing that we sometimes make insanely stupid assumptions, like…

• Everyone knows who we are
• Everyone knows our story
• Everyone knows exactly what we do
• Everyone has read everything we ever put out
• Everyone has visited our website
• Everyone has seen our artwork

But we need to understand that there are always people entering and exiting the market. Through attrition, our customer list is always changing, on average by 10 percent each year, and in bad economic years, by 30 to 50 percent.

That means you have to...

• Constantly be telling your story
• Constantly be helping people know your product or art
• Constantly bring new people into your list
• Constantly stay visible

We wrongly assume that because someone sees a story or an ad, they have “captured the message.”

The reality is that most people don’t pay close attention. They don’t read things we think they should read. They skim a lot of things.

And since the average person has to be hit over the head about a dozen times with seeing or hearing your message before they become a prospect, you have to be constantly pushing and repeating that message.

And don’t assume they saw or heard it every time you ran it.

Also, repetition fades with time, so you have to compress time by being seen more frequently over shorter time periods.

There are other critical pieces. You see, every campaign is about four things:

• What you say and how you get attention
• How often you say it
• How often your target prospect sees it
• Who you say it to, which has to do with where you say it

On stage recently I asked the audience how many had seen ads for “MyPillow.com.” In a room of 1,000 people, only about 30 hands went up.

I’ve seen these ads on TV probably a hundred times in the last year, yet only 3 percent of the room was aware of them.

After seeing the ad for the hundredth time, my wife finally bought the product.

Every buyer has their own timing. Your campaigns need to repeat your story and message to the point that you are personally sick of it and think others are as well.

Even then, you’ve tapped only a small percentage of a market, and sold only a small percentage.

It all works due to the volume of people being reached and the constant repetition of the message.

I’ll bet if I asked the CEO of the company that makes MyPillow, he would say the world knows about his product because of the thousands of people reached and the large number of orders coming in. Yet he would be embarrassed and frustrated with the 3 percent of the room I surveyed.

His marketing person, on the other hand, would probably understand that more time will be required to reach more people, and even then, not everyone will be aware.

The point?

Don’t get overconfident and think the world knows about you or knows the details about your product.

Overconfidence will lead you to think you’re big when you’re not, and will lead you to reduce or stop your marketing because you believe that, or because you’re seeing some results.

Marketing is like a jet that never lands and has to be continually refueled in the air. If you land it, you lose momentum and it’s much harder to take off again — and you’ll see a reduction in business before long.

A great marketer understands the land of danger and the mirage of assuming people know who they are and know their story. A great marketer never lands.

How Art Businesses Die

 

Though we like to think of ourselves as artists, if we’re selling paintings, we are running a business.

According to trainer Tony Robbins, businesses go through the following cycle:

• Birth 
• Infancy
• Toddler
• Teenager
• Young Adult
• Mature Adult
• Mid-Life
• Aging
• Institutionalization
• Death

Rather than explaining these cycles in depth, I’ll just say they are much like life. Each of us and our art businesses are at a different point in the cycle. If you’re just launching or planning your art business, you’re pregnant and about to give birth. If you’re a teen, you make reckless decisions. The longer you’re in business, the more you mature, until you grow old.

The part of the cycle I want to discuss today is death — when your business is no longer sustainable and there is no one to support it.

My goal is to help you, or those you know, to prevent death — to keep art selling.

All Cycles Are Predictable

One thing always follows the other. The problem is that we often cannot see when we’ve gone from one part of the cycle to another, and if we’re not paying attention, it’s often too late.

Recently I met an artist who had been a queen in the art world. She was a big seller, she’d made a lot of money, but she came to me for marketing advice because nothing is selling anymore.

How is it that an icon, a success, enters the part of aging where the breakdown in the business has been accelerated?

As I asked this woman some questions, it was clear this had been happening gradually over time, but she had not recognized the signals. And she was in denial about her current circumstances. She was placing blame on the economy, claiming that “people just don’t buy art anymore,” which is completely untrue.

In her case, her business had been aging for years, but since that fact went unrecognized, the aging continued until she may have reached the point of no return.

Though I’m always one to believe any circumstances can be changed, I also believe that once we get comfortable with a certain lifestyle, once we get to that point in our careers, we’re often unwilling to do what it takes to reinvent. We get set in our ways.

Not Seeing Obvious Signs

This lovely woman had not seen the key sign — gradually slowing sales. She had been in a number of galleries, but many closed over time and were not replaced. “People are just not buying your work anymore,” she was told.

The reality is that she did not reinvent herself when the signals of mid-life appeared, and never considered that aging would be next. She did not see that some of her galleries were dying, for the same reason she now faces … they did not reinvent themselves. Had she replaced her aging galleries with new, vibrant ones, she may still have been selling work.

“I tried to get a couple of new galleries,” she said, “but the new galleries had no idea who I was and how big I am in the art world. I tried to tell them how big I was, how I sold hundreds of paintings at high prices, but they did not seem interested.”

What had happened is that success killed this woman’s career.

What? How is it possible for success to kill a career or business?

This woman was so successful that she stopped doing what had made her successful in the first place. When I asked her about her early career and her struggles, she told me how she worked the galleries, how she advertised heavily to get collectors even when she had no galleries, and how that resulted in her getting invited to shows and events, which made her better known. It also made her known to the galleries.

Business Was Booming
Within a few years, she had several galleries, and she couldn’t keep up with all the work they were selling. This feast went on for several years. Because she sold so well, the galleries were advertising her work. That continued to build her name, which made her prices go up because she could produce only so much. In fact, demand became so high that the galleries didn’t even need to advertise. All the collectors knew who she was and wanted her work in their collections.

Over time, sales started to slow down. It took a while, but she would sell a little bit less every year. The galleries told her all her collectors were saturated and there was not as much demand for her work. Of course, they gave that as the reason they did not advertise her anymore. There simply was not the demand there used to be. Yet they still sold some — it’s rare that sales just come to a halt. Death in most cases is gradual.

From Queen to Virtually Unknown

I pointed out to her that new galleries did not know who she was because she had not worked to continually brand her name. I pointed out that as an artist, you have to take some control over your success. When the galleries stopped advertising, there was a gradual decline in her sales. I don’t believe it had anything to do with demand or oversaturation. I believe it was because they no longer promoted her.

A fact of life, as an artist or a gallery owner, is that when you fail to do the things that made you successful, you fail to get the results you used to get. When you achieve success and comfort, you can be slowly dying and not realize it.

She Killed Her Own Career
I believe this woman killed her own career because there are always new people coming into the market and other people leaving. In a typical year, it’s probably 20 percent attrition. That means you have to bring in 20 percent more people every year, because if you lose 20 percent of your customers a year, it only takes five years until you have no more customers.

Furthermore, the galleries not advertising sped up the death of her career. They were comfortable with her sales and did not feel they needed to advertise because everyone knew who she was and who the gallery was. They were dead wrong.

How Customers Act
In my first Art Marketing Boot Camp video, I show an up and a down escalator to make the point that people are always leaving and people are always coming into the market to buy. People leave because they age or die, they run out of wall space, they run out of money due to retirement or going to a fixed income or another change in their circumstances, like the loss of a job or needing to save money for college for the kids.

On the other hand, new people are coming into the market because their kids got out of college and they have money again, or they got a raise, or a bonus, or an inheritance.

New people coming into the market don’t know you exist. They don’t know that galleries that have been around for decades exist. They don’t know who has a good or a bad reputation. They have all of that to learn.

A Million Bucks and Nowhere to Spend It
I once met a collector who asked me who to call because he had a million dollars to spend on art and wanted to buy a John Singer Sargent painting. Imagine that. There were people who had been known for many years as experts in Sargent, yet he was not aware of them because they had not been advertising for decades. I had to tell him where to go. (He bought two Sargent paintings.)

Habits of New Buyers
When new buyers (they are not collectors yet) start to get interested in art, they start picking up books or magazines, or start Googling and studying what they find. They discover artists or galleries that are visible at the time they enter the market. New people enter every day, yet most artists or galleries are not there when those people begin to look. Those who happen to be there at the right time start branding themselves and eventually, over time, get a chance at a relationship with that new buyer. Those who are not there stay invisible.

Of course, there are years when 20 percent is a low attrition rate. In a year like 2008, there may have been a loss of 60 or 70 or 80 percent of customers who never returned to the market.

The Impact of the Election
We’ve seen this happen in election years. Both sides play up fears that the world is not going to survive if their candidate is not elected. Consumer confidence is everything. State of mind impacts spending if you think everything is about to get bad. So people lay low for six months or a year, and sometimes even for a few months after the election, until the sting disappears. In fact, we know a lot of artists who had not seen any significant sales for months and only just recently started to see things selling again.

People with art businesses need to anticipate this and be ready for the storm, whether it’s a short- or long-term storm.

In every storm, there are always people spending money, but you have to hunt them down and find them.

Taking Advantage of a Crash
I know of a very smart and successful couple who started a new gallery in 2008, after the crash had happened. Everyone thought they were insane, but they understood human nature. In 2008, almost all the galleries and many artists stopped advertising because business was bad. This couple doubled down on advertising and managed to draw massive attention from the people who were still spending. The environment was less cluttered, too, so they got more value out of their ads. Like a giant magnet, they drew customers away from other galleries that were quickly forgotten because they were out of sight, and out of mind. This gallery was booming as a result.

It’s counterintuitive to spend when things get bad, but there are always buyers. Even the Depression saw massive spending among the wealthy.

Success as a Sign of Near Death?
My dad, a successful business guy, always told me that companies often go from having their best months ever to having their worst months ever almost overnight. The reason is that they hadn’t recognized problems when those problems were revealing themselves. Plus, when times are good, people tend to take more time off, take longer vacations, do more remote management and more spending, and put less money away for a rainy day. Plus, business is so good they assume they don’t need to advertise or even do as many shows. They don’t follow the practices that made them successful.

Momentum Is Powerful
What they fail to understand is that success is the culmination of momentum created by years of doing things right. Momentum does not stop immediately, but if you don’t continue to feed it, your business starts to slowly die, because you’re not staying visible, and not bringing in enough new customers.

By the time they recognize the problem, it’s usually too late. There is no money or no energy or desire to work as hard as they used to.

Uphill, Downhill

It’s like a car that chugs up a hill, but keeps trying till it gets to the top. Then, once at the top, it heads to the bottom, going faster and faster until it’s going so fast the driver doesn’t need to do anything. But if the driver fails to keep the gas on, they’ll coast until the next hill slows them down and, eventually, they stop.

Death can happen to any business, including yours, whether you’re an artist, a gallery, or any business outside of the art world.

Clues Even When You Are Thriving
The best time to pay close attention to the danger signs is when you’re thriving. Because once you hit your mid-life crisis, things begin to break down. Entropy begins. You have to decide if you are going to reinvent yourself and rejuvenate your business by getting aggressive again, by promoting again — or will you decide to just ride it out as long as you can? That is when you really begin to die.

Once things get bad, you’re in denial. You can’t see the problem clearly, and tend to blame the market, the election, “people not spending anymore,” the state of the art world, etc. You feel like a victim, and you begin to attack and blame others. That’s when good employees bail out, because they’ve been saying it all along: “We need to do things differently.”

Death is usually self-imposed.

It’s rarely about market conditions alone. You see smart operators who are ready for the storm of a bad economy or changes in technology or changes in consumer behavior.

A Tough Decision

My friend was faced with a decision and had a tough pill to swallow. Once famous, once rich, once world-renowned as an artist, she was no longer known by the galleries or collectors, and a whole generation of people in charge of art shows and events had never heard her name. She had not been visible for about five years, and she had been forgotten.

To her credit, she did not just lie down to die. She asked what she could do and said she would do everything she could to get another decade or more out of her art career.

We’re working on a plan, and soon the world will know her again. I’m convinced her wonderful art will sell and she will be embraced as she once was. She is fortunate to be in a position where she is able and willing to work at and invest in her career. And she now wishes she had never stopped promoting herself and given up control of her own career.

How to Prevent Death

Whether you own a gallery or are an artist, your best chance for survival is to always assume people are in and out of the market and that you’ll need a plan to stay visible, stay relevant, and bring new people into the fold each and every day. You need to return to the things that made you successful, and you must always be paranoid and never get too comfortable, no matter how well things are going.

You and I both know artists who have been relevant and at the top of their game for decades. It does not just happen. They work hard at staying visible, doing shows, and continually reinventing themselves and exposing their work to new people coming into the market. If they did nothing, they would be unknown today as many once-famous artists are.

Lifetime Commitment
If you’re young or if you’ve got a lot of years ahead, you need to assume that visibility is a lifetime commitment. Too many people think they can run a couple of ads and everyone will flock to them. Your career is a marathon, not a sprint.

Just like you pay the electric bill every month of your life to keep the lights on, you need to pave the way to keep customers flowing to you for a lifetime. When you slow down, the customers may keep coming for a short period, depending on how much momentum you’ve built, but when the momentum ends, there are no more customers.

Death in life isn’t preventable ... but it’s preventable in business.

Even old, established companies can die because they get comfortable and arrogant and don’t continue to do what made them successful in the first place. Yet those in a continual state of customer acquisition and occasional reinvention stand a chance of a long and healthy business life. The same is true for artists and galleries.

I wish you great success.

Clobbered By My Own Advice

 

The Power Of Repetition 

My kids desperately want a dog, but their mother and I have mixed feelings about taking care of their animal once the kids go off to college in three years. But at every turn, when we ask them a question of any kind … like, “What do you want for dinner?” or, “What do you want to do this weekend?” the answer is always, “I want to go get a dog.”

Just yesterday my wife saw twin dogs online that are available for adoption. Suddenly the kids went into sales mode to convince us to get one of those dogs.

Last night as I walked into my studio there was an 8” x 10” glossy of the dog on my easel. When I went to bed, there was one on my pillow. When I got up this morning, there was one at the breakfast bar. And today when I came to work, there was one on my keyboard.

Though I’ve been pretty opposed to a dog for all the practical reasons, I have to admit, each time I see the picture, it melts my heart a little more and I get a little closer to saying yes. In fact, I’ve already gone from a firm “no” to a “maybe,” and I’ve even agreed to go visit and meet the twins this weekend.

Of course my kids have clobbered me with the advice I’ve given them about marketing. Repetition is powerful. The more people see something, the more it warms them up.

Back in the dark ages when I first learned marketing, the average marketer needed four repetitions to sell something. Then it went up to seven. Now, with all the noise in media, some experts say the number has doubled to about 15 impressions.

Ever wonder why you see things on television or hear things on radio over and over again?

The first reason is that it takes a certain number of impressions to sell someone. For discussion, let’s say it takes 10 impressions. Does that mean you only run 10 ads? Nope, it means the ad needs to reach an individual 10 times. If you ran 10 ads and the prospect happened to see only five of them, then it’s not enough. The prospect needs X number of impressions to be sold.

The other reason frequency is important is that circumstances change and moods change. For instance, a dealer once told me about a man who kept coming into his gallery for years but never bought anything. Then one day he came in and dropped a half million bucks. When questioned, the man said, “I had kids in college and no extra cash. Plus, I just sold my business for a lot of money, so now I can afford to collect.”

You see, tire companies or car dealers repeat constantly on television because they know you may not be in the market today, but if you blow out your tires, or decide you want a new car tomorrow, they need to be there when you begin to move into shopping mode. Most of us ignore all those ads until we decide we’re in the market, then we start paying attention.

One more reason for repetition is what is called top-of-mind awareness. You may not need tires now, but the goal is to hammer a message into your brain so that when you do need tires, you know exactly where to go. (But just in case you don’t, you’ll always find tire ads in the sports section of the local paper or on your local station.)

I believe people go through a few stages to get to a purchase. The first is attention — you have to get noticed. Then they move into the interest stage. They may think, “Hmm, maybe this is for me. I’ll have to pay closer attention next time.” Then they move to the desire stage. “Yes, this is for me. I should do something about it someday.” Of course, some then move into the purchase stage. “I’m going to buy this one day.”

Most marketers blow it because they forget that everyone has their own timing, and therefore you need to be there all the time for those who are coming into the market.

For example, let’s say you have an article coming out about your art in an art magazine like Fine Art Connoisseur. It’s not uncommon for a gallery or the artist to advertise in an issue with an article. But you’re assuming instant action. People don’t work that way. They may be thinking, “I’ll keep an eye on this artist,” but then your ads are not in the next issue, or the next, and there’s nothing to remind them of you or your work.

I once talked to a collector who told me he saw an article on an artist and decided he wanted to buy one of the paintings in the article. He set the magazine down, fully intending to go back to it, call, and inquire about the painting. But later, he couldn’t find the magazine and he didn’t remember the name of the artist or the gallery that advertised. He never did find the name of that artist.

Yet if that same artist had repeated her ad in the following couple of issues, she would have increased her chances of reaching and reminding this collector, and others. The ad could have even said, “As featured in the April issue of Fine Art Connoisseur.”

Why is repetition important?

Every person needs a certain number of impressions to take them through the levels of attention, interest, desire, and purchase.

People are always in and out of the market. One day they have no money, the next day they have money from a bonus, an inheritance, or some other event.

Moods change. A person can feel poor the day they have to replace their roof and feel rich the following week because their business made a big sale. Also, if they happen to see your ad on a day when they are in a bad mood, you need to make sure it keeps being seen so they see it in a different mood. That’s why I like to re-send direct mail campaigns.

You’re creating top-of-mind awareness so they think of you when they have money burning a hole in their pocket or a house that needs some paintings.

Branding. Building your brand takes repetition over years so that people will hold you in higher esteem, which will make you the choice if they are deciding between two paintings, will sell you as a status item (sorry, but it’s true), and will help you get higher prices because you’re well known. It will also drive people to you for events and shows, which then builds on your brand.

I’ll let you know the outcome of the puppy campaign, but my gut tells me I’ve already lost that battle. Certainly, repetition has softened me up.

Your Thanksgiving Demo, and My Thanksgiving Wish for You

 

A Note from Art Publisher Eric Rhoads

Dear Friends,

 

Life these days tends to go faster than a Porsche on the Autobahn. We’re all busy.

Thankfully, we’re forced hit the brakes and slow down around the holidays. It is at this time of year I try to cool my jets, rest up for the coming year, and take inventory of my blessings and my friends.

 

I feel especially blessed to have you, my art family. Art has changed my life. Just seeing life through the eyes of an artist, viewing life as color, light, form, shape, and atmosphere is a blessing. Translating beauty to canvas enriches our lives, as does painting outdoors en plein air, when we can be a part of nature.

 

I’m very thankful for the “new life” I was given when art entered it many years ago, and for the great friendships I’ve developed as a result of this journey. I’m grateful for your embrace of our magazines, events, products, and videos.

 

I often say you can’t have a bad day when surrounded by art, artists, and people who love art. I feel very blessed each day.

 

But I never say thank you enough, and it’s clear that my family (and the families of my team members) would not eat without your support. I try to remind myself of this every day and try to make it clear to my children that their band uniforms, books, electronics, and meals on the table are a result of a lot of good people who trust us to provide things they need to inspire them or make them better.

 

I am truly humbled by your support and the confidence you place in us.

 

You have allowed me to serve you, and for that I am grateful. It’s my goal to serve you with generosity. My life has been enriched by spending my time around people, like yourself, who have been blessed with a passion for creating or appreciating the arts.

 

You are special people. You see life through different eyes.

 

My great passion is to help others discover what we’ve each found in our own way. Life is more fulfilling with art-making at our fingertips. And it’s my belief that it’s not about inborn talent, it’s about convincing those who say, “I wish I could do that, but I’ve got no talent,” that they can learn it, because it’s a process simply requiring instruction, practice, and passion. Therefore when you’re approached, consider putting the brush in their hand and finding a way to convince them to take a risk on a chance for a better life by trying painting.

 

Perhaps, as you gather with family and friends this week, and through the holidays, you can change a life or two by offering a little Thanksgiving painting demonstration for those uninterested in football. Maybe you can inspire a child, a teen, an adult, or a senior. It’s never too early or too late. Your willingness to take the time to inspire others could give them the gift you were once given.

 

It is my prayer that your Thanksgiving is surrounded with laughter, love, and people who make you happy. It’s my wish that you use these times to rest, regenerate, find inspiration, and take a deep, well-deserved break to get ready for an incredible 2017.

 

Don’t fear whatever the future holds. We don’t know, we cannot control it, but we can continue to make the world a better place by opening the hearts of others through our art. It’s never been needed more, and I see no higher purpose for all of us than healing the world through artwork and inspiring others to find the artist within themselves.

 

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.

 

Eric Rhoads

Publisher

 

Fine Art Connoisseur * PleinAir * Artists On Art * Fine Art Today * Plein Air Today * Plein Air Salon

The Magic Lamp: Just Rub It and Your Art Career Will Soar

 

Much like the Fountain of Youth, I think we all tend to seek out a “magic lamp.” All we have to do is rub it, and “Poof!” A genie will grant us the success we dream of.

 

Over decades as a marketer, I have sometimes fallen prey to the belief that a magic lamp exists — and I’m happy to report that yes, indeed it does. There is a way to rub a magic lamp and watch your career go “poof” toward success. It will take more effort on your part than you might have hoped, but if you rub the lamp, it will happen.

 

A “magic lamp” is usually the promise of something too good to be true, raising unrealistic expectations of success with little effort or small investment.

 

I’m always looking for shortcuts, and even when I know something seems too good to be true, it often tempts me. So I spend my money in hopes of magical results, and poof! Nothing happens.

 

The biggest seduction in art marketing is the belief that big audience numbers can equal instant success from a single ad. Yet every time I fall into that trap, I wish I had realized that the physics of marketing always matter. There are things that will give you that desired success, and things that won’t. Violating the physics of marketing almost never works.

 

Most think that advertising to a big audience is like rubbing the lamp. “If only,” they think ... “If only I advertise to a giant audience, I’ll sell a painting, or a couple of dozen.”

 

So they prepare an ad, pay the money, and poof! The money is gone, and there are no results from rubbing that magic lamp.

 

Oh, in case you think an experienced marketer like me doesn’t sometimes fall for it, think again. One year I decided that the subscribers to a major auction house list would be great potential subscribers for one of my magazines targeting art collectors. It was a big number, and a very high price.

 

I ran a spreadsheet, and told myself that if just 2 percent signed up, I’d pay for the campaign and make money on it. So I paid $18,000 for one ad, and poof! Something amazing happened. My money disappeared and I sold a grand total of two $40 subscriptions. It cost me $9,000 per subscriber.

 

Of course I kept waiting for more results, rationalizing that some readers hadn’t seen it yet, or some hadn’t responded yet.

 

Nothing happened other than my feeling like a buffoon for throwing away a big amount of money.

 

If there is a magic lamp to marketing art, it is to follow the physics of marketing. I’ve found that every time the physics are right, the results are amazing, and every time I try to shortcut the physics, I fail.

 

Here is the formula.

 

Massive Frequency + Great Creative + Targeted Audience + Concentrated Audience + Time + A Ready Buyer + Stability

 

How big or how small an audience is really does not matter. It’s a trap we all fall into, but the reality is that a small audience could result in the sale of every painting you could possibly produce.

 

Though it seems logical to believe the odds are better because you are exposed to more people, more isn’t what you need.

 

The physics of advertising work very much the way friendships work, or the way business relationships work.

• When you meet someone new at a cocktail party, it’s a quick hello.
• If by chance there is some interest in getting to know the person, you may engage in a conversation.
• Then maybe you run into them at another event, and remember you found them interesting.
• That conversation may lead to a follow-up call or meeting.
• Then maybe another call or meeting.
• If, over time, the relationship gels, it can turn into a casual friendship.
• Combined with time, that friendship might lead to a deep friendship, at which time trust happens.
• The longer the time, the deeper the trust.
• The deepest relationships tend to develop over long periods of time.

 

But there are also other factors to relationships, like chemistry and bonds through common interests.

In the early stages, you know you don’t dare abuse the relationship with a big ask, like a favor or an introduction. It’s just too soon to ask for anything, and doing so could result in the end of the budding friendship. If you ask for too much, too soon, or inappropriately, trust is lost. But the deeper the relationship, the bigger the possible ask.

 

Let’s examine the elements of the formula, the “magic lamp”:

 

Frequency:
Advertising and marketing is about frequency. The more they see you, the closer you get to a point of awareness, then deeper awareness, then the early stages of interest, then deeper stages of interest, then finally trust and its deeper stages as well.  

 

Frequency is different from repetition. Frequency is the number of impressions a single individual receives within a certain amount of time. For instance, you could repeat an ad in a publication, but if a person didn’t see or notice that instance of the ad, that repetition doesn’t count toward their frequency.

 

Marketers have known for decades that a person needs to have a frequency of seven before they will be ready to buy something. If you can get seven impressions — repetitions that are seen — within a shorter window, the process can, in theory, be sped up.

 

But if you’re selling art, the message has to get someone’s attention and appeal to their interest and the buyer has to be in the right mood and the timing right to buy.

 

Great Creative:

The problem is that most advertising is competing for the attention of the buyer. We are all exposed to thousands of ad messages every day. Which ones are going to get you to sit up and take notice?

 

The creative is the content of your ad, made up of your design, your headline, the art featured, the story or message you’re communicating, and the call to action.

 

In the art world, most ads tend to look alike.

 

I was once in a meeting with an advertising agency and the CEO of a company who wanted them to help him sell aluminum siding. His instructions to the agency: Don’t do a before-and-after picture. Why? That’s what all the other aluminum siding companies did.

What are you going to do to stand out? If you’re in a 100-page magazine with 40 pages of ads, why will someone stop and read your ad instead of the other 39?

The answer is in powerful creative concepts. Frankly, the most important part of any ad is the headline. Ninety-five percent of the results from an ad will come from a powerful headline that stops the reader in her tracks.

 

Once you have a great headline, the other elements come into play, like a great opening line, a real emotional connection through your story or message, and a call to take a specific action. Plus information on how to get in touch with you, and an incentive to do so right now.

 

Concentrated Audience:

Perhaps the biggest mistake people make, and one of the most common, is assuming that the people who read one art magazine read another. Though there is some overlap, it’s not all that large. So an advertiser will run an ad or two, not see results, and jump ship to a different publication. A couple of ads there and they jump ship to another, then another, and so on. It is imperative to concentrate your advertising in a single place. Otherwise you lose momentum and the opportunity to build awareness and trust.

 

Though using multiple publications or mediums is fine, you should only do it if you can afford to dominate and build the necessary frequency over long periods of time.

 

Targeted Audience:

Big audiences alone are not enough. You could go into Reader’s Digest, with millions of readers, but the chances of selling art would be slim. You could even go into an art publication with a big audience and still have a slim chance of selling. You need a publication or website or mail list that has a proven track record of selling paintings in the price range of the paintings you’re selling.

Many publications sell wholesale copies for a few dollars to build their audience numbers. Their subscribers love art, but they may not have two dimes to rub together. If they’re not buyers, the audience numbers might be good for your ego, but ego strokes won’t pay your rent.

 

Time:

Like friendship, it takes time to build awareness, interest, and trust before anyone will take action. People want to watch you, see if you consistently produce good results, see indicators that you are becoming successful or collectable. They might discover you, love your work and be keeping an eye on you, but are not responding because, in their mind, it’s not time yet. About the time you’re getting frustrated that you’re not getting any results is about the time people are just starting to pay attention. Marketing is a commitment of time — an ongoing commitment. As long as you’re in the art business, you’re in art marketing.

 

How much time? You’ll need to assume that as long as you are in business, you’ll need to keep a constant presence with the audience you have chosen. It takes about one year to start seeing results, but the second year makes up for the lack of sales in the first, and it builds on itself over time. The more your brand grows, the more trust, prominence, and collectability grow. Old Masters are famous both because they were, in fact, masters, but also because of the passage of time — their names have been known for generations. The good news is that there are many ways you can speed up time, with some good strategic thinking.

 

A Ready Buyer:

Art purchases are unpredictable. Sometimes the buyer sees a painting and buys it on impulse. Other times it’s because they have a need to fill — a home or office to decorate, a gift to buy. Just because someone sees your ad does not mean they are ready to buy right now. Everyone has their own timing. Maybe they get a bonus at work, they sell a business, their kids are no longer in college and they feel flush with cash. There is no way to predict this, and that is why the next point is so important.

 

Stability:

Imagine this. Someone looks at an art magazine, and has been seeing your paintings for a few months in a row. They’ve grown to like the work, but don’t always remember the artist’s name yet. Then a new issue comes in, and they see THE painting and decide they want to buy it. They mark the page and put the magazine in a pile, fully intending to go online or inquire about the price. But they get distracted, they forget, life goes on, and you fall off their radar. Then the next issue of the magazine comes in and they suddenly remember, “Last month there was an artist in here I was interested in. Who was it?” So they flip through looking for an ad that reminds them of your name or your painting. It’s not there. They move on, and you miss a sale.

 

Stability means a constant presence. Understanding that people won’t remember your name and that it takes a long time to get them to remember it, so you need to be there at all times. They may have a birthday gift to buy and know their spouse liked your work, but neither can remember your name. If you’re not always present, you’re not there when they come into the market to buy.

 

We discovered that this is true of articles, too. If someone views your work in an article, not only do you need to be present in that issue so they know how to find you, you need to remind them of yourself for at least one or two issues after. People get busy and forget to take action, and your presence in the issue acts as a reminder.

 

It took me decades of mistakes and experimentation in the advertising and magazine publishing business to understand how this all really works. It really is counter-intuitive.

 

If you want to build an overnight success, just know that physics still apply. Though there are strategies you can employ to speed the process, it still requires all the key elements of the physics of marketing. This is the closest thing I have found to the magic lamp, and if followed, it will grant you all your wishes.

About the author:
Eric Rhoads has been a publisher of ad-based magazines for over 25 years and is the publisher of Fine Art Connoisseur, PleinAir, and Artists on Art magazines. He writes a regular blog on art marketing at www.artmarketing.com and has produced five videos in the Art Marketing Boot Camp series on art marketing techniques and strategy, available at www.streamlineartvideo.com.

Mining Old Gold: The BEST Way to Sell More Artwork

A wise mentor once asked me what I thought would be the best way to grow my business. When I told him I thought I should bring in more customers, he scolded me politely and told me I was wrong.

 

He then asked me what my most valuable asset in the business was. Of course I told him it was my product and my people. Strike two. I was wrong again.

 

Selling art is, well, a business. Selling anything, even lemonade on the street, is a business. So if I asked you the same questions, what would you answer?

 

Last week, after teaching my Art Marketing Boot Camp on stage at the Plein Air Convention and revealing my new Art Marketing in a Box™ system, I was approached by a woman in the audience. She was a gallery owner and had a reputation as a top marketer. And it turned out that, based on what I revealed in this new system, she too hadn’t had the right answers.

 

Are you ready?

 

The best way to grow your business is from your real most valuable asset: your existing customers.

 

How can that be?

 

Ever heard of a collector who keeps buying paintings from one artist? Of course. It happens all the time.

 

The bottom line is that a new customer is harder to sell than an old one. You have to help them fall in love with your art, tell your story, and make them trust you enough to spend money. Existing customers already know about you, already love your work, have already trusted you enough to buy from you, and have a painting of yours hanging on their walls.

 

Yet the most overlooked opportunity is the past customer.

 

What can you do?

 

First, it’s important to know the names of your customers so you can develop a dialogue. CAUTION: If you have a gallery, they’ll need to know you won’t violate your agreement and sell direct.

 

Once you have names, you’ll need to stay in touch on a regular basis. People will forget about you faster than you think. This is why campaigns and newsletters are important. Stay in their minds.

 

Finally, think in terms of building a lost-customer activation campaign. Recently we took a list of former subscribers who had not renewed, contacted them, and had a high percentage re-subscribe. We had assumed that once they were gone, they were gone forever. We were wrong.

 

What can you do to “reactivate” lost customers?

 

Well, if you’ve not stayed visible, you need to start being visible again. You can send a simple note, handwritten would be nice, simply saying you remember selling them a painting in the past and you’d love to show them what you’ve painted recently. Then invite them over, or invite them to your website, or to join your newsletter list.

 

It’s that simple.

Yes, there are more sophisticated ways to approach this, which we will discuss in the future. But start small. It’s amazing how a simple outreach can bring old customers back.

Drawing a Line in the Sand as an Artist

 

Years ago my wife asked a couple to spend a holiday weekend with us at the lake. When the power went down on Friday afternoon and we realized we’d blown out the breaker box, the husband, an electrician by trade, generously offered to fix it. So we went to the local hardware store to buy the parts. He pointed out what I needed, and I pulled the items off the shelf. I then watched as he grabbed a handful of screws out of a bin, said, “We’ll need these too,” and put them in his pocket. He winked at me and said, “I’ll see you in the car.”

 

I was mortified.

 

At the checkout counter, I told the clerk my “friend” stole a handful of screws that I estimated to be worth a dollar or two, but, to be sure, I gave her a twenty. I apologised and went to my car.

 

I was also fuming mad.

 

When I got in the car, I asked why he stole the screws, and he started whining about how the store didn’t need the money, that it was just a few pennies, that it was a big chain that was ripping off customers, and lots of other excuses.

 

I then did something I’ve never done before or since, because I’m not a confrontational kind of person.

 

I told him he was a common thief and that whether it was dimes, dollars, or thousands of dollars he was stealing, it was all the same to me. I said I don’t hang out with common thieves and that if he would steal from them, he would steal from me.

 

As I drove to our house, I told him I wouldn’t embarrass him in front of his wife and kids, but that I wanted him to go into the house and say that something came up and they needed to leave right away. I told him I would not tell his family that he was a thief, but he needed to be gone within an hour.

That was the last time I ever had contact with him or his family.

 

Everyone has to draw a line in the sand.

 

If someone is a thief, I write them out of my life. If someone betrays me, gossips about me wrongly, is two-faced or lies to me, I try to eliminate them from my life. That is my line in the sand.

 

Every artist has a line in the sand they must draw, but it’s not often as simple as it was for me in the case of my thieving acquaintance. If a gallery steals from you or doesn’t pay you, or if someone betrays you or lies to you it’s easy to draw a line in the sand and end the relationship.

 

But the line in the sand I’m talking about for you as an artist might not be quite so clear.

 

Where do you draw the line when it concerns “selling out” as an artist? It isn’t always about ethics. It’s about what works for you and your career.

For instance, I publish a couple of art magazines. Artists always want articles because those articles help their careers, and we love helping them when we can. But sometimes artists offer to buy ads if we will run an article about them. We always turn them down. That is the kind of line in the sand I’m talking about.

 

It’s not illegal, or even immoral, to sell ads in exchange for articles. A lot of magazines do it and are quite open about it. We’ve simply decided that our readers won’t trust our content as much if they believe someone might be featured who isn’t otherwise strong enough as an artist or who paid us to be there. It’s a choice we’ve made to maintain our credibility, and we’ve walked away from a lot of money because of it. It’s not easy, but for us, that’s the line we won’t cross.

 

As an artist, you also have choices you have to make that are not about what is illegal or immoral in themselves, but that will be very personal for you.

 

The best example I can think of concerns painting what sells.

 

Your gallery owner calls you and says, “Those little red barns you painted sold better than anything else you’ve painted. Can you send us more little red barns?”

 

If you’re sick of painting little red barns, or they don’t inspire you anymore, you’re then faced with whether or not you draw a line in the sand.

 

Will you paint more barns because they help the gallery?

Will you paint more barns because more paintings sold means establishing more collectors?

Will you paint more barns because selling more is validation that people like your work?

Will you paint more barns because you need the money?

Will you refuse to paint more barns?

 

Where is the line?

 

One friend who is a brilliant landscape painter and who was selling well decided she was sick of landscapes, so she started painting buildings and figures instead. Her gallery mounted a show, and nothing, I repeat nothing, in the show sold except the few remaining landscapes. Her career took a dive. She had branded herself as a landscape painter and couldn’t escape it. Her line in the sand was between not making a living or going back to painting landscapes. She opted out of landscapes, continued on her new path, and endured a two-year dip in her career until her other paintings caught on. But she was happy she made the decision because her heart was no longer in landscapes.

 

I applaud anyone who follows their heart. But I would not have criticized this artist if she’d decided to go back to painting landscapes, if that was what she felt she had to do.

 

Early in my career I was a wedding photographer. I did so many weddings that I got sick of weddings and swore I’d never do another, even if I had to starve. My soul could not take even one more wedding. I dropped it cold turkey and found a job doing something else. I drew a line in the sand. I still avoid weddings to this day when I can, and if I do go, I refuse to bring a camera. But someone else may have decided to forge ahead, to keep supporting themselves or for other reasons. Neither decision is immoral or unethical.

 

What is your line in the sand?

 

In my blogs I write mostly about marketing and the value of building your name and your brand, and increasing awareness of your work. I teach techniques you can use to speed up your sales and your progress as an artist, and I’ve watched hundreds of people change their lives and see their dreams come true.

 

Still, some people view the very act of marketing as crass, or even wrong. Some feel they want nothing to do with the business aspects of painting. I even know artists who refuse to sell their artwork to willing buyers, because they don’t want to have their artistic purity challenged by the act of making a sale.

 

I think it’s important to understand that any of these decisions is perfectly acceptable.

 

It’s acceptable to market yourself and your art. It’s just as acceptable to wait, doing no marketing and hoping your work will be discovered and sell organically. It’s rare, but it does happen.

 

Most great artists who have accomplished some level of success are also brilliant marketers, though they handle it in such tasteful and subtle ways that it’s usually not recognized as marketing. Frankly, that’s the best way to market, if you can finesse the style. Other older, established artists did the bulk of their marketing long ago, when a lot of us weren’t around to see it, and we assume they never stooped so low as to self-market (or that they never needed to). Some were those rare cases who were genuinely discovered by collectors or a gallery, with no marketing at all.

 

Some are willing to market their careers and find it perfectly acceptable, while others won’t cross that line because they find it objectionable.

There is no right or wrong here. This is not an ethical issue. It’s a personal issue.

 

That is the most important take away: These are your decisions. If you need to paint more red barns to sell paintings so you can pay the rent, it’s not ethically wrong to do it (though it’s not a good idea to create the same painting again and again). If you still love painting red barns, so much the better — there is absolutely no reason not to paint something that satisfies you just because buyers want more of it.

 

Ultimately you have to search your soul for what works for you, what inspires you, and what is over the line for you.

 

I know a lot of famous artists who painted what their galleries wanted for a lot of years until their names and careers were established, and now they won’t do anything unless they want to do it. I know others who have always painted only what they want to paint. No one should judge you for the decision you make. As my dad always says, “You never know why someone does something until you’ve walked in their moccasins.”

Careers are delicate things. There is nothing that can overcome hard work, putting in the time to learn and grow and develop your career. But once that heavy lifting is done, that’s when you need to decide where you should draw your line in the sand.

How You Can Sell More Artwork by Becoming a Celebrity Artist

 

Artists are always asking me how to sell more artwork, how to get their prices up, and how to become more successful. Usually they assume that they will improve their income if they improve their painting skills, but after a certain point, that’s simply not true. It’s no more true than a great restaurant’s improving its recipes a little bit more and thinking that means it can raise prices and sell more food.  

 

I learned a critically important lesson at a young age, when I started writing a column for the radio magazine I had just founded. I went from being a complete unknown to being somewhat well-known within a year, and each year, as my exposure grew, I saw my business grow in proportion to the awareness created. Then when I released my first book, awareness grew even more, expanding beyond the industry to some small level of consumer awareness because I’d been on national network TV and the Home Shopping Network for my book, and on hundreds of radio shows and in over 400 newspapers. It grew even further when the TV show Newsradio wrote an episode about me and my radio magazine (you can see it here). The more my perceived importance grew, the more my business grew.

 

If I were to ask most Americans to name a famous artist, they would probably say Monet or maybe Norman Rockwell, or even Thomas Kincade. If I asked them to name a famous living artist, I’m not sure what names I would hear. Unless they are tuned in to the art world like we are, they probably wouldn’t mention people we consider icons today. Those artists are famous within the circle of artists, but are not famous to most Americans.

 

Consumers are drawn to importance and celebrity, not necessarily because celebrities are better at a particular skill than someone else (other than PR). I still cannot tell you what Kim Kardashian is all about, but her fame is making her extremely wealthy. Money is drawn to celebrity and importance. People will wait in line to spend money at the restaurant of a celebrity chef like Wolfgang Puck, when the food next door may be equally good at half the price. It’s true of all things. Celebrity sells.

 

Most art dealers will tell you that sales in the art world are frequently driven by perceived importance. Either a consumer will visit a gallery because that gallery handles a name they already perceive as important, or they will be swayed to purchase based on statements like “This artist is hot.” “This artist is getting critical acclaim.” “This artist’s prices are soaring.”

 

Though most artists want to believe that quality will outshine brand name, that is very rarely true. Brands outsell non-brands. And brands are built by constant exposure over decades, usually intentionally and with non-stop advertising, but occasionally simply due to “showing up,” being frequently seen over a long period of time.

 

Importance and celebrity not only help sell artwork and increase pricing, they operate like a perpetual-motion machine. The more you are perceived as important, the more you sell and the more you’ll be invited to the right events. And, of course, the more that happens, the more your celebrity increases.

 

The process of branding is somewhat complicated, and there are a lot of elements to doing it well, but it is indeed a process, and it can be achieved through advertising and publicity. I’ve watched unknowns become well-knowns in a few short years because of it. Most collectors won’t think of what you’re doing as paid brand-building because in art magazines, the ads tend to be perceived as part of the content.

 

The strength of your sales and collectability are directly tied to the strength of your brand and your perceived importance or celebrity. Brand in art is really about trust (“Is it good?” “Is there critical acclaim?” “Do other collectors like it, and are they buying it?” “Are prices going up?” “Is it a good investment?”) Trust is built in branding much as it is built with new friends. It requires a lot of time together for people to come to know and trust someone new. The more you are seen, the more comfortable they become with you, and the more you gain their trust. That is the essence of celebrity-building.

 

There are four kinds of celebrity: local, niche (e.g., art collectors) national, and worldwide. For some, being the best-known artist in their town is enough to fuel their sales. For others, it’s about being nationally known, either by a niche group like art collectors or by all consumers — something that, of course, is harder and more expensive to achieve. And of course there is worldwide awareness as well. All are possible, based on the amount of effort you are willing to expend, but few artists become important without making an intentional effort. All the celebrities I know started with orchestrated PR efforts, advertising, and by doing something that got them a lot of attention fast. Stunts are a powerful way to get people talking about you. Do you think the feuds between Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell just happened? Probably not. It was invented by some great PR expert.

Consider what you can do to build your brand, your celebrity, and your importance. It rarely happens overnight, and it is a beast that dies if it’s not constantly fed. That’s why celebrities always want the press writing about them. Out of sight is out of mind. Building your perceived importance, and therefore your brand, will have a huge impact on your career.

Six Tips to Get More Money For Your Paintings Without Hurting Sales

Pricing is the least understood facet of any business, but it’s one that can easily be fixed — without a negative impact. Most of the artists I know are underselling their art, struggling, having to paint too many paintings to keep their heads above water. They are on an exhausting treadmill because their prices are too low.

 

How would your life change if your prices were higher? If your immediate reaction is that you would sell less work, we need to work on your pricing strategy.

 

Most people in business get into business because they want to provide a good, quality service at a good price. They want to offer what they would want. Yet the number one reason for business failure is that profit margins are too low because of low prices.

 

Of course, low prices are necessary in some businesses because that’s their business model. Think Walmart. Yet the perception of Walmart’s prices and the reality are often two different things. Some companies promote low prices on high-volume items to get people into stores, yet other items may not be priced than you can find them elsewhere.

 

But as an artist, you’re not in the commodity business where, you produce lots of low-cost items. What you produce is a single, unique, handmade item by a well trained craftsperson — you. But do you think of yourself that way?

 

I can buy a chair for $20. I can buy a chair for $200. Or I can go into a craft gallery and buy a beautiful hand-crafted wooden chair for $1,500, knowing it's one of a kind. That chair won’t be for the person who buys chairs at Walmart, but there is a market, and there is a special person who will buy it.

 

You Are Not Your Customer

One of the hardest things to overcome for anyone in business, including artists, is understanding your market and understanding that you are not your market. An artist once said to me, “I want to sell my paintings cheap so that people like me can afford to own them.” Though that's admirable, people like him are not likely to want to own them. A painting is a luxury item, and the people who treat themselves to luxury items are not the average Joe. When I asked this painter how his sales were going, he told me they weren’t going well. He couldn’t understand it, because, as he said, “My prices are much lower than everyone else's.”

 

Tip #1: Low-priced luxury items typically don’t sell to luxury buyers.

Let's look for a moment at the typical art gallery visitor. Perhaps it’s a couple, and both are lawyers making a half million a year. Instead of owning a Jaguar and a Lexus, they could afford to own four or five Kias. Why don’t they buy them and save their money? That takes us to tip #2.

 

Tip #2: Price is a signal of perceived quality.

 

In my art marketing seminar, a man told the story of being at an art show. A woman asked, “How much is this painting?” He responded that it was $4,000, and she said she would “take it." She handed him a check for $40,000. When he told her she had made a mistake and added an extra zero, she ripped up the check and said, “I don’t want it, then. It can’t be very good if it’s only $4,000.”

 

Tip #3: Certain people always want the best.

There is always an element of society who perceive themselves as needing the very best, and if it’s not the best — often signaled by the price — they won’t buy it. They don’t need bargains.

 

One of my mentors, Dan Kennedy, says that rich people have quirks. They will be cheap in one area and extravagant in others. For instance, he paid a million dollars to own a classic collectable car that had been owned by his favorite celebrity. He had no price resistance when told how much it cost — he didn't even negotiate. He simply wrote a check. Yet he also said, “When I buy shirts, I hate the idea of paying more than $30, so I always buy my shirts at Walmart.”

 

So how do you get your prices up?

 

I have two theories.

 

Tip #4: Build a luxury image and brand, and reinforce it constantly with everything you do.

 

First, luxury selling is all about perception. A Louis Vuitton bag is not a purse, it’s a handbag. A large coffee at Starbucks is a venti, and it’s not served by a clerk, but a barista. These and other companies focus on selling image. My favorite Louis Vuitton ad (at the top of this blog post) doesn’t mention the company name. It’s all image. People buy image, and people want to reinforce self-image. People want others to see what they own. That’s why, when I visit some collectors, they’ll say, “Do you want to see my Mundy? Or my Schmid?” or their “Warhol or Hockney” or their “Sergeant or Zorn.”

 

Building your brand matters. Giving meaning to your name, ensuring your paintings are perceived as the best, is a critically important process. People will pay more for it.

 

Even in the lower price ranges, the person who buys a $1,500 painting is just as likely to buy a $3,000 painting. So if you’re in a gallery, giving up half your profit means doing without either $750 or $1,500. Which is better?

 

Let’s do the math.

 

Let’s say you sell 10 paintings a year at $1,500 each. Your total sales are $15,000, and your profit is $7,500.

 

Now, let’s say you raise your price to $3,000 and you lose 20% of your buyers, so you sell only eight paintings a year. Your total sales are $24,000 and your profit is $12,000. Which is better?

 

Let’s take it further. Raise your price to $4,000 and lose 30% of your buyers. Now you sell seven paintings a year, for a total of $28,000 and $14,000 in profit. You made double the profit of selling at the $1,500 price and you only had to paint seven paintings instead of 10.

 

The snowball effect also kicks in. First, your paintings get better because you can spend more time on them. Second, the gallery is making more money on you, so they push your paintings more. Third, because your prices are higher, you are perceived by the buyer as more valuable. Fourth, by painting less, you create scarcity, which actually boosts sales and prices. “Jane only paints seven paintings a year. You can own one of the seven” is a powerful statement, the kind galleries love to make.

 

Have Some Guts

 

I had dinner this year with a very famous artist who produces about four paintings a year and makes close to a quarter million a year from them. I asked how he got his prices up, and he told me that he had no idea what he should be charging for his paintings, so he just picked a number out of the air. He sold his first painting for $40,000 because he didn't know he couldn’t. It only went up from there.

 

Most price resistance is in your head because you can't afford to spend a lot of money on a painting. Your customer can. I have readers of Fine Art Connoisseur who don’t think twice about dropping 100 grand on a painting.

 

Tip #5: Go for it. Raise your prices. Be bold.

The way to get your prices up is to have some guts. And if you’re not raising your prices every year, you’re losing money because of inflation. Have you noticed how much more groceries cost?

 

Some galleries will give you resistance, and it's the kiss of death if you have low prices at one gallery and high prices at another. So you have to notify your gallery of your universal price increase. If the gallery does not support you or believe they can get that price, it's time to leave and find someone who thinks your new price is perfect. People cannot sell what they don’t believe in. Find believers.

 

Lipstick on a Pig?

 

I’ll end with a story a dealer once told me. He said he had a beautiful painting that sat in the gallery for a year, priced at $1,400. He could not understand why it was not selling, so he took it off the wall, put a $1,500 frame on it and raised the price to $14,000. It sold within a week. Same painting. Was it the frame or the price? I suspect it was both.

 

A painting in a cheap frame won’t be perceived as being worth much, but an elegant frame sends a signal. Who would you rather do business with? A financial adviser who drives up in a Hyundai, or one who drives up in a Bentley? It probably depends on your value system, but I’d pick the adviser who appears more successful. For people who use their cars in business, cars are like picture frames. If I’m selling a $10 million house, I want the agent in the most expensive car.

 

Price also impacted that sale. A painting is better if it’s more expensive — that is the perception of luxury buyers. The combination of great frame and great price cemented that deal.

 

Tip #6: Framing sends a signal to support your prices. Expensive frames allow you to increase even more.

In summary: You will lose some customers at a higher price, but you’ll make more money and work less. Build the importance of your brand with constant repetition over years and a luxury appearance. (A great trick is to put your high price in your ads, which instantly packages you as a more expensive artist. Again, this takes guts.)

 

I believe most artists could double their prices and not lose any customers. Your prices will rise. But it all starts with your understanding of pricing — and having the guts to do it.

Double Down on Direct Mail

An Art Marketing Message from Eric Rhoads

A wise mentor once told me that “whenever someone declares something as dead, its probably a great time to embrace it.”

Experts long ago predicted the death of direct mail. These days when social media is so cheap, email so cheap. Why bother doing direct mail?

Simply because it works.

In fact at a direct marketing conference recently the experts were saying “it works better than it ever did because there is no one doing it anymore.”

As I have mentioned in the past, a smart marketer never has all their eggs in one basket. Things change. Things can go wrong. Once long ago I had a business which relied on email to sell a product, when suddenly there was an email problem, which took months to solve. Sales stopped. Had I had other sources of marketing going it would have not only prevented the loss of sales, it would have been working for me as well.

As an artist Direct mail to your “customer list” is a great tool. Printed oversized postcards with images of your artwork are terrific tools to announce new artworks. You can keep the front beautiful and unencumbered and place a selling message on the flip side.

A Great Direct Mail Trick

I once launched a direct mail campaign. My goal was to cement four ideas in the minds of my target customer, who were potential advertisers of my radio magazine. So I made up four postcards, one for each point. I mailed one postcard a week with a different message each week. But every 4th week they got the same post card again. I repeated this campaign knowing that they would receive each post card five times.

Not only did we receive no complaints, we noticed an uptick in our business related to those messages the more times those cards hit. Repetition works.

Direct mail experts will tell you to do a mailing, then repeat the exact mailing to the same list a week or two later. It improves results the second time and again the third time. It’s been tested.

 

In media there is a tendency to declare things as dead or outdated and be seduced by the new. Though there is nothing wrong with the new, my goal is to get my product sold or my message sold, so I’ll employ lots of different media alternatives to get that done. Today I get almost no direct mail from artists or galleries, but I do get a couple and they stand out, and I tend to read them or keep them if the images are nice. Its an open opportunity you should consider.

Christmas In July: A Money Tree for Artists

 

Want to Make Some Christmas Sales This Month? This story gives you a step by step plan.

Santa on water skis? Yes, I admit to doing it. In the 1980s, I owned a radio station. I had just taken it over and needed to bring lots of attention to it. So I invented the “Summer Santa” promotion. I had learned that our news director played Santa at Christmas time to make a couple extra bucks. He already had a suit. He already had a belly full of jelly, a jovial laugh, and a Christmas-like spirit. It was an instant promotion, and it was easy. Spot the “Summer Santa,” recite a phrase about the station, and win a Christmas gift in July. We took “Santa” everywhere, including the lake where everyone was spending time on July 4th. And yes, he did actually water ski in the Santa suit. I know because I drove the boat. Have you ever seen a wet Santa? It’s quite a sight.

 

Eric, Are You Suggesting I Do a Christmas in July Promotion?

No, not exactly, though there are some elements you can employ to get attention.

 

Money Does Grow on Trees
Instead we’re going to do something really Christmas-like together. Money does grow on trees, and we’re going to plant a money-making Christmas tree in July. Are you in?

 

Everything in marketing starts with a seed. Plant a seed, nurture and water it, expose it to sunlight, watch it grow and blossom, and it grows money.

 

Getting Early Attention from Christmas Shoppers
What does everyone do around Christmas time? They sell like crazy, they promote like crazy, and it is darned near impossible to get anyone’s attention at Christmas to sell something. So we’re going to get them thinking about a Christmas gift in July, when they're not thinking about Christmas.

 

Now I’m presuming that you’ve already got a list of previous buyers. If you don’t, this won’t work.

 

A Step By Step Plan You Can Do This Week To Stimulate Business
Here is the move. Ready?

 

You write a Christmas letter. You can make up your own, or you can copy mine. You mail it out to your list and wait for the magic to happen.

 

Oh, and the critical thing is that you send it to the spouse or partner of your buyer. For instance, if the one was the one who loved and bought the painting, send the letter to the other. If they both bought the painting, send it to one of them. Note, I did not say e-mail this. I want you to use mail. E-mail is too easy to delete.

 

Step 1. Get a red mailing envelope. Put your name in the return address area. Put these words on one side of the envelope: My First Annual July Christmas Letter. Open immediately.

 

Step 2. Enclose a candy cane. It makes the envelope lumpy and creates curiosity. You may want to wrap the packaged candy cane in some foam or paper. People cannot opening resist a lumpy envelope.

 

Step 3. Get some Christmas letterhead. You can usually find it at a craft store like Michaels, or at an office supply store like Staples or Office Depot. It’s stationery with a Christmas theme.

 

Step 4. Write the letter (copy to follow). Make sure to have a strong headline. Sign the letter.

 

Step 5. Easy to Find Contact Information. Make sure you have put your mobile phone number and e-mail on the letter so they can find you.

 

Step 6. Enclose a photo of a recent painting you’ve done. Place information on the back: “Thought you’d like to see one of my recent paintings. This one is called NAME and might look great hanging in your home.” With your contact information. If they throw out the letter they might keep the image. Nothing but the image should be on the front.

 

Step 7. Put it all in the envelope.

 

Step 8. Lick it, seal it, stamp it.

 

Step 9. Mail it.

 

OK, here is the letter. You have my permission to use it or adapt it, copy it into your word processor, personalize it, and print it. My letter below is written as though it’s personalized to the wife, mentioning the husband. You need to adapt to the persons and titles you are sending it to. (Note this could be sent to corporations too).

 

Why on Earth Am I Sending You a Christmas Letter in July?
I Promise It Will Make Perfect Sense in About 20 Seconds

• Your Name Here

 

Dear Jane,

 

While you’re enjoying this candy cane and remembering last Christmas, I want to give you an idea. Remember how stressful Christmas shopping can be? Sometimes it just robs the joy from the holiday, trying to find the perfect gift.

But I think I’ve found it for you: Me.

Well, not me, exactly. But my artwork.

 

Wait, before you crumple up this letter, here’s what I was thinking.

 

You once bought one of my paintings, and I remember that your husband loved it. For this Christmas, I can do a custom painting based on something your husband really loves ... a special place, a special memory, or something meaningful to him. Since he already likes my art and my style, he’ll love a custom painting done just for him.

 

In fact, I daresay it may be the most memorable Christmas gift he ever receives.

 

Of course, the reason I’m contacting you in July is so we have time to put our heads together on the subject. I’ll do some sketches till I get it the way you want it, then I’ll begin the painting. And it will be ready for Christmas. (I also do birthdays and anniversaries.)

 

Here’s the catch.

Yes, there is always a catch. Paintings take a long time to paint and a long time to dry, which is why I’m contacting you in July. Hey, that rhymes. Santa would be proud.

 

The catch is that I can do only three custom paintings before Christmas. Once I book those three paintings, I probably won’t be able to do more. So if you like the idea, give me a call, tell me the size you’re thinking about, the scene, the colors, and I’ll quote you a price and give you time to think about it without feeling obligated.

 

Your husband will get the world’s most special Christmas gift, custom-painted for him. I hope you like the idea. And I promise I’ll keep it a secret.

I’ve enclosed a picture of a recent painting to remind you of my artwork. But I can paint anything you want, painted in my own style. Just call the number below and let’s talk turkey … well, Christmas turkey.

 

Merry Christmas … in July!

 

Artist Name

Contact information

PS: This is our little secret. I haven’t sent the same thing to your husband. Imagine how his eyes will light up when he sees a painting of something meaningful to him. Maybe his childhood home, the old farm, your favorite vacation spot, his Aunt Nellie. Anything. But if you like the idea, call, because I can do only three custom paintings for this Christmas, if I start soon.

 

-end letter-

Side Benefits to the Letter

Will this work? Absolutely. And if nothing else, you’ll get talked about, create attention, and get a chance to put a photo of a painting you’re trying to sell in front of a potential buyer. It will be a great image piece because of your creativity, and, yes, you should get a few orders. Be sure to get a deposit and explain terms of deposit so you don't work for free. The deposit will get you some of your money up-front and the rest you'll get when the paintings are done, usually way before Christmas.

Can you do more than three? Probably, but you want to create scarcity and time pressure. Plus, no one wants what everyone can have. This is special.

 

You’ll need to be ready for the call. Know your prices and sizes and be ready to e-mail the information when they call. Most important, get them talking about what scene they want painted. Get them imagining the excitement. Get them thinking about where it will hang and how the recipient will think of them every time they look at it. It’s an easy sale, and a great way to communicate that you do commissions. (Don’t use the word commissions, though; that’s an unknown insiders’ term to most people.)

Will you have the guts? Some of you will, and I think you’ll see great results. The best results will come from previous buyers, and the more recent, the better the response. Don’t be afraid to send out a few hundred of these. You can always paint more, and not everyone will bite, but I guarantee they’ll be talking about you.

Oh, one more thing. If you mail the exact same letter 2 weeks later you will increase response.

 

Merry Christmas from your Summer Santa friend, Eric Rhoads

How Do I Know If My Ads Are Working?

An Art Marketing Message from Eric Rhoads

 

 

"Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is, I don't know which half."

-- John Wanamaker (1838-1922)

Founder, Wanamaker Department Stores

Advertising seems simple. Buy an ad, get results, right? Our lives are so filled with advertising, coming from so many directions, that we all feel fairly comfortable engaging in it ourselves. How difficult can it be? Especially for artists, who have strong graphic instincts, and many of whom have graphic design backgrounds. Some have even been doing work for advertising companies.

 

But when you are advertising, how do you know it's working? Sadly, the answer is not cut-and-dried.

Easily Trackable Results
In the direct marketing world (direct mail, direct e-mail, direct Internet), they test like crazy, comparing one piece of copy against another to see which sales letter or campaign worked best. They have industry standards for returns on "mailings" and are very disciplined about tracking sales as correlated with campaigns. In the direct marketing world, results are easy to track. You know what you purchased and when, and whether people purchased something after seeing it.

 

But as an artist, you're not selling widgets, gadgets, vitamins, videos, or books. If you were, the question would have an easy answer: Track results.

 

In the world of art, here is what you are selling:

 

• A specific image that will have a narrow appeal to a small group of people

• A brand name as an artist

• A status item (in some cases based on the notoriety of the artist)

• A piece of decoration for a home or office (sorry to be so crass as to bring it to the level of commodity)

• A memory or a dream, something that represents an emotion to the viewer

• The feelings stimulated by your painting

• A solution to a problem (we need something to go over the couch)

• A souvenir of a place visited

• An investment or a hedge against inflation

 

Artists who advertise often think their primary goal is to sell a particular painting. And of course selling something is the fuel that keeps the business moving forward. Yet finding one single buyer to like and buy one single painting is a pretty narrow focus. Though you want to sell that painting, you really need to develop a deeper and wider vision.

 

The Importance of Trust-Building

Imagine you meet someone for the first time at a cocktail party. Twenty minutes later, that same person comes up to you and asks to borrow $500. Would you give it to them? Of course not. Why not? No trust has been built.

 

If, on the other hand, you get to know that person, see them frequently, and a few months later that same person asks to borrow $500, you might consider it.

 

In fact, if you know someone well, feel comfortable with them, have known them for years and they ask, you would probably not hesitate if you had the money.

 

This highlights the importance of building trust, which is a big part of what branding is all about.

 

When someone sees your work for the first time, they may like and respond to your art, yet not take action. Why? They don't know or trust you yet. Over time, the more they see you, the more evidence they see that supports their desire to buy your work, and the better chance you have of selling them.

 

It's the primary reason I'm so insistent on focusing on trust-building through branding.

 

Branding Is Not for Wimps

I was coaching an artist on her first advertising campaign. She said, "I'll buy an ad and see if it works, and if it works, I'll buy more."

 

I said, "How will you know if it works?"

 

She said, "If I sell this painting."

 

I said, "Respectfully, that won't work. Save your money. Though you might get lucky and sell it, no one has heard of you. You have to build trust, you have to build awareness, you need to create and maintain a brand. It won't happen overnight, and there is nothing you can do to make it happen faster because trust requires time."

 

I told her she needed a campaign that would build trust by advertising consistently to a single audience (mine or someone else's) and that she would not see much, or any, result for about a year.

 

Gulp.

 

That's a tough sell.

 

To her credit, this artist wanted to be successful so badly that she found a way to commit to an every-issue ad campaign.

 

I then told her this: "Though you might get lucky and sell the paintings you advertise, your primary goal needs to be trust-building -- branding. And about six to nine months into this, I fully expect a phone call with you cancelling your advertising because it's not working. The reason I'm telling you this now is that at the point of your greatest fear and frustration, you'll be just starting to build momentum, even though you can't see it. When you get to that point, don't give in to the temptation to cancel. You'll lose the momentum, and if you come back later, you'll be starting over."

 

I said, "At about the one-year mark, you'll start seeing some activity. You'll start getting invited into shows. At about a year and a half, after consistent trust-building, you'll start being invited into galleries. You'll start seeing paintings sell, and your workshops will start selling out. At about two years, you'll hear from more galleries, sell more paintings, and you'll be invited to bigger shows and have a waiting list for your workshops. At three years, you'll see your prices double, you'll see the very best galleries seek you out, and there will be so much demand on your time you'll have to cut back on shows and workshops. And you'll be selling more paintings than you ever imagined possible."

 

Then I cautioned the artist, "At that point you'll be tempted to stop advertising because you'll start believing all the press clippings and think it is you making all this activity happen. And it is, but it's because you've become like a giant magnet, pulling people toward you with your marketing."

 

Sure enough, at the six-month mark, she called to cancel. I reminded her of what we'd discussed, and to her credit, she stayed in, based on faith.

 

At the nine-month mark, she started getting invited into shows and selling a few more paintings. At the 12-month mark, she started being contacted by galleries. It snowballed from there, and everything I predicted came true, almost exactly. (It's only because I've done this so long that it's that predictable.)

Trust-building -- branding -- is not for wimps. It takes courage and patience. Yet if you do it, and you keep it alive, you can become a major name in about three years' time, and within five to seven years become known as a master. Keep it alive for a decade or more, and you're an icon.

 

So How Do I Know It's Working?

As you can see, all this relies on momentum building quietly in the background, and it's hard to see it and measure that. Yet it's a powerful tool and is the very reason big brands hammer their name and message in the media, over and over, forever. There are always new people entering the market who don't know your brand, and the minute you stop, another brand takes your place.

 

You'll know it's working when you start seeing the activity level rise and other signals begin to show, about a year into a good campaign.

 

Critical Elements of a Marketing Campaign

All campaigns have critical elements. If those elements are out of balance or not fine-tuned correctly, the results will vary.

 

1. Powerful Headlines
   Lots of research has been done on this topic. A headline is designed to pull someone into your ad. Without a strong headline, they won't stop and look; they will simply keep turning the page until a headline does get their attention. I recently attended a conference where a speaker said a change of headline can impact an ad's results by 700 percent -- when the only thing that changed was the headline. (The same is true for a subject line in an e-mail.)
   
   

2. Powerful Copy
   The copy in your ad, short or long, matters. Every word counts, and every word needs to help accomplish your goal. Most ads are weak and meaningless emote-y drivel. Ever hear these lines?

1. The best quality

2. The best service

3. All your ___ needs

Your copy needs to cut through.
The problem for artists is that they primarily want to highlight their name with a big image of a painting. But it's hard to stand out by doing that alone. If you study who is getting lots of attention these days, you'll notice they are writing strong headlines for their ads.

 

3. Audience Saturation and Repetition

It's important to pick a single media outlet (a publication, a website, etc.) and dominate it as much as you can, with ads as large and as much frequency (repetition of ads) as possible. Most of us are tempted to move to other publications after a couple of ads to reach a new audience. But that's a giant mistake unless you can stay in the initial publication, add the other, and dominate in both. Few can afford to do that, so stick with the one outlet. It's time + repetition of message that builds trust, which builds your brand and your sales.

 

4. Audience Target
Contrary to what others would like you to believe, size does not matter. What matters is that you reach a relevant audience for what you're selling. Though you will get a bounce from advertising anywhere because you can gain customers from any audience, a relevant audience will speed your success. For instance, if you were selling gold, you'd want to reach people who can afford gold. Being in Investor's Business Daily or the Wall Street Journal will be better for that than People magazine, even though People has a bigger audience. In your case, you want to reach people who can afford what you sell, people who are known buyers of paintings.

 

5. Emotion

All decisions are emotional and only later supported by logic. Never forget this. If your ads don't have an emotional element to trigger strong feelings in your potential buyer, you'll reduce your success. (Of course, paintings themselves trigger emotions, so you have that to your advantage.)

 

6. Call to Action

Ads that don't ask for the order don't work. It seems simple, but most people simply include their contact information and never ask for the order. Research indicates that results will increase if you simply ask someone to pick up the phone and call to make a purchase.

 

7. Overcome Fears

Ads need to overcome the fears of a buyer. What fears do people have when they buy a painting? "Will it retain its value? What if I get it home and it looks bad with my couch? What if the gallery goes out of business?" The best way to overcome these and other fears is with a guarantee, such as: "If you decide for any reason the painting is not right for you, you have 60 days to return it for a full refund, no questions asked." Of course, everyone is afraid to do this, yet this one line will put some buyers over the edge and help them pick up the phone to call.

 

There is no one easy answer to "How do I know if my ads are working?" To some extent you have to trust that they are, after you've made sure the right elements are in your ads and the repetition and commitment are there.

 

Two Ads, Different Results

Most media works, or they wouldn't still be in business. Yet I can have two advertisers call me on the same day, and one will say their phone has not stopped ringing, their sales are strong, and they are getting amazing results. The other will tell me their ads are bombing -- and they'll want to blame the publication for not having the audience. What's the difference?

 

It all boils down to the elements we discussed above. A great, well crafted ad, with the proper elements, and the proper frequency over long periods of time, is the difference. Badly crafted ads don't work.

Unfortunately, everyone tends to be in love with the ads they create. But most advertisers lack deep experience in creating great copy and the right elements for success. Then when their ads don't work, they want to blame someone other than themselves.

 

In closing, before you ever buy one drop of advertising, you need to ask what your primary goal for that advertising is. If you could accomplish just one big thing, what would it be? Once you understand that, it will make the message you craft crystal clear, and clarity is critical to make advertising successful.

Is Marketing Manipulative? How Re-framing Your Beliefs Will Change Your Career

An Art Marketing Message from Eric Rhoads

 

Recently and artist friend proudly told me “I don’t do any marketing, and I’m proud of it.” She then suggested that she felt marketing was manipulative and that as an artist she did not want to be manipulating people to buy.

I fully respect her opinion and the choices she is making.

Much later in the conversation she asked these questions:

• I need to add another gallery or two, do you know anyone I can get into? I’d appreciate an introduction.

• Do you have any ideas on how I can sell a few more paintings every year?

• “How can I make painters more aware of me?”

• “How can I get more people to my workshops?”
  
  

I respectfully did not point out that marketing could solve all those problems.

Somewhere along the line some of us have picked up the idea that marketing is manipulative and that branding isn’t necessary. Many artists feel the same about the concept of selling.

Recently a gutter guy came out to our house to sell us gutters. I did not want or need gutters, yet he demonstrated to me why they would be valuable, how they prevent the boards from rotting, how it reduces wear from water dripping on my decks, etc. Suddenly I was eager to buy, and did buy. Now that I have gutters I’m thankful he showed up at my door to sell me on gutters. Does that make him manipulative?

Sitting around one night I was reading a local magazine when I saw an ad for a water filtration system. Something that’s been on my mind for months now, but I did not have a clue where to look. The ad was convincing, was just what I wanted, and I even folded the page until I decided to call. I never did. That is, until I saw the magazine a month or two later, saw the ad again, which was my reminder to call. I have not called yet, but I fully intend to when I find the time. I guarantee I’ll be looking for that ad and that magazine when I find the time. Is that manipulative?

The important point is that marketing or selling is a service to help others discover what you have to offer. Sometimes people need to be nudged, and often people like me appreciate seeing something that nudges me and peaks my interest.

The best definition I’ve heard is this:
Marketing is sharing something you believe in with people who need it.

Some of us have bad impressions because of bad marketing that is manipulative.

That is no reason to think that all marketing is manipulative.

Is writing a thank you card to a buyer manipulative? Of course not, yet its part of marketing.

Is telling the story of your painting manipulative when dealing with a prospective buyer? Not at all.

Marketing is nothing more than helping people find what you have to offer. Many times they won’t find it on their own, yet if you help them discover it, their life will change. I’m a living example. The first painting I bought was not something I would have done on my own, yet once the sales lady at the gallery helped me get past my anxiety of spending money, it changed my life. I stared at that painting over the fireplace every day of my life for a couple years, till I decided I needed more paintings. Then, I decided I needed to learn how to do it. Today, of course I’m publishing art magazines, art conferences, and my work is in three different galleries.

All that because someone helped me find what I needed.

If you look at your marketing as nothing more, suddenly it changes the framing in your mind and helps you realize that if you don’t market your artwork, people who should discover you will never know your name and never see your painting on their wall. Yet if they do find you that painting will bring them great enjoyment.

See how it changes things?

Marketing can be as complex or as simple as you want it to be, but it needs to start out with good intentions. There may be people who do manipulate, but if you follow your heart and your personal style, marketing won’t be manipulative, but you will benefit greatly and your career will soar.

It’s Tax Time: What Artists Can Potentially Deduct

Dear Artist: If you haven’t done your taxes, you should be doing them now (unless you’ve filed for an extension). In either case, there are art-related expenses you may be able to deduct, and I want you to be aware of them. (Please note that you MUST check with an expert tax attorney or accountant, and know that in order to make certain deductions, there are particular qualifications. Since being an artist is often considered a hobby business, there are specific guidelines you must follow.) Here is a list of potential deductions to consider (again, check with your experts): Magazine Subscriptions for Professional Enhancement Yes, your subscription to PleinAir and/or Fine Art Connoisseur could be tax-deductible. Professional Development That means your attendance at our Plein Air Convention and other development events, including workshops, can potentially be deducted, including your travel costs, mileage, hotel, meals, and registration fees. Also, art-related travel -- for meetings with galleries or clients or to other events related to your business -- could be deductible as well. Advertising and Marketing If you’re advertising in Fine Art Connoisseur or PleinAir, in our PleinAir Today and Fine Art Today newsletters, or on our websites like OutdoorPainter.com or FineArtConnoisseur.com, you should be able to deduct that expense. And you should also check into deducting the cost of your website and its hosting and maintenance. Training Materials: Videos and Books If you’re buying marketing videos, such as my Art Marketing Boot Camp series, or if you’re buying videos on how to be a better painter, such as those we create at Streamline Art Video, those too should be tax-deductible, whether you’re using DVDs or downloads. Training books are also usually deductible. Entry into Art Competitions You’re entering contests to get noticed, so it’s a marketing expense. Your fees to enter events like our PleinAir Salon may be deductible. (Note that if you win the $15,000 prize, or other cash prizes for your art, you will have to pay taxes on that income.) Your Studio and Materials Anything related to your art business, such as a dedicated office or studio space in your home should be deductible -- though be careful to make sure the area is dedicated to business, and know that this can be a red flag for audits. You may also be able to deduct supplies, such as brushes, paint, canvas, easels, frames, lighting, etc. You’ll need to check on large items like furniture or printers, which are considered capital expenditures and are often handled with a depreciation schedule. Dues, Memberships, and Legal I deduct my membership fees for the National Arts Club, Oil Painters of America, and the California Art Club, and for other professional memberships. You should be able to as well. You may also be able to deduct fees for copyrights, legal fees, etc.  I cannot advise you on the exact nature of what you can deduct, but these are some things to consider as you do your taxes. Again, there are professionals who specialize in taxes, and even taxes for artists. But you should look into all the deductions you may be able to take; it will be well worth your time.   Eric Rhoads PS: Tax time is always an eye-opener because it places financial reality right in our faces. Why didn’t I make more money? Why was I not more successful? Thankfully, April is early enough in the year that you can still make dramatic changes in your life, focus on your marketing, and increase your art sales for the year. I believe in you! If you’re not happy with your current status, start reading some of the art marketing posts on this blog, and make up your mind to make changes.

8 Secrets To Winning Art Competitions From An Art Competition Judge

Today, art competitions are all the rage. Yet many artists still ignore them, thinking they're a waste of time. Competitions are tools you can use to build income and career, kind of like selling your painting more than once -- only ethically! More important, if you become a winner, entering a competition is the single most significant thing you can do to make your career soar quickly. Not only do art competitions give you a chance to win prize money (which is like getting paid twice for a painting, if it's already been sold), it gives you visibility -- which is great for your branding to potential galleries, collectors, and other artists. People love to associate with winners. Even if you're not the grand prize winner, just by being a finalist, you're in the category of winners. And if you enter a painting that sold, let's say, for $2,500, and you win $15,000, it's like selling six more paintings -- plus you don't have to share the revenue with your gallery.  One gallery owner told me, "I find artists by watching who is winning competitions. I also learn of new artists when I'm judging competitions, and I watch who is advertising." What are the benefits to entering an art competition? You can win prize money You can win publicity when winners and finalists are announced You can win other prizes (art materials, etc.) You can win the cover of a magazine (in some competitions) You can win a story in some magazines and websites You have something more to talk about to collectors and newsletter followers You have another success to place on your resume You get the recognition you deserve You have something more to talk about in social media You can get discovered by a gallery Here are 8 secrets I have learned as an art show judge: 1. Every Judge Tends to Favor a Certain Type of Art  Before you enter, study the judge. If, for instance, the judge is a gallery owner, what kind of art hangs in their gallery? Chances are they will pick the kind of thing they like and respect. If it's an artist who paints tight, they probably will pick tight paintings. If it's an artist who paints loose, they may tend to pick looser paintings. Though everyone tries to remain objective, we all tend to have a style we prefer and are drawn to. 2. What One Judge Rejects, Another Judge Will Embrace Many artists will enter the same painting every month in the same competition. One artist told me he entered a painting one month and didn't win, but the next month he entered the same painting, and that time he won. What one judge doesn't like, another may love. 3. Entering Multiple Paintings Increases Your Odds of Winning Most competitions allow you to enter as many paintings as you want. The entry fee usually goes down after the first painting, so you can increase your odds of winning at a lower cost. And more paintings, of course, equals more of your paintings seen by a judge. In theory, if you enter five paintings, you have five times the chance of being noticed. In my Art Marketing Boot Camp, I teach the value of repetition.  4. Entering Can Result in Editorial Coverage Once when I was judging an art competition, I kept seeing paintings I liked, and as I studied them, I learned they were all by the same artist. Since I admired that consistency, I notified one of my editors, and the artist ended up with a story in one of our magazines. We've also had other judges discover new talent and tell us about them for stories. 5. Most Winners Never Expected to Win I have a saying: You can't win if you don't enter. I've had three different grand prize winners in our art competition tell me they never thought they had a chance to win against the big important painters who enter. All three said they almost didn't enter because of that -- but were glad they did! 6. Some Judges Seek New, Unknown Talent A judge told me once that even though he has signatures covered when judging shows, he can recognize the work of certain artists by their well known style. He said he likes to help undiscovered artists, so he tends to shy away from such familiar painters. Though not all judges do this, some do -- consciously or unconsciously -- which increases the chances for unknown painters. 7. Careers Can Soar After Winning One Competition In our competition, the grand prize winners have seen their careers take off. Each was relatively unknown, or known only among certain groups. And as a result of winning, their stature has been elevated, and they've been invited to new shows, galleries, and events.  8. You Gain an Advantage by Entering in Multiple Categories I once judged a major art show and noticed the same painting had been entered in three different categories. Though that painting didn't win in two categories, several of the judges thought it was the best fit for one category in particular, and so that painting ended up a winner. You can gain a big advantage if you have a painting that fits in multiple categories. Some categories get lots of entries, but others get very few, increasing your odds even more. Art competitions are a great value, a great way to be measured against others -- which helps elevate quality overall -- and the best bargain going for publicity if you even become a finalist. I highly recommend them as a marketing tool, and a great way to elevate a career fast. A few bucks a month can result in a career that soars like a rocket when you win.

PS: I should mention that the PleinAir Salon will soon be choosing the annual winners of a total of $21,000 in cash prizes, the cover of the magazine, and articles in the magazine and our weekly PleinAir Today newsletter. All finalists for the year in every category are entered in the final judging for the big prizes.  The very last chance to win for the year ends on March 15, 2015 at midnight Pacific Time. You still have an excellent chance of winning the grand prize. Be sure to enter multiple paintings and categories. You can enter now at www.pleinairsalon.com. Winners will be announced at the Plein Air Convention in April.

How I Made the Naughty List

My fingers are crossed. Will there be a lump of coal in my stocking this Christmas? Will there be anything under the tree?

 

You see, I was naughty.

 

When you're naughty, you make Santa's naughty list -- and that means you don't get what you want.

 

Why was I naughty? Simply put, I didn't practice what I preach. And I learned an important lesson.

 

For 2014, I tried something new. I decided my system for getting things done needed an upgrade, so instead of writing out my to-do list each day and reviewing my goal list in my journal, which is always at my side, I converted to a digital solution. Now all my goals and "to do's" are on the cloud, and I can access them everywhere.

 

Seems like a reasonable solution, but my digital approach failed me -- or I failed it.

 

Last week I was killing time on an airplane, poking around all the programs and documents on my iPad because I was bored and didn't feel like working. I opened my goals document for 2014 and started checking them off one by one.

 

Then something terrible happened: I realized I had missed over 30 percent of my annual goals. Gulp.

 

I also realized that I hadn't opened my goals document for several months. Had I opened it and looked at them, I would have achieved most of those missed goals.

 

I'm frustrated.

 

What's the lesson in this?

 

I'm big on annual goals. It's important to have them, but only if they are realistic, measurable, and believable (though we all need to stretch). But goals don't work if you don't refer to them frequently.

 

In hindsight, my new system failed because I wasn't forcing myself to transfer my daily to-do list and my monthly goals to a new sheet of paper each day. I thought I was saving time, but when Charles Hobbs first taught me his system decades ago, the key to success was taking the time to evaluate your goals and to-do list each day so they remain on your mind at every turn. By not doing that, I failed myself and missed 30 percent of my annual goals.

 

What does this have to do with marketing your art?

 

I'm a strong believer in setting and following goals, even very simple ones. You're more likely to achieve them if you look at them and work toward them in small bites. Something as simple as setting a goal of devoting 20 percent of your time to marketing can change your life. If you work an average 40-hour week, you'll make amazing progress if you force yourself to spend eight hours a week on marketing. But if you forget to do it, your sales will suffer.

 

Did you achieve what you want to achieve this year?

 

Did you make progress toward your goal?

 

I made progress, and I achieved some of what I want to achieve (including a new event, which I'll announce in February). But I missed more than I'd hoped to miss. Now I have to add those goals to my 2015 goals, which means I'll have to work harder to catch up.

 

As artists, it's more fun to paint than it is to focus on marketing or other goals. I don't like to take out the garbage either, but there are things we simply have to do to keep the flies out of the house.

 

This was a giant wake-up call for me. Rarely do I miss my goals, but I allowed my system to fail me. My fault -- I simply wasn't paying attention.

 

I'd like to encourage you to use the peaceful time over the holidays to do some dreaming, set some goals, and then break them out into small monthly, then weekly, bites. Then look at them every day, or at least every week. It will change the outcome. It's a little thing that makes a giant difference. Just don't make the mistake I did.

 

Because I'm on the naughty list, I'll not be receiving all the things I hoped to achieve this year. Naughty was my own fault.

 

Merry Christmas. Happy Chanukah. Happy Holidays.

 

Eric Rhoads

 

PS: I'm so grateful. Thousands of artists have watched my Art Marketing Boot Camp videos and I have heard from hundreds of them that their lives have changed. It does my heart good to know that my system can help artists live their dreams. In my first video, Art Marketing Boot Camp I, explain my goal-setting system and my system for deeply discovering what you really want in your life. You can find it here. If you know an artist who wants to live the dream, give it to them for Christmas. It's life-changing.

Challenging Myself: Why I Made a Guitar to Celebrate My Birthday

The Pearl inlay surrounding the guitar I made in the summer of 2014.

As I approach a giant milestone birthday, my friends and family have asked me about my plans. On the past two big birthdays, I've had my closest lifelong friends visit the Adirondacks to help me celebrate, because the Adirondack Mountains is the place I love the most. This year, I wanted to do something different, but I wasn't sure what. Then it came to me. Since I started playing guitar just two years ago and have come to love guitars, I decided to challenge myself to make a guitar to celebrate this milestone.

 
Cutting the boards for the side of the guitar.

Making a guitar seemed like a giant challenge and something I'd never do on my own, and that was the attraction. I simply wanted to push myself, as my way of celebrating. I also thought about it a lot and knew it was so far out of my routine that I'd probably never do it. I didn't want to keep thinking about it, and I knew that if I didn't tell others of my plan it would be a lost dream, so I started spreading the word to a few friends, knowing that I'd be embarrassed if I didn't produce.

 
Bending the wood with heat.

The problem with making a guitar was that it was bound to take time. I had no idea how to build a guitar or where to do it. Plus, I wasn't sure I could pull it off and run my business simultaneously. How would I find the time?

 
Putting the bent edges together to form the guitar body.

Of course, I also had to find someone to teach me to do it. And I didn't want just some homemade guitar, I wanted something special, something with an incredible sound, something visually stimulating, a world-class quality guitar, which meant I not only had to find a top luthier (guitar maker), I had to find one willing to take on a student who knew nothing about making guitars.

 
Clamping and glue to keep the kerf-lining in the guitar

My research led me to a lucky break. My criteria required a top guitar maker, a top inlay artist, someone willing to teach, and someone who could teach me in the summertime, when things are a tiny bit slower. Though I was willing to go just about anywhere in the world for a couple of weeks, my research lead me to Tracy Cox, who lives just about an hour away from our family summer place. So rather than taking a couple of weeks off at a time, I was able to build my guitar one day a week until it was done, which made finding the time much easier. I took Wednesdays off and worked really late on Wednesday nights and Thursdays to catch up. Tracy has a reputation as a top guitar maker and inlay artist who has worked for Martin Guitar in its custom guitar and inlay department.

 

Sanding the edges to the proper radius. Guitar tops and bottoms have a slight bow.

I won't bore you with the sordid details of guitar-making other than to say I'm happy I had previous woodworking experience, which sped my progress substantially. My teacher made me do everything. He showed me how to do something once, then it was up to me to do the rest, though I have to admit there were a couple of critical cuts that intimidated me and that I asked him to do because I knew that if I blew that cut, I'd have to start over or would ruin a priceless piece of wood.

 Braces to glue in the interior braces on the top.

Though the process was difficult and challenging each of the six days I was building my guitar, the hardest part was choosing what kind of guitar I wanted. I had to select body style, and woods for the front, back, sides, fretboard, and neck. Plus, I needed to pick a neck length and thickness to work with my unique hands and playing experience.

 

The unique pieces of wood I'm about to glue together for my guitar neck.

 

Three years ago, at our Convergence conference, a guitar player, Bert Keely, was playing a 1938 vintage Gibson guitar. I fell in love with the sound and the worn, vintage look. Further, my friend Rick Wilson plays a 1956 Martin guitar, which is aged-looking and has a rich sound and a deep bass. I'd also played a Collings guitar belonging to a friend, and, loving how easily it played, I wanted that in my guitar. Was it possible to combine the best of all those guitars? It appears so.

 

It all starts here. This piece of wood will be shaped into the guitar shape and make up the back.

Tracy took me through a wood selection process. As he flipped though some rare pieces of wood he pulled out a vintage top for a "Triple O" Martin body style. The top had been reclaimed from the Martin Guitar factory in the 1940s or 1950s. "That's it," I said. "It's already aged." Aged guitars tend to sound the best, and this top had been aging for 60 or 70 years, which was bound to give it a special sound along with its wonderful patina. Tracy said, "I've been sitting on this for a long time, waiting to give it the right home with someone who appreciates true vintage." But it was so rare that if I screwed it up, there would be no other top like it again. No pressure.

 

The body and the neck, almost ready to put together.

The guitar-making process involved lots of cutting, planning, measuring, sawing, routing, carving, sanding, bending, clamping, and drilling, and at the end of the six days, I had produced a fabulous guitar. We strung it up with Martin Phosphor Light strings, and the sound was magical. In fact, several highly accomplished musicians had a chance to play it when visiting the shop, and each one wanted to buy it from me. The special sound comes from the aged wood and the technique Tracy taught me to craft the bracing on the inside of the guitar.

 

More clamping!

The second tough decision was the rest of the finish. I wanted some high-end appointments, but I wanted to keep the vintage feel while making it my own. I also wanted to represent my muse: the Adirondacks. So we made this an Adirondack Guitar. Tracy taught me how to do inlay work with mother of pearl, so I trimmed the top edge with rare blue pava shell from New Zealand and carefully placed the pearl next to tortoiseshell bindings. I also inlaid birds for the fret markers, which involved my cutting out birds in mother of pearl and then routing out the exact shape. This was pretty intimidating because if I messed that up, I'd have to take the neck off and rebuild the guitar.

 

Placing the back on the body of the guitar.

I drew out a special design for the headstock, which was the view from our family Adirondack camp: our mountain, our trees, and our lake and its special Idem sailboats, which are over 120 years old. Tracy cut that inlay for me because I wanted some of his inlay work on my guitar and it was more complicated than I was probably capable of without some more practice. The trees in the inlay are Brazilian rosewood, the mountain is Madagascar rosewood, mahogany, and koi wood. The water is dyed pearwood, and the sky is mother of pearl. Best of all, the sail is ivory that came from fossilized woolly mammoth tusk. This ivory is very rare, but legal.

Inlay on the headstock. The view from our Adirondack camp. 

I should also mention the rest of the wood in the guitar. The back and sides are Chechen rosewood, the fretboard is McCassar ebony from Sulawesi, Indonesia. The neck is made up of local Adirondack cherry, plus some very special reclaimed wood that came from a 19th-century mahogany church pew and from a door from the USS Maumee, which was used from 1968 to 1971 in the Navy's Operation Deep Freeze II, where it was used to transport fuel supplies to McMurdo Sound at the South Pole. The Maumee was the largest ship to visit Antarctica, and was led into the ice pack by icebreakers. I was drawn to it because the Maumee river was one of three that flowed through my hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The neck of my guitar came from a reclaimed door in this ship the Maumee. Maumee is the river, which goes through my hometown of Fort Wayne.

You can see the woods I used in the neck: Cherry, wood from the reclaimed ship door, and wood from a church pew. I used vintage tuning keys.

Birthdays don't always have to be about parties and gifts. Though making this guitar was a gift to myself, it was the creation of something special and irreplaceable that had personal meaning for me. Challenges and doing the impossible have always been important to me, and I wanted to challenge myself and stretch my brain while doing something with my hands to commemorate this milestone in my life. I've created a family heirloom, and now I have a guitar that has a very special sound, created by the rare guitar top and woods that are unique to my taste. I'm very pleased with the sound and the appearance. The inlay of the Adirondack scene will live on as a reminder of this special place in my life and the lives of my family.

 
I did the inlay on the neck using Adirondack birds as the fret markers. I cut them out in pearl, routed the shape in the neck (frightening!) and then laid them in and glued them.

Life is about making and creating special moments and memories. If I just got a guitar as a birthday gift or bought one for myself, it would probably not be remembered years later. I can barely recall what I got for my last birthday. I'll never forget this birthday and the special experience of building a world-class guitar. And I've used this as a special chance to teach my kids about stretching and challenging yourself. Through the process I have a great appreciation for what goes into creating a custom guitar, and, spending many days with a master guitar maker and inlay artist, I made a great new friend as well.

 
Pearl inlay of my signature on the neck.

I've had a lot of hobbies over the years, including woodworking, photography, collecting antique radios, and painting. Each had their season. And though oil painting landscapes and portraits is my current passion, it was nice to step away and try something new. Will inlay and guitar-making become my latest obsession? Probably not, but I'm glad I challenged myself to do something out of my comfort zone, and I might inlay some custom frames for my paintings at some point. This guitar-making experience has indeed been a unique way to celebrate a milestone and gives me a new story to pass along to my friends.

If there is a lesson in all of this, it is set your mind on something you percieve as an impossible or difficult goal, share it with others so you're forced to make it happen, then find a way to do it. Though I have plenty of challenges in my life, work and family, I needed a different kind of challenge, something to push the limits of my ability. I wanted to try a new kind of art, which in this case was making an incredible-sounding guitar.

 A coat of sealer, then some gun stock oil gave my guitar a perfect vintage feel, especially with this 60-70 year aged spruce top.

 

Tracy Cox, master guitar maker and inlay artist was very patient to spend six days with me, pushing me to my limits and making me do most of the work on my first handmade guitar. The end result was an unbelievable sound.

Two Roads For Artists: Which Direction Will You Take?

The great debate among those of us who make art is whether we are selling out when we strive to make a living. For some, complete purity is a must. An artist, they say, must never allow outside influences to affect his or her art. It's a very romantic concept.

I know of an artist who lived this life. Let's call him James. Never in his life did James sell a painting -- he only worked ON his art. I was contacted and shown his work by a friend of his, and his work was amazing. He had a body of work of hundreds and hundreds of paintings and had determined it was time to sell them. Up till then he felt his work was not ready, and he never want to be influenced by something so crass as a commercial gallery.
James' goal was to sell his entire collection to a museum, showing the progression of his work from a young age to his mid-60s. As I inquired about his life, I learned he supported himself with a job he despised, one requiring hard labor. Most of his life was devoted to this go-nowhere job, and now that he was near retirement, the thought of selling paintings may have actually been motivated by the need for money and the need to downsize for storage. I passed on the opportunity.

This week I attended a celebration of a life cut short by a freak accident. The show, at the Southern Vermont Art Center, was a retrospective of the life of painter Brian Sweetland, who died in October 2013, far too young. It was among the most crowded openings I've ever attended, and it was filled with adoring fans, many of whom had contributed their paintings for the show.

Which is better? To live a life uninfluenced? Or to live a life in which your paintings have brought joy to hundreds of homes and spread your art, your message, your soul to others? Brian lived most of his life as a painter, supporting his habit by selling paintings. James held on to a job he barely tolerated, which enabled him to paint and not be "commercialized." Yet he came to the later part of his life unrecognized, without the encouragement or gratification of knowing people loved his work, without someone helping him gain freedom from his awful job by showing him how to sell paintings.

I didn't know Brian, nor do I know for certain if his galleries made his work more commercial or otherwise affected his paintings, but, judging from the show, his work was strong and consistent.

James, on the other hand, may never see a painting sold because of his desire to sell an entire body of work to a museum. His work was good, but not that good. Further, momentum toward painting sales takes time to build. People buy a brand, and James will have to start building that awareness, which takes time. He is starting late, and, though it can be done, he has lost a lot of years of opportunity -- assuming he ever comes to the conclusion that his work can be sold in a gallery.

There is a misconception among artists, I think. We tend to think that gallery people who ask us to paint something that sells are being "evil" in some way because they want to sell more of that kind of painting. Yet gallery people play an important role in the lives of artists. We often do not perceive what they can clearly see. They know when we're ready, and they know when we need to make adjustments to our work.

Galleries are run by professionals who make a living selling paintings and who can provide you, the artist, with a great deal of value. They not only offer perspective, they are your marketing department, your sales department, and your promotion agency. They build your collector base, they hang your work on their walls with no up-front charge, they pay the light bill, they pay the employees who are showing your work, they have their people talking about you, and they pay for food and wine to attract customers. And they advertise, at great expense, to bring people in the door.

Best of all, your gallery is your coach. They'll tell you what you need to hear and help shape your work. Frankly, you'd have to pay a lot more than a 50 percent commission to cover the cost of marketing yourself and the value a good gallery can bring to your work and your career.

I suppose one could make the argument that a gallery is reshaping you into an artist who sells, but it seems that, for most of us, that is important. Maybe there is a limit to what you're willing to do or where you're willing to go, because your soul still needs to be satisfied. But many artists are ready to take some direction, or make some small compromises, in order to eat. After all, doing a painting once in a while to meet a gallery's needs might be a better alternative than working on a road crew. It's kind of like the dad or mom who will take a second or third job to pay the bills. If painting helps pay the bills and you have to stretch out of your comfort zone once in a while, perhaps it's worth considering.

Seeing Brian Sweetland's life cut short and the celebration of hundreds of people who loved his work was an eye-opener. Brian was a local Vermont artist, mostly known regionally. He lived the life he wanted to live, painting and selling art. Had he waited like James, he would have never seen that recognition and may have had to make great sacrifices to keep painting. Neither decision is wrong -- but it is a decision.

I speak to hundreds of artists, and most I know are playing it safe and not going for the life they really want to be living. They have a lot of reasons -- some of which are practical, like waiting for the family to grow up and move out. Yet I recently met a woman who thought she needed to do that, but found a way in spite of it.

Your life is your choice. Most of us never make choices; we simply live the life expected from us based on our family and circumstances. I have a friend who grew up in a family of line workers in a factory. She is living her life as a line worker in a factory, yet she is a brilliant artist, and she looked forward to retirement so she could paint full-time. When that day came, she decided she couldn't live as an artist yet, so she took another job at another factory. "Someday," she tells me. Yet I predict someday will never come, because her fear is holding her back.

One of my biggest goals in life is to help you take the leap, to give you the encouragement you need, to help you think through the options and offer you the tools to help you make a living as an artist on your terms. But at the end of the day, most will stay in their go-nowhere jobs and groan as they go off to another day of doing what they don't love. Most will give excuses for why they cannot make the leap. I totally understand, I've been there. I wasted a lot of years doing what I didn't love until one day I broke the chains. Now I'm living a dream life. Is it perfect? Not quite, but it gets closer every day because I refuse to let others dictate what my life should be. I went through a process to design my ideal life and a plan to get there (I talk about this in Marketing Boot Camp 1).

A life cut short is a reminder that we need to go for it when we are able and not allow anything or anyone to prevent our dreams from coming alive. Yes, there are circumstances that can block you, there always will be, but a plan can move you forward.

If you're on the fence, if this is speaking to your heart and you know you need to make a decision, take some action every day toward that decision. You can be James or Brian. It's your call.

Eric Rhoads

PS: Last April at the Plein Air Convention I met a young man named Jonathan Luczycki, who told me that by following the advice he'd received in Marketing Boot Camp 1 and 2, he was able to quit his job and become a full-time artist, and he'd sold over 400 paintings in one year. I was approached by dozens of artists who had also transformed their lives. When I hear this, I get energized, and I want to do more and more to help.

So I'll be launching a whole new series (to be announced) at next April's Plein Air Convention, and I'm releasing the third in the series of Marketing Boot Camp DVDs this week (look for an announcement.) This content is not theoretical. I've made a lot of businesses successful with these concepts, which I've applied to selling art. It's different from other art marketing programs out there because it's rooted in marketing products and in business. All I know is that I'm seeing lives transformed and people breaking their chains. I hope you'll respect the fire that is burning inside of you and live the life you dream. It IS possible and ANYONE in any circumstances is capable of it. It starts with your determination to make a decision and make a plan. Go for it.

 

Hurt or Help? What You're Doing Online Can Impact Your Brand as an Artist

Branding is really nothing more than the process of building trust, then building upon that trust to reinforce the unique things you offer as an artist, such as your unique style; your voice; your acceptance by others, such as collectors; and your price and value perception. Everything you do contributes to your brand, in a positive or a negative way.

Facebook and Instagram can be great tools for building credibility as part of your branding, and many artists are relying on them heavily. One artist even told me he no longer needs to advertise because he has so many followers. But that's just his ego getting in the way: When I asked exactly who was following him, it was clear they were peers -- other artists -- and few if any collectors. People tend to gather with like-minded people, so artists tend to follow artists. Collector groups are much more difficult to find, and are more likely to be found on LinkedIn, which tends to attract professionals and serious interest groups, than on Facebook.

One giant mistake I'm seeing on Facebook is "Hey, look at me!" syndrome. I suppose if your followers are fellow artists, there is little harm in that. But if there are any collectors watching -- directly, or indirectly, via other artists' followings -- it can be dangerous. I'm seeing many an artist posting everything they paint when, fortunately or unfortunately, we all need to edit and show only our best work.

Even the best painters have dogs they should never show. Yet it's so tempting to say, "Hey look at me and what I'm capable of doing!" that we can forget to edit. I'm seeing a lot of "undercooked" work and, worse, a lot of paintings in progress. For artists, a progress shot is fine, but I'd be reluctant to let potential collectors see it. Has someone ever come up to you while you were painting on location, when a painting was only half done? It happens to me all the time, and I find myself explaining, "I'm just getting started, come back in a few hours," because they are judging a work at an uncooked stage.

I've overheard comments like, "It's not very good, it doesn't look right" at times when it's too soon for review. Most consumers don't understand that an unfinished painting is just that: unfinished. This is why I think showing unfinished works on Facebook and other social media has the potential to hurt your brand. That's also why editing is important. You wouldn't put every painting you do in a gallery. Why do it anywhere else?

Every touchpoint impacts the perception of your brand one way or another. Sometimes I'm tempted to post something after a drink or two, when my judgment is a little impaired, and I usually regret it in the morning. Again, if your Facebook or Twitter or Instagram have just friends and family, you probably won't do much damage. But if you have a big following, it's smart to make sure that everything you do is reinforcing your brand in a positive way.

Artists should seek things to post that will be positive reinforcements. Every time something great happens to you, post it. For instance, if you win an award, post it. If you get accepted to a new gallery, post it. That's why I like online art competitions. For a few bucks per entry, you have lots of opportunities to win or become a finalist. It's just another thing to talk about. Artists should enter every legitimate competition they can, to increase the odds of a win.

When you are hailed as a winner or finalist, that's a credibility builder you can talk about, and it also generates other publicity. For instance in our PleinAir Salon, where we present $15,000 to the winning artist, annual winners are also featured on the magazine's cover and in dozens and dozens of ads. That builds credibility. (By the way, today, July 31, is the last entry day for the current bimonthly contest. You can enter here.)

A good marketer is always inventing things to talk about to build credibility -- things they can put online, put in their newsletter, and shout from the rooftops. A bad marketer just puts everything out there, good and bad -- and that can have a negative impact on their brand. One artist I'm thinking of has gone backward in my mind because he's posting party photos, progress paintings, paintings that should never be released, and other things that are hurting his reputation. Visibility isn't always good.

P.T. Barnum is supposed to have said there's no such thing as bad publicity. That may be true if you're running a circus, but I'm not sure it's best for your art career.

PS: I'm getting cramps from signing big checks for large amounts of cash. Today you have a chance to become a winner or finalist and possibly put $15,000 cash in your pocket if you win our annual PleinAir salon. Tonight at midnight Pacific Time is your deadline to enter. All it takes is an upload of one great painting, or several. Many artists have found that repeating entries month to month benefits them because if they're not picked by one judge, they might be picked by another. To enter, visit www.pleinairsalon.com and start thinking about how you'll use that $15,000 cash prize and how your career will soar when you're on the cover of PleinAir magazine. Enter here now.

 

How You Can Become Independent as an Artist and Live the Dream

Fireworks will light the skies around our great nation this week as we celebrate our independence as a country. Yet thousands of artists I hear from are lacking independence. They long to quit their jobs and create their art full-time -- without having to live the life of a starving artist.

Yesterday I met a man who told me the story of spending years in art school to get his MFA, yet he was never able to make a living with his art. He said to me, "No one around here can make a living as an artist." I didn't want to disagree, but I know artists nearby who actually make a great living as artists, and who are not as accomplished as he.

The reality is, you can quit your job and become a full-time artist and make just as good a living or better in most cases. If that sounds like a stretch to you, it's not. I work with people every day who have done it, including some professionals who were already making excellent money. One artist who follows my plan sent me a photo last week of a pile of checks. She is living the dream, just three years after she started.

One of my missions in life is to help artists (painters, sculptors, photographers, crafters, etc.) live their dream. I have lived the life of dreading going in to work every day. I have stared out the window, wishing I was not behind my desk and that I could be painting. I have been jealous when my friends were traveling to faraway places to paint and I was limited to my two weeks of vacation (and I couldn't afford to go anywhere even when I had time off.) I have lived hand-to-mouth, I have struggled, I have had bosses I could not stand for one more day and yet had to bite my tongue because I needed the job, days when I wanted to sing, "Take This Job and Shove It" and just walk out. It took my getting to the boiling point before I made a change in my life.

Enough. I'm Out of Here!
The most important moment in your life is the moment you can't stand it anymore, blow up and say, "ENOUGH! I'm out of here!"

But it's also the most dangerous time, because, like a pressure cooker, hatred of a job can build up until we eventually explode. Unless you find a way to relieve the pressure in advance, you'll do something stupid, like quit your job when you're not ready, when you don't have an income.

The Danger of Ignoring Your Anger
Something terrible happens when you stay in a job you hate, when you fail to take the risk and live the dream. The longer you do it, the longer you take it, and eventually you lose your drive to escape. You start to lose your dream because you don't see any way out. One day you wake up and your whole life has passed and you haven't lived your dream. By the time you get to retirement age, you may not have the money, desire, interest, or physical ability. Why wait?

Make an Independence Plan
On the 4th, I want you to make a commitment to yourself. Every time you hear a "boom" or see a firework go off, I want you to say to yourself, "This is my year of independence."

Don't Quit Your Job ... Yet
I don't want you to go in on Monday and quit your job, nor do I want to get calls from you saying, "I did what you said. I quit my job. I can't feed my family. Now what?" What I want you to do is to devote any free time you have in the summer to building a plan. When you have a plan, you already have a sense of freedom. Knowing you have a plan for how you're going to morph from a worker bee into a free-living artist is almost as good as the freedom itself. It's kind of like planning a vacation a year in advance and having all year to look forward to it. Somehow it helps you cope with stress.

How to Build a Plan That Will Change Your Life So You Too Can Be Independent
Nothing worth doing is easy. I can't give you a specific plan because each of you is in a different place. Some are near retirement, others are early in their careers, some are raising kids, others have college to pay for. What I can tell you is that it's really pretty simple to invent a plan that fits your needs. Here are six specific things you can do.

1. Start with commitments and reality. Two weeks ago at the Publisher's Invitational, I met an artist who was taking her first trip away from her kids alone, ever. Her youngest is in college, and she now can start living her dream. She knew she had to get the kids out of college first. Those were very real circumstances. So write down the reality of your commitments so you know the moment you can be free.

2. Seek a transition plan. This very artist told me her story, how she dreamed of becoming a full-time artist and traveling. She said, "Just like I have to breathe, I have to paint." She told me that she had to work, make a living, and raise her kids, but she knew if she did not paint, she could not live. So she made up her mind to work on her art when her kids were in school. She found a way to start a gallery in town, where she showed her work. She could close it when she needed to deal with the kids, and she has been running it most of their school years. By working TOWARD her goal, achieving part of it, she saved her sanity.

There are many ways to invent a transition plan. I don't have any desire to retire and I love what I do, but I have told myself that once my kids are in college, I can travel more and work a little less. I'm working on a transition plan by getting my company gradually prepared for me to be absent a little more, but I've also had my work in a couple of art galleries for the last 10 years. I intentionally don't market it (the plumber's house always leaks, right?) because I'm not yet in the mode where I need that income, yet it's a way for me to challenge myself to paint better and paint more, and a way to get used to the gallery environment. It's important to put yourself under pressure to reach your goals.

3. Develop a financial plan. Lay out your needs and where you'd need to be to quit your job. A friend of mine set a five-year goal to sell enough paintings monthly so he could quit his sales job. He set annual goals that grew each year, and he worked all his spare time beyond his family and job to hit those goals. On weekends he visited galleries. At nights he painted.

4. You have to be so driven that you'll work doubly hard. Again, nothing worthwhile is easy. You may have to work extra jobs for a year, or a few years, to save extra money. You may have to work late at night and on weekends. If you want it badly enough, you'll find the time. I recently laid out a plan for my friend who is trying to get more painting time around his family and work. I simply said, "Sleep less." So instead of staying up till midnight watching TV, he goes to bed earlier and awakens at 5, giving him two hours of painting time before he was to wake the kids for school. He is so driven that he has not missed one morning, seven days a week, for the last three months.

5. Be disciplined about your goals. Each week I receive a report about where I am regarding my goals in my business. It's weekly -- rather than monthly -- so I know when I have to hit my numbers while I still have time left to do it. I am obsessed with never allowing myself to miss a goal. I beat myself up when I do, and I make a point of making it up in the next month on top of my new monthly goal. This is the ONLY WAY to make sure you hit your goals. If your goal is to produce five paintings a month, you must NEVER LET YOURSELF OFF THE HOOK. Never give yourself an excuse. Excuses are for wimps. Winners never say, "I'll try." They always say, "I'll do it."

5. Share your goals so others hold you to them. I've read about a million goal-setting books (I recommend you do, too) but never has any guru said this -- yet I think it's the most important: Share your goals with your spouse, friends, even in public, and tell people to hold you to them. If I want to get something done, I'll announce it in public or on my blog because I know that I'll be embarrassed if I fail. That motivates me not to fail. Recently I told my friends I was going to build a guitar because I had been thinking about it for three years but never did anything about it. I told them knowing that it would force me to do it. (I started yesterday with an instructor.)

6. Remove the garbage in your head. As you read this you may be thinking, "Well, it works for him, or it works for others, but my circumstances are different." That is complete head garbage. This week I was coaching an artist on his marketing and he said, "I can't do that because there are lots of younger artists who are better at getting their names exposed by using technology." I said, "Let me guess. When you were younger you gave yourself excuses, saying, 'I can't do that because the older artists have more experience and contacts and advantages.'" Dead silence. We all have garbage in our heads. We all tell ourselves that things are not possible, that others have bigger advantages. Stop it. When you catch yourself doing it, stop it. Everyone does it, winners just work harder at stopping it and redirecting their beliefs to what they can do.

If you use these steps to build a plan, it will set you on the path to independence. Life is very short. It's amazing to me how fast it goes by, and how many dreams I've missed by not holding myself to standards and goals. I reach more of my goals today than I did 10 years ago, and I refuse to let one of them slip. As a result my business is growing, my personal life is improving, and I'm living a dream I never thought possible. You can do it. Make this Independence Day the beginning of your independence so you can live the dream.

Happy 4th of July.

Eric Rhoads

PS: OK, here I go. I'm going to invent something now, on the spot, commit to it, so I am getting it done and so YOU will hold my feet to the fire. For the last three years at the Plein Air Convention, I've done three different Marketing Boot Camp sessions (three days each) to help artists with the essentials of artist marketing. It has transformed careers. But I think it's time for me to offer something completely new. So here is my new commitment and an official announcement so new, it's not even on the website.

Next year for the Plein Air Convention, I'm going create a new series: "How to Quit Your Stinking Job and Live the Dream of Being a Financially Successful Full-Time Artist." Not only will this be a blueprint for success to launch your career as an artist, it contains mission-critical information and tools most artists need even if established and successful.

In the series I'm going to show you:
-  A step-by-step plan to transition out of your job
-  A system to create a financial plan to help you prepare
- A transition plan to launch your art career
- My exclusive Rhoads System for Building a Base Business Income™, which will give you a plan to pay all of your expenses each month and make sure you're succeeding
- The 10 most successful ways to build income as an artist
- How retiring baby boomers can "ramp up" and succeed fast and have a fruitful career for the rest of their lives
- How to reinvent yourself to stimulate new life in your career as an artist
- The 7 traps established artists fall into that hamper success
- 19 tools artists must have in their arsenal to create success, whether new or established
- How to ethically and legally leverage your current job to make you more successful in your new career
- How to overcome the need for time in marketing
- How to become known worldwide as an artist and sell more art than you've ever dreamed
- How to know you're ready and have the confidence to move forward toward your goal

This is the tip of the iceberg. I've only just begun to design this program, and I have until April to find out what exactly you want from me and build it into the program. Though this program has to do with going out on your own, it will be a huge boost to those of you who are already there. The base business strategy alone will revolutionize your life, as it changed my life and success when I learned it from one of my business mentors after two decades in business.

These early-morning sessions will be held each morning of the Plein Air Convention and at no additional charge. Note that the convention attracts over 700 artists and will have dozens of top artists teaching oil, watercolor, pastel, and acrylic. Most are not listed on the website yet. Plus we have sessions for landscape and figurative artists. You don't have to be a plein air painter to attend, because most demos are indoors on four stages, with video so you can see them well. Frankly, the new sessions will be well worth the price and will change your life and help you live the dream.

To register, call 561.655.8778 or visit www.pleinairconvention.com, or register here. We even have payment plans available so you can stretch out your attendance investment.

The Dark Cloud Over Many Artists

"I'm depressed. I feel like I've got a giant dark cloud hanging over my head. No matter how good my art is, it's simply not selling. I don't get it. I know painters that are not as good as I am who are selling more art. Why? What am I doing wrong? How long will I have to wrestle with this? I can't seem to find a solution, and I've tried everything. I tried advertising, and it didn't work. I've done art shows, and people just pass by. It's now starting to affect my work because it's robbing me of all the joy of painting when no one seems to want what I do. Is seems like day after day, this problem plagues me and brings sorrow to my heart.

"What am I doing wrong? I need the answers. Painting alone isn't enough. I need that validation from knowing others want what I've put my heart and soul into creating. I need to know others appreciate my art enough to buy it. Plus, I want to paint full-time, which means I need to sell art in order to escape my go-nowhere job. I know there's got to be a solution. I've tried everything. I know there is answer, and I'll be elated when I solve it. I can see success, I can taste it, I know it will come ... but it's hard to believe it when I've seen no evidence, and this problem is consuming me."

Sound familiar?

I hear from a lot of artists who are at the end of their rope. I don't mean suicidal, but discouraged enough to give up painting, which they truly love, or to give up trying to sell their art. Artists who either have to solve the problem of why their art isn't selling or go back to a career they don't love, or just continue to struggle. I also hear from artists who were counting on selling paintings to fund their retirement, and others who can't survive financially much longer without selling their art.

The worst part is that their minds start to play tricks on them. They start believing there is no hope, believing that their artwork isn't as good as their friends or family tell them it is. They think in their hearts there is no solution, or that others are just more talented than they are. They start feeling like they don't deserve success and dread the idea of more rejection.

Your Art Is Not the Problem
I'm here to tell you that it's not you, and it's probably not your art. You and I have seen a lot of bad artists become giant sellers, creating work we don't respect. We also know great artists who are better than we are who don't have success selling their work. Most likely the problem is your marketing.

My Mission: Help You Sell More Art
It's my mission in life to help artists sell more art. I can't stand it when artists don't see their dreams come true, which is why I'm putting my decades of experience in other industries toward helping artists solve their greatest challenge: how to sell more art. It's proven to succeed.

In the last 10 years I've had contact with thousands of artists, I've coached hundreds and hundreds of them, and most are really good at their art, yet most of them have problems selling their work. Most have attempted some form of marketing and failed, thrown their money away, seen no results, and become deeply discouraged.

Let me tell you about two buddies:

I have two really good artist friends. Both were depressed because their art was not selling. I sat with both for dinner one night and told them exactly what they needed to do. I walked them both through a basic plan. Both artists told me all the reasons I was wrong, told me that it wouldn't work and how it wasn't what everyone else does. One of the artists called me six months later to tell me he had tried everything else, and though he still thought I was wrong, he was out of ideas and decided to follow my advice. And a year later, he told me he'd had his best sales year in history.

The other artist was convinced it would not work and kept painting for a while, but had to give it up under pressure from his wife to produce a reliable income. He took a job he hates and that doesn't use his creativity. He sits at a desk, has a long commute, and is in a totally unexciting industry. Now, three years later, he tells me he is miserable and wishing he was painting, but he's still unwilling to do what it takes.

Which artist are you most like? The one who is willing to try something new? Or the one who assumes nothing will work?

An Example of Success
Any teacher will tell you they have prize pupils. Rarely does everyone listen to everything I advise them to do; most pick out one or two things to help them begin to sell more art. But one person who attended my first Art Marketing Boot Camp™ two years ago followed most of my advice. I don't want to embarrass her so I'll keep her name out of it (available upon request), but here are her exact words from an e-mail I received on March 8.

Profits up 135% in 2013 over 2012, and 183% over 2011 (entire year). 

First quarter profits up 138% this year over last.

9 workshops planned this year through mid-Nov. Many are full with waiting list. Newly introduced workshops are filling in record time.

In the past 12 months, articles in PleinAir magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, and two others. Another in the works. These are NOT paid editorials (meaning because I bought ads).

In one year, sold over 200 copies of my first book.

- Invitations to the nation's biggest plein air INVITATIONALS. No longer applying to events due to demand of time. They are approaching me.

- 13 significant awards.

Major gallery connection with yet another top gallery this year.

Upcoming DVD to be produced.

All because I took your marketing advice.

Marketing Isn't Easy
Can this kind of success happen to you? Absolutely. But it's not easy. Nothing good ever is. In fact, the majority of people who attend Boot Camp or buy my DVDs will never be willing to do what it takes. If you want to succeed at selling your art and changing your life, it requires that you think differently (the definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior and expecting different results), create and follow a simple plan, and follow that plan religiously. You can grow your art sales as big as you can dream. My system can work for slow, steady career building or, if you're older and want to speed up the process, it can bring rapid success. But marketing is something most artists refuse to do, and most completely misunderstand it. That is why they are not seeing the success they need.

Invest Where You Need Success
You invest thousands of dollars in a workshop to make progress in your painting. You'll invest hundreds of dollars in DVDs to improve your art. Yet most artists want to be successful painters and won't invest in learning how to market. You need to invest where you need success, which may well be in marketing your art.

You Can Still Live Your Dream
Imagine your life without the stress of not knowing how you'll pay your expenses. What if you were able to be a full-time artist and live the dream of travel, attending and participating in events? What if galleries were chasing you rather than your approaching them and risking rejection? What if you were being invited to events as a special guest, people were lining up to attend your workshops, paintings were selling, and your financial worries were gone?

If you are living with that dark artist cloud over your head and want to break out of it, you can. It is possible, and I can show you the solutions. I'm not one of these people who is going to tell you that if you believe it, you can do it. Though mindset and positive thinking do matter, without a system, they are just thoughts.

The Impossible Is Possible
I know it seems impossible at this moment. We've all been there. I can remember a time when I survived on peanut butter sandwiches because I couldn't afford any other food. I didn't think my plight would ever end. I've been down and out, been broke and on the edge of bankruptcy two different times, and yet I've recovered, used what I've learned to build successful enterprises, and have had some of the world's great mentors teach me their secrets.

Today I'm living in my dream job because I get to travel the world to see art and to paint, attend events, get my portrait painted by the world's great portrait artists, jury shows, spend days shooting art videos with top painters, all while doing what I love, which is writing and running my magazine business. Though I've been blessed and had a lot of good luck, I also know that most of what happened was by design because I practice what I preach. I have a plan, and I follow it.

The First Step Is the Hardest
The first step, they say, is always the hardest. Sometimes we have to bottom out before we take action to change our lives. The artist I mentioned above told me, "My husband was out of work, my work had not been selling, I didn't even have the money to make the trip to the Plein Air Convention to attend Marketing Boot Camp 1, let alone pay for the ticket to attend. Yet I found a way, and it was the absolute most important step in my career, which is why I return each year, even though I know I can buy it on DVD later. As you can see, my art sales are soaring. Though I'm the one who did the hard work, jumped in face-first to commit to following a plan, it was Art Marketing Boot Camp that gave me the step-by-step plan to success."

Understand Why Your Art Isn't Selling
On April 7-11, I will present my third Marketing Boot Camp series live each morning during the Plein Air Convention. The artist above, and dozens and dozens of others, have told me that the Boot Camp alone was worth the entire cost of the trip and admission to the convention. They have seen their lives transformed because they are now selling art. This is an investment in your marketing education, and if your artwork is not selling and you don't know why, things will become clear to you after attending -- and you'll have specific action items you can make use of right away. The only question is whether or not you are really ready to make a commitment to selling more artwork.

I'm Investing in Your Success Too
I've built Art Marketing Boot Camp as a series. I'll be presenting three new modules this year on three mornings from 6:30-7:45. Not only do things change from year to year, but I strive to learn new things by attending seminars and events throughout the year, meeting with top marketing minds, and experimenting with new ideas. One three-day seminar alone cost me $1,800, just so I'll have a new module to share on one of the three days. I'll distill the information down, convert it for artists, and present it to you during Marketing Boot Camp 3.
You have my guarantee that if you follow the advice in this new series, you'll build on your current success dramatically. If you follow my full system, you'll double your art sales in one year or less.

Marketing Boot Camp is just a tiny portion of the Plein Air Convention, and you don't have to be a plein air artist to attend. Each year we have portrait and still life artists at the convention. In fact Daniel a brilliant figurative artist is one of our faculty. They come for the experience, the chance for personal and professional growth, and the new friendships. Many are there for the convention; others come for Boot Camp but enjoy the convention as well. Everyone has a great learning experience and a great time.

Eric Rhoads
Publisher PleinAir and FineArt Connoisseur
Author Art Marketing Boot Camp I & II

 

PS: Artist Success Is Never Accidental
I've had the opportunity to know personally many of the world's great artists. I've spent hours talking with many of them. You may look on their success and wish you were in their position, in some cases making millions of dollars and living amazing lives. Yet each of them started with no advantages, no awareness, no sales. They all had frustrating moments, and some even quit and returned to art later. Others wanted to give up but persisted. But the one thing they all have in common is that they figured out that being a great artist was not enough to sell like a great artist. They have all learned about marketing, whether they learned it by personal experience or through specific study. Some have a natural instinct for marketing. But almost all of them are aggressive marketers following the very principles you'll learn in Art Marketing Boot Camp. I'll teach you a system and three very specific areas to generate new revenue from your art that you've probably never thought about. There is still time for you to make plans to join us in Monterey on April 7-11. If you care deeply about selling more art, this is the best opportunity to learn live. Call now -- 561.655.8778 --or go to www.pleinairconvention.com

PS II: I've been told we have room for 40 more people to register at this year's convention. There is typically a lot of activity in the last couple of weeks and even a few walk-up registrations. It would probably be a good idea to secure one of those 40 seats ASAP.

 

To register, call 561.655.8778 or visit www.pleinairconvention.com

 

 

 

 

Fuel Your Art Career

Anyone can change the entire direction of their career in just 90 days. I've seen it happen many times. To do it, you need FUEL.

FAST: Something that will build exposure fast
UNIQUE: Find ways you can stand out
EXCELLENCE: Improve the way you appear to others
LARGE: Build your career in a big way

FUEL comes from deliberate actions that create opportunity. Though there is often luck involved, we all know many people make their own luck. For instance, you won't get publicity because someone just happened to discover you. You have to make sure editors hear from you and know about your work. You don't get blog posts, TV appearances, and newspaper articles by wishing for it to happen. You need to be proactive and make them aware.

Two things that will fuel your career more than anything else are publicity and winning awards (which of course gives you publicity). Have you ever seen someone become an overnight sensation because they were discovered by the media? Well placed publicity is like rocket fuel to take you to the next level fast.

Here's a little secret from a lifetime in the media: Publicity does not just happen. People don't just get discovered for TV shows, articles, etc. Someone is working to make editors aware.

An artist friend of mine recently had articles in several art magazines at about the same time. I later learned it happened because he called the editors, told them his story, and showed them his artwork. Suddenly he appeared in three magazines three months in a row. It happened because he was working it.

Of course, editors won't just drop everything and do a story unless you have a story to tell. Editors are looking for something that's happened in your career -- something unique, like an interesting painting trip, an event surrounding your art, an exhibition, etc. Even then, it doesn't always work. But in the publishing world, a dirty little secret is that we all have slow editorial moments, so we're always on the lookout for a story. One thing we all keep an eye on is who is winning awards. Sometimes publicity will follow just because an editor has noticed a trend of winning competitions, winning show awards, etc. In fact, we selected artist Ulrich Gleiter to do one of our videos because he has a streak of winning Best of Show awards. It also resulted in an article. And suddenly his career is on fire.

Two recent examples of FUEL occurred because the artists kept entering art competitions. Though the odds were stacked against them, Shelby Keefe and Eleinne Basa were the winners of the last two annual PleinAir Salon competitions, presented by my magazine PleinAir. Each received her $15,000 cash prize at that year's Plein Air Convention. The result of winning and having their paintings on the cover of PleinAir magazine has FUELed each of their careers, fast. Plus, having their image spread by our Salon marketing ads has created more awareness, and more career FUEL.

What I like about entering competitions is that if you win, it results in lots of exposure -- exposure that tends to be ongoing, especially if you win the big annual prize. Promotion can continue for a year or more. Both Eleinne's and Shelby's pictures have appeared in dozens of ads, e-mails, newsletter ads, etc. This FUEL created fast momentum and large amounts of publicity for each artist, and as a result, their careers are soaring.

 

What can you do to get FUEL in your career?

Most FUEL comes when you least expect it, but it comes because you are trying to generate it. You should be watching for opportunities to FUEL your career by getting your name in front of the press frequently (local and national) for stories, announcements, awards won, commissions received, charity events, etc. Seek every opportunity. Contests are a great way to FUEL your career because they give you something to talk about with the press when you win.

That's why successful artists I know enter everything they can that could give them prestige if they win. They enter every month. I know of one artist who kept entering our contest every other month with the same painting and ended up winning because the judges change with every contest, and what one judge doesn't like, another judge may love. Everyone has a chance to win, and most people who win thought they never had a chance. Plus the price of entry is low compared to the publicity received if you win.

Keep your eyes open to FUEL your career. Here are the actions you should take:

1. Ask yourself what would FUEL your career the fastest.
2. Make a list of local and national publicity opportunities and start contacting editors. (Don't be a pest, but never give up. Every editor needs an easy story from time to time.)
3. Enter every contest you can find that will give you major credibility and bring you publicity.
4. Participate in local events that have publicity attached (for example, charity events). If you play a major role, you'll get some publicity.
5. Know this is an ongoing effort that may not pan out immediately, but will eventually.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The worst thing you can do is try to leverage advertising buys in exchange for editorial coverage. CREDIBLE publications will not only reject you, they will avoid you in the future because they know their readers know the difference and they consider an ad for an article as a bribe. As you know credible people shy away from people who offer bribes. If approached by publications selling ads in exchange for the promise of editorial coverage RUN FAST! Though it seems like a good idea because you are getting coverage, their readers know the difference and this will hurt your reputation as fast as a legitimate article will help it. Typically publications selling editorial are desperate. Readers who see stories issue after issue about the same artists tend to stop reading those publications and stop taking those artists and artists in those publications seriously. The other problem with this is that SUBSTANDARD artists get stories because they have the money to spend, which hurts the credibility of any artist appearing in those publications. Is it tempting? Yes. Will it hurt your credibility as an artist? Absolutely. Quality publications hire quality editors. Readers trust those editors and know that if they actually cover an artist for their merits, it means that artist is editorial worthy. If an editor ever allowed advertising to influence content in my publications I'd fire them immediately because our credibility with readers is more important than anything. Selling editorial in exchange for advertising is simply prostitution. You would not offer a bribe in other parts of your business and you would not go to a prostitute, why would you want to be associated with publications who accept bribes for advertising when its a bad reflection on you.

FUEL is acquired by people who are always on the lookout for an opportunity. Most people miss opportunity because they are not looking for it. Professionals are always seeking ways to get someone to give them press and exposure and are always entering in hopes of winning.

Eric Rhoads

PS: FUEL for today - I should mention that our PleinAir Salon deadline to enter is TOMORROW, Friday, January 31. Now is your chance. All you have to do is take a photo of your best work and enter it online, and you could be the winner of the $15,000 cash prize and your winning work on the cover of the magazine, or you could win other prizes ($21,000 in cash prizes all together. Enter at www.pleinairsalon.com).

 

Using Frames To Sell Artwork

 

What does your frame say about you?

In the world of selling and marketing your art, there are obvious tactics and subtle tactics. Obvious are things like marketing plans, and all the tricks and techniques I talk about in my Art Marketing Boot Camp series. But there are also many subtle things that we rarely think of as important in selling art. One such subtlety is the impact a frame has on the sale.

You've probably heard the story of a gallery owner who told me of a painting that had hung for a year with no buyers. The gallery owner believed it was a spectacular painting, and it was priced at $2,500, but it simply was not selling. But before returning it to the artist, the gallery owner decided to try reframing it. So he sent it off to his top framer and invested in a very expensive, ultra-high-quality frame that cost as much as the painting itself. He then changed the painting's price to $14,999. The painting sold the first week it reappeared.

Two things happened here. High prices often attract high-end buyers who believe that if the price is too low, the work can't be that good. We won't talk about pricing strategy today, but we will talk about framing strategy, which goes hand-in-hand with pricing: High-priced paintings need to reflect that with good frames.

I think frames are like automobiles. Any basic, inexpensive car will get someone from Point A to Point B. So why do affluent people spend money on high-priced vehicles? Because they look good in them. Cars are like picture frames for people. If the car is expensive and looks it, the driver must be a successful person. The right cars send a signal of success. Quality frames send a signal of success, too. If the frame is that good, it must be surrounding a good painting.

Imagine an environment for a moment. A 20,000-square-foot home on the ocean filled with priceless antiques, the highest-quality furnishings, a 12-foot Steinway grand -- and walls full of paintings in cheap frames. Though you can't imagine paying $20,000 for a couch, that's not at all unusual in the homes of highly affluent people. You cannot expect them to respond to a cheap frame. It's like putting a Maserati engine in a Pinto. It's not just about the engine, it's about the full experience, the full appearance.

A Dramatic Turnaround

I once visited an artist friend's home to pick up a painting. He confided in me that he was not selling as well as he wanted, yet I knew his work was undervalued and would become very desirable. I told him that the problem was the cheap-looking frames he was putting on his work, which were keeping his prices down and his sales low. I suggested that if he improved the quality of the frames, he'd see a disproportionate rise in the sales of his paintings -- and could therefore increase his prices. He told me he couldn't afford to frame a whole show in expensive frames. My response was that it's a cost of doing business and that if he was serious about being in business, he needed to get serious about his frames.

To his credit, the artist listened. He experimented with one big painting by having a very high-quality frame made. It sold immediately at a high price and funded upgrades for all his frames. The end result, as predicted, was higher sales and higher prices. Today his prices are soaring, and his paintings are in high demand. Though he is doing well today because of the quality of his paintings, he had been being ignored because most people will pass by paintings in cheap, unattractive frames.

I know many a gallery owner who reframes paintings to make them sell. The most successful galleries always use high-quality frames.

What about you? Are your frames preventing sales or holding your prices down? One thing most highly successful artists have in common is that they know the importance of investing in really high-quality frames.

Price does not always equate to quality. There are many wonderful frames that look good at a reasonable price. Yet even then, a discerning collector will see the difference between a $100 frame and a $2,500 frame. I know artists and galleries that spend hundreds, sometimes thousands on frames, and even a couple who spend tens of thousands on frames. They know they will get their price with the right frame. A person buying a $10 million painting probably wants a million-dollar frame (yes, they do exist).

I recently purchased a painting online by a very well-known and accomplished artist but was very disappointed when it arrived. My immediate reaction was that the painting did not look very good in person -- until I realized the problem was the frame. I simply was not willing to hang that frame in my home because it stuck out like a sore thumb.

I encourage you to experiment and see the difference. It isn't easy, takes a big leap of faith, and depends very much on the customer profile and where they are viewing your work. It's important to think of a painting as a whole package. Quality paintings and quality frames go together.

Eric Rhoads

PS: Subtle clues send deep messages to buyers. People who want the best won't consider you the best unless your subtle clues are the clues that indicate quality, which includes the quality of your work, the frame quality, and even the back of the painting -- which won't impact the initial sale of the work but will impact the buyer's perceptions once the painting is in their hands ready to hang. Many artists I know make their own frames in order to control quality and match the painting perfectly, which is great if you can take the time

PPS: In our comments I'd love to know about your framing experiences, great framers, and your thoughts on this matter.

---

Here are some of the things we're up to...

Fine Art Connoisseur magazine: It's been called the most beautiful art magazine in America and is rich with paintings and the stories of art and artists.

PleinAir magazine: For those who love to paint outdoors and the people who collect plein air paintings.

The Plein Air Convention: Probably the largest annual gathering of artists in the world. Held in Monterey, California, the event is packed with demonstrations from top painters -- and this year we've added Watercolor and Pastel tracks. 

The PleinAir Salon:  A chance to win $20,000 in prizes by posting your paintings for our judges (gallery owners and top artists) to see.

The Publisher's Invitational: A chance to paint with friends in the beautiful Adirondack mountains. No competition, no pressure -- just painting with friends for a week. Limited to 100 people. From art publisher Eric Rhoads.

Streamline Art Video: The goal is to reinvent the instructional art DVD to include more depth about the artist. You'll enjoy these wonderfully produced art demonstration videos, including a new series from the Plein-Air Painters of America.

PleinAir Today: A free weekly e-mail newsletter about the world of plein air painting and collecting.

Fine Art Today: A free weekly e-mail newsletter about the world of fine art collecting.

PleinAirCollector.com:  A website dedicated to collecting plein air paintings.

Art Marketing Boot Camp I and Art Marketing Boot Camp II:  Videos from Eric Rhoads, designed to help you double your art sales in one year. 

Follow Eric Rhoads on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Burying The Lies That Are Holding You Back

A Marketing Message from Art Publisher B. Eric Rhoads

Room where Vincent Van Gogh died

 A few weeks ago I visited the grave of Vincent Van Gogh, in the quaint little Northern French village of Auvers-sur-Oise, as part of our annual art cruise. We were walking the same streets and trails Van Gogh traveled and painted.

Van Gogh has become the model of the "starving artist." How many people have told you the life of an artist can't be a good one because it's such a struggle?

It's a lie.

Though adversity stimulates growth and life's problems do typically make us better people and artists, the idea that success in their lifetimes is not possible for artists is simply a lie. In that same town, artists such as Daubigny, Pissarro, and Corot were great successes, as were many artists around Normandy and Paris. Yet we hold on to this romantic notion that we as artists have to struggle.

The Church Van Gogh painted

What lies are holding you back as an artist?

We have all been held back by lies -- lies others have told us, lies we absorb, lies we tell ourselves. You can either choose to believe them and allow them to affect you, or you can choose to prove them wrong.

We all cling to the lies we've heard from family members, friends, teachers, and colleagues, yet those are the very thoughts that may be keeping you from achieving success. After all, it's a lot easier to give yourself an excuse for failure when it's common knowledge that an artist as great as Van Gogh had to struggle all his life.

It's time to bury the lies.

Vincent and Theo buried together

Last night I watched a movie called "Seven Days in Utopia," about a golfer who could not perform at his peak because of the voices in his head -- things he'd heard from his father, mother, teachers, and friends Those voices unknowingly interfered with his success. The premise of one scene in the movie was to focus on truths and to literally bury the lies. The golfer is instructed to write his epitaph, in order to help clarify his priorities. (I do this in my Marketing Boot Camp video.)

What are the critical voices in your head saying? Though we each have our own, here are some of the lies you may be holding on to:

• Artists never really make a lot of money.
• The life of an artist is filled with sacrifice.
• Artists are weird.
• Artists are social misfits.
• The artists who are rich had special advantages.
• Success is about who you know.
• No one wants my artwork, really.
• Being successful will prevent me from painting what I want.
• There is no room for more "greats."
• The only successful artists are modern artists.
• I have to put in my time and can't succeed till I'm older.
• I'm too old to get good.
• I don't deserve success.
• My parents were right, this art thing will never amount to anything.
• I'm an artist because it's what my parents wanted me to do.
• I could never sell enough paintings to quit my day job.
• There are so many artists who deserve success more than me. 

What lies are rattling around in your head? It's time to find out.

Shut yourself in a quiet room and start writing down everything you know about yourself and your art. Take careful notice of what creeps into your mind. Now ask yourself which of those thoughts are lies, which thoughts are limiting you and giving you an excuse for failure. Whether those lies come from others or are things you've told yourself, it doesn't mean they should have power over you.

You'll find this exercise to be cleansing, and you'll find that you've been spending a lot of your time letting untruths govern your life.

Every single artist I know, including some of the most successful artists in the world, have to deal with some form of negative self-talk. The only difference between the successes and failures is that the successes have learned to push most of it away the second they realize it's there, and they don't let it affect their performance.

What about you? Find the lies and bury them. It will change your career and impact your success immediately.

Eric Rhoads

PS: I battle negative thoughts every day of my life. In fact, it's a constant battle, and sometimes the lies win. There are things I've avoided because I tell myself I'm not the right fit, not good enough, not smart enough, not successful enough. In fact, after the first Plein Air Convention, where I presented Marketing Boot Camp, I told myself people wouldn't be interested in a Marketing Boot Camp II, about how to get into galleries, how to make websites sell more product, how to build a brand, and how to use social media for success. In fact, I almost decided not to do it. What swayed me was a call from an artist who had followed my advice and seen her career transformed. Then and only then did I stop listening to the lies in my head. This may seem like a silly exercise, but do whatever it takes to remove negative "truths" that are really lies that hold you back.

How to Sell Art Every Month of the Year

It's summertime, and art is selling. I'm hearing from galleries around the country that are having a great summer. If you're an artist they're representing, that's great news. But what happens when summer is over? Can you survive on a few paintings sold over the summer? Or would you like to have consistent business all year? I'd like to share a strategy that can keep the cash coming in every month of the year.

Vacation Mode
What I failed to mention is that the places selling a lot of art this summer are vacation spots. Anyone who runs a retail location knows that people are a little looser with their pocketbooks when they are on vacation, in a non-stress, non-work environment. Those vacationing in expensive resort areas are likely to be able to afford a nice memory of their trip to hang on their wall, whether it's a painting of the local area they're visiting, or just something they love that will help them remember where it was purchased.

I have a house filled with memories purchased when we were in "vacation mode." We're out to dinner having a great time, maybe we've had a couple glasses of wine, and we wander into a gallery, and WHAM! We fall in love with a painting. Since we want our vacation time to last forever, this is a great way to remember it. We're fond of paintings of the places we visit.

Seasonal Strategy
But life goes on, and vacation does not last forever. So if you're in a summer-season gallery and are not selling paintings at other times of the year, why not consider a seasonal strategy? Why not target galleries in vacation spots that are visited at different times of the year? Remember, not everyone has to vacation on a school-year schedule. The people who travel most are upper-income and retired or semi-retired, or business owners who have more control of their time. Think about these seasons and where these people vacation.

Winter:
Snow is a great trigger for winter travelers. The first snow drives "snowbirds" from the North to the South. People from Canada and the northern U.S. start heading to winter homes in places like Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Arizona, Southern California, Mexico, etc. Snow also triggers ski vacations in Colorado, Utah, Upstate New York, Vermont, etc. Of course, Christmas is a major part of those escape trips, and people are looking for ideas. These resort communities are loaded with galleries -- and resorts have lots of people looking for things to do, so art shows typically happen in winter months in the warm climates.

Spring:
Families travel for one or two weeks at spring break, which fills ski resorts, beaches in warmer climates, and historic locations like Washington, DC. It's also a time when people want to get away as long winters hang on. People with spring fever want to get out and enjoy the outdoors, and they find themselves traveling to vacation spots.

Summer:
Summer resort and vacation areas are to be found all over the U.S. Though the city of New York often goes on cruise control in July and August, it's crowded in the Hamptons, the Catskills, and the Poconos. People in the East will vacation in the Cape, Maine, or the seashore. People in the West will head to Santa Fe, the San Juan Islands, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. Heat is also a trigger for people who want to escape to lakes, beaches, and cooler mountain resort areas like the Adirondacks, Jackson Hole, the mountains of New Mexico, etc. Summer resort areas are filled with galleries.

Fall:
Watch travel magazines for tips on communities where there are popular "leaf drives." Lots of tourism is built around the color change of leaves in places all around the country, whether Vermont, Northern California and Nevada, Upper Michigan, Indiana's Brown County, and hundreds of other locations. (Might be a good time to put some of those cadmium colors in your leaves.)

How To Make a Plan
Start by asking yourself when and where your art is selling, and see where you may already be getting seasonal business. Then simply make a list of every month, and areas you think will be hot tourism locations in each one. You don't want to be in 12 galleries, so try to find locations with overlap across several months. A great example, for instance, would be areas like Lake Placid or Aspen, which have strong summer seasons, strong ski seasons, and strong leaf seasons. Once you've picked a few seasonal locations, the hard work begins.

Next Steps
Getting a gallery is easier said than done. (My new Art Marketing Boot Camp™ II video discusses how to get into galleries). But start by finding your target area. Find out what galleries are there, but also understand that a gallery may not be your only option. Shops, restaurants, arts centers, and retail locations can be good options for exposure and selling work. Then start your outreach program. Study the galleries and reach out to those you think would be the best fit for your work.

Content Matters
Great galleries know what sells, and I'm sure your paintings of the New York City skyline will sell anywhere. But will a fall Vermont painting sell better in Vermont during leaf season? Certainly many are seeking a memory of their trip. The most important thing to a gallery is whether your work will sell. So you may need to build a body of work that "fits" the region before you start reaching out.

Of course, it never hurts to ask what sells. Some artists are willing to consciously paint what sells, while others resist doing so. That's your call. Do your homework, because the area you select has to be successful to become part of your regional strategy. Go online and study as if you are a tourist about to visit; a Google Images search will help you understand the area. (I don't recommend painting the images you find on Google or those belonging to others; that's a copyright violation.) Your best bet is to visit, and paint the area so you can represent the true feel of the place that you can't get from a photograph. And you may want to do multiple visits so you have the snow, the leaves, the summer lakes, etc. I typically don't buy local winter paintings when I'm visiting in summer, though some do.

Your Plan
Every artist needs a marketing plan, even if it's simple. This is a great exercise because you need to determine how many paintings you need to sell in a year to meet your goals, and you'll be breaking things out month by month anyway. A seasonal strategy will help you focus on this process.

Following a seasonal plan will increase your success in every month of the year if you do it right. It won't happen overnight. You need to plant seeds, do your proper marketing, and work each market. Things don't just happen, you have to make them happen. But if you follow this plan, you'll eventually have income every month you need it. Happy painting!

 

Turn Dreams Into Art Sales

My fourth-grade teacher at Harrison Hill Elementary, Mrs. Burkett, accused me of being a daydreamer -- as if that were a bad thing. I grew up with teachers trying to get me to focus and pay attention while I was off in some different reality. Thankfully, they didn't put me on Ritalin or some numbing compound to keep me in line. Though I appreciate the need for students to stay focused, I believe our dreams are what drive our actions.

Case in point: Ten years ago, I was daydreaming about plein air painting, which was fairly new to me. It seemed like there were a lot of people doing it, yet there was no sense of community, no focal point. My vision was to create such a focal point, one that could capture, reflect, and encourage the movement. Of course, everyone I spoke to told me I should focus my attention on something more productive.
 
Action Note: That is always a clue. If people think your dream is silly, you're on to something!

I persisted, starting a magazine called PleinAir. When I announced it, everyone told me every mistake I was making and explained why it would fail. Even people in my own company thought it was a bad idea. I persisted, because I believed in it. The same happened with Fine Art Connoisseur, and with the PleinAir Salon, when I said I wanted to give away $20,000, and with the Publisher's Invitational, when I said I was going to create an event for painters to just play and paint.

Action Note: You must believe strongly in something and take it full speed ahead in spite of discouragement from others. Your belief and vision is something others don't have.

When I decided to launch the Plein Air Convention, I had this daydream of an event where artists from all over the world could gather and paint together, break a world's record for the most plein air painters painting in one place, and bring in the finest artists in the world as instructors to help all the painters improve. I met with extreme resistance, naysayers, and continual roadblocks, yet by persisting, we accomplished the goal and created a world-class event. We're holding the second one next week.

This year, when I wanted to double the number of instructors (we have 70-plus), add an extra day, add a plein air beginners' course and add a meeting called the Umbrella Group to grow plein air overall, I again met with resistance. But what I have learned is that I have to stretch and always try to top myself. So I announced them.

Action Note:  If you believe in something, make a public commitment to it so you are forced to make it happen. Be willing to put your credibility on the line for what you believe.

Marketing and selling art starts with ideas. I believe one of the problems in the art world today stems from the lack of new ideas, and too many people clinging to the old ways. If you want to win big, then you should dream big. Don't let the old standards, the "way things have always been done," become a damper on your success. Reinvent with new ideas, then follow them with vigor and conviction. You will succeed.

A few weeks ago, a painter friend was seeking a way to sell a lot of paintings fast. When he saw retirement announcements for a bunch of executives from a big corporation in his town, he had an idea. He called the CEO and suggested the best retirement gift he could give was a painting of the area from a local painter, knowing the retired executives would look at that painting fondly every day for the rest of their lives and take it wherever they might go. When this artist asked his friends about the idea before calling the CEO, they told him all the reasons it would fail. But he made the call anyway and sold seven commissions, with more to come.

Throughout my career in radio broadcasting, publishing, marketing, and art, I have encountered resistance to every good idea. Though I have had failures, failure is nothing more than a stepping stone to growth. If I had stopped dreaming because of a failure, I would have missed doing my little part to change the world. Don't let anything get in the way of your dreams and ideas, and when you fail, stand up with pride, dust yourself off, and get back in the game.

Dreams develop ideas. Ideas make dreams come true. Be a dreamer, use ideas to sell artwork, and you'll set the world on fire.


Eric Rhoads

PS: I'll be doing my Marketing Boot Camp II, the next edition of my Marketing Boot Camp, LIVE at the Plein Air Convention. Everyone attending the convention gets to attend Boot Camp for free. This year I'm focused on the next level: one day on branding and its importance to artists, one day on social networking and selling via the Web, and one day on how to get into art galleries and grow your business. Last year people kindly told me the marketing sessions alone were worth the price of the entire convention. One painter I know has had a booming year because she followed the program I suggested. If you cannot attend, you can at least see last year's sessions on DVD.

P.S. I also have a blog for art galleries.

           

My Dark Secrets

Raise your hand if you’ve already broken your New Year’s resolutions. Or are you one of the people whose resolution was to not make any more resolutions? If you’re an artist who sells your artwork, I believe it’s important that you have a series of New Year’s resolutions so you can have a stellar year. If you want to live your dreams, sell more artwork, and become a known brand among collectors, it probably won’t happen by chance. Maybe lightning will strike and suddenly your world will change for the better, but if you’re a klutz like me ... well, if I don’t have a plan, I’ll wake up a year from now wondering why my business was so awful. Time to Share My Secrets I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you my dark secret. It’s been well kept until now. But the people I live with, the people I work with, all know it to be true. In the interest of coming clean for the new year, it’s time for me to reveal some things you probably don’t know about me. I’m a serious procrastinator. I’m attracted by shiny objects and easily lose focus. I’m seriously disorganized. I’d rather be painting than working. I forget to do things I’m supposed to do. I’m terrible with money. I used to be painfully shy. There, now you know. How, then, is it that I have been running a fairly successful business for over 25 years? How is it that my company profits grew 300 percent last year? How is it that I’ve managed to come up with at least one new company or enterprise each year for the past several years? How is it that I can stand in front of thousands of people in speaking engagements? I start by recognizing my weaknesses, acknowledging that I need to change them, and creating an action plan to address them. I make progress every year. I realized that if I told myself I couldn’t change and couldn’t grow, I would never amount to anything. The only reason I’m not sequestered in some dark studio all day is because I learned how to grow. A New New Year’s I’d like to invite you to hold a second New Year’s Eve celebration at midnight on January 31, and make a new set of resolutions to overcome whatever is blocking your success, to change all the things you want to change. I’d also encourage you to build a plan. In my Art Marketing Boot Camp™, I walk you through how to design your life, how to build a plan, how to know what you really want to do for the rest of your life. The reason I do this is because someone did it for me, and as a result, I built a blueprint for my life. Though it may seem silly to you, I believe that having your plan committed to writing, reading it frequently (daily if possible), and holding yourself accountable is the only way to grow. Problems Still Plague Me I have overcome my personal weaknesses because I have a plan and because that plan has been followed. Don’t think for a second those problems don’t still plague me. They do. But my plan has helped me figure out solutions. Are You 100% Happy With Your Life? Really? In an ideal world, you could dramatically alter the course of your life just by making and building a plan. You’d start by building a one-year plan. That plan would align your dreams with your goals, and deeply design what you would like your life to look like, even if it’s not possible in your mind. Can you do it? Yes. Will you do it? Probably not. The majority of people wish they could do something to change their lives, but they lack the courage. They believe they’ve been dealt certain cards and nothing can change them, but that is a lie. Anyone can change if they work at it. Though no one is 100% happy with every element of their life, my goal is to get you to that dream you’ve always wanted, that change you’ve always known you needed to make. If it can work for me, it can work for anybody. A Well-Designed Life By now you could be 1/12th of the way through your annual plan. You could be selling more art than you ever dreamed — and it’s still possible by following my plan. But it starts with a well-designed life, by knowing exactly what you want out of life. I can help you design it. Huffing and Puffing on the Treadmill Yesterday I ran into one of the dads I know from Boy Scouts. He was telling me how unhappy he is in his job, how he has dreams of starting up a new business and escaping his tyrant boss, how he dreams of getting a farm to raise his kids. I stopped him and asked, “What is your plan?” His answer was, “I’m stuck. I have no plan. I don’t really believe I can do it, and I can’t leave my job because we need the income.” Though this man is not an artist I asked him to follow me to my car and gave him a DVD of my Art Marketing Boot Camp™. I told him to watch the part about developing a life plan, something I spent a lot of time discussing. I’m convinced it will help him if he watches it and takes action. (I don’t carry these around in my car, I just happened to have one because I’d spoken on marketing for the Austin Pastel Society the night before. Please don’t break into my car.) Hundreds of people are making changes in their lives after viewing my Art Marketing Boot Camp™ DVD or attending the sessions I conducted at the Plein Air Convention. Not Just for Artists You don’t need to be an artist planning to market your work to benefit from the life planning section. Maybe you just want a better life, want to change your circumstances. Just that section alone will help you get there. It’s powerful stuff, and not the typical mindless goal-setting stuff we’ve all heard for decades. One man who attended my session with his wife contacted me and told me what he’d learned was making a huge difference in his life because he applied it at his job. One of Many Smiles “Having seen the advertisements for Art Marketing Boot Camp™, I hesitated because of the price. $147? Seriously? My conclusion after one week? Worth every penny! I am a painter who had success — one-man shows in Paris, London and New York — but whose career took a dive about six years ago. I bought this DVD and am implementing the steps recommended and am convinced this will rebuild my career.” — Susan Tantlinger, Artist Investment in Personal Development In his book The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, author John Maxwell talks about not being able to afford an audiocassette series he wanted to buy that was designed to help people change their lives. He had a baby on the way and a low-paying job, and the idea of spending the money was tough. But he decided he needed to do it, saved the money, and took the plunge, and now he says it was the one thing that put him on the road to success. He has gone on to speak to millions of people, write over 100 books, and build a highly successful business. A plan worked for him. My goal is to help put you on the right road. Skip One Dinner Out I’ve spent my entire career developing systems that worked for me. Though I’ve got a to-do list a mile long built into my personal growth plan, I feel I’ve made great progress so far, and it’s all because I’ve changed my personal behavior, finding ways to compensate for my weaknesses, and because I have a plan. What plan do you have? Are you willing to invest the cost of a nice dinner out and a few hours of your time to change your life? Success Guaranteed I’d like to invite you to watch my Art Marketing Boot Camp™ DVD. If you want to plan your life, you’ll find it invaluable. If you’re an artist, a photographer, a craftsperson who wants to sell more of your art, there are decades of marketing experience built into this DVD, too. I poured my heart out, explaining most of the things I’ve learned over decades of marketing and brand-building. If you follow these techniques, you will see a dramatic increase in your business. I have evidence of artists doubling and even tripling their art sales, even in this economy. You have my guarantee that if you follow all of my advice and you don’t double your art sales, I will refund the price of the DVD. Don’t let another month of the new year pass by before you begin your plan for success. Eric Rhoads P.S. When I started out, all this marketing stuff was foreign to me, and, frankly, it was overwhelming. It's not unusual to feel uncomfortable or uncertain about it. But I have confidence that you can accomplish your dreams. Sometimes it just takes somebody to show you a new way of doing things. Will it be easy? No. Will it be fun? Maybe. Will you realize your dreams? Absolutely. By following my program, even a fraction of it, you should see big increases in how much art you're selling. Most people won't be willing to invest in themselves, and those people will probably remain stuck. Yet the people who are tired of not having the freedom to quit their job and do art full-time, or those who just want to sell more art, will take a leap of faith and reap the rewards. You'll not regret it, and, as I said, I have a success guarantee. Oh, by the way, I love the iPad so much that I'm giving away five iPad minis. You should register to win. To order, 561-655-8778 www.streamlineartvideo.com

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The Role of Balance for an Artist

I'm passionate about painting. Even though I struggle to grow as a painter, any time I spend behind the easel is a pleasure to me. Most painters I know would rather paint than do anything else. But is there something else you should be doing? If you're an artist who seeks to sell your paintings, you must find a way to balance your life to accomplish goals other than producing artwork. (Unless you have an agent or a business manager, of course.) This requires balance.

Slamming Into A Tree

In The Road Less Traveled, author Scott Peck talks about riding his bike down a hill. He was invigorated by the thrill of the ride as his speed increased. But he failed to anticipate the consequences of not riding the brake until he got to the bottom of the hill, and crashed into a tree. Peck says that, because he was seduced by the pleasure of the speed, he forgot to be practical and prevent an accident. He goes on to write about the danger of putting all of our focus on the fun parts of our lives while neglecting the practicalities. If we put all the pleasure up front, we may suffer the consequences of being out of balance.

Creative people tend to focus on the pleasure and avoid the pain of reality. As an artist, focusing on pleasure is acceptable -- as long as there is no need to sell your artwork. However, few people are in that position. Most of us need the balance of discipline.

Why Plans Matter

In my marketing sessions at our Plein Air Convention last year, I talked about the importance of developing a life plan, with personal and financial goals, and creating a marketing plan to achieve those goals.

As a creative type, you may not be a planner or naturally disciplined, and, if you're like me, you'll procrastinate on matters that require planning. Yet if you have and follow a plan, you'll be further ahead. If you create a plan and plug it into your calendar, all you have to do is check your calendar each day and make sure the part of your plan for that day is implemented. It's not rocket science.

Now is the time you should be building your plan for 2013. If you do it before the new year starts, you will increase the likelihood that you'll achieve your goals. I like to use holiday time off to develop my personal plan, evaluate my goals, and decide on specific actions.

Start With Your Needs

What should be in your plan? Start with a financial goal for the coming year, based on your needs, and then your wants. Then determine the number of paintings you'll have to sell to meet your goals. You'll then need a plan on how to sell those paintings -- and that is your marketing plan.

Field of Dreams

Unlike the movie Field of Dreams, it's rare that "If you build it, they will come." A warehouse full of unsold paintings may give you pleasure, but it won't pay the bills or help you get to the next level of your career. A plan will get you there. Artists with a plan are usually the artists selling the most paintings. A plan is your road map to success.

The Weight Is Lifted

If you can find the discipline to create and follow a life plan, you'll have a huge weight lifted from your shoulders. Though the idea of doing something so businesslike may seem a little overwhelming, you'll find that having a plan is freeing and empowers you to succeed, more than almost anything you could do.

Big Things Will Happen

I've personally watched my own success blossom from having a plan. I've coached many friends and have helped them sell more artwork than they ever imagined they could. It all boils down to a plan. I encourage you to start working on your 2013 plans now.

PS: My goal is to leave this earth having made the art world a better place. Part of my plan for that is to help you understand the key essentials of building a legacy and a successful career, based on your own definition of success. If you're not exactly where you want to be, it's important to ask yourself whether you're repeating unproductive behavior. If your work isn't selling, you should ask yourself if there's more you could be doing. Don't blame the economy. Plenty of artists are selling in spite of the economy.

I hope you'll consider my new Art Marketing Boot Camp DVD an investment in your career. It has an in-depth session on building a life plan and a marketing plan, plus hundreds of ideas to help you sell more artwork. It's already changed the lives of many artists who are following their plans and starting to reap the rewards. This would be a great Christmas present for any artist who wants to grow to the next level, or a gift to yourself to enhance your own career. http://streamlineartvideo.com/titles/rhoads/ Please don't reply to this e-mail; responses do not go to Eric Rhoads. To comment, please visit the Artist Marketing Blog at http://ericrhoads.blogs.com/artist_marketing/, or contact Eric Rhoads directly at [email protected]. Streamline Publishing Inc. | 1901 S. Congress Ave. | Ste. 118 | Boynton Beach | FL | 33426 To unsubscribe: http://ims-go.com/update.asp?IAM={LISTENER ID}&MID=222128&VID=0

Double Art Sales In A Recession

Perhaps it was the full moon and the light shining in the window, but I was up almost all night, stressing over the seminar I was to do the following morning. I remember thinking to myself, "This better be good, Eric. These people need a miracle. You'd better give that to them." Our demons come out in the middle of the night, and my self-talk was telling me I hadn't done enough to prepare to save all these artists.

Even though I've been in marketing my whole life, and though I've written an art marketing blog for years and consulted hundreds of advertisers with successful marketing campaigns, I wanted everything to be perfect. I kept going over my presentation in my head as I tossed and turned. Finally, just as I fell asleep, the alarm blasted me out of bed and I dragged myself down to what I thought would be an almost-empty ballroom.

You Could Hear A Pin Drop
The room went dead silent when I asked how many people had sold 50 or 75 percent fewer paintings each year since the recession started. But most of the artists in the room sheepishly raised a hand. I remember thinking, "This is worse than I ever imagined it would be."
 
Few people were eager to admit they weren't selling many paintings -- but then again, that's why they were attending my first live Art Marketing Boot Camp, held every morning at 6 o'clock, before the start of each day of our Plein Air Convention last April. I was expecting no more than 30 people would be willing to get up at that early hour to learn about marketing, so I was blown away when almost 500 people attended at 6 each morning. It really reinforced how important marketing was to every artist in the room.
 
"Raise your hand if you doubled your art sales in the past 12 months," I said. One hand went up.
 
"Raise your hand if you tripled your art sales in the past 12 months." The same hand stayed up.
 
Almost Embarrassed
Then I asked, "How many people in the room are having the best year of art sales in their career?" One hand was raised. I could tell that artist was almost embarrassed because his was the only hand raised. It was the same man who had just raised his hand to say he had doubled, then tripled his sales. I knew him well because I had coached him two years before. He was having the best year for art sales in his 25-year career as a professional artist.
 
Not An Icon You'd Expect
I know what you're thinking. No, it wasn't a household name like Richard Schmid. The man who raised his hand was someone almost no one in the room knew of. He is a very accomplished artist -- but he claimed to be outselling almost everyone in the room. How could this be?
 
A Story All Artists Can Relate To
I went on to tell this man's story onstage. (He has asked I not use his name in this e-mail, but those of you who attended heard me mention his name.) The recession had hit hard, and he came to me as a friend and said, "Eric, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. My sales have dropped and I haven't sold a painting in months. My wife is retiring, and we won't have her income as a backup. What can I do?"
 
It was a story I knew all too well. Most of the artists I knew were going through it. Many had had to return to jobs they hated and give up the life of an artist. Their dream was lost, and returning to their previous employment was a nightmare. I didn't want this to happen to my friend, so I said this:
 
"I know a lot of people going through this. I've told them what they need to do, and every one of them has given me reasons why they were unwilling to do it. I'll tell you, but you have to be willing to change everything about the way you're doing business."
 
Sadly, after I told him, his immediate response was, "I can't do that. It's just not the way we do things as artists."
 
What I had recommended was not illegal, or immoral, it was just bucking the current system. I told him that the old way of doing things would never return, and that if he changed his behavior, he would sell more artwork than he ever had in his career. I could tell he didn't like it and wasn't going to do it. It made me sad.
 
A Wonderful Surprise
A few weeks later I saw my buddy, and he said, "I followed your advice. I started thinking about it and decided that I had nothing to lose. I'm already seeing more business." What a wonderful surprise -- he was willing to reinvent himself and take a chance on doing things differently.
 
A few months later he was smiling and had a spring in his step, and he told me he was having the best year of his career. That's right, the best in his entire 25-year career as a painter. I was thrilled, and when I saw him that morning at the convention, he had just completed two of his best years ever.
 
I told his story onstage, and I offered some of the solutions I had shared with my friend. Groans came from the audience. "We can't do that" said one man. I reiterated that things have changed, and that unless you change, you cannot expect to sell as much art.
 
What about you? Are you willing to change?

Think for a moment about your own life. Think how much has changed in the way you communicate, the way you shop, the way you do business. Everything has changed. Why not change the way you sell art?
 
No longer can you put it out there and take a chance that it will sell. You can't just hope people will wander into the gallery and buy it. You have to become a marketing machine. That's exactly what I explained in detail at the Plein Air Convention. I gave chapter and verse on the solutions and strategy of my best marketing advice.
 
Would They Return On Days Two And Three?
 At the end of the morning, I could tell the audience was enthusiastic and willing to embrace change, but the real test would be if they showed up on the second and third mornings. As it turned out, the room was packed on both mornings, and, in fact, the audience grew as word got out. I was relieved that the artists were getting something out of what I head to tell them.
 
The 1 Percent
I challenged the audience: I told them that of the 500 people in the room, only 10 percent would return home and build the plan I suggested. Only 1 percent of the people in the room would stick with it and take action. I challenged them not to be one of those who did not take action.

Of course, I have no way of knowing who did and who did not, other than one woman who contacted me about three weeks ago and told me she has implemented many of the things I suggested and has already seen a dramatic increase in sales. I was smiling from ear to ear.
 
What About Your Career?
Do you want to sell more art? Do you believe you're open to trying new things? Are you willing to become a true marketer and follow a plan that will increase your art sales? I honestly believe that you can and will double your art sales in one year or less if you follow my plan.

Is it easy? Nope. Is it fun? Nope. Is it necessary? Yep. Especially if you want to thrive as an artist and sell more artwork than you ever thought possible. Expecting the good old days to return is a sure-fire way to stop selling artwork. Is it worse to try something new, or to go back to a life at a job you hate?
 
I Don't Make My Living By Teaching Marketing
For years I've been blogging about art marketing to help my friends, but I don't make my living by teaching art marketing. I'm an entrepreneur who builds businesses with my marketing skills. I've built and sold businesses, and I've generated a great living for my family from these skills. What I'm going to teach you isn't some slick system. I'm not an art marketing guru, I'm just a guy who had to learn marketing in order to build my business. Though people have begged me to write a book, I just don't have the time.

But I did agree to do the Art Marketing Boot Camp at the convention. It took me about three weeks of preparation for three mornings of teaching. It took a lot out of me, but it makes it all worthwhile when I hear that it's working. And I believe it can work for you.
 
My Big Face On Those Big Screens
During the Art Marketing Boot Camp, our video guy followed my every move so he could project my image on the big screen for that big audience. I asked him to record it for me, and I told the people in the audience I'd make the video available for sale in case they wanted to remember all the points they couldn't write down. (Everyone was writing so fast they probably missed half of everything I said.)  

In fact, I tried to cram so much information into three mornings that I couldn't present it all. On morning three, I ran out of time onstage and still had a lot of important things I wanted to cover, so I told the audience I would go into the studio and record more video, adding the material I hadn't covered live.

Double Your Business: Just Hit Play
We're now shipping the Art Marketing Boot Camp DVD -- again, most was recorded live at the Plein Air Convention, and the rest was added later in the TV studio.  I feel like the DVD is the complete course you need to double your sales in one year.

Can you do it? It depends entirely on how deeply you're willing to invest in your career as an artist.
-       Will you put in the time to watch these sessions?
-       Will you complete the exercises in the DVD to help you bring clarity to your career?
-       Will you follow all the little tips and techniques I suggest that will separate you from the pack?
-       Will you devote time to the marketing part of your career?
 
I cannot and will not promise that you'll double your sales in one year. Yet the average person who follows just some of my advice will see their art sales grow. You'll pay for the DVD many times over just by following a few of the basics. But if you're motivated and disciplined, you'll set the world on fire and could become one of the most well-known and best-selling artists in America. Marketing is the backbone of survival as an artist. Are you up to the task?
 
Recession Techniques
No one knows what will happen in this economy, but if you follow my recession strategies, you will sell more artwork while others simply lick their wounds and complain about how bad things are. These techniques worked during the Great Depression, and they work today.
 
If I Were You….
I'm a bit of a risk taker, kind of a cowboy. I shoot from the hip most of the time. Yet when actually discipline myself to sit and create a plan, and follow my plan, as simple as it may be, I see huge success. I did that last year, and this year I'm reaping the rewards of a business that is soaring in the midst of an economic downturn. All because I practice what I teach.

If I were you, I'd grab this DVD as fast as possible, watch it a couple of times, create a plan to start this fall, and follow my suggested techniques, so that 2013 is the best year in your history as an artist. It is absolutely possible. Yes, you may have to skip going out to a nice meal with the family for one night to pay for the DVD, but it will change the way you think and can turn you into a marketing machine. Even a few small ideas implemented will improve your art career.
 
A Happy Artist
I just got this on Facebook from artist David Terry, an American living in New Zealand: "I got Eric's video Tuesday. I have seen it four times! It is one of the finest teaching materials I've ever encountered. Good work!"
 
The Proud Papa
It was a pretty cool feeling to open the mail and see my first marketing DVD with my face on it. I'm really proud of the quality and the amount of information in this DVD program. There is one little tip I mention on the DVD to harvest new art buyers -- I didn't have time to go into it at the live seminar, but just doing that one thing will make your sales go up.
 
If you order the DVD and call me and tell me you followed my advice and did not see enough of an increase in your art sales, I'll refund the price of the DVD. I want this to work for you. But first you have to order it. We're shipping now.
 
To order, visit www.streamlineartvideo.com, or phone 561-655-8778 weekdays during normal business hours.
 
I'd be truly honored if you would phone me and tell me if this DVD full of ideas made a difference in your career. I'm convinced it will.
 
Yours truly,
 
Eric Rhoads
 

PS: My dad always used to say to me that a great education is a bargain at any price. I once attended an event that transformed my entire career. I'd reluctantly paid thousands of dollars to attend, and it has paid for itself over and over and over, for decades. I make a point of continually learning new things and educating myself. If I'm not growing, I'm going backwards. I've had numerous people tell me those three mornings of Art Marketing Boot Camp transformed their lives as artists. Nothing could make me happier.
 
What about you? Will you allow me to help you sell more artwork and double your sales each year for the coming years? I want you to sell more artwork; I don't want you to have to take a job you hate because you're not selling enough art. I hope you'll make a decision to master marketing your own art. I'd be honored if you'll consider my Art Marketing Boot Camp DVD. If you can't do it now, it would make a great Christmas gift.

The Power Of Community

Should You Donate Paintings to Charity Events?
            

A gazillion years ago, when I was a puppy dog DJ learning the ropes in  the radio business, a wise mentor once told me, "Eric, the cornerstone  of success is found by playing an active role in the community. The  greatest radio stations are those that are the most involved." At the  time, it seemed like lame advice. How could that be the  cornerstone of success? Yet his words echoed in my head, and as my  career moved forward and my brain started to mature, I realized the  power of his words. And his advice has served me well.
            
            Just yesterday an artist was whining to me on the telephone. "Everyone keeps asking me to do charity events," he said. "I'd be  better off just sending a check -- at least I can write that off. I  can't write off donated paintings. I've decided these events are a  complete waste of time."
            
            When someone asks me to donate a painting, I ask myself these important questions:
            
1. Is this cause something I care enough about to donate my efforts?
For me, it doesn't have to be a charity I'm  passionate about, but I won't donate to just anything. I don't want my  energy to go toward something contrary to my beliefs.
            
2. What will be the benefit to my career?
Though this sounds selfish, it's also practical.  Will I just blend in, or will I stand out? If my painting is one of a  hundred others in a silent auction and I'm not highlighted or  acknowledged, then I'm less likely to do it. If there's a strong chance  I'll receive little or no publicity, I'll often avoid it. If, on the  other hand, I can be the star attraction and know I'll be asked to say a few words or someone will talk about me and my artwork on stage, or if  there's a chance of local publicity, I'll usually do the event. I also  want to be part of photo opportunities with the painting when possible.

3. Who is attending?
No, I'm not being a snob. If, however, the majority of people attending are unlikely to ever buy a painting or are unable  to afford art, then it might not be worth my time to participate. Think  of your donation as an expenditure on advertising. You wouldn't  advertise to people who don't or who cannot buy art. The desired effect  is for those in attendance to say, "That was a great painting. I'd like  to own one of his works." Your donation can plant that seed.

4. Can I get a list?
Always ask if you can get the list of those who  attended (or, better yet, the invitation list) in exchange for your  donation, since you can't deduct art donations. Some events will give  the list if you tell them exactly how you intend to use it. I usually  say, "I'll send them a letter or card, pre-approved by you, thanking  them for attending the event and telling them that if they enjoyed my  artwork, here's how they can find my website or sign up for my e-mail  updates." If the event organizers won't give you a list, ask if they  would mind if you put a bowl out for a drawing to win a painting. That's a smart way to gather names.

5. Can I get my materials distributed?
I usually ask if it would be appropriate to put my  brochures out next to the display of my painting. Can't hurt to get your postcard into their pockets.

6. Will the exposure build frequency?
In my Art Marketing Boot Camp™, I stress the  critical importance of repetition. The more frequency you have, the more people get to know your brand. If the VIPs of your community see you at every major fundraiser and you're the featured artist, your importance  is elevated and your brand is reinforced. If you can make it appear that owning your artwork is important, that reinforcement will help create  interest.

7. Will it build my local brand?
There is an old adage that the farther away a  consultant is from the client, the higher the consultant's price. The  same is somewhat true for an artist. A collector in Indianapolis  probably thinks a painting they buy from a Chicago gallery is better. A  Chicago collector probably thinks a painting from a New York gallery is  better. A New York collector may think a painting from Amsterdam or  Paris is better. So sometimes being local does have a downside. But  there's always room for one or two local icons. Becoming known as that  iconic local painter is a great way to sell a lot of artwork in your  area.

            There are dozens of things you can do to build your  visibility in the local community -- being involved in boards, working  at events, and just pitching in at every opportunity will show people  you care. It will also help you know the movers and shakers who are  often your potential customers. Though your first intent should be  community involvement because you want to help, there are always side  benefits that can be good for your business.
            
            As you may or may not know, I've spent much of my career in  the radio broadcasting business, and my involvement in creating change -- sitting on boards, helping raise money, and doing things for the  community -- has helped my business as well, and given me a great deal  of personal satisfaction from knowing I've made a difference. The same  has been true in the art world, where I've made a point of contributing  my time and trying to create things to make the art world better for  everyone involved.
            
            No one says, "I wish I'd worked harder and made more money"  on their deathbed. Though community involvement is good for business, it also affords you the chance to look back and see that you've made a  difference in the lives of others. It took me a long time to understand  that community is the cornerstone of success -- with success defined as a life of generosity to those around you.

            Eric Rhoads

PS: Ever heard the expression "The squeaky wheel gets the grease"? After  writing these art marketing thoughts for a few years, I've had people  ask me for a book or a seminar, and I responded that I simply didn't  have the time because I have a business to run. But the squeaking  continued, and I decided to spend several weeks preparing an Art  Marketing Boot Camp™, which I presented for about 4 and 1/2 hours during last year's Plein Air Convention. We videotaped all those marketing  sessions, but I ran out of time, so I went into the studio and we  videotaped the rest of the material I couldn't get to onstage. Though  that video isn't available, you can sign up to receive a notification  when it is released in just a few weeks. Just visit www.streamlineartvideo.com.

 

My Joy Ride Without A Driver's License

My parents are about to learn something about me they never knew. And I pray my children never read what I'm about to tell you. When I was 14, my parents went away on a business trip and I was left in the care of my older brothers, who pretty much left me on my own. One night my buddies and I were hanging out at our house at 5311 Indiana Avenue in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and I found the keys to my mom's turquoise 1965 Mustang. My dad had delivered it for Christmas with a giant red bow. Egged on by friends, I decided to take a drive. So the five of us piled in, and we spent the next three hours driving all around the area, mostly on back roads so we wouldn't get caught. We returned home safely, and no one ever knew, until today. I shudder at the thought of the danger of driving without any driving experience, a license, or driver's ed. Frankly, we're all lucky to be alive. Today, as I put the final touches on my Marketing Boot Camp, which I'm presenting at our upcoming Plein Air Convention, I've been focusing on the importance of "driver's education" in marketing. Like me as a young teen behind the wheel of a very cool car, you'll have expectations that you may not be qualified to manage. Though you will want instant results, the reality is that success as a marketer cannot occur unless you have built a solid foundation. Marketing is like gardening. If you plant and water seeds in hard clay, nothing will grow. Yet if you till the soil and mix in some topsoil and nutrients, your garden will flourish. Day one of my Marketing Boot Camp is the most essential. It will give you the drivers' education you need before you start driving in traffic at high speeds. Marketing without a foundation will be met with disaster. Though it's not life and death, most marketers waste most of their money and blow their chances of success because their foundation is not solid. Your foundation is critical. To prepare your soil as a marketer, we need to dig deep into your cranium to flush out counterproductive behavior, to help you reach far into your soul to understand what is most important in your life, and to create a life plan. All marketing is rooted in these basics. It's the critical step most marketing training leaves behind -- but it's so important that it will determine most of your future success. Not just as a marketer, but success in life. How solid is your foundation? Do you know exactly where you are going? Do you know exactly how you will get there? Most marketing is all tactics -- running an ad or sending a press release. My plan is to use my tools to help you not only get in touch with the reasons behind your plan and give you crystal clarity, but to empower you with the tools to create a step-by-step life plan.  When you're an artist, your marketing plan is the fuel of a life well lived. The income from your painting sales is the fuel for your joy ride. Early Birds Truly Do Get The Worms Marketing Boot Camp was not initially planned for the Plein Air Convention. Frankly, all of our time is booked with demonstrations by some of the world's best painters and speakers. But one phone call changed all that, when someone begged me to speak on marketing at the conference because she and her friends found marketing to be their biggest challenge as artists. The only time we could find was the early morning slot when nothing else is planned.   Frankly, I have found that people who really want to learn will get up early to grab the worm. Marketing Boot Camp will be Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning before the conference begins. We start at 6:30 sharp. I'm not a marketing guru, I don't want to set giant high expectations. I do have some experience I'd like to share. Marketing is hard work. Most people are not willing to do it, but those who follow the program I lay out should be able to significantly improve their sales within one year. If they stick with it, they can sell more than they ever imagined possible. Eric Rhoads   PS: Those who stay out partying all night may not make it to the boot camp. I hope you do. I'd be honored to share what I know and hopefully make a difference in your art career. Because of the time required to prepare something like this, I would have to charge $2,500 to attend a five-hour seminar of this magnitude. We are allowing everyone who registers for the PleinAir Convention & Expo to come as part of your registration. If you're not yet registered, there are 26 seats left. Register online at www.pleinairconvention.com, or call 561-655-8778.

How Would Your Life Change If You Could Sell More Artwork?

 Most of the painters I know want to sell more artwork. They tell me how their lives would change if they could simply double or triple the amount of art they are selling today. For some people, more income buys freedom, the ability to quit a job they would rather not be doing so they can paint full-time. For others, more money would eliminate the pressure of trying to make ends meet. For still others, it might buy them travel, or comfort, or retirement, or the ability to own something they never thought they could own.

It's Not About Money Alone

I don't know very many painters who do it for the money alone. Most would paint even if they didn't get paid to do so. Of course, if art is their means of making a living, selling paintings is a necessity. Yet most of the painters I know are barely getting by on the sale of their artwork. Most have been struggling to survive since the economy crashed in 2008. What about you? What would change in your life if your sales were thriving? What if you could double, or triple, your sales in each of the next couple of years? What if you could watch your art sales skyrocket? What if money was the least of your worries?

Stop. Close your eyes for just a moment.

Ask yourself: How would my life change if I could gain financial freedom as a painter? I want you to imagine what you would do differently.

Eyes closed.

Now ask yourself this important question. Do I honestly believe I can continue doing what I've been doing and dramatically improve my art sales?

Einstein called it the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. What are you going to change about your behavior to fix your art sales problem?

Stop Blaming the Economy

Yes, the economy crashed and loads of galleries went under and many artists are not selling. So it's easy to blame the economy. Yet I know many artists and galleries that are thriving. Most made up their minds that the bad economy was not going to hamper their success. Though they have to work harder and smarter, a successful attitude has made them believe there is a way to succeed. What is your attitude? What do you believe? If you believe the economy is your problem and everything will be OK when it improves, what if the economy does not improve for 10 more years? Are you willing to wait it out? Or should you make up your mind to succeed no matter what?

Harsh Reality

There are a few exceptions, but in most cases the most financially successful artists are the artists who are best at marketing. Some are natural marketers who do it without knowing it, but most are intentional marketers. There are brilliant artists who have never sold a painting, and there are sub-standard painters who have become wealthy. Imagine what can be done with your career if we can turn you into a great marketer. Great marketing is like gardening. You need to prepare the soil, plant seeds, provide the right amount of water and sunlight, weed the soil, and harvest at the right time. Some people are brilliant gardeners. My intent is to make you a brilliant marketer.

A Passion to Help Artists

As you know, I've been writing about art marketing for years, and I've helped many artists grow their sales dramatically. One artist I helped has had the best years of sales in his 25-year career as an artist. And did I mention that there was a recession going on? It's very rewarding when I can offer ideas and watch the lives of artists and galleries be transformed. But this artist had to shed his old ways of thinking and adopt new ideas. A Lifetime of Marketing Lots of people teach art marketing, and many of them are very good. I'm not an art-marketing expert. I'm just a entrepreneur who has started many successful businesses, helped hundreds of others grow their businesses, and seen lives transformed by ideas. I apply my knowledge as an experienced marketer to art. I own my own business. My marketing has to work, or I don't eat. It's my goal to teach you no-fluff, get-down-to- business marketing because I know you too have to make it work.

A Rare Opportunity

During the upcoming Plein Air Convention (April 12-15), I've decided to do three "early-bird" sessions for those who really want to get the worm ... and master marketing. We will have almost five hours of training, the longest marketing seminars I've conducted to date. If you listen, take great notes, and take action when you get home, I believe you'll double your art sales in one year. I'm not charging extra for these three sessions. They are available to anyone who registers for the convention.

Spellbinding

Recently I did a one-hour marketing session in San Francisco for the California Art Club. One artist came up to me afterward and said, "This was spellbinding. I'm going to come to the convention just so I can attend your Marketing Boot Camp." I was honored that I was able to help the people who were present. I'd like to do the same for you.

Three Critical Elements

There are three things you need to consider if you're not happy with the way things are going in your art career.

1. Am I motivated enough to get out of my comfort zone?

2. Am I motivated enough to try something new?

3. Am I motivated enough to invest in success?

Bottom line is that change requires discomfort. When you go to the gym, you don't build strong muscles unless you strain them. It requires hard work. Muscles have to be torn down to be rebuilt. The same is true with the muscle in your head. If you want change, it requires discomfort, strain, and intentional effort.

The Hardest Step Is the First Step

If you come to my Marketing Boot Camp willing to change, willing to work at it, willing to take action based on what you learn, you will dramatically alter your future. I know of several people who consider the convention ticket worth the price just for three mornings of Marketing Boot Camp. I won't let you down. I have helped hundreds of artists, I've helped hundreds of businesses and brands, and I will help you transform your career. But it requires a first step. It requires admitting that you need to be a stronger marketer. It requires wanting it enough that you're willing to do what it takes. Will you take the first step?

Which Is Worse?

Is it worse to invest some money now for the chance of selling more art? Or is it worse to wait and hope that things will change? Maybe you're telling yourself, "In the future when I sell more paintings, I can afford to go." That is kind of like saying, "Maybe I should go to law school, but first I'll practice law so I can afford it."

Why the Big Guns Are Big

Why do the top brands in the world get bigger? Why are the top artists selling paintings for such high prices? Why do they continue to sell when others do not? They understand the basic principles of marketing and practice them religiously. You don't become a big gun and then start marketing, you market your way to success. I'll show you how. To sign up for Marketing Boot Camp, you need to sign up for the Plein Air Convention.

The current price is $795 (there are several clubs offering discounts that can save you considerably on registration. Look here). But as of March 31, the price goes up to $995. There are still seats available. We are starting Art Marketing Boot Camp at 6:30 a.m. on April 12. It's a pre-conference session each of the first three mornings for the early birds. You'll be surprised at how many people won't get up early to change the direction of their future sales.

Growth Mentality

On that day at the California Art Club, a well known artist came up to me and said, "Eric, as you know, I've been very fortunate in my career. I've achieved a fair amount of success, and I know a lot of that has been because of good marketing. I've learned more in one day about marketing than I have in my career, and I'll be attending your boot camp in Las Vegas at the convention because I know I can be better." Good marketers know they can be better marketers. I hope you'll consider attending. I'd be honored to get a call from you one day when you say, "Eric, I listened, I followed most of your advice, and today I'm living the dream I never before thought was possible." If I've done that, perhaps I've left the world a better place.

See you in Vegas.

Eric Rhoads

Branding Your Cow

The Importance of Branding in the Sale of Art


Moos of panic filled the dusty air as cowboys pressed the hot branding iron against the flesh of the cattle out West. This painful exercise, branding, served the purpose of marking ownership of the cow. But the mark on the cow was less important than the reputation of the rancher. For instance, cattle rustlers knew which farmers would overlook the loss of an occasional cow and which were so tough they would hang cattle thieves on sight. Rustlers would avoid stealing cattle with certain brands. The behavior of the rancher became the meaning of the brand.

If you're marketing art, you've probably heard a lot about branding, and you may be wondering how it relates to you. We know companies like Apple, Coke, and McDonald's have the most recognizable brands, but those brands also have meaning. For instance, the McDonald's brand means consistent quality and fast service.

Think about the meaning of each of these brands.

Harley-Davidson: Loud, thunderous mufflers, radical, non-conforming
Apple: Innovation
Louis Vuitton: Elegance
Walmart: Lowest prices
Target: Low prices with style

Smart marketers seek to define a brand and make everything they do a relentless reinforcement of that image. Once established, a brand never, ever changes.

If I were to ask art collectors for the names of the most successful artists who command the highest prices, I would hear the same names, over and over. Though there may be painters whose quality of work is equal to or better than those top names, they cannot command the same prices and see little demand for their artwork because their brands are not strong in the eyes of the collectors. I could also ask art collectors for the names of the most successful galleries in the world, and they would cite the same top galleries.

A Strong Brand = Goals Achieved
A strong, quality brand brings higher prices because the brand gives buyers confidence. I know a dealer who recently commanded a premium of about 40 percent for paintings he sold -- though collectors could buy equally good paintings, from the same artists, from other dealers for less money. The brand of this dealer is so strong that collectors feel more comfortable buying from him, knowing they won't get a fraud, knowing he will stand behind them, and knowing he always finds the best paintings.

Galleries with strong brands have worked tirelessly to make sure everything they do is a reinforcement of that brand. If the brand is about top price and top quality, you will never see that gallery running a sale. These owners invest in elaborate decor for their galleries and have elegant locations in the best neighborhoods, giving confidence to high-end art buyers.

Branding Is Either Controlled or Accidental
Think of your brand as the position you hold in the mind of the potential buyer. If you have a brand at all, either you have defined it intentionally or it has been created for you, unintentionally. If you show up drunk at openings and you look like a slob, that becomes the image others have of your brand. If you drive a Bentley and are a natty dresser, you're sending a signal of success.

But brand isn't just about appearance, it's about the whole of what you project over a long period of time. It's about the quality of your work, the frames you use, the people you're known to associate with, your politics, the pictures and opinions you post on Facebook, the look and design of your ads and brochures, and everything else seen by the public. Smart brands rarely broadcast their opinions about religion or politics because that's an automatic turn-off to a large portion of the buying public (though a few brands are all about being radical, irreverent, or political). Sometimes a brand position isn't about original art sales at all, but about other goals, like acceptance into major museums, selling prints, obtaining licensing deals, or just getting press.

Are You Walmart or Lexus?
One of the keys to brilliant success starts with defining what you want your brand to be and how you will project and reinforce it. What about you? Are you in control of your brand? Is every touchpoint a reinforcement of that brand? What is your brand? Does it accomplish what you need it to accomplish? Does it match the perceptions you need from the people you want as customers? Are you Walmart or Lexus? Each position is valuable, depending on whom you're targeting and the desired end result.

One of Three Brand Positions
Even if you've never stopped to think about your brand, you have one of three brand positions. You are either unknown and have no brand, or you have a brand you've intentionally created, or you have a brand that has been created for you by others.

Do you have a brand? Do you know how others perceive your brand? Is it accomplishing the desired result? If you have no brand yet, you have the potential to build one. If your brand isn't accomplishing your goals, you have the potential for re-branding.

Finding Brand Clarity
Branding is critical to the success of any business or product, including artists and art galleries, but branding is a tactic, based on a solid marketing strategy that is rooted in knowing your exact goals. Once you understand where you want to be and what you need to accomplish, the brand position you need to take will become clear.

For instance, if you need highly affluent people to buy your artwork, you need to determine a brand position you can own in their minds and develop a step-by-step process to build that position. (Branding is a long-term process; it takes lots of repetition over time.)

For some, it's too much effort to think about creating or managing a brand -- and as a result, their careers will go whichever way the wind is blowing. For others who have specific goals,  branding is a critical process that requires a branding plan.

What about you? Does everything you do reflect your brand? Your website, your ads, your business cards, your appearance, and your representatives? Can the people you are targeting reflect your position back to you, or does it exist only in your mind? Implementing a solid branding plan is one of the many critical keys to success as an artist. It's worth thinking about if you're not where you want to be.

Eric Rhoads

PS: I am frequently asked by artists if I'll be their agent or handle their marketing. Because of my insane life as an art publisher, I'm simply unable to help with those requests. But I have agreed to create a Marketing Boot Camp for three early mornings, for those attending our Plein Air Convention. My goal in the three 90-minute sessions is to arm you with the tools to take your career to the next level, so you can double your art sales within one year. We'll discuss the entire branding process in depth at that time. I hope to see you at the Plein Air Convention in April; of the 750 seats available, almost 50 percent are already sold.

When Advertising Is A Bad Idea

Ten Reasons Not To Advertise

My clients are often surprised when I tell them not to advertise. Since I own a few magazines, they assume selling them advertising is my only interest.

Not every client is ready to advertise, and others may not be a fit for certain magazines or websites, including my own. It depends entirely on their needs and goals.
 
No one would ever trust me or my people if the solutions we proposed always led back to our magazines. Here are 10 reasons you should not advertise.
 
Ten Reasons Not To Advertise
 
1. You Don't Know What You're Trying To Accomplish
Frequently a meeting with a gallery or artist will reveal that they need to improve their business, but they don't have a specific strategy. They often approach us about advertising with nothing more in mind than "I'm not sure of my goals, I just want to sell more." Though that's a starting point, it's never good to advertise until you have a deep, specific strategy. We can help you work on a strategy, but you must have that in place before you do anything else, or you may waste money and hurt your reputation.

2. You Don't Know Who You're Trying To Reach
It's hard to hit a target when you don't know what it is. It's important to understand where most of your existing customers come from and why they buy from you, so you can find more like them. Make sure you know what your customers care about. Many people simply say, "I don't know, I just need to sell more." The problem is that a broad, un-targeted approach will most likely not accomplish your goals -- that is, if you have goals.

3. You're Not Ready To Promote
I got a call last year from an advertiser in Artist Advocate who was concerned that she had not accomplished her goal of selling landscape paintings and getting a gallery to sign her. When I reviewed the website she included in her ad, it was all about commissioned portraiture. Nothing about landscapes. She had wrongly assumed people would look beyond her landing page to find her landscape work.

If you're going to point people to your business, you need to be fine-tuned and ready so they get what they expect when they visit your site or call your number. If the site is not what they expect, or if they get a voice message or a name other than the person or business they think they're calling, that is opportunity lost.

4. You Don't Have A Capture Strategy
What if your ads motivate people to call you or visit your website, and you don't have a plan in place to convert those people to sales? Have you refined your story? Stories are important. Is there someone designated to sell, like a spouse, an agent, a sales associate? Is your site tuned up for success? Do you have a plan to capture names and e-mails? Increased site visits are nice, but only if they convert people to sales.

5. You Don't Have A Branding Strategy
It's critical to understand branding: what you stand for (or against), what you want people to think of you, the image you're projecting, etc. Branding is building awareness and trust, and it doesn't happen overnight. While most people expect their ads to work instantly (and ads usually don't), they fail to understand that ads also help sell the brand. People will buy more once they trust you and your brand.
 
6. Inability To Maintain Repetition
Think of success as the top of a ladder, and each ad as a step toward success. Stepping up one rung won't get you to the top, and neither will one ad. Reputation is built by repetition: If you don't have the resources to repeat and repeat and repeat, it's best to save your money. There are exceptions, but they are rare. Advertising is a process, not a single event.

7. You Don't Have A Powerful Ad
Don't assume the art will stand on its own. Great ads work. Good ads and bad ads don't. Great ads get noticed, cut through the clutter, stand out, look different, relate to the audience, have strong headlines, and make people pay attention. Most ads are good ads, not great ads -- but the people who create them think they're great. Get a second opinion from an expert, and learn the language of effective ads.
 
8. You Don't Have The Right Audience
Bigger is not always better, but people usually think larger audiences are better than smaller ones. I always ask art galleries whether they would prefer a busload of schoolteachers or a single collector who arrives at the gallery driving a Bentley. If your ads reach 100,000 people but none of them can buy, you've wasted your money. But a small number of the right buyers from a smaller niche publication or website can often sell artwork. Don't get caught up in big numbers.

9. You're Stroking Your Own Ego
I used to call on Myron, who owned a store that sold jeans for teens. His business was dying, and I went to discuss advertising on my radio stations. I asked why he was advertising on a station that reached grandmothers instead of a station like mine, which reached teens and young moms. He told me that he advertised on that station because it was the station all his friends at the country club listened to. Myron impressed himself and his friends by advertising in a place they liked, but he failed to reach his audience and eventually went out of business.

Fifty percent of advertising is ego-driven. I've had people tell me, "I want my friends to see my art." I know of publications that reach almost no art buyers, but they get advertising because of peer pressure. There is nothing wrong with advertising to enhance awareness among peers, but don't confuse your expectations. If you want to sell something, you need to advertise where the buyers are.

10. The Promise Of Free Editorial
Everyone wants editorial coverage. But I know galleries and artists who refuse articles in any publication that offers articles in exchange for advertising. They assume the readers will think they bought their coverage, and they don't want to harm their hard-earned reputations. Though it's very appealing to gain the coverage, readers are not stupid and will assume you paid for it. That damages their perception of you.

Though I'm almost always willing to help my advertisers when there is legitimate reason for editorial coverage, I lose a lot of advertising because I refuse to do it over and over for the promise of advertising contracts. My readers would catch on, and I'd lose all my credibility.
 
If you're advertising in a publication because it's the right fit, that's fine. If it's because of a free article, that's not a good reason, especially if a publication is filled with articles accompanied by ads. Reputations are costly to build and quick to fall.
 
It's always best to have a well considered strategy before spending a dime on advertising.

P.S.: Sometimes I feel like a juggler because we have so many balls in the air. I'd like to take a moment to tell you about some of the exciting things we're up to in the art world.
 
1. Linking Galleries And Artists
Artist Advocate is entering its third year and has helped hundreds of artists gain visibility with art galleries and find new gallery homes. If you're looking for a gallery and want to be exposed to more than 15,000 art galleries (mail and digital editions), the next quarterly issue will be publishing in a couple of weeks. www.artistadvocatemagazine.com
 
2. A Conference To Promote Realism
Fine Art Connoisseur Editor Peter Trippi and I are on a mission to pave a successful future for realism artists and have developed a conference devoted to that goal. Everyone involved in the realism ecosystem should be there: collectors, historians, galleries, ateliers and schools, artists, frame makers, students, and suppliers. This is a true forum, where you will help us shape a strong future for representational and realist art. We have announced the recipients of our Lifetime Achievement Trailblazer Awards, our advisory board, and will soon announce our speakers and panels for the November Los Angeles conference. www.realismforum.com.
 
3. PleinAir Magazine Returns With Success
In February we relaunched the magazine about outdoor painting with editor Steve Doherty, and we were thrilled with the response. Not only did we sell out at Barnes & Noble stores nationwide, they re-ordered and we ended up with one of the highest nationwide sell-through rates. Barnes & Noble is now adding PleinAir in more stores. We also sold over 4,500 subscriptions (print, digital, iPad, iPhone) and distributed more than 22,000 copies as we launched with 116 pages -- a huge embrace from advertisers -- and 156 pages in the expanded digital edition. Our next issue will be out soon; if you have not subscribed, please do so today. Call 800-610-5771 or go to www.outdoorpainter.com.
 
4. The Publisher's Invitational Paint Out
I'm hosting a painting event for artists next month in the 100-acre Adirondack Park. It's all play, no work. No show, no sale, no events, just painting with friends in the same places painted by the Hudson River School painters. See who's coming and join us. I've rented Paul Smith's College and reserved 100 rooms. So far about 60 are sold. To learn more, visit www.ericrhoads.com.
 
5. October Fall Leaves Danube Art Cruise Is More Than 50 Percent Sold Out
I'll be hosting a group of art collectors, artists, and art lovers on a fall art cruise down the Danube. Our Russian art cruise was met with such rave reviews that most of our new friends asked us to keep the tradition alive by doing an annual cruise. This year we start in Budapest, then cruise down the Danube to Vienna and several ports, plus we're offering a side trip to Prague. Of course we're lining up special art events along the way. To learn more and see a new video about the cruise, go to www.danubeartcruise.com. Join us -- again, we're more than 50 percent sold out, so please book soon.
 
6. Documenting The Important Realism Movement On Video
When artist Michael Klein approached me about a venture to showcase the best realism painters in the world on video, I instantly fell in love with the concept. When he told me he wanted to do it for $10 an issue for two hours of content, I thought it would be a giant success. I had no idea how successful American Painting Video Magazine would become, but now it has viewers all over the world. www.americanpaintingvideomagazine.com
 
7. Fine Art Connoisseur: Soon Entering Our Sixth Year
Its hard to believe that we've been publishing this magazine for over five years now, and that just two more issues from now, we'll start our sixth year. The May/June 2011 issue is out already and features a stunning portrait from Nelson Shanks' upcoming exhibition in Russia.

Our summer issue (July/August 2011) will feature articles on the Utah landscapist LeConte Stewart (1891-1990); James A. McN. Whistler (1834-1903); the French Impressionist painter of urban pleasures Jean-Louis Forain (1852-1931); and the German academician Heinrich Hofmann (1824-1911); plus living painters Max Ginsburg (b. 1931), Andrew Jones (b. 1961), Robin Hall, Sarah Lamb, and the London-based painter Alan Dick. The Destination Art section will focus on the booming art scene in Wyoming, especially Jackson Hole. To subscribe or advertise, call 800-610-5771 or go to www.fineartconnoisseur.com
 
8. The Largest Gathering of Plein Air Artists In History
Not only do I want to get your name in the Guinness Book of World Records for being among the largest number of people ever painting outdoors in one place, I want to gather everyone in the community of plein air painters to discuss our world and how we can improve it, improve our skills in painting and marketing, make new friends, and of course paint together. I plan to have collectors, artists, suppliers and more, and we're taking over Red Rock Casino and Resort on the outskirts of Las Vegas, abut five minutes from Red Rock State Park. I went out there last week, and it is spectacular (the hotel and the places we plan to paint.) Hold the dates, April 12-15, 2012, and make your plans to be there. www.pleinairconvention.com

 

Are You Ready To Catch The Rain?

How You Can Increase Art Sales

I have magical memories of visiting my grandparents' home at 317 West Wildwood in my hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The small two-story white clapboard house had a porch swing where I would pass hours swinging and singing.

The small backyard was big enough for my grandmother's lush green garden, a giant peach tree that produced the most tasty white peaches, and an arbor littered with frosty purple concord grapes, which we always sampled before they were ripe. I shiver when I think of that sour taste, and I close my eyes when I think of the amazing flavor of the sun-ripened grapes a few short weeks later.

Atop the grass at the base of the back porch was the large round cement top of an in-ground cistern that was used to capture rain water. My mom told stories of washing her hair with rainwater from the cistern, but I never really understood its purpose until my grandfather explained how it was a backup because, in the early days, city water was unreliable and often tainted. Of course, if it didn't rain in that spot, the cistern didn't collect water.

Everybody needs a strategy to capture the rain, which in your case is a metaphor for capturing those who want to buy art. But most galleries and artists are like the lone cistern, sitting in one place and waiting for the rain to fall. Is that the right strategy today?

A Remarkable Recession Success
This week an art gallery owner who has been having tremendous success in spite of the recession proudly told me he increased his sales 973 percent in the past year. (I don't have his permission to use his name.) As I've studied this gallery, which was started right at the beginning of the recession, it became clear that they were ready to catch the rain when others were hunkering down for a storm.

When a storm approaches, some people will batten down the hatches while others will seek opportunity. For instance, this gallery owner's timing was perfect; launching when the recession hit (which most people thought was crazy), he realized that he would be entering a market with less noise. Rather than launching when business was good and all galleries were advertising, he launched when business was bad and the majority of galleries had stopped advertising aggressively.

Fear Begets Failure
Our instincts tell us that cutting back when times get bad is the right thing to do, but sometimes cutting back means your customers don't see you. As I recently said about fishing, if you don't have your line in the water, the fish won't bite. Typically, the businesses that cut back get addicted to saving marketing money and end up invisible to their clients, other than those they can reach through self-generated direct e-mail marketing. But because there is no visibility in trade journals, they are not bringing in new business to replace customers in the existing database who have lost their ability to buy. The result is that sales falter, deeper cuts occur, and many cut themselves out of business. Yet a recession's best opportunity is to seduce the clients of others who are not advertising.

During the 1991 recession my father told me, "If you're going to go out of business anyway, go down in flames." In other words, take every possible action to bring in customers, advertise, market, and sell like crazy to try to save it.

Is The Recession Over?
Now the sun is peeking through the clouds, and spending has loosened up a little. Many galleries are reporting increased spending (especially in the high end), and though the recession may be far from over or could double-dip (no one really knows), you need to be ready to capture the rain.

If more people are coming into the market to buy art again, what are you going to do to capture them? If you simply assume things will go back to the halcyon days, I suspect that won't happen. Your future dollars won't fall into your cistern but will come from increased efforts to capture the rain from multiple resources. You need to find out where it's raining customers and make sure you're there. Though there are more buyers than there were a year ago, you cannot expect them to seek you out, or even remember you. You need to reach out to them, stay visible, and get your cistern under more sources of rain.

If you've been lying low and surviving, you need to start increasing your visibility as early and as broadly as possible. What if it rains hard for six months and then stops for another year? Fill your barrels now.

Local May Not Be Enough
If you've been reliant on a "local" strategy, don't assume all your buyers will be local anymore. Some markets continue to get worse while others seem to be thriving. If you're not reaching the thriving people and are waiting for the things to change in your region, you could wait to no avail.

For instance, a gallery in a summer tourist location that is counting on success this summer would be well advised to make sure it is seen and known nationally as well to draw customers outside of market. It's insurance in case the locals don't buy.

Yes, I Am Nuts
A friend recently asked if I was nuts because I recently relaunched PleinAir Magazine during the recession. But it captured rain I was not getting before, and the debut issue was met with record subscriber numbers. We sold out at Barnes & Noble -- they called begging us for more copies -- and we launched with very strong advertising support. What if I hadn't launched it? Business as usual would have missed this golden opportunity.

Recession May Be A Way Of Life
Andrew Ross Sorkin of the Financial Times recently told me that 10 percent unemployment will become a permanent way of life. If he's right, your income will have to come from those who will hold their income. Plus, in the life of a typical business, you'll be in recession about 35 percent of the time, which means if you hunker down, stop promoting, and don't expect a profit during recessions, you'll miss out on profits 35 percent of your years in business. It's not wise. As a gallery owner or self-employed artist, you need at least two operating modes, one for good times and one for lean times, but each mode requires bold action.

We've all been told to put away money for a rainy day. While that means money to live on when no money is coming in, it also means money to use to stimulate business when business is soft. 
How will you capture the rain?

Eric Rhoads

PS: Here are five cisterns of opportunity available from my company that might be helpful to your business:

1. Fine Art Connoisseur: Reaching the most affluent collectors on earth, including the upper 1 percent of American wealth, which includes over 300 billionaires and 1,500 households with a net worth over $10 million.

2. PleinAir: Reaching collectors of landscape paintings and the artists who create them. This is a powerful and passionate movement.

3. Artist Advocate: A magazine offering galleries operational advice and a showcase of artists seeking galleries.

4. American Forum for Realism: An event designed to bring together collectors, artists, museums, schools, and the entire eco-system of realism for the purpose of developing a solid plan for a solid future. Sponsorship opportunities and exhibit spaces.

5. The Plein Air Convention: From PleinAir Magazine, this is to be the largest gathering of plein air artists and collectors in history. Sponsorship opportunities and exhibit spaces.

Information on all of the above is available from our marketing experts. Contact Charlie Bogusz, Director of Advertising, at 970-227-4878 or [email protected].

Selling More Art: 8 Principles From A Master Fisherman

The blowing white snow was blinding, and my cheeks felt like they were about to shatter from the bitter cold. I cannot remember ever being colder than I was as we walked across the ice to my grandfather's ice-fishing shack on Lake Wawasee. My grandfather Walter Melvin Felloews Rhoads was a master fisherman, and this was my first of many annual trips to sit atop the ice, over a hole, waiting for a fish.

My childhood was filled with fishing experiences, and with lessons from my grandfather. Though my brother Dennis got the fishing gene in our family, I think my grandfather, a business owner, would be happy that I've translated his fishing advice to marketing advice that applies to art galleries and artists.

Are your fish biting?

Are you selling enough art?

Try using these eight principles to evaluate your art marketing strategy.

8 Ways To Sell More Art

The 8 principles of fishing and marketing:
 
1. Fish Don't Bite If Your Line Is Not in the Water
A funny thing happens when you don't advertise. Nothing. People who believe the world will beat a path to their door if they have great artwork are simply naive. People who believe their customers will remember them because they used to advertise are also naive. If at any time your artwork is not selling, ask yourself if your line is in the water.

2. The More You Cast, the More You Catch
A good fisherman casts the line out and keeps the bait moving at all times, winding the line in, then throwing it back out again. Fishing, like selling, is a numbers game. In marketing, it's repetition. Repetition builds reputation. Repetition has a cumulative effect. Campaigns with repetition work where single ads or e-mails rarely do. Imagine going fishing, casting one time, and going home if you don't catch a fish.

3. Fish Won't Bite Bait They Don't Like
Know the fish in the lake you're fishing. If you're using worms and they'll bite only crickets, you're wasting your time. In advertising, you need bait your audience wants. If you're advertising to an affluent audience, they won’t buy low-quality products. If you're advertising to a low-quality audience, they can't buy expensive items. Match the bait to the audience. Targeting can be very effective, but never advertise without understanding your target buyer. Start by looking for patterns among those who already buy from you.

4. If Fish Aren't Biting, Change Your Technique
If casting doesn't work, try trolling. If trolling doesn't work, try bobber fishing. If your marketing isn't working, try something different. Are your ads the same year after year? Are you trying anything new? Are you offering an incentive? Sameness does not get noticed. Are you blending in? Do you look like everyone else? Are your ads boring? Maybe it's time to change.

5. Fish Like Shiny Objects
The little reflectors on lures shimmer just like minnows and attract fish. Effective advertising requires shiny objects to get attention. Most art ads are the same: artist name at the top, an image, and a logo at the bottom. Few advertisers are willing to push the limit with ads that stand out and command attention. Look up the new ad from colorist Camille Prezwodek in PleinAir magazine. She is breaking the rules, and my guess is that it will be more effective if she continues it with repetition.

Effective ads contain a strong, attention-getting headline, a powerful image, copy to sell the reader, a call to action, and a strong incentive to stimulate action.

6. If You've Out-Fished the Lake, Find a New One
Some lakes are out of fish. If you've been talking to the same audience for decades and they are no longer buying, maybe you need a new audience. The big mistake is assuming your "A-list" database is still capable of buying. Attrition makes every list 15 percent less effective, every year. And because the economy wiped out a lot of wealth, 50 to 60 percent of  your list may not be buying anymore. You should be rebuilding a list of new prospects by advertising to new audiences.

7. Stand in the River of Flowing Fish
Do your homework. Find out who has audiences of people who have the money to buy. These days the ultra-affluent and affluent are still spending. If you're not fishing in that river, there are fewer fish to catch.

8. Fishing Is Not All About the Catch
My grandfather didn't just fish just for the catch, he fished for the quiet, the time with friends, the time to think, and the challenge. Advertising is not all about the catch. There are side benefits that are often more important than the catch itself.

Most galleries put all their hopes on a single advertised painting, but the odds are that only a small percentage of people will like that artist, that style, or that particular piece. That painting might not sell, and the gallery assumes the ad didn't work. But that's not necessarily so.

Every ad should be designed to mine the names of new potential buyers and drive people to your website, where they can browse though a thousand paintings. Just because the phone didn't ring and the painting didn't sell does not mean the ad didn't work. What about new traffic on your site? I highly recommend creating an incentive to get people to your website so you can get their contact information.

Can You Catch New Customers in This Economy?
Many galleries and artists are suffering with reduced sales and blaming it on the economy. Yet other galleries are thriving, selling more artwork than ever. Those who are succeeding today are not doing the same things they've always done, they're trying new things and tapping new markets. Plus, these galleries are remaining visible when their competitors are remaining invisible to save money, thus stealing the competition's customer list. Historically, a bad economy is when aggressive new companies win by advertising when their competitors are trying to save money.
That's one of the best kept secrets of marketing.

Eric Rhoads

3 Places To Catch More Customers

The Most Ultra-Affluent Art Audience in America:
Fine Art Connoisseur magazine's audience is made up of the most affluent art collectors in America. It includes the upper 1 percent of wealth in America, including over 300 billionaires and 1,500 deca-millionaires (net worth over $10 million), 25,000 art collectors, distribution in most private jet ports, in many high-end hotels, and of course on newsstands. This is the audience BUYING today. Fine Art Connoisseur is an excellent audience to expose your brand, build your list, and drive traffic to your site. The magazine is edited by curator and former museum director Peter Trippi.

An Efficient Way to Reach Art Galleries:
Artists wishing to increase their sales need to increase the number of sales agents selling their work, since most galleries are selling less artwork today. If you are an artist hoping to build your art business, you should consider increasing the number of galleries and regions representing your work.

Artist Advocate magazine is distributed to most of the galleries in America selling original artwork -- over 18,000 (6,500 print and the balance via digital editions) in all -- and many artists have secured their first gallery representation or additional galleries through Artist Advocate and are selling more artwork as a result. Artist Advocate magazine is also an excellent advertising environment for framers, lighting companies, consultants, shipping companies, insurance agencies, and others who have a product to expose to galleries. The magazine now includes business and marketing articles for art galleries.

Reaching the Artist/Collector Market:
Thousands of art buyers attend events where the artists paint on location and sell artworks. These collectors tend to hop from event to event around the U.S., collecting plein air works and finished studio paintings. As of this week, PleinAir magazine has returned, with Editor M. Stephen Doherty. Hundreds of affluent artists use plein air painting as a hobby, and still buy paintings. Over 50,000 artists are estimated to be participating in the outdoor painting movement, all of whom attend workshops ad buy paint, easels, canvas, and other studio and outdoor painting supplies.

To learn more about advertising in any or all of these publications in the Streamline Art Network, contact Charlie Bogusz, Director of Advertising, at 970-227-4878 or [email protected].

 

The Importance Of Preserving Art Heritage

My eyes opened wide as my mentor Jack took my hand and moved the brush in a new way. He could have shown me, but when he took his hand to move mine, I got it instantly. When I asked how he learned this amazing little painting trick, he told me that his mentor in Florence had done exactly the same with him, 40 years earlier. Clearly, this move had been passed from mentor to student for generations.

We're living in an amazing era for realism. When I started publishing my first art magazine, less than 10 years ago, I lamented the important traditions that were barely being preserved and were taught in so very few places. Much has changed, and graduates of the ateliers teaching the 600-year-old methods of past greats are springing up across America, resulting in a movement unlike any seen since the Renaissance. Mark my words: The next 50 years will be a new renaissance for realism in a form relevant to our world today.

A Meeting By Chance
When Peter Trippi and I first met at dinner and he asked me the goals of my magazine Fine Art Connoisseur, I think he expected to hear of my profit motive. Instead, I told him of my passion for exposing people to the art of generations past and my passion for seeing a new generation of painters carry on the tradition so that it continues for generations to come.

We were in sync, and the rest is history: That meeting resulted in Peter's joining as our editor, which in turn has led to the magazine's being embraced by the leading art experts who pen our articles, and, of course, by our growing readership.

The Endless Debate About Technology In Art
At a recent gathering of artists, a discussion arose about whether technology should be used in art, just because of its availability. That sparked a debate over the use of photographs in the creation of artworks.

Some referred to great artists of the past who utilized then-new photographic technology as a tool, while others stated that life is the only medium that should be copied. That will probably be an endless debate, but the discussion led to other technology, which raised the question: Is it harmful for students to study from videos created by master artists?

One artist stated that his success began with his having viewed a DVD by one master artist, because his location and budget didn't allow him to study with such masters. That DVD was, the artist said, his road to becoming a better painter until he could afford access to in-person mentors.

One wonders what might have changed if video had been rolling as the greats from our past placed paint on canvas, or if we could have preserved their discussions and motivations related to their art.

Seeing Bouguereau With New Eyes
Though nothing can replace the personal touch of a master-mentor relationship, many of the great volumes on painting were crafted from student notes. Imagine how those of us who paint could have improved by watching, through the lens of a camera, over the shoulder of Gerome, David, or Bouguereau. Imagine how many tens of thousands of lives they could have touched among those not fortunate enough to be able to study with them, or to live during their time. Imagine the impact future generations of painters will feel when they are able to capture moments with today's masters. These will be invaluable experiences.

Empathy Of The Brush
The best art critics, the best experts, are those who can empathize with the brush. It's been said that to truly understand painting as a collector or a viewer, one must learn to paint. Though I loved art, I could not properly see it until I studied painting with my first mentor, Jack Acetus Jackson, who studied in the lineage of many great Florentine and Venetian masters, with Madame Simi and with Frank Reilly and Ives Gammel.

After a year of study, I wept when I saw a Bouguereau at the San Francisco Legion of Honor through newly opened eyes. I could not grasp how he could accomplish such mastery, with such transparent skin tones. It was that moment that I knew my new purpose, which is helping others' eyes open to such beauty and assuring a future so these methods don't die.

Carrying The Flag
Many individuals are carrying the flag for realism, with the unified purpose of seeing it discovered by the art world. They are fighting against great odds in a world where realism has been pooh-poohed as nothing more than "pretty pictures." Yet this new, energy-filled movement is not about repeating the past but about creating a new future, rooted in deep traditions. It is being embraced by youth, who find it new and refreshing, and who are teaching others, opening ateliers, and breathing new life.

Determined To Carry Traditions Forward
Word travels fast when your mission is clear. Michael Klein, a magnificent young painter who studied under Jacob Collins, recently caught my eye because he shared this same mission of carrying painting technique and philosophy to future generations. Not only was he teaching, he determined that he could leverage technology to touch more lives, and invested time and effort to create a simple video format to document some of the world's most important artists. It was a labor of love, and American Painting Video Magazine was born.

When I learned what Michael was doing, I suggested that we make APVM available to the Fine Art Connoisseur audience. Michael is passionate about conducting interviews, philosophical discussions, and even showing some of the great painters at work, which I believe will be of interest to anyone who wants to understand realism at a deeper level. The new result is APVM Fine Art Connoisseur, which I am announcing today.

No Hollywood Hype
APVM Fine Art Connoisseur is producing two hours of content every quarter and is offering it at only $10, which is a good value; we often see DVDs of artists selling at much higher prices. This is content you can also view online and download to your computer to keep forever. And I believe you'll appreciate the quiet pace. APVM Fine Art Connoisseur is not filled with annoying fast-paced edits, but feels more like a documentary on public television. Our goal was to keep this very real, almost spiritual, so you can get a feel for the pace and thought process of each video. It's not Hollywood, it's authentic.

New Doors Opening
Each two-hour video features multiple artist visits, discussions, and unique content. For instance, when we were in Russia, Peter Trippi interviewed Semyon Mikhailovsky, the Rector of the St. Petersburg Academy of the Arts, a 300-year-old institution founded by Catherine the Great and one of the most important schools in the world. That interview is just one of several segments in the current issue of APVM Fine Art Connoisseur. In the next issue, APVM Fine Art Connoisseur visits Antonio Lopez Garcia in Spain, one of the best living realists of our time.

Worldwide Exposure
I'd like to invite you to explore American Painting Video Magazine. If you're a collector, an art professional, an artist, or just someone with a passion for art, I believe you'll find this video magazine very insightful. It's a communication tool about techniques and philosophies that have passed through generations, and I'm proud to be involved in the archiving of such important information in video and making it available worldwide.

Treat yourself to a dose of wonderful video at AmericanPaintingVideoMagazine.com, or go to FineArtConnoisseur.com and click the APVM button. You can also visit the APVM page on Facebook.

Eric Rhoads

PS: I'm especially proud of this project and our association with producer Michael Klein, not only because he is an accomplished painter with a passion for the generational techniques he has spent years learning, but because of his eye and experience. Michael is extremely discerning about the people featured, which gives me great confidence in the project. I hope you'll consider viewing American Painting Video Magazine and help others capture the passion by sharing what you've learned.

 

Ten Steps To Sell More Art In 2011

 

 

Are you a right-brained artist who lives to create? Unless you're fortunate enough to have a little bit of left brain in the mix, you may not be earning as much as you could.

What if I could show you a very easy system to increase your overall art sales?

I'm very right-brained, yet I manage to run a business that includes several magazines, websites, conferences, and other products. It's not easy for me because I lean to my creative side, but I've managed to train myself to be disciplined in some left-brained activities. If you've learned to balance your checkbook, you can learn to follow this simple process.

Great marketing begins with great planning. If you're looking to sell more artwork in 2011, begin to develop the process now, before the new year begins. Once you realize that you're not selling enough art and are trying to do something about it, months of opportunity will have been lost.

Before you read any further, make a personal commitment that selling art is important enough to your survival that you will follow a new discipline. It's pretty basic -- so hold your breath and jump into planning mode. In the long run, you'll be happier for having developed a plan.

1. Find The Gap Between Where You Are And Where You Need To Be.

Begin by determining where you will be financially at the end of 2010, then and ask yourself where you WANTED or NEEDED to be. For instance, if you made $40,000 income and you absolutely need $55,000 to live on, then your gap is $15,000. Try to determine the gap for 2011 based on how many paintings you plan to sell. It is impossible to determine how to reach your goals without knowing what that shortfall is.

2. Divide The Gap Into Little Pieces.

The way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. That $15,000 gap looks overwhelming, and you'll soon find yourself giving up because increasing your sales by that much seems impossible. But if you divide the $15,000 into smaller bites, it's easier to digest.

Most people divide their gap into monthly bites ($15,000 divided by 12), but I recommend dividing it weekly. Let's assume you leave a few weeks per year for vacation and holidays, and calculate using 48 weeks. So if you divide $15,000 by 48 weeks, that means you need to generate $312.50 extra per week in order to meet your goal. That seems a lot more attainable than $1,250 a month or $15,000 a year.

3.Invent New Forms Of Gap Income.

Assume for a moment that you can't grow your current artwork income by doing the same things you've been doing. Instead, think of one new strategy that you have never attempted that can increase your revenue by $312.50 per week (or $62.50 per weekday).

A few years ago my accountants told me the gap I needed to fill to reach my projected goals. Business was way off, and I couldn't assume that I could grow the business based only on the areas we were using to generate income at the time. So we brainstormed as a staff and came up with about six ideas that would generate the additional income we needed every week. We invented one new conference and one new magazine, both of which individually filled the gap and ended up growing our business.

As an artist, you may not want to view yourself as a businessperson, but perhaps you can invent some gap solutions that work in your world. What if you could sell $312.50 a week in gift cards of your paintings? Or $312.50 a week in books? Or $312.50 a week selling your reject paintings on eBay under an assumed name? Something completely different to generate that extra weekly income. Got the idea?

4. Create A Gap Action Plan.

Now that you've determined what you'll do to fill the gap, it's time to develop an action plan for achieving it. It's easy to assume you can sell $312.50 per week in gift cards (or whatever), but what specific actions will you take to make it happen? Play with some tactical ideas, such as a website that displays your cards, a way to drive traffic every day or week, or a direct-mail campaign with a new set of card designs every week. Try to anticipate every detail of every action you'll take to hit your goal of $312.50 per week.

5. Test Your Gap Plan.

Great ideas are of no value if they don't work, so test your plan and make adjustments until you are generating the needed income. Again, using the idea of selling cards, go ahead and create several designs and try to market them as planned. Did your strategy work in the short term?

6. Implement Your Gap Plan.

Once you've tested your ideas and proven them successful, you need to begin the process of on-going implementation. You must expand your strategy to find a way to generate that $312.50 every single week. Doing so will require the discipline to adjust your habits and schedule, or perhaps find others to help implement your plan. This process will take several months of planning, so starting way before the new year is important.

7. Monitor Your Success And Make Adjustments.

Monitoring your sales weekly will help you track your progress. I like weekly plans because they allow you three weeks to make up a shortfall if a given week is slow, and not miss your monthly goal. If you miss a goal for week one, you need to make up the missing income the next week, plus the income you were supposed to generate for week two. Following this discipline helps you to achieve your monthly goals because you can spot a problem before you get to the end of the month.

8. Find A Way To Double Your Success.

Billionaire insurance executive W. Clement Stone once told me that any goal you can achieve in a year can be doubled or tripled that same year. All it takes is creative thinking, discipline, and determination. Your belief systems have everything to do with your ability to exceed the income in your gap plan. So if selling gift cards was your gap idea, how could you sell two or three times as many? Think in creative ways to get the answer, or look for unique ways to generate income and set up several gap plans.

I usually solve this problem by asking, "How can I leverage other relationships to achieve my goal?" For instance, do you know someone who would be able to put your gift cards in their store, or in many stores or websites? That alone could sell a lot more cards.

9. Commit Your Plan To Writing.

Once you develop a gap plan, put your goals and action plan in writing. It doesn't need to be complicated. I place my specific goals on my calendar and on my daily to-do list. Commit it to writing, keep it in your face, and remind yourself that you absolutely cannot violate your plan. Never let yourself off the hook. If you put $312.50 on your calendar every Friday and then check the sales of your gap plan, you can check the box as complete. If you missed your goal in week one, then work like crazy to ensure you achieve it for week two.

10. Do It Now.

Don't think about it. Don't say, "Hmmm, good idea. I'll do that some day.” Build a plan right now before you lose this e-mail amid other distractions and forget all about it.

11. Bonus Point: Manage All Your Sales With A Weekly Monitoring System.

Having the discipline to monitor your income weekly is one of the best-kept secrets of success. If you know you have to sell 48 paintings a year  -- which means four per month -- and you place one painting per week on your Friday calendar, you will know instantly if you met or exceeded your goal.

If you did not, you still have time to take the necessary actions to sell that one painting the next week (along with the other one you need to sell). But if you wait till the end of the month to learn that you're four paintings behind, it's a lot tougher to make it up.

Take Control. Don't Lay Blame On Others.

Most artists assume that their art sales are in the control of other people -- like their art dealers -- and that's true to some extent. Now that you have a system to follow religiously, you can take action to fill gaps in sales if you know about them early enough. If your galleries are falling behind, at least you'll know in time to explore other ways to sell artwork or to add more galleries.

One artist I know who monitors his artwork sales weekly saw that two of his galleries had suddenly dropped off by 50 percent. Rather than waiting to see if things would get better, he decided to find two more galleries to make up the drop in sales. He worked vigorously to add two more (more on that in a moment), and because he took action, he eventually caught up to his goals.

The two galleries that dropped by 50 percent have not yet improved, and if he had let things ride without action, his sales for the year would be off by half. Because he monitored his plan and took action the moment he saw his sales fall, he actually exceeded his 2010 sales goal and is enjoying his best year ever.

Is it complicated? Not really. But 99 percent of the 40,000 people who read my messages will do nothing. One percent of you will follow this advice and have a great year in 2011, no matter what the economy is doing. Though we all like to think our artwork sells itself, efforts toward selling actually make a huge difference.

Weekly monitoring is one of the many disciplines an artist must take to further his or her career. Unless you have the luxury of an agent you should always be paying attention to things like public relations, and crafting and marketing your story to new outlets to sell your artwork.

Here's to 2011 being your best year of sales yet.

Eric Rhoads

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HOW TO SIGN WITH MORE ART GALLERIES IN 2011

If you need to increase sales in 2011, then you probably need more people to help you sell your art. We estimate that there are about 6,500 galleries in America selling ORIGINAL artworks.

I Love Galleries

I happen to love art galleries, and I don't really mind giving up a commission if they are doing their job of promoting my work, building their customer database, and advertising their gallery to potential collectors. But I don't recommend putting all your eggs in one basket because even the best galleries can fall on hard times. Sometimes a gallery can lose the "eye of the tiger" and stop using the techniques that made them successful. It's important to be open to having more than one representative if you can create a large enough body of quality work.

No Time For Artists

Finding a gallery is difficult because most galleries have no time to pay attention to solicitations from hundreds of artists monthly. That's why I created Artist Advocate magazine. A printed magazine with a digital edition, Artist Advocate is mailed to 6,500 art galleries and e-mailed to another 8,000 worldwide as a means of exposing galleries to artists in all media (painters, sculptors, jewelry makers, photographers, fine craftspeople). Artists seeking additional representation can highlight their artwork for galleries to see.

Whether you're looking to be picked up for the first time, or an experienced pro seeking more galleries, Artist Advocate offers a proven track record of success. Success stories of artists who have used the magazine to find additional galleries are highlighted on our website. Some choose to run profiles of their work in every issue because they understand that building awareness is a process, not a single event.

The next issue will reach galleries in November while they are planning their 2011 year. Some may be seeking new artists. To learn more, go to www.ArtistAdvocateMagazine.com or call Charlie Bogusz at 970-227-4878 or [email protected]. 

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PRODUCT REVIEW:

The Killer Brush That Seduced Richard Schmid

Each time I send out a marketing e-mail, I try to highlight a product I like as an artist.

In September I conducted a marketing seminar at American Artist's Weekend with the Masters, where I learned that a new star had emerged. In his onstage demo, Richard Schmid announced that he had stopped using the brush he has loved for so many years and had switched to brushes by England's Rosemary and Company. He was not the only one. I heard Alexey Steele, Jeremy Lipking, Scott Christensen, and others singing the praises of these brushes. And Rosemary and Company's "Ivory" brush is used exclusively by the Florence Academy, which I confirmed when I painted with Daniel Graves.

Word spread quickly about Rosemary's brushes, and her table was mobbed. I suspect that every brush she brought with her was gone by the end of the event. I managed to snatch up a couple after hearing all the buzz. I painted with them that weekend and went back for more. These are no ordinary brushes. Handmade, with amazing ability to carry paint and incredible spring, they live up to the accolades. I was so impressed that I ordered a big shipment to replace the stock of Russian brushes that had been my favorites.

A rumor circulated that the magic of Rosemary's brushes was that each contained a strand of Rosemary's long, flowing hair. Of course, she disputed the claim, with a gleam in her eye. In fact, I was amazed by the synthetic bristle brush called Ivory. I'm not a big fan of synthetic brushes, but these are incredible, and they're not expensive.

Her mongoose brushes are also magical. (Most of the artists mentioned are using the synthetics and the mongoose.) I don't know how she does it even though I watched Rosemary making the brushes on location, by hand. I do know the hairs go deeply into the metal thingy on the end of the brush (the ferrule), which is not the case with many of the brushes now made in China. The hair falls out, even with some of the "better" brands.

Rosemary has a lot of interesting brush designs on her website, and I'm looking forward to them when my order arrives. (Ordering from England takes no more effort than ordering in the States and the shipping isn't costly because brushes don't weigh much.)

Curiously, I found out that about four years ago, Morgan Weistling nudged Rosemary to develop a series of special mongoose brushes. Word is that Morgan told Tony Pro, who told Richard Schmid. The rest is history. When Richard says this is a great brush, everybody follows.

It's nice to see a true craftswoman handmaking brushes and selling them for reasonable prices. And Rosemary is wonderful to deal with. 

The Great Artist-Gallery Debate

 
An Art Marketing Message from B. Eric Rhoads

"The Internet has eliminated the need for art galleries," said a very famous artist to the crowd at the American Artist Weekend With the Masters event. "Why pay the commission when you can sell direct online?"
 
That comment sparked a great debate in the halls of the hotel in Dana Point, so I wanted to address it in my art marketing sessions.
 
Can You Live Without A Gallery?
So what about you? What should you do as an artist? Can you live without an art gallery selling your work? Can you sell direct online and eliminate the need for a gallery? Let's explore this now.
 
Clearly, the Internet has changed everything. It's true that an artist can abandon the gallery system and sell direct online to eliminate paying a gallery commission. For some, especially those who are well-known and well-established in their careers, it might make sense. But you have to ask yourself: Who established the careers of those artists who no longer need galleries?
 
Building Reputations
If I were to ask those artists, they would tell me that it was their reputation that established them, and the quality of their work. No doubt. But there are countless very talented artists who remain undiscovered. Chances are some art gallery professional helped establish the careers of most prominent artists. Chances are those artists built their reputations through exposure to gallery customers, advertising, and a sales effort. Furthermore, galleries were probably responsible for gradually driving the artists' prices up over the years.
 
Why the Phone Isn't Ringing
It's easy to say an artist can do without a gallery, and maybe you can. But most artists I know with websites aren't selling enough art online to make it on their own. Why? Being on the Web and expecting business to come through the door is like being in the phone book and expecting the phone to ring. It's simply not enough. If you want to sell online, you need to drive traffic to your website, and you need to do it constantly. That requires promotion.
 
That famous artist is right: You can live without a gallery. I can think of several high-end artists who are doing without a gallery. But they also have full-time people focusing on their careers, working on promoting their careers, and driving traffic to their websites. Unless you can take the time and spend the money to build your reputation online, ratchet up your prices, and spend money on advertising and search engines to get people to come to your website, you may find that a gallery is a good partner to have after all.
 
Selling Music Is Like Selling Art
In the recording industry, an artist can gain exposure and sell music online without a record company. But those who succeed at it are promotional superstars who know what it takes to get noticed. Meanwhile, others rely on the record labels, which are really great at marketing.

It's no different with selling art. You can do it on your own, if you can be a promotional superstar. But without that, a gallery might be worth its weight in gold, commission and all, IF they are selling art, building your reputation, and driving your prices up.
 
Don't Discount The Gallery Effort
Last week a gallery owner called me and listed all the things he does to help sell artwork, including paying high rent to capture walk-in traffic, advertising, mailers, e-mailers, shows, calling collectors every day, and more. A successful gallery is a great partner because it can be your promotional superstar. Do you have someone to do this for you? Can you devote eight or 10 hours a day to selling and marketing? If not, suddenly that gallery commission looks pretty attractive.
 
Never Have A Single Point Of Failure
In my seminar, I talked about never having a single point of failure in anything you do. For instance, if all your income comes from one gallery and that one gallery goes bankrupt, you're out of luck. Or if you're doing your own marketing and it's ineffective, that single point of failure will hurt your personal sales. It's why I think having enough galleries to sell what you need sold is a good idea.
 
Why Charles Is Having His Best Year Ever
My friend Charles told me last week that he has five new galleries because I told him to keep adding galleries until he was making the money he needed. He told me this has been his BEST sales year in the last five because of it. He found all five galleries through my magazine Artist Advocate (see below.) Rather than being hung up on not having a lot of galleries, he is focused on having more than he needs, and it's made his income soar.
 
Selling online is a great opportunity if you can pull it off. If not, the art gallery is still a very viable option and the perfect partnership.

Eric Rhoads

Visit my free art marketing blog and free Blue Chip Gallery marketing blog.
Follow me on Facebook and Twitter. 

PS: My magazine Artist Advocate is mailed to 6,500 art galleries that sell original art. Its primary purpose is to showcase the work of artist seeking additional galleries. If you want to learn more, contact Charlie Bogusz at [email protected] or 970-227-4878.

The next issue of Artist Advocate has several new features to draw galleries deeper into readership.

 

My Disco DJ Days And Meeting The Ultimate Art Agent

An Art Marketing message from Art Publisher B. Eric Rhoads
Plus a handful of tidbits for artists....

Someday, if you corner me in a hotel lobby and buy me a cup of coffee, you might get me talking about the exciting days of being a kid in a crazy business like radio broadcasting. I was 14 years old when I first went on the radio as a DJ, and by the time I was 17, I was on the air on the number one station in Miami.

Leave It To Beaver
I grew up in Leave It to Beaver land, in a small Midwestern town and was exposed to nothing as a kid. If someone offered me drugs, it was an aspirin. But suddenly I was offered a job at a top rock 'n' roll station. So I put everything I owned in my 1968 VW bug, moved out of my parents' home, and drove down to live in South Florida. My parents must have been mortified, but I was wide-eyed -- and I thought I was pretty cool.

The Square Kid
Being on the radio in 1973 was a whole lot different than it is now. I became a local celebrity, and I even had groupies. Being 17 with groupies and a job on the radio, making more money than I'd ever thought possible, was a dangerous combination. My ego swelled. Fortunately, my parents raised me well enough to resist most of the trappings of rock 'n' roll radio. Everyone else was indulging, but I remained the square kid from Indiana.

A Moment With Barry Manilow
In the 1970s, I was responsible for breaking several records on the radio from artists who became household names. Two years ago, I ran into singer Barry Manilow in Vegas, and I asked him what was the most exciting moment in his career. He said it was visiting Miami and hearing his first record, "Weekend in New England," on the radio. I told him that my station broke that record, and chances are I was on the air when he heard it for the first time. I was also the first in the U.S.A. to play "Copacabana" on the radio (please don't hate me!). We had a couple of good laughs about the old days.

Hanging With The Bee Gees
A very big part of my life was the disco era. I had a shiny Nik Nik shirt, a white leisure suit, puka shells, two-toned patent leather shoes, and a Fiat Spyder convertible. Life was good. I was hanging out with the Bee Gees, Andy Gibb, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, and with several artists responsible for the famous Miami sound that gave birth to the disco era. You probably wouldn't know their names, but you'd know songs like Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do for Love," Gwen and George McCrae's "Rocking Chair," and Timmy Thomas' "Why Can't We Live Together."

That was the Miami sound, and I was in the middle of it, as a top DJ on the number one station in town. Every week I was meeting the top artists of the day, hanging with them at clubs, recording studios, and backstage. If they were disco or rock artists, I met them. One day, following the final mixdown of a Bee Gees record at Criteria recording studios, I rushed a copy of the master tape at lighting speed to the radio studios and put it on the air. The song was "How Deep is Your Love," and it became number one nationwide.

What does all this have to do with marketing art? Read on.

Meeting A Super Agent
One of the gifts my father gave me was to always ask me what I'd learned after meeting someone, getting me into the habit of trying to learn from everyone I met. One night in a hotel suite hanging out with the Trammps, the guys who did "Disco Inferno," I met a man who was a well known super agent of the time. We started to talk, because neither of us did drugs and it seemed like everyone else in the room was high.

We talked and talked, and of course I was curious about what I could learn from this man about what it takes to be a super agent. And you can apply what I learned to marketing your art.

Turn Down The Right Things
Though being an agent for a rock star, a film actor, or a television celebrity is a lot different than being an agent for a painter or sculptor or photographer, the principles are the same. The agent's job is to help the artist make the right decisions for his or her career, which includes turning down the wrong things. It also involves building an image and connecting with the right people.

This agent told me that one of his biggest challenges was knowing what to turn down. He said most eager artists want to do everything that comes along, and they hurt their careers by jumping on the wrong exposure opportunities. Managing your image is an art, and it's critical to success.

Do You Need An Agent?
I receive a lot of questions from visual artists about whether they need an agent (and I've turned down many requests to act as agent for some well known artists). The answer? If you can get an agent, you probably don't need one. If you need one, you probably can't get one.

What Agents Don't Want
Agents would much rather sign a developed talent who is in demand than try to build the brand of someone unknown. They make their income on your sales, which means they want someone who is already selling, already in high demand with collectors, and already commanding high prices. From that point, they can help artists increase their sales and build on their reputation, and make even more money.

The sad reality is that those who want to build their careers, those who most need an agent, are not likely to get one. Most agents are not willing to invest the time waiting for your career take off.

So do you need an agent? Absolutely. Are you likely to find a good one willing to take you on as a client? Probably not.

A Bad Agent Is Better Than No Agent
Many artists I know have assigned the task of agent to a spouse or good friend -- someone who is volunteering their time or who has a financial interest in the artist's success. From time to time I meet these people, and some of them are highly qualified. More frequently I meet those who not well qualified, but are better than nothing.

The bottom line is that anyone other than yourself promoting you is generally positive. Most artists cannot comfortably blow their own horn, and artists usually appear stronger if they are being represented by someone else. If you can get anyone to be your agent, you should be better off than if you try to do it yourself. Most artists are better at art than they are at marketing and managing their careers.

Very few artists are in a position to sell enough artwork through their own efforts. A website is of little value unless you can drive substantial traffic and convert those visitors into buyers.

"Secret Agents" You May Not Have Thought Of
The most frequent agent for an artist is someone you really wouldn't consider an agent at all, but who has an interest in your success, is willing to give you a good dose of reality, and really should have your best interest at heart. These "secret agents" are art galleries.

The Perfect Partner
Being represented by an art gallery is not possible for every artist. There are a lot more artists than galleries to accommodate them. But if you can get one, I believe the art gallery provides the perfect relationship for an artist.

Galleries earn their commissions because they provide career advice, they will tell you which paintings will sell, they have developed a strong client list, and they know which customers will probably love your paintings. And they love marketing and sales. Having a great gallery is like having a great agent and a trusted partner.

The Bottom Line
Careers thrive when artists become known. Awareness and continual exposure are critical to success. It is rare that the art stands on its own and you'll get discovered. If you can find someone with some business experience, some marketing savvy, and the ability to keep you continually in the public eye, that person will be worth their weight in gold. Every artist should have an agent. But someone who is not a professional agent but who is making noise on your behalf every day of the week is more beneficial than none at all.

So if you can get an agent, do it. Find a spouse, a friend, an out-of-work salesperson, and give them a small percentage of your sales for making your art sales grow. If you can't find an agent, I believe finding a gallery is your next best alternative.

Eric Rhoads

PS: In this issue I've included a lot of artists' tidbits that I've found interesting. Scroll down to the bottom. And if you want to learn more about how to get into a gallery and make it your agent, read on and I'll tell you about a product my company offers.

One Strong Way To Get A Gallery
The other day I was approached by a frustrated friend who'd spent about two weeks creating demo CDs of his work, writing letters, and sending packages to a few dozen galleries hoping that they would bring him on board. He phoned me, frustrated. "Eric, I did not receive so much as an e-mail or phone call that they had received my package," he said.

Harsh Reality
Gallery people are busy, and most receive hundreds of unsolicited artists packages, e-mails, and calls each month. Most never get opened or viewed.

Do The Math
Don't get me wrong. These are not bad people. They are busy people who have to run their businesses, deal with their artists, market to and talk with their customers, and pay their bills. One gallery owner recently told me he gets 800 solicitations a month. That is 9,600 a year. If he spent five minutes opening each solicitation to look it over and another five minutes to respond, that would be 96,000 minutes, 1,600 hours, 200 eight-hour days, or 6.6 months a year. Just giving 10 minutes' attention to each solicitation. Do you understand why they're not calling back?

Falling On Deaf Ears
Though this gallery owner feels bad and knows he might miss the next great master, he simply cannot take the time. Therefore, those solicitations never get seen. The mail, e-mail, and phone calls you're putting out there may be falling on deaf ears.

How Will You Stand Out Among Thousands Of Artists?
Is there a better way to get a gallery? We think so. Following a conversation with a gallery director who told his story of annoying solicitations from artists, I asked if he would read a magazine four times a year that was full of available artists.

His response: "Yeah, bring it on. That would be great. I could flip through it, see if there was anyone of interest, and could keep an eye on his or her progress from issue to issue. And I can keep the magazines in one place and refer back to them."

So I created Artist Advocate magazine. And recently, one top New York gallery director told me that when artists call, the gallery refers those artists to Artist Advocate magazine. It makes the gallery's job easier.

The Process To Get Into Artist Advocate
Here's how it works. We create a profile page about you… an image or two of your art, some writing about your work, your contact information, and a link to your website. We print the magazine and mail it to 6,500 art galleries (and art publishing houses). Plus we e-mail another 8,000 digital versions of the magazine, which can also be found at ArtistAdvocateMagazine.com . Done. You'll be seen.

How can you increase your chances of getting contacted by a gallery?

1. Put your best work out there. You'll need to be able to demonstrate with your other work (on your website) that you can consistently produce.
2. Edit. Don't post every piece you've ever done. Galleries need to be convinced you have a body of work and consistent quality.
3. Make it easy. If visitors have to jump hoops to find your work on the site, or if they'll see messages that drive them away, change it. Help visitors see a showcase of your work immediately.
4. Keep the goal in mind. If you want to get picked up in a region, than perhaps something that reflects that region will help you. But if you want to get picked up by a gallery in the East, chances are a painting of Napa Valley won't appeal to them.
5. Test, test, test. Get some outside opinions. Of these paintings, which are the 10 best? Which is the very best? Ask experts, not family. Use those paintings on your website and the best piece on your showcase page.
6. Answer the phone. One gallery told me he gave up after trying to call an artist whom he could never reach on the phone and who didn't return his calls.
7. Repetition builds awareness. Galleries are not always in the market at the moment they see your profile. They may think, "I'll keep an eye on that artist." But unless you continually remind them to do so, they won't. Repeating your ads will increase your exposure, get you noticed more, reinforce what you do, and build your brand as an artist.

It's the reason ads run over and over and over on television and radio. It works. It increases response.

About Artist Advocate Magazine:
- Two covers: Abstract/Contemporary cover and Representational cover
- Features painters, sculptors, multimedia artists, photographers, high-end craft and custom jewelers
- 6,500 printed magazines distributed to galleries
- 8,000 digital issues sent by e-mail
- 14,500 total exposures
- Four issues annually
- Plus viewing online, and on Facebook and Twitter
- Premium positions and cover positions available
- Ask about our special four-time exposure package discount
- It works. Lots of successes to report.

To learn more, contact Kathleen Lawrence Davis at 530-934-3687 or kathleen@artistadvocatemagazine.com and Charlie Bogusz at 970-227-4878 or charlie@artistadvocatemagazine.com.

Visit www.artistadvocatemagazine.com and you can join our Artist Advocate Facebook page.

Eric

PS: My ever-curious nature is always seeking cool things. Here are a few of tidbits for painters:

1. My Marketing Secrets of the Masters Seminar -- Free!
As you know, I've been talking about doing some art marketing seminars. I did a sample three-hour version at the Salon at Greenhouse Gallery this past spring, and within 10 minutes of my session, one artist used my technique on a person looking at her painting there in the gallery and sold it.

The word spread fast, and I've been contacted by a group who wants to rent a hall for a day in Washington, DC, for my seminar, which I'm considering. This week I was contacted by American Artist, asking me to do a seminar during their WEEKEND with the MASTERS. Looks like a wonderful event and I'm eager to attend. You can learn more about my seminar here.

2. Some new projects: This summer I've been working on developing three new projects for the art world, which I'll reveal soon. I'll post them on Facebook and Twitter first, so I hope you'll friend and follow me.

3. Panels and panel carriers: I've been painting outdoors a lot this summer, and I'm thrilled with the panels I ordered from RayMar. It's humid and rainy here and they don't warp! Also I love their panel carriers, which are sturdy yet lightweight.

4. Off to Russia: In early August Peter Trippi, editor of my magazine Fine Art Connoisseur, and I will be hosting a group of very passionate art lovers on a trip to Russia, which is SOLD OUT. I'll try to tweet and post photos about our adventures, including our private tour of the Hermitage; our visit and lunch with the director at the Repin Academy of Art, which is where all the Russian greats were trained; and of course the Russian Art Museum and other things.

I plan to paint in Russia too. I'm taking my tiny EasyL mini Kevin McPherson ProChade easel, and because I don't want look for turps, I just tried the new Golden Open Acrylics from Dick Blick, which don't dry fast and handle a lot like oils. I'm pretty pleased with them. I also ordered some paper-thin lightweight 6x8 multimedia panels from Windriver. I can take a bunch without taking any space. I'm also taking some of my Raymar panels. I'll let you know how it goes.

Scott Christensen, his wife, Kristie, and a couple of other artists will be joining the cruise. Check out www.russianartcruise.com to learn more about it, and watch Twitter and Facebook for posts.

5. Great Paint, Great Price: Artist Tom Hughes turned me on to this paint company when he painted my portrait. The paint comes in jars, not tubes, which I like for the studio, and the quality and price are both wonderful. You may want to contact Rolf at RGH and try it.

6. Art Books: I love art books. I get a lot of review copies for the magazine and I still buy a fair amount of them. This morning I awoke with the sun and tore into a book I revisit a few times a year. It's Juliette Aristides' The Classical Drawing Atelier, which is a wonderful drawing refresher. I think it's a must-have book.

6a. Another book I'm really impressed with is How Successful Artists Study by Sam Adoquei, which reveals the common problems artist have learning how to study and focus. It's packed with wonderful illustrations and ideas for artists and has become one of my favorite books this summer.

6c. Every summer I leave a copy of Harold Speed's book by my bed at the lake place and I re-read it every year. This is my fourth re-read and I always get value from it.

6d. I also always re-read Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting, which is the best book ever written for plein air artists.

7. Excellent Site for Serious Figurative Painters. For those of you who don't know, I too am trying to grow as an artist. Currently I'm studying color and figurative work with artist Graydon Parrish, who is teaching me the Munsell system. You may want to explore www.rationalpainting.org, which is a wonderful site for serious figurative artists in which Graydon is involved. I feel very fortunate to study with him. He has become such an important artist. (See the painting that made him famous: The Cycle of Terror and Tragedy. You have to see this giant painting in person at the New Britain Museum of American Art.)

That's all, folks. I've got more items, which I'll save for next time. Let me hear about interesting art items you've learned about. If you haven't signed up for my art marketing blog or art gallery marketing blog, please do.

I'll see you after Russia!

Marketing Secrets of the Masters

That's me (40 pounds heavier) with Richard Schmid, who will be the highlight speaker at Weekend with the Masters. He did my portrait in Vermont a couple years ago.

Just announced I'll be doing a seminar at American Artists WEEKEND with the mas. Unlike many of the sessions I've chosen to do this one at no charge. (Buy me a drink). I'm told that the session will only hold 90 of the expected 300 so lets hope its Standing Room Only. When I last did this session at the Greenhouse Gallery Salon for about 50 artists one of the artists saw a collector looking at her painting (we were in the gallery) and  she used a technique I just taught and the painting sold. One other artist used it the following day and also sold a painting. If I can help everybody sell more paintings it's a big win.

Here is what they have posted:

LUNCHTIME LECTURES

Friday, 9/24 and Saturday, 9/25: Marketing Secrets of Art Masters With B. Eric Rhoads (Part A: 12:30-1:15 on Friday; Part B: 12:30-1:15 on Saturday)

---

Ever wonder why some artists outsell other artists? Why do some artists’ careers and sales soar beyond others? Why do some great artists go unrecognized while others, with lower qualifications, outsell them? During this free Lunchtime Lecture offering, art publisher and marketing expert B. Eric Rhoads will share many unknown secrets you can implement to increase your art sales immediately and boost your career long-term. Rhoads will explain the 10 essentials to success, covering such critical topics as: Why buyers buy and why they walk away How to train your gallery to sell your paintings your way Marketing without money: how to beat the system How to get noticed by art galleries A powerful tool to motivate buyers How to destroy your career fast and how to prevent it How to sell more than you can paint How to double and triple increase your pricing Selling more art in a down economy Creating demand for your brand Eric Rhoads is the chairman of Streamline Publishing and is the publisher of Fine Art Connoisseur and Artist Advocate magazines, among others. He also writes an art-marketing blog for artists and a blog for art galleries. As an artist, Rhoads is especially passionate about art and art marketing. He founded his first art magazine, Plein Air, in 2004. An entrepreneur from a young age, Rhoads has built and sold businesses, created marketing plans for numerous brands, and serves as a consultant for companies on their marketing strategies. Rhoads can be found on Facebook (facebook.com/eric.rhoads) and Twitter (@ericrhoads).

Artist Scott L. Christensen Joins Russian Art Cruise

Known for his spectacular landscapes like the one featured above, world-renowned landscape artist Scott L. Christensen and his wife, Kristie, will be joining us on the Fine Art Connoisseur Russian Art Cruise, August 7-14. We hope you'll join us as well. We have a fantastic trip planned.

"Life is short, and we realized that this trip may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us. How often do you get invited to go on a trip to Russia with a world-renowned curator like Peter Trippi of Fine Art Connoisseur, get to go to the Hermitage after hours, to go to the institute that trained all the great Russian artists, and tour Russia's most magnificent city? I have a passion for Russian art and cannot wait to become immersed in the art of Russia." --Scott L. Christensen

Take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Only four cabins remain. Call a friend and share a cabin.

Register online or contact:
Gabriel Haigazian at Creative Travel Planners
Direct dial 818-444-2700
or 800-255-3070, ext. 123
Or e-mail [email protected]

The Frustrating Experience Of Getting A Gallery

The Truth About How To Land A Gallery

The first gallery that invited me in as a painter was on Canyon Road in Santa Fe, the big gallery row there. Because it was my first, I wanted to be there to deliver the paintings in person, and I can remember feeling really insecure. I told the gallery owner, "This is so unusual. I'm confident in everything I do. I've met CEOs of big companies, celebrities, and world leaders, and I wasn't nervous then. But today I feel totally exposed and insecure." Frankly, it was very unlike me, which made me even more uncomfortable.

My mind was playing tricks on me:

Why would they want my work?

Maybe they don't know what they're doing by putting me in their lineup?

Maybe they're just sucking up because I own an art magazine?

Maybe they're taking pity on me and will hang my stuff, knowing it won't sell?

"Hello, Um, That's Me. I'm The Artist!"

The gallery put my work up right away, and I decided to hang around for a while. Moments later, a couple came in, walked around the gallery, and landed on a waterfall painting I had done. They lingered, talking about how much they loved it and what it reminded them of. Though I was tempted to wave my hands and jump up and down and say, "I did it! Me, yeah, me, I'm the artist, wanna own it?" I stayed quietly out of the way until the gallery owner engaged the couple about the painting, then said, "The artist just happens to be here today."

I got my strokes, the couple left saying they wanted to buy it but were not sure if they wanted to spend that much money on it, and said they would probably return, but they never did.

I wasn't devastated that they didn't buy. I had passed the test. Someone walked in and liked my painting. That was all I needed to increase my confidence. I felt like Sally Field when she received her Oscar: "They like me. They really, really like me."

Sage Advice From An Artist

Since then I've sold many paintings, and the insecurity has pretty much disappeared, thanks in part to artist Michael Ringer. Michael visited our lake place in the Adirondacks one summer, and after I showed him my work, he said, "Eric, as a friend, let me tell you that you are your own worst enemy. All you did the whole time I looked at your paintings was apologize for them. You need to understand that they are good, but more importantly, you need to know that your attitude is impacting your performance. Stop apologizing. Every one of us went through the stages you're going through. It's part of developing as a painter. Quit apologizing and start believing in yourself." 

I took his advice.

The Reality You Don't Want To Hear

If you're not in a gallery, I know the dream you live, and I know how frustrating it is to be rejected. At the Oil Painters of America conference last weekend, a panel of three very well meaning gallery owners told the crowd respectfully that the odds of getting in their galleries was slim. One owner said he receives 250 submissions every single month. After the session, one of the artists in the room approached me and said, "What a downer. I guess I won't be getting into a gallery anytime soon."

Studying The Gallery Acquisition Process

For two years I've been studying the process of how to get into a gallery. It started because every artist I talked to was asking me if I could help them get into galleries, and because gallery owners were complaining about all the submissions they were getting that they ended up discarding because they didn't have time to look at them.

Though you'd think galleries would want to see what is out there -- and they do want to -- the task is simply overwhelming. They have to be prudent, or all their time would be spent looking at artists instead of chasing down buyers.

The Danger Of Being Too Aggressive

Ever hear the expression "The squeaky wheel gets the grease"?  It's true, but you not only have to be squeaky, you have to do it without being annoying, and without damaging your reputation by being overly aggressive.

The principles I laid out in a recent marketing letter about the importance of continual visibility also apply to gallery owners. If they keep seeing your work, keep hearing your name, and see buzz about you, it could elevate their interest in your artwork. But sending them multiple e-mails, making multiple calls, and sending multiple portfolios is annoying and could get you blacklisted in their minds. The trick is achieving visibility without being targeting galleries individually.

"It Sounds Impossible, Eric!"

So if this is the case, what can you do as an artist to build your brand in the eyes of art dealers? There is no easy answer, honestly, because there are many levels of dealers, many different kinds of art represented, seasonal businesses, and different times when different galleries may be looking for artists. Even if your strategy was to barrage every gallery in America with your portfolio, one time or multiple times, it would be cost-prohibitive, and in most cases your portfolio probably wouldn't be opened or kept.

Therefore the solution is a strategy of continual visibility. Keep your name in front of art dealers by advertising in the places they're advertising (though you could be perceived as a competitor), keep your name in the press constantly by winning competitions, and find ways to brand yourself continuously.

What If The Odds Are Against You?

Yes, you might get lucky and get discovered. But getting into a gallery is somewhat like landing a part in a major motion picture. There are a few thousand galleries (and fewer in your style, your quality, your subject matter) and tens of thousands of artists. (There are over 40,000 reading this e-mail as we speak.) The odds are against you.

The only way to beat the odds is to get lucky, be introduced by a friend, or stay visible continuously so when a dealer is in the market for someone new, they don't say, "Who was that artist I saw?" but, "Let's call YOUR NAME." You need to brand yourself just like a product is branded, with continual repetition. And the benefit is not only gallery visibility, but visibility with collectors, which will increase demand.

Achieving The Impossible

When someone tells me something cannot be done, I'll work hard to prove them wrong. I love a challenge. Though the challenge of landing a gallery is daunting, you can do it if you stay visible constantly. Make it your mantra. Frequent exposure sells products, and it can do the same for you.

Winston Churchill said it best:

Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty -- never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

Respectfully,

Eric Rhoads
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PS: My discussions with galleries and artists led me to invent a new tool to help artists get galleries and to give galleries a place to look when they're in the market. We feature your artwork and put it in the hands of over 15,000 galleries (6,500 via a printed magazine and the balance via an electronic magazine). As a result, we have helped many artists get their first gallery or additional galleries.

The artists who stay visible see increases in calls with every issue because they know galleries are "keeping an eye on them" and because they know every gallery is in the market for new artists at different times. They are building their brand with Artist Advocate Magazine. If you want to be in the summer issue, which is coming out in a few weeks, now is the time to book. Our staff will create your ad for you and walk you through the simple process. If interested, hit reply and say, "Eric, have someone call me."

Or contact one of these people:

Kathleen Lawrence-Davis
kathleen@artistadvocatemagazine.com
530-934-3687

Lisa Freedman
lisa@artistadvocatemagazine.com
914-907-9842

PS2: In the last issue, I explored your interest in art marketing seminars, and the response was strong. One person who contacted me asked me to fly to Washington, DC, in the fall for a one-day version of my two-day seminar. If you wish to be notified, please reply with "DC SEMINAR" in the subject. I'll save the e-mails and let you know if and when we do it. We would like to get 500 people. (You're under no obligation if you reply.)

We will also be planning a seminar in Austin, TX, so if you didn't respond earlier, reply with "AUSTIN SEMINAR" in the subject. The Austin seminar will be two or two and a half days and more in-depth, with a small group, and more personal coaching.

PS3: I just learned a very famous artist will be going with us on our Russian Art Cruise. He has asked me not to announce his name until next week. We have only four cabins left. If you know someone who wants to go, send them to: www.RussianArtCruise.com

Who Needs Food Anyway?

One of my friends is the well known CEO of a giant multinational corporation. I read recently that he has a net worth of over $400 million. We've known one another since we were both teenagers and he wasn't yet famous. You would know his name, but he wouldn't want me putting this story out for the press to pick up, so I can't share it. Let's call him Fred.

Very early in Fred's career, he said this to me: "Eric, for most people the basic needs are food, water, and paying the rent. For me, if I want my career to soar, the basic need is advertising and public relations. I pay for it before I pay my rent because I know it will result in the best jobs and best opportunities."

It worked. Fred is famous. He's one of the super-rich, he has his own helicopter and his own jet. He has a giant apartment in New York, another in the country outside New York City and another in a billionaires' ski resort town, and probably others he hasn't told me about.

A Lifetime Commitment
Fred is one of the smartest men I know, and as I watched his career, he always made sure that his most basic need, advertising and PR, was his highest priority. In fact, at an early age he met a young PR person and cut a "lifetime deal" with her. When he couldn't afford her services, he said, "If you help me now, when I get rich I'll stick with you and be able to pay you lots of money." He stuck to his promise, and they have been side-by-side business associates for decades.

He gets it. What about you?

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind
Most of the people who are rich and famous understand that the most important thing in boosting their career and staying on top is PR and advertising. Hollywood celebrities thrive on tabloid rumors because they know that if people are talking about them (good or bad), it's good for their careers. In Hollywood, the kiss of death is no press.

How visible are you?

No one ever gave me this advice, and I wish they had drummed it into my head at a young age. It took me decades to really understand it. The law of visibility is a reality for anyone who wants to be considered a celebrity in their area of expertise. Stay visible frequently.

How Crass, Eric
In your world as an artist, you may be saying, "I don't want to be famous, I don't want to be a celebrity." That's fine, but you and your art are a product. And products that succeed follow that mantra: "Stay visible frequently." (Please, no e-mails about my crass reference to art as a product. Like it or not, if you're selling something, it's a product. You are a product. You are a brand.)

12 Steps To 'Stay Visible Frequently'

1. Make it your mantra.
Everything you do should relate to staying as visible as possible. Make it your goal to make a giant PR effort at least weekly.

2. Don't be timid.
Chances are you can't be exposed enough to be overexposed. Look for an excuse every day, every week, to get your name in front of potential customers.

3. Concentrate your efforts.
Ten impressions to 10 different audiences are not 10 impressions. That's one impression to each of 10 audiences. Wherever you're focusing your attention, dominate that medium with continual visibility. Most people can't afford to dominate more than one or two things. It's incorrect to think you will achieve better response if you buy five ads one time in five different magazines. NONE of them will work for you effectively. Yet the same money spent on five ads in five issues in a row of one magazine will bring you tremendous results. If you have a limited budget, dominate something with that budget.

4. Never ever stop.
This has to become your lifestyle. Like the film stars say, "If they're not writing about me, I'm out of business." If you want to be a giant success, you work your advertising/PR strategy every day and every week for the rest of your career. Out of sight, out of mind. Out of mind, out of business. Advertising and PR builds upon itself. Think of it as a house that is never finished. You start with the foundation, keep building until the house looks finished, and then you keep adding on.

5. Starting and stopping is like starting from scratch.
I know people who advertise for a couple of issues of one of my magazines. They will buy a couple of ads, lay low for a few months, then buy some more, then lay low. Each time you lay low, you lose share of mind because you're not reinforcing your brand. Apple never stops. Ford and GM never stop. You can never stop if you want wild success.

6. Leverage your visibility strategy.
Seek ways to get others promoting you while you sleep. Get others acting on your behalf. The best tool ever invented for an artist is an art gallery. If you have five or six galleries in different regions of the country, you are being promoted every day to the customers in those galleries. They are professional sales agents. One -- or six -- more galleries showing your work can do more for you than you can do on your own.

7. Participate in co-op advertising.
The best deal going is when you can buy ads for your work at half the price. Many art galleries will run ads exclusively promoting your work if you're willing to pay half the cost of the ad. It's a great deal for both of you, drives customers to their gallery, and it builds your brand, which increases sales, buyer desire, and, ultimately, demand, resulting in higher prices.

8. Become a press release maven.
News outlets locally, local art pubs, even national art publications are always on the hunt for a story. If your release appears on their desk on the day they need to fill a page, you might get lucky. Frequency builds your brand with editors, so any chance you have to issue a press release (on something legitimate, like an award or a new painting), send a release to everyone who reaches the audiences you want to reach. Get to know the editors, ask about upcoming stories, and make suggestions as to how you might fit. If you ever wonder why some people seem to get all the press, that's why. And if you can find someone to do press for you, especially a pro, they can pitch stories on your behalf.

9. Facebook and Twitter matter.
Brands are built by frequent posts with smart information, great photos, and interesting links. Build a giant friend list and post frequently, with relevant and interesting things (we don't care about your cat's hairball or your political opinions).

10. Bigger is better.
The psychology of advertising says that if you run bigger ads, or more ads in an issue, you are more important. That is how top blue chip art galleries built their reputations and how they keep them alive. You must be successful if you're running that much advertising. Fake it till you make it. Run ads as big as possible and as frequently as possible.

But frequency is still more important than size. If you can afford only one full-page ad, I'd advise you that four quarter-page ads in four consecutive issues is better than one full-page ad in only one issue. Dominate with frequency, and then, as soon as you can, increase the ad size to grab more notice and stature in the eyes of buyers.

11. Advertising is perceived as editorial content.
Research indicates that consumers prefer newspapers, magazines, and radio and TV stations that have ads to those that do not. Ads tell about things people may want or need. In art magazines like Fine Art Connoisseur, which I own, our readers love paintings, and they look at the paintings in ads as much as the pictures in the stories. Readers love seeing those pictures, and may well not remember you as an advertiser, but as an artist they now know. One of my advertisers told me she became perceived as famous because she is in every issue of the magazine, without skipping, ever. Of course, it helps her business because she never stops and her image is always being reinforced.

12. Volume overcomes time.
A new art gallery once asked me if there was a way they could become as well known as a gallery that had been in business for a hundred years. Though time + consistent visibility is the strongest marketing tool, you can get very close to an equal position in the minds of audiences with a high volume of advertising, with a high volume of frequency, over a shorter period of time. I told this gallery owner that within three to five years, his gallery could be perceived as one of the biggest and most important galleries in America if he ran four to six pages in every issue for three years. Is it expensive? Yes. Is it realistic? Not for many. But this is one way to overcome the advantage of time.

But Eric, How Can I Afford It?
My friend Fred, whom I mentioned earlier, told me he invested in PR and advertising before he paid his rent. He knew that the investment would lead to success, and therefore he made huge sacrifices. He drove an old beat-up car, he lived in a crummy apartment and didn't go out to dinner much. He put the good things in life on hold so he could buy the visibility that would eventually result in success. Did I mention that his net worth is over $400 million?

The Law Of Conflicting Values
One of the great laws of the universe is that two good things may be in conflict. Truth and justice are both good things, but one may have to be chosen over the other. In art, your conflicting values may be financial success versus the respect of other artists. For instance, we all know of a famous artist who is extremely wealthy but whom most artists do not respect. He chose wealth over the respect of other artists.

To accomplish frequent visibility, you may have to choose visibility over certain basic needs to roll the dice on building your career longer-term. Most successful people I know had to make those tough choices. You can always find a way if you're passionate enough to make something happen.

The Agent In Me
Artists keep asking me to be their agent, but I simply don't have the time or the desire. Yet I believe that anyone with some marketing skills like those I've acquired could make an unknown artist one of the most famous and financially successful in America within three years if they had enough financial resources and drive. I do this for businesses on a regular basis with my consulting practice in marketing, but those clients typically have the resources to pay my fees and spend the money on big campaigns for long periods of time.

For you, without a lot of resources, it will simply take more time. A steady drumbeat of visibility over time will eventually get you where you want to be.

Do Something Daily
I guarantee I will get 50 e-mails about how "my circumstances are different" and how someone doesn't have the money to advertise. I don't doubt that. Yet you can still carve out one hour daily to create visibility without spending a dime. Some who see a clear vision will find the money from friends, family, and personal sacrifices. You just have to want success badly enough. Following this program is not for wimps. It's for people committed to becoming a major household name among collectors.

Nothing good is ever accomplished without risk. Your success is 100 percent determination to succeed at chasing your dreams.

Go knock 'em dead. You can make great things happen.


PS: Yes, I Can Be Your Agent ... In A Way
One of the most powerful ways to grow your brand and your business as an artist is to find others to sell for you while you concentrate on painting. This is what galleries do so well. Whether you want your first gallery or you want to add more galleries so you can increase the number of artworks you are selling, I can help. My company has a magazine called Artist Advocate whose sole purpose is to expose your artwork to galleries.

We all know galleries are busy and don't want to be bothered with artist solicitations. One gallery in New York said to me recently, "Eric, every artist who calls, we tell them we no longer accept solicitations. If you're not in Artist Advocate, we will never see your work. We recommend it." They went on to tell me how it is a wonderful tool to allow them to look for artists, and that they keep it as a reference and watch artists from issue to issue to see if they are consistent.

If you want to see your artwork showcased to 15,000-plus galleries (6,500 by mail and the rest by e-mail), Artist Advocate can help you find a gallery so you can sell more and concentrate on creating art. Get in touch with the individual below for information, or e-mail me back and say, "Eric, have someone contact me."

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Tom Elmo
561-655-8778
[email protected]

The Fastest Painting Sale In History?

A Story about Art Marketing from Eric Rhoads 

My friends will tell you I'm a fairly modest guy. I've learned to overcome my shy nature because, to succeed in business, you have to learn to blow your own horn once in a while. It's the hardest thing I've ever learned, and I know it's tough for most artists as well.

So here I go, blowing my own horn.

I was flattered when Jim and Mark at Greenhouse Gallery asked me to conduct an art marketing workshop at their gallery the day after their Salon International dinner.

My Frantic Saturday Morning

I drove home to Austin on Friday night and had to return to San Antonio for the 2 p.m. seminar on Saturday. I was making last-minute changes to the presentation when the phone rang. It was my artist buddy Anne Nelson Sweat, who was planning to accompany me on the 80-minute drive. "If we're going to be on time, you need to be here to pick me up in 15 minutes, " she said. I was still in jeans and sneakers. I spent another 20 minutes preparing the notes and rushed out the door to pick up Anne.

Driving Like A Madman

I suddenly realized I hadn't had a bite to eat all day, but traffic was bad and there wasn't even time for fast food. I was probably well over the speed limit when Anne, who was looking on the GPS navigator on her iPhone, shouted, "Quick! Turn here!" I swerved from the middle lane and exited just as she announced, "Oops, wrong exit." Just as I was about to get back on the highway, I noticed traffic had stopped. I made a quick right and asked Anne to navigate us on back roads to avoid the traffic. Countdown: 10 minutes. We were at least 15 minutes away according to the GPS, and if we hadn't taken that turn we would have been an hour late. With one of the gallery staff talking us through the back streets we, walked in exactly at 2 o'clock. I never did eat.

Yes, I Get Butterflies

I walked in the door with my shirt tail hanging out from my jeans. Frankly, I was comfortable, it was Saturday, and why not? Yes, I had butterflies as I saw the 50 artists in the room waiting for me to say something meaningful. Though I've conducted hundreds of speeches and seminars, it never goes without some angst -- and this was more than usual because my notes were still in disarray.

Please Don't Stop!

At the end of the second hour, the artists asked me if I would keep going, so I did until Mark from Greenhouse pointed to his watch. The opening was about to begin. The seminar went three hours, and not one person got up the entire time. They seemed to be engaged.

Two Paintings Sold Instantly - Like Magic

As I said, blowing my own horn is hard, but I felt like a proud papa. During my seminar, I taught a system for using stories to sell art. It's much too complex and time-consuming to get into here and now, but about an hour later, during the opening of the exhibit, one of the artists approached me and said, "I followed your advice. A man was looking at my painting, so I walked up and told him my story using the techniques you outlined, and he instantly bought it." I remember the artist's face but I don’t know her name. So if you're reading this, call me!

The following week, I received an e-mail from another artist who had a similar experience and sold his painting the same way.

Helping Buyers With Imagination

Artists tell me that people need to interpret a painting to their own meaning. I agree to an extent, but, because artists are creative types, they assume everyone can do this. Some people have little imagination, and if you can help them along with a well-crafted story (don't lie) that isn’t boring, is fact-based but not fact-filled, and is written to help people see themselves in the painting, you will sell more artwork. So will your gallery. Are you using stories to sell art?

My Two-Day Art Marketing Seminar

During the seminar I was asked if I'd be willing to do a two-day version. The answer is that nothing is planned, but if I get enough e-mails from people willing to come to Austin for a paid seminar, I'll consider doing it. My e-mail is eric@artistadvocatemagazine.com. Please don't hit reply, and PLEASE put ART SEMINAR in the subject line. If at least 50 people who interested, I'll put together a class and let you know the fee once I determine the cost to rent a venue for two days. Marketing art is detailed and complicated for a lot of artists, but I think I can make it easy for you.

Eric Rhoads

PS: How To Get A Gallery

The most asked question at the art-marketing seminar was: How do I get into an art gallery? I have a magazine called Artist Advocate that is mailed to 6,500 galleries that sell ORIGINAL art. We e-mail it to another 8,500 people. You can have your own page showing your artwork for all these galleries to see. Dozens and dozens of artists have signed on with new galleries as a result, and now that the economy is starting to improve and more galleries are looking to get more active, this is the perfect time to begin the process of exposing your art. For information about the publication, go to www.artistadvocatemagazine.com, or call one of the people listed below.

Kathleen Lawrence-Davis
kathleen@artistadvocatemagazine.com
530-934-3687

Lisa Freedman
lisa@artistadvocatemagazine.com
914-907-9842

How A Great Marketing Idea Fell Short

A message from Art Publisher Eric Rhoads

Sorting through the mail, my wife, Laurie, discovered a postcard from a chiropractor with a real Band-Aid stuck to it. It stopped her in her tracks -- enough to make her read it and save it. After all, we had recently moved and knew we would be in need of a chiropractor.

Two weeks later, I heard Laurie screaming in agony. She had sprained her back, and we began a search for the card with the Band-Aid. We couldn't find the card, nor could we remember the doctor's name or location. A quick Google search of our town + Chiropractor + Band-Aid didn't give us an answer, nor did the Yellow Pages.

This chiropractor blew it. Though the creative message (the Band-Aid) cut through the clutter, there was no followup. Had this doctor sent more cards, three or four weeks in a row, she would have gotten our business. Instead, we just picked someone else at random.

Marketing requires repetition. People lose things, they don't notice things, and they need reminders. Plus, when we started looking for clues elsewhere, we couldn't find the chiropractor with the Band-Aid.

Message Unity: How The Band-Aid Could Have Worked Better

The idea of the Band-Aid on the card was effective enough to get us to stop for an extra second to read the card while sorting the mail into the trash. It was clever. But if this chiropractor had been extra savvy, she would have done a few more things so the Band Aid was used in all of her marketing efforts to reinforce her campaign:

1. More mailings with Band-Aids (repetition). I'd mail a Band-Aid-shaped sticker with the phone number for future use and put messages in front of the consumer several times.

2. Search terms and keywords, so if someone searched "Band-Aid + Chiropractor + our town," her page would have popped up.

3. A special website landing page showing the mailer and the Band-Aid and linked to vital information.

4. A Yellow Pages listing showing the Band-Aid. (Though I'm no longer big on Yellow Pages because Google has replaced them.)

5. A clever, memorable phone number. 1-888-Band-Aid might have been remembered if we couldn't find the card.

6. A small map on the card showing the location. This might have helped us remember where this doctor was.

7. A giant Band-Aid on the office sign so I could see it when driving by.

8. o (business cards, booths at the home show, TV campaigns, etc.). The Band-Aid becomes her marketing message at every touchpoint.

A great creative message was not enough. Though it generated attention one time, it failed to get our business when we were in the market. Marketing messages are erased with time, which is why you need repetition and why your creative theme needs to be carried into every touchpoint you make with customers.

Like most collectors, I receive postcards from dozens of galleries. They all look alike, and most don't get my attention. And I rarely get a second or third card (or e-mail) selling the same show. What can you do to stand out, get noticed, and increase your frequency? It will pay dividends in everything you do.

Eric Rhoads
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PS: Is Your Marketing To Art Galleries Effective?

Are you getting the attention of galleries? Are your mailings or e-mails getting noticed? Gallery directors have told us they trash most unsolicited artist portfolios and e-mails. The also tell us they read Artist Advocate Magazine, which is like a catalog of available artists.

If you want to sell more artwork, perhaps you need to add more art galleries. Artist Advocate can put you in front of over 6,500 galleries four times a year (plus art licensing and art publishing people). Let us help you sell more art.

You Could Be In A New Gallery And Selling More Artwork By Early Spring

There is still time to get into the next issue of Artist Advocate. If you want to sell more artwork, you probably need more galleries. Artist Advocate puts you in front of galleries four times a year, so you're always there when they decide to add new artists. To learn more, go to www.artistadvocatemagazine.com.

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How Marketing Art Is Like Football

A message from Art Publisher Eric Rhoads

Last week's Super Bowl hoopla reminds me of how great marketing works like football.

Rarely does a quarterback run the field for a touchdown on the first play. Though it can happen, coaches know that success is earned one play after another, with a yard or two gained with each play. You wouldn't bet on a football game if a team had only one play to win. But this is exactly what inexperienced marketers do. They run one ad or do one mailing and expect the phone to ring off the wall. Sure, it can happen. But, like a lucky run, it's not the norm.

Why Advertising Fails

Advertising works as a series of plays, making a little progress at a time. Campaigns with multiple impressions and touchpoints work best. Campaigns are a series of plays designed to score several touchdowns and win the game.

Advertising fails when marketers run single ads instead of campaigns. As in football, momentum is gained with consistent forward motion. Advertisers who start, stop, and start again are losing momentum. You make the most progress when you hang on to the ball.

Repetition Sells

No matter what kind of advertising you are doing -- print ads, e-mail marketing, direct mail -- you need lots of repetition. The average person needs to "catch" the message three or more times before they take action. And just because you send an e-mail or run an ad three times doesn't mean someone caught your message three times. It can take a lot of throws to get one completed pass.

People live busy lives, and, to get their attention, repetition is critical. Marketing pros understand this, which is why you see or hear many commercials over and over again.

Throwing My Money Away

Companies who run one single ad in the Super Bowl are usually disappointed in the results, though it's a big ego booster. It's a great place to be seen, but a message has to be reinforced over and over before people will catch it.

I once ran a single ad in an auction-house magazine, which was horribly expensive. Instinctively, I knew we should have repeated the ad several times before expecting any results, but we only ran it once. For us, it was like that Super Bowl ad, which is all about ego. Foolishly, I blew thousands of dollars and received no results.

The greatest marketers are like the teams that make it to the Super Bowl. There are many disciplines they follow, and that's what makes them great. I have coached thousands of advertisers in my career, and, if the message is well crafted, those who follow the model of consistent repetition always win big. Are you expecting a touchdown with your first play? Or are you in it to win the game?

Eric Rhoads

Your Art Career Is Like A Symphony

The Decisions You Make Now Will Set The Tone for Your Success in 2010

A Message About Art Marketing from B. Eric Rhoads, Art Publisher

 

I'm often asked by artists which of my marketing ideas is the most important to a successful art career. That's like asking which instrument in the symphony is the most important. Marketing is successful because of a combination of practices, just like a great performance is a combination of instruments. But what is most important to success is a great conductor.

You are the conductor of your art career, and making sure you are a great conductor is the most important thing you can do. Decisions you make determine the quality of the outcome in all areas of your career. If you can think like a conductor, you can be a great art marketer.

Have you ever met a symphony conductor? I've only met one, Israeli conductor Itay Talgam. They say symphony conductors have the longest lifespans of any profession because they have such a strong sense of control over their lives and the lives of those around them. Stokowski lived for 95 years, and gave his last concert at the age of 93. Toscanini lived to be 90, Sir Thomas Beecham 83, and Eugene Ormandy 86. A MetLife study of 437 active and former conductors of major regional and community symphonies that started in 1956 and ended in 1975, when 118 of the  conductors had died, found that more than 20 percent had lived to be 80 or older. The death rate for the entire group over that time period was 38 percent below that of the general population. Will you take control of your life and career?

How To Think Like A Conductor:

1. Hear the music in your head. A great conductor knows exactly what he wants the music to sound like before he ever starts rehearsals. A great marketer always starts with the end in mind. You must envision your definition of success before you start.

2. Follow the score. A great conductor always follows the score exactly. A great marketer always has a marketing plan and follows it.

3. Interpret the score. A great conductor does not copy others but interprets a great score, adding his emphasis, his mix of instruments. A great marketer is original and seeks to find unique ways of presenting the product.

4. Rehearse repeatedly: A great conductor rehearses many times prior to a performance. A great marketer rehearses by testing concepts with small groups to see what works and what does not, so marketing projects are fine-tuned before their big push.

5. Hire great musicians. A great conductor hires musicians not only for their great playing ability, but for their attitude, responsiveness to direction, and team spirit. A great marketer seeks the most fine-tuned tools to fit their unique needs and make the execution of campaigns more effective.

6. Hold high expectations and standards. A great conductor will not tolerate players who don't live up to high standards. A great marketer will make sure that everything they touch is done with excellence in both design and execution.

7. Make continual adjustments. During a performance, a great conductor makes continual adjustments to different sections of the score and orchestra to make the performance perfect or to compensate for a weaker section. A great marketer understands that things don't always work as planned and therefore they must remain flexible and willing to make adjustments at all times.

8. Use your right and left brain. A great conductor is an artist focused on beauty and on making wonderful music from the creative right side of his brain. Yet he or she must be left-brained to be organized, to lead, to execute excellence. A great art marketer not only focuses on producing great artwork, he or she doesn't ignore the business side of life and the necessary steps to success.

9. Continually enhance your reputation. Great conductors are aware that if they are unknown, people will not flock to symphony halls to see them. They work hard to build a public image and continually seek opportunities to reinforce that image. A great marketer knows that being invisible does not sell artwork. They know it's important to become known and to reinforce that continually, so they become better and better known. They never stop promoting because they know marketing is not a destination, it's a process, and that without a continuous effort, they will soon be forgotten.

10. Live with confidence. A great conductor is slightly arrogant and believes strongly in his or her abilities. He believes he is the best and believes his music will move people and change lives.
A great marketer is confident and proceeds boldly. He controls his negative self-talk, he knows he deserves success, and he believes that people not only want his art, his art will change lives.

11. Strive for drama. A great conductor knows that drama stands out and that emotion moves audiences. He seeks to create a performance that is visually and musically dramatic to move his audience. A great marketer (and a great painter) understands that drama makes for great campaigns, great branding, and great imaging, and that you cannot engage people intellectually only, you must engage them emotionally.

Are You A Great Conductor?
If not, don't feel badly. You can master anything by reading, asking the right questions, and having the desire to succeed. Most of the artists I know would rather create art than market their work, yet they know they need to seek better ways to sell art. And most of them cannot afford an agent or handler and therefore need to master the art of self-marketing. My goal in 2010 is to make you a better marketer and help you sell more artwork. It's not too late to start composing your score for success now.

Start with the end in mind and begin making a plan for what you want and need to achieve. Let's make 2010 a great year together.

Eric Rhoads

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PS: It's hard to believe we are entering our second year with Artist Advocate Magazine. We have helped many artists boost their careers and sell more artwork by connecting them with galleries. Several artists we've helped sold more artwork in 2009 than they ever anticipated. We would be honored to help you secure an art gallery. We place the magazine in the hands of 6,500 art galleries around the country (and some outside the country). Our next issue deadline is rapidly approaching. If you wish to learn more, contact one of these very qualified individuals and they will work hard to make 2010 a great success:

Kathleen Lawrence-Davis ([email protected])

530-934-3687

Lisa Freedman ([email protected])

914-907-9842

Peggy Taylor ([email protected])

828-628-9021

If you haven't watched our video , you can view it here. OR visit us at www.artistadvocatemagzine.com

10 Secrets To Sell Art In A Down Economy

By art publisher and marketing expert B. Eric Rhoads

If you're an artist blessed with a marketing gene, you may already know these secrets. Yet as I communicate with over 40,000 artists in my art marketing blog, I find that most have never heard them.
 
I hear from artists every day. Most tell me they are not selling as much artwork as last year. Some tell me they are prospering. The difference is that those who are successful understand these 10 basic secrets:
 
1. Attitude Determines Your Success:
I'm not talking about positive-thinking hocus-pocus. But when I interview successful people, they all have one thing in common: "I made up my mind that I'm not going to let this recession impact me." This is a CRITICAL step. Most of us give ourselves an out by telling ourselves that it's OK to fail because everyone else is. To succeed, you cannot think like everyone else. I have a giant sign in my office that reads: "2010 Is Our Best Year Yet." Note the use of the word IS -- not will be. It's important to train your subconscious mind to believe that it is. I have to look at it daily and not let myself off the hook.

2. Develop and Follow a Strategy:
You wouldn't take a road trip without a map, yet most artists don't have a road map for their art business. Most don't like to look at themselves as businesses, but as artists. But if you rely on income from your art sales, you are in business.

A critical element is to create a business plan. Put it in writing and mark the milestones on a calendar. Hold yourself accountable and look ahead. If you're about to miss a milestone, don't let yourself off the hook.
 
Your plan needs to include:
• Your financial goal (after taxes)
• Exactly how many pieces you must sell to hit that goal, and at what price point
• In what ways you will sell your art

Develop a list of tactics and build them into your plan.
 
3. Make Money While You Sleep:
How can you make money while you sleep? The key is to find ways your art can sell without your having to manage the process. You're just one person. How can you get several people viewing it and selling your art? The more sales agents selling your work, the better. Galleries, for example, are sales agents.
 
4. Stand in a River of Flowing Money:
Where is money already flowing? Go there! If one city is selling a lot of art and another is not, target a gallery or a means of selling in the city where sales are taking place. A big New York City gallery opened a location in Beijing during the Olympics because of the influx of money there, and because so many Chinese were buying art. Art is selling well in some places. Find out where, and find a way to get your art there.
 
5. Price to the Market Without Dropping Your Value:
I never recommend lowering prices because it's hard to raise them again. But many artists know that when money is tight, it's easier to sell a less expensive painting. Many artists are creating smaller works. One artist I know is creating one small painting a day and selling the paintings on eBay (under an assumed name) for $100 each. He sells almost every one, and is generating an extra $2,000 a month. He is also painting fewer large works, but his galleries are moving the small ones.
 
6. Increase Visibility:
Seek every opportunity to increase your visibility as an artist. It increases the odds of getting noticed. Bottom line: More bait in the water equals more fish on the hook. Work hard to generate publicity from local, regional, and national publications and websites. Take an active role on Facebook and Twitter. Post new works that have not been seen before. Send e-mails and new-painting notifications to collectors, and expand your build. Place ads in publications. You need to be seen MORE when times are worse because you need to reach more potential buyers.
 
7. Repetition Works. I Repeat. Repetition Works:
I've been a marketing guy for many years, and the most critical marketing lesson is that ONE impression does not sell. People may see your ad or story, but they won't remember it. They may intend to respond, but they forget. That's why you see the same ads over and over on television. Repetition works. Single impressions do not. Repeat your message over and over.
 
8. Expand Your Market:
Do you consider yourself local, national, or international? If you only sell in your town or region, you're limiting yourself to local cycles. If you can get into more cities and art centers nationwide and worldwide, the increased exposure will lead to more sales.
 
9. Get Creative:
Get some friends together and brainstorm. Make a list of 100 ways you can sell paintings. You say there aren't 100 ways, but there are. Force yourself not to stop until you get to 100. Don't judge anything. Write every idea down, then start trying some you've never done. Creative approaches will make you stand out.
 
10. Build Your Brand:
Every product is a brand. You, the artist, need to be a brand. When people know brands and know what that brand stands for, over time they develop trust. Trust often equals a purchase. You trust McDonald's for consistent food anywhere in the world. Though this goes along with visibility, find ways to reinforce the things you think people need to know or remember about your artwork. "Jill's paintings are...." or "Bob's photographs are...." Advertising and publicity can build your brand, but it's best if you control the way the brand is perceived.

You can also do branding with Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. Be careful to build the brand in a positive way. For instance, if every Facebook entry shows you with a bottle of absinthe in your hand, it may send the wrong signal (or the right one, if you feel the bad-boy, Van Gogh approach is your image). Start with what you want your image to be, and find ways to reinforce that focus.
 
The Harsh Reality of Recession
It's true. Fewer artworks are selling. Yet every day I hear reports of artwork sold at all price levels. Guess who is selling the artwork that is being purchased? The artists who are working to remain visible. Most artists shrink back during tough times, when they should be working harder to be seen.

Yes, it takes guts. Yes, it's hard work. Yes, there is risk. But consider the alternatives. The rewards are worth it.

Make up your mind to make a plan, stick with it, and be accountable to it.

Eric Rhoads
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Join 40,000 artists who are reading my art marketing blog. Please sign up today.
 
PS: My friend Charlie met his financial goals for 2009 because he made up his mind to succeed and he made a plan. He doubled the number of galleries he is in with his ad in Artist Advocate, a magazine I publish that connects artists to 6,500 galleries. We would be honored to help you land more galleries. Watch this two-minute video.

PPS: The next issue of Artist Advocate deadlines November 11. The people listed below can help you find out if this is right for you.
 

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Watch this two-minute video: