I’m generally more successful coaching younger artists in selling their art than middle age artists.

This doesn’t mean that I haven’t succeeded in helping middle age artists or that a middle age artist can’t be successful. In fact, I made the leap into a full time art enterprise at age 39.

But it was just nagging me why artists who already know that the art establishment is broken and that it is not working for them, still resist change and don’t just embrace the entrepreneurial approach to selling their art that is Artists Who THRIVE.

I’m attending to the 2013 World Domination Summit so I’m reading one of the founder’s books, Art of Non-Conformity, by Chris Guillebeau. 

Chris’s story about the five monkeys struck me as the explanation that I was searching for.

This story is straight out of the book. It goes like this. 

Five monkeys are thrown in a cage by a sadistic monkey-hater. 

Enough food and water is available at the bottom of the cage, saving them from starvation while forcing them to lead a boring life of staring through the glass every day. The food at the bottom is bad, but sufficient. 

At the top of the cage, however, a large stalk of bananas alluringly waits. 

Conveniently, a ladder to the top has been provided by the sadist.

After getting over the shock of being caged, one of the monkeys scales the ladder and reaches for a banana. 

All of a sudden a fire hose appears from nowhere. 

The monkey at the top of the ladder is soaked with cold water, but not only him- all of the other monkeys are soaked as well, in an exercise of group punishment for the sins of one freedom-loving monkey. 

Over the next few days the experience repeats itself several times. 

One monkey makes a run for the bananas, the whole troop of monkeys gets soaked, and pretty soon the group starts beating up any monkey brave enough to scale the ladder. 

The bananas are still at the top, but just out of reach.  The monkeys reluctantly accept the fate of living a life without bananas.

Then one day the experiment changes. 

The sadist takes one monkey out of the cage and replaces him with another one. 

Not knowing the consequence of being doused with cold water, the new monkey immediately begins to scale the ladder in pursuit of a banana, the rest of the monkeys pull her down before she reaches the top, and the troop settles in again.

The next day another monkey is replaced, and then another, and the process repeats itself: the new monkey lunges for the bananas, gets pull down, and adapts. 

After five days, no monkey from the original troop remains, and no monkey has ever been soaked with cold water- but every monkey knows they are not supposed to climb the ladder. 

One of the monkeys finally asks, “Hey, why can’t we eat the bananas?” 

The others shrug their shoulders and say, “We’re not sure-we just know we can’t.”  (pp.16-17)

Change requires energy, focus, and support.  What is your SMARTER goal?  Who are the monkeys around you?  Are they supporting you?  Or are they beating you up?

Ask yourself, “Am I holding back in selling my art because I secretly need permission or approval?”

Now please share this post with a supportive monkey.

Kate Bradley, an artist from Memphis who I coach, just received a commission for a painting.

That’s not really big news. She receives commissions all the time now. 

The thing that’s so wonderful about this particular painting commission is how it came to her.

It’s always a good idea to get work experience before graduating, so Kate served an internship in a local art gallery while earning her art degree.

Upon graduation she submitted her portfolio to this art gallery in the hope of securing representation. She was on a first name basis with the art gallery owner so it was certainly worth a shot.

Do you want to hear what Kate heard from the art gallery about her art portfolio submission for a year and half? Click here

Sound familiar?

But last week, the art gallery who didn’t bother to get back to Kate, actually referred a collector to her who commissioned a painting. 

Here’s the beautiful thing about that referral. Kate will not be consigning her work and crossing her fingers and hoping that she’ll be paid.

She’ll be paid up front. And she’ll be keeping 100% of the money, not 50%, so she can relax. 

This relaxation frees her mind to be more creative and productive.

I’m not taking all of the credit here. It’s Kate’s hard work and focus that is earning her success. 

With her newly found business savvy she’s become a much more confident young woman who enjoys more creative freedom and inspiration, and more profit.

You may be thinking. That’s great. How does that apply to me? What can I do?

Know that it is possible to earn a decent living as a fine artist. This really is the first big step. 

We are so conditioned to believe that we must “struggle” or “starve” that we set ourselves up for it.

1. Take out a piece of paper and write down every self-limiting and negative thought you have about selling your art.  Everything.  Dump it.
2. Take a break and then go back to your list.
3. One belief at a time, ask yourself “is this really true?”
4. Answer.
5. Ask, is the answer really true?
6. Repeat the interrogation until you exhaust the question. “Is this really true?”

The result. You’ll find out what unnecessary self-limiting beliefs are rattling around in your head about selling your art and what obstacles you actually must face.

We don’t succeed alone. Share this exercise with a friend. Do it together. 

I’ve just finished up the first draft of a new book I’ve written called “101 Rules of Selling Art,” prerequisite reading for my upcoming 8-week guided online business course, “Making Art/Making Money.”

As I sat in front of this monitor enumerating 101 rules of selling art, I thought, wait a minute; why not ask 10 artists who I have coached to send me the top 10 things they have learned about selling art?

Each artist’s response was very affirming and really helped focus and edit the book.

So many lessons stand out but the inspiration for this post is a music-selling lesson from musician Daniel Barrett in Austin, Texas, “The weekly check-ins were a rigorous form of accountability. Keep agreements!!” 

As an artist I relish my freedom.  But complete freedom is a double edge sword. The goods news is that I’m not accountable to anyone but myself.  The bad news is that I’m not accountable to anyone but myself. 

The only solution that solves this double edge dilemma is to commit to a SMARTER goal and to have a Master Mind, a coach, or colleagues to hold you accountable and offer encouragement.

But we artists exist mostly in isolation.  And too often when artists do congregate rather than focus on a specific goal, they complain.

Years ago I attended an artist “support group” in Sacramento. I went and I never returned. It was a complete bitch fest. Everyone complained about not making enough money. Complaining without exploring solutions is the opposite of support.

To be fair, these artists had no clue how to make money from their fine art and they where assuming that the traditional scarcity and permission based art establishment was there only viable option. 

Even though this meeting was a drag the experience made me realize that I never wanted to behave like they did.

Here’s your assignment, should you choose to accept it.

Your success can be defined by the average of 5 people you spend the most time with. 

1. Ask yourself. Are these people the kind of successful you admire? 
2. Are they honest and do they care enough about you that they are willing to risk your friendship to hold you accountable?
3. Do you all keep your agreements to one another?
4. What is your contract with yourself? 
5. Do you have one SMARTER goal that you are working towards each day?
6. Who are you accountable to? No one? Anyone?
7. Do you hold yourself accountable?

 If you need help with this, you’re invited to apply for the one-on-one coaching program.

Please note, time is limited.  One-on-one coaching will be unavailable after the launch of “Making Money Making Art” online course.

This New Yorker magazine cartoon by William Haefeli’s made me LOL.

This cartoon offers us a great teaching moment because it’s illustrating what most artists have been led astray to believe. “It’s all about me and my creative process.” 

All of this emphasis on creative “process” in art school is why we are stuck with long self-involved artist’s statements that go on and on. 

Here’s what I tell the artists I coach.  “The first thing that you are going to have to learn if you want to sell your art, is that it’s not about you, it’s about them. Them being art collectors. The more you make it about them, the more it will become about you.”

In other words, the more you serve your collectors by providing value, the more you will benefit by their collecting.

It’s not that collectors are not curious about an artist’s creative process; it’s just that this is not what triggers a collector to buy your art.

They are buying your art because it makes them feel.  You are selling feelings. Yes. That’s right. Not objects.

What feelings you ask?  Ask your collectors.  “How does my art make you feel?” 

Ask yourself.  How does art make you feel?

• Why do you listen to a song over and over again?
• Why do you anticipate a new designer’s collection? 
• Why do you look through a volume of your favorite artist’s work? 

Some art collectors will struggle with articulating how they feel.  Why?  Because many people struggle expressing their feelings. I know that’s not news to you.

If a collector can’t articulate their “feelings” they can often talk about what the song, the painting, the hand made ring “means” to them.

Buying investment grade art on the secondary market is not what we are talking about here. Obviously there are financial motivations at play. Art appraisals and provenance is relevant to this category of art.

Artists Who THRIVE is not about artist’s estates.  Those artists are dead. They are not thriving… anymore. 

Artists Who THRIVE is about serving living, entrepreneurial, emerging artists.  Whatever “emerging” means. I prefer “arriving.”

So your assignment is clear.  Ask yourself. 

• What am I selling?
• How do you express what you are selling?
• What do your collectors say about why they are buying your art?

If you are still not 100% sure of what you are selling, you need to get clear.

Why? Because if you don’t know what you are selling it’s going to be near impossible for your collectors to guess.

If you are struggling with this assignment then book a consult.

If I have made my success as a nationally recognized artist look easy, I invite you to look again.

I have had big fat failures just as I have had successes. 

And guess what?  They each kicked my butt.  

Allow me to spill the beans. I’ve jotted down my five fattest failures and disappointments and what I eventually learned from each.

1. Having two major wineries welsh on a written agreement within one year, leaving me with 112 original oil paintings and no productive venue to sell them.

What did I learn?  If you are a small business and you become dependent on one major client, the lack of diversification can bring you down, and quickly.

Even with a written agreement and trust in place, if the other party does not keep up their end of the bargain, you must be in a position to sustain it or it may not be worth the risk.

2. Ignoring my intuition and just “thinking” that I could help two artist clients in my coaching program who then failed.

What did I learn?  Never ever ignore my intuition, even if it doesn’t make sense. Intuition often doesn’t make sense but it is very strong and reliable.

3. Relying on very expensive services from bookkeepers and CPAs to keep accurate and timely financial records only for them to make a mess of my books.

What did I learn? I am the best minder of my money.  Giving away this responsibility and not having a clear understanding of my bookkeeping is very dangerous and expensive.  No one will ever care about my money like I care.

4. Avoiding sales by focusing on marketing and painting.

What did I learn? We all prefer to do what we are good at and feel comfortable with but this is not necessarily to our advantage nor the highest priority.  After I received sales training, I got better and I liked it much more.

5. Ignoring my personal values by continuing to focus on a value proposition around a wine country lifestyle that does not resonate with me as it once did.

What did I learn? Creating inspiration is my primary purpose as an artist. I can only inspire others when I am inspired. So now I am embarking on a new body of work this year and I’m excited again about my art.

Where did you, or where are you, failing?

Take action.  Take a moment to journal and list your failures.  Spill it. Cry. Scream.  Beat your pillow. 

Then take a break.  Return and ask.  “What did I learn?” 

Our failures inform our successes.

If you are reluctant to do this exercise, invite a trusted friend to do it with you.

If you are stuck and you do not know what you have learned and or how to move forward, book a phone consult.

What do you do when you are offered an opportunity for almighty “exposure” of your art?

The short answer.  Find out how real it is. 

The long answer…

This year, I was invited by a Four Seasons property to install my work in their lobby. It sounded great but it became very clear that their large organization has a lot of moving parts with shifting priorities and personnel. 

So I knew that I, not them, would have to put a very clear written agreement in place to protect the “opportunity” and preserve my professional relationships.

When you are offered an opportunity for “exposure” the first questions to ask are:

1. Are these seemingly generous folks really looking for something for nothing?
2. Are they asking you to pay for the privilege of exposure? 
3. Is there some real opportunity for access to your target market that’s not just based on a hope and a prayer?
4. Have they taken an attitude that they are doing you a tremendous favor? Beware.

Businesses pay for access to target markets all of the time in the form of advertising or sponsorships.

So there’s nothing wrong with paying for the price of admission, if you are clear on the actual or potential return on your investment.

But in business, just as in life, if you are going to give something away, know what you are getting in return.

Nothing is free. Now if it’s a charitable cause that you really just want to support, give away, as long as it doesn’t discount your brand or confuse the value of your work.

Whatever you do, do not misconstrue a real charitable donation with a hope of a business opportunity.

If it is going to involve your time, your brand, your intellectual property, or your art, you are involving your business assets. 

So put your business hat on and outline the following in writing:

• Risks
• Opportunities
• Costs
• Time line
• Responsibilities

Make sure that it will be obvious that your work is for sale and how someone can acquire it.

Have a clear discussion and then confirm your understanding in writing. 

Why? Because if you don’t put agreements in writing you operating on a less than professional level and you are leaving room for unnecessary misunderstanding. 

And you know that it is miscommunication that is most often the cause of conflict. So why go there? Get it in writing.

If the other party is resisting documenting and signing your agreement just ask them why. 

They may have a legitimate concern about the agreement that you must still work through. 

Or their resistance could be a big fat red flag that you need to walk away.

Be diplomatic.  Have a conversation. Be collaborative.

Discuss openly how each side will benefit. If you can’t converse clearly about how each side is benefiting you have a threat, not an opportunity.

Don’t ever come from a place of scarcity. When you come from scarcity some people will smell it and they will take full advantage of you.

Artists too often are prey to these hyenas. But not you. You are business savvy!

My experience has taught me that when one door closes two more will immediately or eventually open.

Always be willing to walk.

If you know an artist who is wondering if they have an opportunity or not, share this post below.

If you are wondering if you have an opportunity or not, book a consult.  It could save you serious time and money.

Last week as I was driving over the hilly streets of San Francisco running errands with my former intern, a recent illustration graduate from the San Francisco Art Academy, she talked about her frustrations with starting freelance work and her struggles trying to establish herself as a professional. 

So I asked, “Do you have a website yet?”  No.

“Do you have a domain?” No.

“A business plan?” No.

“A marketing plan?” No.

“And why the heck not!?”  (Actually, I know her well enough to drop the ‘F ‘bomb but I’ll be polite.)

Her response. I don’t know. I guess I just don’t even know where to start.

“You mean they didn’t cover any of this in art school?”  No. 

Why am I surprised?

So I remembered.  I once didn’t know where to start. I didn’t even understand the lingo. So let me break it down. 

To launch an ecommerce site you will need to secure seven main entities and they will need to shake hands electronically. 

1. Domain registration/an address for your store
2. Ecommerce site/the store itself
3. Web hosting company/a space to lease your store
4. Merchant services/ a cash register
5. Bank account/place to send the money
6. email marketing system/system to keep in touch with your customers
7. Google analytics/on-line traffic measuring

If you know this stuff.  Good for you.  You’re ahead of the curve. But other artists may not, so please share this post below.

First things first. You really don’t want a website if you want to sell your art. 

You need an ecommerce site. Why?  Because an ecommerce of site has the functionality to automatically transact sales on-line.

If you just have a website, you have a store without a cash register. 

Why bother when you can make money 24/7.  My favorite moments are when I wake up to online orders that happened while I was sleeping.

Now imagine.  You should be good at this.  What if you had a real store or gallery filled with your art work? You know.  One made of “brick and mortar.”

Now we are just going to translate those elements of a real store into an electronic version.

1. Imagine an easy to find location for your store, an address.  That’s your domain.  My domain is annrea.com. 
2. Imagine your store filled with specific inventory and signage. That is your eCommerce site.  Just like a house you can build it anyway you want.  Using a WordPress ecommerce template is one way.  As a matter of fact, annrea.com is being rebuilt in WordPress now.
3. Imagine you need a landlord to lease your store space. That would be a web hosting company. 
4. Imagine you need staff to deposit the funds out of your cash register and into your bank account.  That would be a payment gateway provider like Authorize.net or PayPal.
5. Imagine your bank account. May sound obvious but you need pick one and direct your merchant services to it.
6. Imagine your store opening.  You need to announce it and get visitors to keep coming back.  For this you will need an email marketing system.
7.  Imagine knowing you who is visiting your site, where they are from, and knowing what specific are shelves of inventory they are browsing through.  That’s what Google Analytics will do for you.

Word to the wise. An eCommerce site is an extension of a marketing plan and that is a product of a clear business plan. 

Too many artists rush to create a website without first building critical underlying business and marketing strategies.

 Time is money. That means you are incurring opportunity costs if you don’t yet have an eCommerce site.

So get crakin’!  The longer you you wait to define your business objectives and draw a clear road map, the more potential sales you are loosing out on.

If you need help with your business plan or marketing plan, I know I did, study up!

Or you can take the faster path to cash and book a consultation or apply for one-on-one coaching today.

4. Passionate about art and Profit

If you are an artist passionate about your art, you are in the majority. 

If you are passionate about art and business, you are in a rare and a fortunate minority who stand a chance at making a profitable enterprise from their creative expression.

If you are not interested in business and marketing, what are you doing here?

Personally, I find business just as creative and satisfying as painting.

I like marketing so very much that I dedicate every Monday to cooking up business and marketing strategies for other creatives.

In fact, it is my passion for business that fueled the creation of my upcoming online business course for artists, Making Art/Making Money. And, if I hear “starving artist” one more time I’m going to scream.

Think the artist’s and the entrepreneur’s personality profiles are incompatible?  Think again. 

The most successful entrepreneurs are highly imaginative. Think Steve Jobs.

The only subject Jobs studied in college was typography. The beautiful and elegant designs of all things Apple is a reflection of his keen interest in the Japanese Zen aesthetic.

5. Emotional Intelligence

The biggest indicator of success and happiness is EI (Emotional Intelligence). 

The good news about EI is that unlike your IQ (Intellectual Quotient), which you are pretty much stuck with, your EI can be elevated.  

Because art is personal, and rejection can sting harder, a high degree of EI is required to persist.

6. Ability to Focus

Last but not least. Since you will be shifting from creator to entrepreneur you need the ability to shift gears and focus.

Too many artists think that somehow they are separate. One painter I consulted with remarked about me, “You are an entrepreneur first and artist second.”  I replied. “Really? Actually, I am proudly both.” 

Each ability resides within me.  They are not separate aspects of myself with a hierarchy.  Jeez! I have my work cut out for me.

If you are a surgeon with your own practice you are an entrepreneur and a surgeon. 

If you are a plumber who owns his or her own business, you are an entrepreneur and a plumber. It’s that simple.  And it is possible!

So you must focus on the business side of your enterprise as expertly as you focus on the creative side. 

If you are serious about building a creative enterprise, you must pay the minimum price of admission.

First, the minimum price will tap some financial resources because you have to spend money on your business to make money. 

Second, the higher currency required comes from your internal resources. 

1. Cohesive and unique body of talented work

First things first. If you want to sell art, you’ll need some to sell. 

I always ask artists, “How much work do you have?”  and I sometimes get, “Oh, only a few pieces right now.” If that’s the case, it’s time to get back to the studio.

There is an old adage in retail, “Stack ‘em high and watch ‘em buy.”  I’m not suggesting that you can sell art just because you have inventory. 

I am emphasizing that you will need a credible amount of cohesive art to take advantage of sales opportunities and to confidently demonstrate your creative direction.

2. Productivity

You had better be productive. Once that inventory is sold you’ll need more to satisfy demand. 

If you suffer from creative blocks you’ll need to up your EI, (Emotional Intelligence) before you embark on a business venture to sell your art.

Don’t know how to balance creative time and business time?  Keep it simple.  Divide the day in half. Mornings are my business time, afternoons are my creative time. 

If I’m in high creative or business development gear this balance shifts.  Right now I’m mainly in business development gear because I’m promoting a new marketing program.

Note, there is nothing more motivating or inspiring to me than selling my art. I can’t wait to go make more.

3. Left-brain & right brain shifting ability

In Daniel Pink’s book a “Whole New Mind”, he breaks down our current economy, the “conceptual economy”, and he profiles the rise of the creative class.

When you delve deeper into the book he explains that the economic future actually belongs to those who can shift back and forth and integrate creativity and logic.  You’ll need both. 

I once heard a very left-brain colleague from the National Speaker’s Association say “I’m not creative.” My response, “That’s ridiculous, of course you are.  That’s like saying I’m not logical.”  It’s not an either or proposition, we each possess two hemispheres in our brains.

Tune in next week for the other three of six readiness factors for selling art.

The Ancient Greek aphorism “Know Thyself” was inscribed in the pronaos of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.

“Know thyself” is a warning to pay no attention to the opinion of the multitude.

When someone asks you, “What do you do?”  They are asking who are you. How do you answer them? 

“I’m a painter.” “A house painter?”  “No, an artist.”  “Oh.” 

This kind of introduction fails to land and so no connection is made.

When you introduce yourself by describing the primary tool that you use in your artistic craft, you say nothing about what you really do or what value you bring to the world.

That’s really what people want to know. 

For example, if you introduce yourself by saying, “I’m an abstract oil painter,” I guarantee that you will lose most of your audience.

Why? Because people who buy art are mostly not artists. You need to help them connect. 

“What do you do?” How do you answer this question?  It’s vital to your art sales. 

Why? Because your number one source of business is going to come from face to face networking and referrals.

That means you will need to verbally convey, clearly and succinctly, the value you bring. 

An artist’s statement will not help you.

I have yet to read an artist’s statement that doesn’t make me cringe.  But I’m open to reading a really good one.  So if you have one, please post it below. 

Who was John Singer Sargent?

He was an uber networked and cultured member of the British aristocracy.

What value did John Singer Sargent Sargent bring to his target market?

He elevated his patron’s status in society.

Who was Andy Warhol?

He was a devote of celebrity and a celebrant of mainstream American consumerism. 

What value did Andy Warhol bring his target market?

He reflected our values back to us including celebrity worship.

Who was Thomas Kinkade?

He was a conservative born again Christian.

What value did Thomas Kinkade bring his target market?

He affirmed his collectors’ “family values” and delivered his message in accessible mainstream distribution channels.

Who are you?  What unique value do you bring?

If you want art collectors to know your unique value, you had better know.