Got a question? Ask me!

Written by Ann Rea on . Posted in Got a question? Ask Ann!

Go ahead, page down to the bottom and ask me!

I’ll do my best to answer based on my experience.

The more specific your question the better. “How do I become a famous artist?” That’s difficult to post an answer. “Where do I start to learn more about copyright?” That I can answer!

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Comments (260)

  • colleen attara

    |

    Ann,

    We have talked about my unique selling proposition, which I believe is that I am using mostly recycled materials in my work, including paint. But people continually tell me my work makes them happy as it is very bright and whimsical. So I am wondering if my USP can have 2 parts…..”happy” and “recycled”?

    Colleen

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    Hi Colleen,

    Your getting closer. Just dig a little deeper.

    Answer this question: If you buy this “product” you will get this specific benefit? The proposition must be one that no one else offers. It must be unique.

    Does this help?

    Ann

    Reply

  • colleen attara

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    Ann, yes that helps! I printed your answer so i can reflect upon it.

    Another question. As we talked about, I am having my artwork put on tiles (that will have dimension, like my artwork) for a client. I am working with a designer. Per your suggestion, I am having her and the 2 artists that will transfer my work on tile, sign something protecting my intellectual property so that it cannot not be reproduced. Although I bought the 2 business books you suggested, I cannot find a form that says what I need it to say. Any websites you suggest that would have such a form?

    Colleen

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    What books do you have?

    The book I mention in my post on licensing has forms and several chapters dedicated to licensing, “Graphic Design Guild’s Pricing and Ethical Guidelines.”

    Remember that full protection is two fold. You must register your images with the Library of Congress within 30 days of the first reproduction, that includes display on your website, then you must have the licensee sign a “single use” licensing agreement.

    Reply

  • Mike

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    Its only recently that I’ve begun to show my work. I did several small shows around the country to good reviews and a few of awards. By the time I return home, the money and accolade(s) essentially only serve to pay for the trip. How do I reach out to get noticed by people who can help me make a difference?

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    Mike,

    Essentially what your asking is how do I define a unique selling proposition, identify potential markets, and create sales channels.

    That’s a very broad question that I’m afraid I can’t answer in one brief reply here.

    -Ann

    Reply

  • Virginia

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    Hi Ann,

    Do you print your own reproductions? What type of printer do you use and do you have a paper you prefer?

    Thanks Ann!

    Cheers
    Ginny

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    Hi Virginia,

    Yes. I print my own fine art prints on an Epson large format printer.

    Ann

    Reply

  • Virginia

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    Ann,

    Can you give us some information on why you bought your particular printer (and the model number etc), the type of paper you use and why, and why you print your own reproductions please?

    Thanks
    Ginny

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    Ginny,

    My printer is older model, the information is irrelevant.

    You have to look at the large format printers, find out how much the ink cost, get the warranty details and figure out how wide you want to print.

    Go to a dealer, get a demo, and then shop for price.

    Ann

    Reply

  • floyd smith

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    Dear Ann. I’m a Texas artist, and have been one for more then twenty five years, and have sold some
    some of my paintings over the years. But would like to know how to make more sales. What is email marketing? And in what way does this help an artist sale more art? Have you heard of icontact.com?
    If you look at my website, what do I need to do to improve it? Do I need to have a newsletter, and would
    this bring more people in to look at my art. Would it help to get a photo myself on the site? Here in Texas, two art galleries have closed in the past year. Only the ones I know about. One of these was representing me for about a year, and the owner had to close down, and from what I can see, there were not enough people coming in to keep her open. And she was a very well known New York artist/gallery owner. For many years I’ve always wanted to get my art into an art gallery, but now see this can sometimes be a problem, because some galleries are going out of business. As a well known artist as yourself, is gallery representation the only way to go, or I’m I looking at this all wrong. As for me, having some of my art in a gallery could be good for me, but would like more sales in other ways that I don’t know about. This is why I’m writing to you. Hope You can help to open my eyes. Thanks.

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    Hi Floyd,

    The first six of the seven common mistakes apply to your site. You do have an email sign up box. That begs the next question, what is your email marketing strategy?

    I’m guessing your website sales are relatively low?

    Until you make changes to your on-line store, your on-line sales will not change.

    Does this help?

    Ann

    Reply

  • James Willney

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    Under recommended readings, The View from the Studio Door by Ted Orland and The Shape of Content by Ben Shahn are pretty good reads. Just an idea.

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    Thank you James. “Art and Fear” by Ted Orland happens to be required reading for all of my artist clients.

    Reply

  • Paula Christen

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    I’ve been invited to show at my town’s wine festival in June. I’ve sold at farmers/artists markets before, but this event doesn’t strike me as the same type of potential client. Aside from great art, what would you suggest to optomize this opportunity to introduce my work to this new group.
    And thank you for sharing your artist-business insights. It is so needed!
    Best regards, Paula

    Reply

  • Ron

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    Ann, I am a business owner (Woodworking supplies) , Fairly good artist and big fan of The E-Myth. I feel it’s time to make my art my business and would like any suggestions on how to phase out of my current business and phase into my art business? Tell me there is a road map for this, because doing it Cold Turkey is not an option my wife would understand. Thanks Ron

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    Hi Ron,

    You are actually ahead of the game because you are a business owner and you understand the value of the E-Myth approach.

    I coach artist’s from all over the globe by phone on Mondays. I do this because I am passionate about the business of art and I plan to profile select artist clients in a book on the business and marketing of art.

    We develop their individual road map. You can learn more here and apply for an initial complimentary consultation.

    https://artistswhothrive.com/get-coached/

    Cheers,

    Ann

    Reply

  • Laura

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    How do you start? I just graduated with my BA from Mills in Studio Art, I want only to make art as a career, but I have no idea how or where to start. How do I determine my target audience? I make natural pieces, and like to focus on textures and techniques in painting and sculpture. I like to explore universal topics and reveal the essences of our lives. I also enjoy portraiture. How do I begin, and how can I outreach to be commissioned?
    Thank You!

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    Laura,

    Sadly that question should have been answered for you before your graduated. And that is why I founded ArtistsWhoTHRIVE.

    I wish I could answer your question in the space of an email but I don’t know you or your work. So that’s why I offer one-on-one coaching by application.

    Interestingly enough, the Dean of the business school at Mills ask me to help develop the future curriculum for an MBA program for the arts.

    But I can say this. You have to start with a body of work that expresses a unique aesthetic that is yours alone.

    Does that help?

    Ann

    Reply

  • Cassandra Tondro

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    Hi Ann,

    Do you have a provider that you recommend for online credit card processing — what they call a gateway?

    I’m turning my website into an e-commerce site, and am looking for gateway options. I could use PayPal for free, but it’s a little clunky. There are hundreds of other gateways available, and I’m wondering which one you use.

    Thanks!

    Best,
    Cassandra

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    HI Cassandra,

    I use the small business credit card processing services available through my Costco Executive membership. There may be better options but at the time I was looking this was the best I could find.

    We are developing a turn key eCommerce solution for artists so please stay tuned.

    Cheers,

    Ann

    Reply

  • Cassandra Tondro

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    Thanks for the info, Ann. It doesn’t look like Costco offers a gateway, so I’m guessing that you process the transactions manually, through a terminal, or something similar. I’m in the same situation with my merchant account through North American Bancard. No gateway, which means I can process the transactions manually, not in real time, or use some other service, like PayPal.

    I look forward to seeing your turnkey eCommerce solution.

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    I use Authorize.net as my payment gateway. The website interface is not real time and that works just fine for me.

    I’ll keep you posted on the eCommerce solution for artists.

    Reply

  • Cassandra Tondro

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    I hope you don’t find this question to be off-topic! I’m not knowledgeable about fashion and clothes, nor am I a shopper. Can you recommend a store or a type of store where I can go to find one good outfit for business and networking meetings? What clothes and shoes should I be looking for? Thanks!

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    Go to Nordstroms and make an appointment with a personal stylist. It’s free.

    Tell them what the occasion is and your budget. Ask them to help you with the whole look, clothes, shoes, and accessories. Do not let them sell you on anything that you are not completely comfortable in and feel energized by wearing.

    This is an important investment. You’re interviewing in this outfit when you’re networking. And it will make you feel confident.

    Even if you don’t buy from them you will have a clear vision of current fashions that suit you best.

    Reply

  • Cassandra Tondro

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    Hi Ann,

    I just got back from Nordstrom’s and my appointment with a personal stylist there. It was fabulous! My usual shopping experience involves wandering aimlessly through dozens of stores, and not finding anything I like. My personal stylist spent 2-1/2 hours with me pulling everything from suits to pants and flowing tops to shoes. I gave her free reign, and she chose colors I never would have tried that look great on me. I bought two complete outfits that look good and make me feel confident when I’m wearing them.

    Thanks so much for the great suggestion! It was definitely worth going there.

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    Wonderful! Thank you for posting. Having a styling objective is a bit like having a marketing objective.

    Reply

  • Andrea

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    Hi Ann :0)

    What do you suggest is the best way to market your work once it has an eCommerce site in place? I’ve been told that Facebook and other social networking sites are the way to go, but that just isn’t me…Any other suggestions?

    My niche is childrens illustration and my dream would be to license them on all sorts of products (clothing, room decor, toys, etc) but I feel like I’m stuck in a rut…I’ve reached out to a couple art licensing agents both who said they loved my work but couldn’t take on new artists at this time. Is an agent necessary or would you suggest I go about this another way…I don’t know who to I should contact. I genuinely feel I have a gift and that my work would be a tremendous success, but am really overwhelmed and don’t know how to make this a reality…Any suggestions are much appreciated!!! Thank you so much!

    Sincerely,
    Andrea

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    Hi Andrea,

    I suggest that you start by creating products and or prints with your images and selling them yourself on an eCommerce site, where you have the least overhead and the widest reach.

    When you have demonstrated your value and refined your target you’ll have folks approaching you to license your work. This is what happened to me. However, I have chosen not to license my intellectual property.

    I can’t really answer a broad question about how to do online marketing in this forum because it’s a big question and it’s different for everyone. But Facebook is a very good place to start.

    Hope that helps.

    Ann

    Reply

  • Floyd Smith

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    Dear Ann Rea:
    Been reading the many things you have to say on your artist website, and very impressed.
    I’ve been on an artist website for more then a year now, but its like its just a place to show my
    work, write comments, maybe get some of my work on their art contests, but have not
    made one sale, and no luck on contest. Sure I’ve met some great artist on the site, made a friend or two, but thats just one of my goals. The most important is to make some sales. I unsubscribed from the
    website today. When I did this, did I loose my domain name? Any way, I need some help from
    you. I know you can be of help, and let me know what I’m doing wrong. Some of my work is on
    facebook. Where do I go from here? My domain name was, worldcolorsartstudio.com
    Does it still belong to me, or did I loose it when I unsubscribled? Sorry for so many questions. Some of
    my work is on facebook. Thanks for your help and have a nice day.
    Floyd Smith.

    Reply

  • Cassandra Tondro

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    Hi Ann,

    I saw the other day that you recommended iContact for e-mail list management. There’s one thing that puzzles me, and I don’t see anything about it on the iContact website. If someone signs up for my e-mail list via iContact, am I notified, and do I get their e-mail address? Similarly, if they unsubscribe, am I notified of that? I’m thinking about my master database that I keep on FileMaker Pro, and how I’m going to coordinate it with iContact. Or what if I were to leave iConact and go elsewhere — could I get a copy of the current e-mail list that they have for me?

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

    |

    Hi Cassandra,

    You can set it up so that you are notified, via email, when someone signs up for your email list or when they unsubscribe.

    You can also have several lists. I have lists for art collectors and a list for ArtistsWhoTHRIVE.

    It’s your data so you own it and you can export it any time. I use a .csv file.

    Hope that helps.

    Ann

    Reply

  • Cassandra Tondro

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    Great! Thanks for the info, Ann. I really appreciate this forum for asking questions.

    Best regards,
    Cassandra

    Reply

  • Cassandra Tondro

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    Hi Ann,

    I’m set up now with iContact, and I’m trying to figure out how to manage my lists. I only have two of them, but there’s potential crossover. There are the people who have subscribed to receive my monthly newsletter, and the people who want to receive information about upcoming events, but don’t want the monthly newsletter. No problem keeping two lists, but how do I present this on my website, and how do I manage it? Do I have one sign up for the newsletter, and another signup for upcoming events? And what if they want to be on both lists? It looks confusing to have two different signups, and when there’s an upcoming event, they’ll receive two notifications, because event notices also go to newsletter subscribers.

    I’m sure there’s an easy solution here, but I haven’t found it yet! Thanks for any clarification you can provide on how I can go forward with this.

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    HI Cassandra,

    I think that you might be over complimenting matters. I wouldn’t give online subscribers that many choices and I’d include my event details in the newsletter.

    Make sense?

    Ann

    Reply

  • Cassandra Tondro

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    Hi Ann,

    I do tend to think of every possibility! But there are hundreds of people who want to receive announcements about my events, and don’t want to receive a monthly newsletter.

    I talked to tech support at iContact this morning. There are two ways to accomplish this — multiple lists, or segments within a list. Each has it pros and cons. Multiple lists means more contacts, because some people will be on more than one list. And you’re paying by the number of contacts on your lists. With multiple lists, people can subscribe and unsubscribe just to the list they want to be on.

    Segments means fields within a list that identify different interests. There can be a check box for newsletter, and another for event notify. The down side is that when people unsubscribe, they unsubscribe from the entire list, not just a segment within the list. So if someone doesn’t want the newsletter anymore, they’re also unsubscribing themselves from the event notification.

    It’s tricky, and not perfect, but I’m going to have to work with it.

    Thanks for your reply!

    Best,
    Cassandra

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    We can talk about this during your next coaching session.

    Take care,

    Ann

    Reply

  • Jeff Blackwell

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    Ann,

    I have recently discovered your site, and have found it to be very refreshing.

    I am wondering if you see nay essential differences in online marketing of digital art (such as photography) as opposed to singular works, such as paintings.

    Also, do you think it’s critical to have a custom-built e-commerce site, or am I lickely to have just as much (or more) success selling on a third party site, like imagekind, where I can set up a branded storefront?

    Thanks for your comments.

    Jeff

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    Hi Jeff,

    Why limited yourself? Why not use both? Two stores are better than one.

    Cheers,

    Ann

    Reply

  • Mike Tate

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    Ann,
    Recently I visited an art festival put on by a highly regarded producer. I talked with three artists who skip the “giclee process” of printing their pieces and do it their self with your basic home computor printers such as HP. What do you think about “Giclee” vs. personally printed artwork?

    Mike Tate

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

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    Hi Mike,

    I can’t really comment on their prints without seeing them. They sound cheap but maybe it works for them.

    Ann

    Reply

  • Earlie Fontanetta

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    Heard about this site from my friend. He pointed me here and told me I’d find what I need. He was right! I got all the questions I had, answered. Didn’t even take long to find it. Love the fact that you made it so easy for people like me. More power

    Reply

  • Darcel

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    Ann, I created this project because I want to help the artist movement…How about this?

    AMN 1 page summary.

    Welcome to AMN (art and music news), the iptv/broadcast television/potential CNN of the arts.

    The 24/7 file based broadcast television network will feature an indie film and concert every night, a fully staffed news room airing 4 half-hour broadcasts of art news daily. There will be shows on everything from dance, theatre, entertainment contracts, filmmaking techniques, writer’s block, and kids beyond crayons to tech talk (where art and technology meet).

    AMN will empower all independent artists enabling them to support themselves financially and satisfy their creative calling all without living well below the poverty line.
    The AMN network will organize the entire independent artist community by uniting them all on one network.

    I believe that if one wants to change the world for the better then the first step would be to empower teachers and the second step, empower artist.

    It is my calling to empower all artists and I will do this (with your help) by creating an infrastructure (Global) that will help all artists financially support themselves via the AMN website.

    I also believe artists are the mental health keepers of society.

    Music, paintings, poetry, sculptures and literature are triggers that evoke memories and reflections of events in our lives. If these reference points are removed from our lives (i.e. no art) I believe the world would be in chaos.

    Also, here’s some press on the iptv/broadcast television project.
    AMN (The CNN of the Arts World).

    Here’s a link to the Cover Story in Cine Source Magazine
    https://cinesourcemagazine.com/index.php?/site/comments/soundman_starts_arts_channel

    More press on Sister project (which will implement new technology). Scroll down to January 28th to read the full article
    https://sfdigifilm.wordpress.com/

    Both projects will have a regional plus launch…Entire Bay Area, L.A. N.Y. and Austin. Fan out to National from there.

    Also here’s my film/industry credits: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2069823/

    Thanks,
    Darcel Walker
    More than audio. More than video. More than you’d expect.

    Darcel Walker Phone:
    [email protected] Fax:

    https://funkytiki.com

    Reply

  • Suzanne

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    Hi Ann,

    I learned that you have an upcoming lecture in Alameda. I wanted to find out if this will be geared specifically towards fine artists, or if the marketing strategies you will be presenting would apply to other creative professions? I am an interior designer with more artistic inclination than marketing savvy. I would like to attend if the strategies you’ll discuss would be relevant to me.

    Thanks!

    Suzanne

    Reply

  • Ann Rea

    |

    Hi Suzanne,

    I have, or I’m currently working with, a range of creative professionals, including; painters, glass artists, jewelers, illustrators, photographers, mixed media artists, musicians, and interior designers.

    I hope to see you there.

    Cheers,

    Ann

    Reply

  • Mary Schulte

    |

    This is a really great site and opportunity to share ideas!
    I’ve been at it for decades (am age 62 and just getting started on a new page in life).
    So you’d think I’d know it all by now. Nope. I’ve already learned a ton more from this!
    I’m both a creative writer and artist, and have had some professional success over the years.
    But like Ann, got into the business world (for longer than 7 years!) and put it aside.
    Now I’m doing my creative art and writing on my web site called https://www.fairies-secrets.com —
    soon to link with the online gallery I’m making for my art work, & this info here has been so valuable.
    Like, I’m going to make my web site a little more upscale and elegant.
    I’m already getting lots of traffic to that site, so am ready to do the gallery now.
    I do have a few things to share — some great books I’ve happened upon over the years.
    For those interested in licensing and marketing their work — here are some ideas too:
    “2010 Artist’s & Graphic Designer’s Market” – tells who buys and publishes what; comes out yearly.
    “Licensing Art & Design” by Caryn R. Leland
    “Art Licensing 101″ by Michael Woodward
    “Small Business Operator” by Bernard B. Kamoroff, CPA – fabulous easy guidebook with loads of tips.
    Thanks for this web site, Ann!

    Reply

  • Nataliya

    |

    Hello Ann,

    After yesterday’s seminar on Marketing Strategies for Artists, I realized how important it is to leave a mailing list subscription option not only during my open studio events, but also on my website. Moreover, rather then just collecting emails, I also want take that opportunity to gain more information about the demographic and psychographic profiles of people who express interest in my work. Can you suggest the most essential information fields to ask for from my visitors/current and potential collectors?

    Reply

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