Artists Who THRIVE

Make art and make money, business planning and strategic marketing for artists

This American’s Life as an Artist

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Listen to my interview with Alex Blumberg of NPRs “This American Life” and “Planet Money.”

This week I was in Creative Live’s San Francisco recording studios as a student and not an instructor.

I enrolled in a storytelling course for podcasters taught by Alex Blumberg.

I’ve been listening to Alex for a decade and a half on “This American Life.” So when he chose to interview me, it was a bit surreal.

This disembodied voice was now embodied six inches away from me, holding a microphone, as we reviewed the most significant events in my life.

Examining turning points in my life, while being recorded in front of a worldwide audience, was not something I ever expected to do.

It felt like a life-review it’s said that we experience just after we die and just before we vanish back into stardust.

It was cathartic, therapeutic, and a complete affirmation of why I am so compelled to help other artists.

Down load and listen to this first generation American’s life as an artist.

Maybe you can relate?

If so, please share how. Leave a comment below and share with two friends.

About Ann Rea

Ann Rea is a San Francisco based Artist and Entrepreneur. Her inspired business approach to selling her paintings have been featured on HGTV and the Good Life Project, in Fortune, and The Wine Enthusiast magazines, profiled in the book Career Renegade. Rea’s artistic talent is commended by American art icon, Wayne Thiebaud, and she has a growing list of collectors across North America and Europe.

8 Reasons why Artists Can’t Sell their Art & What to Do About It

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Last week I stated eight reasons why artists can’t sell their art.

But what good is it to identify a problem without a solution?

Here are eight solutions.

  1. Problem: Artists fail to thrive when they do not approach selling their art as a business.

Solution: Determine how much money you want to make selling your art..

Start where you are today. Add up the amount of money you have made to date selling your art and establish an annual sales goal that you can take action on.

  1. Problem: Artists secretly desire that someone will discover them and save them from all of the business mumbo jumbo.

Solution:  If you want to hold on to this fantasy, like I did for a time, that is certainly your prerogative.

Just know that you are choosing an unnecessarily self-limiting false belief.

  1. Problem: Artists think that it’s all about them.

Solution: As I state in my book, “SELL YOUR ART, without Selling Out, 101 Rules,” “It’s not about you, it’s about them, and when you make it about them, then it will be about you.”

“Them” equals your target market.

  1. Problem: Artists think that their artist’s statement is their marketing.

Solution: Rinse and repeat, item #3 above.

  1. Problem: Artists believe that it’s not really possible to earn a decent living so they never fully commit to it.

Solution:  Life is the story you tell yourself.

We look for and we find the evidence required to confirm our beliefs. We are funny this way. Our beliefs define our experience.

Look to artists who are making art and making money and study their examples. Examine what they believe.

  1. Artists lack focus.

Solution:  You need to know your mission. It fuels all of your efforts and get’s you through the highs and the lows of building a creative enterprise.

It is your mission that inspires your fans to buy.

  1. Problem: Artists believe that if they just improve their craft they will eventually be rewarded.

Solution:  Creative talent is the minimum price of admission and at some point your art has to be good enough to sell.

To sell your art you need to improve the craft of your sales and marketing. Just like making art, you will always be improving your sales and marketing skills.

  1. Problem: Artists are not accessing the expertise they need to build their enterprise.

Solution:  You have got to get help. We do not succeed alone.

I am very grateful to have business mentors, advisors, and colleagues. Without them I don’t know where I would be.

If you are looking for a business advisor, make sure that it is someone experienced making art and selling art.

Why? Because business advisors do not understand the very distinct requirements of creating a business plan for selling art.

Join a constructive conversation.

Share two solutions that you employ to sell your art.

 

About Ann Rea

Ann Rea is a San Francisco based Artist and Entrepreneur. Her inspired business approach to selling her paintings have been featured on HGTV and the Good Life Project, in Fortune, and The Wine Enthusiast magazines, profiled in the book Career Renegade. Rea’s artistic talent is commended by American art icon, Wayne Thiebaud, and she has a growing list of collectors across North America and Europe.

8 Reasons why Artists Can’t Sell their Art

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  1. Artists fail to thrive when they do not approach selling their art as a business.

As soon as you slap a price tag on your art, you are in business. Period.

And if you want to succeed in selling your art you will need a current business plan.

Why?

Because a business without a business plan is a plan to do no business.

  1. Artists secretly desire that someone will discover them and save them from all of the business mumbo jumbo.

But. We all know that’s not going to happen.

  1. Artists think that it’s all about them.

Some Artists have no idea what their mission is, or their unique value proposition, and which target market they serve.

Worse is that they don’t know what all that means or how they can go about figuring it out.

  1. Artists think that their artist’s statement is their marketing.

They also mistakenly believe that collectors understand, or even care, what their artist statement means.

I have yet to read an artist’s statement that doesn’t make me cringe. But if you have one that you think I would really enjoy reading. PLEASE. Send it to me. Prove me wrong!

  1. Artists believe that it’s not really possible to earn a decent living so they never fully commit to it.

So, they fail before they really try. I’m the first to admit. I am guilty of this.

  1. Artists lack focus.

“Should I be making art?”

“Should I be starting a blog?”

“Should I be launching a new website?

Yikes!

Artists usually start with the cart before the horse.

They begin by creating a website and a business card before they have written a business plan.

So it’s no surprise that their marketing efforts collapse on themselves and that they are confused about where to focus.

  1. Artists believe that if they just improve their craft they will eventually be rewarded.

By who? They don’t know.

By when? They hope someday soon.

But hope is not a plan.

Creative talent is the minimum price of admission.

The next vital skill set that Artists must master is sales and marketing.

But they don’t teach sales and marketing in art, nor business school.

Of course you can study marketing in business school and learn theory.

But learning marketing in a classroom is like trying to learn how to ride a bike in a seminar.

  1. Artists are not accessing the expertise they need to build their enterprise.

Artists may consult with other artists about how to sell their art. But this is often a case of the blind leading the blind.

Even though artists will pay top dollar for art supplies and equipment and go into enormous amounts of student loan debt, they won’t spend a dime on business education and or consulting.

How are you getting in your own way of selling your art?

What obstacles have you overcome?

Contribute to a constructive conversation.

Add your comment below and share it with two friends.

About Ann Rea

Ann Rea is a San Francisco based Artist and Entrepreneur. Her inspired business approach to selling her paintings have been featured on HGTV and the Good Life Project, in Fortune, and The Wine Enthusiast magazines, profiled in the book Career Renegade. Rea’s artistic talent is commended by American art icon, Wayne Thiebaud, and she has a growing list of collectors across North America and Europe.

1% of Artists, The Successful and Happy Ones

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Every Monday, I mentor artists from around the globe.

One of the requirements of my mentoring program is that artists are required to send a weekly email update before midnight each Sunday, to share their:

  1. Progress towards their SMARTER goal
  2. Their focus for the week ahead
  3. Any insights they have gained or shifts in their perspective

Although the first two parts of their weekly update is very important, it is their insights and their shifts in perspective that will ultimately determine their happiness and success.

Why? Because the most important difference between how the artist is performing when we start working together and where they wind up is determined primarily by their thinking and the emotions that are shaping their thinking.

Here’s last week’s update from Kate Bradley, a very successful, young, full-time children’s portrait painter in Memphis, Tennessee.

  1. I was just reminded again this week how lucky I am to be doing what I’m doing. When you get used to it, you can take it for granted. When disappointments happen, I tend to forget that I’d rather be disappointed doing this than anything else. I’m 29 years old and I run a full-time profitable business as an artist. That is so COOL!!!!

  2. I also reminded myself that any time I reach out to the press/strategic partner, even if it’s not a good fit or they don’t respond, I’m still doing what about 99% of other artists would NEVER do. That sets me apart from the pack just because I did it. That inspires me and motivates me to keep on going. Thanks, Ann!!

Notice how Kate is managing her perspective.

It’s not as if she doesn’t experience disappointment. She does.

However, Kate is noticing her non-productive thinking and then shifting it.

Each week this artist is exercising her mindfulness muscle.

It is this strength that is yielding her success.

And it is this strength that will build her future success and happiness.

The inevitable obstacles that we encounter are so much easier to endure when there is a purpose, an important and meaningful goal.

The point of this post is that Kate is doing what 99% of artists are not.

By the way, just to put that 99% into perspective the annual survey from the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics reveals that a whole LOT of people casually refer to themselves as artists in the U.S.

I find that this is often linked with a personal desire to be identified as an artist, more than it is linked with a real commitment to an actual art career or business enterprise.

Anyway, Kate “keeps on keeping on” towards her SMARTER goal and she practices building a positive perspective.

Notice I said “practices.”

We all suffer, from self-doubt, insecurity, and fear, myself included.

But if you are aware of undermining thoughts you can shift them and create the life, the artistic enterprise, and the relationship with yourself and others that you want.

Something we all deserve.

See my post on Code to Joy to see exactly how to complete those shifts.

Contribute to a constructive conversation.

What are you doing to set yourself apart from other artists?

Leave a comment below and ask two friends.

About Ann Rea

Ann Rea is a San Francisco based Artist and Entrepreneur. Her inspired business approach to selling her paintings have been featured on HGTV and the Good Life Project, in Fortune, and The Wine Enthusiast magazines, profiled in the book Career Renegade. Rea’s artistic talent is commended by American art icon, Wayne Thiebaud, and she has a growing list of collectors across North America and Europe.

Why Artists are Successful? – 7 Myths – Continued

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Last week I enumerated three of the seven myths about why artists are successful.

Here are the remaining four myths.

Myth #4: Artists have to be dead and then they become famous.

I’m not. Obviously. And I’m doing just fine. So are the artists who I have mentored in recent years.

Artists no longer have to wait in line begging for permission from the art establishment to sell their work, unless they want to.

We have the internet to help us reach our collectors and to build our platform.

Myth #5: Successful artists are just lucky. At some point they just got discovered.

Oh, wouldn’t that be nice.

Even the press I have received paints the picture that everything magically happened in my first year in business as a full-time artist.

Not! I had a few years of selling part-time before hand.

Myth #6: Artists just need to find a good representative.

First of all, representatives really do not exist for an artist who does not have a proven market for their art.

Again, thanks in part to the internet, I was able to generate over $100,000 of sales of my art in 2005, my first year making art and making money full time.

And when representatives approached me I did not need them.

Can I tell you how very satisfying it was to say? “No, thank you.”

Don’t get me wrong. Some reps are great. And they can provide additional sales channels. But you do not need them.

If you are good, they need you.

Myth #7: Artists have to attend a top art school.

Nope. I did attend a top art school, a very expensive one.

But I actually majored in Industrial Design and minored in Graphic Design.

I was a horrible painter in art school.

In fact, I hated painting because I had to use turpentine and paint thinners in a poorly ventilated studio. It made me sick.

Later, I learned how to paint without these toxic mediums.

What myths have you encountered?

Help build a constructive conversation!

Please leave your comments here and tell two friends.

About Ann Rea

Ann Rea is a San Francisco based Artist and Entrepreneur. Her inspired business approach to selling her paintings have been featured on HGTV and the Good Life Project, in Fortune, and The Wine Enthusiast magazines, profiled in the book Career Renegade. Rea’s artistic talent is commended by American art icon, Wayne Thiebaud, and she has a growing list of collectors across North America and Europe.

Why Artists are Successful? – 7 Myths

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First of all, allow me to define what I mean by a “successful artist.”

A successful artist is an Artist Who THRIVES, an artist who:

  • is supporting themselves well by making art and making money from it
  • knows who they are and what they stand for
  • knows their personal purpose and who is completely committed to a mission
  • creates value above and beyond their art as an expression of their mission
  • delivers a unique value proposition that serves their tribe, a target market, by solving a problem or alleviating their tribe’s pain
  • (Remember, we are thought leaders. Our “job” is to inspire.)

Is this you? Are you an Artist Who THRIVES?

Is this the artist who you want to be? I thought so!

Do you want to know how to be an Artist Who THRIVES?

  • start where you are today
  • define a SMARTER goal
  • take consistent action towards your goal
  • then avoid perfection and focus on incremental and iterative progress
  • learn from others but do not compare yourselves to others, it’s a waist of damn time

Myth #1: Successful artists have extraordinary talent.

Talent, and discipline, is the minimum price of admission if you are going to consistently sell your art.

However, as we know, talent is subjective. A brief glimpse of American Idol serves as a stark reminder.

Myth #2: You have to be recognized by the press.

It sure doesn’t hurt to receive press and it feels great to be acknowledged.

Press gives you creditability and authority but it does not always automatically lead to a sales windfall.

Myth #3: You have to sell out.

First of all, what does “selling out” even mean?

If you think it means comprising your values, think again.

The opposite is true. Refer to the definition of an Artist Who THRIVES above.

Your target market, your tribe, will celebrate you if you celebrate them and their values. You can’t fake this.

Stay tuned for the other four myths next week.

What myths have you encountered?

I’m sure that there are more than seven. I just had to pick a catchy number.

Join a constructive conversation.

Please leave your comments below and tell two friends.

About Ann Rea

Ann Rea is a San Francisco based Artist and Entrepreneur. Her inspired business approach to selling her paintings have been featured on HGTV and the Good Life Project, in Fortune, and The Wine Enthusiast magazines, profiled in the book Career Renegade. Rea’s artistic talent is commended by American art icon, Wayne Thiebaud, and she has a growing list of collectors across North America and Europe.

How can an Artist Access their Subconscious and Why Should They?

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Swimming with the dolphins in the ocean off of Kona’s beautiful shores was absolutely phenomenal!

This experience is part of Dr. George Pratt’s annual Energy Seminar. He is a leading expert in the field of energy psychology and the author of Code to Joy.

Larry King’s interviews with Dr. Pratt made me very curious, but somewhat skeptical, about the results his clients have experienced, including:

  • Common, Grammy Award winning recording artist
  • Rob Dyrdek, Host of MTV’s Fantasy Factory
  • Dara Torres, five-time Olympic champion

Then I read Code to Joy and I realized that Dr. Pratt actually does have a magic formula. One that has been scientifically verified.

Why am I mentioning this to you? Because I assume that if you are reading this, you want to be a thriving artist, and so you need to read this book.

Am I an affiliate? No. I’ve just experienced the results.

What is the Code to Joy? It is the access code to your subconscious, which is running the show.

The neural activity of your conscious mind, relative to your subconscious mind, is like a flee (your conscious mind) sitting on the back of an elephant (your subconscious mind) trying to tell the elephant where to go and what to do.

Clearly, the flea is not in charge.

Just as your conscious mind is not really in charge of you.

If you think your conscious mind is running the show, think again. No pun intended 😉

Our success and happiness is blocked or created by our beliefs, which are shaped by our emotions.

Trying to think your way out of your unconscious beliefs is as effective as yelling at your TV to try to change the channel.

Just like your art, you’ve got to feel to create.

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, by Dr. Joseph Murphy, republished since 1898, tells us that our mind is the master but it doesn’t tell us very well how we can harness its power.

Code to Joy gives you the access instructions to your subconscious.

We can actually learn how to access our subconscious and unleash our unconscious limitations trapped by our stuck emotions.

My experience in Kona with Dr. Pratt was a powerful game changer and that is why I want to share his research and tools with you.

The great thing is that anyone can learn these tools so they will be included in my tool box when I mentor artists.

What subconscious beliefs could be limiting your success and happiness?

Please comment below.

 

 

About Ann Rea

Ann Rea is a San Francisco based Artist and Entrepreneur. Her inspired business approach to selling her paintings have been featured on HGTV and the Good Life Project, in Fortune, and The Wine Enthusiast magazines, profiled in the book Career Renegade. Rea’s artistic talent is commended by American art icon, Wayne Thiebaud, and she has a growing list of collectors across North America and Europe.

Do Artists Work way too Hard and not Smart Enough?

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I’m going to keep this post short because I am getting ready to leave to fulfill a long held “bucket list” wish.

I’m going to Kona to swim with the dolphins in the wild.

Two weeks ago I visited with my dear friend Simon in the hospital.

I am so grateful to Simon because not only is he a dear friend, he has been my mentor, teaching me how to sell to the luxury market.

Much of Simon’s wisdom is shared with you on Artists Who THRIVE.

Unfortunately, Simon has been given less than six months to live.

I visited with him and his lovely wife.

What does a dying man talk about? Less about the future and more about fond past moments.

While they reminisced about the cherished times when they traveled together, they glowed.

I was on the fence about taking this trip to Kona.

When I mentioned my reluctance to Simon, true to form, he mentored me again. He said, “Go! And enjoy this trip as if it was your last.”

I knew he was right and I’ve known that need a meaningful and complete break.

I’ve been working so hard on building my art enterprise and this is the first really restful vacation I have taken since I started my business over over eight years ago.

Another good friend reminded me that “Even a boxer sits in his corner between rounds.”

Since I’m planning two major launches and a 30-Day Course on Creative Live, I need to rest up, reinvigorate, and forget my relentless to-do list and SMARTER goal.

Many artists I know work really hard.

Life can’t just be about work.

Let’s keep it real. An artist’s path is not an easy one.

We often work harder because we swallow the notion artists must continuously struggle and strive.

But witnessing Simon’s sudden illness has renewed my commitment to working smarter not harder and less not longer.

  • Did you take a break this year?
  • What shifted for you?
  • How did you feel afterwards?
  • Was your creativity enhanced?

I’m curious about what you think.

Please post your comments below.

 

About Ann Rea

Ann Rea is a San Francisco based Artist and Entrepreneur. Her inspired business approach to selling her paintings have been featured on HGTV and the Good Life Project, in Fortune, and The Wine Enthusiast magazines, profiled in the book Career Renegade. Rea’s artistic talent is commended by American art icon, Wayne Thiebaud, and she has a growing list of collectors across North America and Europe.

You are NOT the Boss of Me!

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Many artists dream of making their living from their art full time.

And they pine to be free of a boss or a “Team Leader.”

I get that. The last “Team Leader” I had was nick-named “Snotty Scotty.”

I did not dub him this. He earned this title all on his own from his long-standing colleagues, who wanted me to take his place.

Why? Because he was often dropping the ball.

He was a vector of evil that made it impossible for me to even think of returning to another corporate cubicle after I quit.

So in a way, he was actually an angel.

But guess what? Even though I have my own business, I still have a boss.

“I have met the enemy and sometimes she is me.”

Why? Because my boss:

  • Doesn’t give me enough praise
  • She barely lets me take a day off
  • She will not give me a pay raise. She goes on and on about how we must invest profits back in the company. Jeez!

Why am I sharing this story?

Because I’m currently mentoring a self-employed jewelry designer from Canada who realized that not only does she have a crappy boss (herself), she’s got an unproductive employee (herself.)

Why? Her employee:

  • often doesn’t show up to work
  • comes and goes and she pleases
  • treats her job as a hobby

The boss (herself) can’t fire her employee (herself).

Because if her boss looses her key employee, the company will fold.

Clearly it’s time to heal these working relationships to create a more productive work environment.

My recommendation was that her boss give her employee more praise and constructive feedback.

And that her employee get off her ass and stop taking her job for granted!

Clearly, they need to build mutual respect.

In her weekly mentoring update, she reported that she had done just that and had a much more productive work-week. She said,

“I now realize that daily praises work!!

They boost me to take extra steps!

So now I will continue with writing/creating praises for myself for my business to be my best cheerleader!!!”

-Denise Parenteau

Whether you are a full-time or a part-time artist:

  • What kind of a boss are you?
  • Would others want to work for you?
  • What kind of an employee are you?
  • What would your boss write in your annual review?
  • Would others hire you?

Let us know in the comments below.

The truth will set you free!

 

 

About Ann Rea

Ann Rea is a San Francisco based Artist and Entrepreneur. Her inspired business approach to selling her paintings have been featured on HGTV and the Good Life Project, in Fortune, and The Wine Enthusiast magazines, profiled in the book Career Renegade. Rea’s artistic talent is commended by American art icon, Wayne Thiebaud, and she has a growing list of collectors across North America and Europe.

Get the book “SELL YOUR ART without Selling Out, 101 Rules” for FREE

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SellYourArt   I learned that some of my email subscribers where having difficulty accessing my eBook so here it is, for free.

  • If you don’t have a copy of my eBook, please click the cover above and download it.
  • If you would like to have a hard copy, go to Amazon and please buy it. If you like it, please leave a review.
  • If you do have a copy of the eBook, then I invite you to help me create the second edition.

Please note. This book was intentionally designed like a coloring book. Why? Because it is an invitation for you to color, comment, even challenge, and tell that world what you really think. My aim is to ignite a thoughtful conversation about the whole notion of selling art and “selling out.” I start with my personal story. I share how I learned to make art and make money by challenging the rules of the art establishment. I’ve included 101 rules that guide my thinking around making art and making money. My thinking? Yes. Your thinking is actually more important than any tool, tactic, or strategy that I can offer you. Your thinking is where your success starts or ends. Why is your thinking so important? Because:

  • our thinking shapes our emotions
  • our emotions determine our actions
  • our success is determined by consistent constructive actions

The main thing that changed for me from when I wasn’t selling much of my art to when I was selling a lot of art was, my thinking. Determining my actions was the easier part. Of course these are my rules. I certainly can’t, and I don’t want to, impose them on you. I want to invite you to examine your thinking by responding to each of these rules. That is why I reserved a blank page, or canvas, next to each rule giving you room to respond in any way that you see fit. Read the rule. How does it make you feel? What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Comment, draw, scribble, or tear it into little pieces! Pour your coffee on the page. There is no censorship. I want to hear from you! Why do I want you to do this? Because too many of us are playing by unconscious rules that are broken and they are breaking us. And in order for artists to thrive we need to rewrite the rules, take the reins, and engage in a very different conversation. Artists must change the conversation we have in our heads, and with one another, in order to thrive. We need to stop thinking that we have careers and understand that we have businesses. So. What better way to ignite a different conversation than a coloring contest. Remember those? Please help me rewrite the rules of selling art. Color, scribble, and comment away. Then email your reactions to any of my rules to [email protected]. Please note, your pages may be included in the second version of the book. What are your top three rules? Let us know below.

About Ann Rea

Ann Rea is a San Francisco based Artist and Entrepreneur. Her inspired business approach to selling her paintings have been featured on HGTV and the Good Life Project, in Fortune, and The Wine Enthusiast magazines, profiled in the book Career Renegade. Rea’s artistic talent is commended by American art icon, Wayne Thiebaud, and she has a growing list of collectors across North America and Europe.

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