This Tuesday the Alameda Small Business Development Center sponsored yet another successful Artists Who THRIVE seminar in Berkeley.

The focus of this three-hour seminar was on marketing fine art outside of art galleries and traditional representation.

Part of my art marketing seminars involve mini-marketing makeovers on three creatives who earn their living full time from their art.  We had a mixed media artist, a musician/vocalist, and a painter.

The object of the mini-marketing makeover is to help each artist arrive at a Blue Ocean Strategy, the title of a business book about “creating new demand in an uncontested market space, or a ‘Blue Ocean’, rather than by competing head-to-head with other suppliers for known customers in an existing industry.“

Or rather than swimming with the sharks in an ocean of blood for a scarce kill.

The Blue Ocean methodology is particularly effective in over saturated markets like fine art, entertainment, and wine.

The way the class arrives at a Blue Ocean Strategy is to conduct a Blue Sky session, where all ideas and suggestions are offered up and recorded.  The only rule:  no editing or negating any ideas.  The sky is the limit.

I guide the sessions by asking each creative a series of questions.

The first candidate was a painter.

“Please describe your creative endeavor, your value proposition and target market.” I paint “lyrical figurative paintings.”

A typical response from an artist.  It sounds like a sound bite from an artist’s statement, a description that does not describe their value proposition or their target market or anything anyone could immediately understand.

Okay then I said, “What does that mean?  What does your art communicate?” “Human connection.” She vaguely replied.

“What inspires your passion to create human connection?” “I’m Hindu and my husband is Muslim and I believe that regardless we are spiritually connected.”

“Ah, now we are getting closer to your value proposition.” I said.

“Who buys your paintings?  What is the demographic profile?”

Her sudden realization about her target market, “White women in Pennsylvania interested in the value of world peace.”

“Besides painting, what are you good at?”

“Public speaking. I was recently invited to speak on this subject of connection and religion at the Commonwealth Club.”

Bam!  Okay.  “You’re not in the business of selling paintings. You’re in the business of facilitating thinking and conversation about world peace as it relates to generally opposing religious and cultural perspectives of Hindus and Muslims.”

“Your paintings reflect your values and provide a product for others to celebrate this shared perspective.  Your business is public speaking and you happen to sell paintings. That is your Blue Ocean Strategy.”

Tune in for the next mini-marketing makeover.

“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”-- Stephen King

These quips of wisdom are nothing that most of us don’t already fully realize.

It’s just useful to be reminded every now and then so that we can consider whether or not we are running our lives according to this wisdom.

So yes talent is important but without hard work it means little.

But there is a vital third component that they don’t even bother to teach you in art school.  It is not only vital to an artist’s success, it is vital to an artist’s very survival. What’s that?  A market.  It’s talent, hard work, and a market.

Art schools argue that they are not business schools and so at best they glance or skip over this subject.

At worst, condescending art professors degrade the very notion that an artist even needs a market and label pursuing one as “selling out.”  Whatever the heck that means!

This leaves the majority of art students completely disoriented and later disillusioned.

Here’s what’s real.  It’s incredibly expensive to attend the top rated art schools.  My alma mater, The Cleveland Institute of Art, is currently charging over $50,000 a year. Yet only 20% of experienced professional artists will be lucky to make $20,000 from their art.

The admissions application should disclose that somewhere around seven years after graduation 90% of fine art majors aren’t even making any art anymore, never mind selling it.

So even though artists just spent a serious fat wad of money on tuition, or their hopeful parents did, and they may have tremendous student loan debt that they’ll never escape, 9 times out of 10 their art career is totally screwed within 7 years of graduation.

I can hear it now.  But I don’t know how to define a market for my art work.  I know! I didn’t either but I learned and that’s why I started Artists Who THRIVE.

Because not only did I get tired of hearing artist’s frustrations about establishing a market, I frankly tired of the general perception that artists can’t possibly wrap their pretty little heads around all this business mumbo jumbo.  F that!  Yes you can!

And guess what, you should.  Why?  Because people are still buying art.  Yes.  I know.  It’s a fact that we are just grasping for air from a major economic recession and all categories of luxury have declined significantly.

Except one.  Which one?  You guessed it. Fine art.  The “market” for fine art sales actually increased during the recent recession.

So wipe your tears and get crackin’.   Take charge.  Learn everything you can.  Gather positive and intelligent influences around you and drop the rest.  You can’t afford to be around nay sayers.

Apply yourself to the business of art as you did to mastering painting or drawing.

Reality TV shows like American Idol or Scouted about models gaining instant fame, feed an unrealistic fantasy that an artist’s success could be offered in one instant.

In fact, we all know that success will be earned over time with as many opportunities as you can cultivate and satisfy.

When I coach or consult with creatives I always tell them, “No one is coming to save you, no one is going to discover you. So get very clear on your SMART goal and then build and maintain an Action Plan to get there.”

I know.  I’ve been featured in the national media.  And although it can give one some street cred it doesn’t necessarily result in a wind fall of sales.

I also know how to get things done, that have not been done before, within a certain time frame.

My last straight job, seven years ago, was as a project management consultant.

This is one transferable skill that comes in very handy from my years dwelling in a corporate cubicle.

A SMART goal may be, “I’m so happy that in 2012 my art sales exceeded $80,000.”

What is required of successful artists is the faith and the fortitude to claim and then create what they want by taking constant action.

However big or small it may seem, stretch and heed the Greek sage Epictetus “First say to yourself what you would be; then do what you have to do.”

Fame comes from a lot of  media exposure.  And Public Relations is an important marketing strategy for all small businesses, but you really can’t control it.  You can only control planned and measured efforts towards a SMART goal.

Epictetus taught us that suffering arises from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power.  So what I can control, what is within my power, is keeping a list of potential media opportunities and contacting so many every week.  My SMART goal is to, have 3 or more favorable national press spots in 2012.

By striving consistently, it eventually pays off.  This is the key lesson.  Success is incremental.

“No one is coming to save you, no one is going to discover you.”

You are chasing an aimless target if you are trying to appeal to the masses.  Successful artists appeal to a specific target.

There are no musicians famous for both their classical and country performances.

You know, the bull’s eye in the middle of the target.  Try to hit the whole thing and you’ll hit nothing.

Successful artists create a consistent body of work, and have a unique voice that offers a value to a target market.  Once they have gained a reputation in a specific space they can broaden their efforts.  This is marketing 101.

I first established a reputation as the “Wine Country It Girl” by creating strategic partnerships with prominent wineries.  I created several series of vineyard paintings.

Since then I’ve branched out and painted the aspens in snow, private gardens, and ranches.  With each of these new series my artistic approach remains the same, it’s only the demographic market profile that has changed.

Before I made these shifts into other markets, I first had to establish a reputation and gain recognition in one space.  This was a deliberate and targeted effort.

So if you think your art must appeal to the masses, think again.  And ask yourself, on what authority did your receive this information?  Who are the “masses?”

The good news is that you should first please yourself.  Then you are much more likely to please a few others.

You can’t and you don’t want to please everyone.  Be true to thyself, create with passion, heart, and authenticity.  This will increase your chance of success.

Remember, the work of copycats is dead on arrival.  Even if a copycat artist’s work is superb it will first compared to the more creative artist’s previous success.

To quote Comedian Bill Cosby “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”

1.   Your creative talent
2.   artistic ability
3.   and prolific creative output will only get you so far

And by the way you’ll need all three to be a successful artist.

1.   Artistic mastery of a certain technical standard is expected, just like a singer must hit all of the notes. If, for example, you are a glass blower, you had better know how to grind and polish the bottom of your vessel to perfection.  If you are an illustrator of architect you had must have mastered three-point perspective.

2.   Creative talent, your unique voice, must be clear enough so that work is recognizable as your own and can not be mistaken for another artist’s.  Then it must inspire, make people feel.

3.   Once you have creative talent and artistic ability down, are you ready to sell?  Maybe, if you can produce consistently.  Why?  Just like there is no use in opening a store if you are going to run out of inventory, you must produce, you must be prolific.  If you don’t, you’ll only disappoint and confuse potential collectors and your disappointment will become frustration.

And now for the big question.  Do you have a unique value proposition and a target market?  This is basic requirement for any business to thrive, creative or otherwise.

For example, what was Andy Warhol’s unique value proposition and target market? Warhol’s unique value proposition was that he celebrated the consumption of fame.

His primary target market? Distinguished intellectuals. Hollywood celebrities and wealthy patrons. He was a master of PR and networking.

So let’s get real.  The odds are very slim that anyone will make a living through their creative endeavors.

But if you have creative talent, artistic ability, and you are prolific you are half way towards success.

Whose Rules are You Playing By?  And when did you agree to them?

I find it ironic that so many creatives assume that they must compete in the marketplace based on the same competitive factors, finding representation and critical acclaim.

Why?  Because this does not equal getting paid.

The rules of the traditional art market are completely permission and scarcity based.  I for one don’t want any part of it.

Why?  I enjoy freedom, financial and creative.  And lets face it, these freedoms walk hand in hand.

No money, no art supplies.  No money, no time to create.

So what do you do?  Question the rules.  Isn’t this what artists do best?!

What is your measure of success?  Gallery representation?  Okay.  If that’s working for you and you’re making money hand over fist, go for it.

But if that is not working? Then you, like any other person peddling their wares in an overcrowded market, must find a target market and compel them to buy from you by offering them unique value.  That, my friends, is the Blue Ocean Strategy.

The first business profiled in the book the Blue Ocean Strategy, Cirque du Soleil, ironically, is a theater company.  Cirque du Soleil reexamined the competitive factors of their industry.

Then they looked at what they could subtract and what they could add to a circus.  They asked themselves, “Do we really need animals?  They are messy and animal rights activists are on our case.”  So they subtracted the animals.

Then they looked at the multiple performances.  Then they added an elevated quality to the performance and got rid of the three-ring circus, adding focus.

What can you subtract?  What value can you add?  Are you looking for approval or for a market that will support your creativity and your financial well-being?  That is the business of art.  And that is the best business I know of.

Should artists pay for advertising?  Generally my answer is no.

Why?  Because most artists don’t have the budget and there are more effective ways that are either free of relatively low cost.

Most of my business comes from the following sources and generally in this order:

1.   Referrals
2. Ecommerce site
3.   Events
4.   Press

With the exception of relatively low overhead for my Ecommerce site, each of the marketing mechanisms listed above are free and I would venture to say they are more credible.

Then how do get referrals you ask.  Well… you simply ask. How?

Here’s an example:

“I’m so glad that you like my work.  You know, I don’t advertise.  Most of my business comes by way of referrals from people just like you.  Can you think of one or two people to introduce me to who would also enjoy my work?”  Then stop talking.  This is key.  Don’t be nervous and keep talking.  Just let them say yes or no.

When they mention a name, say something like.  “What would be the best way for us to meet?”  They might say, “They’ll be at my party on Friday.  Why don’t you come?”  Or “I’ll introduce you via email.”

Your objective is to get to meet that referral in person.  Not sell them.  Just meet them.

To review.

1.   Ask for one or two referrals
2.   Ask how and when the introductions can best be made
3.   Follow up and get some face time with the referral

Asking is free. And it’s simple.  Just follow 1,2,3.

Most artists are trained in art school to swim with the sharks in an ocean of blood unconsciously competing for the scarce kill. But only a few will ever feed.

The alternative is to swim in a blue ocean far away from the kill zone, making the competition irrelevant.  How?  By creating a Blue Ocean Strategy.

What’s this?  It’s when a business creates unique value to serve a target, making the competition irrelevant

When I’m working with artists to help define their Blue Ocean Strategies we have to first get to what’s unique.

The only place to start is the artist’s life purpose, passions, interests, and values so that we know who they are as an artist and a person.

This is not life coaching this is the beginning of defining truly unique value.

Take a jeweler I’ve been coaching for example.  This creative, like many, had to work a long while before we arrived at her new Blue Ocean Strategy.

The first thing that she had to learn was that she had to get out of the business of selling jewelry, a Red Ocean, and get into the business of celebrating friendships.

What? Are you scratching your head?

After much exploration she realized that one of the most important aspects to her life is her long-standing and close relationships with her best friend and other women in her life.

They all have stories and a history that they have shared over the years. And they have been her main collectors.

Her Blue Ocean Strategy?  To create a line of unique charms that mark the most meaningful milestones in a women’s life.

What’s different?  You can collect the charms, customize the bracelet or necklace, and an individual story is beautifully packaged with each charm.

You then give a bracelet or necklace to yourself and one to your friend, or friends, to celebrate the history of your friendships.

Rather than one sale she has built in two or more immediate sales and ongoing charm sales as new milestones are celebrated.

Notice we didn’t start with how to build in multiple sales. We started with the artist’s unique value.  The unique value is a reflection of this artist’s very personal purpose, interests, and values.

This Blue Ocean Strategy is something she’s passionate about and her excitement is giving her the energy to execute on this strategy.

It took time, effort, and patience to arrive at this Blue Ocean Strategy.

She’s had to work through some key frustrations that had limited her thinking. But she stuck with it until she was open to exploring marketing solutions in non-convention ways.

What happens if artists come sniffing around her waters to copy her?  We’ll create more unique value and they’ll will sink to the bottom of the ocean because they won’t be able to match her energy.

“Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else.” – Judy Garland

Many artists are desperate to arrive at an answer. So they put the cart before the horse. If an artist is not open, patient, and trusting in the process, or they are clinging desperately to the traditional scarcity and permission based model, I just can’t help them.  I can’t get past that negativity.

It takes trust to surrender the fight for the kill when you’re hungry.

But in order to sustain your drive to be an artist and to build a business you must first know your purpose, passions, interests, and values.

You must “know thyself” so that you can know what unique value you can offer the world.

Note. Your compensation will be in direct proportion to the value you offer.