Yesterday, during my call with my business mentor we discussed the usefulness of pain.

I shared how I help artists examine the most painful times in their lives to help them discover their purpose.

Why? Because our most painful experiences stand in stark contrast to our most deeply held values.

And discovering one’s purpose is a break-though with powerfully positive life-changing implications.

My mentor is a very successful and wealthy creative entrepreneur.

Do you know how he views the pain he has suffered?

As an investment.

Yes. That’s right. An investment.

Each painful experience has informed or strengthened him.

These lessons tune him in to seeing opportunities more clearly and they help him avoid repeating hazards.

He also mentioned that during the post painful times in his life he was doing one or both of these two things.

1. He wasn’t present.
2. He was comparing himself to others.

Each is a powerless position.

The trick is to catch yourself when you drop into this mode of thinking.

The artists who I mentor will sometimes compare their success to other artists.

What happens when they do this? They are not present.

They will often compare themselves to me.

My response. “Don’t do that! Do better than me.”

In fact, “Do You”, as Russell Simons wisely tells us in his book.

Side note, “Do You” is one book on the required reading list of all the artists who I mentor.

You are where you are.

It is what it is.

If you are not selling as much art as you would like, then just tell the truth about where you are and why.

Get real about where you are now and where you would like to go.

• What do you need to do?
• What sacrifices do need to make?
• What kind of help do you need?
• What are you confused about?

Then take action.

Do you want to make art and make money?

Then move it!

Is it easy? No.

Is it possible? Yes! And it makes for an immensely rewarding life.

Please don’t injure yourself by comparing your success to others.

Start from where you are today.

Don’t believe this lie!

This is the first rule in my book “SELL YOUR ART without Selling Out, 101 Rules.”

My book is really an invitation for you to question all the rules that have been set down by the permission and scarcity based art establishment and for you to define your own rules. Hence the coloring book format.

Now. Should you continue to “hone your talent?”

Of course!

But artistic talent is just the minimum price of admission to the world of selling your art.

Artists ask me, “Will you critique my work?”

My answer. “Absolutely not.”

Why?

Three reasons.

1.)Teaching art is the business that I’m in.

I’m not an art critic or an art teacher and even if I was I don’t have the expertise in every artistic medium and tradition required to offer constructive feedback.

2.) Before you think of selling and marketing your art, you need to have the making of it mastered.

Well maybe not “mastered.”

But you know that you have talent because it has been affirmed by successful artistic mentors and you have sold some work.

3.) As an artist you are never done honing your craft. I’m certainly not.

But at some point your art has got to be good enough.

Meaning that people other than your friends and family are interested in paying for your art.

So do not believe this lie.

This is what we are told by the art establishment.

Because making money is their job and it is often implied that we need not worry our pretty little heads about money or dirty our hands with it.

Right? Wrong!

When I work with artists and they define their mission, their unique value proposition, and they identify the target market they serve, their art significantly improves.

It improves because of these insights, not because these artists made more of art.

How do I know?

They tell me what they have been told.

•“Your work has more depth than before.”

•“Your work has more energy.”

•“I’m so inspired by your mission. I’d like to introduce you to some other prospects.”

“When I was reading your email today for Artists Who THRIVE I found myself thinking, wow, who is this person?

How brave is she that she took all that pain in her life and was able to find her true purpose.

I thought she is brave for doing that and she really loves her kid.

I read about and see people like this on talk shows, but not me, cause I am just some ordinary person, living on an ordinary street in an ordinary neighborhood, doing ordinary things.

Then I realized it is me! I am that brave new person who is moving forward with confidence and joy because I have a mission in life now.

 Something bigger than me!

Something selfless and full of love. This is what God meant by love your neighbor, as you would love yourself!

I am not just some ordinary person who will leave this earth without touching another person’s soul.

I am an artist who is going to touch lives and bring joy to kids who feel like they are unseen.

I understand how lonely it can be to be a kid, but the fact is that they matter.” -Julie Hemingway

This is was Julie Hemingway’s response to her THRIVING Artist profile interview last week’s where we discuss her mastering “Visioning,” or determining her “Why.”

“Visioning” is the foundational first of eight sequential realms.

Each must be mastered to build a profitable artistic enterprise.

“Visioning” is in this realm where the artist as thought leader emerges to claim their “mission.”

“Visioning” is where an artist defines who they are and what they stand for.

As you can see and hear in this interview, it is a profound and powerful process.

I created this process for artists with an open mind and trusting heart .

And no they don’t cover this in art school and certainly not in business school.

Once the artist’s mission is clear then we can move to the second realm, “Valuing.”

“Valuing” is where we can employ the Blue Ocean Strategy to define a unique value proposition, or the “What.”

Then we can determine the target market, the “Who” will be served.

So many artists start by thinking that they have to find their “niece market.”

Actually they have it backwards, they have to first have to find themselves.

The sequence is not:

1. Who
2. What
3. Why

The sequence is:

1. Why
2. What
3. Who

And this sequence starts with you.

I LOVE helping artists find their mission!

I feel like “Glenda the Good Witch” giving “Dorothy” her ruby slippers and leading her to the start of the “Yellow Brick Road” to the “Emerald City.”

Dorothy is going to encounter “lions, and tigers, and bears.” No doubt.

And if she falls asleep in a poppy field, she’ll have to get her own ass up.

But what she realizes in the end is that she always had the heart, the brains, and the courage to get home.

I’m just here to remind her of that and to warn her not to surrender those “ruby slippers.”

You’ve got to know your mission if you want to succeed and to make art that makes a difference.

What is your mission as an artist?  Leave a comment below and let us know.

Imagine. What if you were living in one of the most expensive cities in the United States with:

• over $100,000 worth of inescapable debt
• with no job
• no marketable skill set
• and no immediate prospects?

During my last live Mini-Marketing Makeover Seminar here in San Francisco, three young aspiring illustrators enrolled.

As did an older wealthy businessman, recently turned aspiring artist.

A striking contrast of circumstances sat before me.

These three young ladies had amassed an average of over $100,000 in student loan debt by attending the San Francisco Academy of Art.

One had not even yet received her BFA from the San Francisco Academy of Art.

These young art students where attending my class because they realize that there are no fine art illustration jobs awaiting them to cover their monthly student loan load.

The San Francisco Academy of Art is noted, not so much for its academic excellence, graduation rates, and stunning success of alumni, as it is for being the largest landlord in all of San Francisco.

The student loan debt of these three young artists, over $300,000, will service the San Francisco Academy of Art’s real estate portfolio quite nicely.

And their student loan debt, that can never be discharged by bankruptcy, will severely compromise their futures in ways they have yet to imagine.

The only possible way out for these artists is to master two essential practical skills.

1. Sales
2. Marketing

These vital life skills are not taught in art school or in business school. (Trust me. I have worked with several artists who majored in marketing and even those with an MBA.)

And it’s for good reason. Trying to master sales and marketing in an academic environment, is like going to a seminar to learn how to ride a bike.

The harsh reality that is awaiting these young ladies is that they will need to take whatever job they can get to pay their debt and to cover their basic living expenses, leaving little time and energy for making art.

So it is highly likely that they will abandon their art, just like I did for over seven years.

The wealthy successful businessman, on the other hand, has no concern of debt.

He is searching for more meaning.

He wanted to pursue art when he was young but he did what a real man does with a young family, he pursued a more profitable career to support them.

This is admirable.

He describes himself as an “abstract painter.”

Although not always, this is often code for “I’ve received little to no formal art training and I can’t draw.”

The wealthy man was excited and curious about the idea of being an “artist” as he recently had a couple of paintings “accepted” by a “prominent gallerist.”

What this man did not realize was that the reason his inexperience art was most likely “accepted” by this “prominent gallerist” was because of his wealthy personal network, one that will likely attend art openings and buy art.

It’s business. All business. The San Francisco Art Academy is a genius real estate play and the art gallery is an astute collector of collectors.

So. You can play their game and pay their price or you can play your game.

It’s your choice. I prefer not to be played.

I prefer to create value above and beyond my art that is of service to a target market, an in a way that I can be proud of.

The wealthy businessman urged the young aspiring artists to apply for my mentoring program.

As an astute business man, well versed in the upside and downside of risk, he could see the extraordinary cost of their inescapable debt and the likely negative rate of return on their current education investment.

So he advised them that an investment in working with me could yield them a significant and ongoing and measurable return on their investment.

I know that and he knows that.

But they won’t know that until the harsh reality of their debt repayment hits them.

And it is for this reason that I founded and that I maintain Artists Who THRIVE.

Realm 7 – Profiting. More money in, less money out.

Many artists have the same quandaries worthy of addressing here.

Although I wish I had simple pat answers to help bail artists out of their quandaries, sometimes I just don’t.

What I can do is provide is a fresh perspective.

quandary:

Hi Ann,

Cristina

the way out:

Dear Cristina and (Artists Who THRIVE),

When I started selling my paintings, I was just selling paintings.

So, I did what artists do.

I looked around in art galleries and consulted with artist representatives to best determine comparable art and pricing. And this is a good place to start.

But those were the days when I was just selling art. Which, I do not recommend that you do.

What? Yes. You read that right!

The art establishment is cutthroat, over-saturated, incestuous, and nearly impossible to navigate.

There are a few rare exceptions but basically, it sucks.

“But Ann. Don’t you help artists increase their sales?”

Yes. I can.

And I can help artists increase their sales by helping them get out of the business of selling art and into the business of creating unique value above and beyond their art and selling that.

Do YOU like selling your art? Let me guess. “Ugh, no!” 

Exactly. Who does?

So. You should stop selling your art, immediately.

Just for fun. I paid to have my paintings appraised by a very reputable certified art appraiser here in San Francisco. He was one of the most unprofessional and rudest consultants I have ever met. His office was in his dirty house. And during the time he was charging me he took a appointment with his damn plumber! I can’t make this stuff up. I have a strong feeling that my reception would have been much warmer if I was a collector rather than an artist, even though I paid him the same amount. But I digress.

He appraised my paintings for almost half of what I sell them for. Which in a strange way, amused and delighted me.

Because I don’t sell my art. I sell unique value above and beyond my art.

That unique value is called meaning. Traditional art appraisals do not, and they can not, measure meaning.

Why do I do this? Because the amount I can charge for my art is no longer tied to the pricing factors baked into the primary art market.

Because I sell unique value above and beyond my art, I can eliminate the competition and charge more. And so can the artists who I have mentored.

Please note. I said unique value.

As soon as you borrow your uniqueness from another artist, you are not unique. You are a just a copycat. Your art is irrelevant, uninteresting, and not so marketable. So, don’t do that.

Unless you are participating in the scarcity and permission based art establishment, you are free to state your price.

Prices, just like paintings, are made up.

And that is why pricing is not the first part of my eight part methodology. It’s way down the line as part of Realm #7, “Profiting.”  You need to master the previous six realms before you get to the seventh.

Word to the wise. It’s better to start with lower prices than be forced to lower your prices. But do not underprice your work.

Test the market.

Just like making art, the skills required for selling art increase over time with experience. Eventually you will learn what the market will bare.

Every artist I mentor must define a SMARTER goal that they really want to reach within six months.

This vital life skill helps artists sell their art and it helps them define and reach other important goals, for the rest of their life.

We are all told that it’s so very important to set goals.

But what we are not told is how to define goals in a way that exponentially increases the odds of reaching them.

So what happens? We often set poorly defined goals.

And we don’t reach these poorly defined goals because they are, poorly defined. So, we just stop setting goals.

It’s too bad. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Mastering SMARTER goals is, mastering the eighth realm of MAKING Art Making MONEY, an 8-part, sequential, and iterative methodology. 

This is a proven process that helps artists build their artistic enterprises. 

Again, the two vital ingredients to reaching your goals as an artist.

1. Define a SMARTER goal.
2. Remain committed to that goal.

SMARTER stands for:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Result
• Time Bound
• Evaluate
• Revise, if necessary

So here’s an example of a SMARTER goal.

“Will I sell $100,000 or more of my art by the end 2014?”

• Is it specific? Yes. $100K of art
• Is it measurable? Yes. $100K of art is sold by the end of 2014 or it is not.
• Is it attainable? Here’s where it gets tricky. This SMARTER goal is attainable if you can take action on it today.
• Is there a result? Yes. $100K or more.
• Is it time bound? Check. Art sold by the end of 2014.

Why is the SMARTER goal stated in the form of a question? So you can answer it, honestly.

Just stating your SMARTER goal in the form of an affirmation does not work nearly as well. 

Affirming your goal is not enough. You must take honest and focused action.

It might feel nice and optimistic to affirm your goal but it doesn’t engage your entire brain.

A goal stated in the form of a question ignites the hard-wiring of your subconscious to search for the answer even when your conscious mind isn’t thinking of it.

In other words, solutions and answers tend to pop into your head.

 “Well I have a lot of goals!” Yes, you do. And you can have everything that you truly want, but not all at once.

What is your SMARTER goal? Leave it in the comments box below.

Writing your SMARTER down is the first step that will transform your desired goal into reality.

Life is short. So don’t wait for what you really want. Get it now!

 Someone recently asked me if I was a business “coach” for artists.

Because “coach” is a commonly understood term, I’ve used this term to describe my one-on-one services with artists.

I start by helping artists shape their mission and unique value proposition that will serve a target market.

Why start here? Because this is a really tough thing to do on your own. It’s hard to see ourselves.

But I’m not really a coach. I’m really a mentor. 

Why? Well, I don’t have a coaching certificate and I don’t care to have one.

I know that what I do works. My artist clients experience measurable results in increased art sales.

A mentor is really a better description because I don’t teach theory.

I base my advice on my very practical and hard won experience in selling my art. This includes my successes and my big fat failures.

I also draw upon the case studies of other artists who I have worked with over the years.

I’m all for formal education but it often comes up way too short when it comes to the day to day reality of establishing and running a profitable and fulfilling art business. 

How do I know? I have mentored artists who have MBAs.

They did not learn about the unique demands of marketing and selling art in business school.

Business schools, and art schools, really do not understand how to sell art. And that’s probably why you are reading this post. 

This debilitating lack of critical knowledge about selling art caused me years of frustration and that is what compels me to share what I’ve learned. 

And that is why I designed an 8-part, sequential, iterative road map for other artists to follow.

Your ability to master each of these eight business realms is as important as your creative talent.

Why? Because your talent is NOT going to be discovered.

When I ask artists why they apply to work with me they all essentially say because, “Because you walk your talk.”

In fact, I’ve made my living from selling my art for over eight years.

Whatever it is that you want to learn, you can learn more from those who do rather than those who only teach.

It’s not that you can’t learn valuable lessons from those who have mastered a subject academically, in theory. You can.

But it’s far more valuable to learn relatable lessons from a “coach” who has run and who has won and lost races, rather than someone who has just read about winning.  

I’m still running!

More on artists identifying their missions…

Okay. So I got a few excited responses from artists who think, or who would like to think, that they have identified their mission. Well. I’m not so sure.

Here’s the test. Are you 100% clear?

If someone, who you have never met, heard your mission for the first time, would they get it? Or would they be left scratching their head? You know. Like when you read most artists’ statements.

Your mission must be a 100% clear! 

No one sets off to accomplish a vague mission. A mission is crystal clear.

And because your mission is so clear, so confident, and energized, others support you or they join you.

Let’s review the examples from last week’s post.

Colleen Attara’s mission is to artistically transform discarded materials to lessen the impact on our natural environment while transforming our emotional environment to hope and joy.

While Jenny McGee’s mission is to help people express their love for one another.

And Kate Bradley’s mission to help families celebrate their relationships by honoring their children.

Their missions are crystal clear. Right!?

Beware of the word “unique.” It means nothing. And it’s a sure sign that you are not sure of your mission.

Lack of clarity is also cloaked in the phrase “unique beauty.”

Here’s the thing. Your mission is not about you and is it not about your art. Your mission is about how you will serve the greater good.

Your mission is about the positive IMPACT your efforts will have.

Having a clear mission is the only way that you can make art that actually matters to someone other than you.

To be a successful artist your art must simply be a by-product of a something much bigger, and so much more important, than your artistic talent or craft.

It’s not about you. It’s about the value that you create above and beyond the art itself.

Caution. If you read the stated missions of the artists above and formed yours by responding, “yeah, me too!” I don’t think so.

You can no more copy another artist’s mission than you can copy another artist’s work.

You must delve into serious soul searching to know who you are and what you stand for. Your mission is born of your unique human experience.

Reflecting on the most painful times in your life will illuminate your mission.

Why? Because the most painful times in your life stand in stark contrast to your most dearly held values.

Your values are a reflection of who you are and what you stand for.

Frankly, very few people ever actually do this type of soul searching with significant depth.

Why? Because it requires great courage and vulnerability. 

However, the big pay off is that you find meaning in your suffering and this heals you and it can heal others.

“Visioning”, the first step of the 8-part sequential process takes the longest AND it is the most important part of developing a creative enterprise.

Why? “Visioning” is the foundation for all your efforts that follow. It has to be rock solid.

I get it. This can be confusing and confronting. And they don’t teach you this in art school.

If you get it, please share in the comments below.

If not, let’s hear about that too. There’s no right or wrong. This is a process. Just start where you are today. Follow the “Yellow Brick Road.”

 What to learn more? Get my recent Creative Live course.  

Call a friend, a master mind buddy, and ask them to do the same. Then review the course together. We don’t succeed alone.

Where do artists stumble most?

In the very beginning of the 8-part sequential and iterative methodology that I define in my The MAKING Art Making MONEY Course.

Why? Because they want to skip the first, and THE most important, step of defining a mission.

Why? So that they can get to the second step, defining a unique value proposition.

Why are they over eager to skip this step?

A. Defining your mission is often painful and raw and it exposes how well you know yourself or how well you don’t.

B. Because we just don’t want to wait to define the value of our art because we want sales, damn it!  Who doesn’t?

But a business only makes money if it offers value in service to a target market. 

“’Business.’ I thought we where talking about ‘artists’?” Yes. Business.

If you are selling your art you are indeed operating a business. If you disagree with me ask the IRS. They’ll confirm this fact in a hurry.

Offering value for payment is a universal economic law so I am stating the obvious.

The not so obvious rub for most artists is that do not know how to define, and therefore how to articulate, their unique value proposition.

“I create unique beauty” does not make a unique value proposition.

AND artists often get the value they create mixed up with their self worth. Ugh!

Artists also do not realize that in order to compete in an over saturated art market they MUST create unique value above and beyond their art.

However, most artists have no idea where to start in the process of defining a unique value proposition because they have not yet defined their mission.

Let me share a few examples of hope.

These are artists who have worked with to help define their mission and the resulting unique value proposition.

1.) Colleen Attara’s mission is to artistically transform discarded materials, lessoning the impact on our natural environment while simultaneously transforming our emotional environments.

Her unique value proposition is through strategic partnerships she reclaims what others no longer see value in, “garbage,” and she reshapes it into inspiring hand-scripted words of hope and joy. 

2.) During her MAKING Art Making MONEY course Jenny McGee found her inspiring personal mission and shortly after we defined her unique value proposition.

Jenny’s mission is to help people express their love for one another through her art.

Her unique value proposition is that she sits down with her patrons to help them create a “love list,” the specific reasons that they love someone.

3.)  Memphis based artist Kate Bradley has a mission to help families celebrate their relationships by honoring their children.

Her unique value proposition is that she specializes in painting portraits of children and capturing their essence in the context of their interests and personality by actually getting to know her subjects.

If you think that that the examples above are just about a bunch of snappy copy or simple poetic language, think again.

Each is an authentic and deeply meaningful example of which each artist has devoted their life to.

So sarcastic skeptics. Step aside.

Isn’t what they describe so much more compelling than the rambling and self-involved artist’s statements that are often too painful to read?

See. It’s possible.

But you do have to follow a certain logical sequence.

You can’t skip a step. Particularly the first one. First define your mission.

Know who you are and what you stand for.

Artists are thought leaders. What thoughts are you willing to lead with? What could you devote your life to?

You can’t put the cherry on top of the cake without mixing the batter, or before that, preheating the oven.

I’ve heard from so many exhausted and frustrated artists from all over the globe who have been doing just that for years and years.

The sad thing is, it’s not necessary!

I very proud to say that my Creative LIVE course is the most popular business course in their current catalog, and I’m in the company of courses delivered by several NYT best selling business authors who I admire.

My experience with Creative LIVE is proof positive that we do not succeed alone.

It takes a tremendous amount of coordinated effort and cooperative talent to co-create this kind of quality broadcast.

One that reached a virtual stadium full of artists.

This success points directly to number seven of the eight-point credo for Artists Who THRIVE.

“7. RELATIONSHIPS equal revenue. Our success is shared.”  

Sometimes we are working so very hard on honing our creative talent or trying to grow our artistic enterprise that we forget two things.

1. We don’t have to go it alone.
2. We can ask for help.

So I’m inviting you to do a little exercise.

Engage the power of your imagination.

Celebrate your future success by counting all of the people who will be involved in helping you manifest it.

Have fun. Play with this.

I’ll lead with my most recent example at Creative LIVE.

Here’s a “partial” list of those who made a vital contribution to the success of “Make Money Making Art.”

• The drivers who picked me up and dropped me off on time.
• My Creative LIVE producer who brainstormed with me to help me craft the course, while having loads of fun.
• The sound guy who kept checking that my mike was still taped to me and wasn’t falling down my dress.
• The in-studio audience who where so open and vulnerable about their successes and struggles on live camera.
• The people who prepared and served our delicious meals and snacks.
• The Artists Who THRIVE who I have coached, who conferenced in from across the country to generously share all that they have learned.
• The hair and make up stylist who helped make me look my best.
• Artists around the globe who chimed in on the chat room to ask me questions.
• Two gracious and experienced hosts who helped the live broadcast flow seamlessly.
• The technical and production team whose various expertise I can’t even begin name.
• The social media facilitator who engaged the live online audience.
• The audience to purchased the course and who are now taking meaningful action.
• The host who helped while she interviewed me before the broadcast so that people could know more about me and why I created the course.
• The creative talent who crafted the course promotional graphics and copy.
• The audience who took the time to review the course.
• The artists who took the initiative to find an accountability partner, a mastermind, to complete the 50-Step Action Plan that comes with the course.
• The founders of Creative LIVE who had the courage and fortitude to pursue their vision to create a positive disruptive educational model.
• All of the creators of the social media channels and technology who made it possible, going back to before Thomas Edison.

There is no way I can name everyone who played a hand in this success.

As you can see, I could go on for days acknowledging and appreciating these direct and indirect collective contributions.

The point is that this. This is not my success. This is “our” success.

Take action now. Imagine a specific future success with your artistic enterprise and the relationships that will help you get there.

Who will you count on the list of people who are going to help you accomplish your specific success?

Make a list.

There is power in the present moment.

Energy and focus fades.

If you do this now, right now, you will plant the seeds for your success.  

(Ann Rea is a nationally recognized artist and the creator and instructor of an intimate, live, online, foundational eight-week business course for artists called MAKING Art Making MONEY. Rea’s book “SELL YOUR ART without Selling Out, 101 Rules” is now available on Amazon.)