Self-Portrait: What You Do and Who You Want to Be
How do your close friends describe you?
How does your family describe you?
How do your students describe you?
How do you describe yourself?
All of those descriptions might be true, but they might also mask your potential.
If you grip too tightly to the stories of who you think you are, you’ll never be open to what you can become. [Tweet this]
For example, you know me as someone who is a no-excuse-action-taking-don’t-stop-working kinda gal. I have never had a problem taking action.
My reputation so precedes me that often the first thing many people do upon meeting me is apologize for their lack of action.
It’s cool with me if I inspire the need for action in artists, but I have many other sides and so do you.
We get to make our own self-portraits.
Who Do You Want to Be?
A number of years ago, I began
The Art Biz ep. 10: Creative Organizing with Heather K. Powers
I used to teach an online class called Organize Your Art Biz. I quit teaching it when I realized that there’s no such thing as the right way to get organized.
My guest for this episode of the Art Biz Podcast, Heather K. Powers, figured it out long before I did. As the founder of Creatively Organized Spaces, Heather customizes solutions for organizing systems and storage for her creative clients.
In this interview, Heather and I discuss:
- The stereotype that artists are inherently disorganized.
- Her philosophy for helping artists get organized.
- The biggest pain point artists have when it comes to organizing.
Heather also shares a number of tips, including:
- Know what you want before you start organizing.
- Schedule time for organizing (3-4 hours at a time seems to be a sweet spot).
- Make a plan before you go buy a lot of containers.
- Create work zones.
LISTEN NOW …
7 Ways to Segment Your Mailing List and Make It More Useful
Ever worry about bothering people with your emails or postcards?
You’re not alone. And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to do right by your trusted fans. You know what it’s like to receive tons of email and don’t want to contribute to the overwhelm.
Even though everyone on your list has opted in to hear from you, it still doesn’t feel right to email so many people so frequently. I get it. And …
There’s a solution to this dilemma: Send emails only to whom they are appropriate.
In other words, target your messages to the people who want and need to hear from you rather than sending every email to every person on your list.
Email marketing platforms like Constant Contact, MailChimp, and Emma have the capability to segment an email list. Depending on your platform, you might find these features under Groups, Segments, and/or Tags. Some platforms use multiple names.
If you haven’t used this feature, the first step is to research how to segment a list inside of your email platform of choice. It’s worth it even if you have to pay a little for it.
After you’ve done that, you can make your list more useful by segmenting it in multiple ways.
7 Ways to Slice and Dice Your List
Your list segments will vary based on the messages you are sending, but these are the 7 types of segmenting that I suggest frequently to my Art Biz Coach clients.
The Art Biz ep. 9: How Two Artists Self-Published and Are Promoting a Successful Book Together
As an author, I know it’s not easy to write a book. It’s hard enough to do it on your own, but what if you have a partner?
I was intrigued to learn how Rebecca Crowell and Jerry McLaughlin came together to write their new book Cold Wax Medium: Techniques, Concepts, and Conversations.
It’s a gorgeous tome that has quickly become the go-to resource for anyone who wants to know anything about cold wax. (We were talking 2nd printing already!)
In this episode we discuss:
- How Rebecca, in Wisconsin, and Jerry, in the Bay Area, collaborated long distance.
- How they funded the book’s production.
- How they divided the writing process.
- How they are marketing (successfully!) Cold Wax Medium.
I also asked them to share advice for other artists who might be interested in writing a book.
Please enjoy this behind-the-scenes peek at how this book has become a hit.
LISTEN NOW…
Revive Your Blog
I have witnessed a large number of artists build successful blogs. I have also, sadly, watched even more artists’ blogs falter.
There is plenty of room in the blogosphere for meaningful artist blogs.
With this article, I’m calling on all artists who have it in them to revive their blogs – to recommit to the practice of blogging and the art of improving what you write and share.
Why Blog?
1. Blogging adds fresh content to your site.
Your content is built on a virtual space you own – not Facebook, not Instagram, not whatever-the-next-great-social-media-site-is. It powers up your site rather than turning over the traffic to one that you have no control over.
You can always share your blog posts to the social media channels, but the traffic will then point back to your site.
2. Blogging helps you grow as an artist.
You learn a lot about your art and your goals as an artist when you blog and interact with people.
Almost every artist I know who blogs regularly has shared with me that
11 Tips for Pricing Your Art
I wish I could pull a number out of the hat and tell you how to price your art.
It’s not that easy, as you’ve surely discovered. Every artist’s path to their sweet spot for pricing is different.
I’ve come to know that there isn’t a single art market that you can look to as an exact model. There are many art markets – each with its own pricing structure.
Here are a few guidelines to begin with.
Art-Pricing Guidelines
1. Your first step is to research your market. Look for artists who do similar work using similar materials and who are at a comparable point in their careers.
Whenever you compare your prices to those of other artists, make sure you know that the work you’re looking at is actually selling. It doesn’t do you any good to look at prices from an artist whose work isn’t moving.
Many artists have adopted a formula for square-inch pricing. This is fine, but it must be based on something. You can’t pull a number out of the air. Follow all of the tips here and your formula will be well grounded.
2. Start lower. It’s easier to start on the low end of the scale and raise your prices than it is to lower your prices later.
However . . .
3. Never undervalue your work. Selling your art too cheaply means you’re probably not getting paid what it’s worth.
When you devalue your art, you devalue the art of every other artist who is trying make a living – many of whom genuinely need the money.
The dangers in pricing your artwork too low are:
