A beautiful booth setup is an integral part of your brand and high touch marketing strategy. The National Stationery Show in New York City each year is a sure bet to offer new ideas for booth design and products. Check out this post by Poppytalk that showcases some highlights from the event.
My Artist As Brand Workshop in June of last year at Helikon Gallery in Denver had a very proactive group of artists. They decided at the end of the workshop to manifest a book and gallery show together. They created a concept amongst themselves and then produced an IndieGoGo crowd funding event to pay for the printing of the book which has been achieved!I was asked to be a part of this project and am honored to do so as they have been using the principles learned in the workshop to really get this off the ground. The show will be this June 5 at Helikon Gallery. Stop by if you are in town.I always encourage my students to jump in with their projects and get them started ASAP. My workshop in Seattle, in conjunction with TLC Workshops and Krab Jab Studio a few months ago has inspired this group to work on a collaborative project too! I will keep everyone here on my blog updated as to their progress.Check out the, Strange ConversationsIndieGoGo campaign to see how it was done, then create your own!
If you have a story to tell with your images, any story at all, this is a great place to start building your fan base for it. See you there.
Digital Trends for 2015.
Check them out HERE.
The Artist As Brand two day workshop at Krab Jab Studio was a large group of twenty students, beginners and professionals. Having taught this class to over five hundred students it is fascinating how the chemistry changes from venue to venue. Some of the students in this bunch were mainly interested in hard core marketing tactics, others embraced the holistic side to the course, others struggled with old paradigms of the artist not appearing to be a business.All entrepreneurial teachers and coaches will tell you that your business must have a solid foundation of purpose in place before you do anything. Your purpose is your brand. Some of the artists in this group were taking an old school fine art approach to showcasing and selling their art and the Artist As Brand model was a challenge for them. I come across this mindset all the time. The elitism of the fine art world is still alive and well (especially in academic circles) and so it takes some courage to jump into the future of art commerce.Thank you to Tara Larsen Chang with TLC Workshops for facilitating the class and Julie Baroh at Krab Jab Studio for opening her gallery to us. It was incredibly inspiring with all the amazing art around us! Part of this AAB group is inspired to create a product and a show next year with Krab Jab in alignment with Mythic Worlds and also with Nantes a city in France. It is going to be amazing!
The Young Adult category of books has done very well with a lot of help from Harry Potter novels in the nineties. If you are a writer, or an illustrator writing your own books this crowd may be yours. It encompasses a broad audience from 12 year olds through adult with a wide range of subjects.The annual event known as YALLFest: The Charleston Young Adult Book Festival, has become the largest YA book festival in the South, attracting a mostly teen and middle-school audience of 8,000. Now it is coming to Los Angeles. Read more...
The Artist As Brand Workshop is coming to Agourafor a two day class, Sat. - Sun. Jan. 31 - Feb. 1
This is the first time an Artist As Brand workshop has been offered in Agoura! It will be held at the Mitchells Bookshop. 28914 Roadside Dr, unit #214, Agoura Hills, CA 91301. Located in Whizin Market Square, in the atrium second floor.
The Artist As Brand Workshop is the only course that aligns the heart of your artistic vision with entrepreneurial principles for long term prosperity.
This college level course was designed for all who want to bring clarity to their creative vision and learn methods to earn a living from it. If you are a high school or college student who is ready to make income from their talent, or a professional who is stuck and looking for a new direction, or just wants to sell more artwork, the Artist As Brand Workshop will inspire new paths to art career sustainability!
10:00 am - 8:00 pm each day. Ten people max.
$195
"I needed help getting my own personal art and business off the ground and running. That is where the Artist As Brand Workshop came to my rescue. It allowed me to plan for my success while still having time to create! It even made me a better artist in general, because it gave me the confidence to KNOW that I can succeed with my art. Knowing I could succeed with my own art made me want to BECOME a better artist!"---Alex Ruiz"Setting out on a career in art is like walking a tightrope. For many the way will prove to be too narrow, the tensions will change, or the wire will take an unexpected turn. But what if you could turn the tightrope into a road? The Artist As Brand Workshop contains all the tools you need to build the road to success in art: tools, motivation, and personal insight. It is invaluable. I highly recommend it.--Todd Lockwood“Greg’s class helped me to clarify my vision and build confidence in my goals. Deciphering my Core Virtue has given me radical entrepreneurial energy!”-Katy Betz“I can’t thank Greg enough for sharing his wealth of knowledge and more importantly, touching my heart. I feel more confident in what I am capable of as an artist and a business woman. I now can answer honestly the hard questions about the future of my business and can see the Art market in a different perspective. Greg proves that you can do what you love and have sustainability. I am empowered!”-Kirbi Fagan (KCAD graduate)
See what other art professors, professionals, and college students are saying HERE.
Please read the Artist As Brand policies HERE.
The Artist As Brand Workshop is coming toKendall College of Art and Design for a three dayclass, Thurs-Sat November 20-22.
This is the first time an AAB Workshop has been open to the public in Grand Rapids! It is a great opportunity to learn the Artist As Brand principles and then see how they can apply at an event like the Grand Rapids Comic Con that same weekend.The Artist As Brand workshop is the only course that aligns the purpose of your artistic vision with entrepreneurial principles for long term prosperity. Get ready to pump up your art career in a brand new way. 10:00 am - 8:00 pm each day.
$150 for Kendall students and alumni$250 for the general public
Learn more about Artist As Brand Here.
"I needed help getting my own personal art and business off the ground and running. That is where the Artist As Brand Workshop came to my rescue. It allowed me to plan for my success while still having time to create! It even made me a better artist in general, because it gave me the confidence to KNOW that I can succeed with my art. Knowing I could succeed with my own art made me want to BECOME a better artist!"-Alex Ruiz“Setting out on a career in art is like walking a tightrope. For many the way will prove to be too narrow, the tensions will change, or the wire will take an unexpected turn. But what if you could turn the tightrope into a road? The Artist As Brand Workshop contains all the tools you need to build the road to success in art: tools, motivation, and personal insight. It is invaluable. I highly recommend it.”-Todd Lockwood“Greg’s class helped me to clarify my vision and build confidence in my goals. Deciphering my Core Virtue has given me radical entrepreneurial energy!”-Katy Betz“I can’t thank Greg enough for sharing his wealth of knowledge and more importantly, touching my heart. I feel more confident in what I am capable of as an artist and a business woman. I now can answer honestly the hard questions about the future of my business and can see the Art market in a different perspective. Greg proves that you can do what you love and have sustainability. I am empowered!”-Kirbi Fagan (KCAD graduate)
See what other art professors, professionals, and college students are saying HERE.
Please read the Artist As Brand policies HERE.
Wholesale to Retail Equation
Most artists underprice their work. I have been guilty of this too but have been slowly kicking up my prices based on the following marketing formula.
Cost of Goods = Supplies + Overhead + Labor
Cost of Goods x 2 (or more) = Wholesale Price
Wholesale Price x 2 (or more) = Retail Price
Cost of Goods- This is all the energy, time, and money you put into making your art. What do you want to make for an hourly wage? Work up a number.
Cost of Goods x 2- Double the cost of goods amount (or more)and you have arrived at your wholesale price. This means you have paid your bills for making the art and have made a profit.Wholesale Price x 2- Double the cost of your wholesale amount (or more) and you have arrived at your retail price. This means you have paid your bills for making the art and have made a profit and if you are selling the item will make twice the amount again. If it is your gallery or other vendor who is selling your items they will be making income too.So if you are selling your art retail yourself then you should be making a nice profit overall per piece. If you are having someone else sell it retail for you then you still make a profit selling wholesale but the amount is reduced.Got it? Great! Probably time to pump up your prices. If you want to raise them slowly over a year to two year period that is OK but look at everything you sell from here on out using the the retail equation ASAP.
I have been talking about the importance of your niche markets for a long time but I like the terminology of a micro audience even better. The idea that your fans, patrons and collectors are considered a market in the first place is not very intimate. Your supporters are more like a family than a market place so I will be changing my vocabulary around this issue.
An audience is much more snuggly than a market place don't you think?
Here is a great article about how micro audiences are changing the way the studios and tv stations create their shows. As a singular artist you are doing the exact same thing but on an even more intimate level. It is all about people, your people.
Artist As Brand-Rise of the Artist Entrepreneur was the title of my San Diego Comic Con panel on art career sustainability with Donato Giancalo, Daniel Davis of SteamCrow, Drew and Maria Brophy, and Dawn Schiller.We had a nice crowd and a super conversation on the art of the start (begins in the heart), and outward toward what projects to make, how to connect with our fans, what social media is working or not, and ways to integrate your lifestyle into all of it.Donato spoke about listening to your inner path, Daniel talked about the power of experimentation in art and marketing, Drew reflected upon the importance of fusing lifestyle and art, Maria touched upon licensing agreements, and Dawn about being respectful of your fans and fellow artists and many more topics.I thank my incredibly talented panel for sharing their expertise and love with the comic con audience which was filled with newbie art professionals.I was also signing my new book published by Titan Books in London. See more about my book and Comic Con here.
Looking for feedback on your website?Peekis a user tester platform that allows random internet users to give you feedback on your site. It is a great way to learn how your site is communicating from someone who comes across your site for the first time.Peek is in BETA format at the moment so it is free! I highly recommend that you take advantage of this offer.You can see the results of a critique of Roxana Illuminated Perfume,here. It is fascinating to watch and learn from.
In case you missed these pics on Facebook here is the amazing group that participated in the Denver Artist As Brand Workshop. Jon Schindehette, Tom Samo, Keith Goble, Cayce Goldberg, Crystal Sully, Tawny Fritz, Elliot Lang, Michelle Barnes, Kayla Edgar, Charlotte Ricker rocked their art empires at the Helikon Gallery.Cayce is the brainchild behind this amazing forward thinking gallery. Go and see Helikon now and see what the future of a gallery can be. Check out each of these professional artists and the amazing Jon Schindehette, who is also a mentor to artists everywhere.Lastly, I spoke at the Denver Comic Con about my career and moderated an art career sustainability panel with Jon Schindehette, Daniel Davis, Dave Rapoza, and Michael C. Hayes. I will be back in Denver next year!
I was surrounded by a powerhouse of talented Goddesses at the Kansas City Artist As Brand workshop. The workshop was sponsored by the Kansas City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Artist thanks to Vania Soto (behind to right) and president of the chapter, Carlos Gomez. This group of women (from left) Eva Maria Toker, Eugenia Ortiz, Vania and Pavina Tonsavanh are going to ROCK! I see amazing success in their futures.
To present a workshop, and man a booth at Spectrum Fantastic Art Live all in one week is a lot of work but also very fulfilling. You can see my booth set up here. I was projecting images on fabric at the back of the booth. A few highlights of interesting booth design are below. Click on the images to see larger.
Awesome gallery look with lights.
Black on Black works nicely here.
A tad messy but nice use of tiering the art upward to get more real estate out of the booth.
David Frizell was in my AAB workshop two years ago and has embraced the convention circuit by building a system that goes up and comes down in a short period of time. He also has his family there as an amazing crew to help with the set up and break down. Go David!
If you come across cool booth designs please let me know and I will share them here on the blog.
In the past I recommended Facebook as being one of the fantastic four social media venues to use when it came to promoting your work. Your Website, Blog and Twitter are the other three. Of course that list keeps changing, but in general these four working together create a powerful synergy.I am beginning to rethink Facebook. Recently it appears there is a reduced return on investment for using this service. There are many articles out there on the decreasing reach Facebook posts actually have.HERE is a great piece on why this is happening, and why it may be a good time to start checking out other venues like Google+.
The Artist As Brand Workshop is returning to Spectrum Fantastic Art Live in Kansas Cityfor a two day class, Wed. & Thurs. May 7 & 8.
All participants receive a free 3 day pass to Spectrum Fantastic Art Live (May 9-11).
This is a great opportunity for all artists to learn the Artist As Brand principles and then see how they can apply at an event like SFAL. The Artist As Brand workshop is the only course that aligns the purpose of your vision with entrepreneurial principles for long term prosperity. Get ready to pump up your professional art career in a brand new way. 10:00AM-8:00PM both days. Will be held at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Building, 2001 Grand Blvd Ste 700, Kansas City (one half mile from the convention center).
Registration is $195 and ends April 27.
Learn more about Artist As Brand HERE.
"I needed help getting my own personal art and business off the ground and running. That is where the Artist As Brand Workshop came to my rescue. It allowed me to plan for my success while still having time to create! It even made me a better artist in general, because it gave me the confidence to KNOW that I can succeed with my art. Knowing I could succeed with my own art made me want to BECOME a better artist!"-Alex Ruiz“Setting out on a career in art is like walking a tightrope. For many the way will prove to be too narrow, the tensions will change, or the wire will take an unexpected turn. But what if you could turn the tightrope into a road? The Artist As Brand Workshop contains all the tools you need to build the road to success in art: tools, motivation, and personal insight. It is invaluable. I highly recommend it.”-Todd Lockwood
See what other art professors, professionals, and college students are saying HERE.
Please read the Artist As Brand policies HERE.
Joan Stewart is a master at online visibility and print and broadcast publicity.I interviewed her last year and she shared all sorts of great promotional tips HERE.She is offering a free download of “The Best of the Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week of 2013.” This is a compilation of the best tips from her popular ezine of last year. To download go HERE.I also encourage you to sign up for her newsletter HERE.
What are the important shopping dates throughout the year and why should you care? Keeping these dates in mind will help you strategically plan out sales and marketing campaigns and make sure that you're able to optimize for seasonal traffic spikes and create content that is timely and effective.Great article and calendar HERE
Your Blog is part of your Social Media kit. If it is not by now, then get started. Facebook and Twitter and any of the other social media platforms are there to support your platform which includes your blog and website.If you are still feeling a little unsure about how to start your blog with a bang go HEREto learn more.
I plan to start showcasing more artists who really have their social media together. Your High Tech promotion is vital for a thriving art business. Social media platforms are always changing, hence everyone who relies on Facebook for instance may have a rude awakening when they have put all there energies into promoting themselves there and it goes belly up.
Prioritize your online presence with a website that authentically represents your vision.
Your website is your home. Entice people to stop in, and help them get so comfortable they do not want to leave.Mammoth & Companyhas designed their website intelligently. It looks stellar and has all the e-commerce and social media principles working together seamlessly. Check it out. They are using Shopify as the design platform.