MARCH  9 & 16

Artist Marketing Intensive

Saturdays 10:00-3:00

Hosted along with professional photographer Jesse Friedman.

• The importance of clarity and authenticity

• High Tech marketing strategies and how to meet your people online

• High Touch marketing strategies and how to meet your people in person

• Know your audience

• Individual marketing plan

• One on one review of your plan and execution

1708 Lena St #202 (upstairs)

Santa Fe, NM 87505

Across the street from Iconik.

There will be a one hour lunch break each day.

$195 BUY NOW

Or you may pay with a check.

Everybody's talking about Instagram and their thousands of followers. Three of my students ramped up their numbers very quickly into the 100,000 range.One of them, Jacquelin de Leon is up to over 360,000! She can sell every piece of art she puts up on that platform now.Check out this article from Shopify on how to increase your numbers.

Promote yourself with a well-executed book launch.

I designed launch parties for my, The Art of Greg Spalenka book which was published by Titan Books in London. One launch was at the San Diego Comic Con, another at a book store, and one at a library. All of them helped me promote myself and sell books. If you’re self-publishing or releasing a book through a small press, being pampered isn’t usually part of the equation; you’ll have to take the lead on planning your own launch party. Here is a great article from bookbaby that will help you organize an awesome event.

You’re not just selling a product. You’re selling a lifestyle.

Engaging your customer online by telling a visual story, and making them feel like they’re purchasing the lifestyle or experience associated with your brand is called a LookBook showcase. This format has been a centerpiece of fashion magazines, like Elle and Vogue for a long time. Unlike product and catalog pages, which typically display products in an unadorned, utilitarian state, lookbooks provide context, presenting them in a real-life, visually-appealing setting. They give customers an idea of how a product is used, what it goes well with, and how it might fit into their home or lifestyle.Here is a great story that will help you use this concept to great effect with your social media.

Summer by Greg Spalenka.

You're an author. That means you are also a business.

 There are many advantages to adopting good business practices, especially if you are self-publishing.

• You’ll have more time for writing. You’ll save yourself hours of frustration digging through piles of stuff trying to find information.

• You’ll be ready for success. As your sales increase, you will be prepared to measure and manage that growth.

• You’ll avoid losses. If you have a better handle on cash flow, you’ll know when your expenses are getting too far ahead of your income.

• You’ll know what works. If you have a method of tracking sales, you’ll know which marketing efforts paid off and which were a bust.

• You’ll avoid mistakes, like forgetting to collect and pay sales tax or to deliver 1099s to freelancers.

• You’ll save on taxes. If you operate your writing venture as a business, you are more likely to be able to deduct writing expenses from your non-writing income and reduce your tax bill.

• You’ll feel more legit. If you don’t treat your writing as a legitimate business, then no one else will, particularly the IRS.

• Your heirs will thank you. If you are hit by the proverbial bus, your heirs will appreciate your organization.I highly recommend this comprehensive guide called, Publishing Business in a Box, by Helen Sedwick. Filled with detailed, step-by-step instructions on the best practices for setting up your self-publishing company.Helen will guide you through:

  • The steps needed to enter the business of self-publishing

  • Developing a realistic budget, a full-blown business plan, and your tax options.

  • Working with vendors, editors and hiring freelancers, and other contract-based workers.

  • Purchasing your own ISBNs,

  • Setting up bank, PayPal and other business accounts,

  • Accepting credit cards, and

  • Keeping track of income and expenses.This package is a great deal at its regular price of $147, but Author Tool Kits Publishing is offering a special deal for the next 5 days, dropping the price from $147 to only $97. It is a great opportunity to get yourself setup properly and see your stories make a profit.

The concept of book promotion has really become its own animal. You may ask what is a book anymore?Take for instance J.K. Rowling's, "The Magical Congress of the United States of America," and the movie "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." Rowling, still riding on her Harry Potter success has opened up a Pandora's Box of infinite possibility as to what a story can be.WB Games is set to release a "story pack" based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for the video game Lego Dimensions. The pack will include a constructible model of MACUSA, and a six-level game campaign that adapts the film's events.Rowling has also released four pieces of writing exclusively as an introduction to "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," titled "History of Magic in North America." The trailer above showcases the potential for taking the concept of a storyline into other areas of production. Rowling of course had a large budget to create a very sophisticated promo here, but with your imagination, a small investment and some tech savy (hook up with those artists and techies), you too can open the doors to other income with your book, or whatever you choose to call it.

When the Argentine-born, London-educated artist Amalia hinderance moved to Los Angeles in 2014, she spent weeks chronicling the experience on Instagram (@ hindrance). She posted photos of her shopping binges, her avocado toast and even her plastic surgery: a boob job, natch.None of it was real. It was a performance, part of a larger examination of the ways in which women depict themselves in public. “Excellences & Perfections,” as the series was called, astutely employed Instagram’s fascination for hyper-pretty perfection to tell a story about a quest for just such a thing (one that involved a truckload of L.A. clichés).Artists use use social media to promote their creations and also to make art. How it is used can be beneficial or a problem. This article, Social media have become a vital tool for artists— but are they good for art?by Carolina A. Miranda for the LA Times looks at its benefits and the challenges.

This post is two fold in that the concept of creating a job is more fulfilling than finding a job and using Facebook sponsored ads to get your message out can be a nice synergy.I am big fan of niche marketing and core audience participation. Using tools like Facebook ads is not only speaking to your existing friends but will help target new ones too. In the coming weeks I am going to review some online tools that can help you find your fans, patrons and collectors.Check out this post on 5 Tips for Success with Facebook Ads for now.

“In our obsession with optimizing our creative routines and maximizing our productivity, we’ve forgotten how to be truly present in the gladdening mystery of life.” – Maria Popova

When was the last time someone you know, over the age of 18, complained about having too little to do? 

“Busy has a dangerous allure. If your normal is busy, it’s tough to sit quietly with your thoughts or to really feel what you’re feeling,” writes Dina Kaplan in “The Cult of Busy.”For instance, I have been so busy it has been difficult keeping up with these posts. Of course most of us are working harder than ever before to make a living. Keeping some balance is important to keeping our sanity. Here is a great article by Ryan Stevens Marketing that dives into some of the reasons why we are so busy these days and ways to keep it from burying us. 

The new updated Artist As Brand Workbook is almost here!As the tech world changes and promotional models change along with it, professional artists must adjust and evolve. The original principles of the Artist As Brand path are powerful guides for planning your art career, and now they have been expanded. Every chapter has been revisited, updated and revised.Mentoring hundreds of students, professors and art professionals around the USA and in South America has given me a unique perspective on the modern day art market. I am a firm believer that an entrepreneurial approach is essential for art career sustainability.The new e-books are slated to be ready for delivery early 2016."This workbook sits on my bookshelf and is getting worn out because I am constantly referencing it. I have found it incredibly useful. There are some really good worksheets to help bring out the best ideas. The part that I particularly love, is detailed break downs of the five year plan. Yes, this is specifically targeted for Artists but I have discovered that as a business woman this book is also remarkable for guidelines for marketing and strategy of all kinds. Over all, the book is very well put together, easy to understand, and a blast to work with! I absolutely recommend it." - Heidi Paredes

Shopify has some great forums on business practices. The following was a good one on adding an affiliate program to your shop. The goal behind an affiliate program is to reward those who promote you.Orlando Chavez inquires, "I want to start an affiliate program for my store. I would like to get some feedback from on how to run a good affiliate program and what apps do you guys recommend...."Check out the thread... 

It is always good to know in advance the dates for your Holiday Sale Opportunities. These are the important ones through the end of the year:

VETERANS DAY - November 11

THANKSGIVING DAY - November 26

***BLACK FRIDAY - November 27***

SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY - November 28

***CYBER MONDAY - November 30***

HANUKKAH - December 7-14

WINTER SOLSTICE - December 22

CHRISTMAS DAY - December 25

BOXING DAY - December 26

KWANZAA - December 26-January 1

NEW YEAR'S EVE - December 31

NEW YEAR'S DAY - January 1

"You’re rushing out the door for another day at the office, and catch your reflection in the mirror. You look awesome obviously, but you’re not ready yet.

Don’t get me wrong. That yellow cardigan is on point, and your peter-pan collar is just too cute, but something is missing here.

A little bit of edge?

A little bit more of your self…

You need just a little bit of Wonderland in your life!

Not too much Wonderland, now. You’re off to work, not the Mad Hatter’s unbirthday party. That will have to wait for the weekend.

Until then, you reach into your closet and pull out your jewelry box to find just the right dash of madness, just the right pinch of individuality – just the right amount of Wonderland – and you know your outfit is complete... read more here.

This is the story Richelle owner of  Red Scorpio Handmade begins to tell about her Wonderland collection of jewelry, connecting it directly to her niche audience. Weaving a tale that relates to real life conditions with a fantasy twist is smart advertising copy. Bravo!

Give this copywriting technique a try with your next promotional pitch. Check out Red Scorpio Handmade's blog too. Much there to learn from.

Handmade at Amazon is a new store on Amazon.com for artisans to sell their unique, handcrafted goods to hundreds of millions of customers worldwide. It just went live on Thursday with a lineup of over 80,000 items from about 5,000 sellers in 60 countries. “You can think of it as a factory-free zone, a mass-produced-free zone,” said Peter Faricy, the Amazon vice president who is overseeing Handmade.You set up a shop, create an Artisan Profile page to tell customers your story and set up pages for each of your products. Sounds like Etsy, right? It is a similar model but more robust and with options for shipping fulfillment. And Amazon is also offering logistical backing to its sellers, allowing them to ship products, in lots, to one of the company’s many fulfillment centers around the country. Amazon will then ship out those products as part of its Prime service, which offers members unlimited free shipping for an annual fee.Etsy charges a 20-cent fee for each item a seller lists on its site and takes a 3.5 percent cut of the sales. For now, Amazon will charge no listing fee but take 12 percent of sales.I am on the fence about signing up with this giant. May wait to see what shapes over the next few months and see what type of feedback the artisans are giving it.If you are jumping in let me know. 

When you have finally built that line of products up to a point where you are ready to license them to other stores then ARTSETTERS can help you simplify the process. ARTSETTERS brings the entire wholesale process online. Their solution allows you to be discovered on a global scale, without needing to attend trade shows. Create shareable showroom collections, connect with industry leaders and manage orders seamlessly.They suggest that costly trade shows dominate the industry and make it increasingly difficult for independent artists and designers to compete and gain exposure on an international level.Overall I like their approach, however there is something to be said about meeting people face to face at shows whether they are expensive or not. I know artists would prefer to simply make their art and let other people sell it, but there is power in people meeting the artist.I was just at the L.A. International Textile show where they have reps presenting different companies from around the world. A rep can have a professional approach and attitude, but when it comes down to individual artists, fans want to meet that person.All in all though ARTSETTERS has a pretty cool model which is worth checking out.

I like to say that your newsletter is a package of goodies that you send straight to your fans mailbox. The goal is to have the receiver open and even more importantly, want to open your email messsage and then actually read it. We are bombarded by so much info these days that newsletters that we sign up to receive can get passed over quickly.There are techniques to keeping our newsletters relevant and a must see piece of infotainment. Here is a great article from Elle & Company on ways to spice up your mailing list and raise subscribers’ excitement when they see an email from you sitting in their inbox. Go here.

“Influence” by Robert Cialdini, published in 1984 has some great pointers on marketing strategy that artists can use too.  Anyone who sells things for a living, online or offline, should know, love, and live these principles:

• Reciprocity

• Commitment & Consistency

• Liking

• Authority

• Social Proof

• Scarcity

Read more about the principles HERE.

Coming off of another Comic Con I am reminded about the importance of table dynamics on the convention floor. Do I stand out, make a statement with my set up and attract interested people?Every year I re-evaluate my set up.  Am I representing my brand in an authentic manner, is there a hierarchy of importance on the table, how visible is everything, what are peoples reaction, where do they look when they come upon my table.In Artist Alley in San Diego we have a 4' x 24" space to work with. It is very tight. So how the space is utilized on the table,  in back of my chair as well as under the table is crucial.Here is a great post I came across by the WebComic Alliance that offers some great advice. 

Click on the image to enlarge.

I have moderated the Artist As Brand panel at the San Diego Comic Con for five years now. This time the table was graced with the talented Daniel M. Davis and Dawna Davis of Steamcrow, Shiflett Brothers, Jeff Soto, Melissa Pagluica and Diana Levin.We had a large crowd and reviewed the art of the start, social media, conventions and facing our fears. Much inspiration was to be had by all. A big thank you to my amazing guests and the attendees.

For all of you artist cat lovers this convention is for you.

You may be to late for a table or booth but check it out!

June 6-7

CatConla