Bitter With Twitter?

Many artists are hesitant about using Twitter because they feel there is no real value in using it as a marketing tool to generate interest in their artwork.

“Just a lot of people waffling on,” as one artist put it.

The most effective way to make the most out of twitter is to point your followers to new content on your blog.

Keep it simple.

Many artists looking to get some momentum are not creating content that supports their work. So my suggestion is to create a running dialogue (regular blog posts) that intrigues, informs and inspires your visitor.

The whole idea of your site or blog, aside from showcasing your work, is to create content that SUPPORTS the curiosity your website visitor has in you and your work.

Twitter is merely a tool to re-direct additional traffic towards that content.

So create content to create a gathering…

Create content in order to EXCITE your suspect…

And then use twitter to direct traffic to that content.

In all honesty… you don’t need to purchase any twitter products (there are many available now to help you use twitter to its full potential) unless you are very keen to master twitter for serious marketing purposes.

But check out my twitter marketing link below. It will give you are very solid understanding as to what twitter is all about and how it may of good use to you.

Read this post on artists using twitter for marketing:

http://www.caku-art.com/twitter-marketing.html

At the end of the day, building legitimate relationships online is where the power is in terms of bringing attention to your artwork. Social media is a handy tool, but it really comes down to developing proper relationships with people.

Power to you and your art!

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Where’s The Artist?

I am amazed at how many artist websites and blogs I have seen and there is not even one picture of the artist. Not one photograph.

For me personally… it feels as though the artist is hiding behind his or her website. I can appreciate that many people are not always comfortable in front of the camera.

But if you are in the business of promoting and selling your art, you have to come out from behind the curtain at some stage.

“But people are buying my art, not a picture of me!”

That is true. But the Internet is a funny beast. The more transparent you can be, the more confident and trusting your potential buyers will be of you.

Being transparent doesn’t mean you have to go to extremes… it doesn’t mean you have to post your school reports on your blog or tell your readers how many times you have been arrested. But just one photo of you will help to provide the human aspect to your site.

One thing to remember is that your website visitor is asking questions about you from the moment they land on your site. So along with your artist bio information, provide a picture of yourself to make their evaluation of you a little more comforting.

Having a picture of yourself is the quickest way for people to read who you are.

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You Are Such An Amateur Artist

It doesn’t matter how far you go as an artist in your career…

You will always have that element of being an amateur.

“Gosh, how dare he condemn me like that” I just heard the guy at the back holler.

Sit down Restless Geoffrey… and allow me to explain.

There is nothing derogatory about being labelled an amateur artist.

Our modern culture is partly to blame for our misinterpretation of what amateur actually means or represents.

The word Amateur essentially comes from the Latin verb, “amare”

Which means, “to love”.

So… to be an amateur artist simply means…

“To do what you love doing”

It is actually a word to describe “experience”

Not “achievement”.

Slightly profound huh

I think so too.

Being amateur is not about how well you do it, but about how much you enjoy doing it (wink).

That’s called being an amateur.

Being amateur is based more on the quality of your experience…

Not the quality of your performance.

So what the difference between being an amateur And a pro?

A pro loves what she does MORE than an Amateur does…

Because a pro sits down and does all the Mundane stuff in order to uphold the inspiration and to maintain a routine.

A professional loves what she does, but also knows what she does.

An amateur only loves what she does.

Being an amateur is groovy to begin with

But think pro

Professionals don’t have to deal with criticism because They look at their work objectively.

They KNOW they are not their art

That’s a pro

A pro is patient

A pro contributes to her work EVERYDAY

An amateur waits till the weekend

A pro don’t make excuses

They make hay while the sun is shining

Think pro

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Lasting Impression Marketing

When I give out my business card to people, it’s merely as a follow up. It’s kind of like a small personal policy of mine to at least have had a conversation with the person in question before I hand over a business card.

I don’t see the point in handing out business cards indiscriminately.

A lot of people will simply take your card for the sake of taking it  – kind of similar to clicking the button that says “do you want to become my facebook friend?” – they do it so they wont offend you.

The whole purpose of a business card is to give the person you are dealing with a reference to contact you.

Chances are; they could have already taken a few business cards from other people within your industry.

So if you are going to use a business card then aim at making your mark. Make your business card stick out.

I like to create and use my own quotes on my cards. In my opinion, I don’t see the point in stipulating that I am an artist because people will pick up on that from having seen my art… and/or it would have been mentioned in our conversation. As I mentioned before, I don’t like giving out my cards for the sake of handing them out.

My motto is: if you are going to use a business card, then at least use one to get a giggle, a frown or a tear. Use it to get a response. Use it so your prospect will remember you.

As an artist, I don’t rely on using a business card to generate business. People either like your art or they don’t. A business card won’t really make a scrap of difference when it comes to making sales – In other words I don’t see it as a uselful promotional tool.  I see a business card in my industry as nothing more than a “stick-it-note”. It’s so the person who is genuinely interested in purchasing some of your work will have something on paper to remind them on how to go about contacting you.

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Don’t Get Too Personal

I was having coffee with a good friend of mine a few days ago. It’s because I’m an artist that he always brings up how he “saw some great paintings the other day”.

I appreciate his commentary when it comes to art, particularly because he is not an artist himself. But he knows what he likes (aint that all that matters? Gosh yeah).

Anyway, my friend went on to mention how he saw 5 or 6 paintings hanging in a local café recently. He explained how these paintings did not appeal to him at all.

“There was just something about them that really made me feel very disassociated with the work. I couldn’t relate to them”.

“Too personal perhaps,” I interjected.

He then looked at me with that frown  – the one where smalls rolls of skin cram together like miniature silkworms on the top of his nose and in between his eyes – and nodded his head, “That’s it mate. That’s why I didn’t dig them at all. They were too personal”.

I then raised my eyebrows, nodded my head and raised my bottom lip over my top lip, as if to indicate that my suggestion was just a lucky guess… so I wouldn’t come across as a “cocky know it all” guru type of dude.

The first time I ever signed up to exhibit my work the organiser spent twenty minutes explaining all the rules and regulations. But before she finished she said, “Oh and Carl, don’t bring your personal art. Nobody gives a shit. Bring your stuff that will match their sofa’s”.

Some artists may have taken what she told me that day as an insult. Not only did I think it was quite funny, I really appreciated her honesty.

I followed her advice and it paid off quite well.

I don’t really subscribe to the idea of producing art to match the sofa, but I don’t disagree with it either because after all – all art is essentially decorative.

But from a marketing point of view, my exhibit organiser’s advice was helpful because it immediately shifted my mindset from living inside my own art to realising that I had to open it up to the public.

In other words I knew that in order to build some foundation as a local artist, I had to come up with some pieces that appealed to majority. I did this not to conform, but to be able to communicate.

I found that folk were more receptive to my more personal pieces after a conversation with me. But what got a lot of them into my stall for a conversation in the first place was due to a piece that caught their eye.

There is nothing wrong with catering to the public now and then. Pablo Picasso used to paint portraits. Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin guitarist) use to do jingles for radio ads.

Not only did catering to what the public wanted help me with selling my paintings, the biggest benefit was what it did for my confidence.

So if you are about to exhibit your work for the first time, consider throwing a couple of pieces into the mix that will cater to the public on a “Oh that’s great, I gotta have it” level – and create a bit of instant cash-flow for you.

In other words, don’t get too personal to begin with.

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Breath

There always seems like we have a million and a half things we need to do. So rather than get all flustered and overwhelmed, simply stop, take 5 minutes out and just… Breath.

Sounds stupid right?

But try it. Give yourself permission to stop whatever it is you are doing and think of nothing for 5 minutes. And concentrate on breathing.

It is a great way to super-hydrate your brain… so to speak.

Try it, and see if you don’t fall back in love with the day again (wink)

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Can’t Find The Time?

I often hear people complain about how they “can’t find the time”. Don’t get me wrong; I used to be one of those people who always complained about how I didn’t have enough time.

But now, when I quiz folk on how they use their time each day, I normally discover that they don’t actually have a problem finding time at all. They simply have a problem prioritising their time. I made this very mistake also (I make lots of mistakes, I don’t mind admitting it).

I don’t say it to brag, but I often start my day at 4am. So I am often putting in an 18-hour day. It’s beyond my physical capabilities to do this every single day. I wish I could, because there is always something I need (want) to do… always. But I start at this time to get a head start. If I don’t get up at this time, which does happen through being exhausted, I get disappointed and feel pushed for time. I often end my day around 9pm, or later if I can manage it.

Is this all work? No. I have a family that requires my time during the day also. But it is mainly all working.

I was taught some years ago that it is an entrepreneur’s duty to find time… no matter what. This made sense to me instantly. In order to take on the responsibility of steering a career, you must work outside the boundaries of conventional time. In other words, you have to find time to get what you really want. It was Donald Trump who once said something along the lines of: “You can build a business or you can make excuses, but you can’t do both”.

I have discovered that email is one of the biggest time wasting activities you can get yourself trapped in. I, like many, use to check my email constantly. If I was having a quick break from painting or talking on the phone… I’d check my email. But the worst part was that I found myself responding to these emails during my “real” working time – which of course is producing artwork.

Lucky for me, I soon realised I wasn’t the only one with this problem. When I got to talk with other artists and people operating a business via the Internet, I quickly discovered that many people suffered from “email addiction”.

So in order to battle this addiction, I had to find out why I was unconsciously checking my email so much. I discovered I had this need for contact with people. There is this element of wanting to feel significant. I likened it to a little kid eagerly running to the letterbox each hour of the day every day – enthusiastically waiting for his or Christmas card from grandma. The little boy or girl wants to feel significant. He or she wants proof that someone is thinking of them – is providing the attention they desire.

I discovered that my actions were purely motivated by this need to feel significant. Sure, I was often responding to genuine inquiries, or trying to help a fellow artist find their way with their creative endeavour.  But deep down my need to check my email constantly was very much like the child running to letterbox to receive their prize of attention.

This is also half the problem with social media sites like twitter and facebook. There is a lot of time being wasted assessing our popularity instead of getting the real work done. In fact there is a great quote made in a video by Seth Godin – he mentions how the Internet is just one big cocktail party (click here to watch the video).

Another thing I started the implement is keeping track of what I actually achieved each day. I am not completely disciplined with this activity, but I am doing better than I thought I would. By doing this; it allows me find out where I am wasting time and where I can potentially utilize time to my advantage. I only spend 15 minutes doing this most days of the week. It does actually help to get some perspective of how well or not so well I use my time.

Yep, keeping a “time management” journal is as boring as bat crap. But for someone like me who has a tendency to “drift”, it does help.

I have also discovered that we don’t actually suffer from time management.  It’s actually a personal management problem we suffer from. We can’t actually manage time. Time will continue to tick away. So knowing this made me realise that it was up to me to get a bit more (um… much more) focused on personal management.

This could mean things like outsourcing some of the busy work that really eats at your time (email, general administration type of work). Getting a lot more healthier in order to last throughout a working day without getting too tired. Starting your day earlier is another.

When I first decided to start at 4am, my wife laughed out loud. In fact I kind of laughed too. I was somewhat of a hibernating bear when it came to sleeping. So the idea of starting very early in the morning naturally generated a few giggles.

But here’s thing… when you truly begin to eliminate all the lies you tell yourself, and truly begin to focus on what it is that you want, you won’t struggle so much with finding time. You will simply find more time to do things that need to be done or you will find ways or people to help you to get those things done.

If you are operating with passion, time won’t be so hard to find… I can assure you of that.

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My Nemesis

There is a problem I suffer from after completing each piece of work. The problem is my ego. I have to wrestle with it. And wrestling with my ego is tough. As tough as it would be to convince a 10 foot gorilla to lie down and surrender his last banana.

Do I always win?

Nope

But I win most of the time… at least enough to continue working on new pieces.

The battle I have is trying to live up to my personal expectations with every new piece I produce.

There is this little voice that somehow finds itself in my head all too often, and this voice is somewhat a pain in the ass.

The voice, the super-ego, tells me, “Hmmm, you know something… that painting looks kinda okay. Not bad actually.”

Then the voice breaks into a little chuckle – I freaking hate the chuckle!

And then he continues his rant…

“But here’s the thing…(he always starts the second sentence with “here’s the thing” – I hate that too)…

“I’m sensing that you are out of juice buddy boy. I think it will be very tough to exceed that kind of quality in another painting. Err… I just don’t think you got it in you”.

And this is the very point where I think to myself…

If my ego were a real person, I’d scrub the toilet with his toothbrush. If my ego were a real person…I’d wear one pair of socks everyday for 10 weeks and then stuff them in his pillowcase.

If my ego were a real person…I’d wash his boxer shorts in poison ivy…I’d take to his umbrella with a hole puncher.

If my ego were a real person, I’d stuff his shower curtain rod full of prawns. It’ would take him weeks to find out where the smell was coming from.

But of course, carrying out these types of revenges would simply use up too much of my creative energy – energy that could be better spent on starting a new painting.

My latest personal piece, the portrait of my father, was quite an intensive project. In all it took around 3 weeks before I eventually managed to capture the whole concept that had been living inside my minds eye.

So while I sometimes think that if my ego were a real person I would fill it’s life full of paybacks and nasty pranks, I have gotten better at accepting it’s existence.

Our egos are always going to challenge us. Our egos are always going to lead us to believe that we need to have something that we don’t actually need to have at all.

Our egos have a funny way of creating that kind of frustration in us all at times.

While we all want to get better at being who we are and what we do, we don’t want to be dragged there by the earlobe – which is what an ego that is off the leash and running wild can often do.

I’m better at dealing with the ego these days.  I don’t have to wrestle with it as much as I used to.

To be one step ahead of your ego, get excited and inspired by your minds’ silence, fall in love with the act of creating new work and try to avoid establishing strict starting points and finishing points in your work. The ego will often drag you past the point of the piece feeling wholesome; which is the point where you should have stopped.

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