Broken Links - a metaphor for marketing. Plus the art of the 15-second pitch.

Broken lines, broken strings,
Broken threads, broken springs,
Broken idols, broken heads,
People sleeping in broken beds.
Ain't no use jiving
Ain't no use joking
Everything is broken. ~ Bob Dylan

My apologies. If you tried to use the broken link to the article in on art in the July issue of License! Global Digital Edition magazine in my previous post. It's been fixed with many thanks to Sue O'Kieffe who notified me. It's linked again above to the proper page in the digital version of the July issue. To apply for your own digital subscription, use this link: https://www.advanstar.com/subscriptions/subscribe.asp?subid=180&ac=a&cid=&esc=L0707W

If you think about it, links to your customers and prospects are the lifeline to your business. When they are broken, so is your business. Conversely, the more links you have and the stronger they are, the more prosperous your art business will be. Good links are at the heart of very important Google page ranks. The smart folks there long ago figured out relevancy in search results are directly tied to both quantity and quality of links to any given Web page. Of course, it's more than that, but if you have a Web page and don't put in some time working on creating links to it, you are never going to achieve the results you want in page rankings.

How well are you linked to galleries where you are doing business, or want to do business? How well are you linked to journalists who might take an interest in your business? How well are you linked to your local business community where some might turn to you for commissions, or for donations to high-profile events? How well are you linked to those in your sphere of influence who could instrumental in helping your career?

Don't sell yourself short on who you know. You can be a total stranger, new in town, it doesn't matter. If you make a goal of meeting at least two centers of influence every month, in a year you will have 24 people who can help. If you write, email, call them or send notes, they will be impressed and some will respond with help you could not have imagined.

How hard is it to meet such people? Not very is the short answer. Join some civic groups or charities, read the newspapers and send congratulatory or other appropriate notes. In some cases, a direct phone call can be powerful if it carries purpose beyond your own needs. For instance, if you are calling on behalf of The Boys and Girls Club and there is mutual interest, you'll get through. Start and regularly update a list of people in your area who can help you. Ask everyone you know if they know any of those people or know someone who knows those people. These could be journalists, gallerists, television news producers, business owners, architects, interior designers, publishers and on and on...you decide.

How important can it be to network with and connect to people in businesses that don't pertain to the art business? You might be surprised to learn if you have strong connections to 25 people, you are two degrees of separation from more than 15,000 people. BNI (Business Networking International), the largest business networking organization in the world, estimates the average business person knows about 25 other business persons. BNI premises it's not who you know. It's who your direct contacts know  and who those people know that will make a difference in your business and career. Thus the math, 25 x 25 = 625 and 625 x 25 = 15,625. If you generate a fraction of positive reaction from this potential pool, you are sure to find influential people predisposed to greatly help you.

I have been in several BNI groups or similar business referral groups over the years and I can't say they are a great place for an artist looking to sell originals or prints. It works better for realtors, insurance agents, plumbers, chiropractors, financial planners and bookkeepers, etc. These professions need a steady stream of clients and they are also in direct contact with many other local businesses. So, it makes the sharing of leads easier for them. If anyone has evidence to the contrary that visual artists thrive in a BNI type group, please let me know.

That BNI make not be appropriate for visual artists does not mean you can't learn from the basic principles of the organization. The first simply is "Givers Gain" and the other is to be prepared to give your elevator pitch at a moment's notice. For the former, it makes sense, you go out of your way to help somebody and sure enough, most folks will reciprocate. BNI merely formalizes and tracks the process. It also helps in training its members how to speak in public and refine their elevator pitch.

Since I'm not advocating joining BNI for most visual artists, I'm going to give you a link where you can use a very cool Pitch Wizard to create a 15-Second Pitch. I came across this site the other day and was immediately attracted to its premise and ease of use. There is a link for a meeting dated May 22 on the home page, which is bothersome, so I contacted them to ask about it. So far, no reply, but the Wizard works, so go for it. In case you are interested, here's mine looks when done:

This is a terrific tool. It may take less than a minute to say, but it could take you a couple of hours to get it right. I'd write it, wait for tomorrow and write it again and then do it one more time. It's easily worth the time to invest in learning how to easily tell others what you do in a way that best spotlights yourself and your business. This 15-Second Pitch Wizard will be a great help to you.

Confidence is contagious and attractive. When you put present your message smoothly with poise, you are sure to generate attention and questions. This is exactly what you want in a social or business setting. BNI also teaches its members to be able to clearly and concisely state what they need and what type of people they want to meet. Mine could be:

"I would like to speak before groups of entrepreneurs and small businesses on creative marketing. My best prospects are small businesses and visual artists who realize greater growth and profitability for their business is possible when properly marketed."

I know, I know, I can hear many of you now. You are a right-brained artist who abhors this sort of thing. Guess what, so do many of those who participate successfully in BNI. They have put aside their personal feelings and overcome their shyness and introverted personalities or whatever else makes them reluctant so they can utilize this powerful word-of-mouth marketing tool to help them succeed in their business. You can too, and I flat guarantee as an artist you will have many more easily engaged conversations than any life insurance agent. Art is a construed as fun, sexy, interesting, alluring and intriguing by many people. Use that interest to your advantage!

This post begs to include discussion on social networking, social bookmarking, MySpace, Facebook, Digg, Delicious, Technorati, Stumble Upon, Squidoo and other Web 2.0 programs in various levels of development and acceptance. We'll get around to all that soon enough. Right now, get networking locally and if you yearn to market Web 2.0 style, start with a blog.