Art Print Issues by Barney Davey

Using SlideShare to Promote Your Fine Art

These days, actually any days in the art business, you need as much promotion and exposure as you can muster. Fortunately, you have many unique opportunities to promote your fine art to galleries and collectors.

In a recent post, I told you about printing your own four-color magazine from MagCloud. Long time readers may recall I posted about the power of SlideShare by linking to a most impressive presentation titled Shift Happens. Today, I want to reacquaint you with SlideShare by introducing you to a wonderful presentation of fantasy art by Rebeka Rodosek.She is a talented visual artist from Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Fantasy Art By Rebeka Rodosek

I found Rebeka the same way I am sure many other have, which was by searching the Internet. An email from SlideShare about new features prompted me to revisit the site. I had not been there in quite a while, but my good intentions to do so needed a reminder.

When I searched the site for "art," I found Rebeka's palette and subject matter jumping out at me. She is in the print market, as a Google search shows her with work on Imagekind, among other online art sites. I am certain I would have also found her Facebook fan page sooner or later as well.

Email marketing works to promote art

By keeping in touch with me, SlideShare has managed to maintain my interest to the point that I am touting it to you once again. Repeated exposure has worked for it. If you are not using email marketing, you are letting an important and powerful tool go to waste. There will be more on email marketing in a future post. For now, let your imagination run wild and brainstorm on how many ways you can use SlideShare.

Blending marketing elements enhances how you sell art

If you sense there is a thread running through this post, you are right. We talked about how with MagCloud you can create your own four-color magazine. Then we moved onto SlideShare and also mentioned email marketing. Finally, we mentioned Imagekind, an online fine art print gallery site that will sell your art, print it and fulfill it for you.

Your art marketing plan should be to combine powerful elements, such as these, into a cohesive plan to reach and influence your best art collector prospects, dealers and customers. In doing so, you will leverage each component to lift the other and thereby greatly raise awareness for you and your art.

In my humble opinion, this is how to sell art using affordable tools that are readily available and easy to use. Weave them with your Website, blog and social media presence to generate buzz and increase your income.

West Coast Art & Frame Show & SmARTist Telesummit week.

Last week was a bit hectic. It started Monday with a presentation to the 2010 SmARTist Telesummit attendees on my topic of creating a second income through the art print market.

While I have conducted many seminars via the telephone and Internet, this one was different. After a brief introduction from show producer, Ariane Goodwin, I was off to see how deep into a 41-page slide presentation I could get in 45 minutes.

What made this unique was I talked with no feedback as the attendees' phones were muted. Like most speakers, I prefer getting vocal or visual clues, so this was a challenging way to present. I trust my listeners took value from the presentation. The talk was intended to be enlightening regarding the print market with some basic art marketing concepts included.

Finish one presentation and hit the road for the WCAF Show

Once the SmARTist seminar was over, my wife, Mary, and I jumped in the car for the 300-mile trip to Las Vegas where the first day of the Ninth Annual West Coast Art & Frame Show was underway. There were lots of old friends to see from the art print market, including many I had not seen in years.The print side art business is still in flux and I was eager take the pulse of the market.

Hat's off to the Gherman family and their long-time employees for producing another consistent show in Las Vegas. Watching them and their staff from Picture Framing Magazine interact with exhibitors and buyers was educational in itself. They work very hard at maintaining high touch relationships with all their constituents. The results are proof their efforts pay dividends. I did not encounter sour grapes anywhere, which is remarkable for any tradeshow at anytime. At this juncture, I suppose exhibitors are pleased for a decent chance to get exposure to buyers.

Seeing old friends still producing great work with a hopeful attitude was invigorating

Since I sold John and Laurie Chester of Wild Apple Graphics their first ads and tradeshow spaces, I was thrilled to help them celebrate 20 years in business at their booth. I also realized I was the rep to first sell trade ads and show space to to Michael and Susan Singleton' for their Sagebrush Fine Art and likewise to Nasser Shortorbani and Laurie Downing of Poems Art Publishing. Those companies are just a few years junior to Wild Apple. To find myself decades later still in the art print business with such friends is a precious rewarding experience.

Trade media promoting new venues for Decor Expo Atlanta and ArtExpo New York

This show offered a chance to visit in person with the intrepid bunch from Next Step Media. These former workmates included Kim Feager, Kim Klatt, Renee Pinner and Kristin Stefek Brashares. With Kim Feager's leadership as publisher and new CEO, they salvaged Decor Magazine and the Decor Expo shows from being shut down and put out of business. Fred Rogers also was there. He recently joined the Decor team after years as an exec with former owners Pfingsten Publishing LLC and Summit Business Media LLC.

This group is rightfully excited about relaunching Decor Expo in Atlanta on September 11-13. They are equally thrilled to be back in the refurbished America's Gift Mart running concurrent with the Atlanta Gift Show. It would be a great tribute to them and a sign of industry resilience to see Decor Expo Atlanta roar back to life this fall. They have my fondest wishes for huge success there.

Eric Smith was there representing his Redwood Media company which rescued ArtExpo New York from letting its former owners put it out of business. Like every show producer these days, Eric has his hands full trying to put together a strong enough lineup to draw buyers. In 2010, there are no sure things in the art print market. The recent history of art business tradeshows and art consumer shows proves it.

While I have had issues with ArtExpo's previous investment banker owners, I, then as now, believe losing ArtExpo New York would be a stinging blow to artists, art publishers and the industry at large.  As such, my hope for Eric and his exhibitors is the show does well this coming March. It was a pleasure to visit with both John Haffey and Sarah Seamark who were there to cover the show for Art World News. Their trade publication has been an important voice in the art print market for decades.

In these tough times hope springs eternal ... and it is more than just wishful

Just as my experience with art print exhibitors was fun and inspiring, I found it invigorating to connect with colleagues and friends who remain stalwarts in the art trade media and art tradeshow business. Changes in market conditions have been very hard on art print publishers and harsher yet on the trade media and tradeshows supporting them. So, it was delightful to observe a universal dogged determination to succeed among these long-time industry veterans.

Despite our very difficult economic times, and with other challenges around, these professionals maintain a palpable and realistic positive outlook as they demonstrate their belief the industry they serve is prepared to create new opportunities in bringing the art print market to a new era of prosperity.

Remembering Vivian Kistler

I doubt many reading this post knew Vivian Kistler, which is a shame. You can learn more about her life and contributions to the picture framing industry here. Nevertheless, I want to offer a few words of condolence to her family, friends and co-workers. She was a remarkable dynamo who for 30 years worked tirelessly at educating picture framers.

Vivian was a larger-than-life smart, funny, sassy, no-nonsense woman who produced books, workshops, seminars, videos and other materials for the benefit of those in the picture framing business. You did not have to know, or want to know anything about picture framing, to enjoy watching her put on a seminar. It was guaranteed to be lively, humorous and spot-on with great common sense business advice. Hers is a voice and legacy that will never be known again in our industry.

Publish Your Own Fine Art Magazine with MagCloud

I am certain part of my fascination with the MagCloud self-publishing concept is due to having spent three decades in the magazine publishing business. However, I am more enamored because it offers visual artists a new unique and potentially powerful means to promote themselves and their art.

Supports your social media efforts

It is true we are all aflutter with the prospects social media presents us. However, it is still hard to beat the tangible aspects of having a printed publication with beautiful images in one's hands.

In these tough economic times, you can imagine many art publishers sought to cutback by eliminating costly catalogs. What they found was they lost business when they did. This realization should give you more reason and motivation to utilize MagCloud as a promotional vehicle. Properly executed, this tool offers a great way to augment social media and stand out from the crowds there.

MagCloud is a one-of-a-kind art marketing tool

Not surprisingly, I learned about MagCloud on the Internet, specifically from a Facebook ad. Being curious by nature, and because the magazine business has been so important to my career, I was immediately compelled to investigate MagCloud. I found it offers unique promotional opportunities as a marketing tool for artists, art associations and artist co-ops. The image above is the cover the the inaugural issue of Domestic Etch. It is produced by Elizabeth Goodspeed, a New York based graphic designer and artist. You can also find her on her Domestic Etch blog.

With so many things these days being fulfilled nearly instantly, I had to think through the comparatively lengthy process involved in producing a MagCloud publication. If you check it out, you will find the turnaround time between submission, proofing, and final order fulfillment can take four weeks or longer.

By traditional magazine publishing standards, MagCloud offers a relatively quick turnaround. Realistically, I think the planning,  writing and production stage could easily take four weeks or longer to prepare files to send to the printer. For me, after just spending a small amount of time on the site, I am convinced this self-publishing concept is worthy of the investment in time, regardless of how long, and effort for artists looking for new ways to promote their art. It is less costly than a traditional catalog, more impressive than a brochure, and unlike most other printed promo materials you find from visual artists.

Your fine art magazine will get the best results with a graphic designer

As with any creative endeavor, it takes talent and skill to produce something visually interesting and compelling. As such, I will strongly recommend to any artist who decides to pursue this opportunity that he or she enlist the aid of a competent graphic designer. Not only is a graphic designer likely to have more talent to create a better publication, he or she is likely will have better tools and knowledge to use them to get better quicker results.

As an account executive selling advertising space for Decor magazine for many years, I repeatedly saw visual artists make the same mistake. That is, they believed their training as an artist qualified them to create great graphic design. It is not the same training or skill set. Many times their self-designed ads lacked the pizazz and visual punch needed to get the best response. Besides, with you enterprising types, I see this as a wonderful opportunity for visual artists and graphic designers to collaborate so each gets promotional value from the effort.

Publishing your own art business publication is an affordable idea with great promotional prospects

Given MagCloud's print-on-demand component, which offers great flexibility, low prices, and both one off and bulk delivery, this product looks like a sure-fire winner in the right hands to me. That it is part of Hewlett-Packard makes the product more viable and compelling. I am eager to see how readers of this blog respond to this opportunity. If you do create a publication using MagCloud, please let me know so I can publicize it here for you.

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P.S. The SmARTist Telesummit starts today. It is not too late to register. It runs for seven days. No one expects you to be able to attend all the sessions. That is why you can request a set of boxed CDs to listen to afterwards. They will be shipped to you for FREE! I speak on a panel today and present my talk, Putting Art Prints in Perspective: How Can You Build a Second Income in the Art Print Market, on Monday, January 25. i will see you there!

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SmARTist Telesummit Art Career Conference Starts Thursday, Jan 21

REGISTER NOW!

Discover new ways to build your art business

If you are like many artists, you have found the last year one of wonder and worry. You wonder at how much things have changed, and how technology is opening exciting, but daunting new ways to connect to collectors. At the same time, you have worried about how to build your career given the challenges and opportunities before you.

GOOD NEWS! YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, WE HAVE ANSWERS

Starting on Wednesday, January 21, you have a chance to learn how to make a real difference in your art career. My friend and yours, Ariane Goodwin, has put together a select group of topnotch presenters to help you get motivated, organized and informed. It is humbling for me to be among the eleven presenters when I see the level of experience and expertise they are set to bring to you.

ACHIEVE CAREER GOALS!

While the cost of gaining this invaluable information is not free, you can freely access it as often as you like. Whether you take it all in live, or listen and relisten to the available audio files post show, you are sure be invigorated to work harder and smarter at revitalizing your career. The knowledge you gain will help you win new confidence and new collectors.

ENHANCE YOUR ART BUSINESS SKILLS WITH THESE PRESENTATIONS:

**ROBERT FRITZ - Internationally Best-selling Author, Composer, Filmmaker & Management-thru-Creativity Guru
Presents: Your Life As Art & The Path of Least Resistance

**BARNEY DAVEY - Expert on the Art Print Market
Presents: Putting Art Prints in Perspective: How Can You Build a Second Income in the Art Print Market

**JEANETTE SMITH - Art Licensing Expert
Presents: Thirty Dirty Secrets of Art Licensing - What you really need to know to get into the business

**SHARON PITTS - Watercolor artist and educator
Presents: Travel With Your Talent: Giving Workshops Abroad

**JOAN STEWART - Self-Promotion Expert
Presents: Ezines, Bios & Blogs! The Top 3 Writing Problems That Stop Artists Cold... and How to Solve Them

**JASON HOREJS - Gallery Owner & Author of 'Starving' to Successful
Presents: "Starving" to Successful: How to Find & Keep the Right Gallery for Your Work—at any stage of your career

**JENNIFER HOFMANN - Compassionate Expert on Organizing
Presents: Gentle Organizing for Creative Spirits

**CHRIS BUFFALOE - Expert in Social Media Management
Presents: Beyond Beginners: Selling More Art on Facebook
 
**JONATHAN TALBOT - Painter & Collage Artist, Exhibited At The Museum Of Modern Art In NY, Has Produced over 35,000 Pieces Of Work
Presents: Making Your Passion Your Business: Learn How Passion Yields Success in Both Art & Business

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Click here to see all the conference details & register now ===========================================

Brought to you by: 
A. Goodwin, Ed.D.
Founder, Organizer, & Host
of the smARTist® Telesummit

The only professional Art Career Conference online or off!

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How to Passionately & Relentlessly Pursue Your Art Career

If you have been paying attention to the Social Media space, you have likely seen, read or heard something from or about Gary Vaynerchuk. In three short years, he has risen from obscurity to become a huge star. His success is due to his passion and relentless pursuit of his goals and his desire to share his knowledge with and inspire others.

His book, Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, is a current bestseller. It is a slim volume that packs punch. Fittingly, the article below, which is republished courtesy of the Early to Rise newsletter, extols the advice about how to succeed. While neither source listed here directly mentions visual artists, the advice given directly applies to success in the art business.

Be Relentless in Pursuit of Your Dreams

By Robert Ringer

Although virtually everyone agrees that “time is money,” I’m convinced most people only pay lip service to this truism. If you’re really serious about it, you need to come to grips with the reality that the key ingredient for converting time into money is self-discipline.

The greatest catalyst for an undisciplined person is pain, and pain comes in many forms.

Physical pain, for instance, can be the catalyst for becoming self-disciplined when it comes to exercise and healthy eating. Financial pain can be the catalyst for having the self-discipline to work when you’re tired or sick, or when you’d rather be out having fun. And then there’s the pain that comes from a lost love, which can give you the self-discipline to be a better partner when love comes your way again.

Years ago, when I was still single, I became good friends with a professional football player who was something of a celebrity due to his stellar performance in the NFL. “Bill” was not only a phenomenal athlete, he was extremely intelligent and possessed extraordinary talents in many other areas.

Bill approached me at the health club we both belonged to and introduced himself. He said he had read my first book, and considered it to be his “bible.” Obviously, I was flattered.

Bill had been working on a book of his own for a couple of years, but was having trouble completing it. As I got to know him over the next three years, it became easy to see why. Notwithstanding everything he had going for him, he was totally lacking in one important area: self-discipline.

At that stage of my life, I was attracted to the proposition of having a good time, but I never allowed that to interfere with my work. I normally went to bed between 8:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., woke around 4:30 a.m., jogged a few miles, and was at my Selectric typewriter by 8:00 a.m. or so. As a result, over the three-year period I was friends with Bill, I wrote two more books, both of them bestsellers.

Through it all, Bill was constantly urging me to “live it up” with him. He’d often chide me, saying, “C’mon, don’t be a party pooper. Lighten up. Sometimes, you’ve got to let it all hang out.”

During that three-year period, while I was finishing two successful books, Bill spent his nonpartying time moaning and groaning about changing the premise of his book, endlessly reorganizing his material, and tinkering with — of all things — the title. To me, these appeared to be nothing more than stalling tactics to avoid the gut-wrenching work of actually bringing his book to completion.

As a result, Bill missed his window of opportunity. Because, as everyone knows, fame is fleeting. The door closes very rapidly once you’re out of the limelight. While he was playing in the NFL, it would have been easy for him to find a major publisher for his book. When you get your shot in life, you have to take it.

When I look back on my relationship with Bill, there were two defining moments.

The first occurred when I was putting in 14- to 16-hour workdays, seven days a week, on my books. I vividly recall Bill looking very discouraged after I refused to party with him one night. “How could I ever compete with someone as self-disciplined as you?” he said. “You’re relentless. You would just wear me down through attrition.”

It struck me as bizarre that this famous, multitalented person was telling me he couldn’t compete with me. Ridiculous. The truth of the matter is that he could have written two or three bestselling books in the time I knew him. In fact, with 100 percent effort, he could have beaten me at just about anything. And doors were open to him that certainly weren’t open to me. He would have had a good shot at an acting career… or maybe broadcasting.

Instead, Bill chose instant, daily, and (worse) nightly gratification over potentially huge benefits down the road.

Maybe Bill was just lazy, right? Sorry, not a valid excuse. The truth is, most people are lazy at heart — especially most successful people. They become self-disciplined out of necessity.

“Every morning I have a little fight with myself,” a very successful marketer once told me. “I have to force myself to haul it out of bed and into the office.” Well, I know the feeling. Everyone who has heard me speak knows how strongly I believe in the need to force yourself to take action.

The second defining moment in my relationship with Bill was when he told me he had developed the ability to bluff his way though practice after a hard night out on the town. He said he had mastered the art of going through the motions in such a way that it appeared that he was working at full throttle.

Sadly, Bill carried that same attitude into his aborted writing career and life beyond football. In my view, it’s the reason he’s not ensconced in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where others with less talent but far more self-discipline will be forever honored.

Self-discipline is about restraining, or regulating, your actions — repressing the instinct to act impulsively in favor of taking rational, long-term-oriented actions. My short-lived friendship with Bill was immensely beneficial to me. It made me realize that self-discipline — a trait that every human being has the capacity to develop — gave me the power to outperform people who are far more intelligent and talented than I am.

[Ed. Note: To learn how to survive and prosper during the turbulent years ahead, check out Robert Ringer's powerful audio series Succeeding in a World of Chaos. And be sure to sign up for a FREE subscription to his one-of-a-kind e-letter A Voice of Sanity in an Insane World.]

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

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Start your year off with the pursuit of your passion. Get the learning and inspiration you need to succeed from the 2010 SmARTist Telesummit in January!

If you want more help on you career from me, I will be one of the eleven speakers the 4th Annual SmARTist Telesummit. Click here to sign up now or to get more information about the topnotch panel of presenters who are ready to help you catapult your career this January. With the impressive lineup Arianne Goodwin has put together, you are sure to get a very positive career boost from your investment in time and money.

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ArtExpo New York 2010 - New Venue Debuts with Cautious Optimism

If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere,
Come on, come through, New York, New York 
"Theme from New York New York" - lyrics by Fred Ebb

For the past 30 years, Art Expo New York has stood at the pinnacle of the commercial fine art print market. The list of past exhibitors is a veritable Who's Who of visual artists, including Andy Warhol, Peter Max, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Indiana and Leroy Neiman.

ArtExpo is a market maker

To illustrate ArtExpo's past market making prowess, there are bona fide reports of established publishers representing a single artist who have taken in well more than $1.5 million in two weeks with pre-show and at-show sales. Whether such robust buying power exists in today's market is open to debate. If there is one constant with the show, it is nothing remains the same. The show's move of venue from the Jacob Javits Center to Pier 94 on the Hudson River is a perfect example.

The famous song lyrics above apply as much to ArtExpo New York as any other artistic endeavor. That is if you make it there (at ArtExpo), you can make it anywhere. During the past three decades it has been a given that if you breakout or stand out at ArtExpo New York your ticket was punched for bigger and better things, both nationally and internationally. 2010 will put its history to the test as never before.

Revolving door ownership has taken a toll

Throughout its interesting colorful history, which includes its ownership passing through a long list of art entrepreneurs and media companies, the show has been challenged by any number of competitors. In the end, it beat them all back to remain the focal point of the commercial fine art and print market.

This year, the show is facing its toughest challenges yet.

They include:

• An industry with fading forces in the wake of tumultuous changing market conditions and consumer buying habits
• An ambiance downgrade move from the magnificent I.M. Pei designed Jacob Javits Center to Pier 94 on the Hudson River
• The most difficult economic conditions in the show's long history

Meet the new boss ... same as the old boss?

Under normal conditions, any one of these significant factors would make producing a successful profitable show a demanding test of marketing and management skills and considerable industry goodwill. The good news for the show is, while the ownership has changed hands in mid-2009, it was sold to a group headed by Eric Smith. He has been responsible for producing ArtExpo for many years and his tenure has made him one of the most experienced art show producers in the industry.

If there is a downside to Smith's stewardship of the newly formed company, it is the negativity from many in the industry who felt the shows were poorly managed and unfairly on not put the blame squarely on him. His is the sort of job where results are easy to gauge. You can review to come to your own conclusions.

It must be mentioned that with ArtExpo, Smith was saddled with successive investment banking owners operating with a spreadsheet management mentality that ultimately took a toll on the shows. Moreover, the dramatic change of fortunes and conditions within the industry and overall economy made producing knock 'em out of the park grand slam events virtually impossible for any show producer.

How ArtExpo fares in 2010 will affect your business in the future

If you are a show veteran, you surely have your own thoughts on past show management performance. Regardless, if you put the success of the show above any personal feelings or past history, you realize this is all there is. Like it or not, Art Expo New York has no peer or viable alternative. This means focusing on making this show successful for yourself is more important than ever. Basically, you have to make it here (AENY) because your second choice for a tradeshow does not exist right now.

A glimpse from the past with some prescient predictions

In March 2008, I wrote a post titled ArtExpo New York - The Show Must Go On. Here are the bullet points from that piece with current comments in [brackets]:

• ArtExpo New York is the industry's most important show [It still is, there is no where else to go.]
• Despite problems and smaller size ArtExpo New York (AENY) 2008 delivers [The 2009 show followed with worse results and dimmed hopes.]
• AENY transcends ALL constituencies that rely on it [See the first point, where are we without this show?]
• Further contractions will put the show on a slippery slope [The economy and market conditions have made this a reality.]
• AENY's contraction in size is beyond a show management problem [See above point.]
• Keeping the Javits and optimal dates is not a sure thing - room nights are the coin of the realm [The Javits is history, the dates are not optimal due to the proximity the Jewish celebration of Passover, which starts January 29 at sunset.]
• Can you imagine our industry without AENY? [If the show is important to your business, you need to have a solid Plan B for this potentially disastrous outcome.]
• Show success is not based on management and exhbitor activity [Without buyers with an open-to-buy budget and mentality, no show can survive.]
• Tradeshows such as ArtExpo live and die on word-of-mouth (WOM) - Critical mass keeps the WOM buzz going [Heed the subject line of this post: ArtExpo New York 2010 - New Venue Debuts with Cautious Optimism.]
• The industry needs to come together to reinvigorate AENY [More true now than in 2009. The huge question marks regarding buyers and exhibitors' willingness to commit to the show will be answered in March.]
• Leadership from AENY's corporate owner is paramount [Will The Who's immortal line, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" prevail, or will we see something new and refreshing from the new/old owners?]
• Take a personal interest - get involved - it's your show and your future [This has always been the case. In past years, one could exhort participation for the good of the industry. These days with survival on the minds of many companies for the first time ever, decisions are cold-blooded and calculated on whether the return on investment is there for both exhibitors and buyers.]

Look upon this bright spot and use it to bolster your confidence and recruit attendance

A very good sign is ArtExpo New York 2010 will follow the Architectural Digest show on Pier 94. That indicates buyers are already pre-conditioned to seeing a show on Pier 94. If one of the most important and influential magazines covering the prized audience of high net worth income consumers can deem to have its show in this location, it makes moving there far more palatable for ArtExpo.

The slippery slope was mentioned above. We are on it right now. I believe we have some firm hand holds and potentially can climb our way up the slope to less treacherous ground. To do so will take a concerted optimistic effort from all involved. The ultimate test of success for any show is did enough buyers come and did they come to buy. When those conditions are met, the results we all desire ensue.

If you do not make it here, the chances for making it at show elsewhere dim

If you plan to make it there in future years, you cannot sit on the sidelines and hope other more intrepid companies and buyers will pick up the slack. Without robust participation this year, the future of ArtExpo New York may be nothing more than nostalgic memories. I am not ready for that outcome and hope neither are you.

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Start your year off with the learning and inspiration you will get from the 2010 SmARTist Telesummit in January!

If you want more help on you career from me, I will be one of the eleven speakers the 4th Annual SmARTist Telesummit. Click here to sign up now or to get more information about the topnotch panel of presenters who are ready to help you catapult your career this January. With the impressive lineup Arianne Goodwin has put together, you are sure to get a very positive career boost from your investment in time and money.

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Barney Davey's Top Ten Art Business Tweets - September - December 2009

With the New Year, it is time for a new look for Art Print Issues. The former online newsletter  is now entering its fifth year as a blog. The theme and typeface appealed to me. I hope you like them too!

The impact of social media on the art business picked up steam in 2009. It is bound to become more important to visual artists in their art marketing efforts this year.

Here are the Top Ten most clicked of my Twitter.com tweets between September - December 2009. If you are want to get them right away, follow me here. 

1. Things a Gallery May Never Tell You http://ow.ly/ryKf  
2. Creative Art Marketing Idea - Bookmarks ~ this is a nifty idea! http://ow.ly/l0bB  
3. Ten Movies About Artists That Every Artist Should See http://ow.ly/s3NK
4. An Interactive Web Presence ~self-tagging idea for photos at gallery opening. BRILLIANT IDEA! http://ow.ly/tN83   
5. Art Blogging Etiquette 101: General Rules for Linking and Using Images @EmptyEasel http://ow.ly/qceR
6. Ten Steps to Extraordinary Success in Your Art and Business http://ow.ly/pZO0
7. Licensing your Art – The Gift that Keeps on Giving http://ow.ly/uJsU
8. Resources: 25 Best Art Gallery Sites :: Digital Image Magazine http://ow.ly/si2K   
9. How to sell artwork online?...an attempt to answer the question of the year ~ Thought provoking & honest http://ow.ly/K8Xn
10. Five Ways to Promote Your Facebook Fan Page ~ some great suggestions here! http://ow.ly/EIX

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Start your year off with the learning and inspiration you will get from the 2010 SmARTist Telesummit in January!

If you want more help on you career from me, I will be one of the eleven speakers the 4th Annual SmARTist Telesummit. Click here to sign up now or to get more information about the topnotch panel of presenters who are ready to help you catapult your career this January. With the impressive lineup Arianne Goodwin has put together, you are sure to get a very positive career boost from your investment in time and money.

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Local Search for the Local Artist – Grow Where You Are Planted

Use your local market advantage!

 Professional careers all start somewhere. Where you are from makes little difference. You can enjoy a full-time vocation no matter where you live.

As a visual artist, you can enjoy a locally grown, highly successful professional fine art career without gaining national or international acclaim.

The legacies of visual artist legends can be misleading

The stories of nationally known artists who made it big somewhere else are the stuff of legend. If you are an actor, you go to Hollywood or Broadway. Country singers go to Nashville and major visual artists break in New York. The reality is the careers of most artists, whether musicians, writers, painters or actors take place in some other place.

If you study how people use search engines to get information, you begin to understand there are distinct uses. For instance, there are coarse broad searches for information such as “visual artists” or “fine artists.” Then there also are more granulated specific or vertical searches such as, “watercolor artists” or “charcoal artists.” Local searches are more refined and could be for a term such as “fine artist Phoenix” or "your name Arizona." 

Using Local Search without a Web site -- who knew!

I bet you would be thrilled to top the list of local business results for a Google search in your area. It works for local legend Ed Mell here in Phoenix. Whether intentionally or otherwise, he must be following the advice found in this blog post, "Get Started in Local Search Without a Web Site," as it appears he does not have personal Web site.

While it would be wonderful to have your name come up above the fold, (on the viewable part of the first screen), when a search query relevant to you or your art business were entered into Google or other search engines, you presume it is not going to happen. For the most part, you are right. Getting top ranking for broad search terms is not a reasonable Search Engine Optimization (SEO) goal.

When it comes to local search, you have a reasonable chance for a top ranking. Whether you succeed on your top of the fold ambitions or not, taking the time to try for such placement is a worthwhile exercise for you. These days with the traditional model of building a reliable dealer network showing serious signs of decline, it is incumbent on self-representing artists to gain more control over the distribution of their work. Local marketing supported by local search is one way to achieve such a goal.

For visual artists, local marketing is smart marketing

Local marketing has always been effective for artists. It is true in many art towns that top local galleries tend to ignore all but a handful of the best-known local artists. While it may seem cruel or shortsighted, the decision is not so much snobbery as it is marketing perceptions. Although I do not know if the same scenario plays out in smaller towns or areas not known as fine art destinations, I suspect it does not.

The point here is becoming well known in your local market is a laudable and profitable goal. If you buy into the premise and promise of local marketing, you have to ask yourself how proactive you are in your area. I believe you can formulate a workable and affordable action plan to elevate your recognition and thus reward in your local market.

For local marketing success, concentrate on these three areas:

1. Get representation in local galleries, shows, antique malls and alternative spaces
2. Build a database of all local media outlets and the best prospects for journalists or broadcasters to contact
3. Get listed in every local search engine and business directory in your region

Regarding the first item, there are innumerable books and blog posts on getting gallery representation. The best book I have read on the subject is “Starving” to Successful: The Fine Artist’s Guide to Getting into Galleries by Jason Horejs. I believe so strongly in his information that I put an order page on this blog for it.

Jason and I also are both presenting at the 2010 SmArtist Telesummit coming up in a couple of weeks. Check it out. I think the entire speaker lineup put together by Ariane Goodwin is simply outstanding. It will have practical and inspirational information you will refer to over and over again.

Last year, I published one of my most popular posts on getting publicity for artists titled Publicity is a Big Deal for Visual Artists and All Small Businesses. It contains useful information to get your own Do-It-Yourself publicity going. In the post, you also will find links to my numerous other blog posts on publicity for artists.

Get listed in local search engines and local directories, such as the Yellow Pages

When it comes to local search, you should be active in getting listed everywhere possible. A successful deployment of this effort will help make you more “Digitally Distinct.” You can check your current level with the Online Identity Calculator here. Keep in mind that you can become locally digitally distinct without cracking the same level on broad searches. Do not despair if you rank low on the calculator, you have the power to improve it.

If you follow the advice here to raise awareness and sales on a local level, being easily found local searches will be invaluable to the cause. Your efforts should include submitting a listing to all the major search engines that offer local search, including Google, Yahoo, Ask, Bing and others. You can do your own research using a term such as “submit local search” to find the most important links.

You also should list in the local Yellow Pages and all available business directories. Search for “directory listings name of your town/county/region” and you will dozens more places eager to accept and publish your information. Doing this increases your Internet exposure and your “Digital Distinction.” In most cases, it creates a link back to your Web site or blog. These back links are an important component of SEO and will help with your Google Page Rank.

Mary Bowling is a consultant specializing in optimizing and marketing a wide variety of businesses and nonprofits online. She has written a number of useful articles on local search, including the one above on using local search without a Web site. To dig deeper, start with this article: Social Media and Local Search 101. Then look for the links below it for more great information in these articles such as these:

• Get Started in Local Search Without a Web Site
• What's the Future of Google's Local Search?
• Google Cracking Down on Business Listing Spam
• Google Place Pages Come to Local Search

These are all things you can do on the smallest of marketing budgets. Get busy on them and make your 2010 bigger and better.

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Start your year off with the learning and inspiration you will get from the 2010 SmARTist Telesummit in January!

If you want more help on you career from me, I will be one of the eleven speakers the 4th Annual SmARTist Telesummit. Click here to sign up now or to get more information about the topnotch panel of presenters who are ready to help you catapult your career this January. With the impressive lineup Arianne Goodwin has put together, you are sure to get a very positive career boost from your investment in time and money.

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Decade in Review for the Art Print Market

There have been numerous reviews of the past decade in print, broadcast and online media such as this one from Newsweek: Decade in Review (It is seven minutes long).

 

Here is my take on The Decade in Review for the Art Print Market. The dates and information supplied are subjective, arbitrary, approximate and included to the best of my ability, but not guaranteed for accuracy.

 

1999 (These items in this year are not officially part of the 2000 Decade, but close and significant enough to include)

• Commerce Publishing Company sold to Pfingsten Partners LLC. Properties include Decor magazine, and its sister Art Buyers Caravan, Frame-o-rama and Galeria tradeshow division.

o Actually happened in mid-1999, but most changes due to new ownership started in the new decade

o Many longtime employees leave Decor and Decor Expo

• Getty Images buys Art.com for $115 million in May 1999

2000

• Art Buyers Caravan (ABC), Frame-o-rama and Galeria shows rebranded as Decor Expo

• Cafepress.com gets initial VC funding

• West Coast Art & Frame Show in second year continues to grow with nearly 250 booths

2001

• Terrorist attacks on 9-11-2001 cause Atlanta Decor Expo show to be cancelled

o This singular event was a turning point for the industry

o Although some shows continued to grow in size, the industry never fully recovered its momentum as other factors compounded to stymie its growth

• In the wake of the dotcom bomb stock implosion, the founders of Allwall.com purchase Art.com from Getty Images for a fraction of Getty’s purchase price

2002

• Pfingsten Publishing & Advanstar Communications agree to single registration fee, to share registration and shuttle buses expenses between venues at the Jacob Javits Centerwhere ArtExpo is held and the Westside Piers where Decor Expo Art & Framing shows are held

• Art Copyright Coalition is formed by Art Publisher's Association members

• Alyson Stanfield launches www.ArtBizCoach.com

2003

• Pfingsten Publishing & Advanstar Communications agree to co-exist in the Jacob Javits Center putting ArtExpo, Decor Expo in the same location for the first time ever

• West Coast Art & Frame Show fills void in exhibit space as it grows with more art publishers finding success at its show

• Digital art begins to get traction in fine art print market

2004

• ArtExpo New York and the Atlanta Decor Expo (formerly Atlanta ABC Show) continue to grow in size and importance

• Internet retailers command growing sales from consumers and in orders from poster publishers

• Thomas Kinkade featured on CBS News "60 Minutes" show

• Increasing volume of Chinese assembly line oil paintings create concerns

2005

• Barney Davey launches Art Print News; publishing it as an online newsletter

• Atlanta Decor Expo lands at # 145 on the Tradeshow Week 200 signifying it is one of the largest tradeshows in the US

• Advanstar Communications agrees to sell its art properties, including ArtExpo shows and Art Business News magazine to Pfingsten Publishing LLC

• Print-on-demand technology proves to be a game changer as giclée sales eclipse all other media in the limited edition market

• Sharp decline in the number of independent art retailers brought on by the rise of Internet shopping, growth of big box stores, flood of cheap Chinese oil paintings and changes in consumer tastes wreak havoc on the poster publishing business

• Allposters.com and Art.com merge. Allposters.com is #145 on Internet Retailer Top 400 and Art.com is #95. Both sites continue to operate independently to date

• Etsy.com is launched

• Marilyn Sholin launches www.DigitalPaintingForum.com

2006

• Art Print News changes format from online newsletter to blog

• Summit Business Media LLC acquires Pfingsten Publishing LLC for the latter’s financial publishing properties. Art group gets short shrift as management unsuccessfully seeks a new buyer for it

• Imagekind.com is founded

• Thomas Kinkade is reported to have earned $53 million in the period 1997 to May 2005

• West Coast Art & Frame Show continues strong appeal to art exhibitor grows to more than 500 booths

2007

• Changing economic and market conditions continue to cause dramatic declines in booth space at tradeshows and ad space in trade magazines

• Decor Expo New York is cancelled and move to Baltimore. For the first time in three decades there is not a spring international picture framing and poster publishing tradeshow in New York

• Inaugural ArtExpo Las Vegas show opens to mixed signals

• Blogging for independent artists takes on growing use and importance

2008

• Decor Expo Baltimore is canceled

• Imagekind.com is acquired by Cafepress.com

• Etsy Raises $27 Million to Expand Marketplace for handmade goods

• ArtExpo Las Vegas opens on day Dow drops 600 points. Show never recovers

• Limited edition Shepard Fairey art available exclusively at CafePress through partnership with Rock The Vote

• Wyland paints 99th Whaling Wall "Water for Life” in North Lauderdale, Florida

2009

• Kim Feager, publisher of Decor, Art Business News and Volume magazines, and Eric Smith, Art Group Vice-President purchase the art group properties from Summit Business Media LLC. Feager gets magazines and Decor Expo shows. Smith gets ArtExpo shows.

• Decor Expo Atlanta cancels 2009 show. New owners vow to return stronger in 2010

• ArtExpo Las Vegas show canceled, future is doubtful

• ArtExpo New York announces it will move to Pier 94 from the Jacob Javits Center

• Social media outlets including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn rise to become important marketing vehicles for artists and publishers

 

Undoubtedly, there were other momentous events affecting the art print market in the past decade. These mentioned where what easily came to mind for me, thus making this list both arbitrary and potentially inaccurate. I welcome all comments with corrections and additional items worthy of mention in the past decade.

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Start your year off with the learning and inspiration you will get from the 2010 SmARTist Telesummit in January!

If you want more help on you career from me, I will be one of the eleven speakers the 4th Annual SmARTist Telesummit. Click here to sign up now or to get more information about the topnotch panel of presenters who are ready to help you catapult your career this January. With the impressive lineup Arianne Goodwin has put together, you are sure to get a very positive career boost from your investment in time and money.

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On Being a Fearless Artist ~ Happy Holidays & Merry Christmas

First, should you miss any messages from me between now and year's end, please accept my wish for you to experience a wonderful Holiday Season and to take the New Year by storm filling it with success, prosperity and joy. These days, it supposedly is politically incorrect to broadcast a "Merry Christmas" wish. For me, the sentiment behind saying it transcends personal religious views. On that basis, I wish you all a "Merry Christmas" however you celebrate the season.  

Being known for something, or as something, pays benefits

Most successful artists spend time thinking about how the body of work they are creating will be perceived by their collectors, galleries and supporters. It is a smart thing to do and can pay handsome dividends when managed properly. The look, the feel, the message can each gain a life of their own. One need only look the creative output of artists as wildly dissimilar as Hazel Dooney, Yuroz, Jack Vettriano, or even Thomas Kinkade to get what I mean. Their art is instantly recognizable and thus more bankable as well. You will get no argument the career trajectory of each is completely unique. It is likely some will take umbrage seeing these names linked in the same sentence.

For some artists, being predictably unpredictable pays benefits

Then there are those artists who refuse to be categorized. Bob Dylan is a perfect example. I do not think he will ever quit breaking molds or going his own way. His new fun zany polka-infused "It Must Be Santa" video proves the point. As a counterpoint, you will find the rest of his Christmas album of standards played straight down the middle. Not what you expect from a 68-year old folk-rocker who was born Jewish, converted to Christianity, and who is his own words in a recent interview on his Website is a "true believer." 

A quick check for the sales ranking of "Christmas In the Heart" on Amazon.com remarkably finds it at #17 on the Bestseller list. This is an astonishing feat for this musician who in his career has gone from what one Amazon reviewer accurately describes from myth to 'has been' to legend.

Help the hungry and homeless, Dylan's royalties in perpetuity go to feed and shelter them

While few artists of any sort will have a career spanning the length and breadth of Dylan's, all can take heed his fierce and fearless approach to creating his music on his terms. That he has been able to continue to bring his fans along for the ride for five decades proves one can dare to challenge the status quo and still be successful. Perhaps it is in that context Dylan is best defined as a "true believer."

Recognizing the world wide problem of hunger, Bob Dylan has donated his proceeds from the record, in perpetuity, to organizations around the world to help with hunger and homelessness. If you are a fan, or just want to do some good, buy the CD or download it. Either way, you will help as 100% of Dylan's royalties will be donated to worthy organizations.

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Take your career to the next level at the 2010 SmARTist Telesummit

If you want more help on you career from me, I will be one of the eleven speakers the 4th Annual SmARTist Telesummit. Click hereto sign up now or to get more information about the topnotch panel of presenters who are ready to help you catapult your career this January. With the impressive lineup Arianne Goodwin has put together, you are sure to get a very positive career boost from your investment in time and money.

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