Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Chris shared information  about how to make a living as an artist. He said his talk assumes we make great “art”.
  • His first recommendation was for us to “show off” and write our own positioning statement. Positioning statement should answer these questions: who? (who are you?) what? (what do you do?) for whom? (who is your target audience?) what’s needed? (what void are you filling?) Differentiation  (what’s different about your work?)
  • Have a business card and use both sides; make it interesting.
  • About being an artist, 1) Be proud – being creative is important. Know that many people that don’t have creative skills envy those people that do have those skills. Not everyone can do what you do. 2) Own a category; specialize in something. Get really good at something, and let them know you specialize.  3) Brand. You are a brand. Design yourself a brand symbol. 4) Charge a lot of money! (This one got a nice chuckle) Value what you do, or no one else will.
  • Learn to use social media such as Facebook,Twitter, etc. They’re here to stay, and a huge number of people subscribe to those tools. Constant Contact is a good social media tool for newsletters.
  • Write a Blog; WordPress.org is good
  • Consider making a u-tube video, if you’re good at that kind of thing. He said to use the “candy bar description” of telling the viewer what’s under the wrapper.
  • For more information, see:  http://www.bidlack.com/