Separating Opportunities
from the Opportunists
outline of talk given Jan. 10,2008
Gee, you are just such
a great artist. Love the colors you use.
Now would you like to donate to my
favorite charity?
A lot of propositions
can come to you that start with bolstering your self image or belonging to a
select group of only the best.
Any guesses as to the charity mentioned above?
A two way street
Any offer should be of
advantage to you and the party making the offer.
If you don't benefit
the party making the offer is an “opportunist”. They may not mean to be but
their self interest is costing you.
Now we will talk over
factors you need to know.
Show and festival
costs
Jury fee
Space fee
Travel including hotel
Food and drink
Display tools tent,
racks etc.
Framing, matting, business tools.
Production materials and your
time.
Energy
Show and festival
benefits
Exposure --- famous
Sales --- rich
Awards --- famous
Feedback ---wisdom
Network --- more
wisdom
Experience --- wisdom
Exercise --- health
Information learn before you
spend
Groups like this,
museum groups
Sunshine Artist
magazine
Art Calendar magazine
Art Scuttlebut forum
Art registry.com
Greg Lawler's Art show
source book
expensive but can recoup cost.
Evaluate
Take stock, literally.
How many pieces do I have ready for market?
Do you want to make a
living from your art?
This requires a vast effort.
Do you just want to
make some money from your art?
Do you just want to
share your art and be recognized?
How much energy can
you devote to marketing?
How much money can I
afford to invest in marketing my art?
Make a plan Goal setting
Long term goals
Create more art
Improve your art
Become better known as
an artist
Sell more art
Do a season of art
festivals
Find a gallery to
represent your art
Make a plan Goal setting
Short term goals
Create 'x' works of
art each month,week,day
Take a course or work
shop
Frame all finished
works
Become know in another
market
Get a sales tax number
Get a tent and display
material
Study several
galleries that have work similar to your art.
Cutting to the chase;Getting your art seen and/or
sold will cost you money.
Your mission is to
spend that money as wisely as possible.
Different venues have
different goals.
Venues whose goals
match yours are opportunities.
Venues that get money
with only a promise of
benefit are suspect.
What is an opportunity
for one may not work for many. Some propositions count
on this as a revenue stream.
How do I tell?
Use your evaluation
and your goals to compare
a venue with your best interest.
Use resources to get
information on a venue.
Is it worth a loss if
you meet one of your goals?
Is this an expense
with little guarantee of success?
How extensive is the
competition? VERY
Generally art groups
and museums field art shows that seek to improve the lot of artists.
Festivals usually have
another agenda that is dominant.
Show promotion
companies think more like galleries.
Good art = good sales, draw better artists so they can raise space fees.
Galleries are
businesses first. This is a real bonus for the artist who dreads doing
business.
The climate
Most festival artists
are currently not doing as well as they did a few years ago.
In
Many shows have twice
the number of applicants as they have spaces.
You will have to
compete
There are a number of
resources to help you present a clean and professional image.
Image plus talent will
always prevail over talent alone.
You are competing
against more than other artists. Think of the last few purchases you have made
that are close in cost to what you would charge for a painting.
Batter up
To get into a show you usually are
asked for 3 slides of art and one of your display.
You need more than
just multiples of the same three.
If your slides are
poorly done your art will not be enough to save the day.
Cost = wasted jury fee
plus postage two ways.
Photographers have an
edge here.
Slides and photos and
jpegs, Oh no!
A bad slide of a good
painting is worthless.
If you can't do it
right yourself get help.
Here is a contact for
everything you will need to know. http://artshowphoto.com/
If you don't get this
right you will waste a lot of money. The time on task for jurying
shows forces immediate rejection of poor slides.
Zapplication Oh my!
More and more shows
are using this service to process their applications.
You set up a free
account, upload properly formated digital images then
apply to shows.
They handle the money
end by secure connection and credit card transactions.
You don't have a check
floating out there to worry about.
They keep a tally of
the status of your applications.
ZapplicationOh my.
This is an example of
a horizontal at 1920 x 1920 pixels with black background
ZapplicationOh my.
This is an example of
a vertical at 1920 x 1920 pixels with black background
Internet stuff
Your stuff
Website
Your own domain
Shared sites
Blogs
File storage
E-mail
Services and supplies
Internet stuff
Vendors stuff
Web sites
E-mail
E stores
Software
Reference
Scams
If it sounds too good
to be true ...
Beware of flattery.
Scammers are even
worse spellers than artists.
If it feels funny give
it a pass.
Le monde
Foreign sales should
be handled through a experienced intermediary.
Credit cards avoid
problems caused by sudden currency fluctuations.
Et vous
It takes a positive
attitude to be a successful artist. The path isn't easy. Falling for a scam or
getting into a bad transaction won't help to keep your attitude up.
Many opportunists take
advantage of an artist's ego and or hopes for success to entice them to part
with cash or art works.
So be careful out
there.