If you recall, I did a video proclaiming 2010 to be my year of “flow” – that’s the verb I have chosen to guide me this year. I want to stop resisting and worrying and just go with the flow. The creative flow, the flow of opportunity, the flow of health and happiness… all of it.
And WOW! So far so good! We have some exciting things coming up – many of which I discovered or got a final “yes” to this year.
AskAboutSEOforArtists.com – the Ask Call for February (on Wed. the 17th) came to me via email – “I have this new product and thought it might be of interest to your audience…” Absolutely! What artist with a website doesn’t want to know how to make it work more efficiently for them?
Ask Mary Engelbreit – 13 months in the ‘wooing’ – Mary will be the Ask Call expert on Wed, March 17th – can’t wait!
And these are just the amazing things going on on the information side of my business – not the art side. But do you see a trend in these events? They are all opportunities that came from my taking the Teleseminar Secrets Class and learning to connect, teach and inspire by phone.
We’re getting to the part where I need good vibes now…
The cool thing about the Teleseminar Secrets Class is that once you are a student, you are always a student and you can listen in every year to learn the new content and brush up on some review. I have 2 really cool things going on during the class again this year.
THE GOOD VIBE REQUEST: I entered the “Teleseminar Secrets Challenge” again this year (this time as a “Veteran” – if you read my blog last year you might recall I was a finalist for the “Newbie” category.) Well I am a finalist again! One of 6 Veterans who will give a 4 minute speech on WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10th to the other students (usually about 500 people are on the line) and tell them why I believe I deserve to be the “Highest Vote Getter” among the 6 finalists.
For some reason I was REALLY NERVOUS during my speech last year – like, crazy didn’t-think-I’d-get-each-word-out nervous. The level of it surprised me! I fully intend not to repeat that feeling. (The audio sounded fine but it didn’t feel good while I was talking.)
So I would love to know that I have you on my side and sending calming energy to me, OK? (Very new-age, I know!) I have so enjoyed every Ask Call I’ve done or facilitated since my first call in December 2008 – and it’s thanks to the artists and support you give. That was part of the challenge entry that got me into the finals…
I’ll let you know how it goes on Thursday, ok?
Another fun Teleseminar Secrets addition – I have been asked to be on the “Faculty” to teach about using Twitter to grow a business. I was just tweeting away during class and posting to the Facebook fan page and suddenly heard my name and ended up on the live call… if you want to hear my basic thoughts and how this came about – you hear it all below…
So remember, none of these amazing things would be happening if I wasn’t ASKING (for experts to become part of the ArtLicensingInfo.com family), TRYING (entering the challenge) or LISTENING (to new ideas like the SEO for Artists.).
You don’t know what is possible for you or your business unless you try. So I encourage you to take a deep breath and GO FOR IT! The worst that can happen is nothing… the best? Who knows!
I’m here to tell you that PacMan is an accountant or engineer - now munching his way through cubicles in a vast and stark corporate office somewhere. I’m sure of it.
Ms. PacMan? She’s creative! She’s hip! She likes to be in the mix, adjusting, adapting, never quite sure what life will throw at her next or how she will be rewarded for her efforts. That is why she’d be quite happy in art licensing. I’m sure of that as well.
But how do I know all of this? Well, I read between the lines a little but I’d say that Chris Brogan and Julien Smith told me in their book, TRUST AGENTS*. Their analogy, on p. 55-56, was this: How Building Trust is Like Pac-Man. I extrapolated the professions of both Mr. & Ms. PacMan from their information.
Watch this video to learn more about my thoughts on the matter:
Then if you want to learn more about art licensing, you have come to the right place!
Want to learn more about getting online with your business, and “Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputaton and Earn Trust”? I highly recommend you look at the book, TRUST AGENTS*.
Here’s to your creative success!
– Tara
* FTC disclosure: the book links are amazon affiliate links so go ahead and click them if you are ok with me making some pocket change for telling you about it. If not – head over and search it for yourself. (Affiliate commissions do help offset the time and effort to create all these free posts so I hope you are happy to click!)
This is another guest blog post by attorney Cheryl Hodgson, one of the Art Licensing Info experts and Ask Call participants.
While a copyright is valid without registration, the very statement is misleading. Copyright registration is essential to preserve key remedies for infringement. Unless registered prior to infringement, attorney’s fees and statutory damages are not available. It is often difficult, if not impossible, to prove actual damages or profits attributable to theft of a copyrighted work. Moreover, without the threat of having to pay attorney’s fees to the copyright owner, there is little, if any, chance of finding counsel to bring a costly and drawn out infringement action on a speculative basis. Establishing a strong brand identity for a particular character or product line can serve as an added source of protection and increase the value of the Intellectual Property beyond mere copyright.
An artist’s name, as well as names and logos for particular product lines, can also be protected as trademarks for the goods on which they are licensed. For example, characters from Star Wars have been on bedding, toys, and just about everything else. While the artistic expression of a character remains protectible by copyright, registration of the character and/or its name on the various products as a trademark has been a strategy of film studios for many years. The character becomes part of the “branded entertainment” package that not only brings in additional revenues but helps create wide spread exposure and recognition of the character as a trademark.
Trade Dress protection offers tremendous opportunities to expand IP protection beyond copyright, especially where artists develop a unique use of color combinations and/or designs which become identified with them. Developing protectible trade dress requires advance planning since use must be more than “just another pretty picture.”
Product packaging and designs, including color combinations and artistic images, can function as trade dress, provided they are not used in a merely ornamental manner. To be an inherently distinctive aspect of trade dress, a design should “come out into the spotlight of real trademark significance” and ‘hit the buyer in the eye.” See 1 J.T. McCarthy, McCarthy on Trademarks and Unfair Competition §7:28 (4th ed. 2000). “Use of distinctive design elements must be in a manner so unusual, unique, or unexpected as to be “automatically perceived by customers as an indicator of origin – a trademark.” Id. §8:13. One case example was the use of a rose design as background on a CLARINS product packaging. Registration of the rose background was refused since use was only as decorative background, not as a mark signifying the source of the products.
With proper counsel, visual artists could well do both, namely maintaining the artist aspect of the use, but also creating an additional use consistent across many design groups that come to signify the artist’s work.
Here’s to your creative and defendable success!
– Tara Reed
P.S. Subscribe to or read Cheryl’s blog to get even more great legal insights – www.BrandAideBlog.com
P.P.S. To register your art with the Library of Congress, start at www.copyright.gov
I’m excited to announce that Paul Brent has put together an information-packed hour to get you thinking, strategizing and building your brand for success in art licensing.
Paul Brent understands branding.
An artist, interior designer and print publisher, he began licensing his art in 1988. Bookmarks, bed linens and insulated barware were among his first licensed products. Since then he has gone on to work with many, many manufacturers and grown his licensing business to be the 94th largest in the world, according to License! Global Magazine’s Top 100 Licensor List for 2008 and 2009.
Paul Brent is the most well known coastal artist in the U.S. He has managed to build and evolve his brand to include so much more than beach and sea life and has done so very successfully. The Paul Brent Designer brand has been in the marketplace for over 20 years and shows no signs of slowing down.
I will be facilitating the teleseminar on Wednesday, February 24th at 5:30 pm PST / 8:30 pm EST. At only $57, this could be the best investment of your time and money you will make to help you build your brand in the market place.
This teleseminar is for artists who want to learn to effectively create a brand for their art that will help them grow their business, with emphasis placed on building a brand for the art licensing industry.
What to expect from a successful branding strategy over the course of the next 30 days to one year.
What the 9 most common pitfalls are in both a visual brand and a business brand – and how to avoid them.
Key strategies of branding to help you:
create and maintain good artist / agent relationships
protect your copyright
keep your brand fresh in the market place
and use your brand to attract attention in the media.
How to commit to your brand strategy and take the first step.
Go to www.ArtLicensingInfo.com/branding.html for further details or to see the long list of valuable freebies you will get in addition to the hour long teleseminar.
P.S. Combine these branding strategies with the SEO (search engine optimization) skills you will learn on the Monthly Ask Call on Wednesday, February 17th and the impact will be even bigger!
I just returned home from an eventful, exhausting and extraordinary experience attending my first CHA Show. The event was hosted at the Anaheim Convention Center in California, and WOW what a show it was!
The show floor consisted of approximately 185,000 sq ft of display area with 592 exhibitors. There were demos happening in every direction – booths filled with people networking, working on make-and-take projects and general craft chit chat. The whole place was over flowing with craft supplies of all shapes and sizes from fabric and stamps to cutters and glitter. For a long time crafter and creative enthusiast, this place was heaven! It was creativity potential on overdrive.
The License and Design section was appropriately placed in the middle of the show floor, almost like a little show within the show. There were artists ranging in style, technique and experience as well as business model and specialty. I had no idea there were so many ways to sell one’s own art creations. From surface design to product design, the license and design section was filled with amazing talent.
I was able to get a hold of an exhibitor pass so I could help a few friends set up their booths. Since I was only walking the show this time, I made a point to stop and introduce myself to nearly all the other exhibitors in the section and offer to help during set up. If you’re looking to make new friends, extending a helpful hand is a good place to start. I was so amazed at the people in this group. Everyone was so friendly and eager to welcome a new comer. I felt at home almost immediately.
The show offered a number of opportunities for artists to promote themselves and their work:
Show reception open to all attendees – a great networking opportunity if you know who will be there or plan to meet with someone in advance. Not everyone attends this event.
Press kits – all attending designers can submit a press kit at no charge. I didn’t know about this ahead of time so at the last minute decided to drop off the postcards I had brought to hand out to those contact I met. I was pleased to see that by the end of the show all my cards had been picked up. There was also an award for the best press kit won by Denise Bosler.
Designer showcase – this event is only for a few hours on night but seemed to be a great opportunity to display work for a small fee. Each designer created a table displayed exhibit while press, buyers and manufacturers browsed through the room.
Classes and workshops – there are a number of classes offered for a while range of topics. An “all class” ticket was well worth the purchase. Not only are these classes great for information, they’re another good opportunity to meet pros in the industry.
Designer meeting – the License and Design portion of CHA has it’s own governing board and official organization which helps to provide the promotion and opportunities for the member designers. There was an official meeting to hear about how the group is doing, future goals. The Plaid New Horizon awards returned for this show, so the winners were announced at this meeting as well: Brenda Pinnick , Tiffany Windsor and Linda Jacobson.
An attendee standing just outside the License and Design section of CHA
I went to this show with the single goal of meeting people in the industry. I did not pre-set meetings – I had no preconceived ideas of who I would meet nor what I would learn let alone what we would talk about. I just wanted to come away with a better view of the industry and what it might have to offer for my art career. I ended up coming home having made new friends, a better understanding and clearer perspective of the industry and how the manufacturers work together with designers and what I want to do moving forward. I also gained a strong appreciation for the organization behind this fantastic event. CHA is wonderful and I’m so very glad to have had the opportunity to participate this year. Watch for it, next year I’m hoping you’ll see JGoode Designs offering art licensing amongst the fabulous booths to browse!
If you need inspiration, would like to network with like minded people, want to mingle amongst your peers or are looking for motivation to move along in your career, I can think of no better place than in the Licensing and Design section of the CHA winter show. Those who participated are an outstanding group and I am honored to have had the opportunity to be around them for the last 5 days.
I end with this little snippet of the CHA Winter Show event opening parade…
Posted by artisttarareed on Jan 31, 2010 in inspiration
Hope I get REAL cake for my birthday!
Jinkies, how did I get to be 42? I still, quite vividly, remember planning surprise parties for friends when we were all turning 13. Or making construction paper cars to put on a locker to make sure everyone knew a friend was turning 16… (and to make her embarrassed… wonder if Sue will read this post?) Let’s not forget turning 21… and the headache the day after.
Well now it seems I have somehow reached 42! Last year it was my son turning 16 not my friend. (I got 16 cars from the Dollar Tree and hung them over the table instead of the construction paper stand-by.)
Anyway, I’m fine with my age and thought it would be fun to sit down and write the 42 things that came to mind that I have learned in my 42 years. Some are silly and others just might make you go hmmm… (remember that song? The video is at the end of my list)
So here goes…42 things I’ve learned in my 42 years
I love my 40s! (and I knew I would!)
Your mom isn’t always right… (unless your name is Kyle and I’m your mom.)
Things you hear as a child STICK in a person’s head for years so be careful what you say to children!
Big Boobs doesn’t necessarily = Sexy. There’s more to it.
Being yourself is always the best way to go in the long run!
Your education doesn’t have to determine the rest of your life.
Risks are rewarded – sometimes with wealth and other times with lessons to be learned.
There is always a silver lining if you are willing to look for it.
Swollen feet on airplanes is not fun.
I love to Twitter!
Highlights aren’t for me – I have dark hair and I love it! (Gray isn’t for me either so I’ll dye the heck out of any that try and invade my head.)
Being a parent is hard work – but worth it. You get out what you put in.
Everyone doesn’t always choose the best partner. Pick again. (But not the same person with a different name – lots of people seem to do that too!)
The internet isn’t a fad. Thank goodness! How did we survive without it?
Live with no regrets, it makes for a happier life than second guessing yourself.
I’d be really wealthy if all the “Lotto” winnings I got in my inbox were real!
Shoe size has nothing to do with anything except how big your feet are.
Finding someone who gets you is something to be cherished!
Laughter is an awesome way to spend time.
Travel to foreign countries expands your perspective.
Trust your intuition, even if it goes against everyone else’s advice. You usually know what’s best for you.
I can’t sing or dance… and I haven’t quite come to terms with that!
My mom was right: “If you don’t ask, the chances of getting a “yes” are slim to none.”
She was also right when she said, “The worst that can happen is they say no.” (I’ve discovered you can always survive that.)
My dad was mistaken when he said, “They wouldn’t call it work if it was fun.” (Sorry dad) I have found a way to make work = fun. Yippee!
If you do things right, you really do get wiser when you get older, so listen to those that are even older than you and see what you can learn.
I actually do have a sense of humor. (phew!)
Sometimes it really is ok to sit and do nothing… for hours.
Sometimes you get what you pay for. Other times you get more or less… be careful how you spend your money.
I don’t enjoy cooking.
Not everyone is meant to stay in our lives forever but everyone that comes into your life serves a purpose or provides a lesson you need to learn.
Doing the best you can with what you know at the time is all anyone can ask for.
It’s ok to admit that you were wrong.
Our beliefs don’t always make sense – even to ourselves! Keep the ones that work for you and try to change the ones that hold you back.
Knowing yourself and being honest with yourself is the key to all things.
Success is more than the size of your bank account.
Time really does seem to pass more quickly the older you get! (I remember my mom telling me that when I was about 8 and thinking she was nuts!)
I like to know how everything works. Which can cause me to do more than I should by myself.
I’m “micro-social” – I would choose to be with small groups of people over large gatherings.
I’m glad I was able to stay home with my son for 10 years but I’m really thriving building my business and being his mom at the same time!
There is no “right answer” that will work for everyone. (No matter what the question is.)
I’m excited to see what this next year brings…
No matter how many candles you have on your birthday cake this year I hope you are growing wiser and laughing more with each passing year! Now where’s my cake?
Posted by artisttarareed on Jan 29, 2010 in Art Licensing
Well Leapin’ Leprechauns I did it! I have talked about persistence on many of the Art Licensing Monthly Ask Calls and if this doesn’t prove the power of persistence, I don’t know what does!
I have been contacting and updating Mary Engelbreit Studios about the ArtLicensingInfo.com site and Ask calls since December 8, 2008. While I was in Atlanta, I met with the Studio president (who I first met in person at SURTEX, another reason I love that show!). I gave him a few more details about the website, the goals, how the Ask calls work and he said three magic words I can still hear in my head, “She’ll do it!”
As I bit my tongue for about 10 days while we got the details and website ironed out, I mentioned to him that “I couldn’t wait to let the cat out of the bag!” He replied that if it were a cat and he’d been in charge, the poor cat would be dead. He has also referred to me as the “Queen of Follow-Up” more than once. (I wonder if Mary would illustrate that for me?)
Two great things came out of this – another great example to inspire you to keep going after your dreams and be diligent about follow-up and of course, we get to hear from Mary, a “Queen of Art Licensing” on Wednesday, March 17, 2010. (Yes, St. Patrick’s Day.)
If you have plans for St Patrick’s Day that you can’t change, don’t despair. The audio replay will be one of the forever freebies so you won’t miss anything. (Thank you Mary!)
Mary Engelbreit is known throughout the world for her distinctive illustration style, imbued with spirited wit and nostalgic warmth. Starting in 1977, Mary Engelbreit licensed her art for a greeting card line and today boasts a list that’s grown to include nearly 6,500 products in all, with more than $1 billion in lifetime retail sales.
What a resource for artists wanting to learn more about how to succeed in the art licensing industry! Mary will be the March 2010 Art Licensing Info Monthly Ask Call Expert… go to www.MaryEngelbreit.com/AskME/ to submit your question and get registered!
How cool is that? Many people who don’t get or don’t like twitter love to use the excuse, “I just don’t care what you had for breakfast.” (I’ll blog more about that later!) They might also say they don’t care what I watch on TV on Sunday night…
But guess what? My tweeting about it led to a blog reader (Susan E) who happens to work at KATU in Portland to email me and ask if I’d like a Brothers & Sisters poster. Well sure! Why not!
Susan was also nice enough to give me, my son & my BF Craig a personal tour of the tv station. I’ve never seen a tv station the way I saw it with Susan! What a great learning opportunity for my 16 year old as well – who decided that none of the jobs he saw looked like good possibilities for his future – so maybe we are narrowing in on a career… or at least checking a few possiblities off the list!
My point in two-fold:
1. You don’t have to Twitter if you don’t like it but you just never know where a random comment could get you! and
2. THANK YOU SUSAN! You were a wonderful tour guide and the gesture was much appreciated.
Our next art licensing story is from Xenos Mesa – an illustrator looking to add licensing to his business mix. Watch this great combination of from-the-heart talking and art samples with audio … THANK YOU XENOS for letting us see you, hear you and learn more about you! Wishing you much success!
P.S. A little “link love” for Xenos – learn more about Xenos Mesa at www.XenosMesa.com
P.P.S. Want to know what “link love” and other ways of getting quality traffic to your art website? Go to www.AskAboutSEOforArtists.com – the February Art Licensing Info Ask call will be all about getting your website working for you, so you can get back to work in the studio!
I’m not a big sports person and I can tell you I was THRILLED to discover that my birthday does not coincide with the SuperBowl – would have really bummed me out! (Condolences to my friend Sue, whose does.) However, while wandering through a local Party Depot a few weeks ago, I was inspired by some Football Field Goal head gear. It got my brain going into full analogy mode and I realized the field goal posts were the perfect way to explain SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.
According to a study in October 2008 by Netcraft, there are more than 182 million websites on the internet. Sit with that a minute… a little overwhelming isn’t it? So how on earth will anyone find you, even if they are looking?
Well how do you find websites? You go to a search engine like Google or Yahoo or Bing… Many are also now turning to YouTube as a search engine – especially if you want to learn how to do something. A quick search of the topic will often find you free video content to help you out. Cool!
Still thinking about your own search habits, when you search a term, you might notice that Google comes up with pages and pages and pages of answers for you – how many pages do you look through before heading off to find the info? Which websites do you assume will be the most likely to give you what you need? Google found 5,250,000 results in .2 seconds for a pretty narrow search term “SEO for Artists”…
That is a bit overwhelming! Who has time to look at all those choices? If you are like the average searcher, you will look at 1-3 pages of results and choose a few of those website suggestions. That is why learning how to optimize your website so you are on those pages when someone searches a relevant term in so important. (That’s also why it’s called Search Engine Optimization or SEO.)
“But wait!” you say. “I don’t want to become a high-tech web designer, I want a website and then to focus on my art!”
Well you can have your SEO and painting time too! With some basic tips and techniques, you can learn how to move your website towards the goal of first page Google page rank without paying anyone thousands of dollars.
When you make your site, you put text and descriptions and keywords (I hope). Those are some of the things Google and other search engines use to evaluate your website and decide if you are inside or outside of the field goal posts when giving results on a search.
Daniel Tardent, an art marketer and artist website designer has created an eBook called, “SEO for Artists”. I bought a copy and have tweaked my websites to improve my SEO results – and I was doing pretty well already! He boils the technical topic down into understandable pieces and action items – explaining how to get the best results using art and artists as examples. Awesome! In fact, using these techniques I managed to get the February Ask Call website, www.AskAboutSEOforArtists.com on the first page of Google already.
This, in a nutshell (well, a large nutshell!) is why I think you should submit your questions and tune in to the February 17, 2010 Art Licensing Monthly Ask Call. Daniel has graciously agreed to give us an hour of his expertise so you can learn more about the process and decide if the eBook is something you want to invest in. (I’m glad I did!) If you can’t make the live call, the audio replay will be available for free after the call as well. But these calls are made great by questions from you – you create the content.
So I ask you – what do you want to know? Go to www.AskAboutSEOforArtists.com and submit your question today. We’ll talk to you soon! In the meantime, here’s a video telling you more about it…
– Tara
P.S. Don’t forget about the Art Licensing Story video contest – enter by 2/14 and the winner will be announced on the call. There is a $100 coupon or free hour of coaching to be won if you create a video to post at www.ArtLicensingInfo.com/stories.html – not to mention the sharing and inspiring so start recording!
