Who's in charge here anyway?

The art deal -- that is what we are after. And then the next one.  But have you  stopped to really think about the players and how they interact?  Is one player in the game more important than another?

Out of college I was in sales.  I used to lug heavy textbooks around college campuses talking to professors about what books they planned to have their students lug around campus the next year.  At our bi-annual sales meetings, it was always very interesting to watch sales people, marketing people and editors all in one place. Everyone thought THEY were the most important piece of the puzzle.

Sales thought they were the most important because if we weren't on campus talking to professors, the editors could have created the best books in the world but no one would know about them.

The editors disagreed.  They were the most important because no matter who the sales people talked to, without a good product, you weren't going to sell anything.

Now don't forget the marketing people.  They get the word out.  They tell sales, schools, professors, etc. about what the editors have created in a succinct, understandable way.  So of course they are the most important, right?

The fact of the matter is, they are all important and need to work together to be successful instead of trying to prove who is best like 10 year olds on the playground.  The same things go on in any industry -- art licensing is no different.

The 3 main players in art licensing are:

The artist (need good art to sell a product, right?)

The manufacturer (someone needs to create, market, ship and sell the product)

The retailer (someone needs to be the contact for the end consumer)

Consider my sales example and you can probably see how each of these players could decide they are the most important piece of the puzzle.  But remember, it is everyone working together that makes everyone successful.

But wait... let's look a little closer at this.  We are the artist, so how do we play nice to give ourselves the best advantage?  We want to be the popular kid on the playground so we can make that living, right?

This reminds me of a movie I rented recently -- The Great Debaters with Denzel Washington.  (It was really good -- even without the analogy I'm about to give you.)

Denzel is in a fishing boat on a lake, barking orders at the 4 students chosen to be on the debate team.

"Who is the Judge?" he yells.  "God" they reply.

"Why?" he asks. "Because they decide who wins or loses." the students reply.

I LOVE that!  It totally struck me as relevant to what we do.

There are levels to this but I ask you, the artist, "Who is the manufacturer?"

You should quickly reply:  "God"

"Why?" I ask.

"Because they decide whose art goes on their product". you say.

And until your art is on some product, the retailer and consumer doesn't even know about you and your great art.

So make friends with manufacturers and your business will begin to fall into place.

Have a creative day!

~ Tara

P.S. I'm working on 2 new eProducts-- How to do basic repeat borders and patterns in Photoshop™ and How to find and work with Manufacturers.  I'll let you know when they are ready!

Tags: Art Licensing, manufacturers, The Great Debaters

How art licensing is a lot like working at the fire station…

My brother is a firefighter. I don’t recall him dreaming of this vocation as a child like many do, but he really enjoys it.

He chose it for the lifestyle. He helps others in times of need, but has a schedule he loves. 24 hours on, 48 hours off. They can trade shifts so he is able to take many more vacations than the average American.

The 24 hours on are uncertain, as I’m sure you are aware if you ever watch TV. Fires and emergencies aren’t planned: the alarm sounds and they must be ready at a moments notice to jump into action and respond with speed and skill.

When I decided to start licensing my art, I had no idea I was entering a "four alarm" career armed with paint, pens and a computer.

Many days I wake up thinking I'll have some time to work on something that just came to me, or even just chill, maybe catch a mid-day movie. But lo and behold I turn on the computer and the bells are ringing in the inbox.

"HURRY!" My client says. "I need this from you as fast as humanly possible, or yesterday would be great!" The potential is usually exciting, maybe a large chain is looking for art that the manufacturer thinks you can provide and you want the deal so your priorities change. You shift gears and get into action.

Sometimes this action continues into the wee hours of the night... you end up writing a blog bleary eyed early in the morning. (Yup! That's me!) And here's the kicker: after fighting the fire, working with the client to get them what they need, you often wait.... and wait.... and wait.... to find out if you got the deal.

I have come to find that this is just part of the deal. Retailers tell manufacturers to hurry and then it takes them time to decide. So the manufacturers have to tell their artists to hurry. So we have to hurry.

To succeed in art licensing you need to be flexible with your schedule and understand that your studio is like a fire station. Embrace the "alarms" and get excited when you hear them. Spring to action. Do what is needed to make your clients look good so they will continue to call your station. Then be patient waiting for the results -- they will come.

Have a creative day!

~Tara

Tags: Art Licensing

Great idea with potential growing pains? Some ideas for planning for growth

Have you guys seen these redbox DVD rental booths around? In Oregon you can find them at many McDonald's and Albertsons Stores. Some Safeway stores too I believe.

It's a pretty sweet deal... You can rent new DVDs for $1 / day -- they have a touch screen and you scroll through and see what they have in the box. It changes because you don't have to return a DVD to the same box it came from, any ol' box will do!

If you get your movie back by 9 pm the next day, you only pay $1.

Now here is where I'm starting to see a problem. See how many touch screens there are? Only 1. This is gaining in popularity at my McDonald's and the other day I had to wait 10 mins. to return my movie because the guy picking a movie couldn't decide what he wanted to watch.

Very cool deal, but as more people use it, it will get more frustrating. I assume the redbox people thought of that and decided that for $1, their customer will wait and be patient. We'll see how it goes.

That got me pondering business and growth. Thinking ahead. 2 main things kill a business: no business or too much too fast.

As an artist, have you considered what you would do if you had the 'too much too fast' problem? It's something to think about as you work so you don't run yourself into the ground. Here are a few ideas for the day you have more work than you can handle:

1. Get help! Do the part you have to do and hire people to help with some of the routine things. Maybe someone can help with your website, press releases, even some of the graphic design/layout work. Don't think the big artists are doing everything themselves-- they have employees helping this process along!

2. Get organized. Be sure to build systems early on to organize your art (create a code system), your contacts and your follow-up.

3. Get rest. I can tell you first hand that if you work too hard too long you will come to a point where you are just too tired to do your best creative work. Give yourself permission to sleep, relax and have non-work related fun. When you love what you do, this can be the biggest challenge of all!

That's what I'm thinking about today -- now back to my paint brushes. Have a creative day!
~ Tara

Tags: Business Plan, plan for growth, Redbox DVD rentals

Help! My muse has gone AWOL!

Art is a funny thing... it is hard to schedule around a time frame.  I have heard that many people are successful at that -- writers who get up and write at 5 am no matter what.  I'm a firm believer in just DOING but sometimes it gets stuck!

What do you do when your creative juices start sputtering instead of flowing?

I have decided my muse might be at the beach.  Or perhaps she hoped a plane to Paris.  I wish she gave me her itinerary so I would know when she will return!

It's not that I'm not getting anything done, it's just that it has seemed harder the past few days.  What do you do when that happens?  (seriously, what do you do???  Suggestions welcome!)

I remind myself that this is my pattern.  It happens every once in a while.  It usually means I just need a mental time out.  Go read a book.  Have a movie marathon day.  My muse will be back, I know, but I always have a teeney-tiny-piece of worry that she won't.

Be sure to give both yourself and your muse a break sometimes.  Maybe planned vacations will help eliminate unexpected interruptions in flow!

Have a creative day!

~ Tara

Tags: art, inspiration, mental breaks

One stop filing for business forms, trademarks, copyrights and more.

I just got an email this morning about a new product from Intuit and QuickBooks.  It is called "MyCorporation" and offers all types of business services.  They can help you file documents to form a corporation or LLC.  They can help with trademark searches and applications, copyright registration, DBA registrations and more.

I haven't checked it out thoroughly yet but it sounds pretty darn convenient.  I have done all of the above by researching and going through a myriad of different websites.

Remember, time is money so spending some to save time leaves you more time to create, right?  I'm off to see what it's all about.

If you give it a try, let me know what you think, K?

Here's a link if you want to check it out -- as of right now the link should save you $30 on a Corporation, LLC, DBA or Trademark.

~ Tara

CLICK HERE

Tags: business, legal issues

Turning lemons into lemonade on YouTube!

I was just getting into licensing when I got divorced.  I changed my business name back to my maiden name immediately.  (My legal name a year later)  Before that, I hadn't given much thought to the actress, Tara Reid, who became so famous in the American Pie Movies and for her... umm... red carpet dress slip.  (That happened to be the year I changed my name -- timing, right?)

Well I've given her a lot of thought since then... pretty much daily.  I am constantly getting comments about my name.  Last year I met an artist at Surtex (sorry!  Can't remember who!) -- her husband had looked through the exhibitors and told her to see if I and the actress were one in the same.  Over the years this has amused or irritated me, depending on the day and circumstances.

Today I decided to embrace it and see if I couldn't use it for a little marketing.  I posted a 'rant' on YouTube.  (See the video below)  At the end, I say, "hey, if you are or know an artist who might want to get into licensing, here's the site to visit."  Maybe having the name and complaining about it, will create some awareness about what I am doing.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaRNUpj28ak]

Lemon: the name and constant comments

Lemonade: use it to drive web traffic

We'll see if it works!

Have a creative day   ~Tara

P.S. -- What kind of lemons do you have that you could turn to lemonade?

Tags: generate web traffic, YouTube

Dream like a founding father!

Happy 4th of July!  Once I finish this post, I plan to take a break from working.  I hope you take some time to enjoy the day as well.

But first, I've been thinking again.  

Our founding fathers lived in a time when the U.S. was only a dream-- we were colonies of England and none too happy about the old 'taxation without representation'.

I imagine many people just figured that was the way it was, sat around complaining about it and did nothing.

But our founding fathers were men of action. They nurtured their dream, the hung out with people who shared their vision and wanted to work together to make positive changes. They remained determined and steadfast -- through many years and many obstacles.  

Does that sound at all familiar?  If your path is anything like mine or other artists I know who are licensing their artwork, determination, hard work and overcoming obstacles are part of the deal.  But if you hold true to yourself, believe in the vision of what you want your business to look like and keep taking action towards the dream each and every day, I truly believe you can get there.

Take a minute to consider your dreams for your business and your life today.  Let's learn from our founding father's and go for it, even if the dream is a life that looks very different from the one you are living today.

~ Tara

P.S.  I dare you to take your current dream and make it bigger than you think possible.  Stretching will create great results in the long run!

Tags: action, determination, dream

What do M&M™'s have to do with the Seattle Space Needle?

  It would take stacking 14,520 of them to be as tall as the Space Needle.  

I thought this was an interesting tid-bit of information the elevator operator handed out on our 42 sec ride to the top.  (Just took a 2 day trip with my son--lots of fun!)  I found it so interesting in fact, that on the way down I asked him for the number again and wrote it down.  Apparently I'm a trivia fan.  

Of course it got me to thinking, WHY did I find it interesting?  I bet he told me how tall it was in feet as well but I can't remember that.  I think it was because he made a comparison of 2 very unrelated and unexpected things.  

Comparing unexpected things is a great attention grabber -- verbally, in writing or in visuals.  Think about the old show "The Odd Couple" -- those 2 were such an unlikely pair of friends, let alone roommates, that people watched to see what craziness would ensue.

I think we could use this in our marketing.  What are you working on that you could make an unexpected comparison to when presenting the idea to a potential licensee?  Or maybe you incorporate something like it in your art.  I'm going to give it more thought... let me know if you come up with anything, OK?

Have a creative day!

Tara

Tags: marketing, Seattle, unexpected comparison

The eBook is ready! The eBook is ready!

I am feeling a little 'Paul Revere-ish" this evening. I want to jump on my trusted steed and run through the streets crying, "The eBook is ready! The eBook is ready!" I suppose email is the modern day version of Paul Revere's ride so I will accomplish the same thing here.

I can't believe that in 3 busy weeks I was able to put all of this in a logical and easily referenced format.

Thanks to others as well -- in the eBook, HOW TO GET STARTED IN ART LICENSING, you will find 3 interviews - an artist, an agent and a manufacturer - who were all kind enough to be recorded by phone.  Then it was transcribed and edited. I hope you find the interviews interesting and insightful-- I love to learn from others and hope you will too.  I plan to continue with interviews in the future.

Forgive my babbling.  I'm excited!

If you go to this page, you can get the first chapter to review for free.

www.artlicensinginfo.com

I hope you take a look.  Be sure to let me know what you think and what you want to learn next. This is only the start -- I look forward to getting to know you and sharing our successes!

Here's to a creative beginning...

Tara

P.S.  Check it out soon because the introductory price of $47 for the full eBook will only last through July 15th.  On July 16th, it goes up to $67.

Tags: Art Licensing, eBook

Middle Sister Wine Update

As promised, I'm reporting back after actually TASTING the Middle Sister wine.  They say it is a "table wine" -- it is a combination of Zinfandel, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.  "Full bodied" was the best way we came up with to describe it -- but let me tell you that the 3 of us tasting it are not 'educated' wine drinkers so if we miss-used the term, forgive us in advance.  Basically, the wine is rather strong and slightly bitter, but good.  I think it would be great with a big spaghetti dinner.  Tell me what you think if you try it!

Cheers to you!
~Tara 

Tags: branding, wine