What's age got to do with it? Random musing on my Birthday…
Today is my 41st birthday. Some tell me to say I’m 29 forever, I recently heard, “$39.95 + s/h” – that made me laugh! But you know what, I’ve never had a huge problem with the number. I was excited to turn 30, THRILLED to turn 40… (as I liked to say, “my 30′s were a bit tumultuous” — that is just a fun word to say and very fitting for my 30′s!)
While I was getting up and going this morning my thoughts of course turned to age. I decided to give anyone who cares to read this my perspective on age and aging. Of course it is just my perspective, but perhaps it will make someone smile, give someone comfort or shift someone else’s view point.
It saddens me to hear people get so emotionally off-kilter because of a birthday or the number of candles on a cake. Sure, who wouldn’t want the body of an 18 year old you might see on tv or in a magazine… heck, even my 18 year old body! But that is the outward stuff… it’s what is inside that matters the most. And I believe that as you age, the inside just keeps getting better!
Here’s my little backward perspective going through my brain today…
When I was 1… I had a sister but no brother yet. I lived in West Chester, PA with my stay-at-home mom, college professor dad and 3 year old sister. (Christine– many artists have met her at Surtex)
When I was 11… I had feet too big for my body and was a lanky, awkward girl in Middle School. My great aunt used to tell me I “look like a bed slat” — hmm… not the nicest of descriptions but I suppose it fit since as I said, I was a tall skinny thing! I was crafty, liked to draw but never thought I could be as good as my dad. (As well as teaching Astronomy, he wrote a weekly newspaper article that included his cartoons… he made constellations funny!)
When I was 21… I was a junior at Penn State, majoring in Marketing, and I believe I spent my birthday dancing at The Gaff and had my first shooter at The Gingerbread Man. (Wasn’t my favorite) I was majoring in Marketing with a French Minor and thought I wanted to go into Advertising. (As so many marketing majors do!)
When I was 31… I was married, had a 5 1/2 year old son and lived in Redmond, Washington. I was now the stay-at-home mom, turning my creative urgings to home-made birthday parties, cake decorating, scrapbooking and more.
And today I am 41… I am divorced, have a 15 year old I need to take to Driver’s Ed class, have an amazing man in my life, have built my own art licensing business and absolutely love what I do! I live in Portland, Oregon and am very content with my life and my age.
(I couldn’t find a photo of me at 11 so you will have to settle for the 13 year old version!)
I have enjoyed each year of my life, some better than others of course as life always offers us both ups and downs. But spending your present worrying about your future and obsessing about what you looked like or what you did in your past will get you no where fast. Embrace today! If you have wrinkles, remember you probably got them smiling through the good times and the bad times you may recall? They are over! Learn from your past and create a wonderful future.
My dad likes to remind people that any age is “better than the alternative” because when you stop racking up the years, it means you are no longer with us. Neither of his parents lived to my age — which is so hard to imagine. I have so many more things I plan to do, experience and enjoy in my lifetime.
So it’s time to go enjoy the present of my 41st Birthday – may your day be filled with wonder!
~ Tara
5 Reasons I Love Art Licensing
As I am getting ready for my last travel day in January, a bit weary from nights in hotels and days in trade show booths, I got to thinking about my business. I feel so fortunate with everything in my life — my family and friends, my home in the Northwest, and my wonderful art business.
While packing my suitcase I found myself creating a mental list of why I do what I do and more importantly, why I love it. You spend so much time and energy on work, why not find something that fills you with passion instead of filling you with dread?
Here is my list of “5 Reasons I love Art Licensing”
- I get to create art, use my imagination and play with paint every day.
- When I am at trade shows, I have the pleasure of meeting some of the nicest and most talented artists who “get” what I do. And because everyone has their own style, we can help each other and not feel threatened or competitive. There is room and a place for everyone.
- I’m the boss of me. I steer the ship, set the course, and decide what I do or don’t want to do. I don’t have a manager putting demands on my time or energy without my input – everything I do is my choice. (Sometimes I have to remind myself of that… so don’t you forget it either!)
- I get butterflies in my stomach and a big smile on my face when I “visit” my art in stores. It is such a thrill to see your creations go from your head to your paper and finally end up on products on the shelves of stores.
- Finally, although I work more than many people with more traditional jobs, my time is flexible and 98% of the time I am more than happy to be doing what I do. Who can ask for more than that?
Here’s to hoping you find the excitement, passion and joy in how you spend your days!
~ Tara
Keeping Track of Receipts and Expenses When You Travel (A 50¢ Solution)
Who doesn’t want a 50¢ solution? I think that is about what a pen and a 6″ x 9″ envelope would add up to… especially if you already set up my “Trade Show Lead System” — you have both items at your fingertips.
Being on the road and living out of a suitcase makes it very easy to misplace those teeny-tiny receipts they give you when you take a cab. Or by the time you get home, you can’t remember how many bellmen, shuttle drivers or skycaps you handed a few dollars to. Since I’m spending half of January away from home, I thought it would be a good time to share my system for keeping track of each and every business expense.
You are running a business and need to treat it as such. You do have separate bank accounts for your personal money and your art business money, right? (Please tell me you do!) I also hope you have some sort of accounting software — I’m a big fan of QuickBooks, it isn’t hard to use once you have it set up and most accountants like it, which means they spend less time looking through your pile of receipts. Less time means a smaller big for helping you with your taxes. Who doesn’t like smaller bills? Big royalty checks, small bills, that’s the secret to success!
My expense system is even easier than my lead system. Take an envelope. On the front, write down the date. Under it, make a quick list of any expenses. If I use a credit card, I put a “C” (for credit card), otherwise I assume I used cash. Then the receipts go in the envelope. Easy!
When I get home, they come out of the envelope and get put in piles by date. Then I tape them on copy paper and staple the pages together — so all receipts for the trip are together in one place. This gets put in the folder where I keep all business receipts. (Keep receipts for 5-7 years in case, heaven forbid, you are audited!)
Finally, I use the notes on the outside of my envelope to enter all the expenses into QuickBooks. I create a “Customer Job” for each trip so it is easy to run a report and figure out exactly how much the trip cost. The sooner you get your receipts organized and entered upon returning home the better… just get it out of the way so you don’t misplace or forget anything, thereby missing out on write-offs!
Here’s to your successful business!
~ Tara
An angel came to my rescue at CHA today…
and handed me my camera. I am sorry to say that I can’t remember her name since I was in the middle of talking with a potential client. (If you are reading this, THANK YOU AGAIN!) Here is what happened…
I got up this morning and was gathering my things to take to the show. “Where is my camera?” Frustrating! I went through every bag in my room twice and couldn’t find it. Did I leave it in my booth? No… I remembered taking pictures of the building after I set up my booth.
Well, it was time to leave so I decided to look for it later. As I walked to the show I thought it might be in my raincoat, the one place I didn’t check, and forgot about my camera and went on with my day.
About 2 pm my angel arrived, she was looking quizzically at my booth so I paused from watching a manufacturer looking through my portfolio and I asked if I could help her with anything. She asked if anyone in my booth had lost a camera. YES!
She found my camera in the hallway of my hotel. Thankfully I had taken several pictures of my booth so she looked through the the photos and came to find my booth. (CHA isn’t a small show either — there was some walking involved on her part!)
How awesome is that? My camera was a very nice, small, $250 digital camera that anyone could have enjoyed. But she knew the owner would be looking for it and went to great lengths to return it.
I believe people are inherently good and do the right thing – this was reaffirmed in a big way for me today. I hope you have angels in your life where you need them as well.
~ Tara
The Writing on the Wall… Why I got My iPhone Out in the Bathroom at the Denver International Airport
First let me assure you, I am not one of those people who sits in a stall and chats on the phone. I know that there is a time and place for everything!
But on my long trip home from New York last week… after a 3 hour delay, the drama of the airplane going into the Hudson from the airport I departed from the day before, and being tired, burnt and bleary-eyed… it happened. While enjoying the larger restroom accommodations than were available on my plane, I found comfort in a piece of graffiti. And I thought, “I should blog about this!” So my hand went into my pocket and before I knew it, I was taking a picture in a public toilet! (Temporary insanity from stress and fatigue…)
Somehow, these words, unlawfully scrawled in permanent ink on the inside of the ladies room stall, made me stop and say, “yes, that is so true”.
What seems like a mountain today will become a mole hill from the perspective of hours, days, weeks or years… depending on the problem of course. Most people have more inner strength than they know — and hopefully the extent of it will never be fully tested.
I just wanted to jot a few lines and offer you these words as well… maybe they are exactly what you need today, like they were exactly what I needed last Friday.
Be happy, be safe and be well!
~ Tara
A Trade Show Lead System for under $10
I am often asked how I stay organized. There are so many different programs and systems out there. The main thing is to find one that works for you, and be sure to use it. I talked a little about what I do to organize my leads in my eBook, “How to Maximize your Time and Investment in Trade Shows”. Since I just got back from 2 shows and am in the middle of using my system, I thought I’d give you a closer look at what I do.
First let me tell you that my system is very hands on and has been working for me for years now. My sister who helps me at a lot of shows knows and understands it – if you have help, it is really important that they get the system because you are counting on them to gather information if you are busy or out of the booth. The best part? It costs very little to implement!
You need 4 things to succeed with my system, all available at your local office supply store:
- 5″ x 8″ notepad
- pens
- stapler
- 6″ x 9″ envelope
When you meet someone at a show, take notes on the pad as they look at your portfolio. What collections do they say they like? What comments do they make? Write down any personal conversations too to help you remember who they are. (For example, my sister talked to one woman about college choices since they both have seniors in high school– remembering that when I follow up and asking where her son decided to go will make a good impression.)
Always ask for a business card “so I can follow up with you” and staple it to your notes.
NEVER leave your notes in your booth overnight. Treat them like cash — you don’t want them to go missing! I take the pages back to my room and put them in the envelope in a safe spot each evening.
When I get home, I go through the pages and separate them into 3 piles, depending how good the lead seems to be. A “high priority” pile to follow up with first, “medium priority” and “long shot”. But I follow up with each and every lead. Going to the show is only 20% of the work, it’s the follow up that will make or break your business.
I then take my piles and enter the notes into a Word Doc… I have one for each show I’ve ever attended. This becomes my “action list” and I can check off what I promised to email or send, make notes about any email or phone contact, etc.
Finally, I enter the basic contact information from the business cards into my Excel database so my new contacts will be on my postcard mailing list. I also put a small note on the card, like “A ’09″ meaning I met them in Atlanta in 2009, before adding them to my Rolodex. That way I will now how recently I met someone and remember where I met them if I call them in the future.
My goal is to do some sort of follow up with each and every person I spoke to at a trade show within 2 weeks. Sometimes that can be quite a feat, but I believe it’s worth it. I look interested, serious about my business and serious about getting their business.
Be creative with your art and diligent with your follow up!
~ Tara
Impressions from the Printsource New York Show
What a busy week! From Altanta, I headed north to another show — Printsource New York. The first thing I thought when my plane touched down was how much more civilized the flight from Atlanta to New York is, compared to coming from Oregon — that is an all day event! The weather was cold but sunny and I got my normal adrenaline shot just from being in the city — I love it!
The show was in the Hotel Pennsylvania, right across from Penn Station and Madison Square Garden. (The location proved to be great when I was tired and hungry at night — a quick trip across the street to find food!)
Having never been to this show, I didn’t really know what to expect. It is a much more intimate show that Surtex or Licensing International — the two that I have done in the past, and a far cry from the 3 building location in Atlanta. Contained on the 18th floor of the hotel, the commute was fabulous — going up! Floor 11 to 18 – no running to shuttles and leaving time for traffic. (The show is moving a few blocks next year so you would need a coat and to walk a block or two…)
Printsource, as I’ve said before, is traditionally a show where apparel and textile companies come to buy designs outright. It was pretty cool to see people with “Tommy Hillfiger”, “Banana Republic”, “Osh Kosh”, “Vera Bradley” and the like walking by. Booths at this show were quite different than traditional art licensing show booths as well — selling designs outright means you can create individual patterns — you don’t have to worry about collections.
Have an idea? Paint or design it online, print it and you’re all set. Art seemed to go for $250-$600 per pattern on average. But I was doing a bit of eves-dropping and consider myself anything but an expert. Where are the people teaching the ropes for this way of making money with art? Anyone…
This year they added licensing companies, since the show was noticing some licensing deals being made in the past. We were scattered throughout the show and not in one specific section. I think that was good and bad — many exhibitors don’t quite ‘get’ licensing so they may have skipped the area if we were in a clump. This way, I had the opportunity to talk with people.
I made quite a few good contacts, for both regular and flat-fee licensing (accept a set $ amount up front for a particular product for a period of time–instead of waiting for royalties). Of course follow-up is 80% of the game when you do a trade show so it’s up to me to turn my leads into clients. As well as attendee contacts, I followed my own advice and networked and learned from artists in the booths around me and throughout the show. This is one of the best ways to learn “the inside scoop” — just keep looking to make sure they don’t miss any potential business when you are asking questions! I think it was a good learning experience that should turn into some new business for my art… I’ll keep you posted.
My sister came to help me (Christine — many of you have met her if you have come by my booth at Surtex) so that was an added bonus! She lives in Pennsylvania so sometimes I only see her in New York at shows.
The main reason she came in was to cover my booth while I taught my first live version of “How to Get Started in Art Licensing”. I am happy to report that it went well and I got a lot of good feedback. Based on my eBook by the same name, I had a PowerPoint and entertaining stories to share, as well as educating people about the reality of licensing and how to go about it. Many were as confused by licensing as I was by selling designs for apparel. 
I’m currently planning a teleseminar series to give more in-depth information, by phone, in the comfort of your (and my) own home. No planes to catch, baggage fees to pay or security lines to undress in. (Don’t you feel like you get half undressed at the airport, or is that just me?) Stay tuned for more information — my goal is an April class with info ready by March 1 at the latest. My sister has been kind enough to agree to facilitate the Q&A. (There will be one night of information and the next night will be answering questions about the previous night.)
The crazy part about my trip — I flew out of La Guardia the day after the plane went into the Hudson. Stressful! I can have my, shall we say “issues” about flying, so being in the city when everything was taking place and taking the same runway the next day wasn’t my favorite way to end my trip.
I stayed at the Crowne Plaza at the airport the night before — which is where the passengers were housed. When I arrived at the hotel about an hour after the crash, there were barricades keeping reporters at the street and what seemed like about 30 NYPD officers on the property and in the hotel. It was an amazing thing to see — they were incredibly organized, ready to help and make sure everyone was ok, as was the staff at the hotel. Hats off to the whole operation!
I am happy to say I made it home safe and sound without any panic. (On my part) Now on to follow-up before heading out to exhibit at CHA next week.
Have a creative day!
~ Tara
Looking for color inspiration?
Look to the world of interior design… what the decorators are doing will influence the home and gift markets — and vice versa. So keeping an eye on their color palettes is a good idea for those of us wanting to be color-saavy licensors.
I’ve recently had the pleasure of meeting a very fun, friendly designer, Melissa Galt. We met through the Teleseminar Class I am taking and had the opportunity to meet offline (as in, in person!) when I was in Atlanta. What an adventure we had when we went 10 miles and 30 minutes out of our way finding a great Greek Restaurant that was 1.5 miles from where we started! Thankfully we can both find humor in most situations so it was lots of fun! But I digress…
Melissa is one of the designers on AvaLiving.com — look for the room with the BIG elephant photo — or just click #2 . The featured color is “Citron Green” and it is inspiring to see how 12 designers use the same color in such a variety of ways. Looking for color in new and exciting places will keep your creative juices flowing!
~ Tara
P.S. Melissa is no dummy when it comes to business either! Read her article featured in Home Accents Today Magazine – Business Building Blocks: Create Your Own Economy. It’s directed to Interior Designers but there are lessons for us as well.
P.P.S. Melissa also has books,does keynote speeches and more… she’s an inspiration to me! Check her out at: melissagalt.com
P.P.S.S. At the airport I ran across the Winter 2008 issue of Oprah’s “At Home” magazine — guess what it’s called? The Color Issue! Another great source to check out.
Impressions of the Atlanta Gift Show – January 2009
Hey Y’all!
I’m in Atlanta enjoying some southern hospitality before heading to the hustle and bustle of New York City. I’ve been at the Atlanta Gift Show in the AmericasMart buildings for the past 2 days. MY FEET HURT!
If you’ve never been here, I’ll try my best to give you an idea of what it is like. But I have to tell you, you just don’t understand until you come. Can you imagine trying to describe Disneyland to someone who has never seen pictures of it or been to an amusement park, they wouldn’t really get it until they got there.
First, let me tell you, it can be just a tad intimidating! There are 3 buildings – aptly named “Building 1″, “Building 2″ and “Building 3″. Oh.. now they’ve added a “West Wing” to Building 2 and it had everyone confused. I still don’t understand why sometimes I had to leave Building 2 and go through Building 3 to get to Building 2, West Wing. But as many of us discussed, we were not consulted when they were doing the design. It is a classic case of resistence to change and confusion created by change– hopefully I’ll be less confused next year. Here is a map:
Now mind you, this is a cross section of the floors of the buildings, it doesn’t even begin to give you an idea of the size of each floor. Thankfully I didn’t have to walk every one! One thing that is nice is that once you are inside the labyrinth, you don’t have to go outside. They have bridges between the buildings. Here are some pics of the bridges and looking out of the bridges:
I spent my days walking the floors, meeting with clients, checking out new products (I had 2 new lines with new licensees come out at this show!) and looking for trends. I saw some fashion trends I won’t be adopting as well as others.
The word on the floors was “cautious” — manufacturers are on the conservative side, bringing out tried and true product line themes and cutting back on skus to weather the economy. There weren’t as many buyers (this is a show where store owners of all levels come to buy products for their stores) but I was hearing that the size of the orders was up a little over last year. Good news I hope. Several people I talked to also thought some buyers might not be spending the money to come “to market” (or “the mart” — knowing the lingo is important) but instead saving it to buy product. The sales reps in the field will be more important than ever — they hope!
On Saturday I had the pleasure of doing an “Artist Signing” with Thirstystone. I LOVE doing them since I really enjoy talking with everyone and helping sell the product. My goal is always to find people who don’t know about them and get them in the showroom. (We got at least 5 new customers signed up, from our estimations.) I signed a coaster from a new “Fashion” line that just came out and most women were THRILLED when I told them the coaster came with a “no guilt guarantee” — they didn’t have to wear stilletos to enjoy the coaster. (I was wearing Naturalizers — pretty funny!) Here’s a pic from that event…
Not the best pictures but I decided to curb my vanity and post them!
That’s the lowdown from the show. There may be a video to come as I was playing with my FlipVideo… I’ll keep you posted!
~ Tara
P.S. Next Stop: Printsource New York… stay tuned!
Do you have the right circle of friends to support you in building your business?
Friends. Gotta have them. Most people have a variety of friends.
Your childhood friends who remind you that you used to have no fashion sense when you seem to be getting a little big for your britches.
Your work friends who share idle gossip at the water cooler, or in my case, on Twitter.
Your neighborhood friends who will lend you milk or get your groceries when you are snowed in…
You get the idea, you’ve got friends! Online friends, offline friends and some that are in between. In your social life, feel free to hang out with anyone you want.
But when it comes to mixing friends and your business, I want you to take a cue from Goldilocks and get a bit particular… (you remember Goldilocks, right? Bears… this porridge is too hot… this porridge is too cold… are you with me?)
You will find you have a few friends who think you walk on water. Everything you create is the most amazing thing they have ever seen! You are spectacular! How lucky you are to be you! Call these friends when you have pangs of doubt, that is when they will do their best work — to build you up and keep you going.
You may have friends who never have anything good to say. “Negative Nellie’s” I like to call them. I hope you don’t have many, if any, because I’m really not sure what good they will do you.
Now to the friend who can really be of use when you are building your business: the friend who pushes you to do more, they are the friends that will help propel you to greatness!
Well, “Dave the Painting Guy” is one of those friends. (DaveThePaintingGuy.com) He’s an “online friend” — met him on Twitter. I think he has a relative who lives near me so one day I may meet him offline as well. We “met” and he joined my newsletter. Shortly thereafter, he emailed me and asked if I knew how ugly the format for my newsletter was. (Not in those words, I’m paraphrasing.) Why didn’t I do “XYZ” and make it look better.
Of course I knew it was ugly. But it remained ugly for a few months for two reasons:
- The people who taught me about this whole internet marketing told me to keep it that way, and
- when I tried to figure out how to make it better, I would get distracted before figuring it out.
So Dave’s email made me make it a priority and better yet, he helped me figure it out! Now THAT is a really good friend to have, not only do they kindly nudge you but they help too!
Dave left me alone for a few months and then today, I got another email. Here is exactly what he wrote:
So I says to myself, when I opened the newsletter, “That header could use a drop shadow…”
He also very kindly included the new version of my newsletter header that he wants to see. How great is that! (If you get my newsletter, you will see it next Wednesday.)
Thank you Dave, for always pushing me and helping me to improve! Thank you as well for making me think about the kinds of friends I have, the kind of people I hang out with, and how they can help or hinder my business.
I have many friends that fall into this helpful category that I consider myself truly blessed. I hope you take a moment to think about your friends and decide if they are helping or hindering your efforts.
Here’s to great friends!
~ Tara
P.S. Sign up for Dave’s newsletter and he’ll email you when he’s painting live online… it’s pretty cool to see! Go to his site at: DaveThePaintingGuy.com
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