For the "Calgon" days in life…
Anyone who lived through the 70′s, as a child or adult, probably remembers the “Calgon, take me away!” commercials. I have made reference to having a “Calgon” day for years… (not every day, just some days!) this has been one of those “Calgon” weeks.
What does it mean to have a “Calgon” day, week or moment? That means I’m working on one project while the phone is ringing about another, my son is yelling something about needing a ride from downstairs and I can barely hear him, the doorbell is ringing and oh great! The modern wonder of call waiting has decided to join the fray… in a nutshell it means frazzled and too many things demanding attention at once.
The answer? According to Calgon, RUN don’t walk to the bathroom, lock yourself in a pour in some bubbles. Great for bubble sales, not the best choice for actually dealing with the stress or multiple demands on your time long-term.
Here are six things to consider to keep your “Calgon” days to a minimum:
- Remember that most things are not as urgent and they think they are. Get in the habit of asking yourself, “Does this really need to be done this minute?” Often the answer will be no.
- Outsource. “Calgon” moments often come when you try to wear your Superman or Superwoman cape and do everything yourself. If you have too many days of overwhelm, grab your bubbles and while in the bath, figure out what you can delegate to others – be in bathroom cleaning duties to your son or hiring someone to do you book-keeping.
- Unplug. If you turn off your cell phone and computer, you won’t even know what emails have come in until you are ready to tackle them. This is often hard for me but when I need to focus, paint and create, I will turn off the computer.
- Get your priorities straight. The more you know what you do and don’t do as an artist or a person, the easier it will be to filter out unnecessary activities. Do you do logos and art for galleries and art for licensing and babysit the neighbors cat? You might get stretched thin. As your income gets to the level you need it to be, start looking at what you want to spend time on and learn to say the magic word…. no.
- Set boundaries. If you regularly have too many demands on your time at the same time, you need to get more protective of your time. Let your friends know you won’t be answering personal calls in the middle of the day. Tell your kids to ride their bike – your taxi is not available 24/7. Whatever you need to do to regain control and sanity – do it!
- Take time for yourself. Remember to find time for yourself to do whatever you want. Go to the gym, the movies, lunch… heck, take a nap in the middle of the day! (of course, you can always grab the Calgon and take a bath!) Whatever you need to do to keep your energy flowing and not just going to all the random things in life is going to benefit everyone in the long-run.
I’ve decided to stop my Calgon day dead in it’s tracks. I’ll be reminding myself of #1, working on #2 and in about 3 hours, ready-or-not it’s time for #6. Now enjoy this oldie but goodie and have a fabulous, stress-free day!
– Tara
Encouraging creativity…
If you are reading this blog, more that likely you are an artist and understand creativity. Are you encouraging and applauding it in others? Your kids? Friends? Family? Kids on the street playing with sidewalk chalk?
I have a friend who is a therapist and says it takes, “One person, one time” to make a huge impact. If you think about it, I’m sure you will come up with some people from your life whose encouragement or praise stuck with you and had an impact on you following your dream. So be that one person for someone else whenever you can.
My son is quite creative.
A few years ago he was really into drawing “Manga”… I remember him saying to me, “Mom, it’s funny that I love drawing the two things you don’t: people and landscapes.” I smiled and thought there was probably a reason for that – what 11 year old wants to compete with their artist parent? (Been there, felt that!)
If you read my post about Putting your best face forward, you will see that he’s quite good with a camera. He could organize and frame photos better at 4 than his grandmother does now.
But his true passion has always been music. He has always loved to listen to music and would reach his hands above his head as a toddler to play the electric piano we had. Pots, pans, anything that made noise. Now that he is almost 16 he has graduated from cooking implements and plays the electric guitar. I have the pleasure (usually – sometimes it’s a bit heavy metal for me!) of listening to him play while I work.
My creative encouragement for today is to take the time to video tape and write about my son, of whom I am very proud!
I try to encourage everyone to see the creativity inside them and hope you do as well.
Indulge this proud mama and have a listen to my not-so-little boy…
Kyle Cowper plays “Santeria” by Sublime from Tara Reed on Vimeo.
Here’s to following your passion…
– Tara
Eight tips for putting your best face forward…
Over the weekend I needed a new picture for a press opportunity. The last one wasn’t quite cutting it, the color was a little off and there was nothing that said, “I’m an artist”. So I did my hair, threw on at least 50% more make-up than normal (based on when I wear it of course!), grabbed the camera and my photographer. (That’s my 15 year old.)
I was quite pleased with one photo in particular, I think it “captured” me… smiling, somewhat mischevious gleam in my eye, holding paint brushes lets people know what I do at a glance… yeah!
Later I was talking to a few friends who are also online and told one that I wanted her to change her Twitter picture. She looked sort of grumpy truth be told, and I said it just wasn’t the bubbly, happy person I knew. (I was happy to hear I wasn’t the only one who said that – apparently other friends have given her the same feedback.) The three of us got to talking about pictures and how they should ‘capture’ you… and the fact that people are more likely to want to work with happy, smiling people that grumpy looking people.
I decided to do a little blog post about the secret to getting good photos for your website, promo materials, social media and more… ready for the big secret…
KEEP SMILING AND HAVE THE PHOTOGRAPHER KEEP CLICKING THE BUTTON.
My son took 85 pictures – I love one and am willing to work with 2 others. That’s it. And I think I may have deleted a few along the way that were… let’s just say, “less than flattering”.
Here are eight tips to getting a good, working photo:
- Before you strike a pose, if you are a woman, put on at least 50% more makeup than normal. Look over-done. Cameras, especially if you use a flash, will wash out your face so you need the makeup to compensate. Trust me.
- Use props or be in a location that shows what you do. If you do computer art, sit at the computer. Be in your studio. Hold or show your art. I held paint brushes to keep it simple and obvious.
- Try different locations and different lighting. Next to a window is a great way to get natural light. Cloudy weather is good for outdoor portraits – less squinting and less need for sunglasses.
- Know your good side! Most people have one side that looks better (or that they like better) in photos than the other. Know your good one and go with it!
- Be silly! Sometimes the picture snapped when you get frustrated and goofy becomes the best of the bunch.
- Don’t rely on the occasional snapshot taken in the backyard for your professional and online presence… be deliberate and make sure ‘you’ come through in the pictures you choose.
- Ask for feedback from friends. They know you and will often be a better judge than you about whether the pictures “look like you” or not.
- And of course, be happy we live in a digital age and don’t have to print and process every picture. Keep smiling and keep shooting. Sometimes that great photo is a needle in a haystack so shoot the haystack!
Photos online are often the first and sometimes only impression people have of you so take some time and get something you are happy with!
– Tara
P.S. Here’s another great blog post… (go figure!) by the friend I said needed to change her pic! (She’s a great source of info on social media – check her out!) CLICK HERE
P.P.S. If you want a photo with no background like I created and you have my Repeat Pattern eBook, you can use the same steps you use to create ‘clean icons’. To see more about the book, CLICK HERE
A gift for artists: One hour "Ask" call replay with attorney Cheryl Hodgson is available for FREE!
It’s like Christmas (or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa) in July!
Last night’s call was amazing! I am so excited to add Cheryl to the “Art Licensing Info” team of experts willing to share their knowledge. I learned a lot and am sure you will too. I was talking with Cheryl this morning and told her that I wanted everyone to have the chance to get to know her by listening to the audio – what did she think about me just giving it to everyone?
I am happy to report that she agreed! So like Paul Brent, Cheryl’s first call will be available for free and I do believe we will have her as an “Ask Guest” again. I’m working on a list of ideas for eBooks and maybe even teleseminars – she has great knowledge of the industry and delivers it in a very ‘listener friendly’ style… you’ll see.
Here is what we covered:
- What are the dangers of being sued as a sole proprietorship with no employees? What steps would you suggest to protect yourself from them?
- I photograph vintage cars and license my images to art publishers. Am I infringing on copyrights when I photograph old Fords or Chevys? Do I need a property release?
- I am a Nashville based artist and a portion of my portfolio includes painted images of local landmarks. I have sold many of these images already but have been asked to reproduce some in a postcard collection. If I’ve already sold the originals, do I still have the right to reproduce them in this manner? The original was purchased by a local collector from a gallery that represents my work.
- I hear so many conflicting reports about loading my artwork on websites! Is there any “red light” language we should look for before uploading our art?
- What are the most common disputes that arise between licensors and licensees?
- The difference between trademarks and copyrights as well as what and when to trademark. (And why it is so much more expensive than copyrights.)
- I have many collections of art that I am copyrighting. Because there are so many pieces, I would like to group them in as few bundles as possible (to save $). I have heard of artists doing quarterly registrations like that. How many pieces of art can safely go into a collection and what would be too much? I want to cover my bases, be cost effective, but also adequately protect my art.
- I frequently register my art with the US Copyright office, but consistently discover my work being copied on sites like Etsy. “Police-ing” the offenders is such a time waster, but it seems necessary. Do you have any advice on how I can protect myself, other than officially copyrighting my art?
- How can I protect artwork that is on my website? Should all my image collections be sent to the Washington DC copyright office to be formally copyrighted prior to making presentations?
- How do I find a good lawyer to negotiate my licensing contracts? I have tried a regular lawyer who was a friend of the family, a lawyer in the publishing field, and a contract attorney. All of them have been very expensive and did not adequately cover my rights (which became obvious when issues came up after signing). What kind of lawyer do I need, how do I find him or her, and how do I know if they are good at what they do? Also, do you recommend using a lawyer in your area or is working remotely fine?
(Note from Tara: “Great attorney answering the questions, your search just might be over!”) - What are the top 3 most important things that you should be aware of before signing a contract with a manufacturer?
- If an artist licenses one part of a large piece of art, can that artist also license another part of the same art as long as it is not the same part?
Be sure to visit Cheryl’s site www.brand-aide.com for a free chapter of the BRANDAIDE Internet Enforcement Manual and to get on the mailing list for her monthly Ezine.
She also sent me the 2 PDFs she refers to in the call you for as well…
Click here for the “Brand Dream Team” pdf…
Click here for information about why you would trademark your name…
Now, here’s the link you’ve all been waiting for… CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE REPLAY.
Enjoy this gift and be sure to take advantage – it is well worth your time to listen!
– Tara
P.S. To see past audio replays that are available for sale, CLICK HERE… a nominal fee to listen and learn in the convenience of your own home!
P.P.S. Someone commented about the call on my Facebook page and I forwarded it to Cheryl, she said, “It would be cool if someone wrote on my wall!” So let’s show her some love… go be friends and tell her how much you appreciated her efforts… (I need to chat with her about a Facebook address… just login and search “Cheryl L. Hodgson” – she’s in Los Angeles but you’ll recognize the photo.)
Inspired by a 107 year old rabbit…
Peter Rabbit of course! Well… I suppose I’m more inspired by the story of Peter’s artist, Beatrix Potter. Talk about a woman who believed in her dream, bucked convention and held tight to her vision… overcoming many obstacles before becoming one of the most affluent women in Great Britain.
I just saw that the copyright owners of “Peter Rabbit” have hired new agents… do you get the Licensing.biz email news flashes? It’s a quick way to keep up with things going on in the industry. To read the article, CLICK HERE. To subscribe to their email, CLICK HERE. (there is a box to sign up in the upper right…)
If you are in need of an inspiring “artist who makes it” story – I recommend you watch the movie, “Miss Potter” based on the life of Beatrix Potter. I really enjoyed it and plan on loading the DVD player with it again tonight! Of course like most movies, it isn’t 100% accurate so assume you are getting the ‘brush strokes’ and not the facts as they would be presented in a court of law.
Other places to learn about Beatrix Potter & Peter Rabbit:
The Official Peter Rabbit website
Enjoy!
– Tara
Any artists interested in learning to earn multiple streams of income?
Who isn’t looking to recover from the past year’s volatile economy. Save for the future. Heck, save for the present. Earn an income doing what you love. That is what this blog has been about for the the year and what I try and teach people through www.ArtLicensingInfo.com – explaining the reality of art licensing and helping you navigate the business if you decide if it is a good fit for you.
Through the teaching and coaching adventure, I have helped others earn income by becoming affiliates and referring others to my sites. I am happy to ‘share the wealth’ each month with those who are helping my business grow. This is something you can do too – either as an affiliate or in many other ways.
One of my affiliates has just announced an online course called “MULTIPLE STREAMS OF INCOME” and it begins on September 7th. I am honored to be involved as the “art licensing” expert, although that is just one piece of her puzzle.
Laura Bray, an artist with an M.B.A., will teach you how to create income by doing what you love. Specifically designed for the creative personality, this online course will teach you how to develop a successful business and how to have fun while you do it!
In this course, you will:
- Learn that creating multiple streams of income is the fastest way to reach your financial goals while making a living a doing what you love.
- Learn how to leverage your artwork and projects to make money for you over and over.
- Learn how to create passive income. You can be independently employed, go on vacation, and still make money!
- Find out the many ways an artist or crafter can make money from their art. You probably haven’t even thought of some of them!
- Learn from experts in creative income areas such as; online selling, art licensing, children’s book illustration and craft shows.
- Create a personal business plan, outlining your income choices and the steps you need to take to make your plan a reality.
To read more about it, go to: www.Katydid-Designs.com/Workshops___Classes.html
I think it’s worth a few minutes to see if it makes sense for you…
Here’s to your creative success!
– Tara
Spring Cleaning my Mac…
I hadn’t planned to “Spring Clean” my computer today… it just sort of happened. Things were moving… S..L…O…W…L..Y… opening slowing, saving slowly. Quite frankly, it was both slowing and bringing me down!
So it was time to take a look at my computer storage. A computer guru once told me to shoot for at least 25% of my storage free for things to run smoothly. And restart Photoshop at least once a day since it is such a random memory hog. Oh yeah, and it’s a bad idea to never turn off your computer. He equated it to never letting your body sleep but living on coffee and Red Bull.
But we’re talking about storage… if you have a Mac, here is how you can find out what you are working with.
Go to the Apple Icon and use the pull down menu in the top left and choose “About this Mac”.
Then click on “More Info”. This opens the System Profiler.
Scroll down to “Serial – ATA” then scroll down and look at the Macintosh Hard Drive Capacity & Available Storage values.
You want the available storage to be at least 25% of capacity or you will experience the slowness I was… I had about 5% available… opps!
So what do you do if your computer is slow? You need to move some stuff off of it.
External hard drives are great.
Don’t forget about backing up your computer and files too. Keep everything you care about in at least 2 different places and ideally, in 2 different buildings. Back-up disks and hard drives that are stored in the same room as your computer won’t do you much good if HEAVEN FORBID there is a fire or flood or some other studio-destroying event! I’ve had two artists email recently asking for new copies of eBooks because their computer crashed and they didn’t have a backup. That was an easy fix but I’m not sure who would be able to replace their digital art files…
So, I spent much of my day, moving files to external hard drives, burning back-up DVDs of art, organizing files and sketching while my computer churned away. It was a bit tedious but well worth the peace of mind were, knock-on-wood, something to happen to my beloved Mac.
Here’s to your well organized and backed-up creative success!
– Tara
Miley Cyrus is right – "It's the Climb"
Regardless of how you might feel about the whole “Hanna Montana” craze, I find this to be a very inspirational song so I thought I’d share it. Here are the lyrics and if you want to hear it, just click the ‘play’ arrow and you can watch the video. Just remember – believe in yourself, know where you want to go but don’t forget to enjoy the journey!
– Tara
The Climb lyrics
Songwriters: Alexander, J; Mabe, J;I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there’s a voice inside my head saying
“You’ll never reach it”
Every step I’m taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking
But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high
There’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose
Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb
The struggles I’m facing
The chances I’m taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I’m not breaking
I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I’m gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going
And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on
‘Cause there’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose
Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb, yeah!
There’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Somebody’s gonna have to lose
Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb, yeah!
Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby
It’s all about, it’s all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa
Although Art Licensing is a very "national" or "global" business, don't overlook the value of connecting locally.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of talking to two more groups of quilters – this time at the Craft Warehouse in Gresham, Oregon. I had the displeasure of forgetting my camera! My allergies were also acting up and Angela couldn’t join me so I didn’t video tape the talk either (a few people have requested it). But I’ll be doing it again next month in Beaverton and hope to go with all my cameras blazing so all is not lost…
The “Quilt Party” as they call them, meets on the third Thursday of each month in Gresham, at 11 am and 7 pm. “Party” is a great name, they were lots of fun! These women are amazing quilters (I know, there was show & tell at the end) but didn’t take it too seriously – lots of laughing going on.
I design fabric for South Sea Imports and I’m told my fabric can be found all over the US as well as Australia, New Zealand and I believe parts of Europe. Usually I’m coming up with ideas from my studio and brainstorming with the office in California. I do sneak out and look through different stores that sell fabric from time to time.
But having the chance to interact with the people who are really using the product, asking what they like, what colors they want, what themes they wish they could find… that is some valuable information! I had a long discussion about what makes or breaks different “basics” groups (those textured fabrics that come in a rainbow of colors and can be used as background or fillers with all sorts of things). I took a poll about some ideas I have been tossing around for a new collection and got feedback… and I had a great time!
Today I am back in my studio with new ideas swimming around in my head. I’ll be making notes so I don’t forget anything when I’m done blogging. I wanted to share my experience and hope you take a minute to think about people and places locally that can help you stay in touch with the end user of products you are interested in designing for… offer to talk to groups if you like to do that or go sit in and connect one-on-one. You will be amazed at the ideas you come up with!
– Tara
P.S. If you live in the Gresham area but haven’t discovered your local Craft Warehouse, CLICK HERE.
P.P.S. If you live in Oregon, Washington or Idaho and haven’t discovered the joy of a Craft Warehouse store, CLICK HERE and see if there is a location near you. This family-owned store is a mecca for the creatively inclined! I’ve never met a Craft Warehouse I didn’t like!
P.P.S.S. If you want to design fabric and need help learning to create repeat patterns in Photoshop, don’t forget my set of 2 eBook tutorials – it’s all the info you need and nothing more! CLICK HERE
How licensing your art is like owning beach-front property.
If you’ve lived away from home, you understand there are a few ways to get shelter. (If you still live with mom & dad, there will be a double lesson for you here!)
First, you decide between a house, an apartment or condo. Then do you rent or do you buy? When you are making these decisions, you are in essence, acting like a manufacturer who needs art to go on their products. Do they buy the art or do they rent – renting being the art equivalent to licensing.
Now let’s put you in the artists shoes. Your art is now beach-front property. You need some money so you have two choices – sell the house, pocket the money and walk away. Or, rent the house.
If you rent the house, you don’t get as much money up front. You have to find people who like the property and will agree to pay you money to use it for a set period of time. If you have a nice house, you might have checks rolling in all year! And the best part? You still own the house so you have the potential to use it to make money for years to come!
That is the basic difference between selling your art and licensing your art.
If you sell your art it’s like selling the house. One person buys it. They now own it and you need to find or create a new house (or more art).
If you license your art, it’s like renting the house. Lots of people can pay for the chance to use the house (or art)- your money just comes in over time. But you still own it.
Of course there is a bit more involved in renting a house or licensing art than in selling. If you sell, there is one contract and you are done. No need to keep track and make sure nothing overlaps. No need to make sure you are actually being paid as agreed to. If the work involved in renting or licensing is overwhelming, that is when you look for an agent to handle it for you. And agent, both in homes and art, takes care of the marketing and contracts in exchange for a percentage of the profits. They are your partner and share in the success – be in small or large – of your property (beach-front or artistic).
Each artist will make their own choice about how to earn an income from their art. There is no right or wrong way, just the way that makes the most sense to them at the time.
– Tara
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