Have you heard about ArtBistro?
ArtBistro.com is a Monster.com community and a pretty cool place for artists. I’m not sure how I stumbled upon it but I’ve been receiving their eNewsletters since October and last week, was asked to become a contributing author. (Yeah!)
If you aren’t familiar with Monster.com – it is a huge online job resource website where companies looking for employee and people looking for jobs can find each other. They have career tools, articles and tons of job listings.
ArtBistro.com is one of 17 special interest communities run by Monster.com.
Like many social media websites, you can create a profile and connect with other artists. There is a bit of everything: articles, education links, career building tools, videos, a forum, articles and more. You can learn about all types of art careers from Fashion Design to Animation and Film and just about everything in between.
You won’t be surprised to know that I will be writing articles about … art licensing.
I’m really excited to contribute to this community. I find the articles and artist profiles interesting and inspiring. There was a “laugh-out-loud” article profiled last week that you might enjoy: What Creative Professionals Should Never (Ever!) Wear I was chatting with a friend about it and we both agreed that some of these rules are broken in the privacy of our home studios but we aren’t telling which ones! Go see what you think!
SO… if you want to check out another informative and supportive community for artists, head to ArtBistro.com and see what you think!
Here’s to your creative success!
– Tara Reed
P.S. Here is the link to my first article published at ArtBistro.com – Why Outsourcing Can Make You A More Creative Artist
Swing for the fences!
A friend of mine (Payson Cooper – talented jeweler, marketing maven and all around HOOT!) and I were chatting the other day and somehow got onto the subject of inspirational songs. Songs that can get you out of a funk, get you moving and down to business. “Music Therapy” I call it – energy low? Crank up the volume!
Payson just blogged about one of my suggestions and gave me permission to repost her thoughts – so I could share them with you and move on to other new thoughts. So without further ado – here is one of my ‘get to work’ songs and Payson’s research findings… (I emailed her the link to this YouTube video…the “her” refers to me, Tara Reed)
(…) Her comment was, “Here is the key to success in life or biz,” and I totally agree. This is a new favorite of mine, and remember, you may strike out nine times out of ten, but if you never swing for the fences you won’t ever make that home run! Video: Trace Adkins, Swing
And, on that note… did you know that an EXCELLENT batting average in baseball is a .300? The batting average is the ratio of hits to ‘at bats’ (the number of times someone is up at the plate batting). An average of more than .400 is considered nearly impossible. Actually, the highest career batting average is held by Ty Cobb and is .367. What does all this have to do with business and marketing?
That comes into play when you realize that the number, in the case of Ty Cobb, the best career average in the history of baseball, he only hit the ball 36.7 percent of the time. And, that’s the BEST player EVER! The league average runs between .260 and .275 – meaning that most professional baseball players, many making millions of dollars, only manage to hit the ball 26 to 27.5% of the time.
Now I get down to the point… if that’s all it takes to be one of the best in the world what does it mean to your business? What if you only ’succeeded’ 27.5% of the time? Would you be happy with yourself? Would you even be ok with yourself?
It only takes one hit to ‘hit it out of the park’, but if you are so concerned with getting it right or perfect EVERY time, you’ll miss your chance to really make it big. Take more chances – get up to bat more often – and when you do, focus, work hard and do the very best that you can. If you do, you’ll end up with batting average like the big leaguers - and it will be more than enough to succeed…
So get out there and SWING!
Payson writes, teaches and coaches about marketing for any small business. But the same theories apply to art licensing – it’s a numbers game. Every time you create an art collection and show it to a manufacturer, it’s like taking a swing. Only swing a few times and your chances for success are lower than the artist who is up to bat every day.
Here’s to your creative success!
– Tara Reed
Hey artist, what’s your plan?
As time seems to pass very quickly for me in the weeks and days leading up to SURTEX, I get very focused getting ready for the show. There are post-its and lists, scribbles in the car and scratch pads in the kitchen… where ever I am when an idea or “to-do” hits me, I write it down.
This is the 6th time I’ll be packing my bags and heading to New York to exhibit in May. Over the years I’ve created some systems and master lists of things to gather and prepare. This year, however, I’ve been using another tool and am finding it ideal for organizing the tasks at hand. “What is this tool?” I’m glad you asked!
The Goal Wheel for Artists™
I created this goal setting system last year, as a way to organize myself and help others get focused and moving forward in their creative businesses. Based on the color wheel – the system is designed to help you define long-term dreams which help you set shorter term goals which trickle down to tasks.
I am finding this to be a great “project” system as well.
Getting ready for a trade show should be a big deal. Not something to take lightly, throw some things in a suitcase a day before and call it good. The investment is too high (in dollars) and the potential too great (for new business). If you decide to exhibit it is in your best interest to prepare!
So I’ve set some goals to be completed between now and May 13th – what art I want to CREATE, plans to PROMOTE my business and my participation in the show, and time to RECHARGE so I don’t end up in New York a frazzled mess.
Whether you are planning for a trade show, special event, project or your business in general, it is good to have a system. If you are interested in taking a look at mine, go to www.TheGoalWheelForArtists.com.
Here’s to your creative success!
– Tara Reed
Inspiration for a Friday…
My teachers and mentor, Alex Mandossian, turned me on to this video and I want to share it with you.
While I will be celebrating the 7th anniversary of my divorce this coming summer, it was not a “quick fix” but a hard and heart-felt decision. I think that is the only part of this video that hit an odd note for me – watch it and see what you think.
Here’s to being happy, thinking outside of yourself, priorities, doing what you love and making the world a better place.
– Tara Reed
FAQ: How do I know if my art is a good fit for licensing?
This is the #1 most frequently asked question by artists just learning about this thing called “art licensing”.
Art Licensing means an artist grants the right to use their art to a manufacturer, for use on a specific product or products, for a specific period of time, in exchange for a royalty (percentage of sales.) Sometimes there is a flat license fee but that differs from selling art outright since the artist still maintains the copyrights and there is still a contract defining the product(s) and term of the agreement.
So how can you tell if your art would be a good fit for the art licensing industry?
Here are 4 things that make some art easier to license than others:
- The art is FLAT. 2-dimensional art can be applied to all sorts of products: gift wrap, greeting cards, dishes, dish towels, fabric and more. And with some dimension and maybe a back and side view picture as well, 2-D art can be turned into 3-D figurines, ornaments, gift products and more as well.This doesn’t mean that if you are a sculptor, wood carver or other type of 3D art creator, that you can’t license your art. It just means that you will need to look at what products are going to be a good fit. I haven’t seen photographs of many sculptures on wrapping paper lately. So target companies who create products that are 3D, like your art.
- The art is in COLOR. Go shopping and instead of looking for items you need to purchase for your own use, look at products that have designs on them. How many of them are in color vs. black and white? (And I’m not talking about the trendy black and white art, but black and white sketchy type art…)Art is used by manufacturers to help their product stand out from the competition. And most of that art is in color.
- The art is in COLLECTIONS. It is rare for a single image to be licensed. Manufacturers usually need a variety of images – in my experience, at least 2 if not 4 if you paint or create in collections of images. (When I say “images” – I usually mean something you could frame and hang on the wall. A painting of fruit or a beach scene, things like that.)Another way to create a collection is to take a theme and create icons, borders and patterns. (That is what I do.) Manufacturers usually create groups of products instead of one of this and another of that. Think about dishes for example, sets often have a variety of 4 plate designs, an apple, a pear, a plum and grapes. Then the bowls might have a coordinating border design and serving pieces with a group of the 4 plate fruits. So designing in collections of art that can create a variety of coordinated products increases your chances of success.
- The art is MAINSTREAM. Like I said in the beginning, art is subjective and no one style is more “valid” than another. It is personal expression, personal preference and personal choice. But when you want to license art, the rules change a little.You are no longer creating for yourself or a single collector but for the masses. Art that is more mainstream is going to be chosen more often than things that are more unusual, edgy or abstract. And in tighter economic times, retailers and manufacturers become even more conservative and traditional in what they choose.
A great way to decide if your art might work for licensing is to head to the stores! Go shopping and look at the designs you see on products on store shelves – do you think your art could fit? Of course I don’t mean “is your art exactly the same?” but is your art within a range of what you usually find. For example you will regularly see Christmas themes for home décor, paper and ceramic tableware, greeting cards and more. Chances are if you do Christmas themed art, you have a shot at licensing. So go shop!
Here’s to your creative success!
– Tara Reed
Product Mock-Up Magic addition – Kitchen and Bath photos
I’ve had a post-it note on my computer for months: Add Kitchen and Bath photos to the Product Mock-Up Magic mix.
Of course there were many other things I needed to do and just wasn’t getting to it. SO…I got smarter and had the photographer who taught me how to do the original photos join in the fun.
Finding time at a premium, I decided to “Divide (the work). Conquer (the project). Share the Wealth!” (With Bruce, who gets a % of sales) That way I could get the new products out and still keep up with my art – pretty smart, huh?
I also took outsourcing to a new level. With the first product I was too nervous to use a fulfillment company – I felt the need to control, touch and handle every disk. I’m so over that now! After buying padded envelopes, addressing them, getting stamps and running to the mail box on a regular basis, I’m VERY COMFORTABLE with outsourcing the whole thing.
I found a great source that will create, store and ship the products, I can sit back and focus on my work. YEAH! This is a little off topic but I want you to know that even though I say “outsource” I know how hard it can be!
SO… back to the topic at hand. The latest addition to the ArtLicensingInfo.com product line is two-fold: The Kitchen & Bath addition includes 43 new photos. It is ideal for the artist who already has the Original Product Mock-Up Magic. If you don’t, you can get everything in one fell swoop by purchasing the Deluxe Edition.
In case you skipped this part before, it is important to know that the tutorials focus on placing repeat patterns and borders on the product photos but you can use the same concepts for more illustrative art as well. If you don’t know how to create repeat borders & patterns and save the patterns to the pre-set manager in Photoshop, I highly recommend you consider working through the Repeat Pattern eBooks before buying this product.
Here’s a little video preview – you will also find it on the web page with all the details – www.ArtLicensingInfo.com/mockup.html
Here’s to your creative success!
– Tara Reed
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