Ah... memories! I remember when Happy Days, followed by Laverne & Shirley were a much anticipated event at my house! I also remember how the 3 kids (I'm the middle) had staggered bed times - my brother had to go to bed after Happy Days (8:30), my sister got to go to bed after Laverne & Shirley (9:00) and me? I had to go to bed SMACK DAB in the middle of the show! (8:45) (Yes Mom & Dad, I still harbor some resentment about that!)
Well I got to thinking about the show a few weeks ago and realized the theme song is the perfect example of an entrepreneurial attitude. "Gonna Do it our way, yes our way, make all our dreams come true..."
Laverne is the entrepreneur who gets an idea and dives right in. I imagine she'd be the person who takes risks, goes with her gut and is ok to learn from her mistakes.
Shirley on the other hand, would be the more cautious business person. She might get inspired but then she'd get analytical. Crunch numbers. Study the situation from every angle before proceeding.
Whether you are a Laverne or Shirley artist - the key is to knowing which you are and embrace it. When ever Shirley tried to act like Laverne, things did not go well!
The show "worked" because Laverne was the "yang" to Shirley's "yin".
It would be an equally good combination in business. So if you are Shirley to the nth degree, be sure to have a Laverne in your life to keep you moving and if you are a Laverne, find a Shirley to make sure you don't go off in so many directions that you get nothing done.
Here's to your creative and entrepreneurial success!
Give us any chance, we'll take it.
Give us any rule, we'll break it.
We're gonna make our dreams come true.
Doin' it our way.
Nothin's gonna turn us back now,
Straight ahead and on the track now.
We're gonna make our dreams come true,
Doin' it our way.
There is nothing we won't try,
Never heard the word impossible.
This time there's no stopping us.
We're gonna do it.
On your mark, get set, and go now,
Got a dream and we just know now,
We're gonna make our dream come true.
And we'll do it our way, yes our way.
Make all our dreams come true,
And do it our way, yes our way,
Make all our dreams come true
For me and you.
Testimonials are everywhere. On TV, websites, book jackets, blogs and more. You may read them, but do you ever write them? Contrary to popular belief - testimonials help more than just the person selling the product or service you are commenting on - they help the writer as well.
Have you noticed how many celebrity-endorsed products there are on the market? Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why? I believe it is because people often buy based on emotion or third party testimonials. "Well if that celebrity / athlete / artist / fill-in-the-blank likes that product or service, I might like it too!"
But the value of a third party opinion isn't limited to well known figures. Testimonials from everyday users go a long way in marketing of any product and in helping the potential consumer make a decision about the product.
People who teach, speak, write, coach or in some other way sell a product or service to others LOVE to get testimonials! (Trust me.) They can say anything about their service but potential clients are more apt to believe what people who have used the product or service have to say. Think about it - whose opinion do you put more clout in, the person selling a product or someone who has used it and has no vested interest in whether you make a purchase or not? Often it is the third party testimonial that makes the difference.
YOU can be that third party and create a WIN-WIN-WIN scenario. The product or service provider wins by getting a testimonial from you. The potential buyer wins by having the benefit of your third-party opinion. And you win by getting an external link to your website, which can help in your search engine optimization.
Alex Mandossian, one of my teachers, taught me a great method for giving testimonials that will be sure to get you some link love.
When you write a testimonial, answer these three questions:
What your life/business was like BEFORE you found this product or service.
What your life/business is like NOW as a result of this product or service.
How you expect using this product or service will CONTINUE to impact your life/business.
Following that format creates POWERFUL testimonials! So be proactive and send testimonials to people whose products or services you liked or found helpful. Then sign your full name and give your web address.
Here's to your creative success and creating Win-Win-Winning Testimonials!
– Tara Reed
P.S. Feel free to use my products or services as your test cases and email your testimonials whenever you like!
More great legal insights from Cheryl - thanks & keep them coming!
The answer is: “Not much.” Visual and graphic artists are particularly vulnerable to unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted images on the Internet. It’s literally a simple “right click,” “copy,” and “paste.” Many such infringements go undetected. Those that are discovered are often let go without remedial action. Why? The artist fails to register his or her work with the U.S. Copyright Office prior to the work being stolen. For years, I’ve been asked: “Can’t I just mail it to myself?” In the case of scripts, “Isn’t the Writers Guild enough?” Then I hear, “I never got around to it.” My answer is, “Sorry, there’s not much I can do to help you.”
NO, NO and—NO! There is one place, and one only, to register your works, www.copyright.gov. Instead of sending in your registration by mail and waiting for years, the Copyright Office has come into the digital age so you can digitally upload the files. So why wait?
Exactly why is registration so darn important? 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. For example, if the work is used on a product that doesn’t sell millions of copies, how do you prove your damages?
Congress created two types of damages to recover under copyright law. In addition to “actual damages,” one can elect statutory damages without proof of out of pocket losses. This means not only will the infringer have to pay you up to $150,000 per willful act of infringement (the amount is discretionary with the court) they will need to pay your lawyer’s fees. However, your work must have been registered prior to the theft or these remedies are lost. 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.
Legally, you are entitled to obtain an injunction to prevent ongoing or future infringements even if you file the registration after the infringement. A preliminary injunction in a copyright case can cost six figures and above in legal fees. Just ask Perfect 10 who spent a fortune in litigation costs against Google for the past five years. The company was p.o.’d at the search engine for providing thousands of its modeling images as thumbnail versions and for providing links to infringing sites.
If you don’t register, you won’t be getting any statutory damages or lawyer’s fees from the defendant. Unless you can finance the case out of your own pocket, this is one lawyer who can’t afford to help you. Do your selves a big favor—take care of this simple but all important part of your business. Register your works—someday you may be glad you did!
Thank you for allowing me to post this on my blog for the benefit of the artists here!
To learn more about Cheryl, visit her blog, www.BrandAideBlog.com. Maybe you'll consider giving her a call the next time you need help with a contract, infringement or other legal issue... she knows our business which in the words of MasterCard, is PRICELESS!
Here's to your creative success (and figuring out the ever-changing online copyright registration process!) –
It seems like everyday I am amazed a newe resources, blog, information or inspiration that I find online for artists.
A few weeks ago I discovered (and was discovered by) ArtsyShark.com.
I had the pleasure of talking with Carolyn Edlund, the owner and author of this blog for emerging artists. Here is her story, as she tells it, taken from the "About" page of her blog:
Although I am not currently a working artist, I spent twenty years running a production studio making ceramic jewelry and one-of-a-kind ceramic and mixed-media pieces.
Upon graduating from college with a degree in Fine Art, I had no preparation for embarking on a career other than some art skills, a lot of motivation and passion for what I was doing. It took a lot of mistakes to learn what worked – why people buy art, tricks of the trade, dealing with wholesale and retail buyers and having a profitable career that balanced with life.
After closing my business, I went on the road representing art publishing companies and card and paper lines featuring artist’s work. This experience gave me another perspective on the business of art and the realities of the marketplace.
Often I meet aspiring and emerging artists who are hungry for knowledge, opportunities and a chance to make their true passion into a career that really works.
Hopefully this blog will be helpful – it is designed to contain interviews with companies that buy from artists, educators who counsel art students, and successful artists themselves who share their best advice and encouragement to the next generation. I hope you will enjoy Artsy Shark. Subscribe, pass it on, participate and submit your ideas for discussions you would like to share.
Carolyn was interested to learn more about art licensing and shared the information with her readers in a post:
As well as "how-to" interviews about different aspects and types of art businesses, Artsy Shark also interviews artists, features galleries and more. It's worth taking a look and see if it is another blog to follow to keep your creative juices flowing!
"Please be patient - we are experiencing technical difficulties…" that was one theme last night but it didn't stop the wonderful and understanding artists that were on the line for the Ask About SEO for Artists call! We got through the call but decided to re-record today for clarity.
Of course the technical difficulties persisted as the follow-up email went out before I wanted it to (don't ask!) so I apologize if you get 2 of those as well. Hopefully all the technical issues will be done in this 24 hours and it will be smooth sailing for a while!
Here is what we covered -
What is SEO?
Can I optimize SEO if I didn't create my own website?
3 key aspects to help your website rank well in search engines
Are the "Buzz Words" (keywords) the most important part of optimizing your website?
How to choose keywords.
How do you optimize for more than 1 or 2 keywords?
How are blogs searched and what part of the blog (title, text, etc) is most important for SEO?
How to get links to your blog and why all links aren't created equal.
Can you optimize for store sites like Zazzle and CaféPress?
How do I stand out from others using the same keywords or terms?
If I'm revamping my art and website, what steps should I take to optimize the site for search engines?
If you have ever signed up for any Art Licensing Info Monthly Ask Call in the past, check your inbox and you will have a link to get the free replay.
The system that was the basis for the free call is "The Artist SEO System" by Daniel Tardent.
If you're like many, you might still be thinking about buying this guide in 12 months - and think of all the website traffic you will have missed. Grab the opportunity now and make your website do it's job and help your career!
This product is never discounted because it is high-value & very targeted towards the unique needs of artists. If it was focused on regular small business it would cost $500 or more.
The Artist SEO System is $97, a great investment if you want to maximize the value of your website. I have a lot of SEO knowledge and still found things to help me improve my site SEO even more. I highly recommend you consider this…
CLICK HERE for all the details.* (This is an affiliate link and if you make a purchase I will receive a commission. This helps offset the time and money costs of putting together all the free monthly calls.)
Here's to your creative success and high rankings in search engines!
I love the internet! It has given people access to information and resources never before possible - and much of it is FREE! So much is free in fact, that many have become irritated when they actually have to pay for services and information.
I have been meaning to write this blog post for some time now… not to make anyone feel bad or negatively rant and rave, but to make sure those who don't create and sell content online stop to think about the "cost of free." I have been asked many times, "Why do you do all of this?" "How are you making any money if you give all these things away for free?" and other similar questions.
First let's look at the reasoning behind doing or offering things for free in the first place. I'll talk about myself since really, that is the only thing I can speak of with any authority. I do a lot of things for free in the information side of my business. Here are some examples -
1. This blog. Always free and usually added to 3 - 5 times a week.
2. Videos - promotional and mini-tutorials.
3. Monthly Ask Calls - always free if you listen live, sometimes free even if you don't.
What costs are involved in these free services?
My blog takes time to write and promote via social media. Time that I could use to create my own art for licensing. It is also 'self-hosted' so there is the yearly cost of registering the domain name and paying for web hosting.
Videos take time to create, edit and upload to YouTube - which is free. I recently purchased a new video camera and wireless mic so I could create higher quality videos. I upgraded my computer so I could do better screen recordings for tutorials - some free, some for purchase.
Monthly Ask Calls - this is the most expensive piece of "free" that I do.
• Each "Ask" expert website is registered, designed and hosted by me. (So money and time.)
• I pay for a service that collects your questions - because getting each one in my email was creating a crazy amount of work to sort and select.
• I usually use a free service for the live calls but sometimes pay for a bridge line (the number you call in to.)
• It takes time and software to record and edit the audios. I pay for a monthly service to add and store audios used throughout the Art Licensing Info family of sites.
• TIME - I estimate that each monthly call takes me at least 8 hours of time when you account for all the activities that take place to plan, host, prepare, edit and promote. That doesn't even include the time and expertise of any industry experts that share their knowledge on a call.
Not to mention the time and monetary costs of classes and networking events to learn how to do all of these things!
So why do I do it?
I could certainly spend all of my time creating art and focusing on my licensing. But I enjoy teaching and writing - I really missed it when I was first building my business. I enjoy the rewards of hearing that the resource I am building about art licensing is helping artists to learn and understand what used to be a confusing and mysterious thing.
I offer a lot of free services for two reasons - first, to make information accessible to everyone, regardless of their income or ability to buy information at the moment. I also do it so you get to know me and the other experts who are sharing their knowledge and offering coaching or other services on the site. You will feel more confident buying an eBook, signing up for a teleseminar or coaching if you have an idea of who you are working with ahead of time.
At the end of the day, in addition to knowing I have helped and inspired others, this is part of my business that needs to support the systems that run it and needs to be worth the exchange of time for money.
The internet is a great place to get something for nothing, but an equally good place to find valuable information for sale. Support those who you feel add value to your life and business by also supporting the for-fee part of their business.
Here's to your creative success!
– Tara
P.S. Here's another article HOW TO COMPETE WITH FREE about how companies can afford to offer so many services for free - including FreeConferenceCall.com - the site that helps me offer the free Monthly Ask Calls. Thanks Free Conference Call!
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 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!
The following blog post has been re-printed with the permission of the author, attorney Cheryl Hodgson who has done two great "Ask" calls, the most recent on January 20, 2010. Read on to get some interesting food for thought about trademarks.
“Aha moment.” What do you think of when you hear that phrase? Or should I ask who do you think of? Oprah Winfrey would like it to be her! However, after her recent settlement with Mutual of Omaha insurance company, she might not be the only one that can use the popular phrase.
Oprah’s production company, Harpo Productions, had originally claimed that “aha moment” was a trademark from her television show. At oprah.com, you will find numerous videos showing the “aha moments” of various celebrity guests. Some of those moments include, “finding a different kind of happiness, learning to prioritize, and the courage to do something new.”
Harpo learned that Mutual of Omaha was using the slogan “official sponsor of the aha moment,” and sent them a letter asking them to stop use. Omaha responded by filing a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Omaha arguing that they had already been granted preliminary approval of a federal trademark for the slogan.
Harpo had previously applied for trademark protection of “aha moments” in entertainment services and in magazines, while Omaha applied to register “Proud sponsor of life’s aha moments,” “Official sponsor of life’s aha moments,” and “Celebrating life’s aha moments” in the insurance industry.
In doing a Google search, I found that Omaha also owns the domain <ahamoment.com> where they describe “A moment of clarity, the aha moment is a defining moment where you gain real wisdom—wisdom you can use to change your life.”
Even though Oprah had made the mark famous, Omaha alleged that she failed to police the mark and there was no opposition to its trademark application. The case was settled out of court. This story can be your “aha moment” in brand protection. I’ve written much about the importance of developing and maintaining a trademark monitoring program. Read our earlier post: http://brandaideblog.com. Enforcement means having a watch program in place to monitor new filings and counsel to give prompt notice of potential conflicts. Failure to police can mean complete loss of rights.
This all might not even matter much longer anyway, now that Oprah has officially announced her talk show will end September 9, 2011. Aha…
For more information on the importance of policing and monitoring your trademarks in the digital age, sign up for our blog and we’ll send you a free chapter from the Guide to Building and Protecting a Valuable Brand on the Internet, based upon the INSURE™ Brand Protect Sequence.
The lesson I learned? If you register a trademark, you better watch and enforce your rights because the "You Snooze, You Lose" rule applies!
Learn more about and from Cheryl Hodgson on her blog at www.BrandAideBlog.com. Watch for new art licensing information products from her in the near future!
– Tara
P.S. Get your free copy of Cheryl's first "Art Licensing Info Monthly Ask Call" July 2009 mp3 replay if you haven't already. The January 20, 2010 audio replay (1 hour long) is available for $15 thru 1/31 and $25 after that.
I don't know about you but the Monthly Ask Calls just energize me! Even if I have had a less than spectacular day, by the time I am done talking art licensing for an hour, I'm smiling and raring to go!
The January 20, 2010 call with attorney Cheryl Hodgson was no exception. I've known Cheryl for a year now and find her to be a source of upbeat energy and sage advice. She can put legal issues into terms anyone can understand and isn't afraid to be practical when sharing her opinions. (Any attorney that says it isn't always the best choice to sue or go to court is ok in my book.)
If you missed the live call, here is what we covered:
Is it ok to use licensee logos for links on my website or should I get permission first?
If I create art as a person (outside of my business), but then want to license it via my business, how do I set that up?
Do I need to move my business license each time I move to a different state?
We have a licensee that hasn't provided reports and after a year claims there is no revenue. Is there a way to handle this properly without exorbitant legal fees, or should we just walk away?
What if anything can I do about a company who has blatantly copied a design of mine and is selling it if I haven't registered it with the Library of Congress?
How do you work with multiple manufacturers in the same category without getting into conflicts of interest?
I've recently been told that because I do different kinds of art - I should use a pseudonym (like a stage name) to differentiate my styles. What are the legal ramifications of this?
Several questions and more details about how to register groups of art in a single submission to the Library of Congress to save time and money.
So whether you were on the live call or not, you just might want to invest in the mp3 replay and make sure you didn't miss anything. The audio is available and a mere $15 through 1/31. The cost goes up to $25 on 2/1. (Still a great deal!) Click the button below and get your copy today!
Here's to your creative and legally savvy success!
– Tara
P.S. Next up... www.AskAboutSEOforArtists.com - learn how to get the right traffic to your website so you can concentrate on your creativity.
P.P.S. Don't forget, the winner of the "Art Licensing Story" video contest will be announced on the 2/17 call, when we explain "link love" in more detail. Have you entered yet? CLICK HERE for all the details!
