The monthly Ask Call is TONIGHT with Jill Seale – are you dialing in?
Tonight is the night! The April Ask Call is with Jill Seale. We have lots of great questions lined up for you about art and character licensing so set your alarms and dial in! If you can’t listen live, the audio replay will be available for $20 thru 4/30 – we’ll let you know when it’s ready.
If you’ve signed up for a call before, you should have received the dial-in details by email yesterday.
If you’ve never participated, head over to www.AskJillSeale.com and sign up. Since we have already organized the questions, you can just put “no question” in the box then fill in your name and email and you will get the dial-in details.
The call is at 5:30 pm Pacific / 8:30 pm Eastern and will last for an hour. It’s free to listen live – the replay will also be free since this is her first call – we’ll email you when it’s ready!
We look forward to chatting with you tonight!
– Tara Reed & Jill Seale
P.S. Don’t forget! Let’s get social on Twitter (use #ask when tweeting so we can find you!) and Facebook during the call. CLICK HERE to download all the details.
P.P.S. I have a new plan to out smart Facebook who now jumbles up the order of posts! We will have one post for the call and if you have something to say, just add it to the comments. That way we can all see what is going on and there is no limit so chat away! I’ll get it started at www.Facebook.com/ArtLicensingInfo before we begin
The monthly Ask Call is TONIGHT with me – Tara Reed – are you dialing in?
Tonight is the night! The March Ask Call will be with me – Tara Reed. Since my sister is traveling and can’t ask me the questions, I’ve invited Maria Brophy to play “Barbara Walters” on the call and not only ask the questions you submitted, but put in her 2¢ when she’d like as well. This will be our first duo but we expect it will go well – join us and find out!
If you’ve signed up for a call before, you should have received the dial-in details by email yesterday.
If you’ve never participated, head over to www.AskTaraReed.com and sign up. Since we have already organized the questions, you can just put “no question” in the box then fill in your name and email and you will get the dial-in details.
The call is at 5:30 pm Pacific / 8:30 pm Eastern and will last for an hour. It’s free to listen live – the replay will also be free since this is her first call – we’ll email you when it’s ready!
We look forward to chatting with you tonight!
– Tara Reed & Maria Brophy
P.S. Don’t forget! Let’s get social on Twitter (use #ask when tweeting so we can find you!) and Facebook during the call. CLICK HERE to download all the details.
P.P.S. I have a new plan to out smart Facebook who now jumbles up the order of posts! We will have one post for the call and if you have something to say, just add it to the comments. That way we can all see what is going on and there is no limit so chat away! I’ll get it started at www.Facebook.com/ArtLicensingInfo before we begin
How to Back Up Your Social Media
What would you do if all of the sudden all the data and connections you had on social media platforms disappeared? Personally, I’d need a paper bag to breathe into because I’m quite sure I’d faint or at minimum, have a hard time breathing!
Thanks to my friend Barbara Rozgonyi – the one who’s Facebook account was hacked – I just learned about a free service that will backup a wide array of social media sites.
Go to Backupify.com and secure your online identity in case of technical glitches or hackers messing with your world!
The free account will backup all of your personal sites or for $4.99 you can upgrade to a business membership and backup business accounts as well. The image below shows you all the accounts you can secure with this service. Thanks Barbara for the tip!
Here’s to your secure social media identity!
– Tara Reed
Debbie Mumm shares her art licensing journey on tonight’s Ask Call
Tonight night I will have the pleasure of talking with Debbie Mumm about her art licensing business.
This is another testament to the power of persistence as I’ve been trying to get Debbie on the line for 2 years! She will be answering the questions submitted by artists like you tonight – I hope you join us!
If you’ve signed up for a call before, you should have received the dial-in details by email yesterday.
If you’ve never participated, head over to www.DebbieMumm.com/askDebbie/ and sign up. Since we have already organized the questions, you can just put “no question” in the box then fill in your name and email and you will get the dial-in details.
The call is at 5:30 pm Pacific / 8:30 pm Eastern and will last for an hour. It’s free to listen live – the replay will also be free since this is her first call – we’ll email you when it’s ready!
We look forward to chatting with you tonight!
– Tara Reed & Debbie Mumm
P.S. Don’t forget! Let’s get social on Twitter (use #ask when tweeting so we can find you!) and Facebook during the call. CLICK HERE to download all the details.
Paul Brent will be on the Ask Call tonight – will you?
Just a quick reminder that Paul Brent will be talking about getting your art plan together for exhibiting at trade shows answering the questions submitted by artists like you tonight.
If you’ve signed up for a call before, you should have received the dial-in details by email.
If you’ve never participated, head over to www.AskPaulBrent.com and sign up. Since we have already organized the questions, you can just put “no question” in the box then fill in your name and email and you will get the dial-in details.
The call is at 5:30 pm Pacific / 8:30 pm Eastern and will last for an hour. It’s free to listen live – the replay will be $15 through 10/30 and $25 after that.
We look forward to chatting with you tonight!
– Tara Reed
P.S. Don’t forget! Let’s get social on Twitter (use #ask when tweeting so we can find you!) and Facebook during the call. CLICK HERE to download all the details.
What I learned about fishing and art licensing from the movie “The Social Network”
My son and I went to see “The Social Network” – the story of Facebook and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. When I Tweeted that I didn’t know the history of Facebook and found the movie interesting, a follower was quick to point out that this movie was more story than history and not overly accurate.
In an article by The New York Times, entitled No Stopping Movie View of Mark Zuckerberg , they say:
The film’s truthfulness, however, has been strongly questioned in forums like Slate, the online magazine, and The New Republic .
Many of those who know Mr. Zuckerberg argue that it is inaccurate in significant ways. David Kirkpatrick, who wrote a company-authorized history of Facebook titled “The Facebook Effect,” said, “The reality is, it’s a really good movie — however, it’s not a true story.” Mr. Kirkpatrick has written critically about the movie on the Web site The Daily Beast.
The article has an interesting analysis of what legal recourse might be available for the less than documentary portrayal that many people seeing it believe to be “the true story” as well as the potential implications for Facebook if the movie continues to grow in popularity. Interesting - CLICK HERE TO READ IT.
Of course, as I am apt to do, I found something in the movie that reminded me of art licensing and thought I’d share my thoughts. In one scene, Napster founder asks Mark Zuckerberg if he’s ever seen a fisherman with a photo of the 14 trout he caught in a day. No, of course not. Fishermen keep photos of the big Marlins – not the many small fish. So he then asks – do you want Facebook to be a Marlin or trout?
Not being a fisher-woman myself, I still found this to be an interesting analogy.
Who are the artists in licensing catching the Marlins and who are getting trout?
Who are you?
- If you are just getting started, you are basically shopping for gear – the pole, the bait, finding the place to cast your line. You are learning about how to create the art, who to contact, what to create.
- If you’ve been in licensing a while and have licensed products featuring your art, you are certainly collecting trout. (That’s where I put myself.)
But how do you get the Marlin?? Is there a magic formula, some secret fishing hole that only a select few know about… I don’t think so. I believe the secret to getting the Marlin is consistent and persistent hard work – both on the art and the business. That is what we are striving to do at ArtLicensingInfo.com – provide valuable tools for artists getting started and catching trout – to help you improve your chances of getting that big fish for your business.
If you want to get your mp3 replays of the hour long Ask Call audios from some artists who have caught the proverbial “Big Fish” of art licensing - Paul Brent, Mary Engelbreit and Dena of Dena Designs – click the links below. They are free once you sign up.
www.AskPaulBrent.com
www.MaryEngelbreit.com/askme
www.AskDenaDesigns.com
Paul Brent will be doing the October 20, 2010 call so be sure to submit your questions today and mark your calendar to listen! (details at www.AskPaulBrent.com)
In case you haven’t seen it, here’s the trailer for the movie.
Here’s to your creative success!
– Tara Reed
P.S. Have you bookmarked the Art Licensing Info Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/ArtLicensingInfo ? Head over and say hello!
P.P.S. See all the past call replays that are available for free or for a small fee at www.ArtLicensingInfo.com/audio-archives.html
85 people listened to the “Ask Tara Reed” call live – were you one of them?
My sister, Christine, who many of you have met over the years at SURTEX or who you may have heard on the Trade Show Tactics Teleseminar, helped me on the July Ask Tara Reed call. We always have a lot of fun together – including her pre-call threats to do one of the following:
- forget the call completely and leave me stranded
- be asleep and if she woke up, she’d be groggy and hard to understand
- swear and embarrass me in any way she could come up with
- use different accents for each question
She didn’t forget and behaved very well. The only problem reported was that we sound so similar that sometimes people had a hard time figuring out who was talking. (We get that – especially over the phone. Lots of fun to tell our dad it’s “His favorite daughter” and listen to him pause – trying to figure out who it really is and then say the others name!)
Here is what we covered on the July 21st call:
- What are the first steps you should take before you try to license your art?
- Do you need an agent to license your art?
- Is it better to email or snail mail submissions to agents?
- Is there a “set” advance price for artwork?
- What types and sizes of files should you submit to agents or manufacturers?
- Should you follow online submission guidelines to the letter or make follow-up calls?
- How do I make calls to companies without sounding like a newbie?
- What are the pros & cons of a contract with a “worldwide” territory?
- How can I build marketable character-based art without having a Saturday morning tv show?
- Trade show preparation strategies / tips
- How do you use social media (Twitter, Blogs, LinkedIn) in your art licensing business.
Thank you so much to Laura for her fabulous question about cold calling and willingness to let us tease her (we are twitter friends so I knew it would be ok!)… we are now applying peer pressure to get her on the phone and then to report back on how it was, on the blog. Send her a message of encouragement on Twitter – she’s @CreativeGirl – to keep her moving forward.
Facebook was a little quieter than usual but on Twitter it was so cool to see people joining forces to stay accountable! Social media is such a great connector!
If you want a copy of the audio replay, it is $15 through 7/31 and $25 thereafter. We appreciate your support in purchasing these calls – it helps us continue to attract and create the great content artists have come to love and expect each and every month!
What’s coming up next…
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 – Attorney Cheryl Hodgson will be back to answer your legal questions. www.AskCherylHodgson.com
Wednesday, September 15, 2010 – NEW EXPERT Dena Fishbein will be answering your questions. Head to www.AskDenaDesigns.com to learn why I’m so excited to have Dena join the ranks of Ask Call Expert.
Are you ready for the June Art Licensing Monthly Ask Call?
Tomorrow, Wednesday, June 16, 2010, we will be focusing on technology – specifically, how the WordPress platform can offer artists ease and flexibility with their online needs.
Join me at 5:30 pm Pacific / 8:30 pm Eastern as I ask Kim Beasley your questions about how WordPress differs from other blog platforms, how to create password protected areas and more.
The call is free if you listen live and because this is Kim’s first call – it will be free even if you don’t! (The replay will be free when we are done the quick-edit.)
Head to www.AskAboutWordPressForArtists.com to register for the dial-in details if you haven’t registered for a call before.
Hope to talk to you tomorrow!
– Tara Reed
P.S. Don’t forget! Let’s get social on Twitter (use #ask when tweeting so we can find you!) and Facebook during the call. CLICK HERE to download all the details.
P.P.S. Find Kim on Twitter at twitter.com/kimbeasley
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