School of Creative Business - Creative Entrepreneurship

Build a Strong Brand With a Marketing Portfolio

What's the best way to build your company brand? Should you focus on your website, direct mail, print ads, advertising specialties, electronic newsletter or social networking? What is the magic bullet that will build your brand?

There is, of course, no magic bullet. Effective marketing requires a variety of targeted communication tools with a strong marketing message. Think of this approach as building a marketing portfolio, a mix of marketing strategies that ensures that your message reaches your customers and prospects consistently and continually. Whether you have a shoestring marketing budget or a more sizable one, you can develop a powerful marketing portfolio. Here's how.

• Understand your customers. Effective marketing is always customer-centered. It focuses on the needs of your customers, not your products and services. Thus, the more you know about your customers and prospects, the easier it is to convince them to do business with you. Begin by looking at who your customers are and who you want them to be. Understand the pain points or needs that drive them to purchase your products or services. Find out how your customers get information when they make a decision about a purchase. If you aren't sure of the answers, talk to your customers. Conduct an informal or online survey. If your budget allows, consider a focus group. Review over Building a Foundation for Artist Career: Why People Buy
• Develop a strong marketing message. Now that you understand who your customers are, you need to develop a concise marketing message that captures your customers' pain points, your solution and what makes you different. This message should be a succinct, memorable statement of 25 words or less and should be included in every marketing strategy you use.
• Plan. Armed with information about your customers and prospects, develop a marketing plan that includes a variety of marketing strategies. Focus on those strategies that are most important to your customers. Ensure that you are in contact with customers and prospects on a regular basis. Include a timeline and assign responsibility for each task to hold yourself and your staff accountable. Think of your marketing plan as your roadmap to branding success.
• Execute your plan consistently. Once you have developed your plan, execute it consistently. Refresh your website on a regular basis by making it copy rich. Distribute your newsletter at regular intervals. Take part in networking opportunities. Use social networking tools as yet another avenue for reaching people.
• Evaluate and adjust. Closely monitor the results you receive from each strategy over a period of time. If one strategy is not giving you the results you anticipated, consider adjusting your plan.

Build your marketing portfolio consistently and continually and watch your brand grow!

_{Written By: Joan B. Marcus, president of Joan B. Marcus Communications LLC, helps small businesses and nonprofit organizations build their brand through the power of words. Sign up for a free newsletter that offers practical and low-cost strategies to market your business at http://joanbmarcuscommunications.com. Services include branding and marketing message development; communications audits; marketing communications planning; implementation of marketing tools including websites, electronic newsletters and brochures; writing coaching; and grant development.}

Notpaper.net: A Blog About Collage

_{^{Collage by Valerie Roybal}}

Omg - I am so excited I found notpaper.net. This blog is all about collages and is ran by Aprile Elcich. She too, is a collage artist  (her blog) and she has sought out to feature every single collage artist that exists on Notepaper.net.  Yeah, that would be wonderful, but I have come across alot of collage artist (including myself), so I have to say Aprile has alot of posting to do.

Anyway this is a wonderful found. Really glad I found this one. For sure ,this is a site to bookmark.

Package Tape Transfer

Creating package tape transfers has to be the simplest and cheapest transfer technique I know of. It is a cool and neat trick- how the image sticks to the tape. I call it my magic trick- I once showed it to my dad and he was just amazed. He wanted me to tell him my secret.

Today I wanted to share my magic trick with you. - well am not, but The One Minute Musewill, she has posted a great youtube video on how to create a package tape transfer.

Below are examples of my attempts of using package tape transfers in my artwork.

Native American Prints from the Pennington Photo Studio

 _{Navajo Indian carrying baby, The Pennington Studio, Durango, Colorado}

Many of these beautiful photos were taken in a photo studio. But these intimate shots really allow you see the essence of the Native American people. I love these images just like I love the images of African Americans.

In the early 1900s, William Pennington and Lisle Updike spent most days traveling the four corners area of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona in a wagon photographing the people and landscapes. The pair of photographers were based in Durango, Colorado where they leased a small space on Main Street and operated a photography studio. They traveled to the mountains and photographed miners and townspeople and visited Native American Reservations and Pueblos making portraits of the people. Their partnership was short-lived and Pennington soon bought out Updike and took sole control of the studio. Read more here...

 

Turn Your Creative ideas Into a Business

During this time of the year we all start to think about the next year- what are my goals , resolutions, what do I want to change ? These types of questions are normal and if you are a true creative soul, you are asking yourself these questions all the time.

Well, maybe this time you are thinking about growing your business, showcasing your designs at a trade show, approaching retail stores to sell your products or just wondering how to start the darn business?

Lucky you and me- there are resources out there to help us answer these questions. Below are several books I recommend you read and add to your bookshelf. I go to them offer to resource a idea or to get a website address.

Artist Tips: 5 Ways to Introduce Yourself to the Art World

 Artist Tip 1

Whenever you receive gallery representation, sell an important piece of artwork, receive a grant or a major commission project, it is an opportunity to communicate with the media. Do not wait until a big show to send out press releases. Build your reputation and your relationship with the press over time by keeping them abreast of significant milestones in your artist career.

Artist Tip 2

The general public is hungry for a personal connection with the artist, to know what it is like to live the creative life. Many artists have successfully connected with their clients by sharing  insights into some of their art techniques, studio tours of their work spaces, sharing other talents other art, or just background information past careers or their journey to becoming an artist.

Artist Tip 3

Always include information about any upcoming shows or new major works in progress in your communications with the media or potential clients. Demonstrating to the media that you  are building and mastering your art style shows confidence in your reputation and professionalism as an artist.

Artist Tip 4

Many artists who are represented by a gallery believe that they don't need their own website, especially if the gallery has one. But this is so untrue. An artist needs a website. Having your own professional website creates a centralized location for the media and art collectors to find everything they need to know about you and your work. On your website you have total control on what is posted and what is not posted. Of course you should link to the gallery or galleries that represents your work.

Artist Tip 5

Art collectors whose visual knowledge isn't highly developed are greatly influenced by the recommendations of other collectors, gallery directors or the media's endorsement. You should seek publicity whenever possible to keep your name in the forefront of the minds of people of influence to your artist career.

Create a font from your own handwriting - fontcapture.com

 

Great way to use your own handwriting inside of cards, on a promotional piece, or just for fun.

Create a font from your own handwriting - fontcapture.com.

How to Talk About What You Do: Building a Foundation for Your Artist Career

How to Talk About What You Do - is a creative prepared conversation that will spark curiosity and interest about you and your artwork. This prepared conversation is intended to replace the static, boring and usual responses to the question, "What do you do?". Our typical response is 'I'm an artist" and the typical response for the other is "oooo" or other reactions.

Yesterday you created your who and do what statement. That's was a great first step and an fantastic tool for starting a conversation about what you do. We are going to break this down into its smallest parts and gather all the information we've worked hard to compile in the past few days. If you've read and completed the exercises this week, then you will be in good shape to complete the last step to Building a Foundation for Your Artist Career.

How to Talk About What You Do.

Lets get started. Each of the following 4 parts you have already been answered. All you need to do is plug the pieces into the formula below. The examples are in a script format that you can use as a template. Here we go....

Part 1: Summarize your target market into one sentence.

Part 2: Identify and summarize the motivating and purchasing habits of your target market.

Part 3: Explain how you help your clients.

Part 4: Explain the reason why you do what you do.

Conversation: All you need to do is insert parts 1-4

• You know How (insert Parts 1 & 2)
• Well, what I do is (insert Parts 3 & 4)

Here is how the conversation may go: Setting: Retail Store

Angel:Nice to see you again, Alease. I have not seen since I left ABC Corp. What are you doing now?

Me: Well all is good. You know now I work with family oriented women who are seeking  quality and a stylish to display family photos (Parts 1 & 2).

Angel: That sounds really interesting. Why this field of work?

Me:Well what I do is I help these women tell their family stories and at the same time I am able to share with them my way of telling these stories visually and how important it is to preserve the memories (Parts 3 & 4).

Angel: How do I learn more? Do you have a card?

Now we are talking! See how easy it is to talk about your work. Angel knows more about my new profession then she imagine. And I was able to give her a card and maybe a potential sale.

If you are in a short conversation with someone - you could just answer the what do you do statement with... "  I help (part 1) ...(insert part 4).

Real Easy, Right? You should never be caught off guard again. I suggest you continue to hone and refine your message and then practice it over and over again. Telling and committing to a creative profession to others might be a little hard, but when you can answer someone's question about what you do, you know to say it with confidence and assurance.

Well this ends our five day series of Building a Foundation for Your Artist Career. I hope is was helpful.  Peace and More Love, Alease Michelle

 

 

Develop a Personal Artist Brand: Buliding a Foundation for Your Art Career

Having established your target market and your VIP list we are now ready to develop a personal artist brand for your art career. A personal artist brand will help clearly and consistently define, express and communicate who you are, and whom you serve. Successful artist I have studied such as Claudine Hellmuth,  Lotta Jansdotter, Michelle Caplan and Amy Butler all have found their personal artistic style,  they've build a brand based on it and has boldly express themselves through that  artist brand.

This his how a personal artist brand works- it defines you, but first you must define it. Developing a personal artist brand that looks like you, thinks like you, sounds and feels like you and one that is instantly recognizable as your essence should be clear, consistent, authentic, memorable, meaningful, soulful and surly personal.

There are two components to your personal artist brand: The "Who and Do What" statement & The "Why You Do It" statement.

Your Who and Do What  Statement

The is statement lets others know exactly whom you help and what you can help them do. It is the first filter that people will put you through when considering your product or services.

Start with the basics. What is your who and do what statement? Whom do you help and what do you help them do?  Finish the statement, " I help..." For example: I help people see art through the eyes of a story teller.

Your Why You Do It  Statement

This statement is the reason you do what you do. This is something you never get tried of and others know what it's like to be around you. Your Why You Do it statement will serve as an emotional connection you make with people.

Be your most idealistic, inspired, creative, powerful you when you describe - What is your purpose doing art ? and What is your vision of what you hope to achieve through your art? Begin with, " The reason why I create art is ... "   For example: The reason why I create art is to share with others my sense and love of family and my pride for my African American community.

We are almost done. Now take your two statements and put them together. You have just created your personal artist brand. Other words in the art community it is called your artist statement, in the business world it is called your brand. Place your personal artist brand statement on the wall of your studio, place it in your about me page on your blog or website. Just place it somewhere for other people and yourself can see it.

For Friday- I will be ending the Building a Foundation for Your Artist Career series with a post on "How to Talk About What You Do". I will see you Friday, subscribe if you have not yet. And I'm looking forward to hearing a few of your comments on the Building a Foundation for Your Artist Career series.

Peace and More Love, Alease

Why People Buy Art : Buliding a Foundation For Your Artist Career

Yesterday you looked at the qualities of the people you wanted to work with, not lets identify your target market. Your ideal clients are a subset of the target market you choose to serve. It is just as important to identify a target market you feel passionate about as it is to identify the ideal clients that you are inspired by. The benefit of identifying a target market is that it allows you to more easily determine where to find potential clients/ art lovers who are looking for what you have to offer. In order to reach these potential clients/ art lovers, you've got to know where to find them.

The next step we are going to take, are steps that will be will worth your time. Understanding why people buy art is really important in creating relentless demand for your art. The following four steps will help you understand the why.

 Who's the Target Market of Your Artwork

Take a few moments to think about the following questions and jot down whatever comes to mind.

1. What is the geographic location of your target market? 

 Name the neighborhood, city, state, region they may live in. Do not forget to consider the social networking sites they may also live. Since many artist typically sell art online works very well (Etsy). Considering online sites might be better, but if you are considering selling at a market, then you specify the general location.

2. What are the demographic characteristics of your target market?

A few years ago, I was working with a client who said her target market was women you liked wearing dresses. Well that is a very large target market and that size of a target market is very hard to sell to. So to help her out- I asked her to choose her favorite television show or movie  of women who would wear her dresses. She chose Girlfriends and Sex and the City. With this new information we were able to actually visualize each woman wearing her dresses. We used the characters personalities, jobs and interests to describe the demographic characteristics of her target market.

If choosing a character from a movie or television show helps you identify your target market, then please do so. But make sure to  describe the observable, factual characteristics of your target market - such as age, income level, family size, gender, ethnic group and hobbies/interest.

 3. What is your target markets'motivations and purchasing patterns?

The observable factors are important, but you also have to consider the less tangible factors. Try to answer these questions.

What is important to your target market- price, quality, or convenience?; What kinds of companies do they prefer to do business with - small, large, socially responsible, or locally based?; How do they view themselves- technically savvy, smart shopper, stylish or cutting edge?

What are your customers purchasing patterns- paypal, cash only, credit? How often do they buy art - once a year, every other month, when there is a sell, or during special occasions?

4. What is the market size of your target market?

Keep the answer to this question simple. Do you think the market size for your art is small, medium or large. If it is small look for other small target market group, if it is medium, then you are good to go for a few years, and it is large, then that is great, but you are going to have to keep coming up with unique ideals to keep them interested in your art.

Now look over your answers and try pulling it all together. Write a brief description of your target market.

My Target Market is .........

 

This new found information will help you more successful at creating and selling your art.

Alright we are almost there. We have 2 more post to go, before we have completed the foundation of our art career. Thursday I will discuss the importance of developing your personal brand  and Friday I will end How to talk about what you do.

Make sure to subscribe to my blog if you haven't already. Peace and More Love, Alease