20 July 2010

Denial & the Top 10 Links of the Month

Stencil Artist: Denial, Use Once and Destroy
STENCIL ARTIST: Denial (a.k.a. Daniel Bombardier), Use Once and Destroy

THIS MONTH: Finding grant money to fund your dreams; why you're undervaluing yourself (and how to stop); ways to increase your business referrals; get more sales by saying "no"; and, more....


ARTS BUSINESS

#1.  Finding Money for Your Dreams
What irks me now sometimes is that when I tell certain friends or colleagues to apply for a grant or some great opportunity, they often let out a big sigh and say things like: “Oh, you really have to know someone to get one of those.” Or — “My work’s just not good enough.” Or, “I teach at a university. I don’t feel right about asking for anything.” Or this one — “What if I get rejected?” And then, my favorite — “I don’t know how to use the Internet. I don’t even use 'the email.'” Well, the truth is — these are all myths, fallacies and poor excuses....
by Mira Bartok | Mira's List | READ ENTIRE POST

#2.  How Do I Get a Curator to Look at My Work?
Several readers have asked Marketing Mondays to address the issue of how to get on a curator's radar, and even more specifically, how to get a curator to look at work. Let me share with you what I've learned....
by Joanne Mattera | Joanne Mattera Art Blog | READ ENTIRE POST


MARKETING

#3.  Do You Market with Your Packing?
When you sell a piece of art, do you take the opportunity to use the shipment as a marketing point? ....If my personal experience of buying work is any indicator, I would say the answers to these questions for most artists is "No." The answer to these questions for most of the best companies I order from (especially those I've ordered from more than once) is "Yes...."
by Clint Watson | Fine Art Views | READ ENTIRE POST

Stencil Artist: Denial, Fuck War
STENCIL ARTIST: Denial (a.k.a. Daniel Bombardier), Fuck War

#4.  Increase the Power of Your Marketing with Buddy Networking
Buddy networking is when you find a complementary business to market with and the process ends up being mutually beneficial. This top ten is about one way to buddy network — sponsoring a contest, giving away a gift certificate to another business that attracts your ideal client....
by Maria Marsala | Small Business: Canada | READ ENTIRE POST

#5.  How to Increase Your Business Referrals
If you've been in business for more than five minutes, you already know that the best way for any self-employed professional to get clients is by referral. But the process of building sufficient word of mouth to produce the number of clients you need can seem daunting. You can count on some referrals from your existing clients and people who already know you, but that's a fairly limited number. How can you start getting business referrals from people outside your circle?
by C.J. Hayden | Small Business: Canada | READ ENTIRE POST


BUSINESS TIPS

#6.  Why You’re Undervaluing Yourself (And How to Stop)
Do you feel uncomfortable charging for your creativity? Maybe you’re an illustrator – you draw because you love to, but you can’t bring yourself to ask people to pay fifty dollars for something which, to you, seems like a glorified doodle. Perhaps you’re a writer and you can’t understand why anyone would pay you fifty dollars or more for a blog post. Or you’re a coach, a programmer, a graphic designer, a cake decorator, a social media expert… Whatever it is you do (or want to do), there are a couple of things you should know....
by Ali Hale | Productive Flourishing | READ ENTIRE POST

Stencil Artist: Denial, Save the Humans
STENCIL ARTIST: Denial (a.k.a. Daniel Bombardier), Save the Humans

#7.  Want More Clients? Just Say No!
Much of the popular wisdom about how to succeed as an independent professional seems to center around saying yes. You'll hear that you're supposed to market yourself constantly in as many different ways as possible, network with everyone you can find, and take as many clients as possible in order to increase your earnings. The implication is that you should say yes to every opportunity....
by C.J. Hayden | Get Clients Now | READ ENTIRE POST

#8.  microBusiness Startups: Do You Believe in You?
Well, what’s the answer? Or more to the point, what’s the question? The question was, do you believe in you? Are you smart enough? Are you disciplined enough? Are you bold enough to start a business of your own? You need to possess certain attributes in order to be a success in a microBusiness, and they have nothing to do with big money, education, or influential friends....
by Lloyd Lemons | A Lifetime of microBusiness | READ ENTIRE POST


MOTIVATION

#9.  How to Overcome Limiting Beliefs
The beliefs you hold to be true make up the fabric of your experience. The stronger those beliefs, the more they seemunshakeable, and the more you will find evidence to support them.... Beliefs are formed through repeated thoughts, and the only reason they hold any weight is because you’ve decided or agreed that they are true....
by Jonathon Mead | Illuminated Mind | READ ENTIRE POST

#10. Stop Giving Obstacles Permission to Roadblock Your Goals
Some people keep track of goals in notebooks and others log them online, but most of us keep at least a few important goals in a special, time-honored place: the back burner. These are goals we tell ourselves we want to attain, but somehow we never seem to make it happen. It’s not that we fail to achieve these goals; more to the point, we don’t even try....
by Dave Navarro | Rock Your Day | READ ENTIRE POST


ARTWORK by Denial, a.k.a. Daniel Bombardier (Windsor, Ontario)
Want more info on this artist? Please visit his Web site: DenialArt.com

03 July 2010

Free Your Mind

Photographer: Calisto, Free Your Mind
PHOTOGRAPHER: CALISTO, Free Your Mind

I had an interesting breakthrough last month regarding a creative project that I've stopped and started on over and over again. It's been going on for a few years and acknowledging the ridiculousness of it all made me come to realize that it would make for a valuable topic to write upon.

It's all about the Buddhist concept of attachment and how it can create unnecessary roadblocks in your creative and business life. Now, I'm not going to spend time giving you a detailed definition of attachment, because it would read like one hot mess.

The jist? It's the energy we invest into a core belief about ourselves, a person or a situation, which is usually based on past experience, memory, childhood conditioning, outside pressures, or our mindset. Basically...it's about not being fully present.

Not sure what this all has to do with artists, healers and business? Well let me briefly bring things back to that creative project of mine, which I've been wearing around my neck for years like albatross bling.

02 June 2010

Radical Business: Your Niche

I guess I should have warned you all that I go M.I.A. during my birthday month. Obnoxious as it may sound, I believe that celebrating on just the day of is for suckers. But now I'm back, and for the most part, somewhat recovered from May's festivities.

Today, I was just reading through my weekly Heart of Business e-newsletter and they mentioned Tad Hargrave's Radical Business site (he provides marketing consulting to holistic businesses). I had come across it some time last year and had shared some of his marketing self-assessment materials with a client. I remember now that it really resonated with her, so it may do the same for you too (just scroll down for the sign-up box in the right-hand column).

01 May 2010

Hew Locke & the Top 10 Links of the Month

Artist: Hew Locke, Sinclair from the Shares series
ARTIST: Hew Locke, Sinclair (from the Shares series) 

THIS MONTH: How to use your mailing list correctly; tips to increase your visibility; 10 basic SEO tips for your Web site; creating the perfect tag line; and, more....

20 April 2010

Arts & Upstarts: Elspeth Duncan, Happy Hippy Productions

Photo of Elspeth Duncan by Kris Alcantara
ELSPETH DUNCAN
Multimedia Artist, Filmmaker, Writer, Musician

PHOTO by Kris Alcantara

COMPANY:
Elspeth Duncan
formerly Happy Hippy Productions
Sole proprietor of a multimedia company creating artistic works and interactive experiences to uplift, inspire, shift perspectives, and raise awareness on issues of humanitarian importance.
Started: 1999

What type of business do you run and why did you decide to start it?

I am in the business of uplifting, inspiring, shifting perspectives and raising awareness in self and in others through a range of creative media: writing, photography, video art, filmmaking, and conceptual interactive installation art.

10 April 2010

Relaxing Your Rules of Engagement

Photographer: Daniel Boud
PHOTOGRAPHER: David Boud

As I entered week four of the spring installment of "Don't Get Good..." — my business intensive for self-employed artists — an interesting discussion came about in class regarding the importance of getting feedback from one's "tribe," as it may. It was rather apt, as the topic emerged during our session about identifying your niche.

24 March 2010

soJin Chun & the Top 10 Links of the Month

Photographer: soJin Chun, Scarborough Thando
PHOTOGRAPHER: soJin Chun, Scarborough Thando

THIS MONTH: Goal setting for creatives; three tips for setting business boundaries; the simple reason why you're not reaching thousands of people; creating a better budget; and, more....

10 March 2010

Arts & Upstarts: Sandra Alland, sandraslittlebookshop

Writer: Sandra Alland
SANDRA ALLAND
Writer, Multimedia Artist, Performer

COMPANY:
sandraslittlebookshop
A micropress that publishes chapbooks and books, and curates an online poetry journal.
Started: 2003


What type of business do you run and why did you decide to start it?

sandraslittlebookshop primarily makes chapbooks, although I've also published one full-length book (Some Poems By People I Like, 2007) and continue to sporadically publish an online poetry journal (More Poems By People I Like).