ARTIST: Wangechi Mutu, Tumours of the Uterus
THIS WEEK: Why you need to strut your stuff; common artist legal problems; how to become a famous writer; challenges faced by alternative health practitioners; and, more....
VISUAL ARTISTS
#1. Common Artist Legal Problems and How to Avoid Them
Selling your art through a dealer, consultant, artist representative, gallery, or agent constitutes a business relationship. A successful relationship means negotiating and implementing a contract, agreement, or arrangement that works for both you and the seller.... This sounds straightforward, but problems arise when either one or both parties doesn't understand the details of an arrangement, one or both parties decides that the arrangement isn't fair, or one or both parties doesn't honor the arrangement.... Fortunately, the great majority of problems, legal and otherwise, can be avoided by following a few simple procedures....
by Alan Bamberger | Art Business | READ ENTIRE POST
#2. Sign Your Art So People Can Read It (and Other Tips)
Your signature identifies your art for all time as having been created, approved of, and completed by you and you alone (with the exception of collaborative efforts). When someone wants to know who created your art, your signature tells them. When someone sees your art for the first time and wants to see more, your signature helps them find you. When you're not around to identify your art (and sooner or later you won't be), your signature identifies it for you. Far too many artists treat signing their art as an afterthought, a formality, like signing a check or a credit card receipt. But dismissing the importance of the signature and the moment of signing can lead to all sorts of problems later in a work of art's life....
by Alan Bamberger | Art Business | READ ENTIRE POST
MARKETING TIPS
#3. The Art of Brochures
The greatest challenge for any small business or start-up looking to acquire new business is being able to identify and attract people who have a need for their product or service and the money to fund that need. Most small businesses have difficulty attracting new clients because they haven't created a valuable and memorable identity that clearly distinguishes them from their competitors. Typically, most entrepreneurs and professionals are ineffective at articulating the uniqueness and value of their business offering — a critical tool for turning prospects into paying clients. First impressions can make or break your business....
by Ellen Looyen | Guerilla Marketing | READ ENTIRE POST
ARTIST: Wangechi Mutu, Cervical Hypertrophy
#4. Balls-On Marketing: Why You Need to Strut Your Stuff
Arrogance is bliss — as long as you don't overdo it.... The problem for most of us is that we let that little voice in our head beat us down until we are scared shitless. We look at “tiny ol’ us” and “big ol’ them” and we struggle with the self confidence we need to really pull in the business that we know we’re capable of. We’re afraid to fail, to look stupid, to risk it all…and we choke. Sometimes we choke just a little bit, never chasing the bigger business…and sometimes we choke completely, and the business fails....
by Dave Navarro | Itty Biz | READ ENTIRE POST
#5. Entrepreneurship: What To Do When You’re Scared Sh*tless
The absence of fear is not courage. The absence of fear is mental illness.... I’d love to make this into a handy bulleted list with lots of outgoing link love. Then everyone could bookmark it and Stumble it and Digg it and I could be the linkbait queen of the world. Sadly, I can’t. I can tell you what I know about fear, though. It sucks. A lot. It can paralyze you and sicken you and leave you cold and lonely. I got pregnant at 17 with a man who wasn’t exactly my soul mate. I dropped out of college and people told me I would never make anything of myself. I have been on welfare. And I run my own home business.... So here’s my not-very-linear advice on fear....
by Naomi Dunford | Itty Biz | READ ENTIRE POST
WRITERS
#6. How to Become a Famous Writer
So your first published piece won’t be in the New Yorker. So what? Maybe it will be in a small community newspaper published out of someone’s dirty kitchen and the only way you’ll get them to print it is by volunteering to do the dishes. It might be in a niche magazine or a small-circulation nation zine...it might be in a self-published chapbook. It doesn’t matter. Get used to publication....
by Jim Munroe | No Media Kings | READ ENTIRE POST
#7. Do-It-Yourself Book Press
I now produce my own books at home from start to finish, and in this article will explain what I’ve had to learn and acquire in order to do that. Generally, self-publishing involves an inverse relationship of work to money: The more work you’re willing to do, the more money you can save; the more you want to just skip to an end product, the more it’ll cost you....
by Hamish MacDonald | No Media Kings | READ ENTIRE POST
ARTIST: Wangechi Mutu, Primary Syphilitic Ulcers of the Cervix
#8. Risky Business: Indie Book Distribution
Distribution is one of the toughest nuts to crack when it comes to publishing. There’s a few reasons for this, one of which is that it’s boring. It’s hard to get excited about receivables, warehousing, and invoices. But good distribution has made it possible for me to make a living off my books....
by Jim Munroe | No Media Kings | READ ENTIRE POST
ALTERNATIVE HEALING ARTS PRACTITIONERS
#9. Establishing Your Fees
To make a living at what you love, the key is to assess what you truly desire as reimbursement. You will be rewarded with what you desire most. What do you value? Is it gratitude, appreciation, recognition, happiness? Do you want to feel good about yourself? Do you want to make a difference in the world or help people? Or do you desire money? Do your values focus on idealistic spiritual or esoteric concepts? Few spiritual people would list money as their primary desired reward. They prefer to feel good about themselves spiritually, rather than materially. Unfortunately, this can sabotage cash income and cause severe financial restrictions....
by Dr Nance C. MacLeod | Wealth of Knowledge Books | READ ENTIRE POST
#10. Your Challenges
Your most dangerous obstacle in business isn't your competition, or your marketplace, or your location. Your most dangerous obstacle, and the only thing that can put you out of business is...YOU.... How many ways are you sabotaging your own success and your sense of personal fullfillment without even knowing it? As long as you keep thinking the same way, and acting the same way, you are going to get exactly the same results as you have been getting. The only way to get different results, is to change what you are doing. You must break through your comfort zone and practice doing things that are not comfortable if you want to move to a new level in your life....
by Dr Nance C. MacLeod | Wealth of Knowledge Books | READ ENTIRE POST
ARTWORK by Wangechi Mutu (Nairobi, Kenya)
Want more info on this artist? Please visit Wangechi Mutu's Wikipedia page.
