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Promote friends on Facebook

Do you ever see how some people can promote a friend or fan page through their Facebook posts, but you don't know how? To help out a friend or organization, simply start a post, write your text, and then before their name, hit shift+@ and then start typing one of your fans and/friends. A drop down menu of your friends or pages will appear. Select from the drop down, continue your post and hit "share." (Be aware that your post will also show up on their feeds too).

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Free marketing workshop for clients

As a way of giving back to my clients, I am offering a free marketing workshop on Tuesday, June 28th at 6:30pm (open only to past and current clients this time around). This will be a fun session where we get inspired to take our businesses a step further and educate ourselves on the things we can do to get our businesses seen. If you have been a client or are wanting to get a project started with me, give me a call and I will get you on the RSVP list.

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Art Marketing 101: A Review

I wrote this article when Art Marketing 101 had first come out. Since then, there have been updates. I highly recommend this book to any artist serious about making a hobby into a living. Here's the older article I wrote about one of the first editions.

Art Marketing 101: A Review

By Sara Zimmerman, copyright 2005

The greatest aspect of being an artist is having a passion in life that is tangible. Many people are blessed with this gift and choose to create art as a hobby. The difficulty arises when some of these talented artists choose to fulfill their dream of becoming a professional artist and cannot find the means to do so. Often they have the zest to promote themselves, but find the tasks to becoming a professional artist confusing, creating obstacles. Fortunately, there are many wonderful guides that help set the stage for artists wishing to take this leap, such as Constance Smith’s Art Marketing 101: A Handbook for the Fine Artist. Art Marketing 101: A Handbook for the Fine Artist is a wonderful handbook that breaks the barrier of art marketing in a step-by-step program. In Art Marketing 101: A Handbook for the Fine Artist, Smith touches on everything from goal setting, to artist legalities, to portfolio creation, to art reps. She lays out each subject with a brief overview, a breakdown of tasks, and a reference for more information. Included are several anecdotes about her clients and other successful artists that provide appreciated insight.

Pricing:

One of my favorite segments in Art Marketing 101: A Handbook for the Fine Artist is the pricing segment, which I have found to be very helpful. Smith integrates your time and overhead costs (studio rent, utilities, organization fees, supplies, etc.) with the market value. She explains the formula in great detail and notes what area to add or subtract from. By creating this formula, Smith helps us to see how to appropriately assign a price to our work (and commissions) without the guesswork. (I am very grateful for this formula because it gives me a solid answer when asked how I decide to price my work). Other wonderful segments included in Art Marketing 101: A Handbook for the Fine Artist are Changing Your Vision, Navigating the Art market, and the Print Market. In her Changing Your Vision section, Smith talks about how one must embrace calling oneself as an artist if that is their dream: “Once you start calling yourself an artist, you’ll be surprised at how many other people will start referring to you as an artist, too. Hearing others call you artist creates an inner image that reinforces your aim,” (Smith p. 21). She continues by “setting the stage” in her Navigating the Art Market portion with a “Making Sure You’re Ready” checklist. This checklist has asks all the appropriate questions including: “Do you have a body of work ready to sell? Are you able to produce artwork of a consistent quality and style? Are there any legal considerations in selling your product?” (p 154) These are fairly obvious questions that are easily overlooked when swamped with marketing tasks and the urge to create art. Lastly, in Smith’s Print Market piece, she relays the pros and cons as well as the ease of reproducing your works. Some artists do not want to promote themselves to galleries and feel more at ease at fairs and other events. Selling inexpensive reproductions such as greeting cards and small prints can help alleviate booth and entry fees as well as provide a supplemental income. Since being a working artist requires so much thought in business and marketing, having a clear-cut guide takes the frustration out of it (I know I find this book extremely helpful when I feel like I’m in over my head!). If you feel like you want to take the next step to becoming a professional artist, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Constance Smith’s Art Marketing 101: A Handbook for the Fine Artist from your local bookseller for under $25. Good luck and happy artwork!

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Design and marketing for the budget-minded

A lot of small businesses and non-profit organizations approach me for graphic design and illustration work. Many of them have seen better days in terms of business, and therefore are very budget minded. However, being aware of your budget and having tight purse strings doesn't mean you have to fore go having a clean business image. Yet it doesn't mean that you are going to be able to put everything in the hands of a professional, snap your fingers, and have the perfect image and marketing package created for you without lifting a finger. If you are willing to put time and effort into the decisions behind the design, your business too can have a distinct look that reiterates your reputable brand for less than a standard bid. I'm broke, but want/need a design. What can I do? If you are on a budget but seriously want to improve your image, then you need to be committed in helping to create this change. What that means is that you need to spend the time to research your own vision for your design and make notes of things you like and don't like. Your willingness to get your hands dirty will ultimately help you get the end product you want.

1. How picky are you/ your organization or can you trust the professionals? Furthermore, how picky can you afford to be? I have come across numerous sole proprietors who don't know what they want yet have a very small budget. Understanding that time=money, they either decide to trust me to create something that will fit their needs OR they are very precise and ask me what they can do to reduce my time spent. The non-picky clients tell me general themes they like with a general direction, knowing they can trust me to create something that keeps their interests and directions in mind. The picky ones need to really do their homework (as listed below) so that all the details they want are clearly conveyed to me, or any designer, prior to starting.
2. Second, decide who is your market, what you want to do, and why you want to do it. Be sure that your reasoning stands behind making the investment. For instance, if you are an event coordinator for an event that is trying to attract a Gen-Y, party crowd and sell fundraiser t-shirts to this market, then you need to have a t-shirt design and marketing program that appeals to them. A good option in attracting this crowd is through social networking and having a basic website that people can go to from there. You know that this is the market who is regularly spending $30 or so at events and know that if you have a design that speaks to them, they will come to the event, bring a friend, and most likely buy a t-shirt. On the contrary, if you are trying to attract this same crowd, the last thing you want to do to market to them is take an ad out in the economic or real estate section of the daily newspaper and have a committee of retirees decide on the logo.
3. Do your homework. What styles/ themes do you like (i.e clean and corporate, grungy, artsy and hand-drawn, modern, Asian, etc.), what logos do you like, and what attributes speak to you and your target market (i.e. colors, shapes, symbols)? Find some fonts, come colors, and components that mean something to you (and your business) and make a list (please include URLs). Include some words that summarize your business direction and add those to the list as well. A good designer will know how to tie all of these characteristics into a sweet logo/ identity/ branding that really reflects your business. Without providing this information, you may become victim to a very common logo dilemma where logos and their businesses do not reflect one another.
4. Decide how you want to relay this information. Do you want an email campaign, a flyer, a website, advertisements, and a social networking plan to relay the information? Decide on what you want and what is realistic in terms of your time and budget, knowing that many marketing efforts are ongoing versus a one-time project. And keep in mind that once you decide on how you will market you need to decide if you want to have products with this image to sell and/or maintain during the event or afterwards. If so, how will you market during those times and do you need to include another marketing option?
5. Decide on your selling points and your message. These are the items that will be added to whatever marketing venue you choose to use, from websites, to flyers, to postcards and email blasts. Once you take the time to decide on your concise message, it's easy to have other people help spread the word (and relay the correct information).
6. Find a designer that you can relate to, work with, and who understands your budget. Visit their online portfolio, contact them, and see if they are a good match for you. For instance, I specialize in hand-drawn, artsy, grungy themes and have a background in marketing for small businesses and artists. Though I may fit the budget of a start-up firm looking for a very clean, corporate design, we are not necessarily a good match. Just as a designer who specializes in large, corporate clients may not be able to work with a local artisan looking to create a funky and fresh marketing campaign for their upcoming open studio event. Additionally, if you are willing to do the dirty work, you will want to find a designer that rewards you with either a sliding scale or an hourly fee versus a firm project by project bid.
7. Be realistic with what you are asking for. Once you receive an estimate or two and you notice that all of your requests can't be met for the budget you have, you need to reassess. What can you cut out? Or is it worth it to spend more and increase your budget so you can sell cute, fitted t-shirts knowing you will get more people buying those than the traditional, boxy tee? Should you try to gain sponsors so you can get a larger crowd to your event knowing once they are there, they will spend more? Or should you cut out one of the modes of marketing, such as advertising, and solicit volunteer efforts instead?

There are so many things that go into design and effective marketing campaigns. This is what you pay for when you hire a good designer with a pulse on marketing. And whether or not you can pay the fees for such a designer, doing your homework will ultimately help you and your business/ event /organization in the long run. And if you are too busy to do the work, then increase your budget and invest your trust into a designer who can get your tasks and materials created in both a beautiful and effective way.

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New Year’s Resolution for your Business

Since 2010 is just around the corner and New Year’s resolutions are coming our way, how about making a resolution for your small business? The best resolution I recommend is to carve out an hour a week for marketing your business. In just that tiny hour, you can do so much to help your business grow. Making Time and Keeping a List Your first hour is going to be the hardest. Sit down, turn off the phone, and ignore incoming emails. Make this hour completely dedicated to you and your business growth. Start an ongoing list somewhere that you can easily add to, edit, delete, and FIND later. I recommend using whatever office programs you may already have, such as Mail "To-Do's" for Macs or Outlook for PCs. Or go online and use one of the many free task list websites, such as RemembertheMilk.com or TaDaLists.com. Second, decide on a regular time and day that you can reserve for marketing in your weekly routine. Use whatever calendaring program you use, create an "event," and make it repeat indefinitely. Do NOT erase this time, blow it off, or say you will do it later. Choose a time that will most likely work for you and do your best to never change it. And if you must, reschedule it for the same week. Once you have set up your routine and list, you are half way there. Your Hour What you do with your hour for marketing is up to you. However, remember that what you put it you will most likely get out. Your first month of marketing dates will be the most difficult. Use your first hour to make the list of all the things you want to do or have heard of as ideas for marketing. Your second hour will most likely be dedicated to prioritizing your list. Prioritize by things you most likely will do, have the budget for, and are most targeted to your target audience. Your third hour will be spent revising and adding to your list as well as starting the first task. The fourth hour and every hour thereafter will be spent revising your list and doing task by task. Keep in mind:

Marketing, (especially social media) is an ongoing process, not a one time event.

Focus on only one task at a time, not the entire list.

Always reassess if your efforts are directed to your target market and keep your best interests in mind.

Marketing is something that every business needs to do to grow, despite its size. Sample business plans and business development centers even recommend a mandatory ongoing marketing budget for all businesses. Having a regular routine will help you keep marketing in your sights and your business in a direction for growth. ~If you need some help getting your marketing efforts streamlined, feel free to give me a call. I've helped numerous small businesses define goals, create a distinct path, and a reasonable ongoing process that fits time and budgets.