The following blog is the third in a series of articles from our guest, Ruth Payne. For many of you in the Vancouver area, Ruth Payne will need no introduction. Ruth is the curator at the Ferry Building Gallery and the Visual Arts Coordinator of West Vancouver Cultural Services. "Sacred space and sacred time and something joyous to do is all we need. Almost anything then becomes a continuous and increasing joy." – Joseph Campbell The Four Basics for building your art business are People, Space, Time and Money People to advise, encourage and help you Space to do your art and business Time to do your art and business Money to keep the wolf away from the door PEOPLE The people in your life who support your art business are your pit crew. They are the ones that spin your tires! They beam you up, dust you off and say…get back on the horse! Know who these people are. Let go of the naysayers, who may be envious or are just Negative Nellies. You don't have time for anyone who does not have positive and encouraging energy in regards to your art and business. Life is wondrous, the world is waiting for your art, and it is full of creative art marketing opportunities for you to grab. Let no one hold you back. Most people, if you explain heartfully to them, will understand and have great respect for the time you need to do your art, the path you are pursuing and the goals you have for your art sales and exhibitions. STUDIO You need a space that is yours to create art in. This may also be the space that you have your art business office in, where you do your marketing from. It is not the kitchen table. It is also not your bedroom or dining room. It is separate from the activities of daily life, and it is your designated art sanctuary. This space can be carved out in an unused garage, garden shed, empty room, space borrowed from a neighbour, artist's warehouse studios as in 1000 Parker Street, Vancouver, communal artist's spaces, rented apartment space, and the outdoor studio if you are a plein air painter. One very successful Vancouver artist has his studio in a converted garage off the alley. He rolls up the doors and it is called the Alley Gallery. Voila! Good lighting is essential, from either a skylight, natural and preferably northern light, or incandescent, but not fluorescent. Fluorescent light distorts colours. Your tools of the trade are a professional sturdy working easel, firm armless chair, preferably the twirling type with a flexible back, your paint and palette table, a filing cabinet for your business and art inventory keeping, and a worktable for your journal and sketchbook. Now add a chair or two for visitors, as well as a small table by the entrance where you have a photo of yourself at work, business cards, portfolio, invitations to exhibitions you may be in, and a vase of fresh flowers. Of course your art speaks for itself, and also the essence of who you are shines through in your studio space. Potential art purchasers are intrigued to meet the artist in his studio, see work-in-progress and generally feel a part of the process. It's all integral to your 'artist's magic' and every bit of your presentation is important. Visiting other artist's studios can be a great way to get creative ideas for your setup, renovation or to make your studio suit your personal style better. It is also a wonderful opportunity to network with other artists in their art-making space. I think it is useful to have a small shrine in the studio. This can be a table, a corner area, a small shelf, whatever works for you. On this you will put inspirational mementos, photographs of your children and mate, the seashell you brought home from your painting trip in Mexico, your little statue of Buddha or whatever has spiritual significance for you, and a candle. It is meant to centre you and bring you to the present moment of appreciation for your artist's life. Note: your business and tax set-up will take into account the space in which you work. Your costs and rental or mortgage agreement i.e. a percentage of your income, if used for work, may be deducted from your taxes. Please read your self-employed/ small business tax form available from Revenue Canada to learn about maximum workable deductions. For detailed information on The Business Of Finding A Workspace, a discussion of zoning requirements, leases, etc., please see Art, the Art Community, and the Law, Self- Counsel Press. In the next part of the article, Ruth discusses the other two basics: time and money. Artfully yours, Ruth Payne, Visual Arts Coordinator, West Vancouver Cultural Services, Ferry Building Gallery Email: [email protected] About Ruth Payne Ruth brings 25 years of experience as a gallery curator, visual artist, stress management consultant and teacher and runs the popular Arts Connection Networking Salon for visual artists. This article first appeared in the My Art News Letter #23 read more ...

The following blog is the third in a series of articles from our guest, Ruth Payne. For many of you in the Vancouver area, Ruth Payne will need no introduction. Ruth is the curator at the Ferry Building Gallery and the Visual Arts Coordinator of West Vancouver Cultural Services. The Four Basics for building your art business are People, Space, Time and Money People to advise, encourage and help you Space to do your art and business Time to do your art and business Money to keep the wolf away from the door TIME "Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it." -Scott Peck Knowing how to set healthy boundaries with others is to know how to really say YES and NO and this in turn saying YES TO YOURSELF. Give yourself what you need in time, for both creating your art and for the marketing of your art. By the way, plan on spending 50% of your time on marketing. (unless you have a gallery to represent you full-time and exclusively) Do you trade your time for easy cash? Don't undersell yourself. Your time is meant for art-making and marketing your work. If you volunteer your time, do it because you want to, consider this tithing your time to help others, mentor students, or talk to a networking group of artists. This time is freely given, even though you may receive a small honorarium as a thank you. I believe that what you give freely and from your authentic self comes back to you at least 10 times. Work from the 80/20 rule that made Walmart so successful. "Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all your energies on a limited set of targets." - Nido Qubein The 80/20 rule says that on a list of 10 tasks, only 2 of those tasks will return 80% of the value of the entire list. Look at your art marketing 'to do' list. Which tasks are directly related to what you want to happen. Find the 2 high- value items on your list and tackle them first. These tasks, contacts, exhibitions, potential buyers are the ones that will really move your career forward. Many of us actively avoid the top 2 priorities because they are more challenging than the rest. If they are to lead us to worthy goals, they are undoubtedly asking us to move into new territory in thinking and acting, and this can be scary. But this is also REWARDING. Focussing on your Centre of Influence, as Stephen R. Covey speaks of, in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, with First Things First, is another way to do this. It takes you out of your Circle of Concern, where you tend to water down your time without concentration on your own needs. This is only a conscious choice away! "Don't kid yourself: it's because you're doing all those C's (low priorities) and NOT because you haven't any time, that you don't get to do you're A's." - Alan Lakein Make yourself a sign: ARTIST AT WORK: Please do not disturb. The flip side will say: ARTIST in STUDIO 2- 5pm: Please come in. One side is for your sacred art-making time and the other side is for open studio time for visitors and buyers. MONEY Don't quit your day job! This may sound trite, but there is nothing attractive about the artist who is really struggling to pay the rent and keep the chicken on the table. This angst comes across in the art you want to sell and it actually pushes the buyer away. It speaks of neediness and lack of security and it is not attractive. Balance in all aspects of your life will allow you to pursue your art business with ease and confidence. If your partner is willing to support you, you have an inheritance, or you are retiring, then great. Just make sure you have enough money for your basic living expenses, and to be able to invest in your art business. You will need to spend money on a website, invitations, business cards, as well as art-making supplies and framing. Extra cash is a necessity for this. I encourage you to add to this list, then post it in your studio as a reminder of what you will give to yourself! Artfully yours, Ruth Payne, Visual Arts Coordinator, West Vancouver Cultural Services, Ferry Building Gallery Email: [email protected] About Ruth Payne Ruth brings 25 years of experience as a gallery curator, visual artist, stress management consultant and teacher and runs the popular Arts Connection Networking Salon for visual artists. This article first appeared in the My Art News Letter #23 read more ...

DIY (Do-It-Yourself) art marketing has never been so full of potential to help artists become successful. However artists need to realize results will be proportional to the amount of effort they put in. DIY artist websites offer artists the advantage of low start up costs; total control over content and display options; and powerful art marketing tools. With this in mind, artists need to consider how to make the best use of their time and money. We believe the key considerations are to determine: 1) your internet marketing goals and 2) your time commitment to execute your DIY effort. Goals: The first question to ask when considering your DIY web presence is: What are your expectations from having a website? Your answer might be some combination of: To show your art to others To connect with and build your audience To market and sell your art Time Commitment: The second question you need to ask yourself is: How much time are you willing to invest in achieving your DIY web presence objectives? You might reply with one of these typical answers: 1-2 hours / quarter – Time to build and maintain a web presence is time out of the studio! Save me from the computer! 1-2 hours / month- I just want to update occasionally when necessary. 1-2 hours / week – I am fairly committed – I see online presence as an important part of my marketing efforts. 1 hours / day – I am on the computer a lot and I really want to promote my art and art career for part of my day! An organized approach: With your answers to these 2 top considerations you will know where to focus your efforts. In upcoming blog entries, we will go into detail the web activities available to you to achieve your goals, reviewing the purpose of these activities along with their pros and cons. A summary of many typical artist website features or activities can be found here or a short commentary can be found here. Think of the three goals as if climbing a ladder. First build your site to show, then up a rung to connect, and further up to sell your art. Your time commitment should focus on the minimum required portion, the Basics of each rung, before advancing to the next rung on the ladder. Select anything from Optional section to enhance your artist website efforts. To Show Basics: Prepare suitable "jpeg" images of your art. Upload art images. Upload a picture of yourself. Choose your domain name. Optional: Upload a logo / signature header. Set site template colours and fonts. Group art by type in sub-pages (we call these "Studios"). Add your YouTube videos. Add a flash slideshow. Add music. To Connect Basics: Upload your Artist Statement, Resume and Contact info. Announce your website launch and subsequent updates. Link to sites you love. Add your domain name to your email signature. Add commentary, stories about each artwork. Optional: Set prices for gallery sales. Upload calendar events. Upload your email list. Email news of shows etc to your list. Blog about your target customers needs. Segment your contact list and email targeted messages. Use Facebook, Twitter to connect from and to your website. Create videos on YouTube and post to your blog or website. Add lots more links. Post comments on the blogs of others. Showcase your unique expertise or passion. To Sell (direct from the artist) Basics: Set up a payment provider account (e.g. PayPal, Visa etc). Set your pricing for direct sales. Add Order Forms, Price List and an Art Catalogue. Ask clients to buy from your site. Optional: Advertise on the internet. Offer specials – do some merchandizing. Prepare prints or lower price versions of your artwork. Give your customers specials / freebies. Use eBay and other online markets to meet new clients. Target your customer segment and converse via their community's blogs. How do you feel about our assessment? Your comments would help us understand your artist issues with managing an artist website. What have we got right or what have we missed? read more ...