As an artist, it is particularly important to stand guard at the door of your thinking. For it’s your thinking that will bring you all the success you could ever want. Here’s an idea that may help get more things done.

Sometimes something as seemingly insignificant as a quotation can really turn your life around – that is, if you are open enough to allow it to. This one really did for me. Here it is below.

The quote is below is attributed to 17th century Spanish Jesuit and baroque prose writer Baltasar Gracian.

“Attempt easy tasks as if they were difficult, and difficult as if they were easy.”

So what does this mean? Well let’s take a look at just one part of this first. “Attempt easy tasks as if they were difficult.” When we take on easy tasks as if they were difficult we can really slow down and perceive the task differently. We can bring more consciousness and awareness in it. Like watching a flower bloom in super slow motion. We see and are aware of every nuance.

What do most people do? Just rush right through their “easy tasks”. Just to get it over with and move on to other more “important” things.

But what if we turned that around. For example, what if you took the *seemingly* “easy task” of answering an email and applied this new perception to it? How do you make it “more difficult?” You simply take your time. You SLOW down. You answer the email slowly and thoroughly.

You look for ways to SERVE the person writing. Maybe a word of encouragement or a valuable resource that could inspire them or the name of another person who might be able to help them. Not just some quick, unthoughtful answer. It can really change the level at which you communicate. Your relationships will become deeper, more meaningful.

What about the 2nd part, making the difficult tasks seem easy? If we have an easygoing mindset we can just begin. We don’t HAVE to carry extra baggage with us. The only reason a task is difficult is because of our thoughts about it. So be aware of this built-in resistance. Know that they (thoughts) will always be there.

I have often found “difficult task” much more easy to begin if I don’t think to much about them. The trick is not to resist the thoughts but just let them go. Don’t let them coagulate into a sticky, toxic sludge, causing you to become frozen and immobile.

The solution? Just stop the thinking and dive in. The more you practice this the easier it becomes. Remember action begets further action. It’s just that simple!

Image above:
Paul Cezanne
“Un Coin de Table” 1895-1900
Oil on canvas, 47 x 56 cm
The Barnes Foundation

There are many, many secrets to becoming more profitable as an artist but a big (and often overlooked one) is your productivity. How much do you actually get done in a day? Or is your time mostly spent spinning your wheels and not really getting focused.

And please don’t get the idea that I know something you don’t. I have been one of the biggest time-wasters ever so I know all too much about this. However, I did become more aware of this over the years and now I actually DO get things accomplished and out the door.

Before I discuss the main idea of this article I did want to mention something that has shifted my thinking about productivity and that is the idea of “doing” versus “learning”

Many of us (of course, me included) spend a lot of out time learning, studying, trying, attempting but at the end of the day what do we have to show for it? Sometimes nothing. But when I started to perceive myself AS a doer, as someone who does accomplish and finish things, it almost magically became easier to BECOME that kind of person.

Amazingly, all the learning, trying to become better at, taking courses, etc. just sort of fell by the wayside. I now happily live in the land of “doing.” It’s all about completing and finishing projects – which, of course, leads to making more money.

But back to the main idea of this article and that is to become more profitable you need to become a better planner of your time. What does that mean? it means you need to PLAN high priority activities and schedule them on your calendar. I don’t care what system you use – doesn’t matter – you can you a notebook, a leather bound planner, a software program, your iPhone, whatever.

But you have to get into the habit of planning your day, your week, your month, your year. For now start planning your week. And to do this the secret is to block your time. It’s certainly not a mind-blowing secret but it’s just so happens to be the one principle highly successful people (like YOU) use to accomplish great things.

It’s easy to say, “yeah, yeah, time-blocking on my calendar – big deal” but look at your last week. Did you actually time-block those activities that were important? How many deliverables did you produce? How many blocks of time did you devote to your art marketing?

Keep in mind, this is NOT an exercise in trying to make you or anyone else feel badly. We all start fresh and anew everyday. I find Sunday day or evening to work best for me as far as planning the week goes. It is typically a pretty calm day and allows me to “see” the week ahead and what I want to accomplish or what project I want to work on.

You can simply start with a sheet of paper and make a list of some projects or tasks you would like to complete or begin. The next step is to try to break break down those bigger projects into steps. Don’t worry if you don’t know all the steps in advance, by beginning you figure them out as you get into action and start moving.

Next, time-block those activities into whatever scheduling system works best for you. Most importantly, you need to honor those time blocks. If someone asks you out for coffee the day you have an important activity scheduled you simply say, “I would love to but I cannot at that time. Can we re-schedule for later in the day, say around 4pm?”

It’s important to keep this commitments and the more you do it the easily it becomes. Give it a try. It will soon become the habitual way you work and you won’t be distracted by a million little things. You will be focusing on those things most important to you and your art business.

Image above:
Frank Auerbach
“Primrose Hill” 1971
Oil on board

Take the time to inventory your current skill set at least every 6 months. Then make a plan to upgrade and/or learn new skills. Here’s a few suggestions to help.

What skill set do you currently have as an artist? Are your skills up-to-date with other top performers in your niche? Is your craft refined? Do you have the necessary business and marketing skills? What about social media skills? Presentation skills? etc. etc.

In my opinion, you really need to be *constantly* updating (and upgrading) your skill set. After you take an overall evaluation you’ll be pretty clear WHERE you need to invest your effort and practice.

Keep in mind, this is NOT an exercise to make you feel bad or to compare yourself with others. It is simply a inquiry process to excelerate your progress.

Best way to do this is to make a written list of all the skills you currently possess. Then make a list of the skills you would like to learn/improve in the
next 6 months.

It could be learning/improving in any number of areas including: presentations, public speaking, persuasion, video, advanced Photoshop, marketing, business systems or others.

I believe it is important to give yourself a time frame to complete. It really helps to focus and increases your motivation.

Most importantly do something TODAY to start moving in that direction. Whether it is calling a local college for a course schedule, ordering a book from Amazon.com, taking some online training modules or something else. Movement is key.

I always like to think that you get somewhere in 6 months anyway so why not improve/learn along the way.

You’ll look back 6 months from now and be pleasantly surprised at the progress you’ve made.

Image above: Diebenkorn, Richard
Untitled (Ocean Park #13)
Gouache and acrylic on paper
25 x 36 inches

Artist business systems is something I have been thinking about in detail for a while now. I am actually creating a CD training product on it (will all be visual screencasts of different business systems YOU can easily implement) for the soon-to-be-launched Art Marketing Association. (Until then, check out our Facebook page at: Art Marketing Association Fan Page)

You might think think business systems for artists is a pretty boring subject. And it can be if not fully understood properly. But a short definition is creating business systems to that allow you to streamline business and optimize your profitability.

What exactly is a business system? really anything that can be measured. We are talking about things like customer service, list management, inventory, finances/billing, social media, telecommunications, organizational strategies, etc.

Granted, it can initially seem daunting to realize how much stuff any small business owner (artist or not) has to deal with on a regular basis.

The nice thing about systems is that once you set them up – you’re done. You can focus on your creativity and art production. Of course, that’s the beauty of setting up business systems.

So how would one get started? I would take an inventory of everything that that you currently have (and might want to implement) in the near future. Take it out of your head and put it on paper so you can have an objective view of what you’re dealing with.

For example, do you have a system in place for collecting names? Either via your website or if your in the real world and get a business card. What is your process for doing this? Is it manual? Is it automated? if not, why not?

I happen to mention collecting names because it’s definitely one of the first systems I would recommend deconstructing.

Keep in mind, this is NOT an exercise to beat yourself up because you don’t have a lot (or possibly any) set up. No worries. But start. Map out a plan to implement or revise one system a month. At the end of 12 months you will have totally transformed your business!

Like I mentioned, I am putting together a program that I am positive will be downright mandatory if you are serious about creating a real business around your artwork. And it’s a lot easier than you think. And often much of the software to set up a lot (not all) of these systems are open source so the are no cost.

In the program I will be giving my best recommendation for the systems I and many other successful business owners have implemented. So it will be a cinch to follow and you will be amazed at the quantum leap your art business will be in for.

I am curious however, what *specific* business areas you are struggling in more than others. Is it billing? collecting names, website traffic? social media management? If you would, please comment on the post or write me directly at: doug@dougfarrick.com and I will personally be happy to answer your question(s) “offline.”

Image above:  Barbeque 1982, Oil on Canvas by Eric Fischl

If your an artist, you might want to consider how you can use the Pareto Principle to your advantage in your art business to make a quantum leap in your finances.

The Pareto Principle says this (via Wikipedia) “The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few, and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.”

Of course, the key being “80% of your results (ie; money and wealth) come from 20% of your efforts”

So are you willing to look every 2 weeks (at most a month) to really look at your day-to-day activities. Be honest with your self and really ask “What do I do during my day?” with the realization that’s it’s only 20% of what I do that results in 80% of the money or wealth that comes to me.

Therefore you want to keep re-adjusting what I do so MY day is focused on high return activities and not low return ones.

For example, I have a very successful artist friend who spends roughly 3-4 hours per week going to the art supply store and buying his own supplies. I just had to scratch my head. I just asked him “What is your return on that? How much did that activity make you?”

Bottom line his answer was “really nothing” he just thought he had to. And I mentioned (which were fairly obvious) that he had a number of options to convert his time to HRA (high return activities).

The obvious one being to order them online (saving all the travel time, etc.) another being to hire a part-time assistant who could do that activity as well as others.

Many people (including you) as so very good at certain things (like art producing, marketing – the 2 most important) but just waste their time doing activities they are not good at and waste their time with activities that return them nothing.

The breakthrough is to admit that 80% of what comes in results from 20% of what I do.

Look, really look, with a brutally honest eye at my last week’s activities. Can you now see that you wasted a lot of time? That you wasted a lot of hours chatting on the phone, getting supplies, cleaning, organizing, reading, researching, answering email, – “oh, here’s another one, have to answer that. Ding. Another one. Have to answer that one, too.”

Now you have a virtual “time-suck” that you’ve spiraled down-into and, again, results in nothing.

It’s sort of like if you work half-days you would get more HRA because your forced to concentrate on these HRA’s. Ever notice how you get 3 day’s work into one the day before you go on vacation? That IS the 80/20 rule because you are focusing on only the most important (and high priority items) the rest can fall by the way or be delegated.

So the trick is to take that “day before vacation” and expand that into everyday. Take a survey of your activities over the last 30 days and expand your high-return activities.

You might even consider shortening your day. Instead of 8 hours try working 6 so you can focus even more. Make a written list of no more than 3 high-return activities per day.

Also, take that activity survey on a regular basis ( I recommend every 2 weeks – no more than a month) so your art business is dealing in primarily high-return activities.

This survey might also include noting how systems or business processes can be implemented to make an even smoother business of your expanding empire. I will be touching a lot more on business systems in the coming months.

Final thought: 80% of what comes in results from 20% of what I do.

Image: “Learning Russian Music” by Howard Hodgkin

I wanted to talk today about how we can use measurement via business metrics to get the results we are looking for. Measurement, tracking, numbers – even music and poetry, have a type of mathematical beauty. Bertrand Russell expressed his sense of mathematical beauty in these words:

“Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty — a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature, without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music, yet sublimely pure, and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show. The true spirit of delight, the exaltation, the sense of being more than Man, which is the touchstone of the highest excellence, is to be found in mathematics as surely as poetry.”

And we want to use measurement to our advantage because mostly what get’s measured get’s done.

Now, I know this can be a hurdler for creatives – I know, I resisted it for a long time. Sometimes it’s just easier to keep things vague, fuzzy and in the land of potentiality – and that’s fine – but if it impedes the results you are looking for then it might be time to introduce some type of measurement.

Now, of course, this is nothing new. If you recently watched the Olympics you saw some of the mostly finely-tuned athletes in the world – where hundredths of a second count. These are some of the most “measured” athletes ever. From their caloric intake to their repetitions and training schedules – they are measured in supreme detail. Why, because they know it produces results.

So how can we bring measurement into our art business to achieve specific results? First, we need to decide on a specific and precise result. Maybe making an extra $10,000 from our art this month or creating an extra 10 paintings this month.

Now that we have this precise goal we can easily introduce measurement to get these precise results we are looking for. If we want to make an extra 10K next month and we only made 2K last month we need to look at how we produced the 2K.

If we had 4 sales-related conversations that produced 1 sale of 2K, then it’s pretty easy to figure out that we need to up our conversations to 20 per month to achieve our goal of 10K per month. That’s less than 1 sales-related conversation per day! do-able, right?!

Also, when you measure you can adjust. It’s very easy to look and adjust your activity based on your results. What if you didn’t come close to your target? Well, you may have to find another process that gets better results. No big deal, just keep testing (and moving) until the formula works – then it’s just a matter of replicating and scaling the system.

I have found, over the years, introducing business performance metrics can really take the pressure off because you defined *specifically* your result and all you have to do is follow the recipe to produce the result. So it actually makes life easier.

Part of the reason measurement is so successful is that it introduces the game element. The process becomes fun and engaging. You have 5 days left to produce 2 more sales – can you do it? Can you score with only 2 minutes left in the game? (Maybe ask Peyton Manning about that one!)

I remember one of the first things that helped me with introducing measurement was to get Quicken (the financial software by Intuit). It was many years ago but once I implemented it it was a snap to see exactly where I was financially. No more vague ideas of how much I had (or didn’t have) it was right there in clear numbers.

This really helped me asses where I needed improvement and what ay needed to concentrate on to increase my monthly finances (which was my goal). It wasn’t easy to do initially because I knew I had room for a LOT of improvement but that one change, paradoxically, gave me a a lot of power (and a lot of control) over my finances.

And you can using any measurement tracking device that makes sense to you and is easy to use. (I liked Quicken initially because it resembled a checkbook and was super easy to use) But use other software or flipcharts
(even the tall stand up ones) or notebooks or journals or whatever works best for you. (and sometimes you just have to try a few different ones – especially when just beginning)

So take a look. How can you introduce measurement into your business? (or even your life – i.e.; losing weight) What *precise* result am I looking for? What time frame do I want to achieve this result in? Then look for a measurement system that might work for your project.

I would love to hear of your results so send me a note or please comment on this post.

From time to time I have decided that I am going to share some cool resources that I use or find particularly compelling not only because I am a bit of a “techie” but also love sharing these finds with others.

So if you DO find these tips/resources valuable to your art/creative/photo business I would love to hear about it OR if YOU find any particularly compelling please let me know.

Today, I wanted to mention a new Photostock site called Vivozoom.

Like many others, I have used (and paid thousands) to use iStockphoto for all sorts of projects and have been very happy with them overall.

Actually when they first started a number of years back they came out of the blocks fast by offering *most* images for only $1! which was unheard of at the time. The competition at the time was with the big photo houses like Corbis Images and Getty Images which charged hundreds of dollars per photo.

But lately, it seems everything I buy is 10 credits and up (the equivalent of $10) so their prices have snuck up drastically!

Enter Vivozoom. They are a new photostock service of course and have two main USP (unique selling propositions) they are highlighting to differentiate themselves from iStockphoto mostly and all the other ones as well.

The first differentiating point is that they GUARANTEE it’s images are legally safe to use. This is a biggie. With all the recent litigation sounding image rights this can really provide peace of mind for many. Read more about their image warranty.

Second, they are at least 40-80% cheaper than istockphoto (I love how they put this up top in bright orange type – no secret who they are in competition with!) See the chart – 40%-80% Cheaper than iStockphoto.

Finally, with a new photo stock service the initial problem is the just don’t have the breadth of a much larger site like iStockphoto but I was pleasantly surprised when searching on some obscure topics that I came up with some terrific results.

All in all, I think Vivozoom definitely warrants serious consideration when buying (or looking to buy) stock images for your projects.

Disclosure: I have not received payment from Vivozoom or am I an affiliate of them. Just a pleasantly pleased new customer.

Selling your art is a BIG challenge for a lot of artists out there. And I understand the challenge. But one thing is for sure – without clients (or customers) you won’t sell enough to buy a postage stamp.

I am a member of Steve Chandler’s excellent Club Fearless program and I have been given special permission to give away a limited number of Steve’s E-book “How to Get Clients” (in PDF format)

I am a pretty voracious reader and have read a ton of stuff (and been to many seminars) regarding client attraction, referrals, customer retention, etc. but I have to admit that Steve’s work is simply some of the best.

There are many, many distinctions is this E-book that will work wonders for you getting new clients for your art. The book weighs in at 218 pages but my recommendation would be to print out like like 50 pages at a time, read them and then print the next “chunk” – Also it is fairly large type and the reading goes very quickly.

Also, a good idea is to print the pages on pre-punched paper so you can then put it in a hard bound spiral binder so you can write on the pages and also make notes and action steps (which is a great idea to do). I do this to a lot of worthy ebooks so I can have them on hand (on the bookshelf) and refer to them quickly.

Here a just a couple points to wet your appetite and get you thinking about YOUR art business:

1. Learn to work backwards
“Let’s start—not at the beginning—but at the end. Let’s start with the final picture. Now you have a client and that client has been referred to you by someone else.

We’re going to talk about this process called referrals; because more than any other process, cultivating referrals is the most powerful, reliable way to build your client base. To build any business.To build anything.”

2. Why do people KEEP ON referring?
“People refer more people to you only because they received the fulfillment and the satisfaction of knowing that the person they referred to you has actually received good professional service, and you took good care of them. But that almost never happens.”

3. Never let them start
“You never want prospects to decide whether to start working with you. That’s always a tough decision.
Why do I want to give someone a difficult decision to make? Why start the relationship off that way?

Assuming it starts at all. Instead of having your prospect trying to decide whether to start, why not make it easier? Why not have them decide whether to continue? Isn’t that an easier decision? Safer? More confident? How is that done, though? If the prospect is new to . . ”

4. NO is actually heaven on earth!
“Now it’s time to just open myself up and say, “no is fine with me—I need yeses and no’s—in fact I need plenty of no’s because the more nos I get, the more yeses I will get. Why? They go together. I finally get that!”

There are so many “gems” in this book that it is hard not to find at least a few to help your sell more art by attracting and finding clients appropriate fir your artwork.

To get a copy just send me a note via the contact form (please be sure to use an email that you remember!) with the subject line “Get Clients Ebook” and I will be happy to send one out to you.

And please give me your comments on the book. Would love to hear them.

Watercolour by Malei Young*

So what’s in store for this coming year? Have you set any goals? Any milestones you want to hit? Anything that would make this year extra super spectacular and mega cool?

A lot of people I know don’t even like to think ahead in fear that they will reach too high and then be disappointed – like all the other times before that they strived for bigger and better things and fell short.

Well – SO WHAT! – so you came up short LAST time – doesn’t mean you will come up short this time – does it? The issue is we link all these “disappointments” together over time then make up some cockamamie story as to what it means – it mean “I’m not good at X” or “What the bother . . ” blah, blah, blah.

After you tell yourself this story, you will then have to buy a book or a course or a seminar to solve what you believe is “wrong” with you. It’s got nothing to do with any perceived faults in you. That’s just a story. It’s JUST information. Let it be just that and nothing more.

Well, the secret is to just “drop it.” Just drop it like you drop a pencil or anything else. It is something you no longer need on your new journey. You are, instead, going to replace it with focused action based on your goals.

And, as I mentioned in A Project versus a Dream article, we are going to drop dreams and goals and create a few projects. Projects is a bit less intimidating a word and has a type of action associated with it.

So, the assignment I am giving you is in the area of career/earning or, better yet, let’s just call it “money-making” projects based on your art.

I recommend coming up with 2-3 major projects you would like to undertake for 2010. This is no hard and fast rule but I have found over 3 projects to diffuse your focus whereas just one might not be enough – or I have found that if you get stalled a bit on one project you can work on the other.

Example projects might be: licensing your art, making $40,000 selling on Ebay in 2010, creating a kick-butt artist website with e-commerce included, creating an art related DVD, etc. etc. but make it bold – something that will make you stretch (and grow) a bit. And something that will make you a measurable amount of money.

A couple final thoughts. The first is, you don’t need some fancy-shamncy project management system. If you have found something that works for you great but if not, don’t fret, just grab a cheap notebook at CVS.

You will need to sit down in a quiet space and give some thought to the project as a whole. How long it might take, do I need further materials, how much can I do per month/week/day. But start to PLAN things. The don’t have to be set in stone but make it clear to yourself what you are up against and what you need to do.

The second is, try to make this simple. Don’t map a whole mess of angst against it. You’ll wear yourself out. And, this sounds counterintuitive, but don’t think that much about it. You don’t need to. You have your plan and your map – now just follow the directions (like a good cook does)

And one final thing (that goes along with the last point) – try to live in the land of doing (of action) – this is where you’ll get additional ideas and direction. You won’t get them by hemming and hawing and thinking – just do. Keep your hands busy – that is always sound advice, even if nothing is apparently happening- it will.

Let me know if you are willing to take on this challenge. I would love to hear what you are planning or if you need help or support along the way. 2010 will be over before you know it. Will you have completed your projects? Will your life be headed in a bold new direction? Somehow, I bet it will.

*check out more of Malei’s gorgeous work at: MaleiYoung.com

I had a nice conversation the other day with painter Robert Genn about the struggle between making your art and making a living as an artist. I have hit upon this issue before in a recent article called Who You Know versus What You Do

Robert, as many people know, puts out a wonderful newsletter, called The Painter’s Keys – that is always fun to read but we were taking about marketing your art and the often disdain with anything related to art and money and commerce.

And, if your not worried about it, that’s fine but what if you are. What if you do want to sustain a living as an artist. Should you NOT be thinking about that?

Robert shared the sometimes fine line between being a producer or art and wanting to get it out there in the commercial marketplace. He mentions this principle frequently which can be summed up as – “Go to your room”

So what the heck does that mean, “Go to Your Room”? – My interpretation of it it is to go into yourself. When trying to formulate a career strategy and trying to promote yourself and getting on all the social networking sites and trying to get your work “out there” you might be best served by going to your room or going into the silence of yourself.

There you will find everything. Silence can be very pregnant. It can give you power and clarity and direction. Yet a lot of us “run” from it. It doesn’t make us comfortable – as if comfort is now our new metric.

So if your struggling as a beginning artist about wanting to produce art and making a good living at it – first of all, it can be done and IS being done by many, many artists – second, take this time to really ground your work and to spend your time and creativity on the work itself.

Robert’s advice (and mine too) is to put your focus and your energy into the work itself – and you need time and silence to do that. Don’t worry about all the peripheral stuff at this point.

You won’t HAVE to do all this other stuff when your work is so strong people cannot help but take notice and be inspired by your work. You can’t do that AND be on social networking sites all day.