From the time PBS gave me the green light to film my production to the actual airing of the special was nearly three and a half years. The project itself included about five separate Action Plans. It seemed there was a new goal related to the project around every turn.
During that time there were a lot of ups and downs related to that particular project. In addition, I also had many other projects going on. Mounting my PBS fundraising efforts alone took a huge amount of emotional and social energy. In addition, I had massive expectations that I carried around in my head the whole time about what the opportunity might mean for my career.
When I reached my fundraising goal, you would have thought I would have felt elated. Instead, I felt incredibly empty and lost. Had I not experienced the feeling before, the very first time I went on a cross country tour and had a similar experience, I would have been convinced I had been struck with clinical depression. Other performers and artists I’ve talked to have experienced the same thing. And how can we not, considering what a huge emotional swing it is to go from performing in front of a huge crowd one day to being alone in your apartment the next. Moving toward a goal and achieving it can often have the same effect, so it helps to plan for it.
From my interview with artist/designer Noah Scalin:
"There’s the job that you to make money and then there’s who you are. I’m not my job. The way that I make a living as a creative person doesn’t define the totality of who I am. A lot of people are surprised that my studio is at home and I work regular business hours (M-F 10-6) For me, if these boundaries are blurred it leads to confusion. Structure allows me to be a part of the business world."
Noah Scalin
Noah Scalin is a blogger, musician, visual artist, author, graphic designer and founder of ALR Designs. Noah’s work at ALR has gained international exposure in over two-dozen books and is frequently featured in design publications which led to the development of a course on socially conscious design for VirginiaCommonwealthUniversity. Noah also founded, SPROUT, a long running community supported agriculture group. Skulls, a book based on his award-winning blog Skull-A-Day, was published in October 2008 by Lark Books. skulladay.blogspot.com
Does your day job give you enough time and energy to not only create, but also market your art consistently each week? If not, there are still some things to consider before you make the jump. If you’re going to have a legitimate art career without a day job, you should, at the very least, plan to:
·work long hours, usually 10 to 15 hours a day seven days a week.
·spend about 65% of your time doing business tasks as opposed to creative tasks.
·devote 3 hours of business promotion time for every hour of creative time.
·spend some of your savings on your start-up costs.
·have an income that isn’t steady or consistent.
·get lonely.
·fight the odds of failing. According to the Small Business Administration 4 out of 5 small businesses fail within five years.
For artists like TV host, Mark Montano, this freedom allows him to spend the majority of his days creating. “I’d say I spend about 12 hours a day creating, says Montano. “It’s what I love so I also feel that when I’m deep in a creative project, it’s a form of active meditation. So, I’m lucky in that aspect. It’s like being a creative monk you could say. I try my best not to get in my own way.”
Mark Montano
Mark Montano is an interior designer, artist, writer and TV personality. Best known as his work on both the Style Network and The Learning Channel: Ten Years Younger, which he hosted, While You Were Out, on which he frequently appears as a designer, and My Celebrity Home where he has been both host and designer. Montano can currently be seen on WE TV's new show, "She's Moving In". Montano is also the author of several books and has a regular column in the teen magazine Cosmo Girl. His latest book is "The Big-Ass Book of Crafts.” www.markmontano.com.
In the early days, before I knew better, I used to hire fellow artists and friends to help me with menial labor. I mean why not, right? They were always willing to help me frame paintings or pick up supplies, especially around the holiday season. It worked out relatively well. They made a few bucks and I didn’t feel as stressed. Besides, it was nice having company in my studio.
When I started needing help marketing my art, I applied the same equation, not realizing that “strapped for cash,” and having “free time,” weren’t the best qualifiers to use for a potential employee. Can you imagine what it would sound like if you applied for a job and during the interview you said, “Well, I need money and I’ve got free time to kill, so I think you should hire me?"
It took a couple of years and a lot of damaged friendships for me to realize that most of my friends just weren’t qualified to act as my art agent or sales representative. Artists and artist-run businesses run into this problem again and again. Qualifications just don’t figure into the equation when hiring.
Hire Out
“Strategically, the idea is that hiring someone will free up time to do the things that only you can do,” says author, Jeri Goldstein.
If the time you’re spending doing menial tasks is taking time away from your ability to bring in larger, money-making gigs, then it may be time to think about hiring someone.
Christina Augello, the producer of the San Francisco International Fringe Festival says, “As a producer of a 4 venue, 2 festival arts complex there are many tasks I am not able or interested in doing. In this case, it has definitely been worth the investment of hiring a managing director and production manager as well as hourly house managing staff. This lets me go home at night when I’m not rehearsing or performing.”
Christina Augello
Christina Augello is a performer actress, arts advocate and founding artistic director of EXIT Theatre and the San Francisco International Fringe Theater Festival. She has performed in the Bay Area for over thirty years and has toured with ensembles and solo shows in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. www.theexit.org.
Knowing that fame is fleeting and seemingly dependant on the winds of fate – here one day gone the next - would you choose fame and the accompanying financial gain or a career that would include the same financial gain spread out over an undetermined amount of time? When the band REM signed a seven record deal with Warner Bros., I remember hearing an interview with lead singer Michael Stipe where he said, “We can basically record musical burps on our next seven albums and it doesn’t matter, we’ve already been paid.”
Sometimes having money takes you out of the struggle that was the impetus for your creative drive too begin with. As renowned personal growth blogger, Steve Pavlina attests, “It’s too easy to become dependent on external funding, and there are always strings attached. What happens if your financial support gets cut off while you’re in the middle of a creative project? I worked hard, sometimes sleeping at my games studio office, but when my funding source was cut off, I was stuck with unfinished projects that never saw the light of day.”
Steve Pavlina
Steve Pavlina is widely recognized as one of the most successful personal development bloggers on the Internet, attracting more than two million monthly readers to his website. He has written more than 700 articles and recorded many audio programs on a broad range of self-help topics, including productivity, relationships, and spirituality. Pavlina has been quoted as an expert by the New York Times, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, theLos Angeles Daily News, Self Magazine, and The Guardian. www.stevepavlina.com.
My friend sold an award winning screenplay two years ago. He still has to borrow money from his parents. I know another artist who has a TV show on a major network. When he went on a national book signing tour, many of the bookstores were empty. Another friend has written her fourth book, one has already been made into a movie. She still lives paycheck to paycheck. From the outside world, each of these artists has “made it.” An award wining screenplay, a television show, a best selling book, yet the marketing efforts never cease.
As PBS producer Paul Roberts confesses, “Marketing your work never stops, it just gets different.”
Not too long ago I listened to Bill Moyers tell an NPR reporter how he was responsible for raising the money for each PBS segment that he filmed. Having to raise the entire PBS budget myself, for my own special, I understood exactly what he was talking about.
It's not enough to just make a great item. You have to market and sell it too. The cycle never stops. Although you may eventually have someone who handles your marketing, accounting, and sales, it will always remain up to you. You’ll have to do it yourself or know enough about it to hire the right person, especially if you want the results you crave. The truth is you have to learn to take on roles which are often out of your comfort zone.
Technology has leveled the playing field in terms of what I call personal image transportation or more precisely how artists package themselves and get their message out into the world. It seems like anyone with a video camera can get a film to Sundance, a high school rock band can easily have a slick CD package that makes them look like a million bucks.
On the positive side, open access to what would have been considered cost prohibitive packaging allows smaller voices to compete with larger ones. On the negative side, since everyone seems to have matching accessories in terms of marketing: a glossy brochure, a slick CD package, a flashy website, a book, etc., it’s extremely hard to tell the difference sometimes between anadvertisement for Coca-Cola and an advertisement for an individual artist. With the mass branding that has washed over into the art world, savvy fans are become apt at recognizing it and quickly being turned off by it.
As storyteller and story coach Susan Klein says, “Full color glossy brochures does not a career make. Anyone can look good on paper.”
Unfortunately, most artists seem to consume themselves with their packaging rather than paying attention to two areas that should require much more attention:their voice and how they interact with others.
Born and raised on Martha's Vineyard, Susan Klein is an internationally-known, professional storyteller, and author of Through a Ruby Window, a collection of stories about the Vineyard in the ‘50s and ‘60s. As owner of Ruby Window Productions, Susan offers acclaimed Story Wisdom® workshops for lawyers, educators, writers, and speakers, and coaching and editing for the page and stage through An Alien Eye. Susan is a director/producer of numerous award-winning spoken-word recordings, an the 2007 recipient of the Creative Living Award presented by the Permanent Endowment of Martha’s Vineyard and the National Storytelling Network’s coveted Circle of Excellence Award.www.susanklein.net.
Homework of the Day: Find the Thematic Nugget in Your Art
What are you trying to say with your artwork? You may not know. So, this week, bite the bullet and ask 3-5 friends what they think the underlying theme is in your art form. You may be surprised at their feedback.
My art studio used to be across the hall from the sculptor, Tom Friedman. Tom created very unique sculptures that sold internationally for hundreds of thousands of dollars. One piece was his name written on a piece of paper until the ink ran out. Another was a piece of bubble gum stretched from the floor to the ceiling. All of his work had a very autistic-like quality to it, much like something Rain Man might have created.
After sharing a space so close to his I began to dwell on signature styles a little bit more. I don’t think a signature style is something that can be reproduced. For instance, if I wrote my name on a piece of paper until my pen ran out of ink it wouldn’t have the same effect as when Tom created it. Though imitation is an essential part of the process of finding it, sometimes you have to exhaust yourself trying to be everyone else until the only one left is you.
I finally decided that artistic style is really about finding the effortless place within yourself where your deeper voice is able to shine through. So many artists have the idea that in order for something to be worthy it must be difficult. In terms of artistic creations though, I don’t think it’s so much about pushing the envelope to discover something brand spanking new as it is finding something that is unique only to you, buried within. When you find it, it’s about sharing your discovery publicly and so repetitively that others can’t help but take notice.
Myth Eight: Your art is totally original As artists, part of our natural process is to create a signature style within our work itself. Silk screened soup cans scream Andy Warhol. The movie “Reservoir Dogs,” is classic Quinton Terintino. When you see a small part of each of these artists work you recognize the artist immediately. This is also known as our style or voice and it is oftentimes an inseparable part of who we are as artists.
One reviewer said I was like “Phillip Roth on Acid.” Another, disagreed and said I was like, “Lenny Bruce on Zoloft.” Reviewing my CD, someone else said my musical style was like “Greg Brown sprinkled with Jason Mraz and steeped in Jack Johnson.”
When you work at your craft long enough, a signature style develops naturally. And although you will forever be compared to the highest common denominator, it is a compliment nonetheless to find that your authentic self and your genuine message are able to reach out so universally.
From my interview with solo performer Rusty Dewees on art and originality.“I foundMy most successful show is called “The Logger,” which are stories about a blue-collar logger in rural Vermont. The stories are authentic and came out of me based on my experiences growing up here. But for the longest time, people thought I was the logger, much like people think “Larry the Cable Guy,” is the character he portrays.
For a while no one knew about the other side of me, the business man, the actor who’s been on The Guiding Light or went to New York and studied theater. I had to ask myself if I really wanted the public, who had been coming to see this working class character, to know about this other part of me. In the end, I decided that as an entertainer, I felt like my fans deserved to know all the parts of me.”
Rusty Dewees is “the Sammy Davis Jr. of the Green Mountains.” He is a comedic artist, actor, producer, writer, musician, who was formally trained at the GeorgeLorisActorsTheatreSchool and the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York. Dewees is best known for his portrayal of The Logger in his one-man shows, which has spawned three Logger DVDs, two CDs, five calendars, Logger apparel, a book and a compilation ofcolumns for syndicated and regional newspapers. In addition to notable roles off-Broadway and in national commercials, he has appeared on All My Children, Law & Order, and Saturday Night Live. www.thelogger.com.
In his book, On the Road, Jack Kerouac said it best when it comes to artists and their sense of originality. “Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
In the past, when I’ve been so consumed in a painting that I existed on nothing but moon pies and chocolate milk for days, I have to admit, things like time manages to escape me. In fact, when I’m in the active phase of creation, things like appointments, food, the weather, and clean clothes seem so very unimportant.
This may be a contributing factor as to why, after dating non-artists my entire life and having those relationships fail miserably, it feels good to finally be dating a fellow artist. She can finally understand that side of me from the outside that can appear to be quite flakey at times.
We all need that balance of moderation, which is what I learn most when I practice yoga.
Today’s homework for you rigid types: Pick at least half a day this week to be a complete irresponsible flake to the extent that someone may say, “Wow, what’s gotten into you, that’s so unlike you to miss an appointment or not return a call.”
Today’s homework for you flakey types: Pick at least half a day this week to be a completely responsible to the extent that someone may say, “Wow, I really didn’t think you’d show up, or be on time, etc.”
Myth Nine: Artists are flakes Art as an item for sale isn’t the same thing as a vacuum cleaner or a hamburger or a pair of socks. A piece of artwork, regardless of the medium, is a creation that an artist has a very intimate connection to. It’s created using a great deal of intuition, emotion, and abstract thinking; things that don’t figure into a world which is based mostly on quantification and measurement.
When the two worlds of business and art collide, it can look as though artists have a difficult time finding their place and coming to terms with how they fit in. Being on time and keeping track of finances may not come easy to every artist, but there are things in the artist’s studio the general population would find extremely hard to do as well. As my marriage counselor used to say, “Before you make an assumption, consider the source.” People generally have a lot more going on than what meets the eye. And with artists especially, this process isn’t necessarily linear.
Jeri Goldstein, artist consultant and author of the book “How to be Your Own Booking Agent,” says, “ I’ve found that artists may be specifically challenged in regard to certain business aspects, but it’s not because they are disorganized, it’s usually because there are certain knowledge gaps in their business skill set.”
Jeri Goldstein is a former music agent and manager who is author of the award-winning self-published book How To Be Your Own Booking Agent (now in it’s 7th printing). The book is used as a text book in music business courses at Universities across the US and in Canada and by musicians and performing artists world-wide. Jeri is also a performing arts consultant who offers strategies and techniques on booking tours, negotiation techniques, marketing, music business and performing arts career development. www.performingbiz.com.
Myth Ten: If I only had an agent, my worries would be over. Consider this. Charles Ross premiered his "One Man Star Wars," in Toronto, Canada in 2001, and toured the show for the past 8 years. In the show, Ross, plays all the characters, makes all the sound effects, and hums all the in-between music.
As Neda Ulaby mentions in my NPR interview (8.12.09 - nprinterview) Ross hasn't been known as anything but the "Star Wars Guy" for the past 8 years. My friend Noah in the last blog entry is known as the skull guy. Are you able to place yourself in an easily defineable box?
In terms of your career and attracting the attention of an agent, focus can mean all the difference in the world.
So, what's a creative rebel to do if you like to keep your creative brushes in a little bit of everything? When I began to sharpen my focus I visited the website of artists I admired who seemed to have a lot of the same renaissance spirit I have - that double-edged sword.
First stop - Steve Martins website. What you'll notice is that he considers himself a comedian/actor. Ignore the fact that he's written a bunch of books, is a re-known musician, has written and produced a ton of plays and started it all as a magician. In all likelihood it was this very focus that helped him find his agent.
Myth Ten: If I only had an agent, my worries would be over.
Designer/Artist, Noah Scalin, a Richmond-based artist like myself not only made the transition gracefully, but he did it effortlessly as well. Noah had been creating art for years, but when he became focused on one project and became known as the Skull-a-day” guy, things took off and an agent came knocking within six months.
Here’s what he said during out interview, “For me, the project was different than others because it had a very distinct focus. It was about picking a place I wanted to be and making a straight line for it. One skull – one blog entry – every day.
Looking back, I can see that it was about getting on that very narrow path and making the most of all the opportunities that began to arise in the path. As a result, my book, “Skulls,” was just reviewed in Penthouse Magazine, is available in Target stores and landed me a spot on the Martha Stewart Show. In addition, my blog won the Webby Award (like the Oscar award for websites).
Noah Scalin
Noah Scalin is a blogger, musician, visual artist, author, graphic designer and founder of ALR Designs. Noah’s work at ALR has gained international exposure in over two-dozen books. Skulls, a book based on his award-winning blog Skull-A-Day, was published in October 2008 by Lark Books. skulladay.blogspot.com
Myth Ten: If I only had an agent, my worries would be over. For the longest time, I didn’t understand why I couldn’t’ attract the attention of an agent. It seemed like on paper, at least, I was an agent’s wet dream. I had national reviews in The Washington Post, features in Backstage Magazine and American Theatre Magazine, many interviews on NPR and even a PBS Special. But even when I contacted agents whom I had met and (some who were my friend on Facebook), I seemed to get nothing but the silent treatment.
Then, one day I be-friended an agent and he told me the deal. “Slash,” he said, “I looked at your web site and you look like a really cool guy. But to tell you the truth, I really wouldn’t know what in the hell to do with you. I mean there’s just no market for renaissance men these days. It says you are a playwright, performer, visual artist, jazz musician, alternative rock musician, comedian, educator, etc. (The list was actually longer than this). If you were just a musician, I would know what to do with you. If you were just a comedian I would know what to do with you. But as it stands, I’m left scratching my head. When you pick one area to concentrate on, let me know and I’ll help you out.”
Over the course of the next few months I had what many of you in the creative world define as a “Career Identity Crisis.” To choose one thing made me feel like I would have to cut off my arm or my leg. To make the transition I began to look at others who seemed to do it gracefully.
Myth Ten: If I only had an agent, my worries would be over.
Often times there are certain things we artists look at in terms of others who have "made it," or who are in the "big time." Martha Randoplh Carr is one of those artists, as a novelist, syndicated columnist and national speaker. She's got four books out in the world, one with a movie option, a syndicated column, and a radio show. In terms of finding an agent, one would think she was an agents dream.
"But my agent said that she didn’t know what to do with me," Martha said during our interview. "Yes, my projects showcased my talents, but the nugget of my work was not consistent enough from a marketing perspective."
Look at her bio below and you'll get a feel for what I'm talking about. Publishers want to be able to brand writers because then they’ll know that they’ll get their investment back. When you stick with one thing, your ability to build a large, loyal audience over time increases.
In the past, my artistic endeavors have taken me through mediums as fast as some people change their underwear - as a jazz pianist, visual artist, alternaive rock musician, singer/songwriter, massage therapist, performer, playwright, upholsterer, etc. I could continue the list. The point is focus is the key to attracting the attention of an agent. The question is. Do you want to be an artist or do you want ot have a career as an artist?
Martha Randolph Carr
Martha Randolph Carr, is a nationally syndicated columnist, author, and speaker. She is the author of “A Place to Call Home,” (Prometheus), “Wired” (Nimrod House) and “The Sitting Sisters” (Cumberland House). Carr speaks to groups across the country through The New Voice Movement speaker’s bureau on the topics of race & politics, change, celebrating your children and spiritual growth. She is also the founder of the Family Tree Project, an online orphan registry to reunite the more than 200,000 older alumni of U.S. orphanages. She resides in New York City.www.martharandolphcarr.com
Myth Ten: If I only had an agent, my worries would be over.
Bernard Lachance, a french Canadian performer, popped up on my radar a number of months ago after a friend saw him on Oprah. Think an agent will help you: a) Fill more seats? b) Get more gigs? c) Become a supa'star?
Think again. This guy has been filling 4,300 seat venues without representation for years. Watch this video for a bit of inspiration and watch how he eventually got the attention of Oprah after renting out the Chicago Theater. He finally appeared on the Oprah show on May 5, 2009.
His t-shirt method of seat sales is absolutely brilliant and I'll talk about it more in my blog in the section on prime real estate in a few months.
Myth Ten: If I only had an agent, my worries would be over. Q: I've written this great children's book, I've created this great play, I've got this killer album, etc. and I just can't seem to get an agent interested, can you give me some advice? A: There is a myth that talent is enough. Shows like "American Idol," perpetuate this myth. They have all of us thinking that all you have to do is show up, show people what you've got, and you'll be the next big thing. The truth is everyone wants to know that you can sell what you've created on your own before they'll take a chance on you. In the last paragraph of your query letter you're supposed to describe your platform aka "the size of your soapbox."
It all comes down to your platform/ soapbox. How big is your e-mail database of fans? What's your presence like on Facebook, Twitter, My Space? How many public appearances are you doing this year? How many articles have been written about you in the last month, six months, year?
My advice? Put your brilliant project aside, work on your platform and then approach an agent.
I'm available to teach "How to Make More Money with Your Art" (my NPR featured class) for your organization or privately for you and your friends. For details visit slashcoleman.com.
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