Opus Newsletter Contributor

This is the fifth article in a series by Alice Rich who is contributing to both our online and printed newsletters.

Alice Rich is well known to the BC art community for her seminars on business issues facing visual artists and in her own right, as a photographer and painter. Since graduating from UBC and Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design, Alice has worked in professional roles with two major galleries, founded a publishing company, and is presently working as an artist and seminar leader. She also has extensive community involvement on Art Boards and committees.

Due to popular demand, Alice Rich will present her Artrpreneur Seminar in Victoria in April 2004. For registration details see the end of this article or email Alice at alice-rich@shaw.ca

Let's look at the world of marketing, as many may know it. Many readers will be familiar with the "4 P's of Marketing": Product, Place, Promotion and Price. These principles describe how you need to have the right product in the right location, at the right price and let everyone know where to find it through promotion. Remember that marketing is the positioning of the item in the marketplace, while sales is the facilitation of the purchase, something that happens once the buyer is aware of the product's existence, identity and location.

The 4 P's make sense in the world of manufactured retail products?however, as an artist I find it necessary to overlay a different set of principles that ensure one's getting noticed in the marketplace. I define these principles as the 5 R's of art career development for the self-employed artist - Reality, Recognition, Representation, Research and Requirements.

In past articles I talked about the importance of research and relationship building, which of course leads to recognition. Here, I will expand on those discussions.

Reality: The need to look at yourself and define your goals, sit and dream for a moment on the ultimate direction that you want your art career to take. Is it sitting on an island working in your studio and being approached by collectors or is it something else? Look at your personal strengths and your network of people as well as your fears and roadblocks. Be honest with yourself and create long-term goals that move you beyond your fear level into action. Inner fear promotes paralysis, often manifested as thinking, wishing, dreaming and talking but not doing. Taking action bridges the gap from the fearful inner state to the outside world. Present yourself as the artist that you want to be, find a mentor and motivate yourself and attract positive things into your life always keeping your vision - the big goal - in mind. In doing this consciously, you replace the habits of inaction with success-breeding habits of action, of being who you want to be. Revisit this process as often as necessary to align your ideas and your intent. Reality is the 'who' in your equation.

Recognition: Is the 'what', the product or in the case of the artist, the package of 'you' and your work. So spend some time and create a good portfolio with information about yourself [CV, Bio, Artist Statement], in a variety of packaging or presentation formats for the range of needs that you will encounter. You may want a mail-able submission for competitions, juried shows and exhibition proposals. You might be ready for a website to show a body of work that represents your creative direction and a way to contact you. Practice discussing your work and re-write that artist statement to define your direction. If you do illustration or photography, a larger quality portfolio binder with single images on each page that can be flipped through when making a presentation to a group is impressive recognition of your work.

There are many ways to put together portfolios. Developing an email portfolio of jpegs is a good way to keep the information flowing about you and to follow up quickly with new contacts. Developing recognition for your work as an artist includes this kind of promotion or packaging as well as writing media releases and assembling a media kit for events. When your exhibition is getting close to installation send out the media release and media kit to take full advantage of any publicity that may come your way. You may also want to consider advertising in local publications to let people know where to find your work.

Building and keeping an updated mailing list of your target market is the single most important step in developing recognition for you and your artwork. Create a firm pricing policy so there are no misunderstandings between direct approaches, studio sales and the gallery that you work with. A brochure or a tear sheet that you can leave behind for future reference with the person you have called on or a contact you have made is a very effective tool. Listings in directories, or advertising in newsletters or links to other websites are also effective promotion. All of these actions lead to recognition of you and your work.

Representation: This is the marketing side that pulls together all of the above and takes you to the next step. This is the 'where' to find your work. All the marketing in the world will do no good if people don't know where to find your work or who represents you. The representation question is your choice and should be defined in your objectives and reality check from your personal goal setting. Will you be represented by a gallery, in art fairs, with interior designers, or an art consultant, or art agent, or through your direct approaches, website and/or studio sales? Pay attention to current affairs and directions in the economy that open the doors to opportunity. Identify that warm market and follow up, create the network and attend trade shows. Search for the venue where you are comfortable. Keep an active list of ideas, publisher, galleries, and opportunities that may represent your work now or at a future time when you are ready. 'Where' does a person find your work?

In next month's issue of the Opus Newsletter, I will address the remaining two R's, Research and Recognition, and show how the 5 R's come together as vital tools in building your art career.

Contributed by Alice Rich
alice-rich@shaw.ca

The Artrepreneur Seminar

Back by popular demand! Opus is very pleased to bring you a special 2-day presentation of Alice Rich's Artrepreneur Seminar in Victoria on April 24th and 25th. This seminar is designed to assist artists with marketing and self-promotion.

Registration for Alice Rich's seminar in Victoria is now open! Cost of the 2-day seminar is $279 + GST. For details and to register, contact registrar, Joanne White at alice-rich@shaw.ca or call 604-255-1010. If you require further details on the Artrepreneur seminar topics visit www.alice-rich.com or email: alice-rich@shaw.ca. Register early as enrollment is limited!

DAY 1: Saturday, April 24th - 9:00am - 6:00pm
Seminar Topics: Reality: Pulling Yourself Together; Recognition & Representation: Marketing Perspectives.
Guest: Michael Losier, author of Law of Attraction.

DAY 2: Sunday, April 25th - 9:00am - 6:00pm
Seminar Topics: Representation: Marketing Outside of Galleries; Requirements: Left Brain - The Tools; Portfolio Evaluation & Brainstorming.
Guest: TBA.

See our April newsletter for details on the Artrepreneur Seminar in Salmon Arm, BC May 22nd - 23rd, 2004