THIN SECRET FOR SUCCESS TIP No. 9 CONTINUED
Secret no. 9 got too long, so I'm continuing it today.
So, to continue: Thin people limit their options, part deux.
Another example of what happens when you don't limit your options:
The craftsperson who must control every single step of the creative process.
She raises the sheep, she shears the sheep, she dyes the wool, she spins the wool, she knits the sweaters.... She ended up with a sweater she'd have to sell for thousands of dollars to make any profit. Unless this sweater is a work of art, chances are you won't find many buyers at that price.
Again--F*O*C*U*S
At some point, you have to decide what part of your artistic vision will get the bulk of your focus. Otherwise, you will have a product you're so ridiculously invested in, it's impossible to sell. Maybe you'll focus on custom dying roving produced by your flock but processed by a company like Green Mountain Spinnery. Or you design sweaters that are made by others. Or you design and sell kits based on that fabulous $5,000 sweater. Whatever.
Sometimes artists do this with the business side of our art. We get too caught up on our entrepenurial spirit. We think we really can do it ALL.
The most common area artists erroneously think they can handle is their own photography.
What's scary about this thinking is, your images are the single most important aspect of getting your work out to a wider audience. From jury slides to ad images, publicity opportunities to promotional materials, nothing will hold you back more more than mediocre or even bad images of your work.
Even an untrained eye like mine can usually spot the artist-made photos in ads and marketing materials. Put your creative energy into your work. Turn this most critical aspect of your biz into the hands of trained professionals. Put the camera down and step away from the art.
In the same vein, we try to explore too many business options at the same time.
We can get caught up in all the things we're "supposed" to do to take care of our biz. "Gotta getta website!" we thrum. "Gotta getta ad!" "Gotta getta bettah show!" "Gotta getta logo developed!" "A tagline!" "A banner!" Gotta getta, gotta getta. And it's all gotta happen right now. We whip ourselves into a state of high anxiety, sure that buyers and life are passing us by. While accomplishing very little of real value because we are deadlocked by the weight of so much that has to be done.
Yes, it's good to try to get a little publicity going, and it's imperative to have some kind of internet presence.
But rushing to get everything going at once and keep it going is like the circus guy who spins plates on those skinny pole things. It looks wonderful, and he makes it look easy. But oh, how hard it really is, and how quickly they can come crashing down!
All these strategies--internet presence, publicity, booth design, promotional materials--take time to work out the bugs, to figure out what you want them to do. Pick one or two areas you will focus on right now, and chip away at those few options. You will see real results and you will feel better about what you have accomplished.
Most of all, these individual options take time to WORK. Time to produce results. Throwing up a website and expecting orders by the weekend is like throwing a handful of birdseed onto a tray and expecting Baltimore orioles to discover it by nightfall. Ain't gonna happen. How do I know? Ha, ha. I did that. (I'm telling you, I'm speaking from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.)
Allow time for strategies to build and for results to materialize. Focus (there's that word again!) on the things you can manage and plan for "next steps".
Finally, what if you've got a successful artist with distinctive work, several good "lines" (wall hangings, sculpture, jewelry), with a website and a strategy and a long-term plan, who STILL needs to focus.
(ahem.) Yes. We'r talking about ME again.
Sometimes, once your biz is up and running, and you've got a good customer base, you fall into another "focus" trap:
Trying to please everyone.
Trying to find a way to make "something for everyone." Exploring every permutation of your art, hoping that one "thing" will do it. Responding to individual customer requests for "all blue jewelry" orders or "we can't sell fish" orders. Or "my customers won't spend over $50, can you make things that wholesale for $20 or less?"
You end up diluting your brand, your vision, your energy in the process. And driving yourself crazy. My photographer came right out and said, "You can't let people drive you crazy for a $250 order."
Making 50-100 different styles of earring regularly available to everyone is really hard unless you have a team of people working for you. I'm exploring grouping these into "assortments" (sets of 6 variations of one style, for example) rather than allowing stores to handpick every single element. I think I will be a lot happier. At least, maybe I'll be a little more sane.
So here we have many ways that artists diversify too much--too many media, too many permutations, too much hand work/labor time, handling too many aspects of their biz, trying too many strategies at the same time, offering too many options. Not enough focus, time or energy for ONE PERSON to bring them all into being.
HOW do we limit our options so we can be more successful and more productive?
(sigh...) I'll say it one more time (and let's hope I'M listening, too):
F*O*C*U*S
Constantly ask yourself the hard questions:
Have I been playing it safe?
Am I settling for less (because in my heart, that's all I think I can do?)
Is this really the best work that is in me?
Is this the highest, best use of my time RIGHT NOW?
Is there one thing in my biz I could pay someone else to do, who could do it BETTER than me?
If I had six months to live, is this the work that would tell the world who I was?
Do yourself a favor. Pick a few options. Pick ONE. Give it all your attention for awhile. See what happens.
Let go of some thing. Or hand it over to someone else who can do it better, faster, cheaper.
Let's all do the experiment for awhile, and see what happens.
