Pump Up the Enthusiasm

Those words came up in my reading the other day regarding marketing art work and I decided this is what I need to do about my art work. Marketing is difficult for me. I have to decide how I can “pump up the enthusiasm” without being obnoxious.

Most ads these days are obnoxious to me! It’s a catch-22, as I’ve mentioned before. I have product, but I am so against the hard sell. I absolutely hate these commercials where it sounds like they are yelling at you to buy their products, so much so, I will avoid those products unless absolutely necessary; like Bob of Bob’s Furniture, for instance. 

Last night I was watching “$10,000 Pyramid” on TV which has Michael Strahan as host. All his loud enthusiasm in trying to excite the audience is such a turn-off. It sounds so fake and is totally unnecessary. If people like game shows, they will watch. They don’t need all that falseness. 

Then there are those commercials where two people are “having a conversation” about a product. Again, it’s like they are yelling at each other about how wonderful that product is. Someone suggested I watch a video of a product yesterday and the two “conversationalists” were so loud and fake-sounding, I couldn’t watch the whole thing. 

This is all psychological marketing strategies. Marketing experts have studied human behavior and know how the brain works. They’ve learned how to get their messaging out to people; how to convince people to buy. And they’ve targeted our children (just think about kids’ Christmas wish lists). 

It’s all about pumping up the consumers, getting them excited about the product, and trying to convince people that this product is a must-have. Stop and think about what the marketers are doing. The loud, excited voices of the “actors” are a tool to make you buy something. That loud excitedness gets people enthusiastic and excited, and it excites those around them. It’s all kind of brainwashing the consumer.

We are all being played by the media and marketing strategies!!!! Think about it. Think about the commercials you are listening to, that your children are listening to. Even when you aren’t consciously listening, even if those words are just background noise, your brain is hearing it! Your brain is taking in – YOU-MUST-BUY-THIS-PRODUCT – which  makes you want to run right out and buy the latest and greatest whether you really need it or not.

This all said, how do I sell my products? I am excited about what I do. When I finish a project, whether it’s a book, a poem, an article, a drawing, or a nicely edited photograph, I am excited inside. Wow, I did it! I accomplished something and I want to show the world. I want everyone to see – and hope my books and pictures will find a new home. 

My heart and soul goes into my work. This is a piece of me, something I’ve slaved over, thought hard about, and I’ve done the best I could. These are not cookie-cutter products. Many, like the drawings, are one-of-a-kind. These aren’t things you (and everyone else) can run to Walmart, or the likes, to buy. The love of what I do goes into everything I make. You can’t buy that in a big box store.

Pumping up the enthusiasm? I’m still thinking how to accomplish that without feeling like I’m being pushy. And, if I’m afraid I’ll be that way, does that mean I will be? 

Where Am I Career-Wise

I keep thinking I need to re-vamp my art career, decide what I want to do. I’ve been putting it off, which I had to do with the move and all the renovations. But I am feeling the need to do something, to again re-write myself and my career. 

Yes, I have been avoiding the subject. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do or what direction I wanted to take. I have been on hold for almost a full year now. Something was changing, but I wasn’t sure what, and I’ve been waiting for some kind of inspiration (which I thought would happen the first of the year. It didn’t because of the ongoing work in the house.)

This morning I decided to take the time and start dissecting who and where I am. I know I want to do writing, photography, and drawing. Wait a minute! There are no changes in what I want to do. So what’s the difference? Why am I feeling I need to re-vamp, to make changes? This IS who I am!

Maybe it isn’t a full change, but an update; a re-freshening to give my art career a boost. Kearsarge Magazine contacted me about advertising and I decided to do it. NH Made has been after me, too, and I wasn’t going to do that this year. Today, with a last chance email received, I am choosing to place that ad, too. I want to re-do my website and give it a fresh, new look and I want to be better about posting new pictures to keep the site alive and new.

When asked what I do for work, I say, “Artist and editor” or “Editor and artist.” But who I am and what I do for work is so much more than that. Artist and editor is too general, especially artist because people often immediately relate artist to painting. An artist can be so much more. 

The most exciting, and perhaps hardest, aspect about my career is that it is not just one focus. Writing is at the foremost with working for the InterTown Record at writing columns, doing the community calendar, and being editor (which I still can’t believe – me, an editor?). I also have three books on which I am working (yeah, I know, a bit crazy) and I want to do better at blogging more consistently. 

Photography is also right up there with the writing. The main focus here is fine art prints, although I occasionally do pictures for the newspaper and I pick up commission work here and there. The latter entails photographing an event for someone, taking pictures for brochures and websites, or doing pet portraits. 

My third focus as an artist is charcoal-pastel drawings. This year I am adding the -pastel although I’ve been putting in a little color for awhile. Now I want to do more color. I haven’t worked on drawings in over a year because of the house/studio issue, but it’s often on my mind. Drawing calls to me. I’m ready to get back to it… as soon as I get the studio cleaned out and set back up. (I had it ready once then a renovation project messed it up again as I have to use the space for storage.)

The walls of my new home are full of my drawings and photographs. They make me feel happy, accomplished. It’s time to take it further. My work has improved and I’m ready for the next step.

Another opportunity at learning

My morning writing has me thinking about the lessons learned over the weekend. I’m always excited when I learn interesting things. I’m willing to admit when I’m wrong, even when embarrassing. If I make a mistake and I am wrong, I’ll own up to it and do what I can to make it right. 

For instance, one of our rules with the newspaper is in only covering local news. I wrote about an event and left out names of those who did not live in “our” area. Someone sent a letter. I feel bad. It’s a wake-up call. Sometimes in my trying to be fair and do things right, I do not look at the entire picture. I’ve been trying to make rules and guidelines stricter than needed. 

1. I realize even though there’s a “rule,” we have to be flexible. Sometimes I need to look at a bigger picture and see all who would benefit from the information. 

2. Trying to be fair and treat everyone (and every town) exactly the same is unrealistic. I was afraid that if we allowed something in one area, it would open it up to others expecting the same. I now understand that each instance and story needs to be treated as its own moment.  

3. I’ve also come to realize that treating everyone the same is not fair. Some people need more molly-coddling (and yes, I fit that category) especially dealing with artists. This is how it is. We are all humans and need to be treated with respect and not put in a box designed to make us all alike. We are not all alike. We may have similarities, but we also have differences and all aspects of a person deserve respect. 

4. One of the reasons I love my editor job at the newspaper is that we pride ourselves in being small-town/local. All of the above has to be realized to maintain the type of integrity we want with the InterTown Record. We want to be able to recognize individuals and not just see a group of people as a whole or entire town. When people are no longer seen as individuals, the individual no longer matters and they become numbers and statistics that are easily written off. 

This is what has happened in this country. Individuals no longer matter and the “good of the whole” has been swallowed by big business marketing and the country’s leaders protecting an elite few. “Good of the whole” is now just a term to benefit whoever or whatever group or business is saying it.

It’s up to us to keep our local flavor and protect our people by giving them recognition when they deserve it and by telling their stories. (And that’s impossible when an organization gets too big which happens with buy-outs and all that... but that’s another subject.) Most people living in the smaller towns do so to have that community-mindedness. We love to walk down the street and have neighbors and passersby wave. It’s great to know that should something happen, neighbors will step up to help. 

I love the opportunity to tell people’s stories and to give them recognition they deserve. Everyone has a story. Everyone has an interesting life. All the media-hype and sensationalism are not needed. Instead of focusing on all the negative going on in the world, how about we tell individual stories of the wonderful people who live around us?

 

 

Marketing

I am an artist/photographer/writer which means I have products/services to sell. Of course, I love what I do or I wouldn’t do it, however, the marketing side has me tied in knots. I read all a lot of the ways to market art, but when I look at the bigger picture of marketing in America, I am totally discouraged and wonder where the ethics are in marketing. 

The subject has been on my mind for a long time, but every once in awhile, something really jumps out at me. I received a letter recently from Dish Network thanking me for being a loyal customer and “rewarding” me with a free month of premium movie channels. 

What a joke! This is not a reward. It’s an insult… but how many people will buy into this? And that’s it exactly. It’s getting more people to buy more product. They use words to entice and make you feel good. They make it sound like they really care about you – after all, don’t they have your best interest at heart? Aren’t they always working to make things better for their customers?

If they really cared about the customer, they’d create smaller, more affordable packages. But no, everything is all geared to getting the consumer to buy more. So, in this case, because my favorite stations: cooking, travel, history, Nat. G., HGTV, along with local networks… are mixed in with the bigger packages, I am paying for 250 plus channels when I watch less than 20. Why do I need 20 sports channels, 10 Spanish or French, a dozen kids’ channels, movie channels, music stations, etc. I’ve had enough! I’m about ready to give up watching TV altogether. 

And I’m really not just talking about Dish Network, of course, I’m talking about all big corporations. Oh, yes, they’ll always tell you they are doing things for you, the customer… and people continue to believe: new and improved; high quality (which now-a-days means it might last a year or two); works faster; and a myriad of other words to make the consumer think they are getting a better product. Don’t believe it! 

It’s all about marketing; how to convince the public to buy… and people will believe what they are told over how the products really perform. Health care is the biggest. Talk about an amazing marketing ploy! Convince everyone that they HAVE to have yearly or more check-ups, that doctors are gods and know what’s best for you, that you have to have insurance to protect you from the doctors’ exorbitant costs (but who protects you from the insurance companies)? Then they ply you with drugs to “keep you happy,” to make you think they are doing something for you… How many health products have been promoted by those in the profession and then years later it’s found to cause more health issues. (Thalidomide is one that always comes to mind.)

Think about it. Think about what we have been told for generations. Think about how the big corporations can pretty much do anything they want because they have the money and power backing them. And the fact that people keep buying their products! Think about how the corporations have bought out any good company to keep products (and consumers) in their control. Think about CEOs and board members with their humongous salaries who are so high up on the chain that they are not even aware, or really care, about the poor consumers who have to put up with poorly made products. And don’t even talk to me about customer service – just another two words to make you think the company cares about you. (If they really cared, there would be a real person to talk to every time you called.) 

Think, too, that the bigger the corporation, the more employees needed which means prices need to be pushed up to pay more salaries… and bigger salaries to the top hierarchy. (And the majority of the needed extra employees are lucky to make minimum wage.) 

Think about it, and think about what we are told as consumers versus what is the truth in the products even with something as simple as so-called juice only having 10 percent real juice and it still is allowed to be called juice (and just what is the other 90 percent, what kind of chemicals used to preserve…). If you really start thinking about it, you won’t like it. Products we bought years ago lasted, and if there was a problem, we got immediate attention and help.  

Oh, I could go on and on. People are waking up, though, and speaking up. I don’t know if can ever make a difference. This whole issue is so huge, it’s almost unfathomable. What have we done, America? We have been lied to and deceived for so long. We believed.  

What words do you hear in marketing that are not telling the truth? 

So now, here I am with products to sell. I find it hard to buy into marketing rules when so much of what I’ve seen is so ethically wrong… or is it morals? I hear things like, “If you don’t have a high price on your item, buyers won’t think it’s quality.” So, that means I should raise the price and make three times (or more) what it cost me to make? Pricing is a struggle, for sure. I want a fair price. I want people to like what they buy. Maybe this means I will never be good at marketing because I cannot lie to people… or what feels to me like telling an untruth. I dunno.

 

Maybe I shouldn't be mixing up the selling of art with corporate America marketing. But corporate America has me so disillusioned that it's hard to even consider my own marketing strategies. Ugh, even using the word strategy sounds like I'm trying to pull something over on somebody.

 

 

Reinventing Our Dream Jobs

The world is changing. What worked in the past doesn’t necessarily work now. I got into two conversations yesterday which turned to the same topic. How can we reinvent ourselves and help one another; some to provide a service while others are the artists selling their work.

Now, I do not know that much about marketing (my weakest point) as I don’t enjoy it and don’t want to have to do it. I think, too, in the back of my mind is always the concern of how much trust to put into the ones with whom you do business. It seems to me that the bottom line to marketing is convincing the public to purchase what you are selling whether it is good or not and more and more these days we find out that what we are told is not often the truth or products don’t hold up as advertised. (It’s a form of brain washing with the media and advertising pounding it into you that you HAVE to have this product or… well, I won’t go on.)

We’ve come to know that corporate America doesn’t have our best interests at heart and for CEOs and shareholders it’s all about making as much money as possible without caring who gets stepped on or taken advantage of or even if what they are selling is good. Maybe I have a biased notion of big business, but everything I am seeing and reading makes these convictions stronger. It seems the bigger the company, the more political and corrupt it becomes. At that point, it’s not about providing goods or service to the public, but what they can suck out of people. It’s all about making as much money as they can and to hell with the consequences.

What does that have to do with my topic today? My conversations yesterday were with a framer of art who is not doing the job she loves best and a woman in the printing business who is working for a ruthless company. Here are two women whose expertise in fields could benefit many artists and yet, they are not able to work to their potential.

I had two questions: “How can we reinvent ourselves to help one another and still be able to make a living?” and “How can we compete with mass produced cheaper products?”

Is it possible? I believe it is. We just have to figure out how to do it. For most of us in today’s world, we are not able to have our one dream job. We have to have the job that pays the bills. Some are lucky to have a spouse to provide that avenue, but for the many single women out there these days, the dream is put aside so bills can be paid.

How can we help one other? How can small-town framers and printers provide affordable services to the artists and be able to support themselves? I would dearly love to give work to local business. I would love to be able to sit one on one with a printer to discuss exactly what will work for me. And, in this do-it-yourself world (which is another subject I can go off on). I would much rather devote my time to my art and not fight with matting and framing. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to support each other so we are all doing the jobs we love?

I believe it can be done. Somehow.

The Line Between Fine Art and Fine Crafts

I did my first outside show of the season on Aug. 2 in Goffstown. There was light rain during set up and a couple people questioned whether to continue or pack it in. I opted to keep going and by the time we were set up, the rain had stopped. Rte. 114 through the center of town sees heavy traffic and lots of people stopped by to admire the art work. We enjoyed some great conversations.

I shared my canopy with Nan McCarthy who does “impeccably detailed fine art;” ie: very detailed small and miniature, photo realist, acrylic paintings. I do charcoal landscape drawings and photography and we both had cards. I love giving customers a variety from which to choose. I love seeing the variety of art styles and products, but I’m beginning to wonder if it’s too much of a variety.

I enjoy sharing the canopy because the set up and take down work is halved when shared. The conversations to and from the shows are inspiring. It’s also nice having someone in the booth so we can take turns visiting the other artists. It’s hard not to have self doubts when sales are slow. Questions abound. Is it either one of our faults? No, we are both very good at what we do.

Cyndi Hurlbut, who had the canopy next to ours, shared some ideas she’d been contemplating. It’s an old topic of the differences between fine art and fine crafts. Many “fine artists” don’t want to participate in shows where there are crafts. Her work is more along the line of fine art crafts. She said that recently she was put amongst flea market vendors during a show that mixed art and flea market. She didn’t make any sales as customers who visited that area were after the cheap “deals.”

The first year that the Center for the Arts in New London held their Art on the Green summer show, Nan and I shared a canopy. The next year we were told there would be no sharing AND I was told that I could not have my charcoal drawings and photographs under the same canopy. They were separating the “fine art” from the “crafts” and they considered photography a craft and not an art. Needless to say, I’ve not participated since. I could not imagine choosing between my drawings and my photographs. It’s what I do!

It’s been a couple years since then and although I don’t do a lot of shows, I think I’m beginning to understand. I’ve always considered any kind of creativity as art, but from a selling point of view, there does seem to be a difference. Certain types of customers are looking for that fine art and not the other and vice versa. Does this mean that the true “art collector” will not visit the booths or areas where there are crafters? And where is that line?

There also seems to be some kind of prestige at being able to say, “I’m a member of this, this, and that.” I, personally, have never been impressed by that and I tend to be bored by seeing these lists of memberships and where people have exhibited. I am more interested in the art work. I don’t care about their long lists of bragging. Maybe I’m wrong and it is important.

And speaking of memberships that brings me back to Cyndi’s subject. We’ve been members of the Hillsborough Area Artisans and Cyndi also belongs to the Monadnock artisans group. Both groups are going through some transitions. Both groups have fine artists and fine crafters and Cyndi is wondering that instead of mixing the artists and crafters, would it be more beneficial to the members to have two shows; one for the fine artists and one for the crafters.

This is a subject that will require some thought and conversation. In the past, I would have been against it, but now…

Organization and Ready to Show

My big goal, and the one that I’ve been struggling with for years, is in organization. I make many attempts then get distracted by other projects. However, to become a good business person, it is imperative that I get my files in order. It is annoying to need a particular piece of paper and not know where I put it. The project gets a bit overwhelming.

What came to mind this morning was that I need to keep better track of which shows I entered which pictures. It would be embarrassing to bring a picture that had already been displayed or has been seen before. It’s not an issue if I am constantly doing new ones, but there are times when what I have ready has been shown in at least one place. Plus, when I am in the middle of a different project, it’s not so easy to take the time to print, mat, and frame a new photo.

As everything ends up taking longer than expected, I want to look at alternatives for printing and having the pictures ready to hang. Today one of my goals is to have a couple of my photos printed at an online company and also to have them printed in a different format than I do myself.

Being Noticed

A year ago today, I made my second visit to Magnolia Gardens just outside of Charleston, S.C. This is another plantation area with wonderful gardens, trails, and old plantation house. On that second day, I spent time along the Audubon Swamp Trail following the board walk out through the swamp. I got a close-up look of duck weed which is one of the attractants for winter-migrating birds. I saw huge great blue heron nests high up in the trees. Wow, hard to imagine that these huge birds could build nests so far up. Here in New Hampshire, we see one, maybe two, of these birds, but at Magnolia Gardens, there were flocks! Magnolia Gardens is definitely a place I want to return and one of those places where you could spend three or four days taking it all in. I never did see everything.

This morning the thought most on my mind is:

“I want to be noticed more – in my writing, photography, and art.”

I never thought I would ever be saying anything like this! When I first took Tai Chi and the teacher would have ME in front of the class, I thought I would die of embarrassment. I was overweight by that time and very self-conscious. But it was me that the other students would come to when the teacher wasn’t available. I got it, got Tai Chi and evidently, others could tell. That was my first real experience that I was worthy; that I had something to offer. I wasn’t allowed to hide in the back of the class.

Even later in leading creativity groups, occasional adult-ed courses, and participating in open-mike poetry readings, I still was self conscious being in front of a crowd. I enjoyed it and was passionate about the topics I took on recognizing that we all have life experience to share. However, I still struggled with “putting myself out there.”

Since moving to Bradford and becoming a full-time artist, I have had to push myself forward. Yes, it’s very much a struggle. There’s a part of me that feels that promoting oneself is being arrogant. And yet, if I am to sell my work and make a living, I do have to push… a little… a lot… No, it isn’t easy, especially being super-shy and afraid of strangers and crowds. (That probably comes from my younger years when I was always ridiculed and put down.)

I used to be satisfied when one or two people would say they liked my work. I would feel good when someone said that something I wrote helped them with an issue they were dealing with. Yes, that pleases me, but one or two is no longer enough. Now that I am making (trying to) a living with my art, it is imperative that I improve with marketing.

This year I am determined to make a better effort. I want to be more comfortable around people. I want to learn how to deal with customers without seeming too pushy or that I don’t care. I want people to LIKE me! I want people to like my work and buy it. I love what I do! How many people can say that? Whether it is writing stories, writing about people I interview, taking pictures and putting the images on cards or making prints, knitting scarves, or drawing charcoal landscapes, I am extremely excited. I want to share the joy.

To see my latest efforts, visit my newly updated website. It now includes a gallery (which I will be adding to more often,) how to purchase section and a poetry page. Visit, www.sashawolfe.net. Thank-you. 

WalMart, Advertising, and Marketing

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Someone mentioned on FaceBook this morning that the property where the old factory where I’d worked for almost 30 years is being turned into a Super Walmart. Walmart is taking over the country and because they can afford to have lower pricing, it limits where people can shop and the company is putting most small businesses out of business. How sad.

Not only are Walmarts being built in, it seems, every other town, the company is being shoved at viewers watching tv. One of the cooking shows I watch now touts the big box store as having the best meat and produce. I feel we are being forced to buy from Walmart. When you think about it, the more something is mentioned, and the more the signs, logos and advertising are flashed in our faces – it’s a kind of brain washing. We begin to think they are right. We go to the stores and buy and buy.

What happened to buying local and purchasing fresh, local produce? How fresh can products be that are shipped around the country? Where do most of Walmarts products come from? How many are imports?

This makes me think of advertising and a revelation of why I have such an issue in promoting my own work as an artist… I DON’T TRUST ADVERTISING! How long has the media been shoving products down consumers’ throats? How many companies try to convince you they have YOUR best interest at heart, that everything they do they are doing for YOU, to help YOU? What a crock!

Look at all the cosmetic companies. How many billions of dollars have they made throughout the years because they convince us that we are not beautiful without their products?  These companies have sold the public on the idea that “regular” people will never be pretty enough or skinny enough or successful enough without their products. They have convinced us that we are inadequate and we spend billions on their products to try to make ourselves better.

What a bunch of crap! These big companies and advertising firms are only trying to SELL YOU! And it’s easy to get dragged into thinking that these products will make us better, whether it’s better health or making our lives better with fancy products. They get what they want. They sell their products. They don’t know US personally! They just know how to brainwash people. Marketing is all psychological. It’s all about how to convince the public that they can’t do without such and such product and what makes this company’s items better than the next company who is trying to convince people of the same thing.

Marketing is the name of the game and the more the business and product name is put out there, the more it gets ingrained into people’s heads and the more they are apt to go buy that product or from that company. (Why do you think during election time you see so many of the same candidate signs? It’s to imprint that candidate’s name in your brain!) Selling products or services is the same. It’s all about selling techniques and the product isn’t even important. It’s the SALE, how to make THE SALE.

What’s horribly sad is that most of it doesn’t even have to be true. Fruit juice always comes to mind when I think about this. The product only needs to be 10% fruit to be called fruit juice. How is that right? More and more people are beginning to realize some of these things especially with help from the internet. Is the FDA the people’s friend? Then how is Monsanto allowed to do what they do? It all makes me wonder about the validity of a lot of products.

All this makes me think about all the ads that are shoved at us constantly. How do we know what is the truth? I, myself, refuse to “buy into” the media pushes. I refuse to watch or listen to commercials. The prescription drug commercials are the worse! It’s sad to think of the number of people who actually WILL ask their doctors about those drugs. Then again, when people are in a bind or pain, they are willing to do almost anything to make themselves feel better.

So, what does this have to do from an artist’s standpoint? I don’t trust advertising and marketing. Yes, I want to sell my products, but the thought of trying to MAKE someone buy my work leaves an awful taste in my mouth. I don’t want to lie (or even a little white lie) or tell an untruth to customers. I am uncomfortable with a hard sell. Yes, I like to tell stories of where the photograph was taken or how the drawing came about, but that’s because I love what I do and I want to share my excitement and discoveries. Yes, I want to make money so I can buy more supplies. I want people to buy my pictures because they truly enjoy the scenes and like my work. I want them to walk away happy and not feeling they were forced to make a purchase.

In some aspects, I feel I’m caught between a rock and a hard place. I understand the need to market and advertise, but how can I be comfortable participating in something that can be so manipulative to the consumer? How can anyone compete with the big chains and bigger box stores? How can smaller businesses compete against these huge corporations that have the power and money to flood the market with their own ads and push all the little guys out. How can we “little guys” compete in a market where mass produced products, most of which are made outside this country with cheaper labor and cheaper materials, and therefore be able to be sold at a cheaper price than quality homemade or home grown products?

I have to admit, I’m as guilty as most everyone else. There are a few products that I prefer to buy at Walmart. I’ll occasionally stop at a McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts if I’m feeling desperate. I’ll go to Home Depot because of the pricing as compared to the local lumber and appliance places.

I’m not sure what the answers are. I’m not sure where this is leading this country. I do believe that it’s a problem. I am reminded of that old Tennessee Ernie Ford song “16 Tons” with “another day older and deeper in debt” and “I owe my soul to the company store.” I feel that Walmart has become the “company store” along with the McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts.

Planning for the New Year

Planning for the New Year

This year I am starting my plans for next year a little early. Maybe this means I’m starting to break the habit of waiting until the last minute to do things.

I totally fell on my face for this year. I’m not surprised knowing that I was/am still going through the grieving process. There were some aspects where I accomplished more than what was originally planned, but for the most part, I did not live up to my own expectations. While I did better at keeping track of expenditures, I did not keep up with inventories nor did I keep in contact with the shops where I have product. Sometimes I just struggled with doing it this way or that way and not being able to decide, I didn’t do either.

Now it’s year’s end and time to think about the good that can be achieved in 2013. It’s important to be better at the “business” end of art if I want to be considered a successful artist. Sometimes I wonder if I worry too much about charts. Sometimes I let too much time go by before I make updates. This means that one goal for 2013 is to stay on top of record keeping. I’ve come to the conclusion that I spend too much time thinking and planning and not doing the actual work.

This morning I am looking at inventory charts. In 2011, I had done some in Word while others were in Excel. I tried to make some changes in the Excel program, but never followed through. The beginning of this year, I made a couple of updates then let time slip by. So today, I printed out the Excel forms. I need to look at the hard copy to be able to view the items better by laying them side by side.

I made a decision and also made a few changes. Now I am ready to start adding inventory items to the pages. For this part, I am going to go through my inventory piece by piece and evaluate where I feel each stands for this next year. Is it still in good condition after being dragged around to shows? Do I feel it’s still worthy? Should it be relegated to a Yart Sale bin?

Now the question will be if I can follow through with this with finding time to do new work and everything else that needs to be done (or I choose to do.)

What are some ways that you keep track of things and do your own follow ups?