Art Biz Voice: To Give or Not to Give, Simple Guidelines

Dear Mr. Trump,

I’ve been away from my blog this week working on some of my charity work.  I really feel that charity work is incredibly important but of course not at the expense of the business. I look at charity work as an integral part of my work ethic and my business plan. 

Because I am an artist I am in a unique place to build my brand while helping some worthy causes I believe in. I can help them fund raise while building their reputations and also build what I call foundational care for daily expenses. I occasionally will help fund raise  for animal charities, many of whom are sanctuaries and rescues. I also try to occasionally work with charities that help people in crisis as well.

Click image to view larger.

Sometimes these sanctuaries and rescues fail, usually, because of poor planning and too much repeat dependence on fund raising for their daily expenses. When they fail there comes a huge rift between them and the public trust.One misstep in planning and animal care due to a bad economy can lead to a spiraling decline in donations. The animals in their care suffer because of lack of donations. No one wants to be associated  with failing animal charities or animal charities that raise huge sums of money only to euthanaize the majority of the animals they bring in. It is even worse when the leaders of these charities have suddenly stopped all fund raising efforts because they simply didn’t know what to do or they have lost interest because it is so overwhelming to them.

As a result of the change in the giving practices, I think, mostly due to the tight economy,  I have put together a set of guidelines for all the charities I consider working with. I of course adapt them slightly for newly created organizations.

What I consider before I give to or work with a community

1. Persons involved in The Charity already support my business.

2. The Charity has good business practices, including foundational support for every day expenses.

3.The Charity is highly visible with regular community access and education. It has a good reputation for service and available programs that reach out to the community.

4. The Charity has  active highly visible fund raising programs through out the year  that maintains a steady flow of nurtured and new support for the organization. The face( generally a person) of the organization is active in fund raising and building community support continuously.

5. The Charity has a transparency policy with public financial accountability. This means proof the money is being spent on what it is collected for.

6. The Charity not only nurtures givers, it nurtures and values its volunteers. This includes a reward for effort program and training program  for volunteers.

7. The  Charity sees my work as valuable and protects the investments my collectors. They not only understand that how they present the work during fund raising determines the value they also know how to get top dollar and increase the value of my work to benefit themselves.

8.  I agree with the objectives of The Charity and how they are implemented. Their work ethic, how they carry it out and the pride they take in their events and location, all play a part in their reputation. If  I disagree with their objectives, I don't want my name associated with their organization. If the actions of  The Charity are completely different from the objectives or they lack professionalism and polish then I don't  offer to support them.

Its so much easier to support people who appreciate your efforts.


Have a great weekend
~Linda

ArtBizVoice: Qualities I look for in a Good Salesman

Dear Mr. Trump,
 
My question today is how do you know when to move on from a potential client? Or perhaps to clarify that how do you recognize that  your investment in a person or business is probably not going to result in mutual satisfaction. I.E. we provide a product or service they need and they pay us for it and both are satisfied and happy with the result.

I suppose that someone who has been in business successfully has learned the early warning signs and can figure out when a person they meet for the first time is really a looker, a client or just had time to kill so they just wanted to spend time talking. Keep in mind though that I meet a lot less people than the normal business man would meet so I really don’t have the experience or the time to invest in a dead end.

Then again I don’t look at anyone as being a dead end. I just look at myself as having not figured out the best approach. So I wonder how many times we should approach someone. I suppose its as vague sometimes as a person giving an opinion rather than stating that they totally disagree or don’t want your product around. They are being obtuse but they think they are being  polite.

One of the coolest examples of the tenacious sales man was a movie I saw once called Second Hand Lions.  The movie was about two elderly men who adopted their grand nephew and all the fun and excitement they had. In one scene the two men sat on the porch waiting for the evening parade of sales men to drive up so they could chase them off with shot guns while  they sipped Texas Sweet Tea. Well one of the sales men happened to figure out that what they needed was something to do with their time that let them have the satisfaction of shooting their guns. So he found a state of the art (in 1950s) skeet shooting machine. He realized he only had a minute to get their attention and make the sale. In a very dramatic move he signaled the boy to set off the skeet and in one sweeping movement he pulled a loaded shotgun from the trunk of his car and blasted the skeet. Of course he got the attention of the uncles and made the sale.

In the movie the sales man solved a problem, made some money,  and there was satisfaction all around. I Think a really good sales man knows how to assess the situation and combine a really good product with a client that can appreciate it.

There is, I think, a difference between seeking out new clients that buy what you think they want and new clients that a salesperson is meeting the needs for. Personally I want my sales person to be meeting the need using my product to do it. That does take a bit of creativity.

ArtBizVoice: In Mentorship Language is Everything

Dear Mr. Trump,

 As an artist, I speak the language of Artists. We sometimes speak little; sometimes in long flowery phrases of description, that translate into color and brush strokes. As a Journalist and Writer, I speak the language of a reporter, asking too many questions and trying to build pictures in my head of details and minutia, that I can share through the written word.  As a business person, I understand a growing vocabulary each day; however. I still have conceptual trouble trying to  think outside of my emotions and into practical successful business practices. When I translate business language into a picture its easier to understand.

This is where I think we artist’s always run into trouble. We are conditioned to solitude, with extreme explosions of creativity, that demands focus in order to do our best work. If we work totally alone we actually develop a language set that only we understand. If we are lucky, we also have an assistant who understands it too.

The small amount of time we have outside of the studio requires, at least for me, direct concise answers to our questions so that we can let the information process in our brains. Then we can come back into the conversation at a later time and correct the problem or adapt to a business process we didn’t understand before.

Convincing some business people to give us the non-idioms, strait talk version of a concept in “every day people” language is sometimes very difficult. Especially, if the person talking expects us to understand what they are saying the first time and dismisses the us if  we don’t understand.  It can be even worse if the business person is trying to impose their preferences on a very creative person who’s skills sets run to non-conformity, especially if it seems to be conformity for conformity’s sake. Artist's often understand the nuances of business but have little knowledge of the lingo.

This is one reason I think that mentorship is really important. A good mentor realizes the creativity, out  of the box thinking and exuberance of the artist .  A good mentor speaks in direct simple terms that  answers each question while still being factual and tactful at the same time. A good mentor is going to recognize the process the artist uses and help them translate good business practices into it. A good mentor will not only give practical help, they will also learn from the person they are mentoring.

Understanding that creative emotion can translate into good successful business, can have a healthy out come, without the frustration of communication breakdown, because people don’t understand one another. All that it really takes is the desire to make it happen and a mentor with the ability and willingness to view things from a new perspective he or she had not thought of before. (Artist tend to be trained that way already)

My thoughts and prayers are with all of those in the North East today who are still without power after the snow.

Blessings,

~L

ArtBizVoice: My Audience and What they Need.

Dear Mr. Trump,

I took a couple of days off writing to ponder my purpose again. It’s a luxury I have at the moment because I have a number of projects going. I did take a break because someone questioned the wisdom of my using this format as a way to reach out to people like myself and to find a possible mentor.

The people I am trying to reach are people who are creative, don’t really understand the nuances of being an entrepreneur, they have no mentors who understand the challenges they face as sometimes they are the first in their families to go into business. My target for these blog posts are people who recognize your name because you have a media presence that most in business do not have.

My writing these letters to you gives people who need the information a key into the locked door of the business world they might not find any other way. You have name recognition to those on welfare, stay at home moms, disabled, people who have lost their jobs. They understand that you are an entrepreneur and a successful business man living the dream. They see the result of your education, experience, the people who mentored you but they simply don’t know how to get from where they are to becoming successful like you.

The questions they have are not answered by The SBA, SCORE or most business associations or state funded employment councilors because many of those councilors have never lived the challenges.

The people I’m trying to share with don’t have access to mentors, educators and others who have learned how to navigate the zero dollar start up business and operate it on a shoe string.  These are creative people, many of them living in poverty, many of them reach out to people like myself who have had experiences and came before them. Their only access is what they see on TV and what books they find when they shop at a store like the Dollar Tree or a Thrift store. Fortunate is the one who finds one of your books in either of these places or in a public library.

In this day and age people need practical help, not pat answers from people who haven’t been there. I heard on my local radio station this week that the number of first time entrepreneurs is the fastest growing sector in the economy this quarter. I think people are seeking it because of so many who have lost their jobs and industries over the last 4 years. People need this help. If they cant find work, they need to create their own job. They need to know what is possible, why and how to get there even in spite of their insecurities.

So, Mr. Trump, until you tell me not to write to you like this, I am going to continue to use the format to reach out to people and share what I know, what I have learned and where I have found to get the answers.

Thanks for being there.
~L

ArtBizVoice: Social Isolation, On Social Media?

Dear Mr. Trump,

I have been on Social Media since the autumn of 2008. I’ve noticed that every time Facebook rolls out a new change it isolates people more and keeps them hooked into a very narrow number of  topics.  The method behind this seems to be the gathering of more and more information about each person and what they like, buy, topics they discuss and the type of food and entertainment they are likely to spend money on.  Then target market to them via paid promotions and advertisement.

There is a flaw in the idea. The Flaw basically is that by manipulating the population on the social media they actually skew the marketing data they are collecting.   Unless we have a huge number of boringly excessive compulsives out there in cyber, land I do not think that this is an accurate measure of what potential consumers like.  I also do not think it accurately represents the buying or the web use of people.   It’s tainted and it actually forces people into a sort of controlled boredom. 

Most people don’t want to be force fed information or social interaction. Yet these days that is exactly what Facebook is doing, they force feed or completely deny feed and limit interaction between friends, associates and potential clients. My solution is to look more to twitter for my information source. I both share there and look for current information.  For searches "Google" and "Ask" are my top choices; however, I have noticed that Google is leaning to the “isolation” business model so I haven’t decided how that will work for me.

I think that the saving grace has been the group structure. Both Google+ and Facebook have this. Google+, with its circles and Facebook with its closed and open group options.  Even though the groups are more narrow in topic and opportunity, they do generate leads and repeat business if you stick to offering services with in the scope of the topic. Even if someone doesn't interact with you for moths at a time, if they are in the group they will still see the group activity in the live feed. That is about the only place where your activity is not limited. And when the groups are open to non- members to view their is more potential to be seen.

I have to admit that it is always a good day to learn something new. It does make it more difficult if you are a small business trying to grow  to work hard at making the best product you can only to have it be hidden from the world.  

Have a prosperous day,
~L

ArtBizVoice: Accessibility

Dear Mr. Trump,

This morning I found a site for artists in business. It suggested that I enlarge my business by becoming involved with an interior designer or a corporate art consultant.  I would love to do that. I’m just wondering how that might be possible.  I really am not going to be able to pack up my massive portfolio and hop on public transportation and travel to where they are. First while I am independent, I am limited in my independence due to mobility.

Seriously, if the store is too big or the parking is too far away I have to do without. Walking is a problem for me.  I have to juggle a cane and carry things. Accessibility is not just a level doorway. It is also the distance the disabled must walk from where their ride is parked.

I have heard business owners say. “ Oh we are so lucky we don’t have to have handicapped accessible entrances to our building because its grandfathered.”  They lost my business because I couldn’t navigate the stairs.

 I was thinking about this the other day. If more building designers and business managers knew the practical limitations of their elderly and disabled clients perhaps they could adapt their buildings to be more accessible. And they might not lose that business. 

I know that some businesses are trying to cut startup costs and renovations the best they can. I wonder what the figures are, the numbers of people that cant access the building and the amount of money that the business looses, because of it.  I am guessing its somewhere between 10% and 15%.  That percent could make or break a small business. And for a larger business it could means millions in business that they are not realizing. Its not about what the law allows, its about what allows those who are potential clients to participate in your business.

With an aging population and even more people becoming disabled at an earlier age due to injuries on the job and just wear and tear on their bodies,  I can see how this is a big drain on the economy if they cannot contribute to the economy.

When a business does not address accessibility, it disengages a portion of its potential client base.
New and creative solutions need to be found to not only allow the disabled to participate as clients but also to participate as employees.

I’ve lots of new projects coming up this month. It’s becoming very exciting.
Blessings of the Day to you.
~L

ArtBizVoice: Avoiding Drama that Stunts Small Business.

Dear Mr. Trump,

I am again astonished at the number of young adults that can look right at "danger " and  not recognized that it could hurt them. They hear the warnings, understand what those warnings mean  and just stand there looking up in wonder at whatever threatens and simply they don't get out of the way.

Example: All of us knows that driving without a license is wrong. It victimizes almost every person in the offender's life. Sometimes it even harms complete strangers, if the unlicensed driver is in a wreak and is uninsured because of it.
So why are some people able to see how their actions affect themselves and others, while other people are oblivious and get mad at who ever catches them? I can’t even begin to answer that question.

This is a work place issue.

Every time an employee gets involved in one of these instances, where they do something that they do not recognize will harm them, drama invades their lives and overflows into the office and the entire business.

 The loss of productivity caused by the stress and anxiety of the situation harms the bottom line, the attitude of those working in the establishment and even the reputation of the business, if deadlines are not met or attention is not paid to clients. Professionalism drops. No matter what managers do in dealing with these people, they never seem to go forward and business starts to revolve around the condition of the person in the most trouble.

It is professionalism verses an emotionally stunted work force.  I know in these circumstances you probably would not hire someone with these problems. If eventually they let  their drama over flow  into your  business you would probably reassign them or fire them. However, the less money the small business has, the more likely the business owner is going to be faced with this issue. We cannot just hire anyone off the street.  We have to be able to hire people willing to learn and able to focus on the business at hand anytime they are in our employ.

Our Success depends on the quality of the people we hire.

It makes me think that short term contracts are the way to go for a small business such as mine. Contract them to provide a specific service then if their personal life flows over into their business life it won’t hurt the business. If  they can’t meet the obligation of the contract they don’t get renewed. And they only get paid of course, according to fulfillment of the obligation.  If they do a good job as a contractor and the business grows, one can offer the ones who are dependable and productive a job when one comes open. This also cuts the business's losses from a work force that hasn't learned to recognize behavior that can harm them.

Have a wonderful weekend,
~L

ArtBizVoice: Preventing Dancing Mediocrity in Your Business

Dear Mr. Trump,
I love your philosophy of excellence. The goal of being the best possible while making yourself and what you do better and better.

I have been keenly aware over the last few months that there is actually a dancing mediocrity in most of our culture today. I have actually been trying to figure out why.

This mediocrity can be as simple as an employee sweeping the floor but instead of actually using a dustpan they pile all the dirt in the middle of the floor, then pick up what they can see to place in the trash can. They actually use their hands to pick up the dirt. The last activity in this scenario is to simply swish the broom through the small bits and spread it out all over the room. When you ask them if they swept up the floor they say “yes”. But the floor never gets clean. This is kids stuff. I mean really this is the sort of thing a little child does during chores... until they are trained.

So why on earth would anyone go through an activity that is small but incredibly important for most businesses  but only do enough to say "Yes, I did it."

My theory :

a)these people have never been trained to take pride in their work?  (Maybe)
b) these people have been trained that this is the way its done? ( They probably do it this way at home)
c) these people understand the concept of sweeping and accomplish it as the goal but they do not understand that the goal is actually to clean the floor from the corners to the center and make it shine?
d) they are distracted by cell phones and ipods and are not focused on their work so they don’t even realize what they have done or not done? (easy fix: turn them off during work hours)
e)Every aspect of their life is so filled with drama that it spills over into what they are doing at work. The distraction is so bad that they hinder everyone else from their work and productivity drops?( this is deserves its own blog post)

Everyone of these things combined makes for a dirty floor even if it is swept. And this is the major hurdle that employers have to overcome. Even employees have a good work ethic and are dedicated to the job, the language becomes the issue, even when everyone in the workplace speaks English.

Let me illustrate what I think is the most prevalent issue in the current rise in mediocrity. When I say to someone sweep the floor they I expect it to be spotless when they are finished. And I want to be able to walk barefoot over the floor and have my feet be clean and have the floor be smooth. That means not only do I need to communicate how I want it done and why,  they need to not only understand what I expect and how I want it done. And they need to understand that their job performance is rated on results not busy work that never gets done.

One thing we don’t want is a shinny tile floor and the most important client  of the decade to be walking into  the building just as the sunlight shines through the window and hits that pile of dirt someone left because they didn’t know the difference between sweeping and making it spotless. 

We survived the winds and the rains last night. It always amazes me as to how the sun shines brightest just after a really active storm. Have a blessed day.
~L

ArtBizVoice: Seriously? How are you allowing your business self to appear to others..

Dear Mr. Trump,

Yesterday, I found a blog that was new to me. It was by Shannan Trenholm. Her post was on people who hear what you are up to and tell you to "Be  Realistic" every time you share an idea or dream with them.

Most of my "seemingly successful" friends  who have this "Be Realistic" Attitude are successful because they had chosen to work for companies instead of starting companies of their own.

These friends judge the worth of a company or a business idea by these two things:
 *Are they top among their competitors in profits
*Does the company have  a good reputation among the community.
In other words those businesses have to be paying big salaries and on the social fast track.

One of these friends once told me "I will never put my name with anything that is not successful."

Not to fault my friend, because she is amazing in every way and worth every penny of her hire, but her perspective is that she doesn’t see potential in people or small businesses.  This means she inadvertently says and does things that show me that she doesn’t believe in what I’m doing. Or so I thought.

This past week I was talking with another friend of mine. I told her how exciting everything was becoming how many new possibilities were opening up in my business. Her response was "What do you mean, you just do some of your art on line on t-shirts, right?"

It hit me like a ton of bricks.

My successful friends had been demeaning my work all this time. I never noticed. Maybe I let  them do this because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my work. It has taken me a while to have a clear plan and really run the numbers. Then I mistakenly thought that my friends would support what I was doing simply because they were my friends. In effect they were not taking my business or me seriously.   I had let them demean my business. I wasn’t accepting what they said, I simply didn’t correct their negative attitude and words about what they thought I was doing . I, of course didnt let her demeaning of my business stand this time. I admit it was a little painful standing up to a friend I assumed was being supportive. Amazingly, we are still friends.

I have to say that my world view of being a self starter and taking the risks, while noble to me, it was not something my successful friends could relate to. In fact, those friends would never be able to run a business ever. They had no desire or talent for it. They are highly paid skilled worker bees that provide, sometimes white collar, services to large established firms. That sort of explained to me why people making 6 figures feel like they are middle class. They are workers but they just get paid more and have more social exposure.

Here is the thing, every business out there started with an idea or a dream. All of them had small beginnings. The success of a business is simply the pay off in the gamble in my opinion. All those successful friends of mine would not even have a job if someone like me and you had not taken the risk. It takes creative people with big ideas that they are passionate enough  to make it happen. As you know it can take a life time.

I am not against  being "realistic"; however,  I must say that realistically without people who have the dream and the passion to take the risk there would be no place for any one to be successful.

~L

If  you would like to see Shannon Trenholm's blog you can read it here: http://shannatrenholm.com/2011/work/be-realistic/

ArtBizVoice: Getting People Involved. ( The PPN Project)

Dear Mr. Trump,

Since I basically have no start up money and I live on a shoe string budget on the best days, I came up with this idea of how to market my work. I call it Partner Marketing or Partnership Program for Non-employees(PPN). Perhaps there is a better name already for it.

Here is the need: I need to make sales to pay for art supplies to keep making art and pay for my expenses.  The people I invite into the program want to buy original art but cannot afford it. Usually the art they want is something special to them like a pet portrait or a painting of their child and their horse etc.

The goal:

The key to my marketing strategy is to sell as many reproduced products as possible. These products will fund further art and some additional programs I would like to accomplish in my community.  By using PPN participants to share the product s  this increases my chances of making the necessary sales and gives them  an opportunity to have art that they couldn’t otherwise afford.  The cost of making the art is covered.

How it works:

Sample of PPN Project invitation

Each person agrees to participate for a year(They can actually participate as long as they want to). For the first month I work with them to teach them how to do the project. Basically participants share three or 4 pre-determined items throughout the day on their social media venues. Each item they share has a special code assigned only to them. Each sale of an item with their code gives them a point. The points are tallied at the end of the month. The participant then receives a statement of points that they can use as a discount against the purchase of original work or signed prints.

The participants in the PPN project also are taught how to do recommendations and reviews and given support in how to market as they go. In the program they do this about 2 or 3 times a week.

The program is active marketing, meaning sharing the content in a public way and talking about it to generate interest.

I read once in Guerrilla Marketing, that a product or brand name must be seen at least 15 times before  a potential client will remember it and act on it. IF, of course, it is something they want or can use. Participations should begin seeing a response to their efforts by sales that begin on about 15 day once they fall into the routine. It generally should take no more than about 15 minutes a day to do this sort of program, especially if they have multiple social media venues. This program will allow people to see what is available multiple times on multiple venues, help a worthy cause, empower people in the project and help me to go on to paint another day.

One important distinction about this program is that it is not aggressive marketing; Meaning that those who participate are not allowed to spam. Spamming is repetitively posting the exact same information over and over again to a large number of people who have no interest or who have not asked for information. If participants spam on their social media or email they will be removed from the program and banned from further participation. 

Active Social Marketing will do four things:
Provide information about the product,
Provoke a discussion
Show people how to purchase the product
Lead people to other products they might enjoy having, if the original product is not to their taste. 

Beautiful day today! Warm and sunny. Have a great day,
~L

ArtBizNews: Epiphany of Qualified Hires

Dear Mr. Trump,

Last week I heard about the casinos that were opening in Maryland. They were holding classes for people to become dealers. It was a two week class to train potential hires. I found it fascinating. A prerequisite for even having an interview was to take the class.

I filed the information away in the back of my mind and Friday it hit me. Every time I advertise for some one to partner with me to market my work on line they usually cant seem to figure out the process.The problem I was having trying to get people to work for me was that it was so foreign and complicated to them that they couldn’t do the job. They were over whelmed.

My mistake was to expect that because someone was on line that I should expect them to know how to do the marketing I wanted them too only having to give them simple instructions. Just like a person might be able to gamble doesn’t mean they know the nuances of being a dealer or the legal ins and outs, just because a person shops on www.zazzle.com does not mean they know how to help share and market  products you have available.
Something I thought should be so simple is actually quite daunting to the average shopper. Its especially daunting to the middle age woman who has to have her children show her how to do even the simplest email.

So now I have figured out that I need to but together some sort of training video or videos to show potential partners how to do what I need done.

Its a big part of the solution to marketing on the Internet. Teach before you hire. That way you not only give people the opportunity to partner with you but you also give them knowledge and skills that they can use other places. It builds good will.

I think that is already a philosophy Learn one, do one teach one.
Here is the upside, If I am not mistaken, once they know how to do it then I can partner with the best of the best to make our business even better.

I can barely believe that its almost the end of January and my grass is still green. We woke up to ice this morning. I hope your weather is better today.

~L

ArtBizNews: The Crab Pot Theory of Community Dynamics

Dear Mr. Trump,

There is something really important that hinders the poor and disabled for being successful sometimes. Its something that they can overcome with a bit of help. My dad called it the "Crab Pot Theory" of Community Dynamics.

 The Crab Pot Theory is based on several false statements:

 1. Rich people never have to work a day in their lives.

2. Rich people got that way because they used poor people.

3. You cant leave us because we need you.

4. When we get money we have to spend it on what we want to because thats the American Dream.
5. We don't have to pay our own way because someone else will take care of us
6. Any money you make belongs to us
7. No one in our family ever made anything of themselves so you cant either.


I would call these false statements curses. There is a verse in the Bible that says: "faith comes by hearing"When people hear these statements over and over again they begin to believe them and it becomes a physiological disability. Like calling a child stupid and dumb and telling them they will never amount to anything. Soon they believe it and act accordingly.

My dad illustrated the "Crab Pot Theory" this way. We visited Tidewater where he grew up and one day all the adults decided to have crabs for dinner. So they went out and caught the crabs and brought them home. Dad invited me into the kitchen to show me. The way you cook crabs is to put them alive into cold water then slowly heat the pot. The gradual heating slows the crabs and they don't realize they are being cooked. Well most dont. Some sense something is not right and want to get out of the heat. So they start climbing out of the pot. But just as they get to the top the crabs below them use their pincers and grab their legs. The lower crabs then pull the ones trying to climb out back into the pot. Thus none are able to escape.

The Crab Pot Theory of  Community Dynamics is not insurmountable. People do over come it. Usually its when they wake up one morning and figure out that everyone around them is happy except them. When they take stock of their lives they discover its because all the enabling they have done has pretty much sucked them dry. No one is looking out for them. No one is helping them. No one is even listening to them.

What happens when someone stands up against this sort of  community dynamic:Guilt trips and derogatory statements to hold them down make them fail. The real reason the community does this is because the community has become so dependent that they are fearful to loose the bread winner. Some of these bread winners are 13 and 14 years old. By the time they are 25 they have nothing but three jobs a day that keep them poor, keep them from spending time doing what they love and keep them from being with their own children.  Their poverty has nothing to do with who is rich and how they got there. It has to do with the unhealthy dependency of their family and sometimes their community that holds them back.

Why I think this is important to understand is because those people are a growing number of our population. Those are potential work force. And that is a whole sub-strata of creative ability that is being squandered by a culture of forced economic failure. I realize we cant help everyone of them out of the pot; however, maybe we can lift the ones at the top out of the pot and release them back into the sea of possibilities.

Have a wonderful weekend,
~L

ArtBizVoice: State My Passion, Then SUPER SIZE IT

Dear Mr Trump,

Today my goal is to figure out how to state my what my vision for my business is in One quick sentense and then in the second sentence say how I am doing it.

What is my Vision?
Ok, this is going to be a bit harder than I thought. Why? Because just defining vision is probably too broad. People would assume my vision would be simply for my business.  I have bigger fish to fry and my business is going to get me there. And no I’m not really that political, so politics is not actually part of my vision. However, they possibly overlap as politics affects policy, and policy affects the daily lives of everyone living in the country.

So what is my true Vision for my life:
To  provide a platform for the issues I care about while providing entertainment and education for  my community, my state , my country and the world ( I guess that would be globally). 
Ok let me say it this way.

My Personal Vision is to build a company that will provide entertainment and educational opportunities for issues I care about that will benefit the local community and can positively impact the world.

How am I going to do that, you ask?

I am doing this by passionately creating art that encompasses those issues and working that art into designs that can be incorporated into everyday things that people wear, use and collect , then marketing those items globally.

Gosh, I could really use some input here.

Simply put my Mission is to: Use my talent and skills; build a business,  then help make life better for as many people as is my ability to reach.

I saw this quote by you yesterday on twitter:

"You have to love what you do or you are never going to be successful no matter what you do in life.” - Think Big

I do indeed love what I do. I love connecting with people who love their animals and want to make a better life and I love creating things that bless them.   I am already living it.. now its time to Super Size it!

Today was my kind of snow btw. Just enough to be beautiful.

Blessings of the Day to you,
~L

ArtBizVoice: 30 Seconds

Dear Mr. Trump,

I’ve been sitting here for the last two years thinking about  what direction I would like to take my business in.   And as I did I realized that my communications skills need some major improvement.

So before I go any further I’m going to say that It has really taken me a long time to figure this out. In business we don’t want to be friends we want to be beneficial acquaintances. That means that time is of the essence. That means in the first sentence I have to state my proposal.

I have to say its very intimidating. Everything in one’s life boiled down to one sentence and spoken with concise passion so as to convince the world that your project is the one they should choose. Scary!

I have of course seen your program, The Apprentice. Well I did years ago. That was the first time I  ever saw it in action. I think writers and artists, because of the time they spend alone and in their heads, sometimes are not aware of how to condense and efficiently  use  language for  busy people.

I remember seeing writer Dick Francis in an interview years ago when I still had TV, I remember how he had to think about answers and then slowly spoke. He wasn’t aware of the 30 second sound bite. There was a lot of dead air space that seemed like an eternity and it made this brilliant man seem a bit less intelligent than he really was.  I suppose that is what it boils down to. ..yes, between 15 and 30 seconds to get  one’s point across.

So here it is… you want to make a proposal.
1. Do it on one sentence  to get the attention
2. Follow through with details in the next 2 sentences
2. Keep it narrow
2. Have all the information so you can answer questions.
3.Get the message out as quickly as possible.

So  Tomorrow I am going to try this out on my blog.

Have a great afternoon. Think we might have some snow here tomorrow.

~L

Bloggers Note: I gave up TV in 2003 because of the expense of Cable. When the new change over to digital happened in 2009 I had to give up watching most TV because the antiquated TV's  I have (black and white) and an archaic Color set  are of little use in the "digital age of TV. The money I could use for that entertainment I put into  my business.

ArtBizVoice: Taking Steps and Finding the Right Person.

Dear Mr Trump,

Today I decided the best thing to do, since I am serious about finding another person to work with me is to put together an ad.  I made a list of all the qualities that I wanted in this person who will be the face of my business.

Here is what I came up with:

Needed Experienced Person in Merchandising, Marketing and Sales
This person would be the public face of my business, negotiate contracts and help implement the marketing strategy, find new leads, and act as an advisor and provide feedback in design directions.

Requirements:

~Must have good networking skills and the ability to build a high profile reputation
~Must have experience in  the Gift and Clothing markets or specialty fields

~good social and language skills.
~Must be articulate and professional

~Must enjoy the challenge of building a business from the ground up.
~Must be willing to invest time and work on spec.

 Interested parties email Resume and references to:

Info@llmartin.com

While it is true that I am an artist, The real money to be made is in the conversion of my art into designs on clothing, gift and housewares products. Eventually, I will probably also contract with designers as well.

I am a small business with no start up capital, so everything is on a shoestring. One thing I did learn about hiring a few years ago is a lot of people want a job, but few are willing to research the business. I have a respectable on-line, Internet,  presence for my skills, talents and my business, so the people who are going to be working with me will also be able to take the initiative and figure out who I am and what I do. That is one of the most important things to me. Anyone who works with me has to care enough about what I am doing to take the time to do the research.

I might have to update that later but think this is a good start.
Have a great day,

~L

ArtBizVoice: Criticism, A Failure's Best Friend

Dear Mr Trump,

Wow what a beautiful sunny day today after all the dreary week. I bet those who had snow last evening even have it brighter and even more beautiful.

All of those dark days made me think of something. I think one of the most difficult things I have had to over come in all these years has been my own attitude. You see its very easy for someone who is isolated by poverty and disability to fall into a very disgruntle critical view of life. It really isn't helped much by people who surround you that are also disgruntle and critical.  This is a trap that a lot of  very talented people fall into when they think they can not move forward. Then they make the fatal error. Blaming those who are successful.  Its the kiss of death, I think.

I caught myself one time falling into the trap. I criticized a group of people. The very group that was most likely to be  my clientèle. I haven’t a clue why I did it except it was a really bad habit.  Well a competitor used it against me right while I was standing there. Yes, the result was it killed my business. There is nothing worse than being better than your competitor in every way and having them steal your business right out from under you because you had the bad habit of only seeing the wrong and never pointing out the good. What a hard lesson. Yet,  I am thankful I learned it.

Most disabled people already have isolation and poverty against them. Those are pretty insurmountable without the favor of people who believe in what they are doing. Maybe people in poverty criticize those who have wealth and success, because they have not figured out that is the successful that can help lift them up.

 An artist, or business man for that matter, just does not know where that help is going to come from.  So a really smart person is not going to criticize or be little anyone on any economic level.  Smart people know that the favor they need can come at any time from the most unsuspecting directions.  I think criticism is in fact a form of offensive insulting behavior that destroys any hope the budding business person has of getting the help they need to be successful. 

I think that most people, including successful people, already know their weaknesses. They don’t need them pointed out and to be constantly reminded of them.  I think we want to favor those who favor us.  And we favor those who are kind and helpful to us. It works both ways.

What a great thing it would be to help people who want to be successful to be positive instead of critical.

Wishing you a very wonderful and safe weekend,
~L