Vincent Van Gogh - "The Potato Eaters" - 1885
I’m in Australia this week attending a memorial service for a very close family member. My attention has been with my family and I haven’t really wanted to write – until today when I saw something that really got my attention.
We recently sent out an email promotion for our new Artist SEO system product. It’s something that we’ve worked on for 9 months and it really offers a tremendous opportunity for artists to increase the qualified visitors they attract to their websites. The business value is significant and the price tag of $97 really doesn’t scratch the surface of it’s real worth.
That’s the background. What got my attention was a response to our email promotion from an artist who said:
Sorry – Way to expensive for an unemployed, cant find work, starving artist…
I thought about that for a while and wasn’t happy. Why? Because I’ve heard variations of this phrase so many times. I’m really tired of the popular myth of the poor starving artist. It’s a form of poverty consciousness that doesn’t serve anyone. It sure as heck is not going to make you successful.
Before you jump on me, let me tell you that I have had times when my life has been really really hard. I’ve been unemployed, without money, and wondering how I was possibly going to make it – not once but several times. So, while I may not have walked in the shoes of a starving artist, I do know and understand some of the pain.
I understand that $97 might be more money than someone has – and in that case it probably wouldn’t be a great idea to spend it on an SEO guide. But to me the quoted message from the artist above suggests that maybe I should feel sorry for their predicament and lower the price.
Well sorry – but that’s just not how life works. If you are an artist and you want to be commercially successful, you have to think like a business. Businesses don’t make money by asking customers or partners to feel sorry for them. They get successful by having a vision, a clear achievable plan, investing in it and executing it. That doesn’t mean that they are always flush with cash – often the challenge with a business is understanding how to grow with what appears to be insufficient capital.
Businesses sometimes take incredible risks to be successful. And their owners at times put everything on the line, including their personal property, to grow something meaningful. Many people really don’t realize or understand this.
There was an Australian Prime Minister in the late 70’s called Malcolm Fraser. I was too young to have voted for him and I probably wouldn’t have anyway. But he said something very insightful. He said:
Life wasn’t meant to be easy
It was an extremely unpopular thing to say at the time, because no one wanted to hear it. But in more recent times I have realized that what he said was actually a great insight into life.
Life here is like lifting heavy weights. It’s supposed to be challenging because that is how we grow and learn. If it’s hard it’s often because we need to exercise a bit of serious creativity and find a solution.
The problem with the whole “starving artist” thing is that once you start down that path you start to think of yourself as a victim of life. And really – nothing could be farther from the truth. We all have tremendous reserves of creativity and strength to cope with most of what life throws at us – the trick is to see your life as a great experiment, to realize that there is always a solution, and to keep your heart open and look for it.
I hope this doesn’t sound too harsh – that wasn’t my intent. I’m a bit sensitive to this topic because here in Australia this week we’re commemorating the life of a person who many times in her life did not have much of material value. But her spirit and enthusiasm for life always found a way to succeed and in the process she touched and inspired many people around her.
I welcome your thoughts on this topic..
Daniel,
Our thoughts and prayers are with you while you grieve your loss.
Thank-you so much for this post. This is one of my biggest pet peeves about our community of artists. Don't get me wrong, I love the art community, just not the negative thinking that seems to infect so many artists.
Self talk and positive mental attitude are a few of the cornerstone of success in any endeavor, more so in the business of being an artist. The subconscious picks of on all of the little nuances during the day and has a tremendous impact on our thought process even though we don't realize it.
Keeping ones nose in PMA books and even going so far as studying some neuro linguistic programming (NLP) is well worth the investment in time. You will find yourself happier and more carefree which in tern will have a positive impact on your art and your life.
Here are a few good titles to start with;
Think and Grow Rich-Napolean Hill (free in many places)
The Magic of Believing-Claude Bristol
As a Man Thinketh-James Allen (free)
I Dare You-William Danforth
Return of the Ragpicker-Og Mandino
cheers,
Tim
Dearest Daniel, I send you continued gentle healing breezes during this time of transition for you and your family.
Oh my GOSH, this is such a great subject!
We are what we think we are. If you think you are poor and starving and say you are poor and starving…the Universe/Great Spirit/God/Goddess/Insert preferred deity here – will continue to provide to you what you are talking about! Really. This is almost a guarantee.
I have to give this reference to a great philosophy I learned from one of my favorite coaches, Chellie Campbell. People are sharks, tuna, or dolphins in this world. Sharks eat and hurt everyone else to get by, tuna complain and blame everyone else to get by, try to "fix" the sharks, and get eaten by sharks. Dolphins take responsibility for their own actions and find other dolphins to be in their dolphin pod with them – other dolphins who love, respect, support, and honor them.
I like to think that I have mostly evolved into a dolphin. I was a tuna. So sad, blaming everyone else and the world, agreeing with the world about how it doesn't value artist and…oh, woe is me. And certainly the Universe answered my call by bringing me exceptionally painful and difficult living circumstances and relationships. I constantly took jobs for little to no money out of the constant state of desperation and depression I was in.
I did a HUGE amount of courageous spirit work to evolve. Depending on where someone is at, they may have to do a lot or a little if they are in tuna phase.
Since this evolution my life has become so much more wonderful, my attitude shining bright like the sun, and my days are full of miracles. Truly.
Two men look out through the same set of bars. One sees dirt and one sees stars.
It is important to believe that you are a wealthy successful artist. Say this to yourself in the mirror. BUT also TAKE ACTION as often as possible. Whenever you have a spare moment. You CAN do it! I believe in you!
The more we artists bond together and begin to charge the prices we are worth for our work, the more people will see our value. If you simply will not accept any less than $40/hr for your graphic design and everyone else does the same, that becomes the going rate and on and on. Even if no one else, and the going rate doesn't change, you WILL attract clients who want to hire people who value themselves, and will be overjoyed to ONLY have to pay you $40/hr. for your amazingness.
It may help to simply realize that you are completely magnificent exactly wherever you are at. Tuna, shark or dolphin, it doesn't matter – You are a sacredly magnificent, fully loved being who deserves and receives the very best things in life. Sharks need to know this because it can help them to heal the huge wounds in their spirits that cause them to harm others. Tunas need to know this because they can often feel like not enough, not ok because they are poor/suffering. Dolphins need to know it to keep on going strong as dolphins.
Sending pure distilled magnificence your way today…
Daniel,
I send you and yours my healing prayers and thoughts during this time of transition.
Your post validates what I've found to be true… I've found there are many artists who don't think seriously about a marketing plan and how to drive traffic to their website. If an artist is going to make a business of selling their art by using their website then it will be necessary to spend some dollars! Money for SEO, advertising, etc.
The saying," find the traffic and get in front of it", holds true for one's website. Doing the proper SEO on one's site is essential! $97 is not a lot to pay and I wouldn't let anyone convince me it is.
And those artists who use the excuse of being a starving artist, their thoughts will perpetuate their own 'there isn't enough" manifestation. I would rather live in a world of abundance and I drive my thoughts in that direction. And so it is! There is enough!
Thank you for your insights. I've learned a lot from your website!
Fantastic article Daniel! I agree with you 100%. Thank you so much for sharing this and I will be sure to pass this along to all of my artist friends. Cheers!
Hello Daniel,
I surround you in love and light during this time!
Thank you again for a wonderful and insightful article.
It is so great to hear these comments and to see all the positive thinking going on in the art community! Every word you think or say is a statement of truth for you. Your present life is a reflection of your past thoughts. Everything is an affirmation, so we all need to pay attention to what we are saying and accepting as truth for us. Maybe instead of saying "I can't afford this" the artist can say "I don't choose to spend my money on this now". Society teaches us to think that we are victims, but as artists we are visionaries…don't buy into this victim consciousness. I strongly believe that we create our own truth and our own reality, and we are only limited by our own minds! Change your thinking and change your life!!
I know this to be true!
I agree completely. It seem to me that our culture is breeding a lack of personal responsibility.
I love this article, and what a wonderful bunch of comments as well. Thank you all.
I really resonate with this idea… "the trick is to see your life as a great experiment, to realize that there is always a solution, and to keep your heart open and look for it."
I grew up with a lot of negative ideas about art (mostly my dad's subconscious beliefs); primarily, that it was not possible to make a living as an artist and that art had no 'value'.
After doing many other things that were not in my heart, 'just to make money' and being miserable, I finally decided to go for it and take my chance at being an artist. I am determined to disprove my father's beliefs (at least to myself) and to be a productive, financially stable, happily working artist. I have had many successes in the few years since I decided to 'go pro'. I have sold much of my work at professional rates. I am learning every day. And I know as much as anything that my love for art and my belief in my truth and my need for art will carry me… I know that I don't have all of the answers, that I do have a lot to learn, but I believe in what has been placed in my heart.
And I agree with the comment about charging the true value of the work / the artwork. It does us no good to 'dumb down' our work or the depriciate (sp?) the value of our work. If we believe and stand in the value and quality of our work, others will see it and pay accordingly. Thank you again.
Wow – great comments everyone! This is an example of true online community at work. Thanks a lot for your thoughts an your warm wishes.
Dear Daniel,
My heart with you at this time.
This post is so wonderful because it is sincere and coming from a real place in your heart and life.
I completely agree with you regarding the Business aspect. It reminds me about something I wrote before about how artists are almost expected to be a one-man-or-woman-show, but it doesn't mean they have to do everything! If you don't know how to make your own paints, you buy them. If you can't stretch a canvas or want to save the time, you buy it ready. If you don't like numbers you hire an accountant. Same thing goes to technology – you hire the people who know what they are doing, or you buy their books, or you do the research yourself and learn from the free info out there, but it will take you longer to do… And if you plan to do it but can't afford it right now, put it on the plan for the future, when you do the funds by other means. You got to break that cycle!
Best wishes
Moshe
Hi, all,
Great article and inspiring comments, too. I was notified of this blog by google alerts since Christine's post mentioned me. Glad I came over to join the discussion.
Pricing is such an interesting topic! I often work with clients who are struggling to make more money in their business. One woman in my Financial Stress Reduction Workshop complained about not making enough money for her 6-week workshops. I asked her what she charged and she answered, "$125." "Who picked that number?" I asked. That was all it took – she saw instantly that she had picked an inadequate price and she was never going to make enough money to live on with that price. But as long as she feels broke, she can't charge more money because she would never pay more than that herself, see?
I charge $2,500 for my 8-week workshop, now, but as a Tuna-in-Recovery myself, it took me 20 years to get there. I just raised my price every couple of years until I understood that there would be people who wanted what I had AT EVERY PRICE POINT! And if you charge too little, a lot of successful people with money will think you can't be any good.
So, go raise your prices, everyone! And find another place to market your wares where people have more money…
Love and blessings to all,
Chellie Campbell
Author, The Wealthy Spirit
I can so relate to this article on 2 levels. One, I'm married to an artist who has been a professional painter for 20 years.
Two, I'm an art marketing and licensing agent (to my husband and others) and I used to offer consulting to artists.
Often artists would e-mail, call or ask me to help solve a lot of their marketing problems. But they didn't want to pay my consulting fees. I no longer offer consulting services, by the way.
I've hired many consultants over my life and I spend a lot of money on books and training programs to increase my knowledge and help me do my job better.
My question is: if you are willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars on art school, why wouldn't you scrape up $98 for something that will propel your career?
It's the poor mentality that keeps people poor.
I understand that $97 might be more money than someone has – and in that case it probably wouldn’t be a great idea to spend it on an SEO guide. But to me the quoted message from the artist above suggests that maybe I should feel sorry for their predicament and lower the price.
Well sorry – but that’s just not how life works. If you are an artist and you want to be commercially successful, you have to think like a business. Businesses don’t make money by asking customers or partners to feel sorry for them. They get successful by having a vision, a clear achievable plan, investing in it and executing it. That doesn’t mean that they are always flush with cash – often the challenge with a business is understanding how to grow with what appears to be insufficient capital.
Maybe who wrote the above article should take the advice of helping someone out as you may have read in a previous article.Helping your follow artist out (which also includes reductions in pricing) is a part of good business practice.
Kenneth
Kenneth Young
Kenneth,
Finally a dissenting view! Thank you for saying what was on your mind.
As "the person who wrote the above article", I wanted to comment further:
Honestly, I am very sympathetic to people who are going through challenging times and can't afford something. As I mentioned in the article, I've been there a couple of times myself so I am not without compassion. But it's all about how we communicate.
Now, if that person who emailed me the comment referenced in the article had instead said something like this:
"Look – I think I might really benefit from your book but I'm a bit financially challenged right now – do you have a payment plan or any other options that might help me buy now?"
In that case, my reaction would have been completely different because I can see that they are sincere and are taking responsibility for trying to find a solution.
What I didn't appreciate in the actual email I received was the angry tone, and the expectation that I should take responsibility for their situation. Does that make sense?
I also don't mean to sound like I am dictating how people should behave – but when when this involves a product that I have put a huge amount of my personal time and energy into – something that affects my ability to survive and prosper – or not – then I do get to have a say in what I expect from people.
Hope that clarifies a little and thanks again for the comment.
Cheeers,
Daniel.
I am an artist.
I have had success and have made much money at times.
Though, I have finally reached a place, I know that I am more creative and or productive when I am not concerned with marketing.
Having less money isn't that bad for the sake of artistic freedom, though I don't romanticize the "starving artist", I have found personally avoiding business moves keeps what I do artistically pure and without opinions which I am no longer concerned or wavered by.
Websites do not validate or make art any better or worse.
If you are only concerned with commercial success why bother with Art.
There are much easier ways to get paid.
Such as creating websites.
Best regards,
Robert Johnson