What artists can teach everyone about Social Media

The following is a guest post from Amrita Chandra, from Chris Brogan's Blog:

People tend to look to leaders in the technology or business world to learn how to use Social Media. But from my experience, it is artists who are the best teachers of all. Some of the things we can all learn from them:

Find inspiration outside your domain. – Talk to an artist and they will often tell you they found inspiration in a book or political event or meaningful place. Artists take ideas from everywhere to foster collaboration and innovation in their own practice. If you are on Twitter, are you just following other people in your field or your region, or the so-called A-listers who everyone else is following?Try broadening your circle, to follow people like @ryantaylor who is using social media for his sustainable jewelry business and @brooklynmuseum who despite being one of the oldest museums in the U.S., have started a 1stFans program to bring art lovers together using social media. Apply what they are doing to your own area of interest.

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Art Licensing Videos

Check out these videos on Tara Reed's site, of artists telling how they got started in art licensing. They really warmed my heart and made me feel part of a great community.

To see more, go to the links below:

David Billings • Cherish Flieder • Jen Goode • Heidi Gray • Barbara Harvie • Khristian A Howell • Christine Marsh • Xenos Mesa • Tara Reed • Jamie Stevens • Leyla Torres • Deb Trotter • Libby Unwin

How to Make a Good "Art Licensing Website."

by Kate Harper
Some artists are so overly concerned about getting new manufacturers to go to their website, that they completely forget about them, once they get there. Manufacturers are busy people and when they go to a website, they want to see a lot of art fast, without running into navigation obstacles. Is your website "manufacturer-friendly?"

Website Quiz:
How many of these "Manufacturer-Friendly" things do you do?

Your art is on your homepage, and your overall style is represented.

The manufacturer can find your portfolio in one click from the homepage.

From the moment a manufacturer lands on your homepage, within 30 seconds, they can locate and view at least 30 images. Use a stop watch and test this on a friend: If they can't do it, then it means either your images take too long to load, are too hard to find, or are on too many different pages. Consider making your images scrollable like in Sara Henry's website below.

Your contact information is no more than one click away from any page.

A 10-year-old kid can guess what information your link names will lead to.

Your site is only for Art Licensing. It is not a mix of 2-3 other businesses.

Your pages load fast, in 1-2 seconds, because you know slow-loading-pages are the #1 reason people leave websites.

You don't have spontaneous animation, because you understand not all computers can support the software, and it often slows down page-load time.

You don't force manufacturers to listen to audio, watch video, or view animation, and you don't expect them to click "skip it" or "turn it off" as a default.

You don't have text that blinks, moves, or change colors uncontrollably.

Your logo is in the upper left of all pages, and links back to the homepage.

You avoid pdf links, since they require downloads in order to view.

You have a super-easy way for manufacturers to sign up for your mailing list, such as a form that only requires a name and email address.

Here are two examples of art licensing websites that fulfill most of these guidelines. They allow the visitor to find the art quickly. Notice how they don't use any fancy bells and whistles, and yet their sites are very effective at showing a large body of work in an elegant way.

Kathryn Doherty



Sara Henry Design

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Artists or Agents? Tips by Susan January

Susan January is the Vice President of Product Management at Leanin' Tree, a greeting card publisher that represents over 750 artists.

I asked her if I could share her views from the "manufacturer's view point" whether she prefers to work with agents, or with artists directly.

Here is what she said:


We select art artwork primarily because it's good, fills a creative need we have, and because we believe it's going to make for a great product that will sell-in, and sell-through, at retail. Every art submission that is sent to us is reviewed and considered for publication.

ARTISTS vs. AGENTS
There are wonderful artists who are licensing very successfully on their own. And there are some fantastic agents who are earning every penny. The great thing is -- there's room for both, and manufacturers know that, and will continue to use both as valuable resources!

IS ACCESS TO ONLINE ART REPLACING AGENTS?
While the digital shift is changing the way, and the amount of artwork that can be reviewed, all manufacturers have limited staff and resources for reviewing artwork. It's difficult to find and review websites, and the artwork by licensing artists. On our Product Development staff, we don't have anyone whose time can be fully committed to reviewing websites everyday.

From that perspective, it can be easy and convenient to reach out to a licensing agency, give them my "shopping list," and let them respond with lots of possible images from a number of artists.

WHAT ABOUT WORKING WITH ARTISTS?
On the other hand, there is an artist that has great work, is easy and fun to work with, and handles their "art business" professionally and efficiently, I am happy to work directly with them on any project.




SUSAN'S TIPS FOR ARTISTS

Remember, it's all about the Art.
I'm mostly interested in the artwork, and less about whether or not I'm working with an agent or artist.

Timing is important.
I've had meetings with artists at shows, or received submissions from artists or agents, for 3 or more years in a row, before just the right project opened up for us and a particular artist's work!

Manufacturers like Trade shows.
I can't say enough about how valuable shows like Surtex, the Licensing Show, the Atlanta Gift Show, and CHA have become and continue to be for me. I attend every one, and often make it a personal goal to stop at every booth. As long as artists are attending the shows, I'll be there shopping for artwork.

Consider Exhibiting.
Even in this digital age, I truly hope that artists will continue attending and exhibiting at the shows. And I say exhibiting for a reason: my goal at a show is to see as much artwork as possible, and to meet as many artists as possible. I believe I can do that most effectively and efficiently within the exhibit hall, and not trying to run from one end of a convention center to the other to meet with artists who are in the building but not exhibiting.

I've made it a new practice that I am only meeting with artists at a show who are in a booth! It's what the show is for, and I want to support it.

To submit art Leanin' Tree, See guidelines. To learn more about art agents, see a list of U.S. Agents and Agents outside the United States on Joan Beiriger's Blog.

Susan January is the Vice President of Product Management for Leanin’ Tree, Inc., a 60-year old greeting card and gift manufacturer located in Boulder, Colorado. In her current role, Susan provides direction for the company’s long-term product strategy, which includes product planning, allocation and assignment of design and editorial product-related duties, and management of the company’s internal creative staff. In addition, she secures, develops and manages all existing and future external creative resources, which currently numbers more than 750 artists and licensing agents, across all greeting card and gift product categories. Prior to joining Leanin’ Tree in 1998, Susan spent 10 years in product development and art licensing at Barton-Cotton, Inc., in Baltimore, MD, developing greeting card and social expressions products for fundraising programs for national non-profit organizations.