Art Marketing Buzz

Great Marketing is everywhere. This was sent to me from my parents.  They know I am a marketing geek and are always on the lookout for cool copy or attention grabbing ads. 

This has got to be one of the best singles ads ever printed. It is reported to have been listed in the Atlanta Journal.   

SINGLE BLACK FEMALE seeks male companionship, ethnicity unimportant. I’m a very good girl who LOVES to play. I love long walks in the woods, riding in your pickup truck, hunting, camping and fishing trips, cozy winter nights lying by the fire. Candlelight dinners will have me eating out of your hand.. I’ll be at the front door when you get home from work, wearing only what nature gave me. Call  (404) 875-6420  and ask for Daisy, I’ll be waiting. ….. 
  
  
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Puppy example of great copywriting and Self promotion

Not only is this funny, at least to my warped sense of humor, it truly is good copy. Lets break it down.  The copy was written specifically for the target market of that puppy. Think about it. We have a lab so, the market for a lab would be a male who likes outdoor activity. Hunting especially as labs are well known for their abilities in the field. 

The other important note here is the play towards an emotive response. In the ole case of features and benefits I am always harping on selling the benefits right?  Selling features will only work on a very small percentage of people. (hint-if you have a guy sporting black horn-rim glasses, white socks and black tennis shoes, a pocket protector with color-coded pencils lined up in order of heighth, and a NASA badge on come to your gallery….you MIGHT decide to sell on features).

The feature of this pup may look like this (made up of course). Sir Isac Runs A Lot is a pedigreed pooch from a long line of show winners.  His ancent bloodlines allow stellar 100 point confirmation by harsh judges.  100’s of Best in Show and Best of Breed in his family. Blah blah blah. You get the idea.

The benefits on the other hand are what the writer chose to tell us. They are the things that make us FEEL. Right brain, emotional. 

Now if I can just figure out how to write an ad for my art that would work in the singles section.

Tim

Art marketing demands sacrifice. Try sleeping with the enemy. What!!? Here is a secret from an abundance perspective that has been a huge benefit in many different business niches. The world of art is no different. Part of marketing art is awareness, internal and external. When we see a threat or view a “competitor” as a threat we clam up, shut up, bare our teeth and generally attack or run. Right? Why is that ? I am not big on Darwin’s gig so I don’t want to open that can of wrigglers but… in most cases I think it is a knee jerk reaction. What else would we do? We survive with art marketing. That is what we always have done. We go into “protection mode” and become single-minded in avoidance or defeat of our perceived enemy.

I have seen this first hand and in fact have been the brunt of some seriously low, below-the-belt tactics from folks who view me as a competitor. Sad. I am a big boy so I know there really is competition out there and marketing our art is tough. If you have read me long enough you will know that I am a hardcore, old-school capitalist. A free enterprise guy to the core. But here is a thought. Lets do the ol’ compare and contrast thingy. What happens when we manage to run across anyone or anything that we perceive can help build our business, improve profitability, expand our market? We begin to salivate like one of Pavlov’s dogs and instinctively begin to think of ways to leverage that to our advantage. Yep. I know that is true. So do you.

Lets change our way of thinking about this just for a moment. Humor me here. In most cases we become protective because of FEAR. Really. What I mean is we view a competitor as someone who can potentially steal from us. Take away, make less that which we believe is ours. Market share is really what I am talking about. If we were not fearful of a “competitor” taking some of our business, we may have a different outlook. I submit to you that the fear in this case is coming from a bad attitude. Stinkin thinking. It stems from a core issue, a believe in scarcity instead of abundance.

The belief is that there are 1000 customers and I have 800 of them. If you take one now I am down to 799 and so on. The proverbial pie is only so big and you need the largest piece possible so 3 year old Johnny can have the newest zipideedooda in every color so he can be entertained when not playing his Nintendo Wii on his 42” plasma. (another rant for another time) The fangs come out, hackles raise and kitty cat becomes a lioness.

Why don’t we try a different method to market our artwork? Wouldn’t it be the coolest thing ever if you could milk your competitors, figure out how to make money from them…how about with them? Awww…. run Forest run. I am only saying, stop trying to divide the same freakin pie. Stir the pot, (I love that …it’s what I live for) combine, collude, and compliment. Then make a new pie. Joint venture or become an affiliate.

Heresy, I know. Just check it out for a minute though. What would happen if you transformed the pickled grey matter into fostering an ethos of abundance instead of perpetuating the lie of scarcity? Don’t ya think there may be a tad of wisdom in utilizing our competition, leveraging that relationship into a positive instead of the same ole thing. I know it hurts. But consider this, if you can figure out how to compliment what they do, how much nicer and less stressful and more profitable would things be? And further …keep your eye on the prize. What are you in business for anyway? To earn capital to fund the dream, I would guess. I hope you have the why figured out already, if not go to “starting with the end in mind”, and come back here later.

If you are just in business to compete I would suggest another arena, maybe WWF or UFC, there are a ton of places to get your butt kicked. In business you can still compete and I submit we always will, it’s a good thing. If however,  we can begin to work in a synergistic nature with a perceived competitor a few things will happen.

First you will definitely become a contrarian. That is a good place to be because we all know that what most people do, i.e. the masses, doesn’t work. Doing what everyone else does is a sure ticket to the mindsuckin-dreamstealin-state of mind and way of being… average. Cream of the crap. Mediocre. So step out, receive the tomato or egg in the face and become a contrarian. I promise it will positively affect your bottom line.

Next, you will find a breath of fresh air in your business life, your art will reflect it, your home life will be transformed and you might even smile…and on occasion accidentally forget to stifle a earth shattering belly laugh. Be sure to have your cell phone with you always because your family could in fact mistake this new (real) you for a dissociative identity disorder and ship you off.

Another serendipitous change from all of this blather is you could re-create your business, find new direction, or even find the air speed indicator edging closer and closer to redline. Sweet!

So instead of listening to chicken little and tuckin’ your horns in, I suggest opening yourself up to sleeping with the enemy and finding out what’s under the sheets that may be mutually beneficial.

Until next time…live, love, laugh.

tim

Portrait Artist Rod Evans has become renowned for his innovative portraits by combining an intense love of art and a visionary style.  He has been requested to lecture nationally as well as internationally for a host of venues including PPA’s Imaging USA, WPPI, and Senior Portrait Artists Events.  Rod’s images have been exhibited in art galleries, showcased in Canon training books as well as magazine publications, and he has been featured on the cover of Professional Photographers of America Magazine.  He is also featured as one of 11 top photographers for Canon USA’s workflow training DVD.  He is a PPA National Award winner who has been on Photoworkshop.com and PhotoVision Video Magazine.  Rod was selected to be member of the prestigious Society of XXV and the Canon Explorers of Light Program.

Rod’s background in art and photography has taught him to relax and study his subject, bringing out the best in each person he photographs.  The art is in communication and learning to feel the image verses just seeing the image.  This is how he is able to create art in each subject he photographs.

 “Photography is more than a two dimensional media to me, if done well you can capture a beautiful part of a persons soul.”  -Rod Evans

Here is something else cool about Rod.  He is a fun, upbeat guy.  I interviewed Rod today and had an absolute blast.  What was refreshing about Rod is that he is seemingly without ego.  For someone at his level in the business he is grounded in what is real and what is important.  That is huge.  Rod also understands the importance of  a business plan and marketing.  A rarity indeed.  Although I would argue that most of the people at high levels of success in any industry understand this.

Listen to Rod’s views on studying or listening to PMA (positive mental attitude) book’s, cd’s and dvd’s.  He has unique insight specific to self help as he worked with an industry giant that you have heard of.  We talked about mentorship…is it important, how does it work.

Rod also exposes a few hot marketing campaigns that they are working right now today.  Would you be intrigued if there  was a 4 digit increase in one area of business using some of  these?  Yeah, 4 digit.  Awesome. And finally,  thoughts and comments on creativity and keeping fresh, social media marketing, digital painting, and much more.  Go see his web-site and check out his work.  He has some awesome things coming up.  A digital painting instructional DVD and…… Italy anyone?  go to Rod’s site and get the scoop on a digital painting workshop in Italy. Then next week check out this podcast.

Here is access to a few other resources we talked about in the interview.

The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind”

Think and Grow Rich”

The Secret”