Mark E Shellshear.

The first impression of the customer towards you is very important because we want customers to like us, trust us, buy from us and refer us. To refer us we must make a lasting impression on the person so they will go and tell their friends about us and talk about our Art. People know other people and most likely they will have similar tastes, so they may also like our paintings. Once a stranger buys our work, not only do we ask for their email address but also ask them to refer us to their friends. Referrals are powerful as they give us social proof, that means that someone has bought our work, so it is sort after and they share their experience with others. People know people, so ask for referrals.

Most people get excited about doing something new or doing a new radical style of painting and then they put it out for all to see and if no one comments or very few do, most give up because it didn’t work. The problem is that nothing works at first, so if you are trying a new style you must give it a good chance to work, set a time limit, you will regularly post these new paintings for six months and then  reassess. It takes time for people to appreciate something new and different, so persevere, giving up before you give it a good try, does not make sense. Remember nothing new works at first, set a time limit and persevere.

I like it when people like my work, of course, but when people don't like it, I give them respect because they took their time to view it and form an opinion. Funny the same people tend to follow you, not sure why? I think when we are courteous to people when they don't like our work and we don't attack them for their different opinion, people generally like that and if they like our attitude, then they will like us because of the way we dealt with them and they tend to want to know more about you. Courtesy is strong driver and it cost us nothing to give and the rewards can be winning someone to us. If we can win someone to us who doesn’t like our work but they like us it will not take long for them to come around and appreciate our work. Good manners, a friendly smile and common courtesy can change the minds of those who at first didn’t like our Art.

The secret is daily routines, doing things that sabotage us or things that positively promote us. So many are looking to that big moment when success arrives. Yet success is like saving money, each day you put a little money away in your savings and then over time you have saved a lot of money. It is in our positive daily routines, disciplines, where success is achieved over time. It is positive daily disciplines that make the difference. You know what you have to do and you do it.

Hoping for the best and it will all work out is not a good sales strategy. When asked about selling many Artists say they have tried everything. Which means we’ve tried a few things that all our Artist friends have tried and it didn’t work. We tried but as long as we didn’t do anything different from what we normally do it doesn’t work because we never got outside our comfort zone. If you have had sales in the past, then you have previous buyers that you can contact, but most don’t do it because that voice in their head is saying, don’t annoy the people, they will be upset with you if you contact them. Now if they are already a customer and have bought off you and they loved the painting, why would they be upset if you contact them? Most will not be, you are an Artist and they have one of your paintings hanging in their house, most will be happy to hear from you. You can tell them you have new work and would they like to see them? Send them an email or a text...

One reason people discount their Art is because they are not convinced of the value of the value of the Art. One reason people discount their Art is because they are not convinced of the value of their Art. And when someone says it’s expensive that little voice in our head says, yes, it is a little expensive. When you price your work you need to be convinced of it’s value, because if you have doubt it will become a problem in the sale. The first person you must sell is yourself. If you are convinced of the value, you will not discount, so you need to convince yourself before you get into the sales situation. If you are convinced of the value you can defend the price, but if you are not you will give in. We defend the price by asking questions of the customer so they will have to give reasons why they think it’s expensive. If you say no and the buyer insists on the discount you can disqualify the buyer. Maybe it’s not for you? Can I show you something that may better s...

This is a creative journey that you are on and it is dangerous, not physically but in your mind. Fear does not want criticism or you pushing yourself further out into the unknown, doing exciting new original work, it prefers procrastination, double mindedness, indecision, apathy and copying , these it can live with because then you will be safe and accomplish very little. This is not where the Artist lives, an Artist lives with the unknown every day, pushing boundaries and always wanting to get outside of their comfort zone, experimenting and innovating. It is a daily struggle, because then you know th at you are on the right path, if the fear is strong and trying to stop you, so e njoy the journey you are blessed to be an Artist, create. Artist be comfortable in your the quiet solitude with your muse and triumph every day as we wrestle with the fear.

This is the most freeing thought that an Artist can have, that it is really up to me to create original, new, never been seen before Art.   If there are no rules or the right way to do it, then you can do it your way.   This thought is what stops most Artists from achieving the greatness within them, because the idea that I can do what ever I want to do, is so hard.   Because we all want someone to tell us what to do or tell us we are doing the right thing.   We seek permission and validation not freedom.    We do this because if it fails we can blame someone else, but if we go out and be original, new and create work never seen before, if that fails it is our fault.     Fear stops so many from creating great, original, new Art. You do not need permission, just go and do it.  You do not need the approval of others, listen to your muse and your approval comes through doing your new original work.   There is...

We as Artists can educate every person we come across as we explain our Art to them. Now we are to do this in a way that will win these people to us, most people are interested in the Artistic process, the Artist and the why of the painting, story tell your Art. If we want people to love and appreciate our Art, tell them about it, why you love the painting, what the painting is about and how you created it, teach people about your Art. Please don't be romantic and tell me your Art speaks for itself, it doesn't, if you are fortunate that someone walks up and buys it, wonderful, but in my experience you have to talk about the “Why” of the painting and sell it. Artists we are responsible to educate our own public and take them with us on our Art journey. Don't say what should happen, be the one to make it happen. .

There are a lot of Artists who have experienced a limited amount of success yet never fulfilled their entire potential. Success can be what stops some, they get some success and stop and hold onto it desperate not to lose it. So they stop innovating and experimenting and never change and hold on as tight as they can to their success. Then the game moves on, yes some die hard collectors stay with them hoping for a renaissance, but the majority of collectors move on because they are looking for the new. This is why the concept of this is my style and it is what I always do makes no sense, this is a factory concept because they get a winner and keep pumping it out again and again and the Artist gets trapped in that style and when the game moves on th e Artist is only know n by those paintings. That is why I always tell Artists that they are the asset, they are the value proposition and the Art is what you produce. You are an Artist, not a style or a painting. You are a li...

It breaks my heart when I see talented, hard working Artists struggling to make ends meet. It is not that money does not come their way, it does and unfortunately they do not know how to handle it and therefor do not get to keep it. There seems to be this attitude that, I can look after my money, I do not need help, but if you have no money before the end of the month, you need help. Better to learn how to manage your money so you get to keep some of it than to stubbornly go on not knowing where all your money goes. For an Artist to be prosperous and successful, this just does not just happen by magic, it takes hard work and discipline and from that you earn money from your Art, wouldn’t it be better to learn how to keep your money and build a better life? There are so many books and tutorials on the internet about this subject and most are for free, get in and learn all you can. Handling money is a learned skill, not a gift from God.

Motivation is just like inspiration, most want it before they start  working, yet it doesn’t seem to operate that way. If you want to be successful at Art then it will take more than a few years, so there is a good chance you are often not going to feel motivated or inspired. The key is discipline and consistency, you get up every day and go to work on your Art, no excuses, you are just doing, pick up that brush and begin to work. It always amazes me that once we start working inspiration arrives and I feel motivated, both are nice but the not necessary, the necessary requirements are discipline and consistency, these will serve you far better than waiting to be motivated or inspired before you start work.

If you are in an Art show or in your Art booth and someone is admiring one of your paintings walk up to them and say, “ Thank you for taking time to look at my painting, you seem to appreciate nice paintings?” We lead with a complement and finish with a question, we need to reinforce the positive opinions that people have of themselves. Everyone believes they are normal. We are treating people how they believe they should be treated and they will respond in kind. Lead with a complement and they will usually respond in kind and answer your question. Now the dance begins, answer and then question and repeat and repeat until they say yes or no.

I don’t know who said this but it is a certainly a true statement. Everyday we get up and try and make the day count, by painting a painting, making a video, writing a blog and putting our work out into the world. The thing you learn quickly in doing your work is that you cannot please everyone. Please the ones who appreciate you and are interested in the work you are doing. Every time we post out our Art work we wanting to please someone and make our day count.

The whole focus of the professional Artist outside of creating great Art is to sell your Art. You must be relentless, you must have a great product and it must offer value to the customer. You must be in group shows and competitions and get known in your local area. You must make videos of you with your Art talking about it. You must story tell your Art and story tell your life, people need to know you. You must have great after sales service. You must have confidence and great self belief. You must do what is right for you, we all want to do the easy stuff but success comes through doing the hard things. Of course it goes without saying I do not want you to give your Art away and also I don’t think you should put high prices on your work when you are just beginning and in the end the price you put on it will be your decision and make it great value for the customer.

It takes time to be successful, to make the personal and professional changes that take us forward and we become better. Small steps, small wins. It’s like saving money, it takes time to grow. Always do more than you need to, see that the extra hour worked each day is an extra 6 hours a week, nearly one day worked more than others. See if practice makes you perfect, then practice more than anyone else. So what should I practice more? It’s easy to paint but hard to do cataloging. It’s easy to draw but hard to do the book keeping. It’s easy to be creative but hard to read that book I know I should read. If practice makes you perfect then don’t keep practising the things that cannot help you, practice the hard things you have to do and become perfect at them or at best efficient at accomplishing the tasks before you.

We need to be able to measure our progress as we want be be able to look back over time and see how much we have improved and our Art business has improved. Therefore we must be accountable to our goals so we know where we are in the journey to achieve them. We want to see growth not just our paintings improving but seeing sales growth, collectors returning to buy again and again, seeing increase in our prices and seeing personal growth. Without accountability there will be no purpose or drive to achieve those goals, they will remain wishful thinking and we will just meander on. Accountability is the key to productivity, we can easily measure our day by what we produced and our daily list will clearly show us that, ticking everything off. Achieving our small daily goals takes us closer to accomplishing our bigger goa ls.

We want people to like us and like our Art. We want people to respect us, so live your professional life in a way that gains respect, you don’t always have to be right. Professional respect is something you earn over a period of time and it can be lost in an instant. You can achieve the success you want as long as you don’t care how long it takes, persistence is the key and your Art must be impressive. So focus on your Art and let success follow. Push the boundaries. Follow your passions. Make great Art and aim at a balanced life of integrity, creativity, innovation, originality and constantly working on personal development, it matters, and be the best person and the best Artist you can be.

One of the most damaging things we see in the Art world is the indiscriminate use of criticism and yet I have never seen criticism change something for the better. The problem with criticism is that it puts the person being criticised on the defensive, it hurts them, many deeply and the only lasting change is resentment towards the critic. You cannot get the best out of someone by using criticism. The best approach is to use encouragement and respect, teach people to do things, show them how it’s done and then find ways to congratulate them on every little step forward. Encouragement and praise are far more profitable than criticism.

We all want more or so we are told and its usually more stuff we really do not need. If I said to you as an Artist that you need more, I wonder how you would interpret that in regards to your Art business? Of course most would say more money, more sales, more opportunity and more collectors and the list could go on. But what if I said what we really need is more knowledge. If we got more knowledge then those other things would most probably come to pass. More knowledge about money, how to get it, how to spend it wisely and how to keep it. More knowledge about sales, how get them, how to close them and how to get more. More knowledge about opportunities, how to recognize them, how to exploit them and how to prepare for more. More knowledge about collectors, how to meet strangers, how to engage with strangers, how to lead a stranger to the sale close. All this knowledge and the wisdom of the ages is available to all of us in books, but if we don't read them, then ...

When fear strikes us if we don’t immediately and positively act and go against it, it will stop us. Fear generates self limiting assumptions. If I make a video my family and my friends will see it and they will laugh at me and I will look foolish in their eyes, a self limiting assumption. We need to say to fear, I will do it and I will look courageous and brave in my family and friends eyes because everyone I know is to afraid to make videos and then make the video. Fear stops people taking the first step. Fear stops the one thing we need, progress and progress is important. It is so good to look back and see the changes that have taken place in our lives and know it happened because you were courageous enough to act against the fear. You made choices that has changed your life and set you on a journey to discover your best self. We truly change our world when we choose to change. We don’t want perfection, we want excellence in our lives through continued progress. ...

  Y esterday’s thinking won’t win today’s game, so when you learn something new, change immediately, change quickly and action it into your Art practice. When you learn something new practice it, because it is of no use to you until you make it yours. It is no good learning to draw and then not drawing. It is no good learning a new painting skill and not incorporating it into your painting. Same with every part of your Art business when you learn something new, write it down and then implement it into your Art practice. Beware of the words, This is the way we have always done it. Don’t be comfortable with yesterdays success. Don’t get comfortable with success, don’t let limiting beliefs stop you from achieving all your potential. Learn new skills, the Art world is rapidly changing and we must keep changing with it. Don’t be comfortable with yesterday’s success, there are more mountains to climb.

Before you start any new project make sure you commit to finishing it before you start. If are going to quit then do so before you start, many people have started past projects and then when it got hard they stopped. Consider these before starting the project. Write it out clearly all you expectations. Commit to the project until the end. Know that it will be harder than you think. Know it will work out differently than you think. When it gets hard, don’t give up, push through the hard.