Mark E Shellshear.

Why do people find talking to strangers and selling so hard to do? People find standing up and making a speech, hard to do. It’s not because these things are terribly hard to do, it’s the internal story that we are telling ourselves. Then that story becomes the reality we live by. If we change the internal story to, I can do that and I am very capable of doing it, then we will see this become the reality we live. The way we think about things will determine if we do something or not do it. The story we tell ourselves becomes our reality. .

Because you must define your highest value, what is most important to you. If you are not doing that, then change and do it. Whatever is important to you and what inspires you, whatever makes you happiest when doing it, this is what we must do. Inspiration comes from within. Inspiration from without will not last and it will fade away. Inspiration must come from within and it must be consistent with your highest values. If it’s not empowering you won’t do it or you will do it badly, find what inspires you and do that.

It is very easy to get caught up in the race to be successful which may cause you to take short cuts that in the long term will damage you and your business. Do not trade off fast sales of questionable copied Art for a good reputation and a name for quality work? Your good name is what will support you in the future, to lose people’s trust and confidence in you will mean you will not have a long career in the Arts. Build an Art career that will last, build on the reputation of producing original Art that is yours and yours alone. If you want a long career in the Arts build strong always knowing exactly what you want and establishing good ethical standards into your Art business. There is no fast way to be an overnight success, it takes time and you must pay your dues. .

A daily decision to act and accomplish the tasks in front of you. This is what we all must strive for, improvement not perfection. Perfection is impossible, improvement is doable. Don’t wait until you are perfect, just work, perfection will not come it’s a bar to high, don’t aim for perfection aim for improvement and do work that matters. So lean into the hard stuff and get it done, don’t put it off we want improvement. To stay the best at what you do, you will need continual improvement.

Have you ever asked the question, “what am I missing?” Am I missing something and what is it? If I don’t know, how can I find out?” I know there is a lot I don’t know, but I don’t need to know everything just what I need to know to build my Art business. What do I need to find out or learn that will bring change in my world? Most likely you all ready know what to do, knowing is one thing, the key is in doing.

Excellence is a journey but you never get there. Do your best every day and strive to do it better tomorrow. Those who search for excellence in their Art practice find that it yields opportunities, people recognize those who strive to be the best. Commitment to excellence. .

New ideas do not spread quickly, people are addicted to average. Most people buy Art that they recognize, most are afraid to buy what is very different and edgy. Our job is to educate people to see more in Art than a pretty picture that they recognize, we want people to look at work they don’t recognize and think about it, why it’s so interesting and different these are two good reasons to look at the painting. If we want our new ideas to spread, then tell a story about the work and get peoples attention and interest. .

Being worth talking about is not following what the crowd says as most live by art myths. An art myth Artists are prepared to fight for is, you need to have your own style. Why? So people will recognize your Art. I would rather they recognize me and know my name, than my Art. I do not want to be painting the same paintings I was doing 25 years ago, because I am not the same person I was 25 years ago, I have changed and my Art has changed, but my name and face has not. As we grow and change, so our Art grows and changes and we become worth talking about.

  What holds people back is false beliefs, learned from others with the same false beliefs. False beliefs are safe and comfortable and allow us to be part of our group. An example of false beliefs is, what is more important the Artist or the painting? Most will say the painting, but if the Artist is unknown, how will people see the painting, but if the Artist is well known many will see their paintings. It goes against what the majority say, because what they say is safe, comfortable and it’s not my fault because this is what we believe. The most important thing that Artists can do is get well known, name and face recognition, then the collectors will look at your paintings. .

There are some Artists I know who make a reasonable living by selling paintings on the street, some do very well in Galleries, some excel in Art Fairs and others in weekend markets, all these Artists in their varied ways are putting their Art out there in their market place and selling. Unfortunately there are those who are not working hard at selling their Art and they always seem to find fault with the market, but that is like finding fault with money when it’s all you have got to buy and sell with. Complaining and criticising fixes nothing and it only reveals our inner self. The best thing to do is learn all you can about the Art market where you live and make the part of the Art world a better place because you are in it. Don't just find fault, find a way to do it better and strive for excellence.

We must remember it is not just paintings we are sell so always be working on yourself and your attitudes and responses. Developer a great smile and a happy charming personality, no one responds well to the brooding Artist, especially buyers. Start the process of building your Art career over years, be patient it takes time and determination. Set goals so you know where you want to be and what you want to have achieved at certain points over the next few years and work to achieve each one of them. Always remember to be gentle on yourself, life can be brutal so don't help it out, be nice to you, care about you and love you so you are able to care for and love others. .

Many Artists underestimate how valuable their contribut ion to the Art scene is. They do not realise that they contribute to what makes the Art scene so vibrant and exciting and losing one Artists voice makes us all a little bit poorer. All Artists are important from the superstar Artist down to the Artist who paints for pleasure and gives all their work away, all have something wonderful to give to make the Art world a better place. The voice of the hobby Artist to the voice of the superstar, all have something worthwhile to say and contribute to the ongoing Art conversation, so please contribute. P ut your voice out there through you creations, your story telling, your blogs and videos. You are valuable to the Art community, please contribute to the ongoing Art conversation so Artists, not others, tell the evolving Art story. .

  Learn to see selling as an opportunity to delight your customer and bring joy into their life. One of the reasons why I think Artists should talk and write more about their Artistic practice is so that when they are around groups of people they can ask this question, “would you like to hear my story, how I take an idea and turn it into joy in the life of another?” Imagine you saying that? What do you think people would say to you? Maybe something like, I thought you were an Artist? Or how do you bring joy into the life of another? Yes, I am an Artist and I take an idea and create a wonderful painting out of nothing and that painting brings joy into the lives of others? Isn’t that amazing, that Artists can do that and effect the emotions and the happiness of others? You have a calling Artist, to bring change and that change is to bring happiness and joy into the lives of others through your wonderful Art.

W inning all the battles that we face with the thief, our own person al negative self talk and the war in the flesh. Our battle is very private and mostly done in solitude. Learn to recognise the voice of fear, the thief and use it as a compass. R ecognise it when it comes and tries to stop you from going forward and doing new and challenging things, greet it and say, “Are, you have turned up I must be doing the right thing, so I will proceed forward .” Learn to quieten the critical voice in your head by not accepting what it says and start making positive affirmations about yourself . Work on this and get yourself thinking positive thoughts, what you think about most of the time, most of the time you become. Deal with the flesh, beware of procrastination and excuse s that stop you from working, it is so easy to reason with yourself why you need a break because it is to effortless to be lazy . When you work, work, always give it your best effort, do not short c...

The reason that many people never achieve their goals is because they are not consistent in their commitment to painting and building their Art business. For many it is far easier to make excuses when they don’t commit to working systematically, but rather think that a big rush of energy and inspiration occasionally will do it, erratic effort will not produce long lasting results. To be successful in the Art business you have to do the work to achieve your goals, make those videos, story tell your Art and it must be consistent work, deliberately done. There is no magic in your goal s , the miracle is in doing the work that achieves those goals.

There is no answers to rejection in the sales process, so don’t ask why and try to find out what is not there. Only rehearse the victories and what you have learned from them and how you could improve your sales technique and also think about your after sales service to your new customer who you now want to become your collector. It is more important to concentrate all your attention on the one sale than on a hundred rejections. Rejoice in the sale and build on your sale skills. Forget the rejection and do not ask why me?. There is no answers, so don’t try to find out what is not there. Rehearse the sale over and over and new insights and ideas will come. The more you do it, the more you can do it. .

Be inspired by others but do not repeat them or copy them, you are an Artist not a factory worker. Patience, as this will take time, years so be there for the long haul. Learn about basic accounting, so you know where the money goes. Budget and save, so you get to keep some of the money. Change, you will need you work hard on your own self improvement, as nothing will change unless you change first. Work hard at getting name and face recognition, videos will do this for you. Finally you are far more creative, innovative and capable than you think, follow your Muse and push yourself hard to get the best out of yourself. Be determined to make your Artistic success a reality. .

Getting attention is standing out from the pack, not being like everyone else but being the best you can be. I know that this is a real challenge because the fear does not want us to stand out and be different, because this not safe, you could be criticised and talked about and the fear does not want that so it will do all it can to stop you from standing out. It will use every excuse it can find to stop you, it will tell you that you are shy, reserved and you do not push yourself forward, but you must ignore the fear and do exactly opposite to what it says. Artists say to me. but I don’t want to do that I just want to be in the background and let my Art speak for me. For a start Art does not speak and please think about what you are saying, that you don’t want to be named, just your Art. Unfortunately it’s a sad truth, unknown Artist, unknown Art. .

Every person an Artist comes in contact with is important because that person no matter how unimportant will have an opinion about you after you have left them and that opinion could be good or bad. If good, they will sing your praises, yet if bad it could eventually hurt you because we never know who knows who so treat others how you want to be treated. If you want respect, earn it by always being the best person you can be, show respect to the important and to the not so important people. Respect is something earned, courtesy is something given. .

The reason so many Artists start out and then after a few years give up is because they perceive that their work is no good because they can not sell it and they leave and stop painting. They equate that the lack of sales is because of the quality of the work but the truth is not that at all, the work may be brilliant, original, wonderful work but you are unknown, no body knows you. This is the problem not the work, build a network of people around you and your work, get known, do videos, blog and story tell your paintings. Get known this must be one of your three priorities, paint lots of work, learn about being your small business and promote and market yourself and your Art. You are your Art and you need to be more well known than your paintings.

So stop worrying about everyone, because everyone will not buy, but if we connect with one stranger and build a relationship with them, then you get their permission through that relationship to sell them a painting. Permission is given by their willingness to listen to your story about your Art and all the questions they ask, a relationship is being formed by you being friendly and happy and their showing interest in wanting to know more about your painting. Make the experience so good and special for them that they love the painting as much as you do, then because they love the painting so much they will tell their friends about their beautiful new painting and their friend the Artist. Word of mouth is the best advertising that you can get, they tell others about you and then those people will come and buy from you also. The key is to make the buying experience something special and memorable, then they will want to talk about you to their friends and spread the word.

So many defeat themselves by continually daydreaming about what if when I am so successful and bring disappointment into their hearts because it never gets past being a day dream and then becomes a defeated dream. I think it is so important to get your dreams and goals down on paper, it makes it real and you can then plan out what you are going to do, step by step. Seeing it on the paper, reading it and speaking it out loud and having it locked in your imagination covers all the ways we can use to motivate ourselves, own the dream and go forward and accomplish the dream and make it reality. Writing it out and setting out the steps to achieve it gives you ownership of your dream, now add some emotion and enthusiasm to this, you own it, go and make it a reality. .

No matter whether we are painting, showing our work or selling our work, people matter. We must consider how our Art serves others. How our Art touches others. How our Art influence others. No person is an island, everything we do has some sort of impact on someone. Produce Art that inspires others to be better, brings joy and happiness into their lives. It is always about the people we touch. The people we serve. The people we influence. The people whose lives are changed because of a beautiful painting. Never underestimate the power of your Art and the people you touch.

The principle s that I share with Artists are really simple, d o small steps in your Art practice and personal development and th is will lead to big changes in the future . Peoples inability to change is very obvious when we consider New Year resolutions, great statements slowly lost. People decide to do gym at the beginning of the year with great enthusiasm and by the end of February they have lost interest. Why is this? When we attempt to change our lives with just enthusiasm, as that enthusiasm slowly fades we stop and go back to our old ways that feel so good. To make big changes in your life takes desperation or disgust. Now if those emotions are not there then you have to do it the only other way that will work for you, self discipline, small disciplined changes that are easy to do. Instead of going to the gym, just walk around the block every day, that's easy and as you enjoy it so you will increase the distance you walk. Change comes by small increme...

As Artists we should focus on opportunities. We should focus on results and focus on being productive. Yet most importantly we should focus on being grateful. Gratitude is so important, being grateful for all you have and the wonderful talent and gifts that you have been given. So often we focus on what we do not have rather than being focused on being grateful for that we do have, there will always be people better off and worse off than us, so focus on gratitude. Be grateful for all that you have and work hard at being a better person and making your world better, if everyone did it the world would be a better place. .

You must paint those paintings that never sell, you must deal with the heartache of rejection, you must post and post and make videos even though you get very little response, you must go back to that Art Fair even though you have never sold there, because you must do the time. All this if you can do it, will build an inner strength in you to conquer the most difficult of situations you will ever face as an Artist. Those Artists who have been around for a long time, when you get to know them they are very strong characters, resolute in determination, will never give up, believe fiercely in themselves, defiantly self reliant and they know that their will always be days with no sales and days with wonderful sales it is just the Art Business. They know that they sold very good work when they started out for very little money, virtually gave them away and now sometimes sell questionable work for outrageous sums, it is just the Art Market. You have to do your time and pay your d...