Mark E Shellshear.

The big difference from the very successful Artists and the average Artists is that the successful Artists believes that they are among the best before they are. If you believe that you are only second best, then you will preform at second best always. But if you believe that you are among the best then you will act and preform like the best. Attitude always determines outcome.

The average video of your Art work should be always under two minutes long, so you are at most committing fourteen minutes of your week to videos, you can afford that time. The videos take two minutes each to do but it will take time to write your script and describe your Art piece. The single minded Artist have a fantastic advantage, they compress time, everyone who does a weekly video has an advantage over the Artist who does the occasional video and the Artist who does a daily video has a big advantage over the Artist who does a weekly video in just the first week, the weekly video Artist does one video and the daily video Artist does seven, in one week they have a six week advantage. In one month it will be four videos verses thirty videos, so in one month they will have a twenty six weeks advantage, we can't ever catch up. Artists should seriously be using this free tool to promote their Art on all the different platforms on the internet. The single minded Artist w...

We come up with a lot of excuses to not sell and we don’t begin. Yet we have to sell our paintings, it is like being between a rock and a hard place. I have only been told once by a couple that they did not like the way I sold, they are no longer in the Art business, I am. Most of the reasons I come up with for not selling or making that video are made up by me, no one has spoken to me. No one I have sold Art to, mine or other peoples has ever said, I am offended by the way you sell or you are annoying me. I have had lots of people politely say, I am just looking but never anything worse than that. All the excuses I come up with are my own excuses to stop me from doing something challenging and uncomfortable and what is behind that, fear, the thief trying to stop me from being extraordinary. It’s time to make that video describing your Art work and inviting people to contact you to buy it. What is the worst that can happen?

If I think about what I have to do in my Art business to get known, it scares me so much, but if I ignore it and hope it goes away then I live in denial. If I act the moment I think of a good idea, there is a greater chance of success than if I wait and allow fear to sabotage my efforts. The greatest battle we all face each day is not with other people it is the battle in our minds, the thief and the critic. The thief wants to keep me safe and quiet, the critic wants to keep me from showing my Art because it’s not good enough yet, what they both do is sabotage my efforts to change and keep me invisible. If I am to bring change into my world, I will have to silence the critic and overcome the thief. Silence the critic with positive self affirming affirmations. Make that video and p anic the thief, act on that good idea s constantly and get the attention of strangers.

I do not see what you do as work, have the attitude that you are making a difference and that makes it challenging and exciting and a reason to go forward every day. Don’t let people tell you that you can’t make a difference because you can. Maybe you will you be criticized, but pity the critics, they are afraid of you, you might be the one that brings change and they don’t want change. Even if you only touch one person with your Art and it changes them and they grow through the experience, then you have made a difference. Art is powerful, it can inspire people, it can encourage people, it can bring joy into the hearts of some and it can heal others. Make a difference and change your world through your original, inspiring Art. .

People don’t go to galleries, Art fairs or enter your Art booth because they don’t like Art, they are there for the Art but the thing is like most Artists, they don’t like strangers. Your first priority in selling is to stop being a stranger as quickly as you can, have a big smile and quickly introduce yourself and befriend them. They much prefer to buy from someone they like, there is six times more chance they will buy from you if they like you. To often sales people try to close the sale before it has even opened. Befriend first, sell second.

Be generous and make it part of your Art business, I don’t mean give away your Art or give big discounts, I mean be generous with your appreciation of others, listen to what they have to say, always have a positive, encouraging word for others. If you are generous with your time, your appreciation of others and your encouraging speech it will cause others to gravitate to you, because you become the person they want to be like and they will like you and that is so important in selling to strangers, if they like you most times they will like your work. You can never give away to much praise, or to much encouragement or, to much appreciation, or to much caring, these are all renewable resources for us to use over and over again. Be the generous Artist and change your world.

It is not just the visual Arts where you have to struggle in the first five to ten years, no one will give you a free ride, you are not going to have someone knock on your door and tell you that have just been discovered, you have to earn the big prices, you are not entitled to get them, you have to build your Art career and that will take sacrifice and low prices at the beginning. In the struggle days don’t see that the value is in the Art, see that the value in you the Artist and honestly if you have what it takes and you recognise that you are the value proposition, then know that it does turn around. The value is in the Artist, make yourself valuable prioritise getting name and face recognition and you will get well known. The two most important thing are name and face recognition and sales, lots of sales that is what will turn heads.

Art is a discipline the demands that we produce a high standard of original work that will be accepted in a discerning market place. If we have self doubt this will undermine our ability to constantly produce this high standard of original work, we will play it safe because that’s what fear wants and we will not put ourselves in a vulnerable position where we can be challenged or criticised. Do the opposite of what the fear wants and strengthen your self worth by getting out of your comfort zone and do original work. Don’t be afraid to experiment and innovate, this is where you will find new ideas and a different way to look at your Art, take the challenge of the fear and do exactly what it says not to do. You are an Artist, don’t let fear rob you, be the best Artist that you can be. .

Stay on the job and finish the work, excuses makes for time wasting. Be courageous with your Art practice, always be pushing the limits, if that frightens you it is most probably the right thing to do. Take the highs with the lows, it's not personal, it is just the Art life. Do not take things too personally, the overly sensitive Artist can quickly become bitter and retreat into a comfortable and safe place. Be patient and have a long view, this is not a sprint it’s a marathon. Eventually you must get to the place where you are the best judge of your own work, you created it, so own it. Self confidence and self validation are the qualities of the confident professional Artist. .

  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, and if people don’t like it, it’s 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, liste...

 I really do believe that to get the best results we must be the best we can possibly be. When we make the decision to be the best we possibly can be it effects all we do, our mannerisms, our attitudes and our own happiness and the happiness of people around us. Positive and enthusiastic people are fun to be around and these people get results. If you want the best results, then just be the best you can be, do not compare you self to others, be the example you want others to be, be your best. By being the best you can be now, you are planting positive seed into your future and your best life harvest will come from it.

We must be getting new customers and continue to follow up on the ones we already have with after sales service. The biggest mistake people make in sales is not asking for the sale, they will stand there and talk to a potential customer and the person will make all the right noises, “it’s very nice.” “What an amazing painting,” but still the Artist does not come out and say, “would you like me to bubble wrap it for you?” The reason people don’t ask for sale is fear of rejection, very insecure, fear of offending the person, thinking, “I don’t want to be a nuisance.” Fear of offending them is always the excuse I find the hardest to understand because asking someone if they would like to buy your painting is not offensive. What’s offensive with saying, “can I wrap this for you?” Or “will you be paying for this in cash or credit?” These are not offensive sayings people hear them every day of the week, it is the fear within us that makes these excuses real and then we have a re...

Most of the collectors I dealt with bought modern abstract Art to extreme modern Art but they still wanted to buy famous dead traditional Artists. Many Artists struggle with searching for their style, but I believe the key is to paint in the way that most fulfils you and not worry about what others are doing, there is more than enough Art lovers around for all the different genres of Art. Find where you are most fulfilled and don’t get caught up with which genre should I paint in, time and the Muse will push you where you should go. Painting is an expression of you and who you are, so you must paint you.

If you want to sell your Art to strangers then they will have to know who you are. We buy from people we know. Are you getting known? Do more people know you now than the number of people who knew you this time last year? Are you still afraid of what people will say about you or think about you? Safe is a nice place to be, because it is safe. Safe is out of sight, invisible. Obscurity is worse than no talent, because having no talent and lots of drive will accomplish more than being safe. People need to know your name and recognize your face and know you are the Artist. T he first job of the Artist is to get known, so make those videos .

The Art business has really changed since the internet came into our lives and Artists today are seeing themselves now in charge of their careers. Artists today can earn a great living selling their Art without ever showing in a gallery, this was unheard of when I started selling Art back in the 1970’s, if you couldn’t get into a gallery and knew you never would, then you had to enter every Art competition and Art show going and hope for sales, but few collectors went to these shows. The Art world has changed and Artists need to be seeking change. What will change the game is actually you changing your game, doing what others are not prepared to do. It’s stepping out of the crowd and not being invisible and getting the attention of the Art buying public.

As we grow so our success grows, slowly yes, but it is growing. Every new skill and discipline have to be earned and paid for it takes time so be patient. Prepare yourself to be ready for Artistic acclaim when it comes, for opportunity when it comes, for challenge when they come, for success when it comes. Being ready for success is more than an interesting thought, it is a necessity, work hard on yourself as you work on your Art business. The two go hand in hand. .

How you think about yourself has a great influence on how others think about you. We talk ourselves into or out of our ability to do something. If you are negative and critical about your Art work you will have trouble selling it to others as you are not convinced it is good. If you love your Art work and you are positive and praise and appreciate yourself you will most likely sell, because that is what will come across to your viewers. How we think about ourselves and our Art will largely determine our success or lack of success.

We need constant sales for our Art business to survive and that is hard, but possible. Everything we do for the first time is hard, as is selling, but once you learn to sell it becomes easier and easier each time until it becomes fun. I try and make selling as simple as possible, don’t complicate it, my attitude is always that I want to make friends with the buyer, so they will like me and then they will like my art or whatever I am selling. Focus on results when selling not feelings, what result did I get? Did I sell it, yes or no? Tick the box, excuses and hurt feelings won’t fit in the box, just a tick. Next time you are selling, make lots of friends and tick the box. .

What are you finding hard to do in your Art practice? Search and find the needed information and learn it. Knowledge is the key to success in life. Knowledge properly learned and put into practice becomes a skill. Repetition is the mother of skills, do it again and again until it becomes a skill. Once you have the skill it’s easy to do, because you know how.

Art is designed to move peoples emotions, to touch their inner soul, to change them for the better, that is what great Art does, copying will never capture the true essence of being the original Artist. Copying is for students in Art school, not for professional Artists. Whatever you paint your original Art no matter how complex or simple, if it is born out of you, it is Art. Art is personal, it is alive and comes fresh from a real Artist, your vision, your original thought, your feelings, your emotions expressed in whatever medium that you work in. Great original Art comes from the personal struggle of sharing your vision of your world captured at a certain moment in time. .

  You need little money to achieve success. You need little education to achieve success. You need little talent to achieve success. You need self belief for it will drive you forward and will hold you steadfast in the day of adversity. You need the desire to learn whatever is needed to accomplish your Art goals and to gain whatever new skills you need to go forward and being prepared to work as hard as it takes to accomplish your goals. You need to control you thoughts, eliminate the negative and build positive inner confession and thought life. Know what you want and stand by your internally accomplished dream until it is reality. .

C hange never feels right. Change always feels wrong. Change goes against what our brain wants, it wants the same, it wants predictable, because this how I do it. The way to get past the resistance to change is not to judge it, not to see it as right or wrong but to see it as an exercise and adventure. Change means we need to learn it all again. Change means it will take time to learn to appreciate what we are doing. Change means we will be uncomfortable for a while, but if we persist we will get a breakthrough. The problem is never the change but what we are telling ourselves about the change, the story inside our heads, you will have to change the story.

To be successful in the Art business we are going to speak to people and give speeches at our opening receptions and yes we may say something embarrassing but the alternative is cower in the shadows in fear and never get out of the crowd. Unfortunately failing at some projects in the Art business is just part of the learning process in this business and we grow through the experience. but the alternative is to do nothing and be invisible in the crowd. I agree it is not fun when our friends think we are stupid or when we say something embarrassing or something doesn’t work out like we hoped it would but if you are putting yourself out there and standing out from the crowd then you are giving yourself the opportunity to do something extraordinary and be an amazing Artist.

You cannot use up all your positive mindset but you can lose it if you don’t use it. As with taking action or persistence and creativity, there is no limit to how much of them you can use every minute of every day, they are all renewable. You’ll never lose the ability to come up with new dreams and ideas, have more energy to think creatively, to look at situations or circumstances differently and then be able apply it creatively to your Art business. Use your unlimited potential to make every day your best day.

Don’t listen to criticism, it’s not designed to help you. Don’t judge the worst of you, against the best of others. We are told to be humble, but the ones saying are not. Be proud of what you have achieved. Be proud of your Art. Be proud of who you are. Remember you are not in the Art business to participate, you are in it to be successful.