The Mission Paradox Blog

The real threat

Here's the real irony of the times we are living in now.

An increasing number of for profit corporations are embracing the foundations of "art", i.e. beauty, design, risk, collaboration and respect for their fellow workers.

At the same time, an alarming number of arts organization seem to be embracing the most negative aspects of a "corporation", i.e risk aversion, treating people like commodities, etc.

We talk so much about threats to the noncommerical arts sector.  We talk about the greying of audiences, the lack of diversity and high ticket prices.  All those are legit issues. 

But I think we should consider an even larger issue that could be more harmful to the industry in the long term.

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Imagine a college graduate.  She's 22.  She has developed a wide variety of skills.  One of those is writing, particularly playwrighting.  Another is computer programming.

She's at a crossroads and she's trying to decide her path.

She's considers a career in the theatre.  But when she looks down that roads she sees so many places that seem determined to stifle her artistry.  Down that road she imagines a land where she told what to write, what audiences will accept and a scarcity of actual productions.

Then she looks down the other road.  She starts finding organizations (not all, but some) that will allow her to use computer programming as an expression of the artist within.

Sure, this woman wants to make money but she also wants to have a real impact on the real world.

The scary part is that she may decide that she has a better chance of impacting the world by fighting for a job at a place like 37 Signals then she ever will with a career in the professional arts.

The even scarier part is that she may be right.

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What happens when a place that designs furniture is considered more artistic than a theatre?

What happens when a computer programmer is considered more of an artist than a filmmaker?

This is our real threat.  We keep building and running organizations that may say ART on the outside, but inside run more like a factory.

At the same time a  guy who sells shoes on the freakin' internet talks about changing the world through superior customer service.

This is our real challenge . . . to build organizations that are exciting and innovative enough to attract people with so many other options.  Our job now is to learn from anybody, arts organizations or otherwise, that is leaping over the hurdles that cause so many to stumble.

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One day, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have the privilege of building an arts organization from the ground up.  There's a lot about that journey that scares the hell out of me, but there a few things I am sure of.

One of those things is that changing the world is the only point of being in this business.  If you're not trying to build and run an arts organization that is trying to hammer a dent into the universe . . . then why are you even around?

If you're not dreaming big and seeing art as a medium to make the world a better, more lively, more interesting place, than what's the f*ckin' point?  If you're not trying to be a leader and standard bearer in your artistic genre, why even roll out of bed?

Please don't settle for building a factory that churns our art, distributes a few paychecks and then tries to survive to the next day.

There has to be a better way.  If a guy selling shoes can change the world then so can I.

So can you.

Seek your path.

Anything less is a waste of time.

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No post on Friday.  See you guys on Monday.

 

 

 

 

 

A culture of respect

Danny Meyer is one of the most successful restauranteurs in New York.  He got there, in part, by building a real spirit of hospitality within his company.  Now he's teaching his approach to others.

One of his core beliefs is that it takes happy employees to make happy customers

This stands in stark contrast to many of his fellow restauranteurs who often see their employees as disposable commodities that must be closely managed in order to perform.

I'm a big fan of this "inside/out" approach to building something remarkable.  First you create an environment where people who work for you feel appreciated and respected, then you create a process that allows them to extend that love to the people they encounter during the workday.

This is one of the lessons I hope more of us in the arts can embrace.  All too often we treat our artists like commodities, teach them that their work is only of value to a small, elite, few and THEN expect them to deliver stellar performances.

Art is a people business.  It's about human beings expressing themselves.  Some choose to express themselves with their voice or a musical instrument.  Others choose to express the art within them in places like marketing or management.

But if people are treated poorly then the art can't last.  In any good organization a culture of respect and appreciation is vital.

The critical "and"

I want to make art AND I want to make a living from it.

That's the AND that changes everything.  Before you get to the AND you have a lot of things on your side.

Technology has made art easier to produce and distribute.  The fragementation of audience makes it possible to find a small niche and serve them.

But once you bring in the AND, that's when you confront the fundamental challenges that make a particular art form a difficult business.

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For example, according to a Theatre Communication Group survey, over a five year period expenses for their member theatres rose 19.1%.  Total income rose by 9.4%.

This is the fundamental challenge of theatre in a nutshell.  Expenses always rise and income doesn't keep always pace.

So if you (and your team) want to make a living in theatre, this is the problem you must confront:  How do you manage expenses and generate income in a way that allows you to sleep at night?

Sure you can not pay anybody, or not pay them much.

Sure you can do work that will drive high ticket price and sales.  That's what Broadway producers do.

But if that's not what you want to do, then you must find a creative solution to the problem.

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Let's look at the film industry (an industry I have been studying lately).

You know the basics.  The tools of production are now in anybody's hands.  A twelve year old with an imagination can shoot and edit a film with tools that only a professional had 15  years ago.

Since the tools are out in the world the amount of film in the world has exploded.  A lot of it has been lousy or redundant.  This makes the average film consumer hesitate before choosing any new film experience. 

So in film one of the core problems is building an audience both before the film is made and during the film's production.  That's why you see innovative film makers like Ted Hope talking about the importance of audience building and distribution.

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I see a lot of people that want to make art AND make a living from it.

I see a much smaller group that is interested in confronting the problems.  But you can't separate the two.

If you want to generate money from art, the problems are now YOUR problems.

The answers to these problems are going to vary and they will not come easy.

But if you want to make it past the AND that's a huge part of your job.

 

 

 

Last Call

On a personal note . . .

When I released Authentic Arts Marketing I had a certain number of sales that I wanted to achieve.  Thanks to folks from all over, I'm really close to my goal.

35 copies left to sell and my goal has been surpassed.

So, in the spirit of asking for what i need, please consider picking up your copy of Authentic Arts Marketing this week.  I'd love to hit my goal this week.  Everything after that would be gravy.

All the info you need is here.  If you already have your copy pass this message on.

Also some have asked me when my next e-Book is coming out.  My plan is to do something by the end of the summer.  It's going to be pretty different from what I did before.  More details soon.

All for one?

Hugh asks, does your tribe want you to be successful?

It's a fair question.

Does your audience really want your art to be known outside their small circle?

Do your fellow artists really want the organization to grow beyond their grasp?

Just something to consider.

Not Good Enough

Your art is not good enough to make a living from it.

That statement is probably true for a lot of people, but first we need to explore what we mean by "not good enough."

Not good enough could mean redundant.  If there are 11 dance companies in town that focus on ballet and you pop up as #12, there just may not be enough room in the market for you.

Not good enough could mean you're targeting the wrong audience.  It could be the greatest art in the world, but if the audience isn't the right fit, you have problems.

Not good enough could mean you're targeting the RIGHT audience, but it's just too small for you (and your team) to make a living from it.

Not good enough could mean your expectations were too high to begin with.

And of course not good enough could just mean plain ol' not good enough.  The bar to make a living from art in a cluttered, competitive world is INCREDIBLY high.  You've got to have superior quality, authentic marketing, a committed following and more then a little luck.

But I think the good news is that all these issues have solutions.  You can target a different audience.  You can invest more time, energy and focus into your art.  You can avoid doing what everyone else is doing.

Not good enough can become more then good enough.

 

 

Wasted power

Starbucks on how they view social media:

"We don't view social media as a marketing play," said a company spokeswoman, "but rather as a customer engagement channel where we can have real connections with our customers, engage them in the brand and answer their questions. We are in constant dialogue with customers, participating in the communities of MyStarbucksIdea.com, Twitter and Facebook. Our engagement allows us to understand their needs, stay top-of-mind in an increasingly competitive retail environment and share interesting news about the company with a captive audience." (emphasis added)

The shorter version:  Starbucks isn't on Facebook to sell coffee.  They are there to talk to and learn from people.

Social media are tools for conversation, NOT SELLING.

CONVERSATION, not selling.

Social media allows us the chance to talk and listen.  If you're clogging up the airways with constant sales pitches then you're wasting the power of the medium.

 

 

The Myth of "Do Something"

I was reading Trisha's excellent article about some of the pricing mistakes we make in the arts when I was reminded of one of the main causes of such things . . .

It's the idea that we have to DO SOMETHING RIGHT NOW.

The show's not selling.  No one is buying the CD.  You film on DVD is collecting dust.

This situation sucks so it's easy to decide that immediate and drastic actions are called for.

That's where most of the price cuts come from.  The theatre slashes ticket prices in half because of the rock solid logic:

"If they wouldn't come for $30, surely they will come for $15."

It's a statement that sounds logical, but often falls apart with just a few follow up questions

"What does dropping our price now do to our organization long term?"

"Do we really want audience that will only come when we charge that much?"

"If that will only come for $15, why don't we just lower prices across the board for every show?"

But those questions rarely get asked because we have to DO SOMETHING NOW.

Here's another idea.

Do nothing.

Instead of slashing prices, just keep doing the show and have the actors greet the audience (no matter how small) after every show.

Instead of jamming your CD down people's throats, work on the next CD.

Don't panic.  Finish your work and move on.

Because sometimes doing something can cause some real long term problems.

Take a look around

Today's must read is this post from the Standford Social Innovation Review:  The Heartache of the Failed Hail Mary.  It gives six signs that your nonprofit is in trouble and is a crucial thing to check out if you are in the nonprofit arts.

Read the whole thing, but I have to add a little bit to one of his six signs.  This is sign number six:

Knights of the Dysfunctional Roundtable: "When you ask most people what kind of event they would like to go to if they had a free night, most might say they would like to go to a concert, see a movie/play or go root for their favorite team.  If you can believe it, I actually love going to board meetings.  I know it is sad and I should be committed but what happens in a gathering of board members can really be interesting.  You can tell a lot about an organization by watching how a board meeting is conducted.  How are the interactions?  Who is talking and is anyone dominating?  Where do they spend their attention?  What mechanisms, if any, are they using to guide themselves? If you can step back and just watch the flow, you probably can get a really good sense of where the organization is.  Make it interesting and watch it with headphones on."

Yes.  Yes.  Yes.

I've gotten to the point where I don't even need to ask somebody what the state of their nonprofit arts organization is.  I can just go to 2-3 Board Meetings and everything becomes clear. 

Once you see who is (or isn't at the meeting) or what questions are (or are not) being asked, you can learn a great deal about whether the organization is headed in a positive direction or off a cliff.

Give the entire thing a read.  It is well worth it.

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On a different track . . . I've got an idea and I want to share it with you guys in the universe and listen for your response.

One of the things I've been hearing from the people who bought Authentic Arts Marketing is that they have a tough time going through the exercises.

So what I'm thinking about is doing a workshop in mid May that would just for people who bought the e-Book. 

Together we would go through the "mantra" and "values" exercises.  The key to pulling this off is that everybody would have to be willing to participate and help each other.  I wouldn't want to be the only one offering ideas.  We would need everyone's wisdom and perspective.

I'm thinking about doing this in Chicago around the last week of May (maybe May 29). If it works, I'm going to find a way to do it for people who have the e-Book but don't live in Chicago.  Maybe a tele-seminar or something like that.

As for price, I'm thinking $35 for people who have the e-Book and $45 for those who don't because I'm going to send them a copy of the e-Book before we all meet.

So if anybody out there thinks such a thing would be valuable, email me at mission.paradox@yahoo.com and let me know.  Obviously no one is committed at this point, but I would like to measure interest in such a thing.

The value chain

If you want to make a living through art, then you have to understand the difference between adding more and adding value.

Technology has made it incredibly easy for anybody to add more to the marketplace.  If a musician is so inclined, she can her songs recorded, mixed and placed on a newly designed website for sale in a matter of days.

If a group of actors want to do a performance, they can search the web for possible venues, have scripts delivered to their house, send out some emails to possible audience and have a show up in a few weeks.

Because of this, people (many of whom wouldn't self identify as artists) have gone about adding more to the marketplace. 

But if you want to make a living from such things you can't just add more.

You can't be just another thing in a sea of things.

You have to add value, which is WAY, WAY, harder then adding more.

That value can come from multiple sources, ticket sales, donations, merchandise, etc.

My point is that ultimately you must have a base of people that perceive value in your work.

One of the biggest challenges to accomplishing this in the arts, particularly the live performing arts, is simply a matter of scale.

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My little business, Mission Paradox, is easy to run.  It has no overhead, no extra office, no employees.  Since I operate on such a small scale, I can focus on delivering value to a pretty tiny group of people and everything is fine.  99.99% of the people in the world will never know about what I do and that's fine as long as the people who know about what I do see the value in it.

Performing arts organizations are much larger in scope.  If you run a dance company and you want to employ five dancers and two administrators full time and pay each of them $40,000 then you are talking about $280,000 a year . . . every year.  And that's before all the other necessary expenses.

That's a big number, which means that particular dance company needs to deliver a lot of freakin' value.

The problem is that we assume the art itself has sufficient enough value to build an entire organization around it.  Maybe it does.  Maybe it doesn't.

If it doesn't, then you have to find ways to deliver additional value.  You may need a heightened and more engaged relationship with your audience.  You may need to be seen as civic resource to your town.

It may be years or decades before your art evolves to the point where it can consistently bring in big revenue numbers on its own merit.  So you have to be willing to look at the entire value chain and constantly ask yourself where you (and your team) can use your artistic skills to bring value to a group of people.

Let me say this again, this isn't easy.  Every day tons of arts organizations start up.  Most of them are just adding more.  Developing value and the tools to demonstrate and promote that value isn't a walk in the park.

But it's one way to turn your dream of making a living from art into a reality.