The Mission Paradox Blog

The Paradox of Growth and The Arts - Part 1

I want to spend a little time this week talking about growth.  That growth comes in many forms, from an arts organization breaking ground on a building to an artist getting an agent and a manager.

The questions that come with growth:

When to grow?

Who do we add?

How big do we get?

Are some of the most complicated and important questions we face.  In fact I would argue that many of the things that we "don't like" about the arts industry (including the recent uproar around the Guthrie) have unchecked (or poorly considered) growth as a root cause.

So to open this conversation, read this post by Seth

On Wednesday we will talk about the perfectly logical reasons that lead many arts organizations to decide they have to grow . . . and the mess that decision can create.

Ownership, stewardship and the nonprofit arts

Put down that 501c3 application for a second.  

Stop putting together that book of "board member responsibilities".

We need to talk.

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Do you really know what you're doing?  

Sure, you know what you just *did*.  You filled out a few applications, got together some friends and (BAM) you became a nonprofit arts organization.  It was easy.  But so is sex.  It's the whole post sex "having a baby part" that is tricky.

So let's talk about what you now own.

You now own nothing.

You're confused.  You think this is some sort of Zen riddle.  You started this arts organization, isn't it yours?

Nope.  It isn't.  Each person you listed as "board member", yes including that person you don't really know that well, now have as much of a stake in this organization as you do.

You're not an owner.  This nonprofit isn't yours.  You are a steward.  Your job is to take care of the organization and make sure it's mission is being realized.  The goal is (or should be) to build something that will survive you.

If you are not interested in that - and you may not be, for very good reasons - then starting a nonprofit arts organization isn't a good idea.

The very nature and structure of a nonprofit arts org indicates that it is about steady progress over a long period of time.

If you're more interested in the here and now then it makes more sense to ignore the nonprofit model entirely and focus on how you can get your art produced cheaply, quickly and then finding the most efficient way to put that work into the public.

Losing Sight

Every few months I like to do a workshop with the staff and board of a nonprofit arts group.

I see the same thing over and over again.

People lose sight of the art. It's so easy for the day to day conversation of the group to focus on finance, governance, politics, etc.

So I always start my moment with the group by talking a lot about the art. I want to know what artistic projects they are excited about. I want to know about the art they love.

When that conversation starts, the energy in the room always changes. People come alive. Laughter begins. You start to feel the energy that made the organization special in the first place.

A lot of the "problems" in arts groups, begin when people forget about the fact that they are an ARTS group. Good financial management, good governance, good human resource management are all important elements of getting the art to happen . . . but it isn't the point of the exercise.

Don't lose sight of what made your organization fun and exciting. Don't lose sight of what got all those board members and funders interested. Don't lose sight of the art.

Eternal battles

Life we go easier if you accept the following:

1. You will always be conflicted about the interaction of art and commerce.

2. You will never find a perfect balance between giving your audience "what they want" and leading them into different directions.

3. There will never be enough money.

4. Organizational politics will always be a part of your life. That's true even if you create the art alone. You'll probably need to partner with others to get that work seen, which means working with organizations, which means dealing with politics.

5. No matter how you do things someone, probably someone close to you, will think you are doing it wrong.

6. Somone will tell you, "it's ok to fail" and then go nuts when you actually do fail. That is their problem, not yours.

7. You will always need to manage your own artistic career. You can have helpers, managers, etc. but you always need to be the CEO of You, Inc.

Looking for my 2012 clients

Here's the deal:

Every once in a while I work directly with a handful of individual artists and arts organizations.

For example, this year I worked with a visual artist, a theatre that focuses on highlighting artists with disabilities and a few other interesting folks.

We are headed toward a new year so I wanted to open the door to a few new clients. I'm going to do this the old fashioned way. I'm going to explain what your getting and offer you a discounted price for a limited time.

Technically what I'm offering is called marketing coaching. You are going to come to me with your marketing challenges. Challenges like these:

You need to sell more of your jewerly on Etsy.

You need to build awareness for your Kickstarter campaign.

You need to sell more tickets to your plays.

Then we are going to break your problem down into pieces and tackle the thing one week at a time. We do that through a series of phone calls.

The phone calls last about two hours. At the end of each call, you'll get some homework. DO THE HOMEWORK.

We do that for six weeks, maybe seven if we need it.

At the end of the process you should have some answers to your challenges. That's cool, but that's not the point. The point is the process. The goal is that when the next tricky marketing challenge comes up, you'll have a way of finding your own answers.

The price is normally $750.

If you sign up by Monday, Jan. 2nd, I'll knock it down to $500. I'm comfortable with taking payments in installments. If you need an installment plan, email me and let me know. Payments are done via Paypal.

Need some testimonals, click here

Got questions about the process? Email me at mission.paradox(at)yahoo.com

Ready to get to work? Email me.

Making it to tomorrow

Part of the "truth" of art is that we don't know what is going to work.

We have our theories. We have our really good guesses. But you never really know.

Another "truth" is that the more time you can invest into your artistic life, the better it will be. Your first three books will probably suck. The first 15 songs you record will be no good. But that fourth book or song number 16 may have the seeds of something special.

So if you don't know what's going to work, you need to keep trying things. That takes time. But that's helpful to you because you also need time to improve.

That's why one of the most important skills you can have as an artist (or arts organziation) is the ability to survive long enough to improve.

In this case, survival is actually underrated . . . not overrated.

In this case, survival means taking smart financial risks. It means not working your team to the point of burnout. It means understanding that constant, gradual improvement of everything (marketing, artistic creation, etc.) is the goal.

It means that the only real failure is running out of money or morale. As long as you can keep pushing (and improving) for one more day then you are creating the space necessary for magic to happen.

Welcome to Paradox

This is the Mission Paradox Blog. I'm your friendly host, Adam Thurman

Since 2007 this has been a place where artists and those who work within artistic organizations get insight on marketing, leadership, diversity and other topics.

The main source of that insight are the blog posts that appear right below this one. Typically you'll get a new one every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You can get the blog post directly in your web based reader (like Yahoo or Google news) by clicking here

You want more? I got more.

My e-book Authentic Arts Marketing is available as both a free download and as a cheap buy in the Kindle Store. Get details on that here.

Want to work with me directly? I do a limited amount of private coaching arts marketing coaching. Details are here. Testimonials are here.

I hope you find this place a helpful resource as you go about the hard work of connecting your art to an audience. Feel free to drop me a line at mission.paradox(at)yahoo.com.

Remember, new blog posts appear below.

 

Showing Your Tricks

I spent the past few days at Walt Disney World.  I found the sheer scope of the place - almost 50 square miles of resorts, parks and other related property - to be simply stunning.

As I spent time there, I couldn't help but wonder how the place operated.  I tried to imagine how they got the food to all the parks, how they hired all the people, etc.

Of course I couldn't see any of that stuff.  Disney does an excellent job of keeping all those tricks hidden.  They don't want you to worry about how things happen, they just want you to pay for (and enjoy) the experience.

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In an odd way, Disney has something in common with a lot of the nonprofit arts orgs and individual artists I work with.  They all are used to giving people the show and not showing much of the magic (sweat, hard work, effort) that goes into making the process happen.

This works for Disney because they can charge enough to cover everything.

But for those who are (at least partially) dependent on the generosity of others to make the art happen, it is vital that you show the public as much of the process as you can.

Tell them what things cost.

Tell them the truth about what it takes to bring art to life, both the beautiful parts and the ugly parts.

When people see the entire scope of what it takes to make art happen in the real world, they will be more likely to donate to the Annual Fund or the Kickstarter campaign.

When people see the process, they feel more comfortable participating in the process. 

So open up those backstage (and office) curtains and show the magic that makes the art possible.  It can make all the difference in getting the support you deserve.

Tired of begging

Several weeks ago I was doing an arts marketing workshop.  A participant told me she atttended because she was "tired of begging for money" (i.e. fundraising) and wanted to get more revenue from ticket sales, merchandising, etc.

I'm hearing that more often these days.  People see marketing and the increased earned revenue it can bring as a way of escaping the difficulties of fundraising.

Fundraising is hard.  But if you plan on creating work of a certain scope and paying people decently, it is vital that you do it well.  If you don't, the ever increasing costs of this business and the variable nature of ticket sales will catch up to you eventually.

This is a particularly hard lesson for emerging artists and arts organizations to learn.  Early on, much of their growth is driven by earned revenue.  Early on, they are able to leverage relationships and avoid paying people much.  It's all good.  Until it isn't.

Trust me, you need a fundraising base.  You need that base to consist mostly of individual givers.  Most important, you need to get started on it NOW because it may take years for those efforts to bear fruit.

 

 

Revisiting "An Unfair Guide"

I'm a bit like Stephen King, some of my best writing was years ago.  In that spirit I wanted to introduce (or re-introduce) you to a little e-book I wrote called An Unfair Guide to Building a Nonprofit Board of Directors.  It's yours.  It's free.

With that said, it's time for a vacation.  I'll be bringing back a few more of my "greatest hits" blog posts while I'm gone.  The first will be on Monday.

Viva Las Vegas baby.