The Mission Paradox Blog

1000 Ways to Live

Over the last five years I have had the honor of working with all types of folks. In theory, the goal was for me to teach them stuff.  In reality, I have learned as much from them as they have from me.

One of the most valuable lessons I learned is this one:

There are a ton of ways to have a life in the arts.  You don't need to make art full time.  You don't need to build an organization.

You can volunteer your time to an artist you love.  You can join a board.

You can gather friends and do work you're passionate about, for free.

You can sell your art online and make beer (or vacation) money.  You can give away an art piece for everyone you sell.

You can write and turn your writing into cheap (or free) ebooks.  You can also slowly build an audience and then try to leverage that audience into big money.

Those are all valid choices.  There are a thousand other valid choices.

It's not just about being the dynamic artistic leader of a large organization.  

It's not just about being the musician that knows how to leverage social media and has critical acclaim.

You can be in front.  Behind the scenes.  Going for the cash. Going for the glory.  Not giving a damn about the money or the glory.

I've encountered a fair number of unhappy people in the arts.  Some of them are unhappy because they feel (or have been told) that the path they are on is the only path.  It's either start this arts organization or wait tables at the Olive Garden.

There are other choices.

Give yourself the freedom to have a life in the arts that is right for you.

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.

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.

Advice for the Job Hunters

During my travels I tend to run into two types of folks:

1. Gig hunters - These are primarily artists, freelancers and other creative types who are looking for short term opportunities to display their skills.

2. Job hunters - These are the ones (who typically ID as an arts administrator or artist/administrator) who want full time employment. They are either are looking for a job or want to switch jobs and work someplace else.

I want to talk to the job hunters for a second.

First, there is no shame in wanting stable, full time employment. I know a lot of folks are preaching the "opportunity is yours/funemployment/start your own business" thing but not everyone is built for the lifestyle that comes with being self employed.

With that said, it's important to understand that the traditional job hunting process (online application, send in resume, interview, etc.) is designed to put almost all the leverage and power in the hands of the employer.

This is true during a "good" economy and it is especially true during a "bad" one.

Sidenote: I completely understand why the employers want that power. If you're the person trying to sort through hundreds (thousands!) of applications for one position then you need to be a bit ruthless.

If you're job hunting your first (and only) task is to break the traditional process. If you don't then you're just like the woman walking into the casino and getting comfy with a slot machine . . . you are relying on luck . . . and I assume you want more then luck on your side.

You break the traditional process with one of the following hammers:

1. Your connections - If you have done great work in the past there should be people willing to stand up and testify about that work. If you don't have people willing to testify then you haven't done great work.

And if you haven't done great work why should anyone hire you?

2. Your platform - Google your name. What comes up? If the answer is "nothing" or more likely a worthless Facebook/LinkedIn page, we have a bit of a problem. If you want to remove yourself from the cattle call hiring process then there HAS to be a place where I can see examples of your work, or at least get a sense of your point of view about various career topics.

If you want to get into fundraising (for example) then I should be able to see examples of great fundraising proposal you have written OR examples of great fundraising proposal you would make if given the chance OR your point of view about the future of fundraising.

If you don't have those things then an employer can easily (and fairly) assume that you have nothing to say about these things . . .

Which makes you just like everyone else, just another person looking for work . . .

Which lands you in the cattle line . . .

Which makes you just like the lady at the slots hoping she catches three cherries.

------------------------

Here's what you have to remember.

People can lie on a resume.

People can fake an interview.

Employers know this, that's why very few jobs worth having are filled just because of a resume and an interview.

But the work speaks for itself.

Everything changes when you can send in a resume AND the names of three respected people willing to rave about you on demand.

Everything changes when you can direct an employer to a website or blog filled with your thoughts about the industry.

Now you're not just someone who needs a job. You're someone who can do great work and now just wants to do it for Employer X.

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 presentations, workshops and private 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.

 

Power and the Artistic Workplace

If you accept the soft power, hard power premise I gave at TEDx it would be easy to assume that the use of soft power is automatically a good thing and hard power is a bad thing.

In fact, both things are neutral.  What's important to remember is that the type of power you use creates the type of team you'll have.

McDonald's is a classic example of a hard power organization.  It's all about hiearchy, rules and structure.  In general, people do what they are told.

Why?

Because what McDonald's sells is volume and consistently.  If want to move a lot of widgets quickly then you don't need people putting their own creative spin on the process.

The issue arises when that hard power, "do the job this way" model is placed onto an organization designed to create and promote art.  Every function of an arts organization, from fundraising to programming, requires employees who are flexible, innovative and able to embrace complexity.

You can't force those traits out of employees.  Hard power doesn't work.  It will just cause them to leave at the first opportunity.  What you can do is use soft power.  You can demonstrate your organization values and find employees that align with those values.  When values and beliefs align, creativity and innovation are natural outcomes.

 

 

Power and the Arts

Here's my TED Talk from the TedxMichiganAve conference.  It's entitled Power and the Arts

 

Check out all the TedxMichigan Ave videos here

Double Budget

It's important to remember what things actually cost, even if you're not paying some (or all) of those costs.

During my early days I would keep two budgets for artistic events.  One that reflects what I'm actually paying and one that reflected what I should be paying.

So if I was paying a performer $100 but I really should be paying them $500 I would note that.  If a designer was cutting me a break and working for 1/3 of their normal rate I would note that in my double budget.

I did that because underpaying other people (and yourself) can become a habit.  You can used to it.  Having the other budget on hand is a constant reminder of the need to generate more resources.  People are not going to cut you a break forever.  Sooner or later they are going to demand more. 

It's also a reminder of the generosity that people show you along the way.  You may want to find a way to repay that generosity.

Give it a try.  It can be a very eye opening process.

That's the last post for this week.  See you Monday.  Thanks for reading

Before you move forward . . .

Before you file those 501(c)3 papers . . .

Before you recruit another ensemble member . . .

Before you launch another artistic campaign . . .

Ask yourself:

Do I really need to do this?

Do you really need to mess around in this complex world of art and commerce?  Do you really need to get involved with the marketplace?

You could just give the art away and not try to sell it.

You could make everyone in your organization (including yourself) volunteers and just create as much art as you can given your collective time and resources.

Those are great choices.  For some, that's the choice they should be making.  It would lead to a lot more future happiness.

The only valid reason to try and make a living from your art, or start a revenue generating arts organization is because you have to do it.

Not because you want to.

Not because you think you deserve it.

Not because you think others are making a living at it.

Because you have to.  Because you really enjoy dancing in that intersection of art and commerce.

 Anything less and the sheer frustration and difficulty of the task will catch up to you eventually.

Anything less and you're leading folks down a dead end.

------------------------

That's the last post for this week.  See you guys on Monday.  Until then, have a good Memorial Day weekend.  Oh, and if you either have a Kindle or have downloaded the Kindle App on your computer please consider picking up a copy of Authentic Arts Marketing