The Last Five Steps

Over the years I have made it a priority to share marketing ideas with other artists. I believe that artists helping artists is a good concept and we should all try to do more to help one another. But how far should this help go?

Let's take the example of how I like to post my abstracts in rooms. It's been a huge marketing tool for me this past year and it has taken a lot of work. I use photoshop to place the photos in the rooms. The photos I use have been gathered from a year of hard work. I use my own photos, I have taken photos of friends homes, I have purchased some and I have emailed and contacted hundreds of photographers and designers. It's been a lot of work.

This past year I have received hundreds of emails asking how I create these photos, where I get the photos of the rooms and why I don't share my photos with other artists. Here is my response.

I will help you but I won't do it for you. Marketing is a lot of hard work. It doesn't come that easy. I share a lot but you need to do those last five steps. You need to find your own photos. And you need to figure out how to edit them. (I use photoshop.)

I had the same issue with the Thirty in Thirty Painting Challenge. I know for many artists it was hard to figure out how to upload their daily photos on my blog. So that's why I created a step by step instruction page and also why I personally answered hundreds of emails to help the artists figure it out. I did however say no to the artists who emailed me photos of their paintings and asked me to upload them everyday to my blog. It's the last five steps that I just can't and should not do. I promise I am not being mean. Rather, I know you will be better off it you spend the time to figure it out. And I have to be honest. I just don't have the time.

So don't hesitate to try new things. But understand that you have to take those last five steps.