Overcoming an Event Crisis
Kevin Dennis for Catersource.com

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How To Find Companies Interested In Sponsoring Events
Stephen Kim for Bizzabo.com

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Should You Take the Gig or Pass?
Ari Herstand for Aristake.com

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Should You Quit Your Day Job?
Carolyn Edlund

Several people lately have asked my opinion of simply quitting their day jobs and going solo as an artist. I'm self-employed myself, and owned a studio for over twenty years, so I'm a big fan of the independence and satisfaction of being a business owner. But it's not for everyone.

It partly depends on your personality. Does facing a challenge, like coming up with next month's rent through sales of your work, energize and motivate you? Or does it throw you into sudden panic and possibly an anxiety attack? Only you can tell what your comfort level is here. But, you can overcome some of the stress by putting a plan into place that works on multiple levels to bring in the income you will need when you quit that day job.

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Biggest Social Media Mistakes
Eugene Loj

• Using tactics instead of strategy
• Using it exclusively to put out fires
• Using it to brag
• Using it as a press release
• Exclusively re-tweeting other people's material rather than creating your own original content
• Using it to push products
• Expecting immediate results

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John P. Weiss for faso.com

The majority of artists I know have day jobs. They set their alarms, brew their coffee, tighten their neckties, perfect their makeup, grab their computer bags and hit the morning commute.

Their days are filled with meetings, quotas, emails, phone calls, texts, travel, office politics, deadlines, promotions, acquisitions, shift work, and the many other quotidian rhythms of commerce and professional life.

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Not Getting Responses From Events You've Contacted? We're Here to Help!
Michelle Morrison for FestivalNet

We know that the wait can feel like forever after you've submitted your application to a prospective event. And not hearing back at all can feel very discouraging. But fear not! We've compiled some trade-secrets to help you get ahead of the pack, improve your response rate, and get accepted to more events!

In most cases it's actually what you do BEFORE you contact the event that will set you up for a better response rate in the end:

Make sure you are contacting the right events for your product/service. Our Pro Search can help you with that. For example, selecting categories from the "Allowed" drop down in the "Exhibitors" box will find events that allow what you do. For more search tips, there's a help link in the top left corner of Pro Search.

• Be sure the deadline date has not passed. Contact each event well in advance of their application deadline, otherwise emails & calls will not likely be returned. Use our handy "Deadline Reminder Newsletter" and the "Deadlines" option in Pro search to get ahead of the game.

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How to Ignite Your Event Marketing with YouTube
Laura Lopez

Marketing for your event can take many forms: email marketing, influencer content, paid advertising, or organic content like blogs and social media. The beauty of organic social media is its attractive, low-cost of $0. But YouTube, unlike its sister social media channels (and video in general), has statistics that might make you think twice about creating video content.

Consider these staggering video stats:

• YouTube ranks as the #2 search engine behind Google (which holds the #1 spot and owns YouTube).
• Companies who use videos in their marketing grow revenue 75% faster than those that don't.
• Videos are 75% more likely to push a reader to your website than any other type of media.

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How to Make a Music Video on a Tiny Budget
Ari Herstand

You Pick Two

There's an old saying, "Good, fast, cheap. Pick two." So, this is good and cheap. But it wasn't fast.

When creating your music videos (and recordings), always keep the You Pick Two philosophy in mind. It holds true in most situations. You may get lucky where your good friend, who is an awesome filmmaker, just finished up a giant budget film, has some free time, doesn't need the money and will work on your project to help you out. But that is beyond rare. And you definitely can't plan on this.

 

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Most of Your Art Marketing Will Fail. Keep Going.
Carolyn Edlund

This month, I'm working on a number of different projects. Editing and launching a new art business course. Talking with art organizations about potential workshops. Implementing a new email campaign series for the nonprofit I run. Reaching out personally to a hundred prospective customers.

Most of my efforts will fail, but this is part of the reality of business. Marketing and sales is a numbers game, and any good salesperson can tell you that if you close 10 - 20% of your prospects, you have done well.

The vast majority of attempts you make to market and sell will result in rejection, and as an artist, that might be hard to face. But as you gain experience, you will toughen up, be able to hear "No" without flinching, and move on to the next opportunity. To be successful, you must be willing to keep going despite difficult days, slow months and long droughts. It happens. Amazing opportunities also happen, and sales you didn't predict. Those sales might seem like gifts, but you actually earned them. You earned them through persistence and professionalism and simply not giving up.

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Summertime and the Living is... Busy!
Marisa Morgan

What starts with a 'C', ends with a 'T' and puts some 'EZ' into your summer? You got it: contest! Make that plural because we've got two cool ways to play! You're breaking a sweat everyday, working offline and on, to grow your business and boost your bottom line. Check out our revamped Affiliate Referral Program & our Sweet Summer Share-To-Win Contests!

Revamped and Smokin' Hot

Now, earn $10 for every Pro member you refer to us! That's twice as nice as it used to be. Go here for more.

Cool New Custom Flyer

It's hip, colorful and customized with your affiliate number! Easy to print. A breeze to hand out. Every time someone signs up using your number, you earn $10 and your referral receives $5 off membership! Get it here: Affiliate Tools

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Take Product Images Like a Pro

Your detail image should be able to stand alone on its own merits.

No matter what aspect of the work you are choosing to place at center stage, the detail shot should be visually compelling, and well designed. Ideally, a good detail image is also a superb composition with great colors, and formal pictorial qualities. Think of all the formal properties of a good painting. The detail image should be an eye-catching image that exists independently of the full view shot, even if it is not projected.

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Improve Your Social Media Outreach

Most of you probably already have a pretty good idea of what type of content you should be posting on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, so today's lesson will focus on strategies you can use to manage your social media platforms more effectively and on some brand new ways to improve the content you're sharing.

Ready to make your social media outreach work better for you? Then let's get started by looking at what you should be doing with Facebook and Twitter on a daily and weekly basis below!

Streamlined Social Media Logistics for Food Truck Owners

It's natural to spend a lot of time on your Facebook and Twitter pages when you're first getting started because developing a strong social media presence is an incredibly important step for new food truck owners. However, as your business progresses and you start finding yourself with less and less free time each week, you need to step back and examine how much time and effort you're investing in running your social media pages-and how much value you're really getting in return.

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Overcoming Stage Fright

Whether you play for tens of thousands of people every night as part of a world tour, or 20 people at a backyard barbeque, most of the mental anxieties musicians experience while playing live are the same. In almost every case the negative little voice in your head is centered around fear (fear of rejection, self doubt, etc.). We all have experienced some level of fear or nervousness when playing live at some time or another. You may have felt a fear of failure, fear of making mistakes, fear of what the audience will think of you, your music or your band. Have you ever asked yourself questions like:

"What if I make mistakes?"

"Am I even good enough to be playing on a stage?"

"What if the crowd doesn't like the band, the music, or me?"

"Is this show going to be a disaster?"

Here are some things to think about before your next gig (they definitely work if you use them, especially if you put them all together in your thoughts).

How to Write an Effective Artist Bio

John R. Math

An effective artist biography (bio) is necessary information to have as part of the artist's presentation to any viewers and interested parties of their artwork. A well written and composed artist bio serves to help a reader to connect to the artist and to the artist's artwork.

An artist bio, when written and created correctly will provide the reader with a greater understanding as to the artist's art, the artist's motivation for creating their art and finally it will provide a guide or a means for a viewer to interpret the artist's art. In these terms, the importance of an artist's bio cannot be stressed enough!

What should be included in an effective artist's bio?

1. Anyone or anything that has influenced the artist's artworks.

2. Any education or training in the field of art.

3. Any related experience in the field of art.

4. A summary of the artist's artistic philosophy.

5. Any artistic insights or techniques that are employed by the artist.

Life on the Road

Following the festival circuit across North America can be an exciting adventure, after all how many jobs provide a built in vacation environment.

Your friends back home are jealous that you have seen the four corners of the country and everything in the middle - you spend hours showing them your trip pictures and home movies - trying desperately to separate one highway from another and what state park you saw a specific national monument, luckily you have your notes.

For those of us who have traveled thousands of miles, spent time in big and small communities, lived in hotels and motels for months on end and can write a book on fast food and clean restrooms in North America, the lifestyle of constantly being on the move, being a road-warrior, is not for everyone. We miss our families and friends back home, and we don't always eat properly.

We have all made friends on the road, our traveling family. People that we continually meet at different venues, we know their first names; recognize their cars, trucks, and RVs. We can spend hours of time catching up; how we spent our winter, where we have been, the price of gas, problems encountered, where we are headed, our venue plans and who should be the next president.

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How to Engage Your Art Website Visitors

Getting website traffic is step one. Now, keep those visitors in the loop and coming back. Here are a few tips on increasing engagement with visitors to your art website:

How to Email Sponsors and Get a Response

Event sponsors can mean the difference between organizing a profitable event, or not. Sponsors can add uniquely valuable experiences to event attendees, and they can signal to industry stakeholders that the event your organizing is legitimate.

Objectives

When writing a cold email to possible event sponsors, make sure you keep in mind your end goal: to start a conversation and ultimately schedule a meeting to discuss the sponsorship opportunity. You cannot expect to secure a deal just by writing the email alone. You're starting a conversation, not signing a deal.

The email should focus on value, an articulation of shared objectives and audiences, and should include a tone or language that elicits a feeling of partnership.

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Why Corporations Collect Art
Carolyn Edlund

What are the reasons corporations collect art? There are definite benefits to the company, their employees, clients and the community, as well as to the artists represented in those collections.

• Art in the work environment improves the quality of life for employees, many of whom may spend most of their time in that space. Studies have shown that art in the workplace also increases employee and corporate productivity and creativity.
• Art can stimulate conversation, networking and ideas. When choosing art for work spaces, the curator may choose pieces that are energizing or thought-provoking in key meeting areas.
• An environment filled with visual art creates higher rates of employee satisfaction. This leads to increased motivation, and lower workforce turnover and disruption.