I'd Rather Be in the Studio! The Artist's No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion offers practical approaches that help you sell more art and build an art career that lasts. Alyson B. Stanfield, the art-marketing guru behind ArtBizCoach.com, shares self-promotion tools that have enhanced the careers of thousands of artists. You'll learn how to: (1) Introduce yourself as an artist so people want to know more; (2) Nail your artist statement to discover the right words for all of your marketing messages; (3) Expand your mailing list and use it to cultivate collectors; (4) Create marketing materials that outshine the competition; (5) Become a media magnet so buyers come to you; (6) Take advantage of your Web site and blog to build a bigger audience; and much more. It would be great if there were a precise formula for getting your art into galleries, museums and private collections. But every artist's path is different. That's why I'd Rather Be in the Studio! provides easy-to-follow self-promotion practices that help you find your way at any point in your career. Match Internet marketing strategies with sincere personal skills to take charge of your career.
I began consulting with artists informally 18 years ago as part of my position as a museum curator. When I left museums, my old artist-friends continued coming to me for help and advice. Everyone wanted an agent! A little research into that field led me to conclude that I wouldn't be doing artists any favors by doing all of the work for them. Instead, I decided to teach them how.
The neat thing is that almost everything I teach artists to do, I'm doing myself for my business. See? The art business isn't so different from the rest of the world. We all need to know how to promote ourselves and our businesses--online and off. To that end, I keep up with marketing, business, and artworld goings-on.
Here's something else you need to know: My work is deeply affected by my ten years in the art museum. Affected in a good way. Affected in a way that really helps my clients. I have loads of experience working with collectors as well as the general art-viewing public. That means that I know how people interact with art, how they approach it, what they fear, and how we can educate them and alleviate their fears. When you and I work together, I use this knowledge to shape the presentation of your work.
On the off chance that you've read this far, my undergraduate and graduate degrees are in art history, although I started as a painting major. For some reason, I got a kick out of sitting in those dark rooms looking at slides.
My work is inspired by artists I come across every day--in cyberspace and in galleries.
When I'm not in my office, you might catch me hiking in the foothills or in the Rockies; skiing in Crested Butte; cooking; watching the Food Network or an Oklahoma Sooners football game; or gardening. I was born in Great Falls, MT; raised in Oklahoma City, OK; went to undergraduate school in Laramie, WY and Norman, OK (BA in art history); worked in Washington, DC; went to graduate school in Austin, TX (MA in art history); and now happily call Colorado home.
