“…the process itself is more important than the plan.”

- Jeffery Timmons, New Venture Creation

One of the key objectives for our professional development program is to help artists achieve success through manageable, persistent, strategic and consistent action; without sacrificing their spirit. Basically, we want to help you learn how to design a strategic plan for your career or organization and encourage you to implement it effectively.

WHY?

Without directions the journey seems overwhelmingly long and impossibly difficult, but with directions the journey seems realistic and achievable. Research shows, the very process of designing a strategic plan for your business is highly motivating. It puts you in charge of shaping your future, evaluating your choices, and initiating fruitful actions. The plan gives you a clear path to your long-term goals that is paved with actionable short-term goals.

Additionally, a strategic plan helps you manage risks and uncertainty, work smarter not harder, test your thinking, achieve results, manage stress, and understand the costs and benefits (both monetary and non-monetary). Also, you can temper impulsive hunches with a thoroughly researched understanding of consequences, make educated decisions, and limit trial by error. It helps you say “no” to distracting opportunities that often slow or halt progress. And if you decide to say “yes” to non-strategic expenses of your time, energy, and resources; you can do so with a clear understanding of the opportunity cost…of what you are sacrificing.

“Medèn ágan”

- Ancient Greek maxim (written in Latin)

This ancient Greek saying, carved on the pediment of the temple of Apollo at Delphi in Greece, literally translates into “Nothing in excess.” I caution any artist or arts manager to take heed when engaged in the strategic planning process. A plan is NOT A RIGID DOCUMENT; it is only a point of departure that MUST ADJUST as you attend to the unknown obstacles and opportunities that will inevitably emerge on your journey.

Common pitfalls in strategic planning involve letting the plan become:

• a source of tension
• an unhealthy list of “shoulds”
• an unrealistic thing that heightens your fear of failure
• a barrier to integrating unexpected opportunities
• fuel for your competitive nature
• an excuse for quitting when things take longer than projected.

The journey from idea to high potential opportunity requires navigating an undulating, constantly changing, three-dimensional relief map while inventing the vehicle and road map along the way.

-Jeffery Timmons, New Venture Creation

Again, you must accept that the plan (as written) will likely fail, because these fast paced times make it obsolete as soon as it comes off the printer. However, you can succeed if you take the time to go through the planning process:

• understand your goals
• clarify your creative offering
• understand your industry infrastructure
• understand your audience
• assess your resources and capabilities
• use the research and analysis to thoughtfully design your path. (What is your marketing strategy, operations strategy, financial strategy, entrance/exit strategy, development plan, etc.?)

A strategic plan will get you started, be a tool to measure progress/opportunities, and act as a battle plan for mitigating risk and overcoming obstacles. Just be sure to adjust the plan as needed.

Finally, taking the time to do a strategic plan is an investment in sustaining a lifelong passion, rather than a short-term fling, with the arts.

Fractured U. will be offering online courses in strategic planning and many related subjects. However, if you need any assistance prior to the Fractured U. launch, please feel free to contact me at kamal.sinclair@fracturedatlas.org.

It’s a fact, most artists want to up their income.  So get out there and jump on these opportunities.  Here’s a few good ones coming up in New York.

On September 24th from 9:00am - 12:00 pm check out Introduction to Grassroots fundraising for nonprofit organizations.  Learn how to create a compelling case for support, to deliver your pitch successfully and to raise more money from more people.  Led by Judy Levine and Gregory Cohen of Cause Effective:  Nonprofit Resource Development Center, the workshop will provide practical exercises to assess and improve your organization’s grassroots fundraising success.  There is no charge for this workshop - it’s free!  Check it out on Wednesday, September 24th at the Repertory at Hostos Community College.  The address is 450 Grand Concourse in the Bronx.  To register go to https://www.nycharities.org/event/event.asp?CE_ID=2896

Also, check out Basic Finance for Artist offered by the LMCC.  It’s a free, concentrated, six-week series of workshops that will help develop financial awareness and balance through practical training in money management. The program takes into consideration the complexity of artists’ income flow and diversity of artistic practices. Workshops provide a combination of seminar-style learning and hands-on group and individual exercises. Experts in the field and guest artists help lead the workshops and address issues that are relevant to artist-specific needs.

Artists who participate in this series of workshops will gain a better understanding of their financial profiles, specific goals, and contacts with the business community and other arts professionals. Participants will also receive a resource guide that will provide exercises, reference materials, and useful tips to continue to develop their skills. Location: Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, 125 Maiden Lane, 2^nd Floor, New York. Dates and time: Mondays, 4-7 PM / October 20 - November 24, 2008.  To register, go to http://app.formassembly.com/forms/view/36988

The majority of respondents to our March 2008 survey agree, business is a necessary and mandatory part of any artistic career. However, many of our respondents also expressed some resistance to actively learning business concepts and skills. Here is a summary of the comments:

• Business skills are counter-intuitive for artists
• Directly selling your art erodes humility, goodness, or purity
• Artists are not passionate about or motivated by business
• Artists are intimidated by business
• Artists are suspicious of “business” people
• Business has nothing to do with art
• Business takes time away from creating art
• Talent, not business skills, will lead to success
• Fear of expensive scams targeted at artists

I use to have (and still do have) some of these concerns and perspectives. However, thirteen years of working as a professional artists and arts manager has helped me to understand that:

• money is a resource that enables artists to fulfill their vital role in the advancement of society;
• artists add tremendous value to society and should justly receive a fair return for their contribution;
• the romance of the “starving artist” is not that romantic in reality;
• and society loses the benefit of many talented artists and their important perspectives, due to a lack of support and a lack of education in the arena of business.

In fact, many of the consultants we interviewed reported that their clients were so disempowered by a lack of education in business that they bid down the value of their art un-necessarily, which actually helps perpetuate the “myth” of the starving artists. Some consultants claimed to dramatically improve their client’s income, by telling them to up their price and feel confident about it.

“Business know-how is my primary deficiency… because of it… I missed a lot of opportunities. I need to know how to market, negotiate, and strategize for the long term….NEGOTIATION!!! I have struggles with setting a fair price for my work. How do I ‘sell myself’? I don’t know what to ask for… I don’t know how to read a contract. Sometimes I feel like I am signing my life away …I don’t know what to ask for because there is no distribution of information on what is industry standard…I don’t know how to set boundaries. Artist need benchmarks to determine value….principals to navigate these issues. It’s hard to be a dissenter in a community of yes men. I feel the eagerness of the yes men brings the value down for everyone.” – Dancer, New York

Personally, I had a huge wake-up call around the concept of fair valuation back when I was a cast member of STOMP. I was 19 years old when I booked the gig. I had no debt and no real financial responsibilities. It was my very first job and my very first paycheck ($400per week with no benefits). I was on cloud nine…my dreams had come true…I was a bona fide professional NYC artist.

You can imagine my surprise when a fellow cast member organized a strike; just days before we were scheduled to start two simultaneous national tours. He claimed the producers were being unfair, because they were not providing health insurance. My internal monologue went something like this:

“What, are you CRAZY?!!!….Why the h*ll would we strike?…This is the best job ever…We were lucky to get the gig at all…Don’t you know how many people would kill to get this gig?…I would do this gig for free if they asked.”

I was scared to lose the job, but every other cast member decided to back the strike. So, I soon found myself sitting in a Kinko’s video conferencing room, where we gathered to negotiate terms with the executive producer (who happened to be out of town). I sat in the back of the group, frightened and cringing as the executive producer’s face reddened and his temper flared. But guess what? WE GOT OUR HEALTH INSURANCE!!!

Let’s consider this in terms of fair valuation:

Gross Revenue - During my nearly six years with the show (1995-2001), I saw a “h*ll of a lot of money” walk into the theater. We had three casts; each cast performed 8 shows per week (year round); each show sold 350 to 3,000 tickets (depending on the house size); each ticket was between $40-$75 per ticket. Do the math. That’s a lot of gross revenue!

Costs - The producers broke even on their initial investment within the first six months (and the shows been running for 14 years now). The ongoing costs were minuscule next to our Broadway competition. We had junk for a set, thrift store clothes for costumes, and a small “no-name-low-salary” cast, yet we played the same houses as Broadway shows on tour.

Net Profit – Record breaking!!! STOMP is one of the most profitable shows ever produced Off-Broadway.

Do you think we deserved health insurance in the light of the tremendous value we added to the organization? Especially, when the show and tour schedule was sooooo physically demanding? At the time I wanted to curse my fellow cast member for “rocking the boat.” In hind sight, I admire him for having the guts to demand his worth.

To be clear, I am grateful to the producers and directors for giving me the opportunity to perform with the show, so this is not meant to be disrespectful. To be fair, I have no hard figures on the producers’ profit & loss or cost of operations; and this simplified analysis does not account for any risk factor.

Also, the perks evolved as the producers learned that a happy cast was cheaper than an unhappy cast (fewer turnovers, less workers comp claims, no more strikes). They started to provide weekly massages, regular chiropractic services, “fancy” dinners, catering backstage, and a lot of fun excursions. My salary peaked at $50,000 (per year), before I left to start a non-profit theater company. My corporate brethren have expressed surprise at my peak annual salary; they expected it to be much higher. However, as a young twenty-something with no real financial responsibilities, I felt pretty satisfied.

From a broader perspective, I believe that encouraging artists to think entrepreneurially, to utilize some basic small business practices, and to fairly value their work will assist in the broader mission of improving the quality, diversity and distribution of art in this country. A growing mass of artists empowered with the skills and resources to plan, launch, and manage their careers/businesses effectively could have a significant influence on how America values art. The more artists learn to fairly value their work, the more our communities will learn to value it as well.

Arts advocates, educators and politicians have called for better arts funding by arguing that the arts help to: improve the quality of our educational system; decrease crime rates; and improve the overall quality of the average American lifestyle. This fight must take place on a political level, but it also needs to take place at the grassroots. While our advocates are fighting for us in Washington, we need to fight for ourselves by creating value and demanding a fair return. In summary, we must be confident in our worth.

More results from our 2008 national survey aimed at better understanding your professional development needs. So far, we have discussed the universal and career phase needs of artists. Now, I’d like to quickly touch on some of the generational needs we discovered in our research.

Generation Y (born between 1980-1994) - The older half of Gen Y artists are exiting undergrad or grad school and are eager to quickly “make it happen,” especially after loan payments come due and life expenses increase.

“I am 26…I am beyond working for free. There is no security and no real long term claim to ownership if the work of the company (I dance with) does eventually make a profit.” – Dancer, NYC

“We need information on how to set up a lifestyle that will allow us to pursue art for the long haul.” – Musician & Actor, Los Angeles

Generation X (born between 1965-1979) – Many Gen X’ers have been in the field for a while and feel like they “hit a wall.” Some are combating this stagnation by trying to “step up their game;” others are starting to think about law school; some have managed to build a good reputation and are experiencing a fair amount of success. The more established X artists need help managing the new challenges of a successful career, such as: long-term financial planning, sustaining momentum, protecting their IP rights, etc.

Many are grappling with tough decisions about starting a family or pursuing their career while providing for the children they already have. Some are being told to give up their dreams and “be responsible.” Some are saying “f%#@” convention, by choosing to stay unattached and nomadic.

“I have held off on graphic design since having kids, how do women and men plan for family and still make a living in the arts? …HUGE issue for female artists.” – Graphic Designer, Louisiana

“I stopped being an artist for four years to be a real estate agent and almost went nuts…I was told I was being selfish to want to be an artist as a parent…then I realized my kids were growing up not even knowing who their mother really was. I learned the hard way, you can’t ever stop being an artist…its just who you are. ”- Director, Georgia
Baby Boomers (born between 1946-1964) - many boomers are just returning to the arts after a long hiatus caused by life’s distractions and they want to integrate creativity back into their life. Others are just discovering latent talents and are eager to fully realize them. These artists express a need for career transition management.

“My kids are grown and I have a freedom I didn’t have before. I figured; why not move from teaching about playwrights to being a playwright. So I enrolled in a PhD program in creative writing and I am directing my first play next month.” – Playwright, Georgia

Other Boomers have enjoyed a very fruitful artistic career and worry about how to firmly establish their legacy. They want strategies for documenting their work in art or performance history books; establishing institutions that will carry on their artistic mission; or simply communicating how their work is still relevant.

As mentioned, we are working to expand the Fractured Atlas Development Program to better meet your needs by developing our online training center (Fractured U.). Also, we are developing a network of highly qualified consultant and coaches who can provide customized assistance to artists trying to plan, launch and manage their careers/companies. For more information contact me (kamal.sinclair@fracturedatlas.org) or Adam Natale (adam.natale@fracturedatlas.org)

As mentioned, we conducted a national survey and a series of phone interviews to better understand the professional development needs of artists. In the last post, I outlined the most common needs expressed by your peers. In this post, I thought you might be interested in understanding how your needs varied by career phase.

Emerging Artists feel like they know how to make art, but are ignorant about the operations and infrastructure of their own industry. They don’t know what it really takes to be a working artist. Most reported being told by a teacher or mentor to “just persevere at all costs” in order to achieve their creative dreams, but were not given more practical insight into the day-to-day reality of their career.

They feel the lack of information is very disempowering and causes a perceived loss of control. Therefore, emerging artists especially want an education in industry structure, functions, vocabulary, and norms; which can be a source of empowerment and create a sense of career control.

“What is the vocabulary? What is the process? Who has the power? Where do I get started? Where should I live? (NYC or Los Angeles?) How do I get an agent, or join the union? How can I avoid being scammed? How do I get an exhibit?” – collage of emerging artist comments

“I would love some sort of a boot camp in business concepts for artists. Also, we need a way to mediate the connection to capital. Artists are uncomfortable asking people for money, they need an advocate. A workshop on pitching and presenting materials would be great. We have to learn about fundraising or getting investors for our vision. I wish I had templates or someone to spoon feed me the steps on how to save money. Individual sessions would be great! It’s hard to accept that you have to be involved in the selling process, but it would help to have a partner. It would be great to have general business knowledge tailored for filmmakers…that would be great!” - Filmmaker, Los Angeles

“I have questions about how to sell music and make money, because CDs aren’t selling, technology is changing, new ways are emerging to support yourself….I hate having to push my CD…it is such an artist conflict, you want to sell your stuff, but you want to remain humble.” –Musician, Florida

Established Artists need help getting “unstuck”, overcoming worries about peaking, taking control of their careers, taking actions toward getting the next gig, managing their “brand”, getting emotional support when their social network changes, and overcoming the negative aspects of the industry.

“My career is being pulled by the market in one direction, but I have to push it in the direction of my creative (non-monetary) goals. If I was smart, I would just do what the market demands and make even more money, but I just don’t want to make stuff for money’s sake. If I did, I could be making a whole lot more money right now.” – Photographer, San Francisco

Again, we are working to expand the Fractured Atlas Development Program to better meet your needs by developing our online training center (Fractured U.) and developing a network of highly qualified consultant and coaches who can provide customized assistance to artists trying to plan, launch and manage their careers and companies. For more information contact me (kamal.sinclair@fracturedatlas.org) or Adam Natale (adam.natale@fracturedatlas.org)

If you are new to the game of getting press coverage or need a good refresher course, check out this helpful article written by Ron Evans, Director, Local Marketing & Technology at Artsopolis Marketing Partnership & Artsopolis.com.

In March 2008, we conducted a national survey and a series of phone interviews to better understand the professional development needs of artists. I thought you might be interested in what your peers described as their needs, wants, and desires. Sometimes it makes us feel better to know that we are not alone; that others are looking for the same things. Maybe, it can help you gain clarity about what you want and what actions you can take to fulfill your needs. As you might expect, we found that artists’ needs varied based on age, career stage, region and discipline. However, some needs remained consistent across all categories, such as creative autonomy, meaningful results, and love. The following is a list of the most universal needs expressed by your peers:

1) Need for success – Respondents’ definition of success ranged dramatically; from generating large sums of money, to simply having a moment of creative expression. Some artists saw positive critical reviews and prestigious grants/awards as markers for success; whereas others cited the euphoria of the creative process as their standard. Some defined success as having made a meaningful social impact and others simply measured it by the number of laughs or tears in their audience. No matter what the definition, success is one of the strongest needs expressed in this study.

“Success is embodying my own work, having my work produced and performed where it can make a statement for the artist world and the activist world…and serve as a catalyst for people to think critically.” – Dancer, New York

“Big bucks don’t define artistry….success is fulfilling dreams in terms of non-monetary results. Although money is nice and necessary…being true to yourself, realizing your potential to the fullest and connecting to your roots is my definition of success.” – Playwright, Georgia

“The greatest use of art is as a medium for creating greater understanding of the human experience.” – Photographer, San Francisco

2) Need for clarity/focus – Many artists expressed a need for clarity, for control over their careers, and for a vision to push them past periods of stagnation. Some say clarity would help them to let go of long-term projects that may never work, to break free of tunnel vision, and to avoid the paralyzation (scattered energy) of pursuing too many possibilities. Some “successful” artists said the turning point in their career happened the day they “got honest” with themselves. Once they clearly defined their core desire, they were able to stop spending energy on everything and anything that came their way. This elimination of non-productive activity allowed them to focus all of their energy on things that effectively brought them closer to their goal.

3) Need for emotional support - Artists endure long periods of unemployment, intense competition, and frequent rejections. This can have a serious effect on self-confidence. The artists in our survey expressed a need to be validated, encouraged, challenged, and motivated by their peers and artistic community. They need peer support in overcome fear of success and failure.

4) Need for work/life balance – It seems that everyone in the current fast paced environment wants balance in their lives, but artists’ lack of job security and financial resources make balance particularly challenging. Many artists are frustrated by having to spend 40 hours per week on a day job that takes them from their artistic pursuits. Whereas, “working” artists are challenged by the speed and quantity of work they have to produce; they want to learn how to better pace their creative output.

5) Need for advocacy - Artists want better advocacy. They want to capture some of the value they generated for society. They are frustrated by the cycle of moving to a “unpopular” urban neighborhood, improving its attractiveness by creating a “trendy” scene, getting priced out, and losing their creative space.

6) Need for partnership/services - In many ways, artists want the ability to “just do art”, but they understand that survival requires money, which requires some involvement in business. Many of the respondents expressed a desire to have someone else take care of their administrative and business needs, so they can just create.

7) Need for business and managerial skills – Many artists feel disempowered when dealing with the business aspects of their career, because they have not been given a cursory education in this field of knowledge. They want to better understand the “fog of business,” in order to confidently chart their path and navigate their journey.

“Business know-how is my primary deficiency… because of it… I missed a lot of opportunities. I need to know how to market, negotiate, and strategize for the long term….NEGOTIATION!!! I have struggles with setting a fair price for my work. How do I sell myself? I don’t know what to ask for.…what to sell myself for. I don’t know how to read a contract. Sometimes I feel like I am signing my life away. In dance a lot of work is created collectively, but the director gets all the branding…I don’t know what to ask for because there is no distribution of information on what is industry standard for this type of thing. I don’t know how to set boundaries. Artist need benchmarks to determine value….principals to navigate these issues. It’s hard to be a dissenter in a community of “yes men.” I feel the eagerness of the “yes men” brings down the value for everyone.” – Dancer, New York

Additionally, the unprecedented virtual noise and rapid changes in the Web 2.0 (3.0) environment requires that artists know more about accessing a virtual audience, but most of the time they feel “beat up” by this saturated eSpace. They want new strategies for building a loyal audience, gaining recognition, finding creative employment, and generating financial returns.

8) Need for resources - the funding from public and private organizations is not expected to keep pace with rising production costs, so only large and mid-size companies are able to operate under the traditional business model. Smaller companies are having fewer performances/exhibits/events and offer limited employment opportunities. Artists want to find new business models or new funding sources. Also, many artists express a need for physical space to create and present their work.

Currently, we are working to expand the Fractured Atlas Professional Development Program to better meet your needs. Initiatives include an online training center (Fractured U.) and a network of highly qualified consultant/coaches who can provide customized assistance to artists trying to plan, launch and manage their careers and companies. For more information contact me (kamal.sinclair@fracturedatlas.org) or Adam Natale (adam.natale@fracturedatlas.org)