Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - May 26, 2011, 9:20 am
Over the 50 plus years I’ve been capturing images of people and places  I’m consistently asked about my motivation for photography and in particular about my style. Typical of my generation I answered in a way that largely focused on motivation and how. Both age and maturity have led me to kno...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Dec 1, 2010, 12:22 pm
Yes we are still alive and kicking here, even though we haven’t been posting much, however there is a reason: I’ve been busy building a new on line community for visual artists. The community is called:  The New Connected Artist Because we now have new and continually evolving opportunities t...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Oct 25, 2010, 4:15 pm
Click the image above to download post card Sixteenth Annual Art Fair at Ramsey Junior High in conjunction with Grand Meander in Saint Paul December 4, 2010 ART AT RAMSEY: A Juried Holiday Art Fair of quality fine crafts and fine art, is sponsored by Highland/Macalester/Groveland Community Educatio...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Oct 18, 2010, 7:14 am
I am currently taking a break from the blog for a couple of weeks in order to get my mentoring program ready for launch. The program is built around the concepts of professionalism for artists’ businesses, it will include basic workshops and tele-classes along with more in-depth master classes. B...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Oct 5, 2010, 8:11 am
In the face of ever increasing competition one of the most important things we as artists can do for ourselves is to make sure we stand out, we need to be seen not as the result of the noise we make or the banners and slogans we try to use. In orders to stand out we must be seen as ourselves, people...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Sep 27, 2010, 6:55 am
The rise of the internet and its’ emphasis on engagement and connection have opened a vast new world of options for artists to increase their visibility and in turn new avenues for selling their work. The ubiquitous nature of the Internet has produced an ever increasing sense of urgency by artist...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Sep 20, 2010, 7:30 am
While visibility is a strategy for both finding and guiding the people most likely to buy and collect your work all of the effort and actions that go into your visibility strategy could be considered promotional. Traditionally defined promotion is considered one of the four elements of marketing, it...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Sep 13, 2010, 7:49 am
So far we’ve spent a lot of time on the subject of on-line visibility …but what if you aren’t on-line or you don’t have a broadband connection or you’re still using that laptop you bought a while back that is running the original version of Windows? Fear not, despite outward appearances an...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Sep 7, 2010, 10:20 am
Over the past few weeks we’ve examined the key tools for gaining on-line visibility to potential buyers. We began with the concept of a hub that becomes your on-line home base, then examined social media connections  to and from your hub and their use as links to both potential and existing buyer...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Sep 1, 2010, 12:53 pm
The talks below by Jeremy Rikin got me thinking about the role of art in our culture and really the world. Rifkin’s has spent the past several years studying empathy and its relationship to our collective belief that humans are naturally aggressive. He challenges us to imagine using our consciousn...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Aug 30, 2010, 8:27 am
Last week Facebook released its much anticipated addition to the blossoming GPS based checkin applications. In light of that release I’ve decided to spend some time taking a look at why you need to care about location based services and more importantly their applicability to working artists. Whi...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Aug 23, 2010, 6:23 am
The last installment began with  an examination of  the basics of search engines, how they work and more importantly, their role in your visibility level . We stuck mainly to what goes on when someone searches for you and what you as an artist can do to help ensure you are among the results the se...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Aug 16, 2010, 6:36 am
Over the last few installment I’ve focused on the use of social media as a tool to bring people to your Hub, the operative word being “bring ”  by using social media networks as a way to increase the depth of your exposure. The depth I’m talking about is the extent to which your network, bo...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Aug 9, 2010, 6:24 am
By now you should have an understanding of the purpose of having visibility element in your overall art marketing strategy and the importance of visibility to artists in particular. Because we don’t own store fronts and most of us are the only people employed in our business ‚we need to have so...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Aug 2, 2010, 6:00 am
If you can remember the pre-GPS , pre-Mapquest or Google maps days you know how frustrating it was to try to find where ever it was you were going especially if that place changed locations…without telling you where they moved to. I remember those days well, navigating more by instinct than anythi...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Jul 26, 2010, 6:00 am
Last week’s chapter showed us the three general buckets of tools that we can choose from when we set out on our quest for increased visibility, however, that alone is not enough to help you chose the right tool for the right job. While, it isn’t within the scope of this series to dive into the d...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Jul 19, 2010, 6:24 am
Instead of talking about strategy this week I’m going to focus on tools and then move into strategy. Before we can come close to talking about strategy we have to first know what tools are available and how we can best use them. Then when we start building a visibility strategy we’ll be more abl...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Jul 12, 2010, 7:21 am
Ever wonder  why we (artists) are so resistant to being visible and hide the very things that make us who we are? Over the 4th of July weekend I was taught a lesson by two unlikely characters and a Russian satellite. The lesson came after I watched two movies that surprised me in their connection ...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Jun 23, 2010, 6:17 am
One of favorite things to do when I’m out in public is people watching, I love  guessing the stories happening around me, most of us do…it’s kinda hard to resist. We can’t help eavesdropping on conversations in public places, it’s a way for us to feel part of a greater whole and a rather ...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Jun 21, 2010, 6:17 am
How and if we chose to build trust with our buyers and clients is a very personal choice, because when all is said and done the way we chose to build trust comes from who we are. Who we are is how we are seen by our buyers and clients, how they experience us,  which in turn heavily influences wheth...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Jun 16, 2010, 6:35 am
Regardless of the time you spend on the internet, there are no lack of tools to help make the experience less intimidating and more useful. I often get asked what I use and why so I thought I’d put up list of my favorite applications most of which I’d be lost without, because they save lots of t...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Jun 14, 2010, 6:05 am
We hear a lot about the importance of building trust in order to nurture repeat sales and ultimately create a word of mouth following. Typically the concept of building trust has been highly associated with freelance services which tend be highly skill based, such as writing, consulting, design/crea...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Jun 10, 2010, 12:13 pm
I has a plan! Hurrah! Well, sort of. It’s the beginnings of a plan. A plan of studying and learned-ness. (I’m feeling a little bit silly this morning, can you tell?) I have recently instituted office and studio hours. This is new for me. I’ve never really had “hours” before. But from ...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Jun 9, 2010, 6:30 am
Where: The College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota When: Sunday, July 11, 2010, 10 a.m. — 6 p.m. Free event.   Click on the card to download a copy. ART AT ST. KATE’S is produced by Artists’ Circle in cooperation with the Textile Center, to be held on the grounds of The College ...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Jun 7, 2010, 6:30 am
Over the last several weeks we have taken a trip to discover what a Professional Artist”  looks like so we could better understand how potential buyers see us and use that image to decide to buy our stuff. As I’ve discussed many times here, knowing who our work attracts is important, because it...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Jun 3, 2010, 7:07 am
Monday was a long weekend here in Canada, and it was a beautiful one – warm, sunny, and smelling of spring. A friend called me up and armed with camera and sketchbook, we walked down to Victoria Park, a public park that runs along the edge of the harbour. It’s pretty big, so you can wander a...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Jun 2, 2010, 6:42 am
The Edina Art Fair has grown from a few crafters on the corner of 50th and France to more than 400 artists displaying a diverse collection of art. The Edina Art Fair enjoys its position as the Minnesota summer’s first art fair and the second largest art fair in the state.  The Fair is loca...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - May 26, 2010, 6:40 am
What are the most important lessons you have learned about being an artist and selling your work? One of the lessons that I’ve learned in the past year is that I’m the only one in control of my career and nothing and nobody is going to make it or break it except for me. I kept getting these exc...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - May 25, 2010, 6:46 am
The following post is part of a periodic series I call “Words of Wisdom: insights and inspiration”. The series will contain real stories about real artists and their journeys of growth as they face the personal and cultural challenges of bringing their visions to us. We all face challenges i...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - May 21, 2010, 11:31 am
Ever since the first day I held a camera in my hand when I was eight years old, I have been drawn to exploring the many ways we can memorialize our time and space on this planet through photography. Beginning with the early forms of image capture and continuing through today’s digital democratizat...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - May 19, 2010, 6:38 am
What non-traditional methods do you use to market and sell your art? I think almost everything I do would be considered “non-traditional” by very traditional artists, but I don’t know how much of it is really “out there”. I try to see marketing as another creative outlet, where I can exp...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - May 18, 2010, 7:07 am
I had a realization this morning. A really obvious one actually, but I can be dense sometimes. When I do something for me and my own reasons, I succeed. When I do something to prove myself, or get approval, or from a sense of guilt, I never get anywhere. Really simple, but it explains a lot of...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - May 17, 2010, 5:49 am
Last week we looked at how Alice chose to set out on her career as a working artist. We saw how Alice’s lack of preparation, market research and self insight left her in a spinning dilemma over her career. We also caught a glimpse of the mindset that helped create the outcome of her actions. This...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - May 14, 2010, 8:45 am
While studying thirty years of data collected as part of a national study on obesity Nikolas Christakis and James Fowler began what would soon grow into significant findings about how connected we all are. In the process they discovered and verified the presence of the degrees of influence we have o...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - May 12, 2010, 6:37 am
Tell us about your marketing journey. How did you start? I’ve always instinctively known that art was a business, and that I needed to learn those skills. My first “marketing advisor” was another entrepreneur that I knew, but he worked business to business with huge corporations, so everythin...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - May 10, 2010, 5:45 am
Why case studies? Case studies are simply stories to illustrate a problem, issue or situation, they let us see and experience in a real world context, the way organizations and people approach and deal with particular problems . As I mentioned last week, I’ll be using the case study approach to i...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - May 9, 2010, 12:10 pm
On Thursday, May 20th you are invited to join us for the exhibition opening of Darcy Padilla’s riveting documentary “The Julie Project.” 17 years in the making, this unique and award-winning project follows the life of one woman, Julie Baird. The story begins in 1993, when Darcy meets an 19 y...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - May 7, 2010, 10:58 am
A Deeper Look at Surface Beauty An interactive online colloquium Organized by the Freer Gallery of Art/Arthur M. Sackler Gallery May 12, 2010, 8:30 – 10 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) Taking the Freer Gallery exhibition Surface Beauty: American Art and Freer’s Aesthetic Vision as a jumping of...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - May 5, 2010, 7:45 am
How did you get started? It’s funny, I’ve always drawn but it was never my main focus as a child. Up until I was 12, I was a ballet dancer & a pretty good one at that. Everyone thought it was going to be my career. Then when I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I had to give it up and...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - May 3, 2010, 6:04 am
As I mentioned last week, being a pro is a mindset, a way of seeing life and the world. Because it is a mindset that can be learned, practiced and improved it lives in constant change and is not the exclusive domain of super stars or any other elite class. A part time artists possessing the desire t...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Apr 26, 2010, 5:45 am
Over the last couple of weeks we have begun to see the emergence of what a Professional might look like, what qualities of character or heart she might possess along with how she might live a professional life. We’ve examined qualities like: Mastery Growth Fear Transparency We’ve seen how th...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Apr 20, 2010, 6:06 pm
So on Friday, I announced that I’m doing a thing – a live painting marathon and auction. Which on the one hand, I’m totally excited for. And on the other hand – oh my god. So nervous! It’s just triggered all of my fears and all of my monsters. Self promotion It kinda makes me want to ...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Apr 19, 2010, 5:32 am
Last week I took our framework to a different level in order to refine the concept of being professional and begin painting an image of what a professional looks like.Describing each characteristic of a professional in behavioral terms helps form the palette for creating a visual foundation of what ...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Apr 15, 2010, 11:07 am
Have people lost their faith in beauty? Scruton explores  the change brought on by Deuchant, Koontz et. al. and how that change attempted to give  meaning to “a here and now” world as opposed to an idealized one. Scruton maintains that art is really about creativity which is a call to others ...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Apr 13, 2010, 1:39 pm
There’s such a fine line between the two. On the one hand, you don’t want to put crappy artwork out into the world. You want your best stuff out there representing you. On the other hand, perfectionism can be crippling – I should know. I’ve got an awful case of it. Keith Bond wrote a gu...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Apr 12, 2010, 5:00 am
The last two installments addressed two key issues related to success as an artist. The first installment presented the core issue facing artists today.That  issue was described as a lack of  unified identity that clearly frames the meaning of what an artist is and how that blurred identity is ref...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Apr 7, 2010, 1:39 pm
A few days ago I was sent a link by one of my Facebook friends, it connected to a six part BBC special narrated by British philosopher Roger Scruton. The subject was “Why Beauty Matters”. After watching the entire series I thought it would be an excellent catalyst for further conversations arou...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Apr 5, 2010, 5:39 am
Last week’s column ended with a challenge for clarity, to begin to look closer at what you do and how you do it. Clarity is important to identity and identity helps others when they are sorting out where you belong in their minds.  When potential buyers are in need of something they automatically...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Apr 2, 2010, 11:59 am
In Continuum Artist Robin Maria Pedrero presents works of art that infuse color and design to illustrate the timelessness of nature and love. Using opaque and transparent painted layers and selective ink drawn contours she shows how thoughts triggered by senses can take us on a visual journey conne...
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Bill W. posted an article on The ARTISTScenter - Mar 29, 2010, 5:46 am
Today we’ll be starting another series this time looking at language and meaning so we can begin to settle on a way to describe ourselves, what we do and our “value position” in a larger context. We’ll also examine the differences between an amateur and a professional to see how increased cl...
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