Blast O' Joy

Are You Ready for the Rebel Belle?

A wonderful client of mine, Tuck Self, has created something that's just neat - a How Much Joy Can You Stand? workshop designed specifically for Southern belles and other 'polite' little things. Tuck's new persona - The Rebel Belle - is all about unleashing any damsel's inner fire so she, too, can become 'a bold voice for self-expression'. So no matter what kind of 'keep a low profile' messages you got as a girl, you can still rise up, seize your power and make a difference.

Tuck wrote up a fun account of the first workshop. Do check it out - and snag her new free guide, The Rebel Belle Guide to Bold Self-Expression'. It's great! (I'm so proud I could just bust!)

Technorati Tags: Self expression, rebel belle

How to Be a Working Web-Based Artist

Yesterday I blogged about my visit to Key West painter Fran Decker, and how much I loved her work. Today, I'll fill you in on details of a coaching session I did with Fran on how she could build more platform on the Web, and subsequently sell more work.

Believe it or not, Fran already sells a fair number of paintings on the Web. (We're not doubting Fran's abundant talent, but simply that folks would buy an actual painting based on a fairly small digital image of it.) But buy they do … and the fact is, they could buy more.

We looked over Fran's energetic site at www.frandecker.com and I discovered a few things which I thought might help Fran sell more.

First of all, Fran needed a new, better headshot. She already had one kind of neat picture on her About the Artist page. But we needed a headshot where we could get to know her right on the home page. After all, we aren't just buying a painting - we're buying a little piece of Fran who is an essential Key West-ian: vivacious, fun, and highly creative.

Also, I craved a blog for Fran - a place for her to share her musings about life in the keys. And I wanted her to talk about the Key West life in all of its ramifications - pre-hurricane worries, Fantasy Fest party blow outs, life with tourists, living in a grand house in the middle of town - the works. I felt it would help visitors to her site know her better and thus feel more inclined to buy her work.

I wanted Fran to have some kind of free take-away from her site. A downloadable sketch, suitable for framing, or a few e-cards that could be sent to friends. Anything that would share her work with folks and further endear her to them.

The big idea here, though, was the blog. Fran could really see how much fun it would be to just muse out loud on her blog and share the Key West life. I got so excited I went straight home and sent her a copy of Andy Wibbels great guide to blogging, Blog Wild.

Any other ideas for Fran?

My Vacation Discovery

Earlier this month on my vacation, we had the pleasure of spending a few nights with my old college pal Fran Decker, an artist living in Key West, and with her husband, Bob Decker who leads charters on a gorgeous Choi Lee sailboat. I wanted to write about her here because she has fully manifested her dream of making a living from her paintings, and done so in style!

Back at Wellesley, when I knew Fran she was a passionate marine biologist with long hair and a melted butter Southern accent. Accent's still there, only now she has a year round tan and has had a long and interesting adult career running boat charters and being involved in conservation efforts around the Florida Keys.

And, in recent years, she's begun to sell her work as a painter - something that was pretty peripheral in college. How did she do it?

Fran has an affinity for painting the architecture, natural life and mangroves of Key West, which if you've never been there, is a charmingly 'housey' town. Lots of beautiful, grand old clapboard houses and charming smaller wooden houses - many painted ice cream colors - dot the old section of town. Plus wonderful 19th century brick warehouses and factories that have all had stunning conversions into commercial buildings.

And there are lots of chickens running around. So who wouldn't want to paint all of this?

Fran had several shows up in the area when we arrived. Her work is just the right size - not too big, not too small, and drenched in color and the very atmosphere of Key West. I was struck not just by the strength of her painting but how many of these babies she can crank out. This woman is prolific!

Some of my favorites are: Mexican Mangoes, Pepe's II (we ate breakfast there!), and Soar.  I'll fill you in later on a few ideas I had for Fran on how she could expand her painting business on the Web.

Technorati Tags: Fran Decker, Key West art

The Writer's Spa is Nearly Upon Us!

I've spent the better part of this week putting together the final details of our upcoming Writer's Spa in Taos, New Mexico, which begins Saturday. Now is the time for setting up the private coaching appointments that are part of the event, finalizing plans with a few surprise speakers coming in, and making sure all the room assignments are correct, etc.

And for getting on the phone and email about a hundred times with my dear partner in crime, Jennifer Louden. This is the fifth year Jennifer and I have led the event, and let me tell you, we are excited. This year, we plan to do things differently (take note, Carla, Rachel and Dana and any other alums I might have missed.)

We'll have some of the same core programs and as ever council, a time to share about your writing. But certain rituals have been reworked and we've done a lot of brainstorming over the winter about how we could refresh the program - just brush it up some so it moves up to the next level and brings our participants along with it.

Don't want to reveal too much here about what I mean. But suffice to say, it's going to be a wonderful week on the mesa. I loaded this picture taken by Christina Solstad, a Writer's Spa alumna, at a canyon out there in the glorious Southwest. The Hopi in the picture are doing a sunrise ritual around the summer solstice.

It totally puts me in the mood for Taos … hope it inspires you, too.

Technorati Tags: Writing life, Hopi, Taos

Last shot at our Summer Savings of $90

Just FYI, our 2006 Summer Celebrity Sal.e ends tomorrow, Sunday, in the PM. It's your very last chance to get my abundant Get Known Now Home Study Course for a kickin' $90 off the usual price.

You'll get my complete insider strategies for how to take your business from a mere fuzzy idea  to a kick-butt, media-friendly name brand with an abundant national or even international following.

I'll teach you how to set up a presence that convinces the media and publishing pundits YOU are the one they want to do business with. And I'll take you there by the hand, leading you each step of the way.

'Suzanne, I just wanted to share with you how much I have been enjoying your work ... It is extremely helpful to hear so many concrete and useful ideas for generating a strong platform ... I have heard from several agents that all that is between me and getting my books published is strengthening my platform--so thank you, thank you, for doing what you do, and sharing your ideas and experience with people like me.'
  - Laurie Smith

Act now - or forever hold your peace! Find our sale page at http://www.getknownnow.com/getknown-nowfull.html

What Is the 'Job' of Art?

A Latino writer whose name I can no longer recall said (paraphrasing here) 'It's the job of the artist to infect the public." This is a sentiment that I clipped out of the paper and carried in my wallet for years until it finally disintegrated.

I think I felt this was a truth to live by. Yes, we want to stir things up - get people excited and motivated - get them talking, and most of all doing. A LOT of art has done exactly that to great effect, from controversial Michael Moore films about politics to paintings by Thomas Eakins in which anatomy professors dissect the human body in class.

Yes, those who operate in such a highly charged realm can expect to take some hits. And to create so much buzz they naturally rise to the top of their field. This is the value of taking a stand - not just to stand out, but precisely because you stir people up, get them thinking … you 'infect' them.

This came to mind because of a recent article I read in The New York Times about an artist, Doug Auld, who paints people badly disfigured by fires. (The body of work is called State of Grace.) He found these subjects unexpected, the canvases of their faces beautiful in their grim reality - and the outlook of these fire survivors amazingly frank and empowering.

The article about Auld's work also noted that a number of people had accused Auld of exploiting his subjects. But I say he's opening up a conversation - using his art to question social mores and help us get to know people who we might ordinarily shun or shy away from. That's a powerful, direct conversation; not for everyone, but remarkable for those who embrace it.

What do you think? What is the job of art?

Technorati Tags: Artist mission, artists statement, job of art

Are you willing to become known for your dream?

OK… let me ask it again: are you really willing to become known for your dream? It's a question that seems to have an obvious answer ("Yes! Of course!") Yet, when you look at it, you may notice you have a tad of resistance. Or possibly even a LOT of resistance.

What many of us really want is to simply do the dream work. Dealing with a public around it - or even finding that public- is usually an afterthought, and for some of us, an inconvenient one.

This is precisely why I began my work helping creative souls build platform. For you can't be authentic to your dream if you're unwilling to become known by people. How will you ultimately get the job done if no one shows up to participate?

Instead, you have to approach your mission with at least a willingness to engage your public. That would include marketing your dream work, finding your audience, and developing that relationship. (Note, you don't have to be passionate about marketing - just willing for it to take place.) And you do have to be passionate about helping your audience.

In the final session of my recent section of the Get Known Now Blast Off, I tossed out all of my helpful tips on marketing systems and riffed for a solid hour on how to push past that innate resistance to getting known so many of us have. I really felt it was what my clients needed most

Many come to me openly needing help - but still resisting it all the same. It's as if they can't help it; they're wired to want to hide, despite their best intentions.

In the end, no marketing techniques are going to amount to a hill of beans if the client in question doesn't really want to find their audience - deep in their soul. So I ask you: are you willing to honestly get known? Are you willing to do what it takes to find your people?

Only you know the answer … and I hope it's a resounding Yes!

Technorati Tags: Motivation for artists, living the artist's life

How to Make the Most of Your Lunch Hour, Part II

On the other hand, it may just be plain hard to create in your fluorescent office environment with phones ringing and interruptions galore. You may be afraid to close your door while you work, or you may not even have a door. That's when it pays to walk over to the public library, a friend's office conference room, a park or nearby office lobby with a public space in it -- or anywhere where you can reasonably sit and do your work for a while.

I discovered this option when I worked in Times Square and began to hang around in the Starbucks on Eighth Avenue and 43d Street. A remarkable number of people from my office drifted in there at lunch hour, and there we'd sit, steadfastly ignoring each other, each of us bent over pieces of writing, or business plans, or sketches we were working on. The remarkable thing was that even though this was 'work', its very essence was as refreshing as taking a long, cool walk. Inevitably, I'd come back to work with renewed vigor, ready to face the day.

So what about lunch?

Bring it. That's the only way this particular plan works, because you have to watch the clock when you do this midday work-fest. An hour goes by fast when you're deep in your dream, so you don't want any of it wasted waiting in line for a tuna fish sandwich. Better to get yourself some sort of lunch box, stock it, and stow it in the company fridge each day. (Enough companies have microwaves that you might even score a hot lunch this way.) Then eat it as your desk before, after or as you tackle your dream.

At any rate, do remember: it's your lunch hour. You earned it, and you get to use it. Don't ever let anyone persuade you otherwise. Furthermore, you'll be more productive the rest of the day by properly taking care of yourself in the first place. Finally, if the concept of using any lunch hours at all for your dream seems impossible, then you are probably working too hard. That's when it's time to reevaluate your job -- not your dream.

You may even find that once you begin to have your dream for lunch on a regular basis, other assorted dreamers may seek you out and offer support and encouragement. You might even want to start an unofficial group, like a Lunchtime Joy Group, meeting every few weeks to check in on each other's progress and offer encouragement.

Take your dream to lunch and see what happens. If nothing else, balance may miraculously return to your life.

Technorati Tags: Time management, creativity coaching, living your dreams

How to Make the Most of Your Lunch Hour, Part I

What did you have for lunch today?

Was it a container of yogurt and half the contents of your 'in' box? Maybe you took in a meeting and skipped lunch altogether, until you lifted your head at 3:30 and ran downstairs for a candy bar and an apple (your nod to nutrition.) Or was lunch yet another escape from a job you hate with some fellow disgruntled employees? If so, was vitriol served alongside the hamburgers?

On the other hand, maybe you used your lunch hour to chip away at your dreams. I've recently taken the somewhat dangerous position that one of the best times of day to do the work of your dreams is during your lunch hour. While the concept may seem radical -- What? Do my painting/practicing/blue sky brainstorming right here... at my DESK? You godda be CRAZY! -- there is a certain logic to it.

Look at it this way. If you are like some people who read this blog, you work all day and then come home too tired at night to really put that much energy into your dream. Or perhaps you get up at the crack of dawn, all set to write or compose or paint, and suddenly a child appears in the doorway, wanting an especially early story read to them. On the other hand, lunch hour is technically your time, and it's purpose is to stop, take a break, and refresh your spirit.What better way than to spend your lunch hour than on the work of your soul?

Now you may be involved in something like tap dancing or chain-saw sculpting that could be a tad disruptive at work. No problem. Find a nearby place to do your work. Major cities have rehearsal and even art studios to rent by the hour. Suburbs have church and temple halls you can usually borrow if they're unused. The key here is to be resourceful and use your imagination. Let your mind wander to the place or the means to do what you've got to do. A friend of mine used to use an unused furniture store room at his company to practice tai chi every hour at lunch. Or use the lunch hour to do the quiet work of your dream -- the planning, the research, the marketing, etc..

Technorati Tags: Time management, creativity coaching, living your dreams