Emerging and Mid-Career Artists,

Wouldn’t it be delicious if your art career could stay strong in any economy?

Being an artist is one of the most soul-satisfying things you do. So why can’t you ride that studio high right into making a living from it?

I know you are smart, that your art is worthy, and that you dream of a time when your art is all you do from the time you get up until someone rings that dinner bell (or you have to make it yourself).

But when do you have time to sit down and plan… everything keeps moving so fast? Figuring out how to make the right impression on gallery owners, deciding what to do about a website, putting together your portfolio – did someone say “blog”? – and how much valuable time do you have to spend on Twitter and Facebook – the social network time-suck – to see any return?

I know you want your art in the world, and you are trying as hard as you can to figure it all out. You write lists and goals, and more lists, but you can’t see the whole picture, where it’s all going…

When it’s all just too much

Some days you feel like you’re wrestling a giant octopus.  Just when you think you’ve got the website nailed, they tell you to blog.

Just as you’re dreaming of hiding out in your studio, they tell you that sales happen most often when the artist talks to collectors– (and say, what, exactly?)

You get one piece figured out and another one grabs at you… and more of your precious studio time slides under the waves. You can’t take a moment to prioritize or strategize – even if you knew how.  So you plunge ahead, doing your best to ignore the frustration and confusion sloshing over it all.

How the dickens are you supposed to get any time to create the art you want to sell?!

Even so, I know you’ve been trying to put it together, get the information you need to know. But when you look at the marketing programs out there – well, it just adds to the confusion, because their suggestions don’t make sense for what you know about the art world–and you worry that one or two missteps will put professional egg on your face.

You’re absolutely right

Being professional, at the starting gate, is part of the famous “First Impressions” that you know impacts your success. And most marketing and business programs aren’t structured for the sometimes wacky way the art world plays.

The fact is, there is information, pathways, and strategies that do successfully move artists from local visibility, to regional, and national. It is doable, this art career you dream about, if you have a map and a guide.

Introducing the complete Art Career Mentor Program—Home Study Edition developed just for you as an emerging or mid-career artist!

It’s not easy to get hands-on advice from successful artists who know what’s what.

That’s why I’m so excited about creating this soup-to-nuts Art Career Mentor Program–Home Study Edition with Geoffrey Gorman—a successful-right-now artist and ex-gallery dealer of 15 years—who doesn’t hold anything back about all the insider art world tips he knows and uses himself.

Once a week for 10 weeks, you get a virtual library of how-to-do-it. A tool kit. A foundation on which to build a strong art career.

This structured, intensive material is sent to your inbox (a total of 15 hours of mp3 audio along with work sheets, & 10 session outlines-one per week) and walks you, step by step, through everything you need to know—from how to assess the professional level of your artwork, how to price for any economy, how to collect the lists that the art world expects you to keep, when social media helps your career, or hurts it, to all your critical marketing materials, and so much more it would take 10 weeks to get it all.

And we tailored it to build a successful, sustainable career for two levels: if you’re just getting started (emerging), or you’ve been in the art world for a while (mid-career) but want to jump to that next level.

I feel like I have a game plan now…

This Art Career Mentoring program was excellent. Before I felt like I was floundering around from idea to idea. But then I worked on my goals and that helped me to focus and feel like I have a game plan now to work from. I particularly like the advice that for every idea or project it’s important to check in with my vision statement to make sure it’s in alignment. — Judith Shaw

With just 10 Weeks of Home Study, You Can Give Your Art Career the Muscle it Needs Stay Strong no matter what.

Each week is developmentally programmed to layer in one step at a time, so you move easily and gracefully into more and more complex material–the kind of material that successful artists at the national level have mastered.

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Introducing Your Art Career Mentors

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Hi…I’m Ariane Goodwin, Ed.D. For 14 years, I’ve been an ally for visual artists who understand that presenting their work with credibility is as basic as good art supplies.

As a writer, coach, and entrepreneur who grew up in a family of artists, my gift is helping you balance your ‘right-brain’ creativity with the more ‘left-brain’ strategies you need to be successful.

I started the annual smARTist® Telesummit – the only online, or off, professional art-career conference – 4 years ago (and counting), so artists had a place they could trust to keep them updated and moving forward in the 21st Century.

However, as deep as my art career experience goes, no one can know it all. So when Geoffrey suggested we work together, I jumped on it.

I mean, who wouldn’t want to work with such a successful, savvy, and smart artist? He is, as I say, “boots on the ground.” And now you can have access to the best of his right/left brain too!

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Hi, I’m Geoffrey Gorman. I’ve been an artist’s coach for over 11 years, and worked in galleries for 15 years before that.

Now, I’m pursuing my art full-time artist in Santa Fe, NM. At the moment I’m represented by 5 galleries, including the well known Santa Fe Jane Sauer Gallery.

In just two years, I’ve gone from my first solo show in a retail craft/art store to–this year alone–two solo shows, participated in art fairs in Beijing, Chicago, and Santa Fe, landed two new galleries (and turned down a third because it’s never a good idea to become overcommitted!) and right now I’m getting ready for a big installation in Chicago.

As I watched  Ariane gathering great material for artists under her smARTist® umbrella, I just knew she was perfect to help me co-create the ultimate, now-you-have-no-excuses art career program.

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This program jumped me out of a marketing and creative rut…

The Art Career Master Vision Plan, in sessions two and three, helped me re-vision what I want to do, looking at what my current business practices are, where they fall short, and what I can add that is consistent with my vision.

This program helped me take an honest look at where I am, what I’m doing now, and jumped me out of a marketing and creative rut to take more control of my path. It was particularly helpful to see how I could use the Internet to research the paths that artists a few steps ahead of me have taken! — Lydia Gray

Here are just some of the practical, results-oriented strategies you’ll only have to learn once-and it’s yours

• Relative to the Art World, learn how to assess where you are right now. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your art, your marketing options, your business goals. Once  you see the ground you are standing on, then you can move forward.

• From this starting point, learn how to turn random ideas and lists of goals into a coherent Master Plan that fits your life and frees you from overwhelm.

• Once you have a handle on how to price your art, track your expenses, plan your income, and go after what you want… you can tame the scary beast that is your marketing business.

• Learning what a goal is and isn’t (hint: “I’m going to get 3 galleries in 6 months,” is not a goal!) helps you take the right action at the right time, so you don’t miss that next critical opportunity.

• Sell your work without feeling like you’re selling. When you really know how to talk about your work to the people who matter, you step confidently into marketing and promotion with a flair that is based on who you truly are, and not some fake persona.

• There are five critical lists that all successful, nationally recognized artists develop and keep—isn’t it time you did too?

• What makes your portfolios stand out in that pile of 150 portfolios on the floor beside that gallery dealer’s desk? It’s really not all that hard and depends on one critical thing.

• Get clear about what your website can and can’t do for you, and learn how to set it up so it’s an effective heartbeat for your visibility.

• Find out the real story behind social media in the art world, so you can use your online time effectively without getting swept away and wasting time on silliness.

“Active artists have to be showing their work on a regular basis. As you expand your abilities to find, make, and maximize specific art career decisions, after this 10 weeks, there are no excuses. You now have everything you need to make the choices that lead to success no matter if the economy is up or down.” — Geoffrey Gorman, full-time artist and art-career coach

A Quick Summary of the program

What it is: Complete audio recordings (mp3 files) along with outlines for each of the 10 sessions (PDFs), plus worksheets for the live 10-week program Geoffrey and I ran this summer. This means, not only do you get us, but you also get to hear the artists who took this program, hear their questions and our answers!

For 10 whole weeks, you get one intensive module coming to your inbox  - just enough to take action on each week, but not enough to get overwhelmed.

And each week’s email has a link to the audio (mp3), as well as PDF worksheets and homework–so you can download and store all the material to listen to again and again, or print out and read over.

Each week, this is exactly what you get:

• 90 minutes of content-packed audio (mp3 files to download & listen on your computer or iPod, or burn your own CDs)
• Real artists asking real questions – and getting real answers
• Complete outline notes for each 90-min audio session
• Detailed worksheets to walk you through every step
• Homework to follow up and stay focused
• Real-world examples to follow
• Tons of incredibly-useful “insider art tips” and art-specific resources from two people who know

Valuable information…

Thank you, Ariane and Geoffrey for so much valuable information. Help with the artist statement and portfolio was HUGE! — Joan Marie

Ariane and Geoffrey laid out a clear and easy-to-follow format…

I’m a practicing artist who also does transcriptions. One of the great perks, when I’m transcribing for Ariane, is being privy to exciting and important art career information.

I recently had the good luck to transcribe the smARTist^® 10-Week Art Career Mentoring Group program that Ariane and Geoffrey co-created.  There were ten 90-minute sessions packed with an abundance of pertinent and critical information on every single thing any artist has to know about building a successful career.

I have spent a lot of time and money stumbling around in the dark when it comes to how, in fact, an artist can make a living selling art.  I had very few clues as to what that meant in terms of what I should invest, or how a successful career would play out in the oft times, tricky art world.

Now I know.

Ariane and Geoffrey laid out a clear and easy-to-follow format, which included detailed instructions on the specifics (portfolios, business plans, online presence, venues, gallery relationships, marketing, etc.) that will get me there.

Plus there are so many incredibly useful insider tips. And it’s all specifically related to artists, aimed at my particular mindset.

It’s all there.  A virtual library of how-to-do-it.  A tool kit.  A foundation on which to build that successful art career.  Not easy, but, with the right guidance, possible.  And this, for me, is the right guidance. — Lori Wolfson

Here’s the 10 Week Module Outline

Week 1: A roadmap of all 10 weeks. Plus the first week’s material on: Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses in Your Artwork

Week 2: Your Map: Developing a Master Vision Plan, Part I

Week 3: Your Map: Developing a Master Vision Plan, Part II

Week 4: How to Get Your Bragging Rights so You Can Effectively Sell Yourself

Week 5: Polishing Your Critical Marketing Tools

Week 6: Creating Your Professional Portfolio

Week 7: The Ins and Outs of Artist Websites – Home Base for Your Marketing Plan

Week 8: Selling Your Art – At What Price Point for Which Venue at Which Stage of Your Career?

Week 9: Promoting Yourself with Effective Publicity and Savvy Media Relations

Week 10: Building Dynamic, Successful Relationships with Internet Strategies and Your Art Network

PLEASE NOTE: These are digital downloads (mp3 & PDF) and not physical products.

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Want a “sneak preview”?

Click this link to hear Ariane and Geoffrey tell you why some artists rise to the top, while others just shuffle along. (a 2-minute audio player will open when you click the link)

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Having access to this material as part of a one-on-one mentoring and coaching program would cost from $1,400 to $4,897.

But you get the whole thing – in a format you can go back to over and over again every time you want to take your career one notch further – for only $478.

I feel much more confident…

This program is empowering. It has been like a college credit course in its professional presentation and content.

Basically, I was stalled out before I found your Art Career Mentoring program. I’d done everything I knew how, and yet I was not selling much work. I’d left a full time position to become a full time artist, but I really didn’t know how to promote my art and myself as an artist.

I feel much more confident because now I know how to achieve my art career goals. Now that you have “launched” me, I just need to get out and DO it! I am having my first solo show – a Studio Show here in my home – in November. I feel confident that I will know how to make it successful, to build on what I have learned, and to use this as a steppingstone to the next level in my career. — Joanne Giesbrecht

PS 6 weeks after I completed this program, I learned so much that I held my own studio show where, in just 2 days, I sold over a 100 pieces to the 50 people who came! Before this program, my sales had totaled: zero! Plus, I landed 4 commissions and was invited to participate in 2 other shows!

Your success starts here

In wrapping up the 10 weeks, Geoffrey Gorman said…

“Active artists have to be showing their work on a regular basis. As you expand your abilities to find, make, and maximize specific art career decisions, after this 10 weeks, there are no excuses. You now have everything you need to make the choices that lead to success no matter if the economy is up or down.”

I learned so many things…

I learned so many things – how to write bios or statements, how to set up a gallery proposal, how to design my website and other materials. I learned how to plan my steps – things like starting locally, then regional, then national.

The biggest thing for me is to finally get concrete about creating a body of work that is consistent and recognizable. Listening to the discussions provided by Geoffrey and Ariane in regards to their experiences and knowledge in the art industry and communications was very valuable. — Mirja Valhala

I know what it’s like to struggle along from month to month.  And I also know that when we don’t choose to act, nothing changes.  As they say, no decision is still a decision.  In fact, even no action is still an action!

Whether your career is just starting out or ready to grow in new directions, this program gives you insider information you just can’t get anywhere else.

This is your moment.  It’s yours for the taking.

Which artists should not even consider this deal?

What artist, who’s serious about their work, wouldn’t get in before the price jumps? Still… there are 2 reasons why this may not be your time.

1. If you crave a Silver Bullet, this isn’t the material for you. Being successful takes time, work, and a plan. The Art Career Mentor Program—Home Study Edition is only for artists who are ready to roll up their sleeves.

2. If this modest price is going to drain your bank account, please pass. No one learns effectively, or moves ahead successfully, when financial stress has bottomed out. Your best option is to buy this program before that happens.

Our “Plain Vanilla” Guarantee

Geoffrey and I are so confident that this program provides the tools and strategies you need to move your art career forward—no excuses—that we want to make sure there’s no risk for you, so our refund policy is plain vanilla.

If you honestly don’t feel there’s substantial value within 30 days of receiving it, we’ll turn the clock back to the second just before you clicked “Buy Now,” and gladly refund you 100%.

From you: this will be on your honor. From us: no conditions, no strings.

So go ahead, get the best set of art-career training wheels anywhere. With our trusty “Vanilla” guarantee on your side, you’ve places to go and no time to lose!

Would benefit any artist…

With all the information The Art Career Mentoring program has given me, I can make an informed decision about which direction to take my career.

This program would benefit any artist who truly wants to take their art career to a professional level.

— Bob Pike

Examples are so important

Sometimes seeing it is the best way to get it. That’s why having these artists interacting with me and Geoffrey on the audio sessions is so helpful.

You get real life examples from the artists right here, who took the live program last summer. Their examples will eliminate the guesswork as you put in place your own strategies and plans from the Art Career Mentor Program–Home Study Edition.

P.S. Do you let opportunities slip by because you aren’t sure how to make a decision?

I’ve learned the hard way that decisions based on what supports my life energy are always right, and decisions that support my doubts lead me deeper into the fear jungle where things go BOO in the night!

Here’s one technique I use: I close my eyes. Imagine I’m holding a lovely, small plate in both hands. In one plate sits a card that says “Yes.” In the other is “No.” Then I take 3 deep breaths and turn my brain into a skyscape. Once I sense a spaciousness, I ask: Is XX right for me at this time? Then simply wait to see which plate floats up (that’s the decision I go with) and which one sinks down. It works every time.