Help Your Neighborhood Succeed While You Yourself Prosper
Have you ever wanted to become a well-known artist, quit your nine to five job and only do art? Would you like your artworks known about and purchased by many?
In order to accomplish the above feats, you have to get your name out there consistently. You need to be very noticeable and attract lots of attention. This isn’t as hard as it may seem, read on for a very simple but effective method to accomplish the above while also helping your fellow creative friends and making your community prosperous.
The downtown Los Angeles Arts District gives an example of how artists can make an area prosper. The area used to be ruins, a degraded place with boarded up buildings empty buildings. Ten years ago artists started coming into the area and now it is famous, no longer degraded but affluent and flourishing and safe. There are many examples of this phenomena in other towns and cities, but basically when artists come into an area and create, the neighborhood stops going downhill and starts up. Buildings are bought and repaired and businesses open.
Take a look in your own area – there are probably many vacant structures due to the recession. Now use your imagination and mock up artists working in those empty spaces. What better use could there be for those unused rooms and buildings?
Here is a workable project that is almost free to start. It can help your neighborhood, and bring success to you and your artist friends.
This is what to do:
1. Find local talented folks to help you with the project. Look for painters, poets, musicians, singers, performers, fine crafters, etc.
Place free ads at Craigslist.org, kijiji.com, local newspaper sites and do a google search for “free classified sites” to find more place to advertise. Be sure to put your zip code to keep it local to your area.
Make postcards or flyers to hand out to the neighborhood.
Put the flyers in the local businesses.
Ask friends and family about creative people they know. You could go door to door and ask. Some areas have local art groups you could join or attend.
2. When you have gotten together a group of artists to assist you, you will need to create a presentation pack. It’s not an expensive and complicated pack.
A local office store will have the supplies you need – white glossy paper (about $10), clear plastic sheet covers (100 for about $11) and a presentation binder ($2-$5).
Make a separate page for each artist involved in the project which includes their contact info, pictures of the artist and his or her artwork, something written about the artist and any interesting notes. Put each page in your presentation pack.
3. Next locate vacant buildings in your neighborhood and find someone to be the salesperson. The artists will create in the empty building and the salesperson will be selling the artworks.
To get a salesperson, just ask around to find a friend, family member or neighbor that is in need of work. Work out a percentage of the sales to pay the salesperson with. Bonuses are good incentive, such as if the sales go over a certain amount, then the salesperson gets a bonus. Also, Find out the legal rudiments that your salesperson needs to be able to sell which is easily obtained through the local town or city offices.
For the space you choose, find out who is the owner or the real estate agent for the property.
4. Contact the person and ask for an appointment to do a presentation. If pressed about what the presentation is for, just mention that you are with a group of artists that want to help to get the building leased. That will get you into the door.
5. Present your ideas to the agent or owner keeping the emphasis on the benefits for the owner, including these points:
It has been proven to work that when artists go into an area and begin to create, trade flourishes, buildings are bought or leased and the entire area picks up. It would be the fastest way to get their building sold or leased.
If you need to, mention the artists project in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District where a group of artists raised the living standards and made a large area flourish.
Let the Realtor/owner see the presentation pack, to become familiar with the artists involved.
6. If the owner/agent requires insurance in order to let artists work in the area, contact a local alternative school or charity and have them join up with you. They will have the appropriate insurance.
7. Make some signs and get them out.
Colorful signs should read “Artists at Work” with arrows pointing in the direction, or “Artists Ahead.” Or any other thing you can think of. You can make the signs on wood, poster board or A-frames. Put those signs on both sides of the street, starting at 50 yards ahead of the location and getting closer. Balloons tied to the signs will get attention. Attach the wood or poster board signs to sign posts with bungee cords.
8. Create art.
First you need to bring in some art already done, to give the salesperson something to sell. Then you make your studio space ready, by bringing in all the things you need to paint, sculpt, etc. Attention will be on your location because as one creation of art inspires the next, wonderful energy will be created. The person in charge of sales only has to sell, and the artists only have to create.
9. Do not give up!
Maybe you won’t sell anything in the first hour or on the first day. But if you keep creating and keep pulling in attention, sales will follow. Persist!
10. Do promotion that will get you noticed in your area.
Colorful flyers distributed to local businesses will help.
Create invitations and send to local galleries, gift shops, newspapers, radio stations, news stations, etc.
Create a Press Release to send out. You can find a how to article for writing press releases at Help-2-Succeed by going to http://help-2-succeed.com/blog/index.php/press-release-tips-aamp-generator and you can find press release distribution services by going to http://help-2-succeed.com/blog/index.php/press-release-distribution-services
You can also use social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to get the word out. Just put posts about how you and a group of talented folks are creating, where and when. Other posts can be about the latest pieces that you are working on, the inspiration and so on.
If creative people stop by, invite the artists to join you.
You will see the area around you start to come uphill and even begin to flourish, but you must continue to create and persist with your project. Do whatever you can to attract attention – the more attention, the more success.
After a bit you may discover that your building has been leased or sold. Not a stop for your project. Since you will be helping the new tenant get business – something always necessary – have the agent or owner put in his recommendation that you stay in the space.
Keep this a free project, please pass it around. Doing so will help other artists and other communities to prosper.
Help 2 Succeed provides information, tools, downloads and services to enable you to make a living with your creative endeavors. Click here to get your own unique version of this article with free reprint rights.
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