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			<title>All Art Licensing - Art Licensing Resources</title>
			<link>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm</link>
			<description>News from All Art Licensing</description>
			<language>en-us</language>
			<pubDate>Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:50:38-0700</pubDate>
			<lastBuildDate>Fri, 25 Jun 2010 02:59:00-0700</lastBuildDate>
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			<managingEditor>jnet@jnetsmith.com</managingEditor>
			<webMaster>jnet@jnetsmith.com</webMaster>
			
		
			
			
			
			
			
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				<title>How to Get Started in Art Licensing Part 3 of 3</title>
				<link>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2010/6/25/How-to-Get-Started-in-Art-Licensing-Part-3-of-3</link>
				<description>
				
				&lt;h2&gt;What Exactly Do You Need to Get Start in Art Licensing?&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Once you have decided that art licensing is for you, there are several things to make sure you have done before beginning to pitch either agents or manufacturers.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;First of all, choose your goal and commit to it.  Are you determined to find an art licensing agent or build a business where you are representing your own art for licensing? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;When that decision is made, the following steps will be the same for either path, but you will want to vary your materials slightly to target them for the audience and purpose you have chosen. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Next, spend some time learning as much as you can about the art licensing business. Read the trade magazines and all the art licensing blogs, join the art licensing social media groups, and take classes,  as well as attend trade shows in your areas&amp;hellip;or even check out the trade show web sites thoroughly to learn details. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Then you will be ready to create your art licensing materials and begin selling yourself to manufacturers and/or agents.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As I mentioned in Part 2 of this series, the same materials will be necessary whether you choose to pursue an art licensing agent or represent yourself.  So while learning about the industry, start creating these key art licensing materials:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Art Licensing Key Materials List&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;bull;	Business identity (logo) and business cards&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;bull;	Marketing and licensing plan &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; -It can be short and sweet, but this road map for the year-and each year-is critical&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;bull;	Art collections &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp; -Design your collections specifically for the needs of manufacturers&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp; -Make sure your portfolio has enough volume to be taken seriously&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;bull;	Web site&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp; -Needs to be targeted to manufacturers and oriented toward your art licensing business&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;bull;	Sales presentations&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp; -Succinct pitch letter for agents or manufacturers&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp; -Collection presentations which include product mock-ups &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;bull;	Lead list of agents or manufacturers to pursue&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Once you have these materials completed or nearly done, your business has been started.  The preparation will take some time, and you may need guidance along the way, but it will be worth it.  Listen to those artists and art licensors in the industry and they will tell you that approaching agents or manufacturers unprepared set them back, rather than moved their business ahead.  It&amp;rsquo;s a very competitive marketplace today.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Take the time to learn and plan&amp;hellip;but also remember that if you never actually execute your plan and develop these materials, it&amp;rsquo;s all for naught. Also, don&amp;rsquo;t spread yourself too thin, or again, nothing will be accomplished.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Sincerely, J&apos;net&lt;/p&gt;
				
				</description>
						
				
				<category>Art Licensing Resources</category>				
				
				<pubDate>Fri, 25 Jun 2010 02:59:00-0700</pubDate>
				<guid>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2010/6/25/How-to-Get-Started-in-Art-Licensing-Part-3-of-3</guid>
				
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				<title>How to Get Started in Art Licensing Part 2 of 3</title>
				<link>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2010/6/24/How-to-Get-Started-in-Art-Licensing-Part-2-of-3</link>
				<description>
				
				&lt;p&gt;How to Get Started in Art Licensing - Agent or No Agent? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In our last segment, I provided serious questions to help you determine if art licensing is a good fit for you. When considering whether to agent yourself or find art licensing representation, I believe that the most important aspects will be to determine:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1)	Do you have the skill sets to pursue, sell and close licensing deals?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2)	Can you manage marketing and sales, while creating art and running the general aspects of a growing business?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3)	Are you willing to share 50% of your licensing revenue (approximately) with your agent for their services? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So if sharing half of your licensing revenue is more appealing than spending 60-70% of your time in sales and marketing mode, then finding an agent is probably the right decision for you. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My advice is to look for an agent in the same professional manner in which you would pitch the biggest account you&amp;rsquo;ve ever tried to nail and won!  Of course, any initial sales you can make will help bring an agent on board, but it doesn&amp;rsquo;t mean you can&amp;rsquo;t get one if you&amp;rsquo;ve never had a licensing deal.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;While agents involved in art licensing tend to be art-lovers, or they probably wouldn&amp;rsquo;t be in this industry, the bottom line is they are in business to make money.  Artists tend to forget this key point. An artist&amp;rsquo;s objective should then be to sell an agent on how they can make money from your art.  Furthermore, in today&amp;rsquo;s economy, few agents can afford to help an artist start from scratch. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Artists need to prepare to work with an agent and approach them after having:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1)	Studied and learned all you can about the art licensing industry.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2)	Spent time organizing their art, building a portfolio of collections and a viable art licensing web site.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3)	Prepared an agent presentation with a letter of introduction and art samples.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Those artists who allow agents to get started selling right away, will have a great advantage over other artists&amp;mdash;no matter what their talents. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So if you truly want an agent, then approach the process of researching and pitching agents as your full time business. And the exciting news is that, if you want to represent yourself, you need to tackle the same things to get started.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In Part 3: What Exactly Do You Need to Get Start in Art Licensing, I&amp;rsquo;ll review the list of materials you&amp;rsquo;ll want to have in place before pitching agents and manufacturers.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Sincerely, J&apos;net &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
				
				</description>
						
				
				<category>Art Licensing Resources</category>				
				
				<pubDate>Thu, 24 Jun 2010 04:45:00-0700</pubDate>
				<guid>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2010/6/24/How-to-Get-Started-in-Art-Licensing-Part-2-of-3</guid>
				
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				<title>How to Get Started In Art Licensing  Part 1 of 3</title>
				<link>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2010/6/23/How-to-Get-Started-In-Art-Licensing--Part-1-of-3</link>
				<description>
				
				&lt;p&gt;Earlier this year I did a guest blog for Maria Brophy on &apos;How to Get Started in Art Licensing&apos;. I am going to reprint it here in my next three blogs, or if you want to read it now in its entirety, you can go to:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;Part 1 Is it Right For You?&quot; href=&quot;http://mariabrophy.com/licensing/how-to-get-started-in-art-licensing-part-1-is-it-right-for-you.html&quot;&gt;Part 1 - Is it Right for You? (April 9, 2010)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;Part 2 Agent or No Agent? &quot; href=&quot;http://mariabrophy.com/business-of-art/agent-or-no-agent-how-to-get-started-in-art-licensing-part-2.html&quot;&gt;Part 2 - Agent or No Agent? (April 16, 2010)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;Part 3 What Exactly Do You Need to Get Started&quot; href=&quot;http://mariabrophy.com/licensing/what-exactly-do-you-need-to-get-started-art-licensing-part-3.html&quot;&gt;Part 3 - What Exactly Do You Need to Get Started (April 26, 2010)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;&lt;b&gt;How to Get Started In Art Licensing - Is it Right For You?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;When people ask me where to start my art licensing business, my response is &amp;ldquo;What are your business goals for your art?&amp;rdquo; I believe you need to look at your artwork and its audience, as well as your personal desires and abilities, to help determine if licensing is for you.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Ask yourself these three core questions about your target audience:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Do you have evidence that your artwork is sellable?  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Do you have a track record of some kind, whether from prior jobs, such as an art director or designer, juried art shows, etc.?  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Do you have an audience that is definable and potentially large enough to build a business on?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;While most artists create from their own internal desire and inspiration, there are many external factors that will influence your creativity and career path in art licensing. For that reason, you need to search a bit deeper and ask yourself these six hard-hitting questions.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt; 1. Are you motivated to create art for:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;a) gaps and niches in the marketplace?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;b) current trends?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;c) retailers&amp;rsquo; needs?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;d) manufacturers&amp;rsquo; specifications?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Undoubtedly you will be asked to change the color of your art, vary the design, meet deadlines, build certain types of production files and create something new for a client&amp;rsquo;s exact needs. Are you comfortable with commercial art, its demands and requirements?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Do you have the skills, desire and time to run your own business?   What can you evaluate about your lifestyle&amp;mdash; time restraints, personal responsibilities, educational needs, goals and priorities&amp;mdash;that will help you determine what you can put into an art licensing business? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Do you have enough money or income to sustain you while getting the business off the ground? (Note: most businesses take 1-2 or more years to be profitable; this industry is no different and varies widely by these variables: talent, sales efforts, time spent, and the economic climate!)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;4. Do you have the technical abilities to provide artwork digitally, develop a web site and create  sales presentations?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;5. Can you make the art changes required by manufacturers and create production-ready files?  If not, are you willing to learn how or partner with someone who can assist you in these areas on a frequent basis?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;6. Are passionate about seeing your art on product, across the nation and around the world?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you have answered a resounding &amp;ldquo;yes&amp;rdquo; to all or most of these questions, then art licensing may be a great option for you.  If you believe that building an art licensing business is what you want to do, then the first thing you must do is to learn enough about the business to make an educated guess as to whether you are interested in representing yourself or finding an agent. In Part 2: Agent or No Agent? That is the Question, I&amp;rsquo;ll talk about how to determine to which representation is right for you. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Always, J&apos;net&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
				
				</description>
						
				
				<category>Art Licensing Resources</category>				
				
				<pubDate>Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:22:00-0700</pubDate>
				<guid>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2010/6/23/How-to-Get-Started-In-Art-Licensing--Part-1-of-3</guid>
				
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				<title>More Surtex and Stationery Show 2010 Observations</title>
				<link>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2010/5/21/More-Surtex-and-Stationery-Show-2010-Observations</link>
				<description>
				
				&lt;p&gt;I noticed while at the Stationery Show, that exhibitors were literally busy writing orders, so it was tougher than usual for folks in the booths to keep their appointments or for us &apos;walkers&apos; to just drop by.  Thank goodness for the stationery pros who depend on both artists and agents and travel with their designated licensing director to hold meetings.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Those with successful product lines seem to be attributing it to doing their research in the marketplace and not being afraid to stick with tried and true formulas.  If isn&amp;rsquo;t broke; they aren&amp;rsquo;t fixing it.  Companies are researching the market more; they don&amp;rsquo;t just have an idea of what they want but know the general theme/occasion and specific subject matter, style and color palette.  For example, they don&amp;rsquo;t just want any Christmas art, but holiday reindeer with a modern design and lime/red palette. I see some manufacturers doing less generic &amp;ldquo;calls&amp;rdquo; for art and more detailed requests which are based on their sales experience and trend research. There are opportunities out there for those who don&amp;rsquo;t mind parameters. And there is frustration for the manufacturers if they provide detailed information on what they want and you grab something generic from your file and send it in. I don&apos;t recommend doing that, as they won&apos;t for get. It&apos;s better not to send something, rather than annoy the manufacturer.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;On a different note: Not only do I speak with many artists looking for agents, but I consult with lots of artists who aren&amp;rsquo;t happy with their current agents.  It could be a relationship of one year or 10 years. I hope each of you who were at the show to find an agent will do lots of due diligence before entering into your agreements. One of my clients, who I helped connect with an agent, just signed seven new deals in 1st quarter 2010.  So not everyone is unhappy. And many agents I spoke with were very busy and pleased with the deals on their plates and expressed needs from manufacturers.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I actually think things are starting to sizzle again!  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Keep creating, J&apos;net&lt;/p&gt;
				
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				<category>Art Licensing Resources</category>				
				
				<pubDate>Fri, 21 May 2010 00:24:00-0700</pubDate>
				<guid>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2010/5/21/More-Surtex-and-Stationery-Show-2010-Observations</guid>
				
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				<title>Surtex and Stationery Show  2010 Obsrvations</title>
				<link>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2010/5/20/Surtex-and-Stationery-Show--2010-Obsrvations</link>
				<description>
				
				&lt;p&gt;Surtex and Stationery isles were certainly not jam packed, but I noticed a profoundly new optimism this year.  Those I spoke to at Surtex were pleased with the quality of leads they were getting and while you always want more, they were okay with the quantity too.  I heard agents say they were absolutely getting deals with art designs in their booths, as well as serious leads to follow up on.  The buzz was that manufacturers are buying art now, certainly with closer deadlines than usual so that puts pressure on agents and artists.  Those artists who can fulfill manufacturer needs by pulling something from their portfolio and adapting it, or creating something new to order, will certainly benefit in these economic times. Make sure those you speak with know your abilities to meet deadlines.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I enjoyed speaking to more than 150 exhibitors and attendees at Surtex this year, and I&amp;rsquo;m pleased to meet so many of you at those events and the Art of Licensing Yahoo Group gathering.  If you have specific questions, register and send them in now for tomorrow&amp;rsquo;s Free Friday Q&amp;amp;A. Don&amp;rsquo;t forget that next week on is the &lt;a href=&quot;schedule.cfm&quot;&gt;Maximizing Surtex and PR or Art Licensors with Regina Cooper&lt;/a&gt;, who writes for Stationery Magazine, Art Buyer and other top industry publications.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Tomorrow&amp;rsquo;s blog will have more about Surtex. Til then&amp;hellip;J&amp;rsquo;net&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
				
				</description>
						
				
				<category>Art Licensing Resources</category>				
				
				<pubDate>Thu, 20 May 2010 00:33:00-0700</pubDate>
				<guid>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2010/5/20/Surtex-and-Stationery-Show--2010-Obsrvations</guid>
				
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				<title>A Perspective on the Licensing Gallery @ NYIGF</title>
				<link>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2010/2/8/A-Perspective-on-the-Licensing-Gallery--NYIGF</link>
				<description>
				
				&lt;p&gt;Many of you have been wondering how the first-time Licensing Gallery of the New York International Gift Fair turned out last week for those who had a booth.  I took a moment to touch base with Barbara Johansen Newman, a licensor, designer, illustrator and author, who exhibited at the show.  Barbara openly admits that she believes wholeheartedly in taking a risk and investing in her business, so it is not surprising that she bought a booth and gave it a go.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Since the NYIGF is run by the same management company as Surtex, they offered participation in the new Licensing Gallery to only those who are already exhibiting at the 2010 Surtex trade show in May.  The price is much less, approximately half of Surtex&amp;rsquo;s fees for a booth, with similar booth sizes to help exhibitors keep design and production costs down.  They also limited the first-time section to 30 booths.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Licensing Gallery @ NYIGF had about 8-10 booths representing artists and agents this first year.  Barbara explicitly liked that there were 4 days to exhibit, instead of the three at Surtex.  But we both agree, that may not appeal to everyone.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The bottom line is that she thought the traffic was very good. Sunday through Tuesday was steady, with Wednesday being a bit slower than the other days.  Putting the Licensing Gallery at the back of the trade show floor by the food court was probably a great move.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It sounds like compared to the recent and also new License &amp;amp; Design
section at the AmericasMart in Atlanta, they did very well in terms of
traffic simply because they were easy to run into. It was tremendous to
be in the same building, and on the same floor, as the corresponding
show. Of her many leads, several of the most serious connections were
made with vendors from the NYIGF. She felt there was definite traffic
from the vendor booths to the new License Gallery section.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Although signage was good, except for exhibitors at NYIGF, most people really didn&amp;rsquo;t know the section was there.  And when attendees walked by, they didn&amp;rsquo;t understand their purpose and what was being exhibited. She admits lots of people asked what they were selling, but it didn&amp;rsquo;t bother Newman.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Newman actually felt it was a better show for her than Surtex last year, since there were fewer artists represented.  She stated that she would definitely exhibit again.  My warmest thanks to Barbara for graciously sharing her thoughts about the show with everyone.  If you would like to see her latest art and designs, visit her &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.johansennewman.com/&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt; and check out her &lt;a href=&quot;http://johansennewman.typepad.com/designrocket/&quot;&gt;blog&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Sincerely, J&amp;rsquo;net&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
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				<category>Trade Show Recap</category>				
				
				<category>Art Licensing Resources</category>				
				
				<pubDate>Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:59:00-0700</pubDate>
				<guid>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2010/2/8/A-Perspective-on-the-Licensing-Gallery--NYIGF</guid>
				
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				<title>When Do You Present Santa Art to Manufacturers?</title>
				<link>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2010/2/4/When-Do-You-Present-Santa-Art-to-Retailers</link>
				<description>
				
				&lt;p&gt;A client asked me the other day, why it seems that manufacturers are always reviewing holiday designs and there is no longer a specific time of year when licensees are making decisions on Christmas art?  While all product industries work on different decision making schedules and deadlines for Holiday art, it is still not as clear cut as it once was.  One of the biggest factors is because we now have two behemoth and hugely different types of retail marketplaces, the brick-and-mortar store locations and online eCommerce, which are on drastically different time tables.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Remember the fact that as licensors, manufacturers are your primary target audience and the focus of your sales efforts.  While, of course, the end-user for your art and the products is ultimately the consumer. And what stands between the manufacturer and the consumer?  Well, the all-powerful retailer.  These gatekeepers can open or shut the door, to allow or prevent your products from getting to market.  And the only way to play in the art licensing, or any licensing arena, is to appeal to the retailers through the manufacturers.  They are the ones who must be convinced that the consumers will love and purchase your art on product.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My point here is to emphasize, once again, the importance of exploring and understanding elements of the retail marketplace in order to build a viable art licensing business. It affects everything from when to create new collections and what themes to focus on, to how you schedule your sales efforts to manufacturers in various product industries. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt; I&amp;rsquo;d like to recommend a couple of great websites that will help with your retail education.  While not every element of these sites will specifically relate to your art licensing business, there is plenty of information that does.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nrf.com&quot;&gt;National Retail Federation&lt;/a&gt; is a terrific organization and we&amp;rsquo;ve added them to our All Art Licensing &lt;a href=&quot;http://allartlicensing.com/directory.cfm&quot;&gt;Resources/Links&lt;/a&gt; and you may want to bookmark them as well. They have resources and research that is absolutely invaluable to your collection planning, such as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.allartlicensing.com/Documents/NRFSeasonalShoppingGuide.pdf&quot;&gt;Seasonal Shopping Guide&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.allartlicensing.com/Documents/NRFHolidaySpendingChart.pdf&quot;&gt;Holiday Spending Chart&lt;/a&gt;. Explore their site and I know you will find more. On their homepage, you can also sign up for a free daily email newsletter which provides the latest industry news and information.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To learn more about the growth and trends in eCommerce, check out &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shop.org&quot;&gt;www.shop.org&lt;/a&gt; who also offers a daily email blast on their homepage.  I believe that with the speed at which online retail has taken hold, it is critical for us as licensors to understand the eCommerce big picture.  Overall, think of the immediacy of the internet and what that means to the manufacturers who service these eTailers.  As artists and licensors, you must create flexibility in your business to service the manufacturers who feed these distribution channels at a different pace than the traditional brick-and-mortar stores.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It&amp;rsquo;s so important to learn about the marketplace in which your art will be sold, such as understanding the types of distribution channels, their diverse needs, time frames and economic challenges.  This knowledge will invariably help you service your customers better.  So you might as well face it, someone will always be looking for Santa art!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Sincerely, J&apos;net&lt;/p&gt;
				
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				<category>Retail Information</category>				
				
				<category>Art Licensing Resources</category>				
				
				<pubDate>Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:26:00-0700</pubDate>
				<guid>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2010/2/4/When-Do-You-Present-Santa-Art-to-Retailers</guid>
				
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				<title>AmericasMart License &amp; Design Collection Feedback</title>
				<link>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2010/1/13/AmericasMart-License--Design-Collection-Feedback</link>
				<description>
				
				&lt;p&gt;I had several meetings with manufacturers in Atlanta on Tuesday, but due to&amp;nbsp; my son&apos;s birthday I missed out on seeing the License &amp;amp; Design Collection temporary booths, which were only open Friday - Sunday. This morning I got on the phone with several of the exhibitors, as well as some attending licensing agents and artists, to get their feedback on the trade show and AmericasMart. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Each and every person I spoke with reiterated that this trade event has many of the same problems, which occur in any show that is just getting established, such as there being fewer exhibitors than they expected. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Since the License &amp;amp; Design Collection booths were open for just three days, it meant the organizers needed to find an area which could be put up and taken down without affecting the other sections of the show. The place they found is nothing less than really, incredibly difficult to find. Add to that: the signage wasn&amp;rsquo;t great (said buyer&amp;rsquo;s welcome, oops!)&amp;hellip;there were no escalators to the floor&amp;hellip;and little explanation in the Official Directory/Buyer&amp;rsquo;s guide about the section (where it is, how to get there and why it&amp;rsquo;s there). &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Taking these factors into consideration, I think it&amp;rsquo;s understandable that the agents and artists I spoke to, who had booths at AmericasMart Atlanta in the License &amp;amp; Design Collection area, were divided on the subject of traffic. Most were pleased that they didn&amp;rsquo;t have a lot of buyers walking through their area. But it was a mixed response regarding traffic from manufacturers. Some exhibitors felt it was good and others not nearly what they wanted or expected. Ronnie Walters from Two Town Studios said she was &amp;ldquo;quite pleased&amp;rdquo; with their agency having a booth at the show and that on Sunday they couldn&amp;rsquo;t even get a lunch break. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Another factor in traffic, besides quantity, is quality of attendees. The exhibitors tended to agree, that those who made the effort to find the License &amp;amp; Design Collection area were excellent prospects and really interested in doing business. I heard from more than one agent that the show was so positive because they were able to meet new and different manufacturers. Julie Newman, President of Jewel Branding &amp;amp; Licensing, said that the &amp;ldquo;overall traffic was pretty good and I connected with people (manufacturing prospects) that I wouldn&amp;rsquo;t have otherwise met.&amp;rdquo; She also liked being able to shop the International Gift &amp;amp; Home Furnishings Market for design and product trends. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In general, I found the show to be very upbeat. Every manufacturer and rep group I spoke to was pleased, or even thrilled, with traffic at the show and how many orders were being written. Hopefully the positive mood of the manufacturers will then mean more business and royalties down the road for artists who persist through these tough economic times. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Clearly many artists and agents will be waiting to see if they close deals from this show, as well as, what the show management will do to improve the attendance and location issues prevalent this year. If you attended the show or had a booth and I didn&amp;rsquo;t get to call you, feel free to send me an email and I&amp;rsquo;ll post your comments...&lt;a href=&quot;mailto:jnet@allartlicensing.com&quot;&gt;mailto:jnet@allartlicensing.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Sincerely, J&amp;rsquo;net&lt;/p&gt;
				
				</description>
						
				
				<category>Trade Show Recap</category>				
				
				<category>Art Licensing Resources</category>				
				
				<pubDate>Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:14:00-0700</pubDate>
				<guid>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2010/1/13/AmericasMart-License--Design-Collection-Feedback</guid>
				
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				<title>Eight Resoucres for Generating Your Art Licensing Lead List</title>
				<link>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2009/12/14/Eight-Resoucres-for-Generating-Your-Art-Licensing-Lead-List</link>
				<description>
				
				&lt;p&gt;In my last blog post, I discussed the &amp;lsquo;Five Key Questions to Ask Yourself About Manufacturers.&amp;rsquo;  Now let&amp;rsquo;s move to the next step which is generating your art licensing lead list. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind, that your lead list should only cover the product categories you are targeting and should not be so extensive that you can&amp;rsquo;t call them all personally. A list of 30 companies may grow to 100, reduce to 40 as you find out the companies are not, in fact, a match and then grow again.  Lead lists are organic.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Trade Shows and Directories&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;mdash;Trade shows and trade show directories exist in your specific product categories. You can even find exhibitor lists before and after trade shows on the association and trade show web sites.  All Art Licensing&amp;rsquo;s Resources/Links page has links to the most popular trade shows for artists.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;EPM Communications Sourcebook&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;mdash;This annual Sourcebook includes licensing decision-makers from manufacturing companies, as well as properties and agents. So while it is not an inexpensive database, and you may use only a fraction of the information, it is the most reliable in the licensing business. In the long run, it will save you valuable time and money in getting names, phone numbers and email addresses.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Trade Magazines&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;mdash;As you read trade magazines in the product categories that you wish to target, check out companies that seem to be a good fit for you and your art.  Always make notes about their product lines, employees and new deals with other artists, so when you are ready to contact them you have the information at hand. &lt;em&gt;&lt;b&gt;Research Factoid:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/em&gt; License! Global just released their November issue which includes their choices for the top 100 licensees.  While many of them won&amp;rsquo;t be appropriate for artists, as they focus on the big name brands and properties, it&amp;rsquo;s still a great read and a very important resource year after year. &lt;a href=&quot;http://digital.licensemag.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/license1209/index.php&quot;&gt;http://digital.licensemag.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/license1209/index.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Shopping&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;mdash;Spend time shopping in the stores and outlets for products you want your art to be on.  This will be time well spent as you explore the manufacturers that distribute licensed art.  You will probably also see &amp;lsquo;private label&amp;rsquo; products with art which don&amp;rsquo;t identify the manufacturer.  Deals may be done with manufacturers or by the stores directly (D-T-R: Direct-to-Retail).  There are more and more of these done every day as stores work harder to have unique product.&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt; Research Factoid&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;: If you find products that feature art, and artists copyright, but no manufacturer information you may be able to track them down if they have an RN number.  This stands for Registered Identification Number, which is part of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and is used to identify manufacturers and importers of all textile related products.   Go to the following web site &lt;a href=&quot;https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/TextileRN/wrnquery$.startup&quot;&gt;https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/TextileRN/wrnquery$.startup&lt;/a&gt; and plug in the RN number to query who the manufacturer is.  Wish it worked for everything, but it does work on plush, bedding, apparel and more, so give that a try.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Use the Internet&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;mdash;The Internet continues to be the primary source for researching manufacturers and information on how to contact them. Although larger companies are less likely these days to list their phone number and address on their website, it may require a bit more searching to get these numbers. But when you get frustrated, just think about how we used to do it before the Internet.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Networking&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;mdash;Again, thank goodness for the internet, blogging and social media.  Now you can talk to other &amp;ldquo;licensed&amp;rdquo; artists, and you should.  Networking may become a primary source of ideas and leads.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Licensor Web Sites&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;mdash;I am still amazed at how many artists list all of their licensees and their information.  It&apos;s a great resource when you find a licensor&apos;s web site that notes the manufacturer of their product lines.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;Ask for Recommendations&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&amp;mdash;If you talk to a manufacturer who doesn&amp;rsquo;t think you are right for them, ask who they would recommend you talk to. This is a really overlooked technique that allows you to tap into the brainpower of the manufacturers who know the business best. And if you were thoughtful in your presentation and had many relevant reasons you felt they would be interested, then you didn&amp;rsquo;t waste their time and they may be very open to sharing a thought about other partner options.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In looking for prospective manufacturers, there are many opportunities to find them and do research before including them on your lead list. The more well targeted you are in your lead lists, the more manufacturers will respond positively to your presentations. Over and over again, the number one complaint that manufacturers make is that they receive too many presentations that are not relevant to their business needs. Do yourself and the manufacturers you are seeking a favor by doing your research and targeting your presentation to their business. They will appreciate and recognize your focus, and you will make progress faster.&lt;/p&gt;
				
				</description>
						
				
				<category>Art Licensing Resources</category>				
				
				<category>Researching Manufacturers</category>				
				
				<pubDate>Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:31:00-0700</pubDate>
				<guid>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2009/12/14/Eight-Resoucres-for-Generating-Your-Art-Licensing-Lead-List</guid>
				
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				<title>Five Key Questions to Ask Yourself About Manufacturers</title>
				<link>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2009/12/11/Five-Key-Questions-to-Ask-Yourself-About-Manufacturers</link>
				<description>
				
				&lt;p&gt;Every month during my FREE FRIDAY Q&amp;amp;A and during nearly every consultation, I get asked how to find manufacturers. So today and Monday I am going to address two essential parts of finding manufacturers.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Five Key Questions to Ask Yourself About Manufacturers&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Eight Resources for Generating Your Art Licensing Lead List &lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I&amp;rsquo;ll start by reminding you that it&amp;rsquo;s not just any manufacturer you are looking for: it&amp;rsquo;s your business partner.  So let&amp;rsquo;s make sure we begin with some smart criteria, the &amp;lsquo;Five Key Questions to Ask Yourself About Manufacturers&amp;rsquo; to help determine which ones to consider.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Look for manufacturers that:&lt;b&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Do licensing on a regular basis&lt;/b&gt; - Don&amp;rsquo;t try to recreate the wheel.  There are as many manufacturers that don&amp;rsquo;t do licensing, as do.  You are looking for manufacturers who already are excited about the possibility of utilizing  licensing to grow the depth and breadth of their business&lt;b&gt;.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Are accustomed to working with artists&lt;/b&gt; - There are many manufacturers who do licensing, but it is often with the larger properties only; those who have media exposure, mega brands and/or evergreen characters.  They are often not interested in art licensing, and so be it.  Again, it&amp;rsquo;s better to find those manufacturers who love and appreciate art and artists than try to move the whole company in a new direction.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Share a similar style philosophy with your art&lt;/b&gt; - It can be obvious or subtle, so you need to look carefully at your prospect and evaluate where they are comfortable in the art world.  If they are a traditional manufacturer, then your  bold graphic take on the holidays is not likely to ring their bells.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Don&amp;rsquo;t have an artist quite similar to you&lt;/b&gt; - I know we all like to think of our art as being totally unique. But in truth, manufacturers and consumers for that matter will place your art style in a category in their mind: bold and graphic, whimsical and silly, traditional, retro or modern.  What you want is to find manufacturers in which you fit their overall style, but they don&amp;rsquo;t have someone just like you.  This way you can fill a niche for them to help the manufacturer diversify their product lines.  Or at least you won&amp;rsquo;t compete with their existing products mix.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Are in the types of stores that fit your art, designs and goals&lt;/b&gt; - And last, but certainly not least, where does the manufacturer you are considering have distribution.  You hope it&amp;rsquo;s broad and plentiful, as well as fitting with the core of your retail philosophy.  If you see yourself as a Target and Nordstrom property, then you don&amp;rsquo;t want Wal-Mart and Dollar Store distribution.  I admit this is sometimes very difficult information to get before you pitch a manufacturer.  So if you don&amp;rsquo;t know it; don&amp;rsquo;t worry.  But it does mean you need to get the information when you speak with them in person at a later date.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;ol&gt;





&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Watch for Monday&amp;rsquo;s blog as we explore &amp;lsquo;Eight Resources for Generating Your Art Licensing Lead List.&amp;rsquo; &lt;/p&gt;
				
				</description>
						
				
				<category>Art Licensing Resources</category>				
				
				<category>Researching Manufacturers</category>				
				
				<pubDate>Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:55:00-0700</pubDate>
				<guid>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2009/12/11/Five-Key-Questions-to-Ask-Yourself-About-Manufacturers</guid>
				
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				<title>Why am I talking about dirty secrets?</title>
				<link>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2009/12/8/Why-am-I-talking-about-dirty-secrets</link>
				<description>
				
				&lt;p&gt;For more than 20 years I have worked in the licensing industry. Even after building the DILBERT business from the ground up and coaching hundreds of artists, as well as seeing the Internet and social media revolutions in the industry, it continues to amaze me how &amp;lsquo;veiled&amp;rsquo; and difficult the industry is to get information on.  Yet, on the other hand, licensing is such an influential and prominent industry in our lives &amp;mdash; think of all the licensed products we see advertised and on retail shelves every day.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This contradiction sparked my upcoming smARTist&amp;reg; Telesummit presentation titled &amp;ldquo;The 30 Dirty Secrets of Art Licensing.&amp;rdquo; These secrets, while seemingly off-putting, are hiding a fascinating industry with mega potential.  For those artists who have passion for seeing their art on products, as well as for artistic talent with an entrepreneurial mindset, learning how this industry really works can be life altering.  I will cover why art licensing can be more lucrative than other art fields and what it takes to get into art licensing and how to create a profitable and thriving business.  In fact, I will include information from most every class I&amp;rsquo;ve ever taught.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This presentation is part of the&lt;b&gt; &lt;/b&gt;&lt;b&gt;4th Annual smARTist&amp;reg; Telesummit 2010 - &lt;/b&gt;Where all you do is jump on the phone, or click on a webcast link from your computer, and hear everything live! (Don&amp;rsquo;t worry, we record all 13 sessions so you can listen any time&amp;mdash;at your convenience!) For 7 energizing days it&amp;rsquo;s all about you! Come learn from 11 art career experts and successful artists exactly what it takes to be successful in any economy&amp;mdash;with focus and facts standing alongside your fabulous art.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And starting today, there are 4 FREE pre-events you can participate in...&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1071682&quot;&gt;just sign up at this link or read more about the event.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And remember, this professional development art career conference only happens once a year&amp;hellip;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;January 21 &amp;amp; 22 (2 Experts Panel Days)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;January 25-29 (5 days with 11 Keynote speakers)&lt;b&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;I also wanted to share these insights from Ariane Goodwin, Ed.D., Founder smARTist Telesummit:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;What Do Successful Artists Have In Common?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Over the years I&amp;rsquo;ve noticed that successful artists have at least these three things in common: focus, facts, and fabulous art.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Focus &amp;mdash; Successful artists can tell you what their vision is. And they know how to use this vision to focus on the most effective strategies, outside and inside the studio, for getting recognized, exhibited and paid.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Facts &amp;mdash; Successful artists learn from others. They take advantage of the newest, most up-to-date facts and information about how to make a living from their art so they end up with a plan that works.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Fabulous art &amp;mdash; Successful artists know that compelling art with a &amp;ldquo;true voice,&amp;rdquo; is the bedrock of it all. They also know that great art is not enough. The world is changing so fast that they also need realistic action steps, backed by real-world information, from people they respect.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Learn more about the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1071682&quot;&gt;smARTist Telesummit&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
				
				</description>
						
				
				<category>Art Licensing Resources</category>				
				
				<category>Upcoming TelEvents</category>				
				
				<pubDate>Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:30:00-0700</pubDate>
				<guid>http://blog.allartlicensing.com/index.cfm/2009/12/8/Why-am-I-talking-about-dirty-secrets</guid>
				
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