Keeping your skills sharp is smart. Even if you have help (like me!) to take care of your computing needs, YOU still need to have good skills so you don't end up spending three days trying to print out image labels for a show. True story. Why on earth my client didn't ask me to do it I'll never know. Would have cost them, like, 25 bucks of my time. Go figure. But if you must do it yourself (and pay the opportunity cost), at least have the skills to do it in a reasonable amount of time.

No, you don't have to know everything but you should have a solid grasp of the basics. Take a computer class at a local college or learning center, go online and search for tutorials (hint: big time suck), get some of those Video Professor DVD's (I've used them, they work), or you can do what I do and learn everything from basics to advanced for just about any software on the planet by using the lynda.com video tutorials*.  Why? They're the best, hands down. I keep an ongoing monthly subscription to their service so I can learn anything I want for less than the cost of one training book from the bookstore. They do a fantastic job, it's deductible (!), and it's really fun too.

Of course, after you update your skills the very best use of your time is to let me help you so you can get back to doing what you love and what makes you money.

I'm just sayin.  ;-D

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FTC Disclosure: If you know me at all you know that I don't recommend something unless I think it's absolutely stellar. All of the resources I recommend are my favorite things, and with some I am an "affiliate" which means that I will earn a small commission for referring you to the resources. Those are marked with an asterisk.

It was a marketing symposium, at the Ritz Carlton Pasadena, about 20 years ago. Who knew they had a dress code just to check in (sheeshhh). Anyway, lots of heavy hitters in the marketing world, one was the VP of Marketing for Disneyland. She was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. She spoke little, and said a LOT.

In response to a very good question - "How do you know what will work, how do you decide?" - she gave some advice that I've carried with me for years and years. She's right.  And although it seems obvious, I watch my clients break this rule over, and over, and over again.

She told us that we'll never know what's going to work until we try it. Then she told us what they do at Disney:  They put their heads together and take their best educated guess. They set rules for results, what will mean that it's working, what will mean that it's not. They go with it. If it doesn't meet their criteria for success, they STOP. Even if they've poured tons of money into it. If it does work, they milk the heck out of it. Period. That's it.

Example of something that didn't work and they stopped: They tried a promotion where, oh what was it? Californians got a discount. Just show your drive's license and...  They set their rules for success, how many months they'd give it, how many Californian's, etc.  The results were not what they wanted, they stopped.  They did NOT keep trying to convince Californian's to come to Disneyland, they did not offer more, they did not lower the price. They just stopped.

Example of something that DID work and they milked the heck out of it: Y`all have heard of the Electric Light Parade? It started out as a temp gig to replace a parade that just wasn't ready for prime time. They figured it would be a short run, just to fill the gap. They gave it a couple of weeks. But people went WILD for it. I think it was ten years worth of wild, then they sold off the lighbulbs for $10 each when it finally wound down.  If memory serves, they even resurected the parade years later.

She emphasied, "Don't keep putting money into something that isn't working. It won't help."

Reeealllyyyy good advice. And yet I see people doing exactly that, over and over. And just like she said, it doesn't work.

I mention this because while I love supporting artists with administrative, marketing and website services, I really hate to take their money when I realize that something they're doing isn't working well for them. And lately I've seen a lot of what that VP from Disney was talking about, so, ya know, I feel compelled to say something about it.

Need marketing or administrative support for your projects and art business?  Need help just getting it going or keeping it going? Give me a shout via email - robin@artistcareertraining.com - or just call me at (310) 649-4434.

All my best to you and yours,