JUST FOR WOMEN ARTISTS:
HOW TO SUCCEED IN A FLAT ECONOMY

by Laura Stamps
Art Marketing Consultant

In times like this, when the economy is flat and consumers prefer to keep their money rather than spend it on luxury items like art and prints, artists need an extra edge to their marketing plans.  There are two ways to accomplish this.  You can incorporate all the business strategies that encourage sales in a tough economy, and my marketing books are filled with this kind of information. 

Next, you can move beyond traditional marketing tactics and strategies to tap into another reliable source for sales.  This is also a viable option when all else fails, nothing seems to work, and your sales continue to plummet.  Panic time!  That’s what this article is about, and it is directed to those women artists, who are ready to try something offbeat and different.  These three tactics work, but you’ll need to maintain an open mind.
   
First, follow this line of thinking with me.  Everything on earth is composed of energy.  If we are composed of positive, creative energy then we have the power to endow certain objects with positive energy simply by the thoughts we hold in our minds and the words we speak.  This is the theory of blessing.

Many of the affirmations I say each morning and evening are blessings.  In my mind, I go through the entire inventory of products I offer and bless each one with love and goodness.  I also take the time to touch each order or piece of mail that leaves my office and bless it with prosperous, positive energy.  Here is the blessing I use: “May you bring love, prosperity, and joy to everyone who comes in contact with you.”  Not only do blessings work but they are also fun to create.  Take the time to design a special blessing for your art inventory, orders, and each piece of mail that leaves your art business every day.  Life is a circle, and the positive energy you send out to others will surely come back to you in greater and greater quantities.  As you create a successful art business, why not make room in that business for the practice of sending out positive, prosperous energy to others?  As you do, you will step into the powerful circle of abundance.

Second, I believe it is every woman’s dream to live an empowered, prosperous life.  Dreaming is an excellent way to achieve that goal.  Every successful life or art business started as an idea in the mind of its creator.  I have used this technique for years, and it manifests incredible success.  How does it work?  Take a few minutes several times a day to sit quietly, close your eyes, and say to yourself: “I am an empowered, successful woman” or “I run a very successful art business” or “I am incredibly prosperous.”  Say these words quietly over and over until you can feel what it is like to be a success.

Don’t be too specific about how you think your success should develop.  Your job is to let go, to become in your mind what you desire, and to listen for the thoughts that lead you to your goals.  Once you begin this visualization process, positive opportunities will appear out of nowhere.  You will no longer need to push, struggle, and strive toward your goals.  Allow this kind of visualization to guide you.

Third, success and quality of life are basically a matter of perception: how you see yourself and how you see the rest of the world and, most important, what you believe holds the power in your life.  It is time to stop sabotaging yourself, your dreams, art business, and goals.  Within every woman who is not ecstatically happy with her life (yes, it is possible) is an element of self-sabotage.  Self-sabotage always begins with the sabotage of another.  Friends, family, and co-workers are most often the culprits.  For example, the husband who belittles or jokes about his wife’s accomplishments in her presence, yet praises her to others when she isn’t around.  Or the self-centered friend, who puts her needs above others.  Or parents who use guilt to manipulate the lives of grown children.

As women, we’ve all been there, and we’ve all given our power away at times to those who try to sabotage us, because they themselves suffer from excessive fear or competitiveness or jealousy.  Yet, do you know that these people actually have no power to sabotage our lives?  We strike the final blow to our goals when we believe we have no choice but to give up under the pressure we feel from others.  Self-sabotage is the only thing that will end your dreams.  Otherwise, you are unstoppable.  Do you know that?  Take the time during the next few days to review your unrealized goals for your art business and the times you have self-sabotaged yourself.  We often allow sabotaging people access to our lives.  What positive lesson could you have learned from this experience before you gave up, donned the rag coat of the victim, and self-sabotaged your dreams?

Our power on this earth is a creative one, which moves freely through us to create one success or disaster after another.  No one can keep you from pursuing your dreams.  You are the only one with that power.  You can be your own worst enemy or the gateway to success.  It’s always your choice.  When you can look back over your life and see how you have self-sabotaged your goals, feel the clarity of mind that begins to envelop you.  Suddenly the fog lifts, and life no longer becomes a struggle with unseen foes.  The next time emotional details begin to overwhelm you, and you are tempted to blame someone else’s sabotaging behavior for your feelings of failure, rise up like the eagle and adopt a broader perspective.  Only then will you see that you are, in fact, responsible for pointing your life in the direction of success.

When you begin to operate your art business from this perspective you’ll realize you have more control than you thought you did.  These tactics can melt the negative effects of a flat economy in no time, and open untold rivers of blessing and abundance.  The next time your bottom line looks grim, give these tactics a try.  You’ll be surprised how well they work!

This article is an excerpt from Laura’s book I Can Do Anything: Vol. 1.  If you’d like more information on ways to market your art, prints and note cards, she offers a free catalog of art marketing books.  To receive a catalog, contact Laura Stamps, Art Marketing Consultant, P.O. Box 212534, Columbia, SC 29221-2534, 803/749-8579 or email laurastamps@mindspring.com.

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