After all, creativity is free.  And what happens when people are fulfilled and happy, more in touch with their higher selves, contributing their own unique talents and allowed the passion to be in a state of creative flow on the job?  Increased morale, stronger teams, reduced stress, rich ideas, lower turnover, decreased absenteeism, fewer incidents of tardiness and error rates, and higher profits!

However, creativity involves paying attention to a few key elements like intuition, dreams, feelings, ideas, trends in the market and customer feedback.  The dictionary definition of Play is ‘freedom of movement within a space’.  The key word in the definition of Play is freedom.

How can you become an advocate of creativity and freedom, in effect, an Idea Champion? When Art n Soul wants to exercise our creativity muscles, here’s how we play:

1. We break routines.  We stop to brainstorm. We go for a walk.  We write with our non-dominant hand for a few minutes.
2. We bring an absurd word to our next meeting and drop it into conversation somewhere.
3. We establish an Idea Bank where people can put in ideas, words, pictures that inspire them.  When someone is working on a creative project and feels stuck, anyone can go to the Idea Bank and pull something out.
4. We record all of our great ideas even when we’re not ready to implement them yet.
5. We stretch past our comfort zone.  We push the envelope.  We reach.  We take risks.
6. Our slogan is “We help our clients create a brush with opportunity”.  What we really do is try to find connections between uncommon linkages.  Look at some of the major brands out there and they did just the same.  Nike connected athletes with footwear and apparel.  IPod connected music and mobility.  If you’d like some business terms for these connections, we can do some mind mapping or storyboarding.
7. We create Dream Walls and Vision Boards for ourselves and our clients.  When our employees connect their personal dreams with their work aspirations, we reach a Zen-like state of creativity.
8. We become kids again. We notice how kids act and we often ask for their opinions on things.
9. We seek out experiences or people that are different from us.
10. We affirm our own genius.  We squelch the inner critic and we shout out ‘I am an artist!’ or whatever it is that one of us aspires to be. We take pride in our creations.

Believe it or not, being silly helps us become more serious about what we do and gets our creative juices flowing. The creative process is like a relationship. At first, we are smitten, then charmed, then head over heels with our ideas.  How do we sustain creativity after the initial encounter? Some would flirt with other ideas.  We, however, get closer to our ideas.  We also offer guidance and inspiration for others to do the same.  One thing is for certain, creativity is contagious.

If you have an innovative, entrepreneurial or creative spirit, we hope you’ll consider joining our organization!  Membership is only $150 for the first year, $25 annually after that. For more information, please visit http://www.artnsoulinc.com

1) The first component is letting go of something….a bad habit (checking emails or text messages every few seconds), time-consuming customers (we can often spend an extraordinary amount of time on one bad customer when our good customers don’t bother us at all – is it worth the time?), or a product/service that is not income generating.  Letting go is a lesson I learned in the sandbox when I was five years old. I was fighting over a sand sifter with my cousin, a cross between Dennis the Menace and Bart Simpson, when he let go of the sand sifter.  This turned out to be a smart move because I went flying out of the sandbox, the sand sifter went flying and he caught it, and I ended up breaking my collar bone.  It was a valuable lesson for me about hanging on too tight.

2) The second component to re-inventing yourself is understanding how you want to change and embracing that change.  I start by reconsidering everything I do.  I develop new products or services or I bundle them in a new way.  I offer solutions and now encourage my clients to purchase a portfolio of services.

3) The third component is to recognize opportunities.  So many times we pass by the signs that are directly in front of us and ignore our intuitions.  I see every experience as an opportunity, even the ones that seem to fail. For instance, last week I attended an outdoor art show.  It was a first time event and that is always a risk.  As it turned out, it was not well-attended so I made $6 in sales for the day after the booth fee.  Yikes!  However, my booth was next to an arts council and I met three of their members, all of which hired me as a creativity coach.  My introductory coaching fee for 2 sessions is $175, so I really made $525 that day plus will establish long-term relationships with these artists that may lead to further sales.  They’ll tell their friends about my business and it’s a win for everyone.

4) The fourth component to re-invention is highlighting strengths and assets.  I have confidence that my clients will learn everything they need to know about the business of art in two sessions.  I’m confident in my ability to help my clients make the right connections.  If you know what your strengths are, don’t forget to brag about them and use the media in every way possible to spread your message.  You know your strengths but your clients may not be aware of all you can do for them.

5) The final component is supporting your community by volunteering.  Volunteering is a great way to build community, meet new people and feel good and rewarding results all at once.  When you do great things like volunteer, people remember you and often come to you or your business first for consideration.

To re-invent myself in the past five years, I transitioned from a solo mixed media visual artist to a creativity coach to someone who now represents over 80 artists.  I’m getting ready to re-invent myself again with Art n Soul TV…stay tuned.

Let’s take it a step at a time.  Market research is one of the most important aspects in starting and growing a business.  In this process, finding out key details about your competitors is necessary.  Through my own market research, I know that my closest competitors, other Creativity Coaches/Art Representatives are located in New York City and Connecticut.  I also learned that they charge significantly more than I do for the same service.  One of them has published a book.  The other has a part time job for an art magazine.  So, what do I do with this information once I learn it?

Whenever a client thinks my rates are too high, I encourage them to explore other art reps or coaches.  This is risky business.  I might face losing them as clients.  However, if I know price point is a key factor in their decision making process, once they learn my fees as compared to others, I typically look like a real deal!

Knowing that one of my key competitors is a published author and the other works for an arts magazine also opens up opportunity for me.  I’m always trying to create strategic partnerships with people.    With the author, I have the following arrangement now:  she sells her books to me wholesale and I sell them at a profit at my workshops.  With the art magazine rep, I earn commission for every artist who takes out an ad.  This keeps an open, friendly dialogue between my competitors who are now my allies.  It also adds to one of my strengths.  I’m an amazing connector, and I have a knack for connecting people and networking.  I have clients in London, Armenia, Sicily, Amsterdam, Chicago, Boston, and Miami.  Some people become my clients just because they know I can open doors for them.  This makes me competitive.

Updating my website and blog constantly and making sure people on my team know about the latest trends also keeps me competitive in the marketplace.

Finally, I truly believe that creativity is my key differentiator in keeping current.  We’re all so bombarded these days with new and fresh ideas that this step isn’t easy but I take time every week to ask myself “what can I do this week that is a more creative approach than anyone else is doing?”.   Closely behind these creative ideas, I encourage the media to create a buzz around what I’m doing.  Recently, Art n Soul had a full page spread in our local newspaper.  It didn’t cost one cent and I never met the reporter in person.  We communicated through email and generated a tremendous amount of buzz in the process.

I’m always open to hearing about how you stay competitive. Thanks for reading!

My mom is also creative and she was the first to teach me this lesson of kindness and treating everyone equally.  My mom worked retail while I was in college to help finance my education.  I grew up in Vermont. As my mom told it, one day a farmer came in.  He’d been working all day on the farm so he smelled of a combination of sweat and manure.  Four sales clerks passed him by and did everything they could to avoid him, but not my mom.  She asked him if she could assist him.  He was there that day to buy anniversary gifts for his wife of many years.  When my mom was finished waiting on him, it was the largest sale the store had ever had.  I’m not sure if my mom worked on commission or not, but she told us this story and I never forgot it.

I like to be treated with kindness and respect so I treat others with kindness and respect.  The CEO of Zappos has a book out called “Delivering Happiness”.  Zappos is a great role model for how to treat customers.  If I order on a Sunday afternoon, I’ll often have my order by Monday afternoon or Tuesday at the latest.  They often waive the shipping costs and if what I ordered doesn’t fit, they’ll take it back without question. I’ve only had to return something once but their exceptional level of customer service shocks me every time.

Compare this to the customer service I received at my Saab dealership a few years back.  I walked up to the counter and the service manager looked up and just stared at me.  He didn’t say hello.  He didn’t ask if he could help me. He just stared.  So, I stared back, too.  I wish I had started whistling or singing or something to really throw him off, but it was a stare down until he grunted something.  Please note that this Saab dealership is no longer in business.

I was with a friend once when a clerk was rude to her.  She responded in this way “I’m so sorry that the person who trained you didn’t train you correctly.  Had your trainer trained you correctly, he or she would have taught you the value of being polite to customers.”  My friend is a trainer on customer service, so I suppose this was one of her sales tactics and very effective.  The clerk had no idea what to say next.

Here are two of my favorite quotes:  1) It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.2) Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you – not because they are nice, but because you are.   I’ll just say that these lessons did not come easily but they are very effective.

So, what matters to me most…YOU matter to me.  Without you reading these articles, I would not have an opportunity to write them

1.  This past summer we launched a Barter for Art page on www.artnsoulinc.com where people looking for art can trade their stuff for art.  OR, where artists looking to trade their art can find stuff they need.  Right now, we have an artist named Faust who is looking for a laptop computer.  He does amazing wood carvings.  If you’ve got stuff to trade, let us know.  You can even trade art for art.  I just traded Faust my art for his…

2.  In July, we launched a Business of Art Mastermind Group where artists have a dialogue once a month about all sorts of things like how to market their art, social networking, Blogs, copyrights, watermarks, and so much more.

3.  In August, we launched Art n Soul TV.  We film artists in their own studios with Pilot Girl Productions.  We have some awesome footage and we’re looking for sponsors to keep the project going.

What’s my point?  Re-inventing yourself keeps your business fresh and keeps your clients and others creating a buzz around your business.  Re-inventing yourself keeps your competitors on their toes and keeps bringing new sources of revenue into your business.   You never know what is just going to really take off if you let things remain stagnant.   Re-inventing yourself means grabbing opportunities when they come my way.  If I don’t act right away, someone else will. I am cautiously impulsive if there is such a thing.  I’ve learned over the years not to be too impulsive and reactionary and I’ve also learned to act quickly once I know the facts and the idea seems plausible.  The funny part is that I always listen to my intuition and I always know that when doors start to open about the idea that I’m in a place of synchronicity and I keep going.  When I start to hit too many roadblocks, I take a pause to make sure I’m going in the right direction.   As always, I’m open to your ideas for my business so feel free to contact me and share your thoughts.

Let’s face it, the true sale is really about closing the deal.  Selling art is really personal. I know many artists who have a really hard time selling their originals.  Artists spend time with their art, sometimes days, sometimes months or years.  They learn to grow and love their art.  They tweak it and manipulate it and move it and maybe paint over or start over many times. When it comes time to sell it, some artists just have a hard time letting go.  So, the first rule of thumb in selling is that you have to be passionate about wanting to sell whatever it is you are selling.  If there is hesitation on your part, the potential prospect or buyer will see that.  And, ask for the sale.

Next, know when to push and when not to push the sale.  Sales is also about reading the personality of your buyers.  Some people like to be wined and dined and entertained and others like a more direct, get to the point approach.  The minute they say they like your art enough to buy it, ask “will that be Mastercard or Visa, check or cash, money order”?  This mere question often gently pushes a prospect into the sale.

If someone likes your art but hesitates, find out why.  Is it too large?  We can get you a smaller print.  Is it the framing?  We can frame it in a different color or with different matting.  Is it the price?  Can we make you a print instead of selling you the original?

Above all else, LISTEN to your prospects.  If they want red, don’t push blue on them.  If they want big, give them big.  Some artists are so busy talking about the aspects of their art that they like that they miss what their buyers like.  Survey buyers and non-buyers to find out what they like and what they don’t like about your art.  If you can handle the criticism, it will make you a better artist and a better salesperson.

It also can’t hurt to have people you know encouraging the sale.  If you are at an outdoor art sale, bring friends to subtly mention that you’ve been written up in magazines or won some awards.  The more people in your outdoor art show booth, the more buzz is created.  Use testimonials on your website from every happy customer.

I personally like to sell.  It’s how I started out in my career, cold calling.  I made it into a game.  If people were rude to me on the phone, I scored points.  I learned how to work with rude people in the selling process.  Here are a few tips I learned:

• Always be the nicest to the gatekeeper.  They hold the key to all of the information about a company so don’t negate, look down upon or bypass them.
• Never spill your beans in the lobby.  In other words, don’t start talking about what you do or what you are selling ad nauseum.  Instead, find out what your prospect needs first.  They don’t want to hear about things they don’t need and it will typically turn them right off.  But, if you have a solution to what they do need, you will be revered for solving their problem and they might look to you for more things as well.

Give your customers more than what they expect.  WOW! your clients.  I offer creative packaging.  I work with broken musical instrument parts in my work so I often use creative musical cases to package the art like violin or guitar cases.  When your customer walks away with creative packaging, they become a walking billboard for your art/your company.

Finally, don’t forget to follow up.  I became a SendOutCards.com rep so that I never forget to send a thank you note to my clients.  It means the world to them to know how much I appreciate their sale.  The cards I send are also worthy of being framed.  I’ve had clients want the packaging almost as much as the art!

Good luck, and contact me if you need help selling your art.

An Artist’s Theory on Being Proactive

As an artist, it’s in my nature to ‘go with the flow’.  By going with the flow in a painting, my work sometimes turns from mediocre to amazing.  However, I’ve learned as a business owner that going with the flow really involves trusting my intuition.  It’s one thing to go with the flow, but another thing entirely to wait for that flow to take you over a raging waterfall.  Here’s the difference:  one way is reactive and the other way is proactive. I’m an advocate of being proactive in my approach to art and business.

My father was a successful entrepreneur and, from the time I was a small child, he always told me it was more important to worry about myself than to worry about what others are doing or thinking.  Let’s take the economy for example.  Most people I speak with lately are full of doom and gloom about what is happening in the world on an economic front.  Instead of jumping on that bandwagon, my proactive self is asking questions like “What niche could I find in this economy?  What can I be doing to make my personal and business situation better?” and “What can I be doing to solve the problem instead of adding to the problem?”  By helping others solve their problems, you become the solution.  As a result, I’ve coached people on how to write their resumes, how to network for increased sales, and how to use their art as added income.

Instead of focusing on the negative, focus on areas you can influence.  The area I have most influence over is ME.  So, I check in with my intuition a lot.  I still go with the flow as before, only now I control the flow because if that cliff is coming, I shift gears.  I go with my own flow instead of being dragged along in someone else’s flow.

I especially watch the language I use.  I have eliminated the word ‘but’ from my vocabulary.  The word ‘but’ negates everything someone has just said to you.  Instead, I substitute it with the word ‘and’.  So, if someone says “the economy is so bad right now that my business has really slowed down”, I say “yes, and that gives us an opportunity to focus on sales and learn a new skill that we wouldn’t ordinarily have time for”.  You are agreeing that the economy is bad and you offer a solution.

To be proactive in business, evaluate your procedures.  Are their areas where you’ve given yourself limitations where you could be thinking outside the box?  Are there seasonal changes in your business that you could be addressing?  Are you ready and prepared for the next shoe to drop?

I constantly create new workshops in my business when I hear people say that they are having a hard time finding a certain class.  I’ve identified a need.  Typically, if one person has a need, there are many others that are also trying to find the same solution.  I currently have classes scheduled on “The Business of Art” and “Eggshell Art”.  I don’t wait for other people to conduct workshops.  The more outrageous the topic, the more I’m apt to move forward in presenting the workshop.

A few other key points to being proactive.  Watch your language.  How you react to a given situation is important.  Don’t blame others.  For instance, I was recently honored with a significant award in my entrepreneurial role.  The award is the highest achievement I can win in my program statewide and the company I run the program for has not won this award in 17 years (I’ve been running the program for three years).  However, the award was given little publicity.  My initial ‘reaction’ was one of disappointment and dismay.  Instead, I took a couple days off and re-grouped.  I focused on the entrepreneurs I am really doing the work for and the artists I am helping along the way.  I can’t control the way the communications department chooses to deliver the message. I can control my behavior and my response and keep on helping entrepreneurs.  The entrepreneurs are my passion and that is where my focus will remain.

Empower yourself to choose alternatives.  People often stay stuck in the same careers for years without visualizing that something may be better and brighter in a new company.  At a networking event, if no one is speaking with you, go up and introduce yourself to someone you might not otherwise have reached out to.  I push myself at events to speak with people who are already in groups or those that are significantly older or younger than I am.  I push myself to speak with people who ‘look’ arrogant.  What I typically find is that people in groups are trying to play it safe and that people who look arrogant are often just shy.

Being proactive takes courage and discipline and planning.  Building good habits can reduce frustration and stress.  You also have to realize that you can’t control everything.   Many things are not in our control.  I use these methods to be prepared for anything out of the ordinary:  laughter, deep breathing, meditation and accepting change and imperfection.  My artwork uses the Japanese concept called “Wabi Sabi or The Art of Imperfection”.  Knowing that life is a constant flow of change, chaos and beauty has made all of the difference in my art and in my life.  I’m prepared for life being messy and painful and sad and dirty because I always know that I will also find pockets of energy and creativity and awe-inspiring, breathtaking beauty.  Without opposites, we wouldn’t have the experiences we have.  Without cold, we wouldn’t know warmth.  Without hate, we wouldn’t experience love.  I now experience life’s unexpected interruptions with a pause and I keep on plugging away, one step at a time.  I still go with the flow, and I’m prepared to be proactive when I feel it is warranted.

Squelch Your Impulsivity

I’m impulsive by nature.  I sometimes speak before I think and I leap before I know the net will appear.  Sometimes, I end up with my foot in my mouth but I have to say that the net usually appears.  Here is when I could have benefited from slowing down a bit.  I registered as an S-Corp immediately upon starting my business.  Unlike an LLC, where you have to advertise for 6 weeks in a publication, the S-Corp did not require this.  I also initially liked that the S-Corp taxes were kept separate from my personal taxes.  In hindsight, I would have initially registered as a sole proprietorship.  Why?  It took me a couple years to get my business off the ground.  A sole proprietorship doesn’t offer personal protection and I wanted my home and personal assets protected.  In the first couple of years, sales were low and there really wasn’t much liability at all.  However, I still had to pay fees to continue having an S-Corp, etc.  You can always switch from a sole proprietorship to an S-Corp but it is much more difficult to move backwards from an S-Corp to a sole proprietorship.  I’m ok now but I would have taken the process a little slower if I had to do it again.

Put Your Agreements in Writing

I’m a trusting person by nature.  I consider myself trustworthy and I so when I first started out in business I made an assumption that all other people were honest, too.  Most of my contracts were word of mouth.  I still believe that people are inherently good. However, a few bad apples do ruin the whole darn bunch and so now I put contracts into place when I work.  Here’s why.  I conduct workshops on various topics related to my business like “The Business of Art” or “Getting Around Being Stuck” or “Creative Ways to Work Less & Play More”.  Sometimes, I hire outside contractors to teach my classes if they have an area of expertise I think might benefit my clients.  Basically, the deal was that I would obtain the clients, set up the space, buy the food, etc. and then after costs, the other instructor and I would split the fee from any profits made.  One day, I obtained a corporate account with a sizeable group of people.  I wanted to lock in a fee with the corporate client.  The client would provide the space and the food, so my costs were minimal other than the instructor’s fee.  So, I asked the instructor what she would charge for the workshop and she said $500.  Then, the instructor discovered it was a corporate client and not a group of various clients.  Her fee jumped from $500 to $5,000.  This left me scrambling to find another instructor at the last minute.  Needless to say, it was a lesson learned, and I always have an upfront contract now.  This goes for talent releases when I’m filming or taping or taking pictures.  It also goes for hold harmless agreements I put in place when my artists are showing in galleries or corporate offices.  I put everything in writing.  This also provides for a nice record of the event.

Focus on You Not the Competition

I used to worry that people would steal my ideas and take the money and run.  Not anymore.  I now know that the partnerships and alliances we form are much stronger than worrying about the competition.

I form partnerships with other artists.  I help them get gigs in venues I’ve already appeared in.  I work collaboratively with other artists on projects and learn something each and every time that enhances my work.  I teach collaboratively with other artists.  It really is a win win situation.

Let me give you another example.  I started out working four days a week at our local Chamber of Commerce teaching entrepreneurs about how to start a business through the Entrepreneurial Assistance Program. I like being on the fringes.  If you are an entrepreneurial type, I highly recommend reading the book “Orbiting the Giant Hairball”.  It’s one of my favorite books about people who are necessary to an organization but not necessarily the rule followers.  Recently, our Chamber adopted that model and decided to go to a four-day workweek, mainly to ‘go green’ and save energy on Fridays and Mondays.  We’re still staffed because half the team works Mondays and the other half works Fridays.  However, we all have three-day weekends now.  Instead of being bitter that everyone was now on a four-day workweek, I embraced the deal.  I’m now working on a three-day work week!

Take Care of Yourself Physically, Spiritually, Mentally, Emotionally and Financially

In his book, Harmonic Wealth, author James Arthur Ray talks about the five pillars of attracting the life you want.  I truly believe in this model for success in all areas of your life.  They don’t necessarily need to be in balance all at once.  However, you must pay attention to each one.  When I’m paying attention to my health by eating right, exercising, scheduling a shiatsu session, taking time to meditate or go to a yoga class, feeling my emotions and expressing them through my art, money ends up showing up in my mailbox just like that.  When one of these areas is out of whack, just the opposite happens.

Be Grateful

I wake up every day grateful for the lessons I’ve learned and the mistakes I’ve made.  They make me who I am today.  I also got to bed at night grateful for whatever experiences the day brought.  This one exercise has changed my life.  If I sell a piece of artwork or take on a new client, I am extra grateful.  If someone flips a finger at me in a road rage incident, I am grateful for that because it reminds me that I don’t want to be like that and how grateful I am when I let go of stress and a bad attitude.  I believe that if more people were grateful, we could change the world.  It would give us a deeper appreciation for all of life and each other.  My business has grown exponentially by being grateful each day for the opportunities given to me.  I’m writing more, creating more art and meeting some extraordinary people along the way.  So, thank you for being a part of my journey by reading my article.  I am truly grateful to Elisa and to you.

1. Set an intention or goal for the meeting. Know exactly what you expect going into and coming out of the negotiation process. Make sure this intention is realistic and the goal is clear. Clarity is key. Many of my clients are artists. I never go into a meeting thinking that artists are starving and cannot afford my services. I offer a great, affordable service and one that can expand their sales. My intention is always to help them sell their work.

2. Enter the meeting with knowledge but only give it away when asked. One of my best negotiation teachers once told me ‘don’t spill your beans in the lobby’. In other words, if you come in and start sharing your features and benefits, the prospect might not need or want them. People feel better when they get a chance to talk about themselves and their needs. And, you walk away learning more about the prospect.

3. Not spilling your beans in the lobby means listening to the needs of your prospect so that you can design something specifically for them. I can’t assume each of my artist clients wants the same thing. I have amateur artists who want their first opportunity in a gallery and I have experience artists who have regular shows at the Javitz Center in NYC and are seen all over the world. The needs of each client are dramatically different. I need to customize my services to fit each client’s needs.

4. Customization means also knowing your personality or style and the personality of each of your prospects and clients. There are some great tools around that help assess this including Myers Briggs and DISC. I took the DISC (Dominant, Influencer, Steady, Conscious thinker) assessment recently and found out that I’m an Achiever type. I like to be sold to in a very certain way. I like sales people who are direct and just tell me the facts. I don’t need a lot of ‘schmoozing’ or to get caught up in a lot of details or facts. This means that when I’m with an Influencer, I have to be more jovial and social when negotiating and selling. When I’m someone who needs the facts, I have to step up my game and find those facts. While you can’t ask your client to take a personality test, by knowing your style, you can typically start assessing your client’s style. This has helped negotiations in my business tremendously.

5. Know who the final decision maker is when you are involved in negotiations. Sometimes you can spend hours with someone who is friendly and says ‘yes’ and then in the end you find out they are not the person who controls the finances or can really make the decision to buy your product or service. I ask right up front if the person I’m negotiating with can make these decisions. If not, I make sure that that person is on board in the first meeting.

6. Find creative solutions to your customer’s problems. Negotiations end very quickly when you offer a solution to your customer’s problems. One of my clients wanted to sell artwork on line but admittedly had limited technological skills and no desire to host her own website. So, I offered her an affordable web page on my site. As a result, other artists have jumped on board and my business in this area has grown – a win-win for all of us.

7. It’s important in negotiations to have both sides leave feeling empowered and good about the interaction. If you are selling as a team, this is when ‘good cop/bad cop‘ comes in handy. One person on your team is positive and one person is a naysayer. This helps you gauge really where your client stands on certain issues. Eventually, good cop wins and your client leaves feeling confident.

8. Knowing when to walk away is a skill that takes some practice. Many times, I’ve left a meeting too early without the sale. Salespeople who leave with business stand their ground. I consider myself pretty good at reading people. I hear when a client says ‘well, anyway’ or ‘maybe I’ll call you later’ or words that indicate that you are going to walk away without a deal. I still respect my client’s time but now I ask right up front what the hesitation is. It sometimes comes down to money and then I’m prepared with some options for my clients. Oftentimes, however, it is about something other than money. Finding out exactly why a prospect or client is hesitating is important and should be determined before the meeting is over. Plus, it lengthens the meeting and I often walk away with the sale by just standing my ground.

9. You have to believe in what you do. I genuinely help people get unstuck, move forward, increase sales, live their dreams and creatively explore new opportunities. I’m confident in my abilities and this shows. There is no way you can negotiate without a strong and confident position.

10. Enjoy the process of negotiation. I make it a game and have fun in everything I do.

Good luck! If you want to practice your negotiation skills, give me a call at 518-842-1757 and we’ll negotiate a price!

Last week, a local phone book directory advertising service called me to see if I wanted to take out a display ad in their publication for $500/year. I have had good luck with finding clients through the phonebook, so my initial reaction was ‘sure, sign me up’. However, my new approach to business is to take a step back, evaluate and say no, even when I want to say yes. What does this approach do? Most salespeople are negotiable. Their initial price is high. Once you say no, this opens the door for them to come back with some sort of offer. In this case, I was particularly stubborn. By the beginning of this week, here is the offer I was presented with: If you refer us three people who sign up for an ad in our phonebook, we’ll give you your ad for FREE! Now, that’s smart spending. So, I always ask now what kinds of deals or discounts salespeople have available.

I noticed that this approach also worked with an on-line printing company I use often. Each week, I get offers from them for small discounts on various items. I used to buy into their first discount offer right away. Lately, I have been exploring the sight for items I use often. I know they can track where I’ve been on their site because when I get the initial email, it’s always an item I’ve been looking into and check out but don’t buy. Invevitably, my next email offers an even deeper discount on the item, and if I keep ignoring their deals, I eventually get the item for FREE plus the cost of shipping! It may not be in the quantity I want but I just wait for the next deal. Can you learn to negotiate with businesses that sell to you regularly?

Since I have an on-line company (www.artnsoulinc.com), I write large checks to my web design company for web revisions. I recently switched to a web design company who created funky, customized templates for me to use so that I could make revisions myself. This will save me lots of money in years to come. What can you do yourself in your business that will save you from spending with some of your important vendors?

I recently started taking art lessons to expand my technical ability in art. I’ve mostly worked in acrylics and now am learning to paint with oils. Some art teachers I researched taught techniques over a long period of time. I eventually found an art teacher who charges $50 PER SESSION (not per hour), provides the canvas and I walk away in one lesson with a completed painting. I then price it higher, pay for the lesson, and make a profit. I know a local ski resort that trains their trainers to ski, then the newly trained skiers start training beginners right away within the 3^rd or 4^th lesson. They do know more than the beginners even though they aren’t experts. Are there services you can offer to your clients that you just may have newly learned?

I partner with other coaches and artists and then we share information with each other by forming Mastermind groups. Let me explain how this works. One of us might join an association in a particular area or a trade group that has a particular topic of focus or one of us attends a webinar or teleseminar or subscribes to a particular trade magazine or publication. Then, we all share the information we’ve learned. My former competition (artists and coaches) are now my strongest allies. We’re stronger helping one another than we are as competitors. I now represent other artists and coaches to help them expand their businesses while mine continues to expand both nationally and internationally.

Companies often have empty space within their organizations waiting to be used. One local retirement center encourages use of their beautiful conference room to expose the community to their facility. The room is provided for FREE if they can share some quick information with my groups about their facility. They even provide FREE coffee and cake. Their goal is to send out the message that their facility is a great place to retire, and it works for both of us.

Here are some of the other tips I’ve used lately to spend in smart ways. I buy recycled ink jet cartridges. I buy items I use often in bulk from warehouse stores. I barter for services.

My final tip: Getting an article written about you in newspapers and on-line is always better than spending money on advertising. I constantly create a buzz about my business and get FREE publicity!

Finding ways to spend smart is now a creative challenge for me. I hope you, too, can find similar opportunities and feel free to share your ideas with me!

Janet Tanguay is the owner of www.artnsoulinc.com. She is a Creativity Life Coach, Artist, Author and Artist Representative helping people achieve their personal and professional goals using creative expression.