No that does NOT mean you are off the hook this week for a commercial!! LOL This week, we need to start thinking about how we represent our craft, our businesses and ourselves.
As Artists and Creatives, we are often scattered when it comes to attempting to explain to anyone how awesome it feels to create, and to just BE us, so we stumble we fall and our opportunity is gone!
Thus far, we have worked on building our creative courage in a couple different manners….
Physically
- Week 3 – The Eyes Have It, we learned to look not just others, but more importantly ourselves in the eye so we could regain the courage it takes to do that.
- Week 4 – It’s Complimentary, we worked on complimenting others as well as ourselves, who didn’t get a great boost of courage from that one?!
- Week 5 – Pink Cadillac, we got out and drove our dream car, to feel the exhilaration of asking, receiving and driving something we may not otherwise be able to do without some Creative Courage.
- Week 8- Walking Tall, we practiced working on better posture and learned what a confidence booster that truly is.
- Week 11 – LOL, We had a bunch of fun learning that laughing really is key to our emotional happiness and health.
Emotionally
- Week 2 – Curious George, we stretched our imaginations, and grew our brain mass, by simply being more curious, asking questions and finding answers!
- Week 9 – Judge Judy, we went inside our heads, and worked on NOT judging ourselves, or judging others.
- Week 10 – Googly Maps, we took some risks, drove down some roads, satisfied the curiosity we fostered in Week 2. I enjoyed that one very much!
- Week 12 – Embrace The Tickle, we hopefully took those chances that we may not have otherwise because of that dang tickle we get when we are worried.
Theoretically
- Week 15 – Moxie On Steroids, we worked on our new Passion Statement being brave and honest and true to ourselves, hopefully we will see some of that work around soon!
- Week 17 – Take This Job, we imagined, dreamed, and hypothesized what it would be like to quit a job we hated, even the jobs we currently may hold.
- Week 18 – This Little Light Of Mine, hopefully we all worked through the steps of that lesson as we were reading it, and carried it with us. Using our own light…
So where does that leave us? I believe that it puts us in a well-rounded learning environment that can be built on and fostered, embellished and grown! We need to remember on our journey to build our Creative Courage, that our work, our art, does not speak for itself. We like to think it does, but really it speaks to those who are drawn to it, but to find those that are drawn to it, we must learn to speak for it, for our businesses and for ourselves.
Many Artists and Creatives believe that they are immune from personal branding, that the “art” will speak for itself. Not true. Whether you have a business or not, you as a creative person need to learn how to tell your personal story, the story of you.
Regardless of the creative endeavor that has chosen you, you must be able to tell the story of your personal brand, describe your creative vision, as well as your goals, if you want to make a difference in how your creativity is viewed.
When most people think of branding in business… visions of logos, trademarked colors, taglines and the like come to mind. But as an artist, your personal brand is the way that people will connect with you, so they are able to connect with your work. Before anyone reads your book, hears you play, checks out your painting or sees your portfolio, how you personally present yourself initially begins your branding in their minds.
Therefore, we are going to take one of the best ‘business’ tasks, and make it twist to our own creatives whims! The commonly known Elevator Speech is going to become our Personal Commercial! Most everyone believes this is either THE ONLY FANTASTIC talent to have in your repertoire or a horribly impossible task…it is neither, and this week we are going to break it down and show us how to do just that!
To begin let’s keep a few “creative” points in our mind while developing our Personal Commercial:
A. It is impossible to bore people into buying your work, or listening to your story so be creative!
B. As artists we have the advantage of not just talking about our work, we can show it as well.
C. We cannot carry ten pounds of creative explanation in a five pound bag, so we must keep it short.
Now let’s take an example of when you might need a Personal Commercial. Imagine you are waiting in the grocery line (or in an elevator if you are stuck on the Elevator Speech), and you run into the owner of a local shop. You know her, she doesn’t know you….but you would LOVE to have your work in her store! You say hello, mention that you heard the news about a local jurying of artists to have works in her shop. You mention that are an artist, and she says “Tell me about your art.” Now you’ve only got one grocery basket to do so (or several floors) … Do you go deer in the headlights on her, with the “oh, ah, okay, well I paint and um, my medium is acrylics and it’s um, well…”? What are the chances that she’s going to ask you to be part of the jurying? This type of response – which is not at all uncommon with artists, does not give a positive impression of our work or of us as artists.
The scattered unplanned response says that we haven’t given our work much thought, that we do not know how to express ourselves, therefore we must be very inexperienced, that if we can’t describe our work, how will she sell it? What you meant to do (I am sure) is to explain how passionate you are about your work, how you are functioning in a professional manner, and convey important points about your art that will spark interest so she will ask questions. Well, to do that, we need first we need to figure those things out, then pare all of our passion into a few short sentences, and in turn to make some magic!!
So back to A, B, C…. first it’s almost impossible for creative people such as ourselves to boreanyone, the only chance that is going to happen is if we don’t have a plan, so we make a plan Problem A solved!
B. We do actually have that advantage; so take advantage of it!! I like to carry my MOO cards with me at all times. You can order 100 cards and have each one be different image, or have four images so you receive 25 of each, sky is the limit there! My personal favorites are the Mini Moos, they are half the size of a regular business card – people immediately realize that you are awesome and creative! They only show a portion of any creation, so curiosity is piqued, and the piece de resistance…there is a Mini Moo key ring that allows you WITH JUST ONE HAND to slide it open, slip out a card, and hand it to your completely enthralled listener!! You can find that awesomeness here: www.moo.com (no they didn’t pay me for that plug, but if anyone at Moo would like to show their appreciation with some free stuff, that would be greatly appreciated! 
)
C. We have so much to say about our passion and our art, but we MUST learn to keep it short and simple in words anyone can understand. If you perform your commercial to a seven year old and they don’t understand all the words or what you do…time to go back to the drawing board!!
Here’s what we do…here’s what I needed to do when I was trying to figure this out…btw, still working on my Personal Commerical, remember I told ya’ll in Week 12, how difficult it is for me to talk to customers and such, so…in my research for this week’s challenge, I was dumbfounded at all the gobbledly gook associated with the term “Elevator Speech”, so I searched and read, watched videos, and read some more…I needed to break it down into “do-able” steps/tasks to understand fully what needed to be done, and this is where I landed:
- WHAT exactly are we attempting to create?
- How do I figure out what to say?
- How do I pull it all together?
I hope that I am able to convey properly what I have learned so that you can work this week on your own Personal Commercial. I know it sounds silly, especially if you are a creative, or a closet artist that isn’t in the business of being creative. But if you WANT to be doing what brings you joy and tell your boss to Take This Job…..then you need to present yourself in the way you would like people to view you.
1. WHAT exactly are we attempting to create?
A Personal Commercial is a much abbreviated, concise story that is easy to understand, and will intrigue others so they would like to engage with you further. What a Personal Commercial is NOT is a sales pitch, it’s offering information. Someone you speak with is “buying into” you at first meet, not your product, so don’t try to sell your product, define yourself as an Artist.
2. How Do We Figure Out What To Say?
Outline of process:
A. Name, Title and Business: Hi, my name is Jane Doe, Visionary & Mixed Media Artist,My Company is Fabulous Artwork, Inc.B. Creatively describe your work: Briefly describe what you create and who you are selling it toC. Power Question (the problem you are attempting to solve): ask them if they are in need of specific problem solving (as you know they likely are).D. Power Statement (Your Proposed Solution): How you will solve their problem, the benefits of working with you, how your solution is better than the next guy.E. A Request/Call to Action: What do you want? A business card, a meeting, a referral? Ask for it. Why they should answer the request as quickly as possible, creating urgency.F. Kind Closing: Thank you so much for listening.
I found that attempting to write, then practice to see if I could meet the time was unproductive and frustrating…a general rule is that your Personal Commercial should be 150-200 words. It shouldn’t go longer than 60 seconds. Do not try to rush and cram more in though….take your time, speak slowly and clearly. Consider what advertisers pay for a 60 second spot during the Superbowl, what would YOU do with that one minute? Do your best to avoid industry specific jargon, this can throw some people off, especially in the beginning if you only have one commercial to call on.
Make certain you convey energy, dedication and passion in your commercial, no one wants to hear monotone or see someone looking around while they have their 60 seconds! You want to make it memorable, apart from exchanging pleasantries you would like this person to contact you to use your services or purchase your goods…OR they may know someone who does, and you need them to remember YOU when that time arrives. It’s even okay to tell them what to remember, if you can
3. How to Pull It All Together
Now, we know WHAT we want, and a bit about how to determine what should be included. Next let’s look at how to pull it all together. We have our outline A-H above, the first [A] should be cake, okay, really?!
B. Creatively Describe Your Work
you may need to write something then come back to it to make it more creative, but you could start with writing down five things that people do business with you, or why your art is important. Then five reasons how you can improve your customer’s life, livelihood, business, etc. Cite exactly why your art is important.
C. Power Question…A sticky point.
Here’s how to figure out D, the long way around, but will also help refine the other areas…
A Power Question, it is the stepping stone to the Power Statement, so without it, you are a bit lost. A Power Question can be crafted when you know your niche market, what problems do these folks have that you have a solution for? A Power Question can be compiled using the following questions as guidelines. They do not all need to be precisely answered; they all simply need to be considered to create your Power Question:
- What type of information are you expecting this question will give you?
- Will it take more than one question to determine if this person is the one I need to be speaking to?
- Will my question make the person think before answering?
- Can I ask a question that my competitors do not, which will set me apart?
Some “lead ins” to help create a power question (or two):
- How have you successfully used….(your space? Your shop? Other artwork?)
- What makes you choose….(between two artists? What merchandise you display? Who you work with?)
- How do you determine…(Who you like to work with? What artwork will be successful?
- What is the one thing that you improve about…(the relationship with your vendors? The quality of the work?)
- Are you happy with…(the traffic to your location? Your current clientele? The artwork you carry)
- What have you found…(the most pleasing? The most frustrating? To be wonderful about?)
- What has your experience been…(working this way? In trying new things? Working with different mediums?)
- What do you look for…(in merchandise for your shop? When working with artists? With the merchandise you provide to your customers?)
- How do your customers react….(when you remove a product line? Add a similar product line? Bring in merchandise seemingly out of the box?)
- Have you successfully used….(fiber artists? Consignment Sales? Wholesale purchases from artists?)
D. Power Statement
Determine in your niche market, what problems do these folks have that you can solve with a solution – it’s the Power Answer to your Power Question! In other words what makes your work unique compared to the artist next to you? What makes you a person better time well spent than the guy next door? What illustrates a successful outcome that you have created with your work? You need your Power Statement to literally answer your Power Question!
E. A Request,
what would you like from this encounter? This is actually the reason you need more than one Personal Commercial! Are you looking for a contact? Ask for a card and/or if you might contact them later. Are you hoping to just get a business card for your email list? Ask for it. Would you like them to refer you to another person? Request such an action. Are you hoping for a meeting or to have your art in front of this person….ASK for it! Again, as I have taught my children, you can’t get anything you don’t ask for! Call To Action, this is what you would like them to do as quickly as possible… on a website you may see “Call Now”, “Sign Up for Our Newsletter”, “Click Here”…. We need to urge the listener to take an immediate action. So in person you may say “I’d love it if you would give me a call before my schedule books up!” or “I have a wholesale deal ending soon that you might be interested” or even “I’ve had several options, but I would like to work with you”, whatever you would like them to do …this is the reason they should take immediate action.
F. A Kind and Sincere Closing
we do not at this time want the listener to feel as if we simply “sold them”. Give a sincere smile, and thank them for their time, or express how fortunate you feel for this chance encounter, something along that line.
And at last, a few generic examples of elevator speech:
#1….“Hello, my name is Jeremiah Jones, I create artwork that allows people to show their individuality while still feeling comfortable in that expression, which they often find difficult to discover. I would love to discuss carrying my work in your shop. Here’s my card; I have several shows in the next few months; but I would love for you to contact me so we might set up a meeting before my busy season! I am so pleased about this happenstance, have a wonderful day! ”
#2….“It’s wonderful to meet you! My name is Billy Gater I am a Techno Shock Therapist, founder of ABC Web Development. I work with my clients to develop their internet marketing and advancement through web development, website promotion and assisting them in incorporating their overall marketing plan with the ever important emarketing plan. Tell me about your current website, I am certain I can help you optimize it!”
#3…”[A] My name is Alexandria Max, I am the CEO of Make It Happen Industries. [B] I am writing a new business book called Plateau. [C] Do you feel that your online presence brings a great deal of business? [D] I teach my readers how to build a solid client base of loyal followers using social media and other direct online technologies. [E] In my texts I outline how it has never been easier, less expensive or infinitely more possible that right now to achieve their goals. [F] I am so happy that we were able to connect like this.”
There it is! An outline, guidelines AND examples to create your very own Personal Commercial! I know, you are still skeptical; like some of the past weeks challenges you are thinking “I got this” and you aren’t going to do it. Well, if for no other reason, will you work the guideline simply because it took me all this time to lay it out for you?? Come on!!
In any case, I urge you to work through these steps, you will have the groundwork for an encounter with ANY potential friend, fellow artist, client, business partner, investor, curator, shop owner…as I have said before, you do not know where your path may lead you, BUT if you are prepared for every curve, you may encounter adventures you never dreamed possible!! So be prepared!
Therefore your task, your CHALLENGE this week, is to use the guidelines above and create your own Personal Commercial BECOME the “Word From Your Sponsor”! Video Tape it even – YEAH! Post it up on YouTube and see what kind of response you get…if you dare!!
JeaneMargherite Meria McMahon Murray Schintgen
(yep, that’s my name, don’t wear it out!)
I would love for you to “check me out” in my other realms…..
