Category: Uncategorized

Yesterday, I saw that a promising reporter was killed in an auto accident in Los Angeles. He was 33. This morning, there was news a best-selling novelist had died of an aggressive cancer. He was 47. And now, as I sat down to begin writing this piece, the news confirmed that James Gandolfini (star of The Sopranos) had died. He was 51.

I share this data with you not to depress but to remind you that life is unpredictable and often way too short. So, what are you waiting for?

Are you afraid of failing? Why? What is the worst that will happen? You’ll lose your home and end up living under a bridge someplace, and you have kids?

Lame excuse.
You read me right, that is just lame.
Guess what, you can do everything right and that dark future can still happen.

Or you can do everything right and get hit by a bus. Or have a heart attack or get cancer or, well, just about anything.

You have one chance at this life (well, one conscious one, if the Hindus and Buddhists, et al., are right) and you have no control over when it will end. So, I ask again, What are you waiting for?

You chose to be an artist and with that came the requirement that you have faith. Not faith in a god (not that you can’t have that) but faith in yourself, in your art, and that somehow you’ll make it all work. That fabulous. It’s amazing. It’s actually empowering if you stop shaking in your boots and look at it.

Being an artist requires you actually acting on that faith. You can’t say “I choose to be a photographer/designer/writer…” and then play it safe. You have to do. You have to leap. You have to try and fail (or succeed) and try again and fail (or succeed) and keep doing that over and over again.

For the rest of your life.
That is the bargain you agreed to when you chose to be a professional artist. You have to make, and do, and (sometimes) make do.

The one thing you cannot do is wait for things to be perfect before taking the next step. I’m sick of hearing artists say “I can’t send the promo because the site isn’t perfect” or “I’m not sure my list/promo/portfolio/edit/studio/haircut is perfect so I can’t____.” I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.

If you make some excuse for not doing, then get a real fucking job because you don’t deserve to be an artist. You don’t have the guts.

I say that with love (you know that, I hope, by now).
But it is true.

Frankly, it’s true for any profession. It’s as true for me as it is for you. We have to get out there and do. We can’t be bound up by the fears of getting stuff wrong (which, by the way, is much worse in my profession than yours) or failing. We have to do and leap and try. Every bloody day.

Not only will doing this give you your best shot at being successful (and it will), it will make you happier in the process. Following your dream, doing what you love, isn’t that worth the risk of trying? Why be an artist if you never get to make your own art?

Life is (sadly) short for too many people. We don’t know when our last breath will come. No matter how well we treat our bodies, it is ultimately out of out control when Death will come. And each of you deserves to have loved the life you have. The only way for that to happen is to try, to do, to make your art, to follow your dream, to risk, to fail, and to do it all again the next day.

So, what are you waiting for?

 

When I was doing the dating thing not too very long ago (I’ve been seeing one person for some months now), I paid particular attention not only to how any date treated me, but how he treated the waitstaff and others “in service.” I waited tables for years so I know this is a good measure of the jerk-factor and I was pretty much spot-on with that test.

This recent article by the Harvard Business Review mentions that same test as well as some others to see whether you are hiring or working with the best people. See, it not just a case of what training someone has had or what their technical skills are, a person’s humanity is quite important too.

It’s important for you not only in the people you hire or choose to work with, but also in how your potential clients see you. Would they want to hire you–you the person you put out there?

So read the article and look at your own behavior and habits. Do you get frustrated and snippy fast with gate agents or waitstaff, or do you treat them with kindness and compassion (even when they screw up)? Do you complain about changes in a project or do you go into let’s figure out how to make it work mode? Do you hang out with people who are jerky or who are kind? Do you spend your off-hours reading interesting stuff or sitting like a lump watching reality tv or something?

If you find that you may appear less “humane” than you thought, you can change that. Start saying “please” and “thank you” more to everyone. Smile. Choose to let go of the frustration of change and instead embrace its challenges (especially on work projects).

Being a kinder, more compassionate person will draw people to you, including clients.

Yesterday I had a Twitter “spat” with the representative (unnamed) of a new company called Kunvay. The interaction on Twitter, and the company’s website, show how language can be used to manipulate very effectively. Under the guise of being “open” and “helping” this company is really just another tool to make it easier for creatives to lose out.

This company spins itself as, and I (sadly) quote, being “on a mission to make the world safe for creativity.” How do they do this? By offering a “service” to make it easier for creatives to sign away their rights, their full copyrights, to client/buyers.

Do they negotiate better deals for creatives?
No.

Do they encourage creatives not to give away their rights?
No.

Do they make it sound like they are empowering creatives?
Yup, and they make it sound like they are doing it to help by making it free for the creative.
Gee, thanks… at least you aren’t making the creatives pay while they lose out by selling off (or giving away) their most important assets!

 
One of the things that came out of our “spat” was that they got legal advice from “Silicon Valley lawyers.” This alone should be a big frickin’ red flag to any creative professional. Another thing that was revealed was that they don’t even know that the plural of “attorney” doesn’t include an apostrophe (brilliant). Another was that they challenged me to prove I was a licensed attorney, even though you can look me up on the California Bar website and my Twitter profile says I’m a member of the CA Bar–and all this while never even giving me a human name (for whoever was writing their tweets). I was challenging their business model but they were attacking my professionalism and credibility.

Possibly the most offensive thing was that they asked why I had such an interest in copyright, saying that I seemed terribly strident and asking “Did you get burned?” This is covert sexism. I’m vehement about my pro-copyright stand and therefore I must be acting out from an emotional hurt? Really? I know they never would have written that if I were a man. No question. But as a woman, in their eyes, I couldn’t possibly just be a professional who cares about artists and their rights because, hey, it’s the right thing to do.

So, again I’ll write here what I tweeted: stay away from Kunvay; keep your copyrights. Creative professionals don’t need help to give away their rights–it happens every day. What creative professionals need are tools to protect their rights, and people to advocate for continuing strong copyright.

 

It’s half-way through the year…time for a tune-up! Now is the time, before hitting the often slow late summer, to make sure you are doing all you can to keep your business purring.

Here are some options:

1. Send me 50 images (pdf) for my offline review then we’ll have a 30 minute phone consultation: $100.

2. Website review, with a 45-minute phone consultation: $200.

1+2 Combo: $250.

3. Online presence review: website, Facebook, Tumblr… whatever tools you are using, with a 45-minute phone consultation: $350.

1+3 Combo: $400.

Or, of course, we can work out something custom.

Book me now so you can be sure I can schedule the work. Shoot me an email to leslie@burnsautoparts.com for details or to book.

In the past two months, I have started making art again. I gave it up long ago, having had it essentially scared out of me. All the externals told me I wasn’t an artist. All the externals told me I was lacking.
I wasn’t as good as my brothers (one has his degree in painting, the other has made a career as a designer);
I wasn’t as creative as my ex (an architect who made great cartoons);
I certainly wasn’t as talented as the photographers I work with;

I wasn’t, well, fill in the blank.

But what I was, was pulled to make something more… something art.

I had always made food, inventing dishes and drinks, and made costumes for Hallowe’en, and done other Martha Stewart-y kinds of stuff, but that wasn’t art. I missed the feel of a pen or brush in my hand.

But what if I still sucked? What if that part of my brain that said I could do it, that I had skills and a way of seeing, what if it was wrong?

It doesn’t matter. Maybe what I am doing isn’t art. Maybe it’s not good. Maybe those to whom I’ve given the 4 pieces I’ve made so far are just being nice when they say they love them. It simply doesn’t matter.

What matters is that I am doing it. I stopped hiding behind the fear and am making something that I might, when a little buzzed on good bourbon, call art.  And when I’m doing it, I am incredibly happy. I love the doing! And I’m proud of the results, for my own reasons.

We all have things were terrified of. I hear it from my clients all the time. Afraid to make cold calls. Afraid to show potential clients their most personal work. Afraid of putting themselves out there. Whatever it is you are afraid of, I challenge you to face that fear and to do it. It won’t be as bad as you think and maybe you’ll even realize that you’re better at it than you ever would have guessed.

Moreover, you can’t grow as a human unless to take the risks connected to facing your fears. If you fail, so what? You can try again with what you learned in the process. But I bet you succeed. Just a feeling, but bet you do.

 

 

Just a quick note to say that the Trichordist has posted a list of recommended books and I completely agree with him (he’s David Lowery, in case you didn’t know). These are must-reads for anyone trying to make a living as a creative professional today.

Recently, I offered a special deal on web reviews. I so enjoyed doing reviews again (after some time not doing them), that I’ve decided to make some time in my busy life to do non-legal consulting more. I don’t have a lot of time available (my law practice keeps me busy!) but I can fit in a few limited consultations.

Here’s the deal–I’m offering the following packages:

1. Send me 50 images (in a pdf) for offline review, and get a 30 minute phone consultation: $100.
2. Website review, with a 45-minute phone consultation: $200.
3. Online presence review–website, Facebook, Tumblr… whatever tools you are using–with a 45-minute phone consultation: $350

These are live conversations, not some written report like some other companies offer. You’ll be able to ask me questions (non-legal–these are not legal service consultations) and we’ll have a real talk.

If you’re interested, shoot me an email and I’ll send you details.

Here is a long but important piece about Like Farms on Facebook, by Mark E. Tisdale. Like Farms are another reason to keep your work off Facebook, of course, but it’s also worth sharing this info with your non-creative professional friends on Facebook, to ask them to stop sharing content like that.

Yes, many people will ignore such a plea, but some won’t. Remember, every cultural shift starts with just one person.

Want another compelling reason to get paid for your work? How about avoiding being labeled a hobbyist by the state and thus not being able to take business deductions? Yup, that is really happening in Minnesota and it can happen to you, too.

If the IRS thinks you aren’t really a professional, if you don’t actually make money, you can end up on the dark side of a nasty audit. If your business is deemed to be a hobby and not a business, you will lose all the business deductions you made against any revenue generated and, boom, tax bill from hell.

So, every time someone asks you to use your work for free (or infringes!), ask yourself “Am I a hobbyist or a professional?”

 

This is a long read, and probably a bit complex for some of us without the technical background, but it is totally worth it. Designer Matthew Butterick’s talk on web design and the necessity to critique technology, called The Bomb in the Garden.