Okay artisans of the world…Today is the day!
Do you feel the excitement yet?
We are intro-ing a new weekly feature called…
…perhaps the best 60 seconds of your business week!
Yesterday I happened upon a great artsy blog called…you guessed it…Be Different–Act Normal!
I loved the blog immediately…Stay At Home Mom Lorie has a fresh and, to say the least, an unusual way of delivery. And…That’s what it is all about…today!
Now, let’s face it, there are hundreds of SAHM bloggers out there. Some do pretty well, others plod along…and a few really SHINE!! Lorie would be one of those shiners…with 1664 followers and a member of BlogHER Publishing Network! Lorie will celebrate her 4th Blogging Anniversary this month…no mean feat with the bizzillions of I-started-a-blog-but-lost-interest-when…abandoned blogs out there. She kept at it and by February 2008 she was posting almost every day, sometimes more than once a day about the things that interested her and she cares about…and that is what shines through.
The most successful artists understand this tiny but oh so powerful business wisdom…they know how to Act Normal while Being Very Different!!!
Rant
I have seen this scenario hundreds of times…just as you have…there is an artist who has become known and people like her work, so they try to duplicate it! It is okay to practice, but if you offer it for sale…that would be a no-no copyright infringement big time. We will talk more about copyright in a later post, but you know what I mean.
You can practice by copying another artist as much as you want…that is the way most artists have learned throughout the ages. But, if that work is ever shown, you must clearly state it is after the Artist Name and The Work. (Leonardo DaVinci’s Mona Lisa) This is acceptable. But you must not copy someone’s work and then sell it as your own…even if you change it substantially. It is just not ethically or morally right…even if you get away with it. And why would you want to be a copy cat thief?
It is about setting yourself, your art and your business apart from the norm…
Take some time this week to think about
What Sets Your Art & Business Apart?
Steve Jobs said: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Please take one minute and share what sets you apart below…it will help all of us!
Rebecca,
Thank you so much for the shout out and the kind words! I really love blogging and am so glad when other people really like my blog too!
Lorie
Rebecca,
I can only confirm what you are writing about. Finding what it truly me was a process that took about a year. It began with a professional photographer helping me to see which images are expressing my unique way of seeing. It took listening to people’s reactions to my photos and taking the most common denominators to learn what is different from others.
I am now in the process to going through my images and making new selections for my galleries that are in line with what I have learned. This is not an easy task, because I have really good images, but they do not fit the ‘new focus’. For me, the solution is to have a second web site where I can put those photos. Also, I need to find the right words to express it [and that takes often some time 🙂 ] In the end, I will make changes to my web site and hope to have everything in place in about a month. (Instead of rushing it, I prefer to take the time to do it well.)
Corinna
Corinna:
Thank you for visiting and commenting. Finding you can take some time if you have may layers to peel away. And trusting that you are just right…the one and only ever YOU! is not always easy. I love your images…that have a magical quality. Would love to work with you someday.
blessings…