Respect4Artists

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There's a new culture online where art is cheap. By using sites like Fiverr.com or Upwork.com, you can put out a bid for an artist to do something for $5. That is not ok. I've read a ton of comments from artists, trying to see how this could work, and I have heard the complaints and sadness.

Artists spend many hours, days, months, and years doing their craft, for some it's a lifetime. My Father Inlaw has been making weird sculptures since the 60's. www.richardvanburenart.com. and the thought of someone asking to pay $5 is not respectful to the artist. 

These sites offer the ability to bond with customers for $5, and then build a relationship which can lead to more business, or to upsell and add on items so that the transaction grows in value, but the comments I have read from artists describe an experience where the time and energy far out weighs the pay, and there is much concern within the dialogue that this approach devalues the art and the artist in general.

I'm guilty of participating, as I've hired artists in India and Russia to create drawings for my books, and I was careful to be respectful, to be very nice, and to try to agree on a price that worked for me and worked for them, which also included sharing the profits from book sales on Amazon. I think it's important to be respectful, and to honor the craft, and the craftsman. And, I don't think placing a bid, and getting 20 applicants, and picking one, and holding them to the assignment, without flexibility, and needing revisions and communication, I don't think that's living in reality. It just doesn't fit our culture or our economy. I have read comments from artists that are trying to take on 10 gigs at $5 to make $50 to pay their bills. That's not a good scenario.

Please don't fall into this trap, and place a bid for a graphic design of your cover for your book for $5, and then place demands on the artist, it doesn't make sense. But try to find the synergy, the win-win, the compromise that works for both you and the artist. And then give a little more, pay a bonus, be nice, be respectful, and honor that person and the talent they have developed. It's worth thousands and thousands of dollars. And perhaps you can't afford that, but they value is still there. And if you both decide on $200 for a project, please realize that you are not getting a $200 value for $200, but rather you are getting a $2,000 value or a $20,000 value for $200. 

Sometimes you just can't put a value on art, it's priceless. And it's not being created by a machine, or a bot, or a droid, or a factory. It's being made by a person, and that person may have honed their skill while surviving life through the creation of art, or surfed the challenges of love through art, or maybe not, maybe they didn't. Maybe they are just fine and good with Photoshop. But chances are, they survived something through art, and believe me, it wasn't a $5 life they survived, it was far bigger than that, and they can share their art with you, and help you to build your business, and your brand, but for a fair and reasonable price.

You Can Teach What You Know

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Every time I walk the dog, I want to learn something from my iPhone. I go to Udemy, and listen to courses, I go to youtube and listen to social media experts, I go to iTunes and listen to podcasts. Suddenly that chilling moment that I used to get sitting in my car listening to NPR public radio, where some person is telling the story of their life - this moment starting happening on my dog walks around the neighborhood. "Are you crying?", My Dog would ask. "Who me? No, um, of course not, why would I be crying while walking the dog around the neighborhood? I just got something in my eye, and I was chopping up onions for the tacos we didn't make tonight." "Be Honest", my Dog would say with this silent puppy stare. "Oh, ok dammit! You got me. I confess, I just listened to a podcast about a woman who succeeded against all odds, including an extremely challenging childhood". 

And so it would go. Goosebumps from iPhone media. media cry.com. Oh, damn, GoDaddy says it's already taken. cry.media, Ok there we go.

The point is that I am being moved emotionally by people offering content about stuff that they know. We are living in a sharesy waresy World. We share, and we share and we share.

mediashare.com damn, that’s taken. share.media that’s available for $1,000. Wow.

sharemedia.com is on GoDaddy for $78,000. Jesus.

Anyway, we are a sharing economy now. Everyone is sharing stuff they know, because it has value to other people. It moves people. It educates people, it helps people. So I’m writing this blog post to let you know that you can share what you know, and you should share what you know, and you can make money, and feel good, and gain confidence, and help other people. It’s a win-win.

When I started researching how to create a podcast, I learned the most from John Lee Dumas and Kate at www.EOFIRE.com, where the first thing John did was send me 15 free videos on, “How To Create A Podacast”. Then I wrote to him and asked him where I could watch a video on how to monetize a podcast, and he wrote, “Check out my course on Udemy.” Huh? What’s udemy.com? Then I discovered Udemy. 

Udemy is an e-learning site where people from all walks of life teach what they know. From Knitting, to Motorcycles, to Health & Fitness to programming languages like the new IOS language SWIFT, and…courses on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Photoshop, Stocks, Investing, Sales Marketing, Journalism, Cooking, Meditation, C, C++, Python, Java, Photography, French, Spanish, and much, much more. It’s basically people teaching what they know.

Then I realized I could teach.

Then I started scripting my first course, called “Enterprise Sales”, (I have a long career of designing technology solutions for large businesses).

Then I started learning a ton, because I was preparing to teach.

Please check out Udemy, and browse some courses, there are a ton of free previews there. Then, think about what you know, and what you are good at. Even if it doesn’t seem like a course, or a topic or a subject. Like knowing a lot about tennis shoes, or a lot about eBay, or a lot about Spinal Surgery. Or cooking a chicken.

You can teach what you know. And you can share what you know.
And you can make money from teaching and sharing. And why not? If you offer knowledge, and people want to pay for that knowledge, that’s a pretty good synergy. :-)

In my next Blog Post, I’ll talk more about how you create a udemy course and how you make money from it, and why it’s so different from posting an educational and informative video on youtube.

Funky Dreamer Storytime's Launch

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Hi Everyone,

I’ve launched Funky Dreamer Storytime, an original series of Podcasts for Kids on iTunes, Soundcloud, and Sticher.

I wrote the stories, recorded the voices, and layered in some of my original music soundtracks, and I’m getting very good reviews.

The statistics shows 2,000 downloads from all over the World! China, Japan, Europe, Australia, Canada, UK, New Zealand, India, Poland, Tanzania, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, Romania, Japan, Argentina, South Africa, and more…so cool!

And now, I am converting each podcast into a Kids Picture Book, coming soon to Amazon.

I’ve decided to provide a FREE Kids Picture Book to the first 100 people to show my appreciation for your support.

SIGN UP TO RECEIVE A FREE COPY OF, “DONUT THE DRAGON” for your kids, niece, nephew, or neighbor. 🙂

Thank you so much!

-Greg