The Art of Being Social
Article Transcript
“A kind heart is a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity freshen into smiles.” - Washington Irving
In the picture above is Mark Chiarello, the art director at DC Comics. He was reviewing artists’ portfolios at a convention and I turned and around and introduced myself and asked if I could draw him since I hadn’t had a customer yet. Now he has my business card and an original piece of art. I in turn have his contact information.
How many times have you gone to a grocery store or pharmacy or what have you and the clerk behind the counter was less than pleasant? Most people, when they encounter this wait for their purchase to be rung up and then quietly slide their card and grab their bag to leave. What was the result? Quotes like, “Well they were miserable” or “That one is always rude,” come to mind.
Now re-play that same scenario but instead of complacently going through the motions of the transaction; do something else. Focus on eye contact with the clerk and smile and simply ask, “How are you?” emphasizing that last word. I guarantee that nine times out of ten that the clerk will turn that frown upside down and you’ll have brightened their day. And in return I also guarantee that your smile will be that much bigger as you exit the store.
Did you care about how the clerk was? Probably not. Had you not interacted with them would you have left with your purchase smiling as you go? Again, probably not.
A smile is contagious and an easy way to get someone’s attention. It doesn’t matter if it’s a toothless, buck-toothed or snaggle-toothed smile, you’ll always get ahead if you’ve got one.
Many new caricature artists struggle to figure out how to best market themselves so as to gain more business. They make brochures, cold call individuals or businesses asking if they are looking for custom caricature work or set up a stand at a mall or even on the sidewalk. They then proceed to keep their heads down while they draw occasionally interacting with the customer completely ignoring their surroundings as onlookers watch and even make comments on their work.
1. Customer Interaction is key! (but don’t ignore everyone else).
When you’re drawing there’s
nothing like being laser focused
on the face of your subject.
You’re in the zone and you’re
drawing up a storm. But how
much do you interact with them
and the family or crowd around
you? One of the best things you
can learn is to talk while you
draw. Yes it takes some practice,
especially if you’re not used to
it. But once you get to the point
where you are a conversationalist
as well as an artist then your work
truly becomes entertaining while
you’re caricaturing.
2. Smile (with your whole face)
Unless you’re booked for a live
event where you have a captured
audience you have to promote
yourself. When you’re standing in
front of your setup and people are
passing by do you smile and nod?
Do you smile half-heartedly? Do
you look downtrodden when no
one sits themselves in your chair to
be drawn? All of these things will
not entice people to want you to
draw them. When passers by are
looking down and aren’t seeing
you, you have to get their attention.
You don’t have to yell or even raise
your voice. Placing yourself in an
obvious spot and simply saying, “Hi,
How are you today?” might just be
the edge that gets them to look up.
And if they see you with a genuine,
big, wide grin that crinkles your
eyes, that could also be the thing
that has them stop to look at your
examples.
3. Put yourself out there
If you’re looking for avenues to
sell your live work (and hopefully
get some commissions or more
gigs out of the deal) you have
to have exposure. Local craft
fairs, trade shows or even the
local PTO event that’s raising
money for a school can give you
the opportunity to get your name
out there. And what about the
folks who sell jewelry, clothing,
crafts and more? They are doing
the same thing you are, selling
their product. But the one thing
you have and they probably
won’t is a presence where your
personality has to shine to grab
folks’ attention. But keep in mind
that the more events you do and
the more you pass out business
cards and brochures the better
you’ll be at putting yourself on
peoples’ radar. Ultimately it’s
your personality that will seal the
deal, not your peripherals.
4. Introduce yourself to EVERYBODY!
I have been appearing at comic
conventions for over 18 years.
Initially, I sold cards and toys
and at one convention I had
reached over and introduced
myself simply as a courtesy
since the guy was right next
to me. I was in a horrible spot
at the show and no one was
buying anything. Since I was
bored, I started drawing. The
other vendor looked over as I
was drawing myself from my
license picture (there weren’t
any digital cameras back then).
When he saw what I was doing
he asked, “How much for that?”
I was confused since all my
prices were marked for my
product. I said, “Which item
are you interested in?” and he
replied, “That. How much to draw
me.” I was floored and ended
up drawing him and also two
pictures of his son as different
characters. After that this guy
went around to other vendors
and people at the show and
talked me up, unbeknownst to
me. I had a line out the door
for the rest of the day drawing
people at the convention. And
then he offered me well over my
product pricing to buy my entire
inventory. He then said, “You
shouldn’t be selling this stuff.
You should be drawing at
these things.”
Now when I do a show I walk around to every artist and vendor and introduce myself and tell them what I do. Now, this might get me a few commissions at a show but the bigger advantage is that a lot of these people might have contacts that I don’t know about. Case in point, one of my fellow convention artists develops websites and got a call from Anheuser-Busch looking for a caricature artist. The friend called me since I was the only caricature artist he knew and consequently I was booked for forty gigs at two hours each. Had I not introduced myself to this friend at a show he probably would never have known who I was or what I did.
5. The Moral of the story is...
Don’t be shy! You can’t be a
wallflower in this business. You
have to hustle and market and
talk to people. Always take the
opportunity to socialize. Whether
it be at the aforementioned
conventions, fairs or any other
event or business networking
group, offer a hand, a smile and
a warm greeting. I can guarantee
you will never regret it! (oh
and don’t forget your business
cards!)
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