May 29, 2012
Are you one of those artists that require inspiration to come in and give you ideas or are you able to keep things moving? Being an illustrator the luxury isn’t there of waiting for the ideas to come. Clients want their project completed in a timely manner. One way to keep sharp is inbetween client projects always have your own projects on the go. This will keep you sharp and give you ideas all the time. I write articles everyday and have to come up with illustration ideas all the time. I keep ideas on my phone in the notes section and in my sketchbooks. Any good title or subject you come across, write it down, it may come in handy later.
Waiting to be Inspired
Most of us spend a day like this.
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is an illustrator and cartoonist from Ontario Canada. He also helps artists through his consulting business. For more information visit his website at www.bruceoutridgeproductions.com or www.outridge.ca
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Posted by Bruce
May 22, 2012
Have you ever tried to explain your business to someone and the words just wouldn’t come out properly? I tell many of the youth groups I talk to when asked about networking to stop trying so hard. Relax and just tell people what you do. Many times not telling them as much as they need to know will cause them to be more curious and ask more questions. I find elevator pitches don’t work very well anyway. People in elevators usually look at the walls, could you imagine if someone got in and just started going on about their business for the whole ride? The wrong message may come out like this poor guy in the cartoon.
Have a great day,
Bruce
The Elevator Pitch Gone Wrong
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is an illustrator and business consultant. For more information visit his websites at www.bruceoutridgeproductions.com and www.outridge.ca
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Posted by Bruce
May 15, 2012
I have a regular routine every morning that I find helps me start my day in a positive way and gets the juices flowing. All the experts tell us that exercising early in the morning is the best way to make you feel better during the day and keep our exercise program the most faithful. I find that to be true so it got me to thinking the other day as I was on my walk, why do people go to the gym?
The reason I was thinking this is that I often enjoy my walk because it helps me clear my mind, not necessarily my body. As a cartoonist and entrepreneur my mind is what is worth more to me as that is where the ideas come from, the motivation to pursue other avenues in my business, and the refining of the processes in my business. So my motivation to get out the door each morning isn’t necessarily to get healthier, but to clear my mind and fill it with the next best thing.
The reason I bring this up is that I see many people miss the mark with their exercise programs. They go to the gym because they are told they should, or they go to the gym to lose some weight. All fine goals but many people miss the fact that the mental side is really what makes everything work. Take this example, when most people are feeling low what do they do, they eat! So the best way to combat that is to keep your motivation up by keeping your mind in a good space. I notice the mornings that I have early meetings and can’t get my walk in that I feel very different from the other days when I walk in the morning. Try it for yourself, build it in to your daily routine. You may find it sparks some new ideas for your business or career. If not you can always go to the gym.
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is a cartoonist, consultant, and entrepreneur from Southern Ontario Canada. More information can be found on his websites at www.bruceoutridge.com and www.bruceoutridgeproductions.com
If that doesn’t work you can always go back to the gym with this workout.
The Workout by Bruce Outridge
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Posted by Bruce
May 8, 2012
Have you ever wondered how you can create products and services for your business? Many people look around to see what others are doing, but forget to look inside to what they have experienced. Sometimes taking a day to sit and recall memories of the past may be the best way to come out with new ideas to expand your business. Whether the experiences were good or bad can they can be designed to help someone else.
Let’s say you are an artist and you had a rough childhood and came out of it in a positive way. You may do a series on those experiences in a tasteful way that can be sold or used to help people going through those types of experiences today. When producing your art don’t think so much in terms of immediate return but the long term. If your art can help people it will be a great thing and the money will eventually follow.
I’ve done this with my Pride Junkie Comic Series for kids. The comic series works on the values of pride, respect, integrity, dignity, and excellence which are values I grew up with and I feel has made me successful today. Each story of the comic book has one of those values in it. You can check out the series at www.pridejunkie.ca . So take a hard look inside to see where your experiences have taken you, you may find the next great ideas was right under your nose.
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is an author, artist, consultant, and speaker. For more information on Bruce and his work visit his websites at www.bruceoutridgeproductions.com and www.outridge.ca
Bruce with the Pride Junkie Series
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Posted by Bruce
May 1, 2012
Have you ever wondered why some people are successful and others aren’t? For artists this has been an old caption from years ago that all artists are starving artists and we all live in a bubble. I know it’s not true but many artists seem to enjoy going down that path. Anyone who knows me knows I enjoy food so starving doesn’t even come into the equation. I have written about this before so you probably wonder why I bring it up again.
In our local newspaper the other day was a story about a sports cartoonist that was stating he was having trouble making ends meet because the tabloids and papers were not commissioning sports cartoonists for article illustration. This artist was being interviewed by the paper and went on about the old days of cartooning, and how cartoons were better than photographs for sports and so on. All the same arguments most artists had when the internet came into play, or when digital painting and Photoshop became the norm. I felt for this guy, but in the back of my mind I was thinking he was a little late in seeing where illustration was going. Even though he mentioned that his son was making him a website to help get some work he had a wait and see attitude and was hoping that editors would come to their senses and see the value of the cartoons for publications. The reason this story got my attention was the fact he was a cartoonist, but the paper was a double page layout and the story on the opposite side really created a contrast.
On the other side of the page was a story about another artist. This artist was making a successful career out of painting food. His pictures were extremely detailed paintings of food such as a block of cheese, or a juicy steak. I believe he was selling these items to restaurants, galleries, and other places associated with food. He would paint the real food piece on a large canvas before it melted or deteriorated exactly how it was, he could have taken a photograph.
Both artists had work shown in the article and both were very good although different markets. Both artists focused on one type of subject matter so you have to wonder why one is failing and one is successful. The only difference was that the cartoonist was in his mid-fifties and the food painter in his thirties. This to me is a classic case of not keeping up with the times. As artists or businesses you always need to be looking out for new markets, change in industry and other factors affecting your craft. That cartoonist should have had a website ten years ago, maybe he could be developing books of his cartoons to sell, or, sold stock cartoons from his website. Maybe he should have moved away from sports and into another subject matter opening up different opportunities. Having a wait and see attitude is a classic way of going broke. It is hard enough succeeding in business never mind letting outside forces dictate your outcome. I hope artists wake up one day and get out of the way of their own success. Start looking at your art and see what types of products or other opportunities are available to you, your success depends on it.
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is a cartoonist, illustrator, and business consultant form Canada. More information can be found on his website at www.bruceoutridgeproductions.com or www.outridge.ca
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Posted by Bruce
April 24, 2012
Always try to get testimonials from your clients. If you’re wondering how to do that there are many ideas on the internet. If all else fails you can always try this technique.
Getting Testimonials
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Posted by Bruce
April 17, 2012
I’m a fan of many of the business shows on television. It started with the Celebrity Apprentice which I have now stopped watching and have moved on to others such as Dragon’s Den, Shark Tank, Your Business, and the like. As an entrepreneur and business owner I find it very informative and entertaining to see what people invest in and what they feel will make a business successful or fail. In a recent episode of Dragon’s Den they were showing some insights from past shows, background footage on deals being signed and so forth. At one point two or three of the Dragon’s had invested in a company of young entrepreneurs from college. They were completing the due diligence portion and the Dragon’s had just wrote a cheque for $200,000 as the financial investment. As the presentation moved along and the deal seemed to be sealed with the cheque on the table the business instructor who was assisting the entrepreneurs asked the Dragon’s which one of them had a business degree? This shocked the Dragons that they had even been asked and as the instructor continued to insult the Dragon’s the cheque was torn up in front of the entrepreneurs and the deal was off. In my mind who cares if they have a business degree, they’re millionaires!
As someone who didn’t do very well in my school years I have always been intimidated by someone with many degrees and solid book smarts. I used to think I was an under achiever because I just didn’t get it. I found school boring and a big waste of time for the most part. Now I am not saying I think education isn’t important as I love learning today. Intimidation played a big part in my life and it wasn’t until I got into business did the playing field become level. Maybe it is a mix of age and maturity that has helped, but I know many famous and non famous entrepreneurs that have never made it past high school and are very successful. Many times now I meet with people that are supposed to have all the knowledge in the world and they can’t handle basic decisions. I no longer feel intimidated by other people, I have learned to admire the ones that have worked hard and succeeded when all the odds are against them. When I speak in classes with young entrepreneurs their eyes light up when I tell them of my failures in the past. They especially like the part where I was given a 59% in illustration in high school, yet I own an illustration and design company today. In my mind the book smarts just prepares you for the experience. Maybe we put too much focus on the degree and not enough on the passion? Either way book smarts or street smarts, the choice is yours.
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is an illustrator, cartoonist, and business consultant. He helps many entrepreneurs set up successful businesses. Form more information visit his websites at www.bruceoutridgeproductions.com and www.outridge.ca
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Posted by Bruce
April 10, 2012
The potential client phones for a rate, “How much are your services they ask?” “One hundred dollars,” I reply. “Is that your lowest price, do you have to charge taxes?” “That is my regular price and yes I have to charge taxes.” This is a regular occurrence when people phone in for my services as an artist, or better yet is the person who wants to pay cash and not pay the tax. How about the client who says, “I don’t need a receipt if you don’t, will that save some money?” In a recent article in our local paper the other day a Columnist was talking about the same thing but from a home contractor point of view. I have a big problem with people asking me to hide the taxes and play ball under the table. Now don’t get me wrong I am no more in love with the Government than any of you are and I too feel we are taxed to death however, I benefit as many other citizens do from free health care, opportunity to go to school, and other programs that many people in other countries do not have available to them. In the end what does it say about your brand if you are willing to hide taxes and play under the table with your business. You are causing yourself more grief in paying your bills. If you hide the money, you can’t claim it, if you can’t claim it, how do you show you made any money, if you didn’t make any money how do you pay your bills? Those are questions the auditors will ask. In the article the Columnist was talking about how you should be prepared to be cheated if you are willing to hire someone who cheats and I agree. If I am willing to give you a deal, what am I doing in the background that you can’t see? This is a major problem with many small vendors in the country. You don’t walk into Walmart and tell them you don’t feel like paying tax today so you should get a deal, it doesn’t work like that. So how can you stand behind your brand and be taken seriously?
First don’t give any deals to save taxes. My line to people is that I am registered to collect taxes and have to do so, I also have to pay my bills and won’t fool with the books of my company. Be firm with your pricing, now I give returning clients and certain service groups I belong to a discount for buying with me, but I am still charging taxes. Be ethical in your business, give a quality product or service and stand behind it. Finally the biggest thing is consistency, be consistent in your pricing and services. Remember if someone is cheating the system they are cheating all of us. Ask them if they don’t pay the tax if they are willing to give up their health care visit to the doctor next time, they may have a change of tune.
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is an author, artist, consultant, and speaker. His business Bruce Outridge Productions offers custom illustration and design services . For more information visit his websites at www.bruceoutridgeproductions.com or www.outridge.ca
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Posted by Bruce
April 3, 2012
Many entrepreneurs have the same problem, they didn’t plan to expand so fast in their business. When people start businesses especially full time businesses they are grabbing at any work that comes along. There is nothing wrong with that as we all have to eat. Part of the process of starting a business is finding your sweet spot and finding what works for you. Even when you have a plan for your products and services you can find them getting out of hand due to the many demands on running a business. Things get out of control and before you know it you have expanded too far. I myself did the same thing by starting two businesses at the same time. It almost killed me and the business caused growth to be slower than it should have been. So how do you avoid having the same problem happen to you? Planning is the answer to that.
Having a solid business plan is the first step to avoiding the expansion trap. Now before I get all kinds of weird comments I am not saying that expansion is bad, it is inevitable for success, but it must be done in a controlled manner. This applies to expanding products, services, area, or business model. Make sure you have a solid foundation before moving into other areas. Lets say you are like me and decide to start another business in true entrepreneurial spirit. Make sure your first business is reaching the goals you set out for it in your business plan, figure how you will keep it going while your attention is focused on the new business. Realize that your investment will need to be increased as the new venture will need many of the things the old one did such as marketing materials, promotion time, travel resources and so on. Depending on how you set them up you may even need its own accounting system so make sure you have a good plan in mind before expanding too soon.
If you have expanded too soon then don’t worry, don’t throw out the baby with the bath water, take a deep breath and relax. If you’ve gone too far the first thing is to take a good hard look at each business and take away any products or services that aren’t working and get rid of them. Next look at what is working and focus on those items. Look at your promotional plan and focus websites, marketing materials and other essential items. If you haven’t created that plan yet then now is the time, know where your going.
Having a solid plan is the key, reviewing it is what unlocks the door, the choice is yours!
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is an artist, author, and business consultant. More information can be found on his websites www.bruceoutridgeproductions.com, or www.outridge.ca
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Posted by Bruce
March 27, 2012
Many people stop branding when they feel they may be offending someone. The truth is that no one will brand your company for you. There are ways to talk with people without going overboard. When the opportunity arises – Brand!
How far are you willing to go to brand your company?
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Posted by Bruce
