Don’t we look happy? This is me (the bald guy) and four of my classmates from theater school at Central Park in NYC in 2013. After the World Domination Summit that Summer, I was jazzed with the idea of growing TAA into something bigger than just my little blog. I want to help ALL the Artists of the world understand that it’s possible to support yourself while making art. I sent out a letter to just the subscribers of TAA’s newsletter. In that letter, I asked artists to take a short survey on what their biggest needs are, and to talk a little about how they could help spread the notion that the Starving Artist is a myth. I got lots of responses. It was overwhelming, but eventually I sorted through all of them, and started putting a plan into place, which I want to tell you about here.
Connection
After going through the responses last week, however, there is on thing that is abundantly (heh) clear: artists crave connection. Nearly every single response at least mentioned the desire to connect with other artists, for various reasons:
- to simply make a human connection outside of the lonely studio
- to be enabled to believe that they can be “truly valued for their creativity, and help others do the same”
- to find other artists to collaborate with artistically and in business
- to receive help from artists who are further along in their careers
- to help other artists learn to do more
Powerful desires. They get right to the heart of the matter, don’t they? Connecting with other human beings is powerful. It’s how we grow. We need outside perspective.
We Need People for Success
In 1937 Napoleon Hill published the book Think and Grow Rich. In the book Hill outlines 13 principles that make people successful. He created these principles after spending 20 years studying the most wealthy people of his time. One of my favorite principles is the idea of the Master Mind (sometimes called accountability groups, salons, or other names). Hill makes a comparison between the human brain and a battery. The more cells a battery has, the better it works. Also, the more batteries you have working together the better they work. The most successful people that Hill studied included Henry Ford, the Rockefellers, Thomas Edison and others. These business geniuses recognized the need to gather smart people around them. There’s a long tradition of successful people coming together to discuss ideas and help each other. Some art salons (which are just variations of the mastermind idea) date back to 16th century Italy. My own experience tells me that great accountability groups go something like this:
- Meet one to two times per month, usually early in the morning before things get crazy
- Depending on group size, the meeting is 1-2 hours long
- Each person in the group gets a few minutes to talk about 1 – 2 current challenges in a focused way
- The group takes 10 – 15 minutes to come up with solutions to the problem
- Rinse and repeat for each person in the group
- An email list or private forum for between-meeting conversations
Here’s the other (unfortunate) reality: most mastermind groups don’t work unless you’re paying for them. I first heard that several years ago when I attended my first big marketing conference with Dave Dee. I didn’t believe him. Since then, my experience has shown me 4/5 of the mastermind groups I’ve been a part of fell apart in less than six months. People who were a part of it didn’t take it (or their business) seriously. You might be great friends with the people in your accountability group, but if all you do is sit around and laugh and chat, you’re missing out on an opportunity to grow professionally. Which brings me back to my original point in writing this post…
Hi Cory,
Thanks to my step dad for putting Napoleon Hill in my hands, I can understand the importance of a Mastermind and having a Definite Chief Aim. I agree with having artist mastermind groups and Im so happy you’re taking this on! Im unable to join at this time (financial reasons) but will stay in the loop and I hope to join a future group. Thanks again for all you’re doing!
Hi Cory – sounds like a great idea, although there are a ton of artist forums around – my greatest issue with all of them is that I live in Australia, travel alot, and the majority of masterclass ‘anythings’ occur at 0400 in the morning for me….as an ex-paramedic, I’m really not into sustaining my insomnia for an hour’s discussion that generally tends to try to talk one into shelling out more money for a full time course……
PS. – love your emails and get alot of thought provoking ideas out of them, thank you, from a still starving artist.
“I’m really not into sustaining my insomnia for an hour’s discussion that generally tends to try to talk one into shelling out more money for a full time course……”
yuck. I would never do that.
No, the form of the group would be along the lines of what I outlined in the post. No pitching. No sales.
Understood on the 4 AM thing. I know a number of artists who live down under, and I’m thinking if enough were interested, I’d do something late evening my time, which would be mid-day your time.
OK, thanks for your amazingly rapid response, please keep me in the loop, should something rise to the surface. Have a great sunshiney day!
Sandi
I’ve participated in a MM group in the past and found it very helpful. However, the cost you are proposing is prohibitive for me. I have a group of art buds who meet once a week for coffee. We use that time to catch up on everyone’s career, ideas, announcements of upcoming events/openings, and impromptu crits and new artist intros. We also discuss topics in art business. We have regulars who come weekly and those who drop in from time to time as their schedule allows. It’s free and it works. Your article inspires me to “take it to the next level” for the group in making more of a point to talk about goals and objectives with accountability. Thanks.
Thanks for the feedback Diane. Having peer groups is super important. The difference is having an experienced MM group leader pushing the group forward. Friend groups often dissolve into play groups rather than a true mastermind. Best of luck to you!
Cory, I have to agree a bit on your post. I prefer one-on-one tho. The meetings are quicker and can be once a week to keep creative/production moving. They can also be longer with more depth for both parties if need be.
I did this successfully (virtual) for a project I had. Now that a have another on my heels it is just about impossible to find an artist who is committed enough to do this.
Mind you, artist complaining about motivation, blocks, lack of body of work, are ramped. I am motivated enough to do the work on my own and will have to, but it doesn’t have to be as solitary if artist would step up and stop complaining.
The benefits are so great. Feedback, accountability, production, support. But you’re right, it cost them nothing so it’s overtaken by other things. And let’s face it, complaining is easier than working.
I have a huge project to start, with a timeline, so I myself need to stop my rant and hop to it. Good luck to all!