The below article is a guest post from blogger Cory Huff, who produces TheAbundantArtist.com where artists can learn better techniques to sell their artwork online.

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. 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.

Hill is not the only person to draw this type of conclusion. We all know that we need other people to help us. That’s why we hire specialists in different fields. Hill, however, gave the guidance that it is necessary for people who desire success to cultivate associations with people who can help them.

Artist Salons

In 17th century France artists and academics began a system of academies and salons, holding each other accountable, and generating positive energy aimed at raising the level of success for each artist involved. These artists became friends, confidants, and business partners with each other. While outsiders criticized the salons, those who were part of the salons enjoyed recognition and financial success.

There’s nothing all that complicated about getting a group of friends together to discuss art. You probably do that all the time in your immediate circles. There is a big difference, however, between having a group that discusses art and having a group of people together who are focused on helping each other succeed.

Band Together for Success

It is an acknowledged principle that those who succeed do so with the help of those around them. Successful business professionals purposefully seek out mastermind groups. I am a member of a mastermind group that consists of people from several different industries. We meet together to discuss obstacles that hold us back from succeeding and to share resources & ideas. Artists can and should be doing the same thing.

I hear so many artists talk about how they don’t know anything about being in business and that’s perfectly fair. Having a mastermind group, or a salon, is a way of making up for some of your weaknesses in business. I have found that once you get a group of artists together and start talking business, they often find that together they have a lot more knowledge of how to be in business than they give themselves credit for.

How to Organize

Many art critics and art coaches advise having a group of like minded painters together. There is certainly value in having other painters around to critique your work, but what about artists from other disciplines? A great deal of brilliance comes from getting artists of different disciplines together.

Having an agenda is a good idea. Artists together have a tendency to chat about topics not related to business. An agenda that is distributed beforehand complete with what you’ll talk about, when the meeting will start, whether there will be food, and how long you’ll spend on each topic is a good idea.

Who you organize a salon with is important. Don’t go for variety just for variety’s sake. You should find other artists who you are inspired by, who are focused on their business, and who you trust to do things well.

What to Talk About

Some art salons simply talk about art. That’s all well and good, but you need to focus on your business if you want to be a successful artist. If you want to talk about the finer points of Existentialism, put that at the end of the agenda. Good topics for your art marketing salons include: incorporating as a business, building Web sites, selling at art fairs, pricing models, taxes, health insurance, and many other topics.

Even if you can’t find a few artists in your area that you can band together with to form a mastermind or artist salon, you should be able to find at least one person with whom you can brainstorm. The idea is that we don’t work alone.

I’m interested in hearing from Imagekind users – are any of you part of an artist salon or mastermind group?

Cory Huff is an actor, husband, and producer of TheAbundantArtist.com, a site dedicated to teaching artists how to sell their work online. He firmly believes the starving artist is a myth that must be dispelled. He is available for individual consultation on Internet marketing and business planning for artists.

The opportunity to make a living from their artwork is a dream come true for most artists. A dream Imagekind continues to make a possibility for thousands of artists on the site and around the world. That is why it is a natural fit to team up with Ariane Goodwin Ed.D, founder, organizer and host of the third annual smARTist Telesummit and provide this resource for artists.

This is truly an excellent event for artists of all levels to join and learn how they can take their art career to the next level.

Eileen Bettelheim, marketing director of Imagekind.com says, “Imagekind is excited to team up with smARTist for their third annual Telesummit. The Telesummit presents a great opportunity for artists to take their art careers to the next level. This is what Imagekind is all about – helping artists sell their work online.”

By joining the smARTist Telesummit, artists will learn very helpful and very practical techniques on how to sell their artwork. With a panel of eleven experts, you can be sure every artist will walk away with a head full of knowledge on how to advance their art career.

You can find more information about this joint venture that is sure to benefit all artists, by reading the official press release.

Now it’s easier than ever for SmugMug’s Consumer and Professional Photographers to have their photos printed and framed with the highest quality options out there.

You can read the full online press release here.

This exciting partnership will allow SmugMug’s community to easily print and frame their work, choosing from the widest variety of papers, canvases and framing options available online. We are truly excited and absolutely honored to have been selected to offer our print and framing services to the SmugMug community.

So, why’d they choose us?

Well, as Chris MacAskill, SmugMug’s co-founder said, “Our mantra is ‘Your Photos Look Better Here’, so we had to find a partner whose workmanship and service was unrivaled.” After a long period of testing and comparisons, Imagekind’s quality, selection, and service swept us away.”

We know their community demands the best; and we’re happy to provide it!

If you are a photographer on SmugMug, visit smugmug.imagekind.com and login with your account to discover how you can have Imagekind print and frame your photos on SmugMug.

Read the full press release here: SmugMug and Imagekind Announce Partnership

CafePress sent over some sweet gifts today as a way to welcome us to the team. They are cool boxes with a tile insert including both our logos.

We are all really excited to join forces with CafePress and look forward to the all the future opportunities to leverage the strengths and resources of both companies as we continue to grow.

Thanks CP!

- Nate

Note: this in no way represents the entire Imagekind team.

Pat Graham, the official photographer for Modest Mouse, recently signed up with Imagekind to start selling his photographs of the band on the site. Being a Modest Mouse fan myself and thinking this is a great way to utilize Imagekind to help sell your artwork, I got in touch with Pat to give us some insight into what he does. Pat was cool enough to take some time out of the current Modest Mouse tour and answer some questions about the tour and his photography.

You can purchase exclusive limited edition photos from the Modest Mouse concerts from his collection, Limited Editions from Last Nights Gig.

Got a question for Pat yourself?

- Nate

So, you’re the official photographer for Modest Mouse. How did you get hooked up in that role?

I have been very close with Isaac and Modest Mouse since the band started. Isaac and I were roommates in Arlington/DC area before Modest Mouse was around. We hit it off with our love for music, and photography. Isaac started Modest Mouse and then asked me to go along on the first tour as a roadie/driver/merch guy and photographer.

Isaac, Eric, Jeremiah and I hit the road in April of 1997. After thousands of miles covered and thousands of photos taken, the band has grown in popularity and creativity.

Now, I have the privilege of being the bands only photographer and web blogger.

You are currently just finishing up the tour with Modest Mouse. What, in your opinion, was the coolest show? What was your favorite venue?

I photograph Modest Mouse every night. All the shows have a different element. The band takes around 2 hours a night just to decide on the set list!

The show that really stands out the most this tour would be the one in Council Bluffs Iowa. A storm was headed towards the outdoor venue so we had to wait around to get the all clear.

We were waiting on stage and talking with the fans, and all of sudden the sky started to heave down ice cube sized hail stones…followed by buckets of rain. The fans stuck it out though.

Issac, Joe, and Jeremiah got some buckets for drums and an acoustic guitar then headed out into the center of the crowd and downpour to play a song. The rain stopped after a percussion only jam and MM kept playing while lightning was flashing in the sky. The fans, band, and Mother Nature were all amazing that night.

My favorite venue this tour would have to be either Red Rocks or the Gorge.

What is your favorite photo from your current collection of the Modest Mouse tour?

As for the live stuff, my favorite is probably the shot of Isaac in Brooklyn with his guitar spinning at him. This was a great show; Modest Mouse went on at 2:30 am. This shot was in the second song. The hours of this show are truly Isaacs’s peak hours. The band was on it from the first note.

You have been photographing Modest Mouse since the beginning right? What’s it been like to progress with them?

Yeah, I’ve been photographing them since 1996. The settings and some people are a little different but the whole attitude and way things are done remain pretty much the same. Things in general are more positive overall.

Your work has a very intimate feel. When lining up a shot, what do you try and focus on and what do you hope to convey through your photographs?

I try to be as subtle as possible. I don’t want myself or the camera to change the way things are unfolding.

I try and focus on eyes or light, hopefully conveying a sense of space and time of the event.

What’s your favorite location or angle to shoot from – the crowd’s POV, the band’s, both? How do you determine which one throughout the show?

All spots, really. I go where I can fit without getting in the way, and where the light looks good. Lately I have been crawling around on stage behind Isaac and Johnny’s amps, wearing earplugs of course.

Do you get a chance to just enjoy the show much or are you constantly looking for the next shot?

I get enjoyment from looking for that shot and listening to what’s happening. It’s a full on visual sound experience.

There must be thousands of great opportunities throughout the course of a concert. How much do you shoot versus waiting for a great shot? What type of signs do you look for before capturing such fantastic shots?

It’s all about patience and timing things with what Steven the lighting guy does…and of course the actions of what the band and crowd do.

The signs are in the crowd, band members’ faces, and certain songs tend to bring out a lot in both band and crowd.

Have you worked with any other bands?

Yes I work with a lot of bands; I have been shooting musicians for almost 20 years. I have a book of photos called Silent Pictures that just came out last year on Akashic Books. Check out the Pat Graham Imagekind galleries as well as my web site www.patgraham.org.

Before I met Isaac in Arlington/Washington DC at the time I was photographing bands like Bikini Kill, Fugazi, etc.

Bands I have toured with include: Tortoise, The Sea and Cake, Make Up, June of 44, Shins, and more.

What did you like the most/least about being on tour? Any particularly favorite/bad experiences?

I like being able to live with my camera and document everything. Also be able to spend time with close friends who I don’t get to see much otherwise.

This tour we have had a lot of great times. Mostly on the bus; The Brockies film festival, human bowling, walking through the Florida woods at night, just being with friends.

I hate being away from my family, that’s very hard. Also trying to communicate with home can be difficult which gets frustrating…looking for a good internet connection, etc. and catching up with time zones.

Anything else you are currently working on or have planned in the near future we can let your fans know about? What should we be looking out for?

Definitely check out my current book Silent Pictures, it covers a lot of my work going all the way back to that first Modest Mouse tour and farther.

I also have done a limited edition photo poster with Modest Mouse and Raen optics.

Another book is in the talk about stage and my photos can also be seen in the Raen optics Through the Eyes Of… series.

This year looks to be busy with various commercial projects coming together with my personal work. I have a mailing list on patgraham.org that will keep people up to date on my whereabouts and the projects.

Cheers,

Pat