🎨 An Artist's Customer Service Is Quality 🎨

Brightscapes: The Way To Beauty

Artwork can have a very long life.  The pig paintings in Leang Tedongnge cave in Indonesian are about 45,500 years old.  With creations that have longevity, customer service becomes an important feature.  Once it leaves your studio, you should consider the lifetime of your piece.  How is it sold, presented and displayed, delivered to customer, cleaned and maintained, provenance tracking if sold or inherited, and insurance value if destroyed.  Your customers will want your help.  

Creating high quality art is good customer service because it lowers the need to correct issues.  You may pay more in labor, materials, and shipping, but you will save time and money from complaints, returns, repairs, lost customers, and bad reviews.  A happy customer is return customer.  And a return customer is the best customer because they will tell their friends and family that they should work with you too.

Here is an Artist's Customer Service Program:

1) Customer Service Infrastructure - Look at all the ways you buyers contact you: phone, email, social media, etc.  How much time and effort is needed to fix a problem?

2) Price - For replacements, repairs, and other issues, have a policy that is fair and easy to understand.

3) Streamline your process for reliability and speed

4) Staff - Train everyone on designs and how to fix problems

5) Educate customers about designs

6) Fix problem quickly; then be kind.  A frustrated customer want results; not gracious words.  At least until the issue is resolved and then kindness is greatly appreciated.

7) Continuous Evaluation - Set goals, track important stats, analyze data regularly, verify the process and outcomes, and improve the process. 

Want to meet new friends and have fun?

COME TO THE allFREEDOM SUMMER PARTY AT:

https://www.facebook.com/events/7494125563997105

Mike Kraus was born on the industrial shoreline of Muskegon, Michigan. After earning his Fine Arts Degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he attended Grand Valley State University for his graduate degree. From there, he gained varied experiences from the Chicago Architecture Center, Art Institute of Chicago, Hauenstein Center For Presidential Studies, Lollypop Farm Humane Society, and the Lurie Children's Foundation. And every place he worked, he had his sketchbook with him and found ways to be actively creative. In 2014, Kraus became a full-time artist by establishing Mike Kraus Art. Since then, he has sold thousands of paintings that are displayed in nearly every state and dozens of countries. Currently, Kraus lives in Rochester, New York with his beautiful wife and goofy dog.

For more information or custom order, please visit:

Store: http://MikeKrausArt.etsy.com

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/BrightscapesArt/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MikeKrausArt

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/MikeKraus/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikekrausart

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mkraus

Where To Start a Creative Art Business

Brightscapes: The Way To Beauty

I didn't know how to start an art business.  Or even where to begin.  At my "real jobs," I did have experience with creating and implementing programs.  So, I began with a very simple business plan that was only a few pages long.  Almost every assumption, plan and idea didn't end up working except for one tiny detail.  It said, "Create as much as possible."

Seems obvious, right?  But, this is where I see many of my colleagues fail.  Why do we need to keep making new pieces?  Because we can only sell what is available to purchase.  And when I worked a very brief stint at a very successful retailer, I learned they only sell 10% of their inventory.  This means, if you want to earn $10,000, you should plan to have $100,000 worth of art to sell.  Whis means we need to know how many pieces we can make in a week, month, and year.  This is where business begins.

It can seem daunting, but we all have to start somewhere.  My business started with $50 of supplies, 10 paintings, and a very inaccurate business plan.  It was a humble start full of experimentation, trial-and-error, mistakes, surprise victories, and so much more.  I was constantly learning.  I'm still learning.  But, the biggest lesson for me is still "create as much as possible."

🌞😎🌳 BRING SPRING ART FESTIVAL 🌳😎🌞

Who's ready for Spring?  We can open our windows and redecorate our homes.  And enjoy the happiness of the warm sun

https://www.facebook.com/events/1060097501884160

ARTS o’ MAGAZINE:

💣 Does It Matter? 💣:

https://medium.com/arts-o-magazine/does-it-matter-71218e31b858?sk=69bc8bb5e6e85776700c19bcb13bf552

Mike Kraus was born on the industrial shoreline of Muskegon, Michigan. After earning his Fine Arts Degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he attended Grand Valley State University for his graduate degree. From there, he gained varied experiences from the Chicago Architecture Center, Art Institute of Chicago, Hauenstein Center For Presidential Studies, Lollypop Farm Humane Society, and the Lurie Children's Foundation. And every place he worked, he had his sketchbook with him and found ways to be actively creative. In 2014, Kraus became a full-time artist by establishing Mike Kraus Art. Since then, he has sold thousands of paintings that are displayed in nearly every state and dozens of countries. Currently, Kraus lives in Rochester, New York with his beautiful wife and goofy dog.

For more information or custom order, please visit:

Store: http://MikeKrausArt.etsy.com

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/BrightscapesArt/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MikeKrausArt

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/MikeKraus/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikekrausart

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mkraus

The Diva Squirrel

Brightscapes: The Way To Beauty

The Diva Squirrel

5" x 7" (12.7 cm x 17.8 cm) in a frame

acrylic paint of canvas board

201804058

© copyright Mike Kraus

For more information, please visit: please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/186507940/custom-commission-original-art-by-mike

Suzan isn't afraid of being "different." As a model, she regularly shops at jewelry stores for accessories. One day, she was inspired to create a piece she saw, but with a little more pizzaz. Suzan was successful at adding that pizzaz and started to make several more pieces. Friends, family, and co-workers would compliment the jewelry, which lead to sales when they discovered they were her own creations. 

Why Diva Squirrel Treasures? "Diva" is Suzan's modeling persona (per say). "Squirrel" is her nickname because of her short attention span. And "Treasures" are all her jewelry. "It is uniquely silly, but even my oldest son said he remembered in because it was different.

See Diva Squirrel Treasures eclectic jewelry at: 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/DivaSquirrelTreasure

Michael Kraus was born on the industrial shoreline of Muskegon, Michigan. After earning his Fine Arts Degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he attended Grand Valley State University for his graduate degree. From there, he gained varied experiences from the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Art Institute of Chicago, Hauenstein Center For Presidential Studies, Lollypop Farm Humane Society, and the Children's Memorial Foundation. And every place he worked, he had his sketchbook with him and found ways to be actively creative. In 2014, Kraus became a full-time artist by establishing Mike Kraus Art. Since then, he has sold hundreds of paintings that are displayed in nearly every state and dozens of countries. Currently, Kraus lives in Rochester, New York with his beautiful wife and goofy dog.

For more information or custom order, please visit:

Store: MikeKrausArt.etsy.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MikeKrausArt

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/MikeKraus/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikekrausart

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mkraus

Twitter: http://twitter.com/MikeKrausBlog

Google+: http://plus.google.com/111168390406803022323/posts

Bausch + Lomb Rotating Art Program

Bausch + Lomb's (http://www.bausch.com) Rochester Optics Center (1400 N Goodman Street Rochester NY 14607) is hosting my work as part of their Rotating Art Program.  This is a series of colorful landscapes both real and imagined that will be on display from now until March 2018.

Michael Kraus was born on the industrial shoreline of Muskegon, Michigan. After earning his Fine Arts Degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he attended Grand Valley State University for his graduate degree. From there, he gained varied experiences from the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Art Institute of Chicago, Hauenstein Center For Presidential Studies, Lollypop Farm Humane Society, and the Children's Memorial Foundation. And every place he worked, he had his sketchbook with him and found ways to be actively creative. In 2014, Kraus became a full-time artist by establishing Mike Kraus Art. Since then, he has sold hundreds of paintings that are displayed in nearly every state and dozens of countries. Currently, Kraus lives in Rochester, New York with his beautiful wife and goofy dog.

For more information or custom order, please visit:

Store: MikeKrausArt.etsy.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MikeKrausArt

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/MikeKraus/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikekrausart

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mkraus

Twitter: http://twitter.com/MikeKrausBlog

Google+: http://plus.google.com/111168390406803022323/posts

Our First Anniversary With Bubby...

I got Megan a dog for our first anniversary!!!!  Not really.  I was going to Megan's theater party and almost hit him with my car.  In honor of the show she was in, Company, we named him after the main character Bobby.  His real name was Joyous and had quite an exciting day with us.



We decided to head to Turning Point Park in Rochester.  It's a pretty cool park and wish we could have spent more time there.  But, we had to return Bubby Joyous to his real home, which he was very happy to get to...



Megan and Bubby



At the Genesee River



More Megan and Bubby



a boat



Our Official First Anniversary Photo.  They are available for sale along with those of Prince Harry and Kate...


Talking about weddings, CONGRATS TO THE BRAMBLEWOODS!  Looks like it was a fun time in Michigan at Katie and Andrew's wedding.  Wish we could have been there to share!



What's in these boxes?  Bricks!  AND I'M SO EXCITED I AM GETTING TO INSTALL THEM TOMORROW!!!  We've had so many issues with weather and all that I thought that they'd never get in the ground.  Thanks to Zaretsky Landscaping, I'll have many, many happy donors soon!  YEAH!!!!!!!!!

She Has To Love Me. It's In the Contract

Photo by Jon Purington & Erin Schmidtmann


Final weekend to see Pittsford Musical's Company.  There's a show tonight (in a few minutes actually, so hurry), a matinee tomorrrow and the closing show.  Bobby...
Bobby...  Bobby baby...  Bobby bubbi...  Robby...  Good stuff!  http://pittsfordmusicals.org/


Framing kids art at work.  Good to see my art degree is really paying off!



Linear Park in Penfield.  Just taking a little walk on one of the few nice days we've had lately.



Mustache Pony.  Classic


  
Megan scaring off the ducks in the Irondequoit Creek



Twala helping me with donor relations at work.


That's about it for now.  Again, if you need tickets to Megan's show, go to:


www.pittsfordmusicals.org/tickets.cfm

Gots me some errands to run!

Stephen Sondheim's "Company" Starts Tonight!

Megan's in a play by Pittsford Musicals this weekend and next.  For more information, go to: http://www.pittsfordmusicals.org/ or get tickets at: http://www.pittsfordmusicals.org/tickets.cfm

GREAT CAKES OF FIRE!

It was niece Tachel's birthday and I'm surprised her ice cream cake didn't melt with that rocket in it!



Bella is the new cat in the office.  She's 3 years old, good with other dogs, cats, and ferrets.  She was turned in because her owner passed away.  She purrs are everything and anything.  Very well behaved and good at hiding in an office with no hiding spaces.



Sondheim's Company starring Megan Bell will be performing for the next couple of weekends by Pittsford Musicals.  It's at the Caukins Road Middle School in Pittsford, NY and if you want times, tickets, or other information, go to: http://www.pittsfordmusicals.org/