Surtex is over. Many people walked the aisles, a bunch stopped at our booth, we had a great show and we are going to do really well because of it. The End. It really can be that easy. Lost in all the post-show hoopla is the fact that Surtex is but one tool in an […]
A lot of people are telling those coming into art licensing that this is a business and you need to approach it as a business – but I think you should go even farther… You are an owner. This is a different experience than working for somebody, you now work for The Me Company. You […]
It started with 10, but then there was this… and that… and soon what you see. In no particular order: 1. Content expires. You need to rewrite, redo and refresh. Constantly. 2. Customer acquisition is both the hardest and the most important thing you will do. Customers make a career. 3. Even your best customers […]
Surtex is coming. This of course will come as news to you only if you have been locked in a basement with no access to all the art licensing hoopla that goes on out there. There is no end to the how-to’s, how I did its and what you should be doings available for consumption. […]
I am often amused when someone asks our opinion on the “licensability” of their work, and then insists on arguing about the answer because it wasn’t what they wanted to hear. Not that we are the infallible oracles by any stretch, but I do think we have learned a couple of things over the years, […]
Whew – just made it out of Chicago before the real slipping and sliding started. We had spent the last 3 days there attending the International Home and Housewares Show and flew out as the blizzard moved in behind us. Hugged a palm tree when we got back. The IHHS is a mammoth once a […]
For some time toy designers have been lamenting the dumbing down of toy design so they can be sold in the mass market stores. Mass market sellers aim for the widest customer base possible, and unfortunately they tend to do it by aiming low. No long explanations, complicated instructions or complex outcomes are allowed for […]
“The day before something is a breakthrough, it’s a crazy idea. If it wasn’t, it would just be an incremental improvement.” – Peter Diamandis, founder of the X-Prize Foundation And the day AFTER the breakthrough it becomes known as a Brilliant Idea. Let’s not forget that the execution of that idea may have taken weeks, […]
There’s a lot of talk now about how tough art licensing is getting and how you will need to give it more than a 100% effort to get ahead. But what does that mean? What makes 100%? How does a person give more than 100%, and where do you put your efforts? Sometimes it helps […]
After much discussion and some interesting phone conferences we decided to turn down a licensing deal today. It seriously pained me to do it because it had the potential to sell a ton of product, probably well into 7 figures at retail, and those situations are just not as plentiful as we would like. So […]