Craft Marketer Newsletter
Arts & Crafts Business Help  
Issue Number 34, October 1, 2004
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Licensing Art and Crafts For Profit

Late in 1991, Tracy and John Porter left Chicago for Wisconsin
to pursue their dream of making beautiful hand-painted wares to
sell. Borrowing $5,000 from Tracy's parents, they started their
small business.

The Porters named their company Stonehouse Farm Goods. Business really started when they attended the New York Gift Show in early 1992. John and Tracy had a goal in $10,000.00 in orders for their hand-painted furniture and accessories. To everyone's amazement, they received $75,000.00 in orders.

Over the next few years, business flourished. They moved from their original studio, a chicken coop, to an 8,000 square foot studio with great views of the surrounding pasture.

Stonehouse Farm Goods taught John and Tracy lots of lessons. They realized the need to build a brand name to grow more. In Spring of 1995, they started up licensing partnerships with manufacturers who would produce their artistic creations. Soon they looked at turning out textiles, dinnerware, wallpapers, rugs, and more beautiful products from their designs. A few years later, over 15,000 retailers were selling Tracy Porter products.

Artist, Christian Riese Lassen has generated over $100 million in annual product sales that license his art. Mary Engelbreit has
created a range of licensed products that stretches from dinnerware to screensavers, a successful retail store in her hometown, an award- winning magazine, more than 150 book titles published and hundreds of millions of greeting cards sold.

Two ways to profit from licensing:

1. License your designs onto commercial products to earn royalties.
2. Pay royalties for licensing popular characters onto your craft
items. Licensing collegiate logos onto your craft items is a way
you can capitalize on sales in college towns. The Collegiate
Licensing Company has sold $2.6 billion in retail product rights.

Licensing is a $175 billion industry according to expert and
licensing agent, Michael Woodward, who has licensed over $600 million in products. Everything from sweatshirts to coffee mugs to greeting cards and hundreds of other items are made incorporating design or artwork that is licensed.

Licensing over the past few years has become a seriously tough
business. It is important therefore for any artist entering this
market to be aware of certain factors. Michael offers five important tips.

1. Organization; Copyright your work with the Copyright Office in
Washington. Keep accurate records by cataloguing your work with reference numbers and descriptions. Ensure all your work is scanned so it's accessible and available for licensing. If you are not computerized and digital then you are living in "La La Land".
Wake up! this is the way business is being done these days whether you like it or not.

2. Producing Art which sells; So many artists try to promote work
which is simply not commercial. If you want to license your work
to a particular company, find out what they sell first by visiting
stores/outlets where the products are sold and visit their website
if they have one. Target your art to fit the client's needs and
their customers.

3. Promotion; Getting your work in front of Art Directors and
buyers is the first stage of creating awareness. Produce a
professional presentation i.e. a flyer or single sheets of work
in a folder. Ensure the printing quality is good. Use emails to
direct buyers to your website. Telephone and write to art directors asking if they have submission procedures. Use a combination of all these methods and above all BE PROFESSIONAL.

4. Creativity; Manufacturers are looking for styles which fit the
lifestyles of their customers, so single designs don't create any
impact. To be really successful at licensing the artist needs to
create a "look" which can be used over several product ranges.
This is how "Art Brands" are created. Look at current successful
brands and learn how the artist adapts designs to suit each
product.

5. Perseverance; Be prepared for a long hard road- the competition out there is fierce. Licensing is now a hugely competitive business and to survive you must constantly produce new innovative art. Listen to what art directors tell you, be adaptable and cooperative.

Michael Woodward is author of "Art Licensing 101". His book lists resources for how to profit from licensing including locating agents. For more details, click here

For more resources, do a search in the box below for these terms: "art licensing" or "how to license art and design"

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