You can always tell when the groove is working or not.

— Prince

There is something likable about short rhymes that pack a punch. However, “improve the groove” is such a phrase; although interpretations may differ, the message generally means the same. It is a fun way to say, “Get Better.”

I’ve written before that if you are not getting better, you’re getting worse. That’s because it’s a safe bet your significant competition seeks to improve their groove on a routine basis. So how do I know this? Because it is common sense applied to human nature.

Rarely do the people you admire or compete with for attention and sales regress. They’re on the hunt to become more efficient artists and marketers. It’s inspiring and rewarding to get better at the business of your passion.

Why You Watch Who You Watch

There are reasons top competitors are on your list of people to watch. A prime example is they get stuff done and practice “kaizen” in the process. Kaizen is a Japanese word that means constant improvement. So you could say improving the groove is a groovy way to say kaizen.

Maybe you’re not as competitive as the top dogs in whatever arena you work on to market your art. There is no shame because being competitive is not the only thing to consider. Some top competitors are so ambitious it costs them the quality of life in other areas. So I like to think your ideal groove is the one you choose that suits your needs and lifestyle choices.

Why You Became an Artist

You became an artist partly because you are independent and don’t want others bossing you around. Who likes others telling them how to act and live their life? There’s more than enough of that in many corporate jobs.

The Power of Free Will and Human Kindness

I worked in a high-tech sales and support call center once. It was not a recommended job, but in 2008 any job was an island. Despite management’s poor treatment, I was always amazed at the upbeat, helpful attitude most of my fellow call center reps exhibited.

That’s how human nature rises above the incomprehensible circumstance we sometimes find ourselves experiencing. The grace and dignity of my fellow reps remind me of what Stephen Covey called human endowments. He listed these endowments as unique to humans:

• Self-awareness
• Conscience
• Independent will
• Creative imagination

Essentially, those reps and I could and mostly did choose to use our conscience and independent will to ignore the awful conditions of call center workers. Instead, we consistently delivered quality help to people in often desperate need of tech support even though management fostered an exact opposite treatment of us as humans and employees.

While such actions might force desirable results for management – at least on their precious spreadsheets – they did nothing to improve the groove. That’s because enhancing the track entails including life quality as a vital component. Bean counters never experience or even realize what quality of life means.

Quality of Life Beats Quantity of Money for Most Artists

I believe most artists prefer the quality of life over stressing to work to make their art business all about money and world domination.

All my living and working experience and philosophizing about art and business have led me to a remarkable place in my life. I’m in my early 70s, and you might think, why doesn’t he retire? So I’m here to say I’m more excited about what I’m doing for myself and the options I’m putting together to help artists than I’ve been in the past 30 years in the art business.

Three Concepts Drive Me to Improve the Groove These Days

Things are coming together around how I can help artists going forward. They are:

1. Designing a life worth living
2. Working in the daily grace and joy of being an artist
3. Finding and tapping the tools to support 1 & 2

Some items on this list are different from anything I’ve done before. The first is recognizing artists and the designed, joyful life is the key to real happiness. The second is encouraging artists to fully embrace the art marketing systems and tools I’ve championed for years only works when artists do it their way based on their wishes and needs. Lastly, I’m not waiting for perfection to launch; I’m jumping in with what I’ve got and will figure out as I go along.

Waiting for perfection is just waiting. Who has time to waste waiting? — Barney Davey

Please take a minute to think about how these points might work for you.

• How would a life you designed look to you, and how much more enjoyable would it be than what you are doing now?
• How would it feel to open your heart and mind to working in and experiencing the daily grace and joy of being an artist?
• How would you like to have a working knowledge of all the tools you need to achieve a joyful life worth living and the help and ability to choose the ones that can best help you achieve your goals?

I mentioned I’m in my early 70s. Surely but not sadly, I have fewer years to live than those I’ve already lived. That’s the way of the world. Each day, I’m grateful to be alive and for life, I’ve lived. Whatever the finite number of seconds I have left to spin around the sun, I’m eager to use them productively.

Urgent Is Different Than Panic

There’s no panic to get stuff done, but there is an urgency to get going because I can’t wait to see what happens next. So what I’m saying is although I’ve defined a three-step process to help myself and the artists who choose to work with me, I don’t have a perfect plan for making it happen. We’re baking this cake as we go.

That’s a good thing because artists don’t like people bossing them around, as I said earlier. So what I’m planning for is collaboration. It started me thinking about creating Art Marketing Extra (AMXtra). My new Art Business & Marketing Tools & Tips e-Newsletter. It is a twice-monthly e-Newsletter with Interactive Livestream. The premium content is edited exclusively for visual artists.

AMXtra is a unique concept because it aims to help artists improve their marketing, but on their terms. The vision is to help you discover what you want from your art business and then use your insights to determine what tools are best for you. That way, you choose your path and which tools will get the job you want to be done. The plan is to keep it simple and do what works for you at your pace.

Awareness Is Invaluable

I’m here as a teacher, collaborator, and facilitator. But tools weren’t enough as I thought more in-depth about what it means to be an artist in the business. I’ve evolved. I want joy and realize I am responsible for bringing it into my life, as you are in yours. And, as much as I’ve been a rambling maverick throughout my life, I now see the virtue in designing a life worth living.

By luck and some grit, things have worked out well for me without a design. But this is not the time to celebrate good fortune about what was. So I’m ready to work hard at integrating the three steps I outlined above. And rather than wait for some grand, overarching scheme, I’m plowing full steam ahead to work on them as I go along.

There’s No Controversy in This Approach

It’s not a dichotomy to talk about designing life on one hand and moving forward without a fully operational plan on the other. That’s because I believe a practical design can only come into focus as a reaction to my actions. And as it crystallizes and improves, I’ll be ready to receive the wisdom that comes from it. The same is true for artists who choose to work with me. For us, enlightenment will come from doing much more than from planning.

There are plenty of resources for your do-it-yourselfers to go it alone. If what you read here resonates with you and you want in on my plans, I encourage you to subscribe to AMXtra. It’s only $5 per month. You will get lots of helpful information and twice-monthly Interactive Livestreams with recordings. So much goodness is waiting for us to uncover and put into best practice.