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In writing, there's a rule of thumb to "Show, don't tell."   It means don't tell us a characters mental state.  Don't tell us what is happening by describing, summarizing or expounding.  Instead,  show us through the dialogue, imagery, thoughts and action in the scene.   A famous axiom illustrates:  "Don't tell me the moon is shining, show me the glint of moonlight on broken glass."     Learning From Harry Potter   I recall the climax of the Harry Potter series.  The entire final book builds up to the Battle of Hogwarts.  Although, by that point, Harry has accepted that he must face Voldemort, he dreads it.  He also knows, that [...]

If I thought for a second it would take this long, I never would've started down this road I'm on. But I'm here. I'm gonna keep on going. With a million other mother f**** doin' what I'm doin' And I'm pursing grandiose dreams to say the least. I'm a student of the whole world out on the streets. It may be prudent to get myself a good plan B, but plan B is the same plan as A through Z. Lord please, if you lean down and hear my prayers, know that I've been walkin' down this road for years. And my fear is no matter how much my heart yearns, I'm never [...]

In tech companies, one of the metrics we track is the concept of "customer lifetime value." (Usually abbreviated LTV).    The idea is that if you charge $10 per month, and the average customer stays with you for 60 months, then the average LTV would be $600 ($10 x 60).   In a way, in terms of your art career, each person you know and meet has a "lifetime value."  In this case the "LTV" is most certainly not so easy to calculate and often not immediately apparent.   That doesn't mean it's not important.  In fact, it's extremely important.   Just as $1 in the [...]

Among art buyers and artists, Instagram is now clearly the social media channel of choice.   I was recently perusing the 2017 Hiscox Online Art Trade Report, and the following section jumped out at me:   [In 2017] Instagram overtakes Facebook as the preferred social media channel for the art world. Instagram has emerged as the most important social media channel in the art world, with 57% of art buyers surveyed saying this is the most frequent social media platform used (up from 48% in 2016 and 34% in 2015). In contrast, 49% said that Facebook was their preferred social media platform,down from 54% in 2016.   And [...]

  In the technology industry there is a tendency for markets to be "winner takes most."   That means that most categories in technology start with dozens or even hundreds of competing firms and eventually coalesce down into two or three with one of the remaining firms "owning" most of the marketplace.  Take search for example.  In the early days of the Internet, there were dozens of search engines.  I recall Lycos, Hotbot, AskJeeves, Yahoo, Inktomi, Dogpile, Overture and a host of others.  Fast-forward to today and search equals Google...with Bing being a far distant second (and the existence of Bing is only [...]

I was once at a restaurant when Heather Locklear walked in and sat down a few tables away.   Even though she was simply having lunch, people in the restaurant were interested in what she was doing, and kept glancing at her.  Some people pulled out their phones to take selfies with Heather in the background.  A few brave or rude souls approached her to ask for an autograph.  She was just a lady having lunch.  Why were people so interested and so drawn to her?   A couple of years ago, I visited the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.  We visited room after room of [...]