The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in the UK has produced a new checklist about data protection law for small business owners and sole traders.

INFORMATION FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS AND SMALL TRADERS

In the recent past, ICO has tended to share information about rules and guidelines on  data protection and privacy in such a way that it suggested a general lack of awareness by the ICO of the special needs of those who are small businesses or small traders - such as artists.  I suspect they received a lot of cries for help from this quarter when GDPR was implemented earlier this year - as all guidance at one point was constructed assuming organisations had people who did this for them!

The main problem for those who are running EVERY aspect of their business is to find out the answers to "what they don't know they don't know " i.e. it's difficult to know you should be doing something about some new aspect of law if you don't even know it exists!

Hence the checklist is a welcome way in which the ICO is becoming a bit more attuned to the needs of sole traders - and people like artists.

This is the link to How well do you comply with data protection law: an assessment for small business owners and sole traders

This is what ICO have to say about what happens when you use the checklist.

The checklist is part of the overall set of checklists which have been developed by ICO as part of the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation which became operative in May 2o18.

Do let me know how you get on if you use it.

This video is well worth watching by those trying to succeed as artists.

Paul Klein has been involved in the art world and with artists for over 40 years. He used to run a gallery. He now focuses on teaching an online professional course for artists - and he works as mentor to TED Fellows.

Making good art is a necessary but not sufficient condition for becoming a successful artist.

He considers there are three necessary preconditions for being a successful artist

1. Be Distinctive - do not resemble other people. Be yourself and find what makes your work distinctive
2. Become Engaged - it's not all about the art, you have to get out of your studio Associate with those who are better than yourself. Make opportunities for your art to get seen and for more eyeballs to see your work.
3. Make Good Art - everything is subjective. People respond in an emotional visceral way to your art.

He identifies a mantra I have heard from a number of people - and frequently repeat to artists I've met in the last decade or so.

Sometimes artists can benefit enormously by having

• a business partner,
• a long term business strategy - and
• by applying creativity to their career.

What's the best way of an artist creating a good impression with a business card?
​What size should it be and what do you need on a business card?

The Business Cards for Artists page on this website provides a summary of:

• why you need a business card as an artist
• what are the essential items of information for an artist's business card
• what are the optional extras
• why the look and feel really matters for an artist
• the options around size of a business card - which vary by country!

I've also includes links to articles which make suggestions around design
Plus some options for suppliers of business cards.

As an artist, do you have any recommendations about:

• content and design
  
• a recommended supplier where you live? (Note: only recommendations by artists will be published)

The Best Art Business Books for Artists is the new home for information from another site I developed with the same name. It's a work in progress at present but now has enough content to make it worth highlighting and my other site is about to be closed down.

Initial categories cover:

• Short Art Business Guides - for a quick read
• Starting Out - for those who aspire to an art career
• How to have a career and make money as an artist
• How to sell your art 
• Understanding Art Galleries
• Copyright
• Art in Transit
• The Artists' Resale Right
• Art Legacy Planning

Interestingly most of the books on the new page are EITHER new OR new editions of books that have been around for a while.

So much has changed in the past few years. In particular the emphasis on business online is now much more important. 

I'm finding that I really need to look long and hard at content as I do the transfer - and I'm needing to buy new editions of books I've loved in the past.

Plus I know than a few authors have recognised the need to update and have new editions in the pipeline.

​For example, a couple of days ago I was contacted by Caroll Michels - author of How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist (a book I really rate!) - about the NEW edition of her book which is published later this month. This has got a LOT of new content to reflect the changes in the workings of the art market and the new challenges for all artists - even established ones. For example:

• the use of social media and website development as marketing and publicity tools – what works and what doesn’t work;
• the confusions between the “art-buying public” and the “consumer market”;
• neighbourhood gentrification and the growing challenges of securing a reasonably priced work/live space; and
• the pros and cons of the new business models for artist career development.

So I hope you'll join me in my investigation of what's currently on offer and the best books about the art business for artists which offer both great content and good value for money!

There's a lot more to come and this page will be continuously updated over the next few months - and years!

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I'm also interested to hear about what new art business books you've been buying and getting value from.

If you'd like to share your recommendations with fellow artists just leave a comment on this blog post - or contact me and give me a recommendation.

I'll be giving a talk on Tax Tips for Artists on 5th March 2018 at 4.30pm, in my capacity of Visiting Lecturer at The Heatherley School of Art,

The talk is FREE but my talks tend to get a lot of students and artists attending so it very much works on the basis of first there gets a seat!

The talk is for all those who want to get on top of their tax affairs before any omissions or errors catch up with them!

• why - and when - you need to register for tax
• why being a hobby artist is different from an artist who MUST do a business tax return
• the difference between a personal tax return and a business tax return
• timescales for getting on top of your tax
• records you need to keep
• what you need to declare
• what you can and can't claim as expenses and allowances against tax
• how to pay your tax
• one thing you MUST know about VAT!
  

This page tells you where Heatherley's is and how to get to it by car and public transport.