Adam Street's Blog
The spiritual and practical path to freedom to do your art

Thank you “Marketing”

Procrastination sucks.  But, it still happens to me sometimes.  

It was Friday and I had to throw together some last minute signage for a trade show on Saturday.  Usually Kinkos can turn small jobs around in the same day.  So imagine my surprise when the employee said we “MAY be able to have it finished today”.

Oh crap….  I was in shock.  I explained to the lady that I have a show tomorrow.  I gave her my version of the pathetic Puss in Boots face from Shrek #2.  That didn’t work, apparently this wasn’t her first rodeo.

Should I storm out and go to OfficeMax or Staples.  Or maybe just slap her like Leona Helmsley and tell her that it needs to be finished today! In the end, I did what I call “leaving it up to the universe”.  It’s my fault I’m in this mess so what’s meant to be will be.

My signs were finished that day and everything was peachy.  The next week I sent the lady that did my signs a thank you card and she called me.  I missed her call but she left an emotional message and said no one had ever given her a thank you card before.

My first thought, I was touched beyond words that she took the time to call me for something as simple as a card.  My second thought was, WTF?  No one has sent her a thank you card before?  

After being a little appalled I was happy I sent her the card.  I’m also happy I read a book by Tommy Wyatt and Curtis Lewsey called Appreciation Marketing.  The book is about sending gratitude via cards, letters, and hand-written notes.  You can send texts and emails too but the physical thank you’s are more fun for me because they’re more rare.

Appreciation marketing changed so many things in my life.  For starters I now receive thank you’s all the time.  I remember one time I sent a thank you card to a restaurant and I got free food.  Twice.  The owner was just so excited.  

Keep in mind I don’t give to receive but it’s crazy to see how much gratitude you get back when you send it out regularly.

Try it for 10 days!  Go to Walgreens or a craft store and buy a pack of cards and envelopes, and a book of stamps, or use a card sending service like Send Out Cards.  Send a thank you card everyday for 10 days.  Write your clients, your parents, family, the businesses you frequent, or old elementary school teachers.  

Just send gratitude.  No inserting business cards, or talk about how you want referrals or any of that.  

Just watch how your life is affected just as much as the person receiving your thank you.

https://www.adamstreet.net/

Adam

P.S.  Here’s a link to the book:  https://www.amazon.com/Appreciation-Marketing-Achieve-Greatness-Gratitude/dp/1936677075

My Careless Whisper

My first high school art teacher was Mr. Pelleran.  He told me I should draw caricatures because it would help my art skills.  

I thought he was…

Out.

Of.

His.

Mind…

He may as well told me to ride a unicycle on a tight rope between two three story buildings.  I was 15 or 16 and I drew comics all the time but I never drew a live person on the spot.  In front of other people no less. 

And what did Mr. Pelleran know anyway?  He was the drawing and painting teacher but he was actually a ceramics major so he couldn’t draw.  I’m afraid that killed some of his credibility with my teen self…

But I briefly took his advice.  I drew caricatures for a school fundraiser.  I didn’t enjoy doing it but I was happy I survived the experience. 

Fast forward 20 years later when I wanted to plant my feet in character design.  I didn’t know where to begin and artist Stephen Silver recommended drawing caricatures in one of his old podcasts. So, I started down my caricature path. 

Keep in mind, I thought Silver was nuts too. But since he was a character designer he had more credibility than my high school teacher. But keep in mind, Mr. Pelleran was right. Caricature was clearly part of my life’s direction. 

Oprah Winfrey talks about hearing whispers. Sometimes inspiration and ideas speak to you quietly.  And sometimes it’s a podcast or your high school art teacher chattering at you.

https://www.adamstreet.net

Adam

Hall Passes after high school

I had a skill in high school that I did NOT put on my college applications.  I got really good at forging hall passes.  Hall passes were little notes teachers and faculty gave students to get out of class for a purpose.  Like going to the office, getting picked up early by your parents, and seeing your counselor, or another teacher.

There were a few faculty members who’s writing I could impersonate like a regular Frank Abagnale (Catch Me If You Can).  Me and my friends skipped class whenever we wanted to, we went to the gym, fitness center, the PE classes, etc.  Hall passes were usually delivered by other students and not adults so it was pretty easy to get away with.

I was the Da Vinci behind our mischief until I got busted.  My junior year I finally had a teacher who figured out my shenanigans and did a little research.  Luckily she only gave me a warning and told me to stop.  

Did I stop?  No.  But I did quit giving my little fictitious notes to HER.   

I was a pretty laid-back student.  On the outside I was kinda quiet but on the inside I was a bit mischievousness.  I was what Wayne Dyer called a “scurvy elephant”.  My friend Zeke used to say, Adam people think you’re so innocent because you’re quit.  But if they only knew you…”

I’m happy I learned early that there’s nothing like a good hall pass.  Sometimes you have to step away from your duties and tasks and do something that you enjoy.  Something that is fun.  There’s no need to put it off until your next vacation…

One “hall-pass” like habit I have is, when I finish my schedule everyday I DO NOT add anything else to it.   Back in the days if I finished my schedule early I’d think, wow, I have time to do even more work.  I could feel the productivity coursing through my veins.  Helpful maybe but boring.

Now when I finish I’m DONE.  Now it’s time to draw for fun, go online, exercise, or read something.  Play.  Have fun.  Declutter, De-stress, and enjoy the Endorphins.

https://www.adamstreet.net

Adam

How to get more Juice out of life

After college when I decided to get into the comic industry.  I sent off my portfolio to get a job freelancing as a color artist.  Some days I’d open my email with baited breath to see if any publishers wrote.  And then finally it happened.  I landed a gig!

It was a small publisher but the editor said I caught them at a great time because not only did they need a colorist for some new projects but the were colorizing some of their old titles too.  It was a match made in heaven.  I wanted a job and they had plenty of work to give me.

I had NO idea back then the kinds of books I was going to be working on, I was just happy to have a gig.  I was green, I was the new guy.  I was super happy working with them…until I wasn’t.   Most of the books I worked were full of violence (think Conan the Barbarian) and I didn’t enjoy showing them around.  

When I was out with my friends they would tell their co-workers or family that I was a comic artist and they’d ask what books I was working on.  I didn’t want to tell them.  I acted like I was in a witness protection program or something.  I didn’t mind the content I was working on I just wasn’t glowingly proud to show it to other people.  I eventually just started going thru the motions with every title I worked on.  And then it happened.

Me and my editor had ‘a talk’.  I wasn’t happy and he could see it my work.  In the end I wasn’t a good fit and we went in different directions.  I still thought he was being a little melodramatic though.

I looked back at all the work that I did for the publisher and…  Well, he was right.  My initial work was so much stronger.  My styles, color palettes, everything!  The most recent work I did had NONE of the creativity and NONE of the juice that my earlier work had.  It was embarrassing.  That was my first gig though so it was a great learning experience for me.

Author and marketing expert Sally Hogshead tells a story about going on an amusement park ride and being offered a green or an orange ticket version of a ride she wanted to go on.  The green ticket is the easy and safe version of the ride.  The orange ticket is the more adventurous version, complete with safety disclaimers.  She took the orange ticket and loved the ride.  She went back thru the line and took the green ticket version and learned it was basically the same ride.  

What blew her mind though is that everyone with orange tickets left the ride excited, amped up, and talking about the experience.  The green ticket holders were no where nearly as cheerful.  We could talk about expectations and why this happens but here’s the rub…  

My first comic book freelancing gig taught me that life is full of green tickets.  And when you get one, it’s YOUR job to change it to an orange ticket and enjoy the ride.

https://www.adamstreet.net

Adam

Sometimes you a need a good divorce

Thanks to Kevin Hart I now refer to COVID as ‘The Vid”. When 2020 happened and The Vid went thermonuclear around the world I tuned in. I’m not much of a news person but I wanted to understand what was going on.  I marginally tuned in until I saw about 60 seconds of a CNN RONA special. 

The set of this show was different. It was dark, everything was black and red. The studio looked like when Darth Vader fought Luke Skywalker at the end of The Empire Strikes Back. Even Edgar Allen Poe couldn’t make that set look anymore melancholy and dangerous.

And just like that.  I divorced news coverage on The Vid. I was out. I never watched a watched a ‘news’ program or special report on The Vid again.  That’s not to say I stopped learning about it.  I just refused to buy into the fear.

Divorce is a strong word and can be an emotional experience, especially for anyone going thru a divorce from a marriage.  But it can be a pretty handy tool.  I took a Perry Marshall course called 30 Day Reboot.  The course is about getting more of your time (which is to say your life) back.  The first thing I did was I emancipated myself from a butt-load of email lists I was on.

Other relationships I’ve broken up with over the years is.

My cell phone.  I can’t do my art if I’m typing, texting, and looking at notifications.

Social media.  I “check in” but I don’t hang out like I used to.  I check the “pulse on the street” if I have down-time and that’s about it.  Facebook used to send me emails to lure me back and I unsubscribed from that email list too.   

The old Ray Charles song comes to mind…

“Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back 

No more, no more, no more, no more 

Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back no more…”

What habit, tool, system, or app could you tell to hit-the-road so you could get more time back or live a more fulfilled life?

Divorcing one of these little crumb snatchers could save you a few minutes a day.  And that would get you back almost one full day a year.

https://www.adamstreet.net

Adam