I write this from my own experience as a visual artist – A creative time in my life that preceded my focus on marketing and sales. This transition is ripe for discussion, but right now let’s look at why creative people shy away from marketing and sales and what they can do to get comfortable with it.
Every artist has personal tendencies (extroverted vs. introverted, tidy vs. messy, etc.) yet, as a group, artistic people prefer to live life to create and be free of financial concerns (at least in theory), and neither marketing nor sales fit that description.
Most artists like the big picture, not step-by-step, systematic activities. We analyze to find deeper meanings and relationships between ideas. We believe in art for art’s sake, not for “sales sake.” We’d rather explore how things fit together than take the actions that could turn them into a money producing activity. Much of what we don’t like about business is that it presents unfamiliar territory.
If this describes you, fear not! We all feel uncomfortable with the unknown. So first, Let’s look at what marketing is in simple terms. Then use a set of steps from the Value Cycle to describe how you can approach marketing your creative side without sacrificing integrity or becoming someone you’re not.
Marketing will require you to learn some new skills and new behaviors, but under all of the social media and tech spin, it’s really a simple concept. So simple that you can actually market your creativity without using the Internet at all, or you can get someone else to show you the basics and build a website at a surprising low cost. (Do I hear a sigh of relief?)
Rest assured that marketing is NOT endless online chatter about what you had for breakfast or promotions for your latest business events or special offers. (Though they do have their place.)
Under the onslaught of information that shouts for our attention, the power behind effective marketing begins with relationships.
I. Marketing starts with identifying WHO your market is.
Here are some questions to ask yourself so you can draw a mental picture of who your best potential buyers or fans really are:
1. Do I know what goes on in their minds and have I taken the time to find out?
2. What things matter to them most and how do those things connect to my artwork?
3. Why do they buy and collect art, and what do they love about music, literature, theater or dance?
4. Why….? (Fill in the blank.)
Based on the Value Cycle approach to marketing (The keystone of all of my business coaching), once you identify your target audience, your next step is to CONNECT with them. This means crafting a “message-to-market” that represents who you are and what you do best.
Connecting requires some thought. Try asking yourself these questions:
1. How do I make my specific talent stand out in a world inundated with information?
2. What’s specific, unique, valuable or even urgent about my talent or message?
3. How can I “package” my message so that the right people are drawn to it and hear it?
The answers to these questions will be different for each artist, just as they are for each business owner or entrepreneur.
The third step of the Value Cycle is how to CONVEY your message to your audience. This is when you place it (or communicate it yourself) where customers can see or learn about what you do best.
Brainstorm answers to these questions:
1. How many ways can I connect with the people who are interested in what I do?
2. How can I find those people and get introduced?
3. What venues allow me to reach my target market or enable them to discover what I do?
If this sounds like “premeditated assault,” it’s simply a sign that arranging circumstances in your favor registers on you as a “trick,” or feels out of integrity with the artist’s habit of letting things happen.The latter concept is fine when you’re staring at a blank canvas, but not when you want to get your work seen by prospective buyers, agents, or publishers.
Do these questions strike you as materialistic and uncomfortable? Consider that your value as an artist consists of the qualities that make your work unique. If collectors could sense this value instantly (and some do) life would be a cakewalk, but the majority needs to know WHY.The worth of your work is subjective (we all know that) so its value depends on the buyer’s perception. You have the power to shape their perception by informing them and helping them to make a choice. This is true in any selling process.
The belief that the dealer or agent is responsible for marketing and making sales puts artists at a disadvantage. They are dependent on someone else for their income. In truth, sales and marketing are simply “what they are.” You can choose to be fearful and frustrated by sales, marketing and business, or you can choose to change your perspective.
It’s all about intention. I have chosen to be in business with the goal of delivering value to my customers. I’ve chosen to make it about them and not about me, and when I do, all of that negative stuff disappears. I start to feel passionate about the value that I have to offer to those who are ready to receive it.
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