Why you must make yourself more marketable

It is called self-promotion for a reason: If you don’t do it yourself, it usually doesn’t get done! It is definitely a do-it-yourself proposition. It’s an overwhelming proposition to make it big in the arts, and impossible if you don’t take a proactive role in your promotion. This journey will take the mystery out of marketing. It can’t force you to embrace the concept, but it will teach you how to do it. It is the willingness (and ability) to market yourself and your art that increases your odds of making it. A lot of creative people have talent, but few have the know-how or desire to promote themselves. This isn’t anything new. Throughout the years, creative people have grappled with the conflict of creating great work and then being expected, and forced to sell it. ‘There should be a single Art Exchange in the world, to which the artist would simply send his works and be given in return as much as he needs. As it is, one has to be half merchant on top of everything else, and how badly one goes about it! Guess who said that. GIve up? Ludwig von Beethoven.

I am not saying you have to like it, you just have to do it. For better or worse, we live in the age of media. Self promotion is a necessary evil for the creative person who just wants to gain a little exposure for their art, let alone achieve fame and fortune. Simply put, if nobody knows you exist, it doesn’t matter how good your work is.

The business world and the art world are interlinked. Sometimes it feels more like a business than an art form. You can’t ignore one or the other. You need to make money, and you should be getting paid for what you do. I don’t know what your dream is, but for most of us it is to be able to earn a comfortable living while working on projects that we enjoy or are passionate about. Is that too much to ask for? I don’t think so. Both of those goals (to make money and work on art that motivates us) are the direct result of a successful self-promotion campaign. So suck it up, get over your squeamishness and do it, because the reward is worth it.

I am not saying it is easy. You send out your résumé, distribute your brochure, network like mad, write a stellar proposal, force yourself to make cold calls and carry your portfolio all over tiime, sometimes with little luck. It takes a lot of your time, time you’d rather be creating. It’s not just in the beginning either, it’s like all the time. It’s a business and you are the product. That means you have to sell the product – constantly. So you have two jobs, innovation and marketing. As you will learn in the hero’s journey, it doesn’t necessarily have to take a lot of time or money to do it well.

I have also found that when you are the creator, it is hard to step back and come up with ways to market your creations. For some reason, all that wonderful creativity dries up and you end up blocked and frustrated when it comes time to create your own marketing materials. Another phenomenon I have encountered is that after working on creating something for months, the last thing you want to do is promote it. You are ready to move on to the next great idea. Fight the urge to abandon your ‘baby’. Your creations need you to raise them until they are self-sufficient.

One thing I am sure of is that you can’t wait to be discovered, or for that time when others promote you. I know so many creative people who don’t understand that creating something is less than half the battle and that the real work has just begun I know, you are ‘an artist’ but you must also become a salesperson, booking agen, performer, publicist, pitcher, promoter, publisher, presenter – in other words, you will wear many hats. This takes an incredible amount of your energy and enthusiasm away from your real work. You can get help with the promotional side of your business, but in my opinion nobody can promote you as well as you can promote yourself. This journey is designed to help you do it yourself. You can do it. You know you should do it. Let’s agree, you will do it. Let me help.

If you aren’t marketing yourself, you’re falling behind someone else who is. You need to embrace the concept of self-promotion and actively engage in it or else you will always be on the fringe. You need visibility and credibility. You can accomplish both by weriting articles, speaking in public, putting up a first rate website, writing a book, or associating with a well-known person in your field. Do good work and it’s a little easier, but they won’t always find you. You have to market yourself Every successful creative person does it; even the supersuccessful still promote themselves. This journey is loaded with helpful ideas to make it easy for customers to find you, talk you up and get you to the next level.

We will cover all kinds of inexpensive, innovative and effective ways to get the word out about who you are and what you do; how to reach a larger audience and build a loyal fan base as well as getting the media to recognize you for your efforts. It’s about getting influential people to say yes to you more often, whether you’re an actor, artist, carpenter, cartoonist, comic, dancer, designer, entrepreneur, filmmaker, landscap architect, musician or involved in any other type of creative endeavor. You will learn how to compete against bigger competitors by tapping niches and doing the creative things the large players can’t do. We will discuss how to improve your marketing materials, create an effective promotional plan, take action and have fun along the way. This isn’t brain surgery, and it doesn’t have to be boring, either.