To sell you have to get really bored.
Back in the day, the rule was that you couldn’t even START to measure the success of a magazine ad campaign until it had appeared 27 times. That’s because the message has to be seen 9 times before a buyer will take action. And even a magazine subscriber only sees 1 in 3 of your ads. That’s over 2 years of the same ad.
Imagine cold calling. Or retail. Or trade shows. The same message, day in, day out, year in, year out. No artist would stand for that.
Marketing is boredom. You have to keep going until you get so fricking bored of your message, ready to do ANYTHING but say the same thing one more time .. and that’s when your campaign might just be poking through. Might JUST be being received and understood by the first few people you’re trying to reach.
Keep going.
One thing artists do have, is resilience. Good job.
So here’s how to invest in marketing yourself as an artist without wasting your time and without getting put on suicide watch.
You have a core. You live by it. Everything you do is driven by it. Perhaps it’s play. Or connection. Or you notice things others don’t.
It won’t change much over your lifetime. So market core you.
Because if you do stand for interpersonal connection, whether you paint interactions or wear provocative clothes to start a conversation or do community work or get political .. it’s all driven by your core values.
You don’t have an employer. Hoo bloody rah, you are free to be yourself (so let’s fricking go!). In fact, the more boldly you live your core value, the more you’ll attract buyers, naturally. No sales, no pressure. Just “I did a thing” and someone who loves what you do says “awesome” and follows you. Followed by another. This, incidentally, is how you become a leader. By, *cough*, taking a lead. Leaders have followers, people who watch for hints what to do next. Are you seeing the power of this?
Your core values already exist, so your art reflects them, inescapably. These new buyers you’re attracting want your art because it says something about them. When their friends come round for tea, you and your values are a talking point and a way for your buyer to say how cool and interesting they are.
When your marketing promotes your core, your brand actually, is: you. But clarified. Refined. Easy to digest, enjoy and be inspired by.
You just need to be clearsighted about what that is. And once you are, you’ll live it, and the process will start.
And if you don’t. There are lots of artists and you’ll be one of them. If you think you can differentiate by skill .. that’s hard. Instead .. no-one else can be you. That’s easy. And a lot more fun.
You’ll be shocked to hear I have a way to make this happen for you. So carry on as you are. Or get in touch and we’ll start sorting out your art sales. Take your pick. Marketing pays for itself many times over, btw.
