Drawing by Hugh MacLeod
If you’re an artist or creative person of any kind then ‘creating’ is a lot higher on your list of priorities than ‘selling’.
One of the great joys of pursuing your creative passion is the sheer pleasure of writing, painting, making music, acting, taking pictures or whatever you do — without any ulterior motive, and without needing to show any kind of ‘return on investment’. You do it because you love to do it. Amen to that.
On the other hand, even if you don’t want to be a millionaire, I bet you wouldn’t mind a little fame. Not vulgar Hello! Magazine celebrity, but maybe the respect of your fellow artists, and some critical recognition. A few adoring fans probably wouldn’t hurt either.
You don’t have to be rich as well as famous, but all of us have bills to pay, so I’m guessing you wouldn’t mind earning a decent living from your creative work. Getting paid to do what you love has to be one of the greatest gigs on earth.
We are now living at a time of unprecedented opportunity for artists and creative professionals. Once upon a time, if you wanted to get your work in front of an audience, you had to submit it to an editor, agent, manager, curator, talent scout, whoever. A gatekeeper who had the power to open the gate and usher you through, or slam it in your face.
They called the shots, so when they said “Jump!” we jumped — and when they said “10%” we agreed to 10%. What else were we going to do?
Now, the Internet gives you the chance to gatejump, to build your own platform, find your own fans and sell your work directly to them. And it won’t cost you a fortune. Most of the software and tools you’ll need are either free or very low cost.
And that’s not even the really good news — it gets even better …
Your Creativity Gives You an Unfair Advantage
One of the biggest trends in internet marketing at the moment is something called content marketing. In a nutshell, it means creating and giving a way original media content that doesn’t look like marketing — but functions like marketing.
For example, Matthew Inman creates hysterically funny cartoons and gives them away for free on his website The Oatmeal. And because they are so cool and funny, lots of people send their friends to look at them, via Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. When you visit his site, he offers to send you more cool cartoons for free. What’s not to like? I’m just one of thousands of people who have signed up for his free cartoons.
As a result, Matthew has a mailing list of people who want to hear from him. He also has a shop on his website, where you can buy posters and mugs of his cartoons. And he has a book coming out soon. Not everyone who visits his site or signs up for his mailing list will become a customer — but enough of them do to create a nice income stream for Matthew. So Matthew gets to be a professional cartoonist, his website visitors get a good laugh for free, and his loyal customers are even more thrilled with their purchases. Win-win-win.
Not only that, but people like me, with audiences of our own, start doing his marketing for him, by writing about his website and recommending his stuff.
Is Matthew highly creative? Yes. Is he generous? Yes. Does he have a smart business strategy? You bet.
Matthew understands the fact that what people are looking for online is original and remarkable media content. In his case, he’s producing entertainment. But others have succeeded with art, news and particularly education. He is a visual artist, so obviously he uses images. But others are using text, audio and video just as successfully.
You see, even when Matthew gives away his cartoons for free, he’s not really giving them away for free. He’s giving them in return for visitors to his website and subscribers to his mailing lists. In a nutshell, he’s giving his work away in return for attention. Now that he has an audience paying attention, he’s in a very strong position to sell products, services, advertising or whatever else he wants.
Matthew’s success (ahem) illustrates one of the central paradoxes of Internet marketing: the less your media content looks like advertising, the more effective it will be as advertising.
If he had started a website that was nothing more than an advert for his books and posters, how much traffic do you think he would get? Not much. But because he is giving away something genuinely valuable and making it easy for others to copy and share it, he’s created a business that virtually markets itself. Welcome to the future.
In my own case, my business was transformed the day I added a blog to the Wishful Thinking website. Before that, I had a nice-looking brochure website that told people what a good coach and trainer I was — and which hardly sold a thing. When I started the blog, my website traffic took off — and so did the new business enquiries. My version of content marketing is to write educational articles with practical tips for creative people. Over the last four years, this has become my main source of new business, and has led to some amazing business opportunities I’d never have dreamt of when I started out.
Internet marketers have known about content marketing for years, and some of them really do earn millions of dollars a year with little more than a laptop, a network of trusted associates, and some very large mailing lists.
Nowadays, companies in all kinds of industries are starting to cotton on to the fact that they need to start thinking like media companies, and producing original articles, videos, podcasts, educational resources and news updates, if they want to command attention and generate online buzz and business.
And you know what? Lots of them are tearing their hair out. You don’t go into the frozen food business because you want to work in media. But now they are faced with having to create entertaining and engaging media content, or be left behind.
Even their marketing departments are confused. Remember the paradox: the more your media content looks like advertising the less effective it will be as advertising. If you’ve been working in a traditional marketing department — categorising and ‘targeting’ people and treating them like ‘consumers’, bombarding them with advertising and marketing-speak — this is a hard lesson to learn.
You of course, don’t have that problem. Creating original, engaging, remarkable images, sounds, text, music or video is what you do best. You’re already a one-person media company. Even if you hate the very idea of marketing, you should know that when it comes to Internet marketing, your creativity gives you an unfair advantage.
If you’d like to know what you can do with that advantage, read on.
Option 1: Build Your Own Audience
The first and sexiest option is to do what Matthew did and build your own audience online, creating a remarkable website that you love to work on and people love to visit and tell their friends about.
If you do this smartly, it means other people will send you potential customers, you’ll be found easily on the search engines and you will gradually build up mailing lists of fans who are prepared to pay good money for your work. Kevin Kelly famously estimated that a creator needs only 1,000 true fans to make a living via the Internet. The number obviously varies depending on what you are saying and how much you can charge for it, but the basic principle still holds.
This is the route chosen by artists Natasha Wescoat Hazel Dooney, Hugh MacLeod and John T Unger, graphic designer David Airey, musicians Steve Lawson and Tobias Tinker, craft artist Emily Martin and writer Justine Musk.
If you’re reading this thinking “That’s all very well for those people, but I work in such a non-commercial medium that I can’t imagine earning enough money from it”, then hold that thought for a moment. For one thing, who would have thought that solo bass playing could be the foundation of a viable career?
And for another, even if you would struggle to earn a living from your primary creative passion, maybe there’s something related to it that could provide you with a viable and fulfilling business.
For example, I write poetry, and not even the trendy hip kind of poetry at that. Old-fashioned stuff like sonnets, blank verse and sestinas. I’m not banking on it making me a millionaire any time soon. But I’ve discovered that people are willing to pay me to teach them about creativity, productivity and other professional skills for creative people. The result is that I love my work so much that it doesn’t really feel like work. And thanks to the wonders of content marketing and the Internet, I even love the marketing side of things.
What could be more fun than writing about your favourite artists, writers, films and rock stars? Nice work if you can create it — and I’m glad I did.
Option 2: Partner with Others
Remember those company owners tearing their hair out at the prospect of having to start producing media content? To them, it’s a nightmare — but for you, it’s an opportunity.
You have the ability to write the articles, draw the images, record the music and produce the videos they need. What’s to stop you teaming up with them – to help them create the online presence they need, and to allow you to learn a decent living doing something you enjoy?
I’m not suggesting you go out and start composing odes to frozen peas. (Not unless it really blows your hair back.) Pick a company you really admire, whose products or services you use and recommend. Have a look at their website — how does it compare with Matthew’s? Could you help them do better? Can you see yourself writing about them, or building them a website, or helping them make educational videos that genuinely help their customers? If so, what’s to stop you getting in touch with them?
I’m not talking about freelance gigs either. You have an unfair advantage, remember? That’s worth more than an hourly rate. Look for companies who are willing to partner with you, for a share of the profits or even a stake in the business. That way you reap the true rewards of your efforts, and both of you have a real investment in making the venture a success.
Have a look at the English Cut blog. It’s written by Savile Row tailor Thomas Mahon. When he started it, he was in need of new clients. Now he has a long waiting list of people who want to spend thousands of pounds on one of his suits — which he attributes directly to the success of his blog.
Now have a look at the Stormhoek wine blog. Stormhoek is a small South African winery, which was in need of new customers before it started the blog. And thanks to the blog and various other initiatives, its sales have skyrocketed in the last few years. And for some reason they’re doing very well in places like Silicon Valley and Texas.
In both cases, that “some reason” is cartoonist Hugh MacLeod. Not only does he run his own successful business by his Gapingvoid website, he’s the mastermind behind English Cut and Stormhoek’s online marketing. He showed them how to use blogging to command attention and attract new customers, and it worked out very well for all concerned.
I also use partnering in my business. As well as running Wishful Thinking, I’m a partner in Lateral Action with Brian Clark, one of the most successful Internet marketers on the planet, and Tony Clark, who is also Brian’s partner on hugely successful ventures such as Teaching Sells and Third Tribe.
Now why would a couple of ‘big shot’ American entrepreneurs want to partner with an introverted poet from England? One reason is that I love writing about creativity, and I’m prepared to write and edit the Lateral Action blog which powers our content marketing strategy. Meanwhile, they get to work on the bits of the business they love doing. Win-win-win again.
Here’s the Bad News
You knew there was some bad news, right? Whenever I run my workshop on Web Marketing for Creative People, I can sense people getting excited when I tell them about the opportunities of the online world. But it’s not long before someone raises their hand and asked the following question:
But doesn’t this take an awful lot of time?
And the answer, of course, is “Yes”. If you really want to succeed online, it will take a lot of time. Let’s face it, if you want to succeed at anything worthwhile, it’s going to take a lot of time.
If you feel discouraged by that, think about how you feel when somebody admires your skill at writing, drawing, playing music or whatever. “I’d love to be able to do that,” they tell you, “but I bet it takes a lot of time to learn, right?”. And what can you say?
Of course it takes a lot of time — but you do it anyway, because you love doing it, and because you want the results it gives you. You know there are no shortcuts, but you’re happy to accept the challenge.
Finding and nurturing your thousand true fans is hard work, make no mistake. It takes a lot of time, not to mention creativity and sheer persistence. Only you can decide whether the potential rewards are worth investing your time and effort. Or whether it would be easier to go the traditional route, and catch the eye and win the favour of the gatekeepers in your industry.
Technically, it’s not rocket science but there is a bit of a learning curve involved. You can get help with that, but unless you already an active internet user, you’ll need to be prepared to learn a little about the technical side of things. I should point out that I’m not a programmer or web designer. I am a wordsmith and a ‘people person’ with a background in psychotherapy, coaching and training. If I can do it, so can you.
Probably the biggest hurdle for many creative people is the very idea of putting yourself out there and selling things. You might worry that it feels like ‘selling out’. Or that it’s just plain scary. I’m afraid I can’t sugarcoat this bit: if you want to earn a living from your creative work, you need to learn how to sell.
Even if you opt for employment, you’ll still need to ‘sell’ yourself to an employer, and ‘sell’ your work to your manager, your teammates and your clients. If you’re a freelancer or entrepreneur, you’ll have to takeaway those inverted commas and learn how to sell full stop.
On the plus side, if you adopt the content marketing approach, you get to produce fabulous work that functions as advertising because it doesn’t look like advertising. Which makes it a hell of a lot more fun to create. 🙂
If you’d like some help with this…
I offer a specialist creative coaching service to help artists and creatives succeed with their online marketing.
What Do You Think?
Do you agree that artists and creatives have an unfair advantage at internet marketing?
Have you successfully used creative content to promote your business?
If you haven’t started internet marketing yet – what’s holding you back?
Thank you! This article is beyond the best I have read on content marketing and it is chock full of useful information.
Innkeepers have to get on board, the content train has left the station! This is fast becoming my favorite part of this business, blogging is fun, it gets me out and about and opens my eyes to the smaller things that are just so dang interesting that I step over every day and do not even notice.
Thanks for much for the article, I have passed it on for plenty to digest, maybe a little pepto-bismol required for some.
Shellie at The Claiborne House B&B in Virginia
Awesome advice! Thanks
Excellent article. I found the information very helpful. Thanks for the advice!
This is one of the most valuable articles I’ve encountered yet about the link between creativity and monetary success. Just because you’re creative doesn’t automatically lead to money — although it certainly can (and probably should.) You have identified two of the main disconnects artists have in their process, that keeps them from prospering: putting in the time, and partnering with others.
Many artists tend to be “lone wolves” — they are not comfortable joining forces with others, especially ones they might consider “competitors”. That’s a tough one to overcome. There are all kinds of trust issues to face.
And then there’s one more barrier you didn’t exactly cover here: the one I call the “starving artist” enigma. Too many artists (and healers!!) believe deep-down that their art is a gift for which they ought not charge money. OK I say, if that’s how you feel — then why not let someone else do the billing and you collect the benefits? The artist has to be able to receive. That’s what it boils down to.
I love your article and will be sharing it with my artist clients and friends 🙂 Thanks!
Nancy
Brilliant blog post Mark. You explain the process as clearly as I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen the blog process work for some of my clients who wouldn’t have dreamed of blogging before, but now actually love to provide insight and expertise even without the “rewards” that indirectly come their way.
Thanks everyone.
@ Shellie Anne
Agreed! Who’d have thought marketing could actually become addictive? 🙂
@ Nancy
Yes, the lone wolf syndrome can be a killer. Networking is like marketing – one of those things that sounds horrible, but if you do it in a creative way with like-minded people, can actually be a lot of fun. I wrote about that a while ago: The Top 10 Social Networks for Creative People
And yes, the starving artist one is just as bad, if not worse. Good points about the value of partnering and being willing to receive.
I’ve written about it pretty bluntly over on Lateral Action, but it seemed to go down well: Lose Touch with Your Inner Whining Artist.
@ Gareth
Yes, I’ve seen that before and experienced it myself – you start off blogging/internet marketing in order to reach your business goals, and it’s a wonderful discovery when the journey turns out to be so much fun. 🙂
I can’t understand why the post has only only 3 tracksbacks and 6 comments?
It is one of the best article I have ever read about Internet Marketing.
Thanks for this awesome piece.
Thanks for this.
I need these reminders. I’m in the thick of it. Loving it but also sweating it.
Cheers!
I like this post; great use of story and anecdotes.
It’s interesting, though, that a number of different people have tried to poke holes in the 1000 true fans concept. It would be nice to see more examples of it working. Depending on your standard of living, each fan would probably have to buy at least $50/year of your products and services to support you.
Mark, hands down the single best post I’ve read on your site. Sums up everything I’ve been telling artists for the past year. I want to tell all of them that they need to read what you’ve written here.
Every artist I’ve worked with who begins to understand the basics of marketing has floored me with the originality of how they’ve begun marketing themselves. Artists really do have an unfair advantage online, once they learn how the principles of business work.
Thank you so much for writing this. Great times.
Excellent, Excellent article! one of the best articles I’veseen yet about the link between creativity and success! Well done!
Blogging, and sharing content online has indeed produced opportunities that I never expected, and your post is filled with great examples and tips on how and why you should get on the content marketing journey, no matter what your business. Niche audiences are so important and every profession has its participants, even the frozen pea industry.
One example of a company you may also like to check out is Brewtopia, that is entirely online, allowing people to make custom labels for beer, wine or water that can be shipped anywhere in the world. I like to use them as an example when I teach PR 2.0 tactics. They are an Internet based business who figured out success through online content marketing, here:
http://brewtopia.com.au/
Good that you were realistic about how much work this path takes, but once people get into the habit of sharing content online, it becomes an easier process. Also helpful are using some of the tools that let you upload to various social networking sites, like http://Su.PR
Folks may want to get a copy of Brian Solis’s new book Engage! for more tips on this, as he covers in detail how to make the most of the social media side of content marketing.
Great post as always Mark!
You mention two of the things I’m always trying to communicate with clients and others: 1) the less you sell, the more you sell and 2) despite what you hear, there is a cost: time, and there is no shortcut for that.
Great post! Very helpful. I try to tell cats all the time that you have to have a relationship withg your fans. With all the crap with bailouts and big business, people have realized that they have been being played all this time. The smart ones are tired of it and they want to know that they aren’t thought of as a consumer but a person.
Just released my eBook, Groovy Portraits. Hmm… confluence. 🙂 I’d love to have a guest post from you, Mark.
Peace,
@vinylart
@ Ankit – Thanks! There were some comments waiting for approval. And I was writing with other ends than comments in mind. 😉
@ Samuel – ‘Loving it but also sweating it’ – sounds like most worthwhile endeavours!
@ Mark – Kevin Kelly defines a true fan a someone prepared to spend $100 a year on you. I gave quite a few examples in the article, there are plenty more out there…
@ Cory – Thanks, yes agreed that once they ‘get it’ and give themselves permission to unleash their creativity on marketing, artists can really do the business.
@ Davide – Thank you!
@ Lisa – Thanks, Brewtopia looks v interesting. Have bookmarked for my upcoming home brewing experiment. 😉 And you’re the second person this week to recommend Su.pr to me, will check it out.
@ Chris – Yep, it’s more fun as well as more effective when you have a relationship with the people you’re making stuff for. Sonia Simone says it’s like living in a village with your customers, like being the village baker or blacksmith.
@ Daniel – Good to see you here. Your e-book is Very Groovy. Zip me an e-mail re the guest post…
I agree with all of the above. I am very much in the same boat as Matthew Inman, and all of my success has been grassroots, completely dependent on the free experience of supporters, and the ease with which they can share content with friends. Is it a lot easier to get attention than years ago? definitely! But that does not mean that a LOT of work is not involved! But in labors of love, who can complain??? Much respect for the post and I hope it inspires many people 🙂 Peace, Erika iri5
who doesn’t love frozen peas?!
I’m glad I’ve read a couple of blogs today, reminding me that difficult isn’t bad, it’s just a matter of staying on target.
By far the best article I’ve seen in a long time. Thanks for the “aha!” moment this morning, I love finding little nuggets like this that inspire me and makes the light bulb a little brighter. I’m sharing the article to my other marketing & creative pals. Have a fabulous weekend. @Beaumartian Twitter – Steph
Yep, it’s easier than ever – if you’re disciplined, resolute and talented.
I went to school for computer science and the writing was on the wall for what my future would be (long days in a cubicle).
Then I landed in an intro to marketing course, loved it, and graduated with a bachelor of commerce (marketing concentration) instead of my comp sci. What an exciting time to graduate!
Thank you for the fantastic article.
Terrific article Mark. I’ve already thanked John T Unger for turning me on to your work.
Thanks for demystifying marketing. Marketing is not some scary endeavor. It is a requirement if you want your business to succeed. You can pay others to do your marketing, in the form of margin, fees or commissions, or you can do your marketing yourself — but whichever method you choose, you need to be marketing or you will fail.
@ Erika – Thanks, and nice site you have there. “In labors of love, who can complain?” – who indeed. 🙂
@ Stu @ Jim – Yes, difficult isn’t bad, and a little disipline and resolution can make it easier.
@ Stephanie – Glad you liked it and thanks for spreading the word.
@ Andrew – Like you, I’d never have guessed I’d end up enjoying marketing…
@ Matt – Thanks for stopping by, John’s been telling me about Bixbe, looks like you’re building something special over there. Agreed that you pay the price (in different ways) if you get others to do your marketing, do it yourself or neglect it altogether.
Wow! Terrific article! I write poetry as well – but just for fun…
If I ever think about make money out of it, I know now how it would work – thanks!
Claudia
I totally agree with Shellie. This article is great for creative people as many (without offending anyone) haven’t a clue about promoting their work on the online market. It’s great that someone has actually took the time to write down the good points and bad points etc. to promoting creativity without paying a fortune and losing out. Thumbs up all round Mark! Also, nice cartoon 😉
@ Claudia – If you work out how to make lots of money from poetry, do let me know. 😉
@ Jenny – My pleasure. And there are plenty more great cartoons from Hugh at http://www.gapingvoid.com
When I first started out blogging it was purely fun…now I can see a future where the day will come when I can make a full time living from doing something that I love and which gives me a huge buzz. All I have to do is keeping on learning and progressing and that day will come when I’m a pro blogger…
That’s great to hear William. Nice site you have there, good luck with it!
The idea of creative people having an unfair advantage reminds me of Daniel Pink’s book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. You might say that putting one’s creativity “out there” is not just a growing opportunity, but a mandate for our times.
I think a big part of why creative people have difficulty believing they can be marketers is simply because the starving artist myth is still very well entrenched in our minds. You can talk about the statistics and reasons (left brain information) regarding the growing opportunity for creatives, but the starving artist myth still has a grip on the right brain, where much of the emotional energy and motivation are based.
Examples of successful role models are helpful, but I believe many people need something more like an online marketing legend or mythology to get both hemispheres of the brain on the same page. I’m not necessarily thinking in terms of classic myths or legends. For example, video games (especially the multiplayer role playing games) may provide the teaching, training, and motivation today which mythology, religion, and fairy tales have always provided.
I think it’s inevitable that interactive games will be used effectively to teach marketing, creativity, and collaboration. Daniel Pink’s book mentions how this has already become true to some degree in the case of military recruitment.
I’m just waiting for a game like “Online Business Mastermind” or “Content Marketing Tycoon” to show up. It’s got to be more fun and educational than playing Farmville.
Yes, this definitely fits with Pink’s ideas. I wrote about A Whole New Mind a couple of years ago: Why Creativity Is Economic Priority Number One and interviewed Dan Pink a few months later.
As for ‘Online Business Mastermind’ I think I already play that game for several hours a day. 😉
I sure appreciate this series. I made a decision to move forward despite fear, to begin seeking those 1000 fans and trying alternative funding mechanisms.
I am in the last 40 hours of a campaign for Witness the Healing, a film project on Kickstarter http://kck.st/9SagYI
A nerve injury about two years ago really forced me to start thinking about selling and promoting my work online. I am currently in the last 2 days of a campaign to raise capital for hard and internal drive space for community projects I am working on – https://www.modestneeds.org/features/ledger/showcomment.asp?id=155360
I have been building up content on http://www.sweetentertainment.wordpress.com over the last year, and with these tips, hope to get to where i have set my sights. Really appreciate the sample sites to better understand the potential.
Thank you kindly.
Oh my this is amazing! i am so inspired!
I’ll be passing this around – it’s the only time I’ve seen artist and ‘unfair advantage’ in the same sentence!
This one’s a keeper. (Well, they all are to one degree or another, but this one gets printed out and stuck inside my copy of ProBlogger with a note to myself – “READ THIS FIRST”.) 😉
I sure got excited reading this article! It’s jam-packed with information that’s directly relevant to me. I’m a nature photographer/writer who started a website about six months ago. I’ve already deeply felt the truth of your ideas but have couldn’t come close to articulating them the way you’ve done here. Thanks so much for writing this and providing all those links. Great work!
Thanks everyone, glad you liked it.
@ Rose – Well, we also have an unfair advantage at making art. 😉
Hi
Thanks this is an awesome article. I recently used a top notch photographer, Tareen Photography in SA ,and she indicated that she would like try and reach a wider audience. With her great pictures she really should and this would be the perfect way for her to do so, I’m going to direct her to this site!
Outstanding article! In answer your questions:
1. Do Artists have an unfair advantage?… well maybe, in that Art and creativity are engaging. My lovely tweet community of over 2,100 creative individuals and my Creative Potager blog with over 15,500 views since the beginning of the year are FUN! What is not to like?
2. Creative Content to promote business? Yes, yes, yes! My a solo exhibition “Sea, Land and Time” opens Sept 3, 2010 – a big part of getting the word out has been tweeting a link to blog post where there is teaser info about oil paintings and photographs that will be in the show. But that is only the small of it. The big of it is that I am surrounded by a creative community. One of which sent me this article.
3. What may hold someone back? Time is the usual answer. Here is a secret to feeling better about the time. Build your tweeting and blogging time (errrhhum…that means warm fuzzy marketing and selling) into the retail price – and ONLY sell your work at the retail price. Honest – it works. There is the time and the cost of creating your work and then there is about an equal amount of time that goes into market and sell the piece. Yep, you got it. That is why that Gallery you want to represent you wants 50% of the sale price. So if you are doing the sell. Guess what? You should be getting that 50% for your time and effort. Lesson learned from J. Jason Horejs – Gallery Owner with over 17 years in the Business.
So write that blog regularly – I post Tuesdays and Thursdays over the summer.
Send out those tweets and share with other tweet friends – my tweet friends are responsible for about 40% of my blog traffic. Gotta love them!
And anytime you are looking for creative inspirations… come on by Creative Potager and join in the fun – each post has a sprout questions so you can start growing your own creative garden. Until then:) Terrill Welch
p.s. I didn’t mention Facebook because I’m a tweet person – just like some people are dog people and some people are cat people and others just like animals. Do what works for you but do it. Your creativity will thank you.
Thanks Terrill. Yes, time is the main objection I hear. But if you do it right, it’s an investment in your business, that will pay you back over the medium-to-long term.
And I’m definitely more of a Twitter than a Facebook person. 😉