[This is part 2 of a blog series called “Awaken the Artist Within: Overcome What Holds You Back and Create Your Best Work“. You can read the rest of the posts here.]
Promotion. Marketing. These are words that are oftentimes synonomous with the devil.
We hate self promoters. Well, it can be annoying, right? The person who simply rants and raves about what they do 24/7? They never point attention to anyone else, care about anyone else, or think about anyone else but themselves.
But does that mean we avoid promotion and marketing entirely? Hardly.
The importance of your marketing is in direct relationship with how important you believe your message is. And I think it’s pretty darn important. It’s all about how you go about it.
In this blog series we’re talking about hindrances to creating and releasing our work.
How do we get the word out about our songs, blog, website, art?
In a sea of endless information and promotion, who cares to give me the light of day?
Great questions. And I want to approach this from a slightly different angle. Approaching the full spectrum of how to promote yourself is beyond the scope of this blog post. But I do want to give some tips to the “little guys” – those without big budgets, followings, titles, and whom no one has ever heard of.
From one “little guy” to the next.
Ready? Here we go.
7 Marketing Tips for the “Little Guys”
1. Create a Home Base – When it comes to online marketing, you need a place to call home. A place for people to find you. Whether that’s a blog, a Twitter account, a Facebook page, or a static website, anything is better than nothing. As you can see, I’m a massive fan of a self-hosted WordPress blog. If you’d like to set this up, Michael Hyatt has a fantastic tutorial.
2. Be Helpful to Your Niche – I’m convinced there’s a fanbase for everyone. Whether that’s 10 people or 10,000 people, size doesn’t matter. Don’t get sucked into the “his blog is bigger than mine” or “his mailing could beat up my mailing list.” Size is irrelevant. If you build it, they probably won’t come. Go to where your people are online and help them. Serve them. Before long, they’ll view you as an authority and look forward to what you offer.
3. Create from Your Gut – Passion. Authenticity. Humanity. These are the qualities we’re drawn to. Don’t waste your time creating what someone else is creating, or copying others. Be you – connect your craft with your heart and spill it out. That’s what will keep us coming back for more.
4. Explore Teaching – I understand not everyone is a teacher. But it’s a skill you can acquire. It’s one thing to paint pictures. It’s another to teach others how to paint pictures. In the latter, you’ve increased your value a hundredfold. People like to learn new skills. If you can balance creating art with teaching your art, you’re on to something.
5. Develop a Content Creation Schedule – No, you don’t have to release something new every day. But your art needs a plan. You need intentionality. The days of “creating when you feel like it” are over. Whether it’s a blog you update once a week or a songwriting deadline you give yourself, create habits around your creativity.
6. Be Helpful to Influencers – If you want to get word out about what you do, you need the help of others. Especially those who’ve achieved what you want to achieve. Identify the influencers in your niche. Comment on their blogs. Share their content. Buy their products. Thank them for what they do. Offer to assist them in some way. Don’t ask them to mentor you and don’t be annoying. Be helpful and you’ll be surprised what can happen.
7. Enjoy the Process – When you embark on creating, releasing, and promoting art, things can get really funky…fast. You forget the reason you started creating in the first place. You lose your “why”. Guard against that. Try to enjoy the process of building a platform. Enjoy the hard work. Enjoy the slow progress. Enjoy the fact that you get to do this, even if you’re not seeing the results you’d hoped for.
We live in unprecedented times of global influence. You have an opportunity to make your mark on the world. I suggest you go for it. Hold nothing back.
Question: What are your greatest struggles when it comes to marketing and sharing your art? Join the discussion in the comments. Come on, you know you want to 🙂
[ois skin=”Next Level Optin”]
Love your heart for the little guys Dave. Keep doing what you do bro.
J
Thanks bro! The world is made up of little guys doing big things.
This is good stuff man… thanks for writing the way you do. It’s inspiring and challenging.
Thank you, Ryan! It means a lot to have you as a reader.
Greetings! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondeeing which blog platform are you using for this website?
I’m getting sick and tired of WordPress becaause I’vehad
problems with hackers and I’m looking at options for another platform.
Iwould be awesome if you could point me in the direection of a
good platform.
My page :: Las Vegas Appliance Repairman