Why Hacking Social Media Isn’t The Answer (and Why I Won’t Teach It)
Social media will not fix your broken marketing.
There aren’t enough friends, likes or followers that can help you when you have a weak foundation.
Plenty of online marketers will tell you how to hack social media, by which I mean they will teach shortcuts and tricks for “getting” followers and likes on social media.
There’s nothing wrong with learning this information, but I won’t teach it because I find it terribly uninteresting and, ultimately, unhelpful to the longevity of artists’ careers. The online marketers do it well, so I leave the job to them.
Out of Whack
For most artists, hacking social media is out of alignment with their values and it shows. Many artists are suspicious of gimmicks and tricks that reek of blatant self-promotion.
You can’t make something work for you if it doesn’t jive with who you are as a person.
Let’s start by examining the word “get” as in “getting” new likes and followers. It’s grabby. It’s icky.
What if, instead, we embrace the word “attract,” as in I’d like to attract more fans and followers.
If you agree that this approach is bundled in better energy, stick with me.
This Is More Valuable
When You Think You Live in a Cultural Desert
If I had a nickel for every time an artist told me that their lives would be better if only they lived somewhere else, well … I’d have a lot of nickels!
Some of you have convinced yourselves that your town isn’t an “art town.”
When I hear this excuse, I think to myself:
What is an art town?
Is it a place with galleries on every corner and informed people walking around buying art?
Is it a place that has a strong arts council with lots of support for public art?
Is it a place where museums attract plenty of blockbuster exhibitions?
Do art towns even exist?
I already know the answers to these questions. Except for a handful of places, I’ve come to believe that there is no such thing as an art town brimming with enlightened art buyers.
Not living in an art town is simply another excuse for inaction. Artists who use this excuse think that they would be more successful if they lived in New York or Santa Fe or Portland or, frankly, anywhere else but where they are.
I’ve witnessed plenty of artists grow their businesses and careers in places that don’t show up on the world or even regional map of art towns.
But let’s set aside this argument on whether or not there’s such thing as “art towns.” That’s fodder for a different discussion.
Now we can focus on how to thrive in your supposed cultural desert.
What Book Should I Write? (Curious Monday)
Not too long ago, I sat down to figure out what I was going to do with my book, I’d Rather Be in the Studio. The first edition was published in 2008 and the last e-book-only edition in 2015.
While most if it is still relevant, it could probably use an update.
How could I freshen it up and get it back into print? It has been a valuable resource to artists and students all over the world.
Then I got a big knot in my stomach. I realized that I don’t want to freshen it up.
I am not the same person who wrote this 10 years ago. It would be completely different if I wrote it now.
It doesn’t make sense to freshen up something I no longer feel connected to.
So … I’m exploring new book topics.
I realize that it could be a very bad idea indeed to ask this, but I’m doing it anyway.
What book should I write?
What book do you need that has yet to be written? Do you have an inkling?
What book would delight you to hold in your hands?
Life Is Beautiful and I Have Proof
All is right with the world. I have proof.
I’m at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to see the Matisse/Diebenkorn exhibition. I arrive early with Rob, my trooper of a husband. He’s agreed to be my companion through the permanent collection galleries before our afternoon ticket time.
What I witness restores my faith in humanity.
Here’s how it goes down.
Is It Art?
As a former museum educator, I know that it’s wise to avoid school tours in the galleries. If I had thought about that, I might have visited later in the day. But then I wouldn’t have been fortunate enough to have had this experience.
There is at least one group in each of the galleries. Most students have assignments and a docent.
One docent teaches native Spanish speakers how to say Marcel Duchamp.
Mahr-sel’ Du’-shahn
They giggle.
She stands in front of Duchamp’s Fountain and asks: Is it art? They are pretty certain it isn’t. It’s a urinal, for Pete’s sake.
I don’t stick around to hear more of their reasoning. I already feel like I’m an intruder.
I’m less interested in the art history lecture than in the way these kids are fully engaged with the art. They are hanging on every word she says.
My husband finds me and asks what I’m up to. “This docent is awesome,” I say.
Then I catch a glimpse of another heartwarming scene.
42 Ways to Improve Marketing Results
If marketing is everything you do to build your reputation and sell your art, there are a lot of areas in which you could improve. In which we could all improve.
I share this list with some hesitation. It’s intended as a checklist to work through, not to tackle at once.
Remember, our businesses and careers are works in progress.
Your Name
1. Decide on a single professional artist name and use it consistently for your art business – if you want to be remembered. I don’t care what it is and it doesn’t have to be the same name you sign to your art.
It’s critical that people can easily find you by your name and associate your name with your art.
Networking
2. Meet more people! The more people you know, the more opportunities you will create.
3. Show other people you care about them. Focus on building trust and relationships rather than selling to everyone who crosses your path. Along similar lines …
4. Keep notes on people on their business cards and add to your database so you can personalize your relationships.
5. Send “It was nice to meet you” cards or emails after connecting with someone (unless it wasn’t nice to meet them and you don’t care if you ever see them again).
Branding & Image
6. Use the same font and colors for all of your marketing material. And please! Stay away from
Organize Your Busy Art Career with Evernote
I am writing this draft in Evernote on my iPad while taking the light rail train into Denver to see a few art shows.
When I want a document that I will reuse and share with students, clients, or my team, I create it in Word, Pages, or Google Docs.
When I want to save drafts of documents or to store something to remember, it goes straight to Evernote where I can access it across devices.
Evernote is an app that organizes information into digital notes and notebooks. It would be impossible for me to keep track of all the information I need to without it.
Here’s a peek at how I use Evernote in my life and business along with suggestions for how you might use it in your art career.
Keep Your Travel Information in One Place
This might be my favorite use of Evernote. In your Travel notebook you might store:
- Hotel arrangements
- Flight details
- Car rentals
- Contact names and information
- Directions
- Things you want to do and see when you arrive
- Local restaurants
You might also store travel information for your family or for friends who are visiting.
Capture Content Ideas
One of the problems I hear most often from artists is that they don’t have anything to say. And this is a problem when so much of your marketing is based on the written word.
No more worries! The minute you have a bright idea, you can start a note in Evernote. Save drafts for:
