Give Marketing a New Name (Lessons from My Sister)

When my sister Bethany was 8 years old, she painted me a beautiful painting full of color and light filled with the bliss that comes when you are 8 years old.

Eight is a magical age where you feel no inhibitions about your art, and your abilities, and the joy that is color and canvas and imagination.

Today, that painting marks home for me. My "home" wherever it may be, is not a home until Bethany's painting of flowers is on the wall. This vivid flower makes me happy; it brings color and smiles to my room and my heart.

Bethany wasn't marketing her work when she gave me that painting, but in a sense she encircled the basic concept of marketing: sharing your work with others.

I wonder if we can give marketing a new name, especially for those of us who are more in the sensitive-creative-artist category.

Listen, I've gone through the books and the programs trying to teach me to have thicker skin, to learn the rules of direct marketing, to get over myself and present my product.  But that's not really me and I bet that isn't you either.

There is no shame in being sensitive. That sensitivity is the soft, vulnerable underbelly that shows up in our art and touches the hearts and emotions of others. We don't want to stifle it out but we also don't want to be overcome with paralysis by it.

Artists tend to be a sensitive breed; we may understand the concepts of business and marketing but we don't take to it very well. We feel strongly about what we create. There is a ton of psychology that goes along with marketing artwork whether you are a visual artist, a photographer, or a writer. We create from the heart. I don't know about you, but I'll do just about anything to avoid blatant rejection.

Regardless of our affinity or fear of marketing, one things remains: if we don't market our work, if it stays hidden in the hard drive of the computer or the corner of the studio, it won't sell. And we won't become full time (or part time- whatever your goal is) working artists.

What to do?

What if we changed our vernacular? Instead of marketing our art, call it sharing our art.  We are sharing with people who might be encouraged, uplifted, challenged and excited by it.

That's what my sister did for me: she shared her art. She embraced all the concepts of marketing: she created a good product (not that I'm biased or anything), she created something for her audience, and it was an excellent product (o.k. maybe I'm really biased).

Instead of "marketing" this week, think of who you can share your art with and how you can share it with them.

And, if you need a booster of encouragement consider this:

• If you have a lovely product, it will resonate with someone, somewhere.
• Art, whether an intriguing story or a invocative painting, is extremely important in adding to people's lives. Art inspires, convicts, entertains, encourages, brightens, decorates, and lifts us up to higher levels. Art adds to the beauty of our lives. It can encourage vision and passion and the pursuit of something deeper than just "getting by in life." A life without art, without stories, would be a dull, drab life.
• It can take time to find the right people but once you find your "tribe," the connection is priceless (and tends to keep expanding).
• Social media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest are gentle ways to share art.

There are more ways than ever to creatively share our artwork.  I'll be listing 37 Creative Ways to Share Your Art later this week.