Category: MarketingCategory: Marketing

This from Kinda Conquering Creative Fear with Caroline,

“I made a list of every single person I had ever interacted with that seemed remotely interested in hearing more about my music. Then, I contacted them directly via emails, text messages, DMs and face-to-face. I was going to make sure that everyone I could think of was invited, personally, by me to my show.”

Instead of posting into the void of social media, make direct contact. Reach out to people you can reach out to.

In the past I might have called this hand to hand combat, but we don’t want to think of our interactions with fans as combat, or fighting. Inviting people just feels so much better.

A decent ChatGPT prompt could write you some copy for a new product, an upcoming tour, or a fancy new thing. Sure.

“Hey, new podcast episode!”

It just lays out the facts. The dates. The logistics.

But friends, there’s enough safe, dull, dry text out there, and we don’t need more.

Your work comes to life from your magic.

Don’t stop using your magic when talking about your work.

As Courtney Romano wrote recently:

“If you’re not creating an experience (aka something that has ups and downs and richness and depth and confusion and friction and tension and delight), then no one will pay attention. There are just too many other things to do.”

I hate to say you’re competing with other artists, authors, musicians, photographers… but… the people you’re trying to reach are busy watching Netflix, going to shows, walking around bookstores, going to exciting restaurants, swimming, kissing!

You don’t need to buy billboards or hire an agency to get the word out. You don’t need to make “video assets” or use trending audio.

But you must do better than “new thing!”

Paul Rudd doesn’t go on late-night TV shows, say, “Hello, my new movie comes out this Friday,” and walk off set.

He tells stories that aren’t even related to the movie. This comes easy for him because he’s been making movies since the early 90s, but still – HE IS USING HIS MAGIC.

In fact, he started a running gag with Conan O’Brien by not showing a clip from the movies he’s promoting. Instead, he’d show a clip of 1998’s ‘Mac and Me’ over and over again, for many years.

Only Paul Rudd could do that Mac and Me thing because he’s Paul Rudd. No computer – no other human – could provide the magic he brings.

You don’t need to perform outlandish stunts and hacks to promote your finished work, but you can do better than a dumb computer.

As an artist, you’ve got the same spark, the same magic inside you, just waiting to be set free. It probably won’t look like what other people are doing, but it can still resonate with the people you’re trying to reach because it’s 1000% you.

The days of posting to social media and a million “things” happening are ending. It was all a house of cards, smoke-and-mirrors.

Yes, there were winners along the way (even today, I know), but the casino has to pay out occasionally, or else people stop visiting.

Writes Kening Zhu in ‘the internet as a creative practice’:

“You cannot truly embody a creative practice in an environment that exploits attention for profit, where you’re pushed to measure your “success” according to metrics of validation. This system encourages that the creative act, not be embodied and lived, but performed and pantomimed.”

I don’t think we set out to optimize, hack, and short-cut our way to more subscribers, shares, likes, and comments.

I wanna run in the woods. You might want to go on more photo walks, or set up a studio, or write a book.

These things take time, so why must our work happen at top speed? What if we slow down, instead?

What does it look like if downshift our efforts and seek deeper connections with just a few great people, more so than growing audience at all costs?

Look at this London Creatives meet up that artist David Speed recently led:

The tech bro pipe dream marketing machine wants us to believe that their platforms are the creative epicenter, but look at that photo above – not an algorithm in sight, just vibes.

What would that look like for you? Maybe not an in-person gathering, but an occasional video call? An accountability group but with postcards instead of daily check-ins? The possibilities are limited only by your imagination

Because look – posting to social media is so easy our parents can do it. Organizing a time and location to meet with other creative folks and share your wins and challenges? Now, that’s hard, and that’s precisely why you should do it.

I know, I know – social media is right there. Just so easy to post. Hit like. RT something.

We’ll just keep hitting those buttons and pulling the levers, along with the 10,000 other artists and musicians and photographers, every minute of every day, around the clock.

“The next post will be a winner, I can feel it!”

Or maybe instead of posting that meme for “everyone,” we share it with one or two people in our contacts list.

Could some of our connections grow deeper if we just made that effort? Instead of “engaging” in another comments thread, what if we sent a DM or email to one or two people this week?

And what if we stopped obsessing over our stats?

There’s always one more goal, metric to measure, and level to reach. Capitalism is about constant growth and the pursuit of more.

Stop looking at your stats and seek good energy instead.

Opportunities can come from the people we already know, the connections we make today, and the relationships we’ve had for decades.

Let’s slow down our desire for more and realize what’s right in front of us.

I wrote about Mullet Marketing about a year ago, and if you’re guilty of it, you’re depriving your most engaged fans of your best work.

Let me explain.

The mullet can be described as “business up front, party in the back.”

PARTY IN THE BACK: This is most everyone’s social media feed, where you see live photos from events, gallery openings, and shows. Also, photos of dogs, record shops, and your workspace. It’s videos, 300-word captions, and where we voice support for various organizations and causes.

BUSINESS UP FRONT: This is most everyone’s email list, where we get static images of products, mock ups, poster art with teeny tiny text, details, facts, locations, prices, deals, and colorful buttons labeled BUY NOW or SHOP HERE.

This is why we cringe when our favorite artists say, “Sign up for updates,” or “Join my newsletter!”

We’ve all signed up for enough newsletters to know that most of them suck.

So here’s an idea – make a newsletter that doesn’t suck.

Wild concept, I know.

You wouldn’t share a stock photo on social media, so why use one in your newsletter? Re-use the photos you’ve already put on socials!

And what is the best part about writing a paragraph about your latest project in a newsletter? More than 10% of your audience will actually read it!

You gain a certain amount of energy when you know your creative output is actually being seen, and that energy is exactly what you need to continue producing your best work.

I shared Michelle Warner’s concept of getting “awareness” off our own plate about a month ago and have tested it in a few ways.

First, I pitched an article to Ryan J. Downey, for his Stream N’ Destroy newsletter (above). I felt it fit better on his “platform” than here since I don’t focus on metal bands as much as I used to when this newsletter was called Heavy Metal Email!

Only 27% of the bands at the Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest in Philadelphia have email lists.

Six have websites.

That means four of the 14 bands performing can reach their fans directly via email. Since signing up for all four email lists 25 days ago, I have yet to receive any updates.

Here’s what happened: It’s hardly been a week and it brought in about five new subscribers. That might not seem like a lot, but giants in the heavy metal and hard rock industry read Ryan’s newsletter, so that’s fine with me!

Here’s how you can do it: Ask someone you know if you could offer something for their audience. Maybe it’s artwork for a newsletter series, an audio jingle for their voiceovers or podcast, or something else that supports the work they’re already doing. Maybe someone who makes videos could use your original music or animations.

Second, I helped artist/photographer Noah Kalina move his newsletter from Mailchimp to Substack. He mentioned wanting to restart his newsletter in his new YouTube videos, so I sent him an email, we had a good Facetime chat and got to work. His newsletter lives on and he’s got happy subscribers!

Here’s what happened: Noah credits me as his “newsletter guru” in the footer, and he gave me a Substack Recommendation, which led to about 35 new subscribers. I also reconnected with two wonderful artist friends who saw my name in his newsletters, too.

Here’s how you can do it: If someone is asking, offer a skill as a way to support someone in their creative journey. I’m not into the whole “cold email” thing, but if you see someone looking for help and you feel somewhat confident in your abilities, hit them up – you never know where it might lead!

Third, I submitted the above photo for Photo Talk, which is put together by Marcel Borgstijn. Folks vote in a poll about the clarity and engagement of the photo and leave comments, too. It was terrifying but a lot of fun at the same time!

Here’s what happened: This led to a few subscriptions, but this was just a fun thing to do, and I met some very talented photographers in the process!

Here’s how you can do it: If you see someone doing cool things with other people, ask if you can join in!

I’ve also replied to about 15 people by making individual videos for them and answering their questions or expanding on their ideas.

Why do all this? Well, maybe you missed it from my recent ‘Maybe you don’t need more subscribers’ post:

Setting a timer for 15 minutes and communicating with real people five days a week will probably get you more results than the hour you spend making one Reel for 153 “people” to see (and which will never be seen again after 12 hours).

Does it scale? Fuck scale, do the work.

Everything I listed above was way more fun than “creating content” to drive “awareness” on services that are turning from social media into paid advertising platforms.

Talk to good people, nurture your creative network, and reach out to people you haven’t talked to in a while. Use video, send a text, a postcard, or voice note. Call them on the phone, meet for coffee, axe-throwing, and/or putt-putt golf.

Yes, we’d all love to just post our work and be done, but occasionally connecting with the energy of other creative people will give you new perspectives on what you’re trying to accomplish.