Creative types have historically had a fair amount of trouble not only promoting their work, but also allowing it the chance to be promoted. As with many small businesses who soon close their doors, many writers, artists, musicians and film makers create a product, release it, and then “wait for the people to come.” It’s this notion of the process of “getting discovered” that needs to change in order for us to take up our own mantles and advance our creative endeavors.
One issue that I have seen again and again, even in myself, is a deep-seeded issue of perception. Throughout our lives we have all been overexposed to commercials of all motivations and persuasions. It’s natural to be sick of it. We feel that the powers that be are lying to us or that everyone is trying to sell us something whether we need it or not. We feel trapped and without options, and this leads us to fantasize. We fantasize about heroes; people who stood up and gave a middle finger to the authorities in this world and refused to play by the rules. We liken ourselves to people who would never, ever lower themselves to the level of self-promotion.
Like many perceptions and beliefs that we hold true and dear, as George Gershwin would say, “It ain’t necessarily so.”
I’d like to suggest that it may be possible to ruthlessly self-promote and also be a true artist. They just don’t teach that in “Starving Artist 101.” The Doors used to request their own songs on Los Angeles radio to get their music heard. If not for this effort, they may have remained relatively unknown and scattered off on their separate ways. Technically, what they did is cheating. This is true according to many of the standards us creative types have adopted in the promotion of our works. And yet, they were true artists, and the fact that they promoted themselves in this way is far less than a footnote compared to what became their enduring legacy.
Even the great Salvador Dali ruthlessly self-promoted his own work as well as his political ideas by collaborating with like minds to form a movement, in the process embracing controversy and eccentricity as a marketing technique. Of course, he was promoting his real self. However, it’s still promotion in the end.
This is where most creative people get stuck. Partially because of the glitzy imagery shown to us by the music industry over the past 50 years, we’ve become accustomed to the idea of great artists getting carted around in style while a team of industry experts worked to take care of the rest. I suppose that is why many of us finish our product or art piece, set up a website or a WordPress blog, post our sales link on our Facebook profile, and then wait. We wait for our team to arrive. We wait for something to happen. And yet it doesn’t. What we get to keep is our defensive nature. We get to keep the belief that we hold dearest – that no matter what happens, we know that we are true artists and we never sold out. But is that true? Is it possible that we simply never tried? Perhaps we have been following ideals that don’t really exist.
It’s critical for creative people to get past this hurdle, possibly more critical than anything else. Once the “true artist” illusion is removed, we are free to REALLY be true artists and give our work the respect it deserves by promoting it far and wide. That is not to say that spamming your friends repeatedly on social networks is going to get you anywhere, but if you can think like a business owner it will help the discovery of your work.
Using relatively new technologies such as the Wildfire application (www.wildfireapp.com), anyone can campaign creatively and virally, gaining potentially thousands of new followers in the process. Micro-job websites like Fiverr.com and Freelancer.com are becoming more and more popular for good reason. You can get almost anything done if you know where to look, and that includes getting press in the form of interviews and reviews, hiring someone to edit your novel, securing advertising for your product, or even having someone produce a video of themselves dancing to your song. Different strokes for different folks.
Dozens of blogs in your niche are looking for people to interview. This is often called ‘unique content’, and if you pitch yourself offering this, you are far more likely to score press. It essentially means less work for the blog owner because you are providing the content. Article writing and guest blogging are other tactics that many have adopted in their promotion strategies. And if no one wants to cover you, start your own blog! Write content and make it popular. This can give you leverage when promoting to other blogs within your niche because you now have something to offer in terms of cross-promotion. Uploading original videos to a YouTube channel and joining YouTube’s partner program can give you both popularity and extra revenue.
These are but a few of the dozens of techniques available, and there are more options every day. You can never really even scratch the surface. Use your intuition when choosing, but it’s better to try everything than to try nothing. For those who can’t get over their aversion to promotion, I would suggest keeping your art strictly as a hobby, because when you make a habit of dipping your toe in the water only to stay on solid ground, it’s merely a fearful exercise and nothing more.
James Moore is a Canadian music promoter, author of the popular music marketing book “Your Band Is A Virus,” and owner of Independent Music Promotions (www.independentmusicpromotions.com). He is also a columnist on various independent music websites.
