Arnold Schwarzenegger has this piece of advice on marketing in just 4 words.
Work Hard and Advertise.
In my 12 point manifesto on how to be an artist, the second point is to Advertise. And by that I mean telling people about the hard work you’ve been doing. If you haven’t been doing the hard work then there’s nothing to advertise really.
And what is the hard work of an artist? It’s doing a lot of work and showing some of it, because only some of it will be good. The secret of good, is making a lot of work but not showing the bad work.
So I suppose the artist version of this is something like
“The secret to creative work is to make a lot and publish a little. Don’t underestimate the power of giving yourself permission to create junk. Most of what you create will be mediocre or bad.
But that’s okay. You only have to show the good stuff. Make 100 things discard 90, share the 10 best. Create, create, create. Edit, edit, edit.”
— James Clear
Further along the manifesto there is a piece called ‘take time’. And I think I need to sequence that piece before this piece. You need to take the time to allow yourself to just work.
Mistakes I’ve made advertising myself as an artist.
Working hard and not advertising
Not working hard and advertising
Sharing everything I’ve made
Not allowing myself to create work that might be junk.
TEN MINUTE ARTIST PROMPT
Allow yourself to make something that might be junk
Draw a box to designate the boundaries, literally giving yourself a space, you don’t have to share it unless it’s good, and if it’s bad that doesn’t mean you’re bad, it means you’re good for allowing yourself to do it.
This is a great reminder that not everything has to be good. Creating a lot of junk and showing the one or two treasures that come from the pile.
Embrace the mess is what I say! Yes. Funny thing is that some people love what I call junk. Others couldn’t care less for what I deem beautiful. 🤩