“I hate marketing.”
I hear that a lot.
Of course when people say that they are also saying some version of the following . . .
I hate money or I hate when people come to see my work.
They are basically the same thing.
But the truth is you probably don’t hate marketing. You hate what you think marketing is all about.
You think it’s about forcing people to buy stuff they aren’t particular interested in. You think it’s about dumbing down the ideas around your work to make it accessible to the “masses.”
Yes, sometimes that all happens under the banner of marketing. But that’s not what marketing has to be.
It can be authentic. It can be a representation of your best self. It can be fun.
It can be all those things and still be effective.
In fact, given the abundance of choices people have in this world . . . your marketing probably HAS to be all those things now.
Don’t be distracted by the poor marketing choices others make. Most of them aren’t nearly as effective as you think and even the few that are don’t stay effective for long.
Treat your marketing like your art . . . because good marketing really is an art.
One immediate way you can make your marketing more authentic is to stop doing any marketing tactic you hate.
If you hate cold calling galleries to see if they will hang your stuff . . . stop calling them.
If you hate doing tiny newspaper ads to sell your shows because they are ineffective, then stop placing them.
If you hate the emails you are sending to your audience right now . . . stop emailing them or change your email content to something you like more.
“But Adam, I have to do those things.” you say.
No, you don’t.
You have to market. You have to make sure people are aware of what you’re doing. You don’t have to do things you hate.
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