If you’re in (or want to be in) business with you creativity, you’ll know that the rollercoaster ride of doing your creative work is just one part of the job. The heart and soul of it, yes. But not the whole of it.
Whatever your creative craft, service, or product, if you want to get paid to do what you love, you are going to need to find people who want, need or love what you do so much that they are willing to pay you for it. In business words, you are going to need to market, promote, network and sell.
The trouble is, for a creative soul like yourself, you have a highly sensitive antennae to cringe-worthy marketing and promotional tactics. A part of your soul literally dies when you think about the next instagram trend, “working a room” or "selling yourself".
You want to get paid to do what you love but you don’t want to be that person. You can’t be that person. There must be another way?!
“She called because she felt uncomfortable promoting herself on the web. I knew what she meant. I’d rather get three root canals in one day than do the kind of hard-sell promotion many marketers advise. Much of it just makes my stomach hurt. But there’s another way. If you trust that you have something of value to offer you 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 to tell people as an act of love. In fact. If you have something that can benefit them, it can even be misguided selfishness to 𝒏𝒐𝒕 share.” [Tosha Silver]
There is another way, thank god! One that's full of integrity. That has you using your creativity, as opposed to confining it exclusively to your craft. One that actually feels real and meaningful. And that stands the test of time over any new marketing trend or networking event.
My clients and I don't - "work a room", "cold call" or “blanket email”. We don’t apologise for the fact that we have something valuable to offer. We don’t take up someone’s time by waffling aimlessly on and on. We don’t send a statistic (aka a human being) down a marketing “funnel” just because some guru told us we should. We don’t obsess over instagram reels. And we don’t “sell” ourselves or our work to people.
Just like you, we care about what we do and how we do it.
We have something valuable to offer. So we communicate the value of our work. Then people decide that they want or need it. And in exchange for the value we provide, we receive some value in return. Money. That's business in a nutshell.
Business starts with understanding the value of what is being offered.
So, what do you do?
I'm not talking about your job title or to do list. I'm talking about the essence of what you do underneath all of that jargon. What are you really doing?
Do you move people to tears? Make people laugh? Transport someone to place in their imagination they never knew existed before? Do your students arrive stressed and anxious and leave calm and connected? Do you make things that save people money or time? Do you teach or educate people on something they really care about? Do you bring out the best in people? Do you add beauty to someone’s day?
So, now we know what you really do, tell me why it's of value?
This can be tricky to grasp and articulate at first. It's hard to step outside of it when we are so intertwined within in. Take the time to really think about this. How does it benefit someone? Why is this important to them? Dig deep. Keep asking, "Why?", "But why?" Surprise yourself with how much there is to say!
Make it your business to understand and believe in the value of what you do. Because if you don’t, how can you expect someone else to?
You don’t need to stop world famine or cure cancer to still be of immense value to this world. Your work will be meaningful in its own unique way.
Make it your business to share your value with real people in the real world. The in's and out's of how you do this is going to depend on who you are - your personality, your unique value, your communication style, what your work is and what your intention is. Every single client of mine does it differently. But we all start with the magic ingredient - believing in the value of the work we do.
Instead of “marketing” and “promoting”, why not share something of real value with people who might really want, need or love it? Forget about “networking”, focus on building genuine and authentic relationships based on understanding one another’s values. Don’t “find people who will pay”, connect with people who value the work you do and offer meaningful ways for them to experience it. No selling necessary.
“Selling” is what a door to door sales person does. Why knock on every door on the street when you can have one intentional conversation or interaction that organically leads to your next paycheque, for example?
"The ego wants quantity but the soul wants quality"
Creative, sustainable and impactful "marketing" and "networking" flows out of the very heart and soul of your creative work. It’s not a separate department that sits over there. It’s a natural extension and sharing of the very thing you love.
When you think about it like that, it doesn't really feel like marketing at all, does it?
You're a class act. Your work could imprint itself on someones soul for the rest of their life. Or bring a touch of magic to someone's otherwise mundane day.
People want and need what you have to offer. They want to know more, hear more, see more, learn more and experience more of what you've got. Don't keep the good stuff all to yourself now. Share the love. Give value. Receive value.