“Marketing” is an intimidating word for many visual artists. Marketing probably finishes in a close 2nd behind “selling” as one of the least favored pastimes for any painter, sculpter, or potter.
In all honesty, “anything” that draws creatives away from their artistic process is often viewed as utterly contemptible. Am I exaggerating? Perhaps, but perhaps not…
There are other artists who view marketing and selling as necessary evils in today’s economy. Although they don’t like this aspect of the art business very much, they know that they have to embrace marketing to succeed.
When there is such tension and distain for the process of marketing and selling, it is little wonder that many creatives do such a bad job when it comes to promoting themselves and their work . It’s difficult to perform any task well when you do not really care for it or enjoy it.
Unfortunately, although an artist may be creating amazingly crafted, simply incredible works of art, without a successful marketing and sales strategy, their bank balance will nearly always suffers.
I want to break from the rhythm of this post and ask you a few really unusual questions… (go with me)…
- Have you ever disliked a person immensely even though you did not really know them at all? Perhaps there was just something about them that simply pulled your chain and rubbed you up the wrong way. Or perhaps you make a superficial judgement about that person and their inherent lack of value to your world.
- Have you ever been wrong about a person that you’ve chosen to dislike? Have you ever found that once you got to know them you actually loved them? Did you find that once you got them into a different and perhaps more relaxing environment, that your walls came down and you got to see them from a different perspective?
- What if “Marketing” was actually a person who you disliked immeasurably upon first impression?
Perception is everything, we don’t like someone not necessarily because of who they are BUT more probably because of who we think they are.
I think you may hate marketing because your perception of him is quite possibly wrong. Let me be honest with you
I would dislike Marketing too if…
- He stole me away from my artistic process (the one I love) and affected the quality of my work(life).
- He forced me against my will to be false, to be untruthful, to lie or to exaggerate.
- I would not enjoy his company if we were completely incompatible and our hearts spoke a completely different language.
- I would hate spending time with Marketing if he always left me feeling inadequate and insecure.
Many of the artists we work with come to us with a terrible perception of Marketing, it’s a necessary evil at best, a terrible enemy to their sacred artistic process at worst. The truth is, if that was how I believed “Marketing” to be, I wouldn’t want to spend anytime with him either AND yet I do this job for a living.
Fortunately “my friend” Marketing is not as you imagine him to be.
I actually believe that it’s time you got to know who Marketing really is, you’ve been giving him a bad rap for far too long! He is actually a good person and he wants to be your friend. His genuine desire is not to steal from you BUT to give to you. Will you lay down objections and give him one more chance?
Let me tell you about my friend Marketing…
- Marketing is artistic and he is very creative. He very much hates it when people misquote him and misrepresent him as boring, manipulative or just one big giant time suck.
- Marketing does not wish to steal from your artistry, he wants to give to it. He wants to tell you about your audience — deep, wonderful, mysterious things that will both inform your art and move you to an even richer, deeper, creative space.
- Marketing speaks your language and he listens well, but he needs to know you extremely well before he can speak on your behalf.
- Marketing actually desires to marry your daughter “Artistry,” he thinks she is lovely and he desires to be one with her. Together they wish to have many children, that travel the world forming meaningful friendships with people everywhere.
In Conclusion:
Perhaps your distain for Marketing is holding you back from the magnificent fruition of your dreams. Unless you give him a chance and become his friend you may never fully realize the joy of having your artwork provide for yourself and your family in a meaningful way.
He isn’t different and he isn’t weird, he simply expresses himself through painting on a different kind of canvas.
You can trust my friend Marketing. Please let him marry your daughter Artistry and you will have beautiful grandchildren for years to come!
Guest author: Geoff Talbot is a popular guest blogger here and the creator of, Seven Sentences
* Thanks for visiting FineArtTips.com. You can see my art on my website, LoriMcNee.com, and let’s meet on Facebook Fine Art Tips Facebook Fan Page, on Twitter, Google Plus and on Pinterest. Be sure and check out and my fine art prints and notecards on Fine Art America.! ~Lori
