Why Shameless Self Promotion Should Be Shameless
A Written Seminar on Growing Your Brand
Read this as a lecture. In my mind that's what it is. A lecture to help you understand what I understand about marketing and what tools to use as a small business owner of any kind.
I might mention that this is mostly in terms of people I know to be artists but this applies to lots of people I know in small business as well.
Really quick. Show of hands how many of you consider yourself artists? Artist being defined as someone who can do something in a creative field that usually requires a certain amount of practice and understanding in a craft? Ok now how many of you have ever… and I mean EVER put a product that you thought was “unfinished.” Exactly. Not a single one of you. You know why that is? Because it's art. Art is a rough draft until it is finished. Once it is finished it is a work of art. Make sense? Still following? Now the next step after accepting that your work is worth the promotion is getting past that awful “it's not for everyone,” hump. How many of you don't have a niche in your art? Guess what? Me fuckin’ neither. I draw or paint or write what comes to mind and it is what it is. And here's what I used to think every time “they’re going to think it’s stupid,” got in the way. It is. My art is stupid. My art… is stupid. My art is so stupid that I think it’s stupid. And you know what? I stopped caring. I dont care that my dumb little doodles garter little to no attention. You know why? Because it’s not up to me to decide whether people are going to buy it or not. When was the last time someone told you not to buy something you wanted and you didn't buy it? Never right? That's because YOU had to want it! Believe me when I say people telling me not to buy stuff makes me want to buy it more. How many of you have been told your art is cool? And of those of you that just raised your hand how many of you replied with “eh.” Yea fuck you for doing that. You possess a skill that someone appreciates. Your “eh,” is a slap to your friend's face. You do good work. Unless you set out to do trash work. Dadaism does exist. If you’re unfamiliar, look it up. Its my favorite time period in art actually. Very punk rock.
Now then. Back to shameless self promotion. What is too much? What is going to work? What's a good way to get my feet in the water? Now I’m obviously not famous at the time of this imaginary seminar. Well… not SUPER famous. I did ironically get 1000 followers on Tik Tok to prove how easy it was to do. I did it in less than half a year. My point being I understand the fame algorithm. To put it into full effect it requires money I dont have at this time. However that doesn't mean I can't impart the knowledge i have to you folks.
Step one: tell your friends and family about your venture. If they don't know how is anyone going to know? Literally my first like… 6 art purchases were because my mom told her co-workers to buy them. Family and friends' support is crucial. Don’t be afraid to ask them to share your work. If they're actual friends and or family they're going to be ELATED to hit a share button once a week to help you out. In fact. If they’re not stoked to do so add me on the social media you found this post. Because I will be.
Step two: tell the internet. The internet is a wealth of information. Telling the internet (facebook groups, instagram posting, twitter feeds, snap stories, etc.) is such a powerful tool. Do you think any Youtuber made it big without social media? In fact it's basically a requirement of the game at this point. I learned from a Twitch streaming friend “skill gets you about 20% of the way to fame. 10% is a set streaming schedule. The other 70% is instagram, twitter, and facebook posting. You have to be good at social media to be good at streaming,”
Step three: network. Once you’ve told everyone who will listen, tell more people. Tell them what you're doing and tell them you’re looking for people with common interests. Business cards, Facebook groups, discord servers and conventions of any kind are KEY to displaying your brand and building it as well. Never underestimate who you know but never rely on making it that way.
Step four: involvement. Once you have a fan base of say, oh, 200 you need to start getting them involved in growing your brand. How many times on youtube have you heard “To thank all of you for your support I’m doing a giveaway.” This does 2 things. One the obvious. Allows your fan base to get rewarded for their continued support. Two and the vastly more important step it
Gives them an opportunity to “like, comment and share,” your content to people for a reward. When was the last time you said no to free?
I could go on and on. I have so much to impart. But to be honest I’m speculating a tad. All of these things could work. But I’m just handing out the tools. You have to use them. You have to want your goal otherwise you won't get it.
About the Creator
Jose Sanchez
Howdy! I’ve been writing for about 9 years now. Everything from plays to graphic novels to short stories to haiku’s about hating retail. Thanks for the support! Feel free to follow me on social media. Enjoy
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