K Cobb Marketing

The Reluctant Creative

Two of the people in my life I love the most are creatives. My husband David is a world-class photographer with a genius for producing spectacular images. This man will think through all the logistics for putting together the perfect landscape image--calculating everything from the right day of the year to get the slant of the sun just so, to the date when the tree at the left of the frame will be in bloom. On the flip side, he can have a photo assignment set for a particular day and time that is out of his control, and with only one stab at getting it right he'll come back with a superb photo. He gives sold-out workshops, has won awards of worldwide recognition, and just published a spectacular book that is getting rave reviews.

My sister Jill Kelly is both a writer and a painter. She has published a memoir (for which she was nominated for an Oregon Book Award), a self-help book on creativity, and two novels. She has sold her art as well--art which graces the covers of her books and the walls of the homes of collectors. And she gets asked to give presentations all over the country about creativity.

Both of these amazing people are what I call reluctant creatives. By that I mean they don't quite believe they are creative talents. They pursue their artistic endeavors (and have for some time) and make money doing so, but they don't seem to believe deep down that they are the artists the rest of us know them to be. This in turn makes them reluctant marketers. Getting these people who can so clearly see their artistic strategy to think about a marketing strategy is like pulling teeth. 

Marketing is best when done with conviction--when you believe in what you market, your success rate soars. (Sure, marketing can be a pain and it can be time-consuming, and most creatives would rather be doing their art than marketing their art. But this is different.) I'm talking about the avoidance of promoting yourself and your art because you don't quite believe in receiving that kind of attention--not in a real-world, adult job, pull-up-your-big-boy pants kind of way. 

This, of course, is ridiculous. People who want to make money from their art have a legitimate need to market--just like all businesses do. If you don't market, how will you make a living from your art? And marketing is creative, so it can be a natural for artists--especially now that we have social media platforms which are highly visual, creative, engaging, and even fun. (Oh, and they are free too.)

So for all you reluctant creatives, I hereby give you permission to market yourselves. Use that right brain to find creative ways to tell the world about what you do, and to express your creativity through promotion. 

If you need a left-brain person to help get you started, email me at kcobb@kcobbmarketing.com or call me at 503-863-8282. 

Kerry Cobb

K. Cobb Marketing