Time to Market… really?

One of the main challenges of trying to fit marketing into an artist’s busy life is this overwhelming sense that it’s just all too much. I know because I struggle with this story too.

And, I have to remind myself that it is just a “story,” and as long as I keep telling myself the same plot over and over, that’s exactly where… I’m also telling my brain to stay focused.

Waverly’s, one of my presenters in 2008, offered all the artists who had registered for my 2nd annual art career conference, this bite-sized list approach can turn this story around. See what you think.

A Season For Marketing

by Waverly Fitzgerald

Throughout May of 2007 I kept putting off doing my marketing (I was in the throes of a creative project) and felt dissatisfied because I could not point to any publications at the end of the previous year.

Then I was talking to a fellow writer and writing teacher, Priscilla Long, and she told me that her goal was to send out a submission a day.

She’s a poet, as well as an essayist, and has built up quite a body of work. Sending a poem a day to a literary journal (there are hundreds of them) seemed easier to accomplish than my marketing efforts, for instance, querying a magazine editor about an article or sending out a book proposal. But Priscilla’s commitment inspired me to adopt a more regular approach to marketing.

Now my goal is to do a submission weekly. I began a list of possible marketing efforts, which includes everything from creating a Listmania on Amazon, featuring books on time, to sending a query to Real Simple for an article on organic time management, to writing a guest blog for Ariane (Ok, that wasn’t on my list but it counts).

The list has been helpful in many ways. Once a week, I look it over and choose the task that seems easiest to accomplish, given my current energy and other commitments.

Whenever I come up with a new idea, I add it to the list. There are more than 52 ideas on my list at present, enough to keep me busy all year.  I also use the list as a checklist, marking off the tasks I complete.

I’m not really strict about my weekly deadline but when I miss a week, I try to catch up. Counting up my checkmarks as I reviewed my list for this article, I see I completed 12 tasks by the end of March.

It amazes me that I was able to meet my goal so easily and with so little stress. I also notice that I’ve received three rejections, but these don’t seem as painful as they would have in the past, because I know I have other irons in the fire.

I can also look at my list and see that there are many more opportunities to explore.

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As an artist, what kind of lists have you used? Have these worked for you? Why? Why not?

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It’s not to late to get on my Early Notification List for the 4th annual smARTist Telesummit 2010–with 11 more art career experts working hard to bring you the best ways to move your career forward!