Conquering the Marketing Demon
When faced with the daunting task of generating business, which of the following excuses would you use to get out of marketing?
⎯ I’d rather stick pins in my eyes than make cold calls.
⎯ I just don’t know where to begin.
⎯ I’m so busy that I don’t have to worry about recruiting new clients.
⎯ None of the above. I look at knowing my audience and promotion as the key to building my business and managing my workload.
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If you answered A, B, or C, you’re not alone. There are many days I have felt the same way. Although all of us may be perfectly capable of selling, we are surprisingly stymied when it comes to selling ourselves. Why? Lack of confidence and focus.
As you read in Visual Ambassador, we have spent months traveling, making contacts, and asking clients valuable questions about their art buying desires and seeing first hand the daily environment they work in. Why? To build client confidence and show them that we care and are always striving to have superior knowledge of the market
Not only have these contacts planted seeds for the future, but we also found a number of interesting turn-around points that creatives seem to be questioning. As you know, we are in an extreme marketplace characterized by a surging demand for more, better, smarter, faster…with a supply chain positioned to provide it. Talking with the designers and art directors, it seems that the client’s demand of stock photography is up and art is being considered less and less. But an article in Graphic Design USA summed up what Scott Hull Associates have found the art buyers asking, “What if my competitor uses the same image? How can I find the right image in so much material? What about the integrity of my design if stock shapes my solutions?”
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The designers are concerned that the intangible aspect of their craft, the soul of it so to speak, is being lost. Not so much by the use of stock visuals, per se, but by the demands of clients and technology to move faster, ever faster.
So then how can we take advantage of these questions and dilemmas? With confidence, by educating the buyer about our value and focus on the client’s desires. What else can you do? Market in a way that forges healthy relationships with clients who respect your work and worth. Marketing doesn’t just bring in more work; it helps you do more of the work you love. “Marketing is about becoming less busy and making more money”, according to David Baker of ReCourse Inc.
When you present your work, the product of your effort, creativity, and passion, to a new client, you open yourself to the possibility of rejection. In Jim Collin’s new book Built to Last he says, “set a BHAG (big, hairy, audacious goal) and view the marketing effort as a path toward that goal. If you look at the big picture and get excited, the other stuff takes care of itself. If you’re excited about your business, then your commitment level totally changes.”
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Your enthusiasm and creativity can help overcome the threat of rejection for potential clients. And the strategic thinking we have tapped into from our future clients applies to your own efforts as well. Start marketing with an end date and work backward. Schedule it just like you’d schedule a client project.
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You may fear marketing, you may lack focus with your product, or you may think you’re so good you don’t need promotion. But there could be another reason for avoiding promotion or marketing. People don’t market because they think it’s about getting more stuff to do, and they already have enough stuff to do. An Artist who isn’t busy believes that marketing is important. But most artists get busy, so they figure that it isn’t important. Marketing is about the kind of work you do, not how much work you do. Our industry has hit the bottom and now we have a chance to turn around. Now we have to take on the daunting task of promoting your enthusiasm and creativity, together.
