I love hanging out with my artist and creator friends. They have a passion for life and get more done in a day than most get done in a week.
The problem is that most of us are scrambling to promote ourselves at any cost. Buy my art. Support my work. Here's a coupon. Act now! Going fast! We are desperate to make a living or just support our coffee habit. Sadly, we have it backwards.
I see so many amazing promotional ideas that are just too early. More often than not, these tricks fail to generate any real revenue, or worse, backfire and cost the artist a subscriber.
This is because we can't see the forest through the trees. We would be far better served if we took better stock of the size and health of the communities we are a part of.
Promotion's won't create a rabidly passionate community that desires to support us and our work. Shouting offers ad nauseam is only going to cost us what few supporters we do have.
That's why I like the investing metaphor. I'm investing in building a tribe that values me as much as I value them. When this tribe is large enough, marketing will become something I don't have to think about that much. My job is simply to feed my community and allow them to support me and my work in exchange.
This is not a new concept. The world is full of people who have invested years in building a community that now supports them and their work. These people don't spend a lot of time thinking about promotions and marketing. They spend their time considering how to bring value to their tribe.
Brooke Shaden
Joanna Penn
David duChemin
So why isn't everyone doing this? Because it's insanely hard work. What can I do today to be of service to my tribe? The list of To Do items explodes and there aren't enough hours to get it all done.
We want a pill. A blueprint that we can just duplicate for great results. So we look to the successful artists and entrepreneurs. The problem comes when we try to copy what they are doing. First, this may not be our way. But the real problem is that they have spent years building value with their tribe. What works for them with 500,000 avid supports is likely to backfire when tried with a not so interested 1,000 followers.
You don't have to take my word for it.
Here's what Brooke Shaden says when asked how to get followers.
And David duChemin on how being of service to others is what really matters.
Flip things around. Focus on being of service and let the promotions rest until there are people worth marketing to. Something tells me you won't have to think about promotions when you've built a tribe in the hundreds of thousands.
Looking for more like this?
Check out my Creators 2.0 ebook. Sign up to receive your free copy!
Or my Building a Community that Supports us video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdkPEr5nvbM
