Marketers over Artists?
Do you feel like sometimes you spend more time communicate and do your own craft? You are not alone :)
Hello my friends,
After 2 weeks holidays with the family, I am back on track this week and today I wanted to write about a very very complicated subject, one we, as artists, designers or creators, are confronted every day: social medias.
Few days ago, I came across that Vox post thanks to Elliot and I thought it would be useful and important to have as discussion about it here. I will try to be as short as possible and there might be other posts on the subjects. But, in substance, the post says we are marketers over artists. And this is true.
Today, this is very difficult to live from your Art if you are not on social medias. To me, the only 2 true alternatives are network and local clients.
I think this is great to be able to share your Art with the world and get potentially clients for all over the world. If I am here with you today, this is because social medias gave me the opportunity to make money from selling my skills or products to everyone in the world. This is a dream to me.
But that was not easy, and it is still not easy. It can be overwhelming, stressful and lead to a burnout. I have ups and downs. I can actually say that right now it is more a down than an up, as I don’t make enough money with my prints/fonts. So yes, right now I spend more time communicating than actually do new stuff. And that is very frustrating.
In my situation, I think that communication and marketing are over 50% of my working time. Also, most of my communication goes through this newsletter and Instagram. Instagram… The social media which decides if it wants to show your work to the world or not. The social media that changes rules every time, asking you to do more and more entertainment so people stay on their platform.
But what about you?
This is a huge question. I always try to focus on my craft and communicate around it. No bullshit. But it is never easy. I must say I am pretty lucky and privileged because Instagram seems to like my content. I don’t really know why but right now it gives me visibility.
But it was not always the case. And when you realise that the platform does not like you anymore, you stress. I see SO many people online complaining on engagement.
That is why I developed that newsletter a big year ago. To spend more time writing to people who are here because they are interested in what I have to say/share/offer. Oh, it is still not perfect. Open rate for my newsletters are around 55%. Which means 45% of people who have subscribed to my newsletter don’t even open it. And there are many reasons to that.
But, yes, we have to be visible. So we need to communicate.
I think marketing and communication are part of our job. It always was. And it will always be. But right now, it feels like it takes a too big part of our time. As I say above and points out the Vox post: we might be more entertainers than artists.
In the article mentioned above again, the author writes about the fact that now, everything is about personal branding. Even if you are not a creator. Everyone on social medias has a kind of personal brand.
Sometimes I envy friends who don’t have social medias accounts. They live offline. The internet is a great space, I owe it A LOOOOT. But it is also a huge hole in which your mental health can easily fall.
So what are the alternatives again?
Above, I talked about networking and working locally. And here each case will be different depending on where you live for example.
Networking: when I was a web designer I did not have a website, just a blog. That blog brought me clients, who brought me a network and for nearly 10 years, I got work mostly from that network. No need to communicate. I never shared anything on social medias.
When I started lettering, it was different. I did not have that network anymore and every lettering artist was on Instagram and Dribbble. This is where I started the path where I am today. But I have never felt like I have a network around me/my work.
Working locally: this is also tricky because some of us live in a big city and others live in the countryside. Some even live in poor countries. So every situation will be different.
Oncle John, a good friend of mine, is Sign Painter. This makes totally sense to be active locally for him. He can go to shops and offer them his services. He is a craftsman. For me it is different, I could design logos locally, I might do posters for festivals. But would it be enough? Living in New York, Paris or London would be different too.
I could develop my “murals” activity. THAT would be different for sure. You see, each activity is different and we don’t live in the same area, so each situation is different.
But maybe the best idea is a mix of everything. In my head, there is a plan where I move back to my family village, at the sea coast and I would open a “real” shop/boutique, where I would print, do my lettering work, organise workshops, exhibitions. I would also love to sell some indie mags/books and even have a corner where people can sit, have a coffee and relax.
Would it be enough to survive? I really don’t know. This might be just a dream, but it would be more “offline” for sure and I would not mind. Having a shop where I could meet people, share my work, love for analog, prints, type and outdoors.
Oh well…
This is it for today on the subject. Don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts in the comment section and let’s start a discussion around that.
Also, don’t hesitate to share the post if you feel it is worth it :)
Let’s finish with some inspiration :)
Because even we have plenty to complain about searching inspiration on social medias, it is still a really good place for that :)
First, I am a big fan of that logo. Each time I see it, I fall in love again :) Check out the artist (not sure)!
Also, here is another great work from Sebastian Abboud,
And to finish today’s selection, check out the great work of Adam Higton, his illustration and type are so cool!!!
Have a nice weekend and see you next week with a new screen print!!!
Take care,
Francis
This resonates deeply with me. I've never had to rely on social media before - like you, when I was working in web design and development, I had a tight network, and later a community. Word of mouth and reputation were sufficient to keep the freelance jobs coming. Now, I'm in the middle of a career change. I have no network in my new field, no community. I spend a lot of time on social - in part for inspiration, in part observing how other people doing what I want to do are using these tools to gain visibility and build an audience. It's daunting. After over 25 years in tech, I want to create the old fashioned way, but I wonder, can I make it without also then going back to digital and spending this significant amount of time that you highlight just trying to get noticed?
For now, I'm trying not to let it deter me. I'm early in my journey and focusing on the work. I remain optimistic that I will figure out what works best for me. You have always been a source of inspiration to me, Francis, merci ! And thank you for tackling this important topic.