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Marketing for Creative People.
Marketing is not my area of expertise , I’m a creative person, content maker, a writer and a filmmaker. So if you are looking for a very professional advice on marketing scroll down to where I suggest a few websites you may find useful.
However if you have a few spare minutes & would like to read how I see & use marketing from a creative person’s pov (point of view), that would be fantastic. Everything in this article is based on my own personal experiences & research.
You’ll probably hear all the time how you need to promote your film, your book, your art. You must create a profile on YouTube, FB, Twitter, Google+, Goodread, etc.
And the first thing coming to your head is OMG!!!
Just getting your head around every single site is an achievement, not to mention finding the time to successfully run all those profiles.
Besides, I’ve noticed that a lot of creative types (a lot of filmmakers at least) don’t network or don’t even have their own sites. I have also noticed that writers & artists, not to mention musicians are much better than filmmakers on this field). But seriously not having your own site is A HUGE MISTAKE!!!!!
There are a few ground rules you must remember:
1. You need time to build your audience. So don’t believe anyone who tells you that it’s only going to take five minutes a day to build your audience. It’s bullshit. The people who are at the top of the online world say it’s 20/80. 20% of your time you devote to creating your content & 80% of your time promoting it.
2. You need to have a proper outlet for your content. So set up either your own blog or website. Don’t rely only on external sites or sources. It always looks much more professional to have something more than a FB or Twitter account.
3. Take your time to create your website or blog. Don’t do it yourself if you don’t know how to build blogs or websites. There are so many fantastic designers & IT masters’ out there, use them to help make your site stand out from the crowd.
4. Be clear on what kind of content you are going to provide. You need to get people to your site & keep them there, or at least coming back for more. So having two profile pics & an About me section may probably not be enough. I myself have films, filmmaking articles, short stories, kids books & children parents activities.
5. Think about your audience. Who your audience is & who would you like to target to get to your website, blog (more about building your audience in another blog). You don’t have to know your audience right away. It will take time before you realise who that is. However, keep this in mind while networking on external platforms & building your site/blog.
6. Nobody will promote your work as well as you do. So don’t wait for anyone else to do it for you. I have been there & waited & waited &... nothing happened. Just wasted my time. Now, you have to put your creative side on hold for a while as you won’t be able to spend as much time on creating as you would like to.
7. Decide what it is you really want to do. Is it to build an audience for your existing work or for your new feature film, or perhaps for your new book? You need to be very clear in your own mind what you are trying to gain the audience for. It will help you communicate with them better.
8. If I were you, I would start building your audience way before you even start writing your film or book. This way you will not only be able to get a support system but possible fans who can then help you build your following.
9. For 99% of us, indie content creators, a miracle won’t happen & suddenly a fairy from a huge studio will not appear with a stack of money offering to invest in your next project or a publisher will not decide that you are the next best thing. You have to do most of the work yourself. So, start as soon as you can.
10. Decide on which networking platforms you want to be on & which of them is the best for you. Over the years I have been present on loads of platforms starting with MySpace, which never worked for me, through StumbleUpon, which I found a bit bizarre, through FB & to Twitter. I’ve never really been present on YouTube. I suppose as a filmmaker I could never get my head around the horrible quality of films & mostly crap that you find there. FB was quite ok for me however I could never build an audience there ‘cos most people were treating FB as personal sites. At some point I started getting so many ridiculous requests that had to slow down. At the moment I’m striking Twitter & I love it. The site is easy to connect with like-minded people & to build your followers quite quickly.
11. If you are building your audience on any networking platform you have to think carefully about what kind of message you want to give out there. You can’t just start hardselling ‘cos it’s not going to work. Offer something valuable to your potential followers such as: your expertise, knowledge, help, etc. You need to give people a reason to follow you or to become friends with you.
12. Don’t choose too many networking platforms as you won’t have the time to focus properly on all of them. I would suggest two or three, not more.
13. Find people in your industry who are influential & could give you a review on your work. That would be most helpful for building your credibility.
14. Ask your friends to review your book or film or any kind of art work. Getting reviews is a fantastic feeling.
15. Give yourself time. Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither will your followers or fans be gathered in a day or a month.
16. The most important thing is to have a clear goal/idea about why you are doing all of this.
17. Don’t give up after a month or a week. Everything takes time & it will take time for your blog/site to pick up, too. So be patient.
18. Try to get as many followers from your external networking site to your blog or site & try to get them to join your newsletter. This way you will have direct contact with your fans.
19. Read books or websites on marketing. However, you don’t need to be an expert on marketing to start working on building your followers/fans. You will learn a lot along the way.
20. Create content on your blog/site/networking site that people will want to talk about.
21. Most general marketing rules apply to arts as well.
Websites I recommend to check out:
http://www.pammarketingnut.com/
http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/
PS. Thank you so much for reading the blog. Please consider leaving a comment :) Thank you.