Marketing Your Art the Right Way

Selling Art, Not Selling Out

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Michael Zaytsev on Mindsets, Coaching, and Starting His Own Venture in High NY – Cracking Creativity Episode 33

Michael Zaytsev is a life coach and founder of High NY. Before taking on his current roles, he was a financial analyst for J.P. Morgan and a sales rep for Google. In this episode, Michael talks about lessons he learned at J.P. Morgan and Google, why coaching is important, and why he took up the mantle at High NY.

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Tam Pham on Getting Over Your Doubts, the Importance of Mentors, and the Best Way to Network – Cracking Creativity Episode 32

Tam Pham is an author, speaker, podcaster, and teacher. He has spoken to high school students on networking and entrepreneurship and wrote a best-selling Amazon book How To Network: Build Instant Trust & Respect With Anyone You Meet. In this episode, Tam talks about the getting over your doubts,  the importance of mentors, and the key to networking.

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Colin McCann on Productivity, Taking on an Ambitious Project, and the Power of Beliefs – Cracking Creativity Episode 31

Colin McCann is a web developer who is trying to revolutionize the way we view productivity. In this episode Colin talks about his take on productivity and how he approaches his goals, taking on such an ambitious project, and how beliefs can have a huge impact on self-improvement.

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“Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” – W.B. Yeats Quote Art

“Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” – W.B. Yeats

Print available on Storenvy.

For a long time, I believed in the myth of sudden and instantaneous inspiration. I believed that an apple would hit me while sitting under a tree. I believed that lightning would strike my key while flying a kite in a storm. I believed that a tiny lightbulb would appear above my head when I had an insight.

The biggest myth about creativity is that you will have these moments of clarity. That you don’t have to do any work for inspiration to strike. That you just have to wait for the muse to descend upon you.

If you want great ideas to come to you, you must seek them first. Click To Tweet

What I’ve learned through a lot of reading, some interviews, and a lot of effort is inspiration doesn’t work like that. If you want great ideas to come to you, you must seek them first.

Creativity is a muscle, just like any other muscle. You must put it to use or it will atrophy. If you want to be creative, you must follow the stages of creativity.

According to psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman, creativity comes in four basic stages.

Preparation

In order to come up with new solutions, you have to first learn a lot about the subject you are tackling. This is the information gathering stage.

Incubation

Then, you must walk away. This is the stage many people neglect. They pour over the problem until they can’t think anymore. But, you must let your mind wander if you want it to come up with a creative solution.

Illumination

This is the spark of inspiration many of us have been looking for. It is that moment when all those ideas you were exploring come together and finally make sense.

Verification

Most people will stop once they have that eureka moment, but creativity doesn’t end there. Your idea must be put into action. Anyone can have a good idea, but true creativity is harnessing your ideas and putting them to use.

Far too many people wait for the right moment before they take action Click To Tweet

Far too many people wait for the right moment before they take action. They want the benefits of success without the work required to achieve it. Luckily for you, you now know better.

If you want to find success for your art, you have to do the work Click To Tweet

If you want good ideas to come to you, you must seek them. If you want to find success for your art, you have to do the work.

Taking action is the only way to make your dreams come true. Don’t wait around for someone or something to give you an opportunity. Make your own opportunities.

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Kim Nicol on Her Journey into Mindfulness, How Mindfulness Helps High Powered People, and the Many Ways She Teaches – Cracking Creativity Episode 29

Kim Nicol teaches meditations and mindfulness and has helped thousands of people find calm in everyday moments. In this episode Kim talks about how she went from marketing, to being a lawyer, to becoming a mindfulness and meditations teacher. She also talks about how to relate to others and the many different ways she helps bring mindfulness into people’s everyday lives.

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“You can’t TRY to do things, you must simply DO them.” – Ray Bradbury Quote Art

“You can’t TRY to do things, you must simply DO them.” – Ray Bradbury

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Have you ever caught yourself thinking any of these things?

“I want to try social media, but I don’t know the first thing about it.”

“I know I should build a website, but it’s just so hard.”

“How in the world am I supposed to build an email list? It sounds like a lot of work.”

You’ve attempted to build your art business, but you just can’t seem to get it right. You’ve dabbled with so many different strategies, but nothing seems to work. Why is that?

It’s because you spend too much time trying and not enough time doing. What does that even mean?

Stop testing things out for a week and giving up when things don't go right. Click To Tweet

It means you give up too easily. Stop testing things out for a week and giving up when things don’t go right. Most things won’t work right away. Everything takes time. You have to experiment and see what works.

Stop making excuses for why you haven't succeeded. Click To Tweet

It means you often hold yourself back. Stop making excuses for why you haven’t succeeded. Figure out what the problem is and tackle it head on. If there are obstacles in your way, find a way around them.

Success and notoriety are the result of, hard, deliberate work. Click To Tweet

It means stop hoping for success. Instead of hoping and praying for people to discover you, seek people out. Being discovered is a myth. Success and notoriety are the result of, hard, deliberate work.

If you want to do something, then do it. Be intentional with everything you do and take accountability for yourself.

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Photo by Igor Trepeshchenok Barn Images

Cracking Creativity Episode 28: Mike Roy on the Common Myths Artist Believe, How to Overcome Those Beliefs, and Finding the Perfect Niche for Your Creative Business

Mike Roy is the creator of Artist Myth, a site dedicated to helping artists overcome the things that hold them back. In this episode, Mike talks about the common myths artists believe, what people can do to overcome those myths, and how to find work you love.

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“The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all.” – Richard Branson Quote Art

“The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all.” – Richard Branson

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When you look back on your life, will you be happy with what you see?

If you want to leave a lasting impact, you have to be willing to take chances. Click To Tweet

If you want to leave a lasting impact, you have to be willing to take chances. Otherwise, you will look back in disappointment.

Look at the world’s most memorable people. Do you think they were cautious?

What would the world be like if our forefathers didn’t fight for our freedoms? What would life be like if Guttenberg hand’t taken a chance and built a printing press? What if Edison decided building a more efficient light bulb wasn’t worth the effort?

We must be brave if we want to achieve our dreams. Click To Tweet

We must be brave if we want to achieve our dreams. Cautious people accept their fate and life. There is nothing wrong with the cautious life. Just don’t expect things to happen to you. You have to seek them for yourself.

If you want to make a living from your art, you must be intentional about it. If you want people to recognize you for your gifts, you can’t just create and expect people to find you.

I’m not saying it will be an easy or short journey. It is scary putting yourself and your work on the line.

We fear rejection. We fear our work won’t be good enough. We fear failure.

People have fought and died for what they believe in. Is putting your art out there really that scary?

Make your life worth looking back on. Click To Tweet

Living the life of your dreams takes bravery. Stop being so cautious. Make your life worth looking back on.

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Photo by Ghislain Mary

“Creativity takes courage.” – Henri Matisse Quote Art

“Creativity takes courage.” – Henri Matisse

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Whether you’ve been creative your entire life, or you are just now exploring it, one thing is true. Creativity takes courage.

As creatives, we spend our whole lives fighting against the system. Our parents tells us to stop drawing on the walls. Our teachers gave us bad grades because we didn’t do their assignment the “right” way. Our bosses are dead set in their ways.

Each day we live within the confines of the establishment. Most of us fall right in line. We feel stifled and held back by the people around us, but it doesn’t have to be this way.

We can choose to be courageous. We can take the unbeaten path Click To Tweet

We can choose to be courageous. We can take the unbeaten path. We can take risks without knowing how things will turn out.

Most of us choose to accept the status quo, but there are many people out there who have created their own way. Here are a few of the people I look to while trying to form my own path:

Tim Ferriss

Tim is one of the best known examples of someone who doesn’t let people dictate his life. He built and sold his own company after deciding he could maximize his time and delegate his work.

He has written multiple best-selling books including his seminal work The Four Hour Workweek, he has one of the top ranked podcasts on iTunes, and he is also an angel investor.

Tim has built a massive following around the idea of doing maximizing your efforts to get the greatest results and has inspired many people to do the same.

Lewis Howes

Lewis was fulfilling his dream as a professional football player until an injury ended his playing career. This injury devastated him. He was broken and living on his sister’s couch.

At that moment, he could have felt sorry for himself and accepted his place in the world. Many people would. Instead he embarked on a new path.

Since that moment, he has built multiple companies, he has created an extremely popular podcast, and he recently released his first traditionally published book about achieving greatness.

In that moment of weakness, instead of giving up, he chose to seek greatness. Now he is helping people seek their greatness too.

Maria Popova

Maria is the wonderful mind behind one of the internet’s favorite blogs: Brain Pickings. While most blogs on the internet explore very specific topics, Brain Pickings features Maria’s thoughts on culture, books, and any topic that interests her.

Brain Pickings started as a weekly email to seven of her friends. Now it receives millions of visitors a month. She has built that following by exploring her own interests, and is able to sustain her blog through donations from her readers.

Although she could be making much more money through ads, she chooses to make money through affiliate links and donations from her readers. This allows her to work on things she enjoys instead of working on things that will make her money.

Srinivas Rao

Srinivas is the creative force behind one of my favorite podcasts: The Unmistakable Creative. This podcast features amazing interviews with everyone from artists to entrepreneurs to ex-cons.

Like many people, Srinivas thought he had to seek the traditional path to success. He went to business school and got a 9-5 job, but wasn’t fulfilled. So he hosted a podcast called BlogCast FM and gradually grew the podcast interview by interview. He then re-branded it into what it is today, the Unmistakable Creative. It is now one of the most popular podcasts for creatives.

Tina Roth Eisenberg aka swissmiss

Tina is one of the most popular designers on the internet. She came to the US from Switzerland and worked for several prominent NYC design firms.

In 2005, she started her popular blog, swissmiss, and ran her own design studio with clients including the Museum of Modern Art and Food Network. While building the studio she also started other side projects including Creative Mornings, TeuxDeux, and Tattly. These projects allowed her to drop all her clients to work on them full-time.

Chase Jarvis

While at San Diego State University, Chase had plans of going to medical school after graduating. A few weeks before graduation, his grandfather passed and left him all of his photography equipment.

Instead of going to school after graduating, he took a trip to Europe, where he discovered his passion for photography. While pursuing his Masters degree at the University of Washington, he licensed photos to REI, which allowed him to leave school and start up his own studio.

Since then, Chase has photographed for clients like Nike, Apple, Miscrosoft, REI, and Lady Gaga. He also launched CreativeLive which offers free classes for people who want to learn photography, design, and other creative topics, and hosts interviews with creatives on Chase Jarvis Live.

Be courageous and let your creativity guide you Click To Tweet

Most of us believe we can’t pursue our creative dreams. We lack the conviction to step out of our comfort zones and do the thing we love most. Instead of letting your preconceived notions stop you, let them go. Be courageous and let your creativity guide you.

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Photo by Mike Kniec

“Get busy living or get busy dying.” – Stephen King Quote Art

“Get busy living or get busy dying.” – Stephen King

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We live most of our lives in fear. We are afraid to be alone. We are afraid of trying new things. Most of all, we are afraid of failure. This single fear prevents many of us from doing the things we want to do.

The question is not whether we have fear, the question is why. While I don’t claim to know why anyone else has fear, I do know why I am afraid.

I am afraid that I am not enough. I am afraid of other people’s judgments. I am afraid that I will fail.

When we are afraid, we don't take action. Click To Tweet

Fear is a powerful de-motivator. When we are afraid, we don’t take action. We stay inside our comfort zone. We are trapped in a bubble.

While our fears will never go away, we can acknowledge them and let them go. If we let fear win, we have given in to death. In the words immortalized by Drake, “You only live once.”

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.”
H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Nothing in life is guaranteed. We should be grateful every day we wake up. It can all disappear so quickly. No one knows what comes after death, so we should spend our time living in the now instead of some distant future.

If you are waiting for permission to live your life, here it is. Click To Tweet

If you are waiting for permission to live your life, here it is. That doesn’t mean you need to be a reckless or live your life like a daredevil. It means finding out what lights you up inside. Live the life you want to lead. Don’t let everyone else tell you how to live your life. Don’t go to your deathbed with all your regrets.

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