2. One day at a time. Marketing one’s art is more like a marathon than a 100-yard dash. One of the many reasons why resolutions don’t work is that after a strong effort at the start, endurance fades into oblivion. Marketing is about laying out the various activities, scheduling ourselves and delivering results, one activity at a time.

3. Actionable goals. At times, visioning is so exciting that one stays there, in dreamland. To make your dreams come true, you need to wake up, define the path that leads to your vision by setting clearly defined goals, for the days, weeks and months ahead. Make these goals SMART: specific, measurable, actionable, result-oriented, and time-based.

4. Understand and accept your limitations. I run triathlons and I will never be a great swimmer: experience proves it, again and again. Now that I understand this fact, and accept it, I can work at improving myself realistically. Know your limitations: you will not become frustrated by unreasonable expectations.

5. Get the skills you need. As we are not gifted in all areas of our lives (although, you, as an artist, are likely to be gifted in several areas…), we need to acquire the skills needed to successfully market. So, attend workshops and seminars (as you do for technique), hire the right skills, and get friends who are good at “sales” to help.

6. Enroll a team. You probably have many friends. You probably know quite a few people… Get them on board by sharing your story, your aspirations, and the marketing help you need. Create a support group with other artists and share your skills and knowledge with them, and join efforts for shows. With others, everything gets easier.

7. Say “no”. At times, saying ”no” is the best technique to avoid overcommitting and burning out. Prioritize what is going to work, and say “no” to the rest; eliminate the superfluous, the nice-to-have, and all activities which get in the way of moving your marketing forward. Re-direct well-intentioned friends towards activities that align with your plans. Remember, busy-ness is bad business.

8. Share your dreams. By letting others (friends, family, artists, gallery owners, neighbors, your dentist…) know you and your vision better, you enroll allies in this wonderful adventure. They’ll be amazing resources multiplying your efforts. Don’t hide! Besides, your art reveals you.

9. Block time. Dedicate a certain amount of time every day or week towards the marketing of your art. Assign specific activities to specific blocks of time, scheduled at regular hours. Stick to your schedule. It is amazing how much one can accomplish with only 365 hours of dedicated work a year. By blocking time for your marketing, you are putting first-things-first.

10. Breathe and relax. Marketing can be fun: think about it as making art. The essence of the creative process is to set a goal, use resources and overcome obstacles in order to reach it. This approach opens doors to opportunities, and is full of wonderful surprises! Likewise for marketing your art.

Marketing will bring you new friends, enjoyment… and results. So, enjoy the journey, this adventure which engages all your creative instincts and skills!

The Story: The Recipe of Writing by Numbers

If you have followed our guidance in the February Newsletter, you have assembled by now all the elements to put together a great Story: the main highlights of your personal experience and of your art, the 2 or 3 main themes that emerge from this recollection, and a general plot line, or arc of the Story.

However, if you are like me, the list of ingredients may not be enough to deliver the perfect dish! Knowing the key ingredients of a good Story may not be enough to write it, you may also need some instructions, the basic steps to achieve a satisfactory results from these basic elements.

Here are a few elements to get you started. I suggest an easy-to-use template to build your Story, inspired by the (in)famous Painting-By-Numbers technique.

You may or may not follow it closely, depending on your knowledge, experience and talent in copywriting:

1. Initiate your first paragraph with “It all started when…”

2. Plug in your first theme, regrouping the highlights relevant to this particular theme


3. The second theme, regrouping its own relevant highlights

4. The third theme (I am sure, you get it by now…)

5. A concluding paragraph starting with “The Artists would like to invite us to…”

You can build your Story in a short time by plugging in the various elements of your content in the above template and by connecting them in loosely structured sentences.

In fact, you may find it helpful to write about yourself talking at the third person (“The artist, Susan…”), it will make you feel less self-conscious (and you can always change back later).

Let the writing flow and possess you, do not try to control it, do not censure yourself for the first draft, get yourself guided by your inspiration. You may have recognized here an artistic process you are very familiar with, using the pen instead of the brush or the camera.

When this first draft is done, breathe a bit and read the text slowly, and start editing by tightening its style and possibly its length. A first inspiration could potentially lead you to write 2 to 3 pages, than you can scale it back to 1 page or less.

Then you have a second draft that should be of acceptable quality. And if you want to perfect it, you can run it with some “editors”, friends or contacts who may be good writers. And eventually, should you feel the need for perfection, you can hire an editor, copywriter, as described in the February Newsletter.

Finally, writing a good Story is like cooking: half of the pleasure is in the process, half in the result: enjoy!