I Create, Therefore I Am?

Self-Promotion for the Creative Person
by Lee Silber

Are you a creative person who desperately wants to tell the world about your talents and your art but lacks the time, money, and know-how? Self-Promotion for the Creative Person is full of clever and creative ideas you can use to successfully get the word out about who you are and what you do quickly, easily, and cheaply.

Everything you need to know about marketing yourself is included in this book. Self-Promotion for the Creative Person is packed with proven techniques that will work for you whether you are an author, actor, artist, or accordion player who wants fresh, off-beat, and cost-effective ways to build a business or develop a successful and fulfilling career.

Full of winning strategies, innovative ideas, and proven sales and marketing techniques, Lee Silber will show you how to go from starving artist to superstar status with smart advice, including:

• How to market without money

• How to create marketing materials that will sell you even when you're not around

• How to build a buzz using word of mouth

• How to use the Internet in ways you never thought of to promote yourself

• How to get the leaders in your field to endorse and help you

Self-promotion is one of the most difficult things a creative person must do. It is also the most critical. Open this book to any page and chances are you will find something that can help you overcome this hurdle and get the attention and recognition you and your talents deserve.

Chapter 1

Why You Must Make Yourself More Marketable

"Business is the act of extracting money from another man's pocket without resorting to violence."

— Max Amsterdam

It's called self-promotion for a reason: If you don't do it yourself, it usually doesn't get done! It's definitely a do-it-yourself proposition. It's an overwhelming proposition to make it big in the arts, and impossible if you don't take a proactive role in your promotion. This book will take the mystery out of marketing. It can't force you to embrace the concept, but it will teach you how to do it. It is the willingness (and ability) to market yourself and your art that increases your odds of making it. A lot of creative people have talent, but few have the know-how or desire to promote themselves. This isn't anything new. Throughout the years, creative people have grappled with the conflict of creating great work and then being expected, and forced, to sell it. "There should be a single Art Exchange in the world, to which the artist would simply send his works and be given in return as much as he needs. As it is, one has to be half merchant on top of everything else, and how badly one goes about it!" Guess who said that. Give up? Ludwig van Beethoven.

I am not saying you have to like it, you just have to do it. (It is easier when you can find methods of promotion that you can at least tolerate.) For better or worse, we live in the age of media. Promotion (self-promotion, or having others help) is a necessary evil for the creative person who just wants to gain a little exposure for their art, let alone achieve fame and fortune. Simply put, if nobody knows you exist, it doesn't matter how good your work is (unless this is a hobby for you, in which case I guess it doesn't matter as much).

The business world and the art world are (unfortunately) interlinked. Sometimes it feels more like a business than an art form. You can't ignore one or the other. You need to make money, and you should be getting paid for what you do. I don't know what your dream is, but for most of us it is to be able to earn a comfortable living while working on projects that we enjoy or are passionate about. Is that too much to ask for? I don't think so. Both of those goals (to make money and work on art that motivates us) are the direct result of successful self-promotion campaign. So suck it up, get over your squeamishness, and do it, because the reward is worth it.

I'm not saying it's easy. You send out your résumé, distribute your brochure, network like mad, write a stellar proposal, force yourself to make cold calls, and schlep your portfolio all over town, sometimes with little luck. It takes a lot of your time, time you'd rather be creating. It's not just in the beginning, either, it's like that all the time. It's a business and you are the product. That means you have to sell the product-constantly. So you have two jobs, innovation and marketing. The more you accept that and learn how to do it, the easier it becomes. As you will learn from this book, it doesn't necessarily have to take a lot of time or money to do it well.

I have also found that when you are the creator, it is hard to step back and come up with ways to market your creations. For some reason, all that wonderful creativity dries up and you end up blocked and frustrated when it comes time to create your own marketing materials. Another phenomenon I have encountered is that after working on creating something for months, the last thing you want to do is promote it. You are ready to move on to the next great idea. Fight the urge to abandon your "baby." Your creations need you to raise them until they are self-sufficient.

One thing I'm sure of is that you can't wait to be discovered, or for that time when others promote you. I know so many creative people who don't understand that creating something is less than half the battle and that the real work has just begun. I know, you are an "artist," but you must also become a salesperson, booking agent, performer, publicist, pitchster, promoter, publisher, presenter-in other words, you will wear many hats. (We have to juggle all that goes with being an artist with all the other responsibilities that go with running a business.) This takes an incredible amount of your energy and enthusiasm away from your real work. You can get help with the promotional side of your business, but in my opinion nobody can promote you as well as you can promote yourself. This book is designed to help you do it yourself. You can do it. You know you should do it. Let's agree, you will do it. Let me help.

If you aren't marketing yourself, you're falling behind someone else who is. You need to embrace the concept of self-promotion and actively engage in it or else you will always be on the fringe. You need visibility and credibility. You can accomplish both by writing articles, speaking in public, putting up a first-rate website, writing a book, or associating with a well-known person in your field. Do good work and it's a little easier, but they won't always find you. You have to market yourself. Every successful creative person does it; even the super-successful still promote themselves. This book is loaded with helpful ideas (from ads and attitude to word of mouth and websites) to make it easy for customers to find you, talk you up, and get you to the next level (wherever you are-beginner or best-seller).

We will cover all kinds of inexpensive, innovative, and effective ways to get the word out about who you are and what you do; how to reach a larger audience and build a loyal fan base as well as getting the media to recognize you for your efforts. It's about getting influential people to say yes to you more often, whether you're an actor, artist, carpenter, cartoonist, comic, dancer, designer, entrepreneur, filmmaker, landscape architect, musician, or involved in any other type of creative endeavor. You will learn how to compete (and win) against bigger competitors by tapping niches and doing the creative things the large players can't do. We will discuss how to improve your marketing materials, create an effective promotional plan, take action, and have fun along the way. This isn't brain surgery, and it doesn't have to be boring, either.

Fast Facts

If you don't think promotion is important, here are some famous inventions but where inventors (sadly) remain unsung due to a lack of self-promotion. For instance, do you know who invented the answering machine? Edwin Peterson in 1945. How about the crossword puzzle? Arthur Wynne in 1913. Windshield wipers? Mary Anderson in 1903. Power steering? Francis Davis in 1926. The ATM? Luther Simjian in 1960. The Egg McMuffin? Herb Peterson in 1973.

Copyright © 2001 by Lee Silber. Excerpted by permission of Three Rivers Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

About the Author

Lee Silber, author of Career Management for the Creative Person and Self-Promotion for the Creative Person, is an accomplished graphic artist, drummer, workshop leader, radio talk show host, and the founder of five companies, including CreativeLee Speaking. He lives with his wife in San Diego, California. For more information, contact him at www.creativelee.com.