Do the Opposite with Your Blog and Newsletter
My favorite Seinfeld episode is The Opposite
. In it, George
complains to Jerry that, "Every decision I've ever made in my life, has
been wrong, every instinct I've ever had...was wrong. My life is the
complete opposite of what I wanted it to be....". And Jerry replies,
"If every instinct you've ever had was wrong the the opposite would
have to be right." So George immediately starts doing the opposite of
his natural instincts. And in the course of a few days, he goes from
being a "bald man, with no job, no money, who lives with his parents"
to dating a beautiful woman, and landing his dream job with the New
York Yankees.
Video Link
In a warped, Seinfeldian kind of way, this is actually brilliant advice.
While I was working on another article, thinking about artist blogs and
newsletters, I started wondering why most artist blogs fail
. And, why many
artists seem resistant to the idea of sending a newsletter, when we've
shown over-and-over again how important newsletters are to art
marketing. And I realized, many artists, regarding their blog and
newsletter strategies, should, like George, simply do the opposite.
The Ideal Newsletter
It's no secret that I believe your number one marketing asset
is
a newsletter mailing list.
While most artists know (or have heard) this, many artists never
actually send email newsletters. I often get push back from artists who
avoid or procrastinate building or sending email newsletters because
they either don't think they have anything to say, or they don't think
they have the time to write, design and send a newsletter. These
artists are making a mistake. If you're in this group, you probably
feel that you can't create and send a newsletter because your mind is
generating a mental picture of a "newsletter" that is polished, slick,
professionally edited, designed with multiple sections & stories, and
fairly long-form writing. These misconceptions lead artists to say, "I
just don't have anything to say" or "I'm not a writer".
The "ideal" artist newsletter is the exact opposite: Most newsletters
you send should be relatively short, about one topic, and written as if
you're sending a personal email to friends.
Here's a starter list of the types of newsletters you should send:
1. An invitation to an upcoming exhibit
2. An update about your progress toward an upcoming exhibit
3. An announcement that you've completed a new artwork
4. An update on a work in progress
5. Your relatively short thoughts regarding inspiration about a
particular piece
That sounds pretty easy, doesn't it? This form of communication is
easier for you, the artist, to publish and send and easier for us, your
fans, to receive and digest. Drip, drip, drip
your information about your career to us a little bit each
week and you'll stay top of mind. Yet many artists are resistant to
send this type of newsletter for the reasons I mentioned above.
The Ideal Blog
Here's the epiphany that I had this week: A lot of artists are already
publishing these small bits of information...on their blogs...where
nobody ever sees it. They just publish it out into the ether because
they heard, somewhere that "you need a blog", and they hope that it
magically attracts a following. No wonder most artist blogs fail
.
While it's OK to occasionally publish some short updates on a blog,
that's not what builds a blog following. Building a blog the right way,
takes a big commitment. A commitment to produce well-written, engaging,
and compelling content on a regular basis, and a commitment to engage
with your audience. In short, it's a commitment to hard work. To reap
the benefits of a blog, you need well-written, well-edited, long form
content that attracts people. You need to be telling an arching story
about your journey that people want to follow. It's even better if the
story is connected to some bigger idea that people can get behind. Yes,
one of the benefits of blogs can be attracting new fans from search
engine traffic...but only if you have the right kind of content. And
the "right" kind of content, generally, means something much more
compelling than exhibit announcements and photos of works in progress.
Do the opposite
So here's my Seinfeldian revelation: Lots of artists are approaching
their blog and newsletter strategies backwards. Reverse your strategy.
Do the opposite: Publish your most compelling, most polished, pillar
content for your blog (if you have one) to attract and engage potential
new fans. Send your short, personal, more raw updates to the people who
already know and love you via your newsletter.
And if you only have the time or inclination to do one of the two, then
do the newsletter and forget the blog.
Your newsletter should be relatively easy. It goes to existing fans and
they want to hear from you. And these quick, personal updates will make
them feel close to you. It will make them feel special that they have
inside access into your life, and it will make them engaged with what
you're doing and where your going next.
Sharing Art Enriches Life, so please, start sharing yours with your
fans today
Sincerely,
Clint Watson
FASO Founder, Software Craftsman, Art Fanatic
PS - At FASO, we've spent the last decade becoming the leading provider
of professional artist websites. FASO is the easiest way to build and
maintain a professional artist website. Our platform includes both a
blog and a newsletter with every website and makes following this
strategy easy. We encourage you to give FASO a try
.
Comment on this Article
Sent from:
{{FASO_DOMAIN}}
{{AM_COMPANY_NAME}}
{{AM_COMPANY_ADDRESS}}
{{AM_CSZ}}
{{AM_COUNTRY}} Artful Mail by FASO
Learn More about ArtfulMail
unsubscribe from this newsletter