If I thought for a second it would take this long,
I never would've started down this road I'm on.
But I'm here.
I'm gonna keep on going.
With a million other mother f**** doin' what I'm doin'
And I'm pursing grandiose dreams to say the least.
I'm a student of the whole world out on the streets.
It may be prudent to get myself a good plan B,
but plan B is the same plan as A through Z.
Lord please, if you lean down and hear my prayers,
know that I've been walkin' down this road for years.
And my fear is no matter how much my heart yearns,
I'm never gonna get my turn.
I want my turn, gimme my turn,
Walk that walk and I've done the work
Now I want my turn, gimme my turn
I need my turn.
I want my turn, gimme my turn,
worked so hard and you know I've earned it.
And I want my, and I need my turn.
Sam Johnson - My Turn [Listen here]
I'm sure these lyrics resonate with many artists, both visual and musical. Artists who want to make a living from their artwork and "go pro" can learn a lot from these lyrics and from singer/songwriter Sam Johnson.
My wife and I met Sam earlier this year playing in a hotel lounge in San Francisco. As an amateur guitar player myself, I love great acoustic guitar music and was blown away by Sam. Both his playing and his voice are excellent. We immediately bought his album, The City, and every song on the album went to the top of our favorite playlists. I always hate comparing artists to other artists, but it's sometimes the easiest way to give someone an idea, so we've always described him to friends as kind of a "Dave Matthews, kicked up a notch with some reggae and hip-hop influences." If that's your kind of thing, you should buy his album.
It seemed to us that he should be much bigger than he is and we talked with him for a long time after his show. The struggles he describes in the lyrics above, pretty much sum up the story he told us. He has been pursuing music full time since he was nineteen. And now, in his thirties was wondering how to get his career to the proverbial "next level." We talked about a few marketing ideas (knowing me, I probably harped on utilizing email newsletters), but the truth of the matter was, I had the feeling that he already knew what to do. There's was definitely a vibe that "this guy has paid his dues" and the next big thing for him had to be around the corner...
Mastery, Marketing and Magic Moments
I've often said that there are only two things artists have to do to be successful: Mastery and Marketing. As in mastery of your craft and proper, consistent marketing.
I've realized, however, that there's a third piece, which I'll call Magic Moments. As in magic moments of time. It takes time, usually a lot of it, in the form of these "magic" moments that, piece by piece, pile up and create a mountain of work upon which your success stands. I'm talking about moments of interaction with fans, moments of meeting influencers, moments of practicing your craft, and moments spent learning about marketing or business.
Picture yourself standing on top of two pillars labeled "Mastery" and "Marketing" with your goal high above you. Each time you add one of these moments, as if by magic, one of the pillars gets a tiny bit taller, bringing you closer to your goal. Finish another plein air painting? The "Mastery" pillar just got a tiny bit taller. Just took the time to engage your fans on Instagram? The "marketing" pillar just got a little bit taller. Just got into an art gallery? The "marketing" pillar got even taller.
Piling up these moments takes time. It is what it is. As the famous saying goes, "it only takes ten years to be an overnight success."
Unfortunately there is, in our society, an increasing amount of impatience. I see it both in the art world and in the tech startup world. It's not surprising that those on the journey are impatient, because the rare outliers get all the media attention. In tech, it's exciting to think you're going to be the next Uber or Instagram. But, for most of us, a more realistic path is to roll up our sleeves for the long haul and start piling up those magic moments. Young founders go to "hackathons" and create a "startup" in a weekend. And a month or two later they ask me what's wrong with their businesses.
Nothing is wrong. They just haven't piled up enough moments. There really are no shortcuts. It takes thousands of these moments piled up. So you gotta keep on goin', there's a million others doin' what you're doin'.
The only thing you can do to "accelerate" the process is to pile up those magic moments faster. That's why Kevin Macpherson challenges students to paint 100 small paintings in his book Fill Your Oil Paintings with Light and Color. You can pile up 100 magic moments of mastery faster if you do 100 completed small paintings instead of fewer larger paintings. And on the marketing side, tools like email newsletters, Facebook and Instagram are a godsend. You can have several moments a day with these online platforms. Oh, what we would have done for these marketing platforms back in the 1990's and early 2000's when I was in the gallery business! The other thing you can do to accelerate your moments is do commit to your art full time, as Sam Johnson did. Plan B is the same plan as A through Z. Of course, that's not an option for everyone, but for some, it is.
Continue reading on my blog...
