ideasarehere

Whether you consider yourself an artist or not (I tend to say everyone doing something that makes a difference is one), there are different groups of people who want a slice of the pie. The interesting thing is what happens inside their peer group when they have one (slice, that is).

The first is the one who can easily afford it. And they get it either because it’s the latest fashion (“So you got an original painting now? Marvellous.”) or because they’re really passionate about it — then they won’t tell anyone because it’s only a gift or reward for themselves, and they’ve been spreading the word for the artist for a long time before.

The other group is the one who can’t afford it easily. Once again, there are people who are very passionate about it and will work like crazy to get the money to buy it at full price because they value the work. And they will be the most effective marketers, because they put the most effort in to achieve this goal, and their happiness will fuel the artist’s promotional engine because these are new people who spread the word deliberately.

And then the ones who do it only for fashion and don’t have the money. They’re asking for a discount. And once they get it, the story changes, because it’s not about the artist’s work anymore, but how they managed to get a discount on an original work. Discount, discount, me me me. This is not helping you as an artist. In fact, it devalues your work even more. The power of the discount is in fact working against you. So why go there at all?

Of course there’s one more group. The ones who don’t care. Don’t waste your or their time.

Whenever a company brings something new to the market, their marketing department asks (or is being asked): “How can we manage to make people who use XY today to use our new product tomorrow?” Well, they can’t. People just don’t switch like that. So the question is the wrong one. (Of course, too many marketers believe that the answer is “Buy more TV ads.” Too many of their clients too.  And others believe that it’d be great to have a Facebook page — it’s not.)

Instead, the question should be: “How can we manage to make anyone use our new product and talk about it?” Totally different approach. Accept that people don’t respond the way you thought they do. Treat them like you want to be treated. If your product is good and adds more value than the money it costs, it’ll catch on in the long run. And eventually you will also reach the people you wanted to reach when you still thought the old way.

The question now is: How do you get to switch from your old beliefs to your new one? (Find some help here.)