Every business needs to advertise. Some will on TV and radio, others in newspapers, on billboards, direct mail, etc. Nearly all use social media. Artists need to advertise also but we're usually pretty awful at it. And we're historically cheap. We don't make much money so we're reluctant to spend it. Social media is mostly free so we do our best using it.
There are all manner of companies that are willing to take on this task for us. I've never used one because....well, I'm cheap. I use some social media and I write this blog and that's about it. Oh, and I run ads in a couple of wedding magazines. But I do all of my own marketing.
Aside from the cost, another downside is that I get tired of talking about myself all of the time. It seems like I'm always hustling. My two primary businesses are teaching guitar and playing at weddings. So I do what I can to promote them. I also have five CDs for sale through iTunes and Amazon and they can be streamed via most major services. So I'm constantly "reminding" people.
Several months ago I got an email from Jane Rosemont, a talented photographer and old friend. It was an invitation to contribute to Consenses.org, an online artists collective. Each month they feature one work of art, that may be any discipline, and other artists are invited to submit something they created that was inspired by that work. A winner is chosen from those submissions and is the following months feature. It's a unique way for artists to gather and inspire one another.
Anyway, I've submitted a couple of times and this month my composition "A Fond Farewell" is the featured artwork. Composing is something I enjoy doing, but it's not my career, so I was going to keep this private. I felt it was only right to share it with a few friends and family, but I was not going to go all out "social media".
Apparently that was not a good idea. I know it was not a good idea because my friends and family have been telling me that it's not a good idea. I honestly thought folks would be tired of hearing me talk about me all of the time, but I guess there's some tolerance left. So I'm blasting the internet. Truthfully I'm very excited by this. My compositions are rarely heard by anyone except those closest to me, so to have one featured this way is pretty special.
Special thanks to Sally Taylor at Consenses.org and Jane Rosemont for revitalizing a tired, old, guitar picker.
This is part of the email notifying me: Congratulations! we’ve chosen your artwork to be our next Monthly Challenge onConsenses.org.