Whomever thought that running a successful business was only about offering a quality product or service has probably already gone out of business. If you want “what you offer” to reach “who will pay for it”, you must create some sort of channel of communication between the two of you. Because if you want the world to know that you are in business, you must go out there and tell the world.
In Spanish there is a saying that goes ”Create a Reputation And Go To Bed” (Crea Fama Y Acuéstate A Dormir), which is the equivalent of saying ”Give Dog A Bad Name” or ”Make Your Own Bed And Lay On It.” What all these sayings basically mean is that once you have a reputation there is nothing else that you can do. You are stuck with it. For good or for bad. But I don’t believe this to be true. You see, if you have a very bad reputation (and I don’t mean being a badass, but really sucking at what you do) you can always correct what you do wrong and tell the world that you have improved. It will take some time, but eventually someone will trust you again and with hard work you can clean your reputation. And on the other hand, if you have a very good reputation (you are the best at what you do) and you just rely on word of mouth, eventually someone who tells the world that they do it better than you will make everyone forget about you and your reputation. So, in the end, if you have a reputation (good or bad) you must work hard to improve it or keep it. Either way, you have to market yourself and definitely not “Rest On Your Laurels” ( I can’t help it! I just love the wisdom of popular sayings).
The question is, as creatives, what sort of things can we do to market ourselves? The answer is: tons! Here are just a few examples:
- Photographers, Graphic Designers, Illustrators: create an online portfolio, collaborate with as many creatives as possible, create an online presence through relevant social media channels, write a blog, create a newsletter and send it to prospect clients, contact creative agencies and reps, make print promos and send them to prospects that you can’t seem to reach online, print business cards and go to networking events, send your work to magazines and contests to gain exposure…
- Makeup Artists, Hair Stylists, Fashion Stylists: test with as many photographers as you can, create an online portfolio, create an online presence through relevant social media channels, write a blog where you promote yourself as an expert in your field (putting looks together, making tutorials, reviewing products), contact creative agencies and reps and if they are not taking more creatives at the moment offer yourself as an assistant to the ones they have, print business cards and go to networking events…
- Fashion Designers: create an online store, create an online presence through relevant social media channels with links to your online store, create contents on your online channels that engage your specific audience (the story of your brand, how you make your pieces, how to style your clothes), collaborate with as many creatives as possible, have a network of stylists that can push your work to publications that target your customer, collaborate with relevant bloggers, wear your designs everywhere, create contests targeted at your audience and gather their emails so you can send them monthly updates via newsletter, dress influencers with your clothes, if you want to do wholesale, pack a bag with your samples and go knocking on the doors of the stores that you would like to have as customers…
These are only a few of the things that you can do to promote your business. Don’t do just one, pick several and mix and match until you find the combination that best targets your audience. Some of them cost less, some of them cost more, none of them are for free (remember that even if you don’t have to pay in currency, your time is money and self-promotion requires heaps of it). But if you want to make some, you have to spend/work some… Happy Marketing!
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