A Facebook friend posted the other day that he wanted to draw portraits of comedians but he knew there was no market for it.
Should he do it? Of course he should!
If you’re being called to do something your job is to accept the call. He said he was passionate and really wanted to do the portraits but fear was paralyzing him.
Not to over simplify it but motto is: If you feel called to do the thing…DO that THING!
Life and business can be tricky. When advice sounds great it seems like you can apply it everywhere. But that’s not always true.
Warren Buffet is known for his investing (and for being really really rich). One of his investment philosophies is buying stocks he likes and holding onto them. He’s quoted as saying his, “favorite holding period is forever”. Forever is a long my time, my friend.
I’m no investor pro but most people who are say this is good advice. But if you applied this to what you do, you may mess up like I did.
When I started drawing live caricatures I noticed the #1 obstacle people had to being drawn was thinking they’d be drawn ugly. After all, who wouldn’t love bigger teeth and a giant forehead?
Some do enjoy that, but still… Ugly (exaggerated, really) isn’t my style so I changed my business name to Draw Me Sexy. You can’t get a fugly drawing of yourself with a name like Draw Me Sexy, right?
I was right.
When I did retail caricatures (charging people per drawing at public events) I noticed more people got drawn faster and my promotion created a lot more buzz and chatter. I was crushing it.
Until I entered the wedding space.
The purposed of being at bridal shows was getting people to pay me a flat rate to draw at their wedding reception. When I set up at bridal shows, people seemed to enjoy me just as much as everywhere else. But I heard negative chatter too.
My (not!) favorite excuse for not getting hired was when young brides would come up to me and say, “I’d love to have you at my wedding but my mom doesn’t want to hire you. It’s the ‘sexy’ thing.”
One comment even came from someone who hired me. The groom said, “Adam I’m sure I know the answer to this but… You’re not going to draw my grandma in a thong or anything right?”
The truth is, if she asked to be drawn in a thong, I’d probably draw her in a thong. But I knew that question wasn’t about requests, it was about judgement.
Maybe I should change the name of my company? No, this is my conviction.
At one bridal show I saw a Mom walking with her kid. I saw her wordlessly mouth, “Draw Me Sexy” and walk even faster past my booth. Clutching her little girl like we had Larry Flynt and Jenna Jameson there signing autographs. Nude.
Should I change the name of my company. Nope, like George W. Bush I stayed the course.
My wife helps me at trade shows so she knew about the negative chatter too. At least twice a year she would ask (or tell me more like it), why don’t you just change the name?
I eventually caved. I changed the name. At least for the wedding events. Keep in mind all the art and everything I do is 100% the same! But I quit holding on to a business name that wasn’t working in that space.
Forever works for investing but not business names it seems.
If you feel called to do the thing…DO that THING! But don’t fear change or be attached to some of the details.
Adam