For about a year I used to get annoyed at events when people commented on my drawing skills.
They would give me compliments and I said thank you but inside I was annoyed. I used to say a monkey could do my job. You know, if the monkey drew three hours a day for 20 years.
He and most people could do it…
I was wrong. I admitted I have natural gifts and desires that make me suited to draw cartoons. The fact that I drew everyday to get good enough to turn pro was just the icing on the cake.
Let’s see… What else was I wrong about?
I was wrong about Google. I called them a one-trick pony. When the stock closed at over $100 after the initial public offering I thought the people who bought it were crazy.
I was also wrong about marketing my business with traditional Business Paradigm tactics. I wrote about that here: https://adamstreetblog.com/the-artist-paradigm-letter/
I thought I had to do what the gurus said. I took ME out of my marketing and replaced me with a USP, fear, scarcity, and looking at metrics. Focusing on SEO and fine-tuning my elevator pitch made for some really good Sundays… Not.
Those things are ok. They’re useful even. The problem was I realized they were the opposite of what I needed to do. As I focused less on what “they” told me to do I started enjoying marketing and promoting my work again. And, it got easier.
This is why I’ll be introducing my new boot camp soon. I’ll be sharing with you what worked for me and shiz-nit that you need to get rid of and avoid like the plague.
More info to come.
Adam