LONGEVITY

Hey Artist,

Recently I have been doubling down on my own advice. I have submitted my art to contests. I have been active on social media. I am connecting with other artists and doing my best to support them.

And a terrible thing is happening.

It's working.

Why is this terrible?

Because I did not do it sustainably.

With enough caffeine, most people can go above and beyond. I did it for about a week. And then I crashed.

I definitely moved the needle in terms of gaining awareness for my films and myself. But now I am exhausted.

If I stop, I feel that I will lose progress. But if I continue at this pace, I will damage my health and then lose progress.

It is really important to remember that the purpose of marketing is not to sell one product or rank on google for a week. The purpose is to create an audience. You cannot do this overnight.

Right now, no one subscribes to this blog. Right now, people are not searching for when my next film comes out.

This is ok.

The problem with marketing, and probably why people hate the word, is that people don't do it until they are selling a product or asking for money.

"Hey, you don't know me; but buy my movie instead of that new Marvel film. I promise, it's great."

Not a great sell huh?

Marketing is divided into 4 stages, and the first one is AWARENESS.

(FYI Awareness, Consideration, Conversion, Retention)

Your number one priority is to let people know who you are. The first six months of your marketing as an artist should be dedicated entirely to making your audience familiar with you and your work.

Now if you burn out week one; even if you see some results, you will never make it to month six.

So my homework (and yours if you want to follow along) is to come up with a sustainable six month plan. What can I accomplish while getting enough sleep, and having some reasonable down time (eating better wouldn't hurt either)?

The occasional all nighter is fine, but it can't be your MO.

Thanks for reading, Thanks for making art,

E