The Mission Paradox Blog

Thursday housekeeping

1.  If you're a theater person, then direct your eyeballs to the web and be a part of the New Play conversations happening at Arena Stage this weekend.  You can learn more about the event, including how to follow on Twitter or check out a live stream of certain events, here.

2.  Speaking of following on Twitter, are you following @missionparadox?  If not, get on it.

3.  My ebook, Authentic Arts Marketing, has been making it's way across the interwebs for about 7 months now.  Get your free download of the book here.

Now a few things for my Chicago/Midwestern Peeps:

4.  I'm doing a workshop with the Community Media Workshop on Feb. 24.  It's called "Taking Your Social Media to the Next Level."  Get the details by clicking this link.

5.  A second workshop will happen on March 5.  This one is going to be an intense, half day workshop where we will tackle your toughest marketing challenges.  Details for that are here.

I only do a few workshops a year.  The live experience is pretty awesome.  I hope to see you at one, or both, of the workshops.

One last thing:  Are you reading the online magazine Fearless?  You should.

Hating what matters

What's hard about marketing?

Answer:  Nothing.  I firmly believe that every aspect can be learned.

What's difficult is acknowledging that marketing matters.

I see this a lot with my peeps in the arts.  We still like to advance this cultural myth that great art will just magically be founded. It sound so cool and hip (and artistic) to say "do the work and the people will follow."

The only problem is that it isn't true.  Or if you want to to quibble with me, I'll say that it is very rarely true.  Bet you probably aren't the exception.  I'm not the exception either.

You can't hate marketing and then bemoan the empty seats.  You can't think the whole thing is a waste of time and then wonder why your music isn't moving.  Marketing is something to be embraced.  Make it a part of your life . . . and it will make your life easier.

The language of change

So you've got a big change you want to make happen.  You're building up your personal equity.  Things are looking good.  Here's the next thing to consider:

Change requires translation.

Let's say I'm trying to do something that involves artists, revenue generators like marketers/fundraisers and members of my advisory board.

That's a lot of different groups that speak (and think) in a lot of different languages.  If you want their help you have to be able to express the same idea in multiple ways. 

Maybe the artists need to hear about how the idea fits into their long term vision while the marketers need to hear about how the idea will make the branding process easier.  People respond to things that will advance their own interests so it's vital that you understand what those interests are and speak from that perspective.

It's hard to do meaningful change alone.  Sometimes it's impossible.  To get them on board, speak the language.

That's my last post for the week . . . so let's close this puppy out with a plug for my Chicago workshop.  If you like the blog, you'll love the live experience.  I've got an early bird special on seats going on.  Get all the details here.

Choose your weapon

One of the more complex (and confusing) parts of marketing is that when you use the phrase, you are actually talking about a lot of things.  Marketing has a bunch of elements.  Here are a few:

1.  Advertising - The art of using visuals and short copy to promote art.

2.  Social media - The use of places like Facebook and Twitter to build connections and communicate with the public.

3.  Customer service - The treatment of your current audience.  That treatment can happen online, on the phone and in person.

4.  Pricing - The use of standard pricing, discounts and other elements to drive demand for your art.

You get the idea. 

One of the important things to understand - and this is something we will cover during my live workshop in March - is that you can actively choose which marketing elements you want to be a strength.

You don't have to be good at everything.  You just need to be good at something.  Maybe you decide to make social media a strength but invest less time in visual advertising.  Maybe you ignore social media and invest time in building a robust website with multimedia capabilities.

It's your choice.  My point is that you have to choose.  You can't be good at everything.  Don't even try.  Pick a marketing element (or two) and get really strong at it.

 

The Ultimate Arts Marketing Workshop - March 5

On Saturday, March 5th at the Hyde Part Arts Center in Chicago I'll be doing a live half day workshop.  Those of you who follow this blog know I only do a few events like this a year so take advance of it.

I've worked with all types in these workshops, professional signers, rock band members, dance companies, theatre companies, visual artists, even a juggler (seriously) - many of them have had very nice things to say about the experience.  During this workshop I'm going to spend a little time presenting my own ideas and a LOT of time addressing your specific marketing challenges.  I won't go home until each person has at least one or two tangible things they can use to immediately improve their arts marketing.

Here are the details:

Date: Saturday, March 5

Time:  1-4pm

Location:  Hyde Park Arts Center (5020 S. Cornell).  If you've never been to HPAC it's worth attending the workshop just to check the place out.

Price:  The price is going to end up at $70, but not yet, right now I'm offering an extreme early bird discount.  If you buy you ticket before Jan. 18 it is only $55.  I'm also offering a few deluxe packages that include a coaching session.  It's a pretty good deal, so check it out.

How to register:  Break out your credit card and click this link.  It will help you pay through Paypal