“Creators create. They ain’t got time for marketing.”
Michelangelo
It’s possible he never said that, but you could imagine that’s how he felt.
He spent his whole life creating work that had meaning to him.
Could you imagine that feeling?
You can.
That’s why you’re a creator.
But with the way the world is today you do have to market. You don’t have the luxury of getting to paint one the Chapel in town and the world talks about it.
So what do you do?
You tweet and wait for the retweets.
You hop on LinkedIn, read the posts about being laid off, and then you post something witty.
You find the trending song on TikTok and do your dance.
You go on Insta…wait, does that still work?
Anyways, you do what they tell you to do.
You even send out your weekly newsletter every Saturday, just like everyone else.
You’re getting more followers, more subscribers, and whatever other fancy numbers they flash on the screen.
But something isn’t right.
There is this feeling.
Is this just a numbers game?
Are you really supposed to do a weekly giveaway on Twitter just to get people to engage?
Is it necessary to keep up with every single tactic that the gurus keep putting out just so you can stay ahead of the game?
“Marketing is our quest to make change on behalf of those we serve, and we do it by understanding the irrational forces that drive each of us.”
Seth Godin
Make change on behalf of those we serve.
That’s powerful.
Marketing can be about the numbers or it can be about making a connection.
When it’s about the numbers then you stick to the tricks. You do one until it stops working and then you move on to the next one.
When it’s about the connections that we are able to make then you look to see how you can best serve those you are talking to.
How can you remove that wall that is blocking them from what they want?
And let’s be honest. If the person following the numbers gets to make 100x what you do, then the numbers will always look appealing.
But what if that isn’t the case?
March 4, 2008.
Kevin Kelly writes an essay that should’ve fundamentally changed the landscape of marketing.
Everyone that reads it seems to agree with it.
To be a successful creator you don’t need millions. You don’t need millions of dollars or millions of customers, millions of clients or millions of fans. To make a living as a craftsperson, photographer, musician, designer, author, animator, app maker, entrepreneur, or inventor you need only thousands of true fans
Kevin Kelly
The problem is in the execution of the core concept behind it.
Because it’s absolutely terrifying to try and do.
This takes guts to do but when you actively decide to choose the people you serve, you make a conscious decision to choose your future.
Call this Odd Marketing if you will.
It’s the marketing that goes against common knowledge, but not against common sense.