What sets artists and creators from other solopreneurs and how does that reflect on their brand strategy, marketing plan and the definition of their target audience.
Marketing your art and talent requires a different roadmap than the more common service provider. You may want to keep your brand strategy flexible and yet coherent, to serve more than one goal and several target audiences at the same time.
To own a brand as a creator, means to project a unified style that can contain different types of work and remain consistent and loyal to you as the brand owner.
As a creator, it is sometimes challenging to be selective and sort out your own work to find the best representation for your portfolio. Your inner critic might not be your best advisor and the infamous imposter syndrome could be lurking to take away your well-earned self confidence.
When curating your work into a portfolio, there is a difference between refining your style of work as an artist, and sorting out work that you might consider ‘good’ or ‘bad’. The end-game is to define the work that you want to be known for and attract the right audience that you want to work with or sell to.
WHO IS MY AUDIENCE
Your target audience might not even be clients or buyers, but collaborators, sponsors, beneficiaries, or all of them. Before getting started, you might want to have a clear picture of who you are working WITH and who you are working FOR. If your aim is to sell from catalog, or to be commissioned? Defining how you conduct business will help clarify your ideal client and how to communicate with them.
WHAT ARE MY GOALS
In business, much like in life, there’s no point in making plans if there is no destination in mind. Setting goals does not necessarily have to be financial, they can also be based on accomplishments, and fulfilling professional ambitions, like being published in a certain magazine, or applying to artist residency programs, scholarships, competitions and exhibits. Every goal that requires portraying an arsenal of your finest work is achieved by building a strong brand strategy around your art, as well as around you, the artist.
WHAT IS PERSONAL BRANDING
Personal Branding is a strategy that highlights the person behind the brand, using their name, face, talent and experience to add more authenticity and credibility to their work. This approach is not only set to increase one's professional integrity, but to add more information and curiosity to the personality leading the brand and create a deeper level of acquaintance and solidarity. Personal branding is achieved by storytelling and authentic content creation.
COMPELLING STORYTELLING
This goes for every solopreneur, but when it comes to a creator, it goes without saying, your work and your story are inseparable, and the better you tell it, the more empathy and appreciation you will gain and your credibility as an authentic brand will increase. For the introverts among you, sharing your story does not necessarily require that you expose yourself or reveal private information about your life, but it can also be sharing your worldview as an artist, your ethical values and your resume in an interesting and profound way. Sharing your inspirations, role models and professional ambitions is also a great way to create personal communication with your audience.
A COMPREHENSIVE DIGITAL PRESENCE
Your brand strategy as an artist/creator doesn't end with a portfolio website or e-commerce shop. Your digital presence all over the media should adapt your brand identity and remain consistent in messaging and tone of voice. You never know where your next client is watching your work, how they become exposed to it, and it is your responsibility to make sure they are receiving the message that you want to send out. Taking control of your digital appearance across all platforms will strengthen your voice as an artist and your unique style.
A MEMORABLE ‘BUSINESS CARD’
As a creator, you are expected to think outside the box, to have an edge to your representation, and to create a memorable moment that will get your client’s attention. Every creator can think of ways to surprise their audience in unexpected ways. This can be implemented in one of your branding elements, at every step of the customer's journey, or in the initial introduction while establishing your brand awareness.
BE YOUR OWN MANAGER
Unless you aspire to be represented by a professional agent, you will need to take on the part of PR and management for your own work and learn how to practice the right marketing methods, customer relationships, negotiations and admin work. You need to be prepared to perform research on the unique requirements of taxation, invoicing and the operational side of running a solo-creator brand.
CREATIVITY ON DEMAND
Waiting for inspiration may not always be possible, and getting to know your creative limitations is just as important as learning what makes your creativity thrive. Once you are able to harness your creativity in your working routine, you can set the capacity of work that you can commit to and explore the best methods for you to maintain productivity and learn to work on deadlines.
HAVING THE RIGHT SYSTEMS
Finding the right tools to serve your unique needs, from filing systems to communication channels, allows you to articulate yourself in the best possible way while maintaining a strict organized business method that works for you and not the other way around. Being a creator can be challenging to find systems in the conventional market and, therefore, might need a bit of improvisation or adjustments to suit your customized needs.
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