For the past year I've dedicated most of my social media eMarketing energy to Instagram. I still use Facebook and Twitter frequently, but my primary focus has been Instagram because I'm an artist/illustrator and game designer/developer so most of my content is visual media. My success in gathering followers has been decently slow and steady, but in no way what my company needs to truly be a supported start-up, which is what I'm pushing for. My goal is to take my various properties fully independent as soon as possible. Part of this comes down to just finishing something and putting it out there. Let the market decide if it likes it or not. But a bigger part of it comes down to adopting the social media-born business model of not treating your followers like faceless consumers, but rather like the valued friends of the company/creator/product they are. Relationships are important in the modern era, and it's my job to give back some value to people who deem my social media channel(s) worth watching.
I thought about this, and realized I was just putting my creations out there and expecting people to return my efforts with praise. I was showing them what I could do/create, but I was not really giving them anything of value short of a few moments of brief entertainment. I decided to reevaluate, and that's when I came up with the notion of sharing my particular view of the world with others via memes.
It started out as an idea. I ran across an interesting method of gaming the Instagram algorithm, and thought I would see if anyone wanted to join me in that effort. A few did, but not many really, and half of those who joined are not very actively engaged, which is essentially the key to beating the system. If you are interested in this, look me up on Instagram (@theartofharsh).
Next I tried direct engagement to some limited success. A few answered, but Instagram is not the place for deep or involved conversations. Most people (in my experience) do not even comment, or if they do it's an emoji.
I tried another tactic. Speaking directly to the artist/creator crowd, but not expecting a response. Just putting a thought out there to see if it took root. This is something I've always struggled with. Creatives seek the approval or other professionals - the only people out there we trust to have an informed (and therefore useful) opinion about our work - and yet they are traditionally not our target audience of consumers. Most creatives are struggling just as much as the next. They don't have the surplus to purchase art or crafts or whatever. So why do we insist on targeting them with our marketing efforts? Who IS our target demographic?
This got me thinking. Why not just start saying what I think? Why not just put it out there. Suddenly, these memes (all made by me with my artwork, btw) were not just me preaching to the faceless public, but they were made FOR me, and I was just sharing them in case others might get something out of them as well. Everything from here on down is me talking to myself about things I struggle with as a creative.
I'm tired of people complaining. I'm tired of my complaining. I'm tried of people wishing for a better life. We live in an age of technological wonders and (at least in the USA) a world of endless possibilities. How badly do you want it? Bad enough to go for it? Bad enough to be uncomfortable until you get it? Bad enough to sacrifice? Be the change you want to see in the world around you.
Time to wake up and get busy. Symbolically, now is the time in your life to stop coasting and dreaming and wishing for some day, and start working toward that tomorrow you want. Practically, you gotta wake up every day, ready to go, ready to love the work, ready to love the pain, and ready to make and create!
You are going to fail. At some point, no matter how hard you work, no matter how much you want it, no matter how hard you envision it, you will fail. Good! Failure is where we learn. And one of the most valuable assets any creative can have is grit. Get back up! No matter how many times - always get back up!
There will be dragons and demons, and all manner of scary things. Face those fears head on. Strike them down, and move on through them. Yes, they are scary. Yes, they may haunt you. Yes, they may be gigantic. You can do it. In the end, it is the fear that you must defeat, not the thing that causes it.
People are people. They are going to talk. They are going to want drama. They are going to say you can't do it. Especially if you are the first. Let them talk. They don't know that you are about to change the world. They don't know what you are capable of. And if they do have an inkling of these things, then they are just jealous and are trying to hold you back. Let them talk, and shut them up with your actions. Actions ALWAYS speak louder than words.
Persistence and determination are useful skills. Much like learning to get back up, some doors will be difficult to even reach, and possible even more difficult to open and cross through, but learning to be tenacious in pursuing your goals will open most of the right doors to you.
There comes a time in every creative's career when you just have take a chance. You have to believe in yourself enough to take the risk. You have to put yourself out there, and let it be. Maybe you don't make it - but at least you tried! No regrets! Hedging your bets isn't foolish either. Try to set yourself up for a sure thing if you can.
The last one for now is the 800 pound gorilla. Why not? Why not you? Someone will be the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Why not you? Not your style? Ok. I'm not saying you have to be a jerk and throw your weight around. I'm just saying, even if you are the most zen gorilla in the world, not many would dare poke that gorilla just to play it safe. When it comes to your work, your projects, your properties - there are many analogies (mama bear comes to mind), but why not become the 800 pound gorilla and protect your work from the snakes?
I hope some of this has been entertaining and of value to you all. I'd be glad to hear from you in the comments - especially since I'm still new here on Steemit. Thanks!