I think it’s obvious when you are making something for which you have no passion. When you are creating your work straight from your original spirit, it shows and that is part of what makes the work so attractive to others. If some of you is not imbued in what you are creating, what is the point?

I used to make these garden Faerie doors—they were solar powered resin cast doors with one-of-a-kind embellishments whose windows would light up in your garden when the sun went down. People loved them! I sold more of those than anything else at the art shows. And at first they were fun but they were more of a gimmick than a passion. After a while I got rather tired of making them and took no pride in the compliments I would get. They were just things I felt I had to make because it guaranteed that every art show would be monetarily worthwhile.

Then suddenly they stopped selling or at least they wouldn’t go for quite as much as they used to. It seemed rather odd to me until the day I looked at the pictures of the first ones I had made and then at the ones I had done most recently. They weren’t the same. The newer ones were comparatively dull, just churned out with no real design to them. It was obvious that I just wasn’t doing them very well any more.

Now I could have simply bucked up and worked on the designs and improved where I had been lagging but the thing is, I really didn’t want to make the faerie doors anymore. My heart wasn’t in it and I think it was obvious to the buyers. So I stopped making them and reevaluated my whole line. I scraped any design that made me cringe or that I knew I wouldn’t wear or display in my own place, anything I didn’t feel excited about selling. And you know, I am not only a happier artist for doing that but my newer work gets far more attention and compliments and goes for higher prices than my older work. And all I had to do was make what I felt was good art. Not what the market might have led me to believe was wanted.

Even if the work you do is under contract for a client and they have specific ways they want you to do things, they hired you based on something in your personality or your portfolio that made them feel you could create the look or feel they want. So put yourself into your work, be true to who you are as an original creator. Not everyone will love what you do, but do what you love and you will draw those who taste parallel yours.

1. Never true.
2. Representative of a marketing plan that is doomed to fail

Your market is always a very specific set of people. Take the website designer who says his market is anyone who wants a website. As one guy, is a big corporation who wants a 1000 page catalog site done in 2 months even possible for him to take on? Or is the hobbyist who will only spend $100 on a 5 page site, really the kind of client he wants to work with all the time? Is he going to be able to do a site for a hard-core gangsta rapper and still get the contract for that conservative local church?

The point is, you don’t market to a wide variety, or the fringe and oddball possibilities. You market to your specific core of people which may incidentally get you buyers or clients in other market segments but you don’t waste time chasing that. If you aim for too broad a market, you spread your efforts too thin to be effective with any one section of your market.

But who is your market? You probably already know, you’ve just never defined them. Take some time to do so now. Sit down and write out what your ideal, mostly likely to return for more, individual or company client or buyer is like. Characteristics should include:

1. Economic level (income for individuals, profit range for business)
2. Size of family or business (single, married, young family, empty nest; solopreneurs, small business, mid-size, large corporation)
3. Age (age range for individuals; start-up, established, or generational for business)
4. Ethnicity/Culture
5. Social &/or political leanings (conservative/liberal, primary social activity type, amount of social interaction, subcultures)
6. Interests and/or hobbies
7. The individual’s or company’s goals/concerns
8. Geographic location (local, state, national, international)
9. Type of location (urban, suburban, metropolitan, etc.)
10. Where they get general information (newspapers, TV, internet, networking, gossip, etc.)
11. Where they shop or go to find services
12. And whatever else you can think of …

Answering these questions will draw for you a picture of your typical buyer/client that you should keep in mind when making every marketing decision. If you have the talent, drawing an actual picture of your ideal person or business can help tremendously. I had a client who printed pictures off the internet and cut out photos from magazines of the particular type of people he was marketing to. It’s kind of like when you go to buy a birthday gift, you keep the person you are buying for in mind, usually visually. Do the same when planning your marketing (also when developing your product).

When planning your marketing, act like you’re shopping for a gift, and ask yourself what kind of gift they would like most (what products to focus on), what they need right now (how your product can solve their problems or fulfill a desire), how they will respond to different types of gifts (marketing materials), and how to wrap it (method of delivery).

Or you can just do something general like so many businesses do—kind of like spending you Christmas gift budget on sending everyone you have ever known a generic Christmas card. Many may read it but then it gets tossed and forgotten. Wouldn’t it have been better to spend your money on a few stunning gifts for the key people you want to impress so they’ll go around and talk about what you gave them?

Aim for impressing your key market. If your product is that good, they will tell others and expand your market for you.

I spend a fair amount of time emphasizing word of mouth as a primary goal when consulting with clients on marketing their services & goods. I often refer to it as encouraging the messenger (see ‘It’s the Messenger not the Message’  http://asageinreallife.com/?p=31) because as one person (or even as a small team) you can only reach a relatively small number of people in a real, connected manner so you need your contacts and network to connect with their people and pass on your message. But the question is, what will motivate them to recommend you?

Seth Godin got me thinking about this after I read his blog about what he calls ‘the first circle. Basically he’s just bringing into focus how important your connection is to your immediate contacts versus worrying about the number of contacts you have. (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/09/the-big-drop-off.html) That’s because you aren’t really marketing to your first circle as much as trying to market through them.

Your first circle–or first messengers or direct connects, whatever you want to call them–are the people you want to spend your resources on. If you skimp and do nothing but Twitter about what you have for sale, you aren’t going to have much effect. You need to give them a reason to pass the word along, a reason to talk about you.

You can do this a number of ways. Making humorous comments, videos, and pictures are great as are items that are visually or situationally amazing –just think of what makes the biggest hits on YouTube and what most of your forwarded emails are about.  Sending out messages with items of high value to your market such as novel advice or links to great resources will make people remember you. My favorite method of connecting and getting my messengers to pass the word along, though, is to help them out first. Appreciation is an intense motivator.

Instead of wasting time (and money) sending out announcements and sales pitches, try investing your time and effort in personally chatting with your contacts–especially to encourage or compliment. Buy a product or employ their services if they have something to sell. Or help them in their endeavors by spreading the word, offering your professional advice for free, or connecting them with others who can help them out further.

If you do things like this, your first circle is going to talk about you. Not only that, but you will also get that very necessary personal interaction that will translate into more enthusiasm for your own work and industry, not to mention the seredipitous encounters that result in great friendships and even business ventures along with more sales and exposure.

So go ahead … give them something to talk about. Then go throw on a CD of Patsy Cline or Queen or whatever floats your boat to get that song out of your head. Sorry about that …