I have been reading (and watching) Gary Vaynerchuk recently. For those that don’t know who Gary is, he is the founder of Wine Library TV.com and author of Crush It. Gary is intense and passionate about the opportunity Social Media presents to all of us to define ourselves and spread that message almost instantly. He talks a lot about defining a niche, no matter how small, being transparent and owning it. Incredibly valuable advice.
What I take from Gary, though, is the opportunity Social Media provides for all creative businesses to transcend their medium. For example, a photographer or lighting designer marketing to an interior designer elements integral to the design (as opposed to accents). A baker expanding into all confections and vice-versa based on the core audience of each. A DJ creating a membership to program music into a customer’s home on a monthly basis. Why can’t the DJ help create the environment a homeowner wants in his/her home any more than a landscaper? Especially if the homeowner is an avid fan of the music the DJ specializes in?
To my mind, Social Media distills the marketplace to myriad niches, each of which owns an incredibly pure and passionate fan base. Add to the mix, the ability to use technology to outsource all but the core art of your creative business and you can literally go anywhere with your art. The result: perceptions of what you and your art are do not have to exist any longer. And if the perceptions can disappear so can the limitations imposed on your creative business by the market for the current iteration of your art. A florist can be a stylist. A caterer can be an invitationer. A DJ can be a lighting designer. The key is to find the audience that will care enough about your core art to take the leap with you as you apply it to another medium. Social Media makes it not only possible to find this audience, but probable.
Opportunity abounds when boundaries disappear. Try finishing this statement, “If everyone thought Creative Artist, Inc. stood for X, then we would be able to do Y”. You owe it to yourself and your business to make it happen.
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I totally agree. : )
Ah, so this was what was on your mind when you commented about my drawings on Twitter. 😉
I think this is a very good point and your ideas are very creative! I think that sort of out-of-the-box thinking is awesome, but can be hard to do when you’re so close to your own business. Those really creative ideas are hard to come up with!
This really resonates with me. Are you familiar with Glazer-Kennedy marketing? This is totally something they would say. We are all experts in something.
so agree. these very thoughts have been playing around in my mind. glad to have it reinforced by your genius! thanks for sharing.
Some very interesting food for thought!