5 steps to defining your Artist Identity

(and 11 reminders from your Heart)

For me, defining my artist identity and presenting it to the world, was/is NOT a “secret formula” that I learned somewhere, applied in one day, and got the results that I wanted right away.

Defining, clarifying and sharing my artist identity was (and is) a PRACTICE . In other words, it takes time. It’s a process.

For me, this process began with:

• 1. Authentic self-awareness:  Our artistic identity is much more based on ourselves than our art. So, for me it began with genuine curiosity about myself. This allowed me to discover and gain conscious awareness of what makes me “tick”. In other words, it’s about understanding with our mind what our hearts already know…core things like: Why do I love what I love? WHAT exactly is that which I love? What do I stand for? What matters to me? Why am I doing this? What/who inspires me? Who am I now and who do I want to become? What do I want to accomplish with VeruDesigns? What are my priorities and what is a “nice to have”? These are some of the core questions that I began to answer and continue to answer as I grow. Your artistic identity is forever expanding and very much DYNAMIC.

• 2. After awareness comes expression: This is the journey of learning to articulate/communicate these truths about myself with the world. I do this both, through my art (first and foremost!), and second through the “languages” that resonate with me naturally (such as writing/blogging, video, photography, or any combination of these). And THIS IS what you (as the reader of my blog) would perceive as my Marketing. As you can see, this is NOT the old kind of marketing. This is the 21st century kind of marketing. It’s about connecting with “the right people for me” by expressing who I am. Period. Gone are the days of trying to “manipulate” people into doing something. The artist’s marketing practice is an opportunity to know, express, strengthen and share what is good in you with those who resonate with you. When you see it this way, it stops being this “horrible task” you need to do, and it becomes another empowering way of expressing yourself and supporting your art.

• 3. Courage: Expressing who I really am requires a little courage sometimes. I know that “the minutia of who I am” is what sets my work apart from others. So, I don’t shy away from writing about those subjects that make my art uniquely “me”. Examples? I speak/write openly about my spiritual beliefs and how they translate into my work. I believe in life after death. I share the conversations I have with my dead brother.  I’m open about my struggles with the current political administration in the USA. I LOVE HAPPY COLORS and shy away from neutrals. I much prefer things that show human imperfections than the unreal perfection created by machines. I love simplicity and shy away from ornate elegance. I don’t like heels nor too much makeup on my face. All these subjects, some important, meaningful and also silly and superficial (spirituality, politics, equality, personal tastes) are by nature both, alienating and unifying. But because they influence my work, it’s important to give them a voice. These sources of inspirations are exactly the reasons why some people love my work. It’s not about being liked by everyone. But find those that love what you love as well.

• 4. PERSISTENCE and consistency:  Nothing happens overnight. Most people don’t know that “over night successes” took TIME to happen! Without a consistent/persistent practice of expressing yourself (a.k.a marketing), you cannot expect people to know you. Let me disclose a few numbers to you: My list of VeruDesigns subscribers (for this blog) started with 3 people (early 2013): My husband, my mom and my youngest sister.  By my 6th month in business, I had attracted 40 subscribers. THAT WAS AMAZING TO ME AT THE TIME!! When my first year in business came to a close (early 2014), I had 80 subscribers. However up until January 2014 I still had only 45 subscribers. The sudden growth to 80 subscribers happened in 3 days after my first big commercial client decided to share my blog with some of her clients. This I learned early on: Your marketing CANNOT be conditional. It cannot  depend on numbers. You are trying to connect with PEOPLE, not win a popularity contest. It takes time. Trust takes time. Especially in the online world.  Today this has become a beautiful group of over 7K people who choose to support VeruDesigns.  I didn’t make this happen. I only created the possibility for it to happen through consistency.  These numbers should NOT be a parameter for yourself. If you’re just starting out you could accomplish MUCH HIGHER NUMBERS and much FASTER (there are plenty artists who have done that!), or, it could be less in a longer period of time. We are not in the business of numbers, but meaningful connections. The only thing I’m trying to convey is:

a) NOTHING amazing happens without consistency and persistence.

b) Marketing is much more about creating the atmosphere to attract the right people and opportunities to you, than “making opportunities/sales happen”.

So, if turning your art into a business is your goal, getting to know yourself deeply and SCHEDULING your marketing activities will be key.

• 5. The power of truth: People can smell a phony marketing voice from miles away. Pretending being someone you are not may get you a few customers at the beginning, but not loyalty (customers = “one time opportunity buyers”, clients/partners = loyal supporters). As artists we should seek clients and partners, not customers because we are not in the mass-producing business. We create ART!  So, to the best of my ability, I strive for transparency. This implies practicing vulnerability. It implies sharing the good and not-so-good. Because that is real life.

One of the biggest misconceptions in the art world (and I say this not just as an artist, but also as a Technology provider for museums and galleries), is that art alone is what will get you noticed, or will bring visitors to a gallery. In other words, I see so many artists starting a “blog” with posts that say basically “look at my new art!!”, or post only pictures on social media, and my personal (humble) thought is that is simply not enough! Especially in today’s online globalized world where there is SO much talent, so much to choose from, so much to like. It is our job to help our potential supporter to decide whether OUR art is right for him/her. We can’t let that job to our art alone! That is unfair and irresponsable.

Here are some obvious and extra benefits of adopting a consistent practice of marketing:

• Everything good that has happened to VeruDesigns CAME TO ME thanks to my marketing. My marketing created visibility, and with visibility came my very first followers. Some of which became wonderful supporters. Some of these beautiful supporters became clients, partners, and sources for unexpected opportunities (like magazine, online or TV features, museum and gallery showings) and so on. All which translates OF COURSE into sales, profits, credibility, etc. So yes, I’m BIG on ONLINE marketing!

• Other unexpected gifts are: Increased confidence, clarity on who I am and who I want to be, inner freedom, a beautiful community (YOU!), and most importantly, a means for expressing a part of myself that I didn’t know existed 5 years ago.

So that is my very personal take on defining my Artist Identity and presenting it to the world.

What to you think?

If this post is interesting to you, and you’d like to learn more about how I translated these core, but still generic ideas into actual specific action steps, please let me know in the comments section below.

I know that there is a meaningful number of you who are artists, of all levels! This might be most interesting if you’re just starting out as a business. At the same time I know that there are many of you who are here for the art, and are NOT interested at all in this side of VeruDesigns.

So: Before I continue with this series, I’d love to know what you think and whether you think I should continue with a follow up to this post. The next post would be something along the lines of “How to START. And what kind of marketing is right for me?”

Also, do you have any favorite quotes or reminders of your own?

Would you be willing to share those with me? I’d LOVE to read them in the comments section below.

THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!

Stay well, stay happy and stay healthy. I’ll be in touch in a month!

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