“All I Have To Do Today Is… Climb This Mountain”

All I have to do is…

TOO MUCH for today.

I was enjoying a conversation with a writer. They had aspirations for another deal and had found an agent to connect a recent work to a publisher. The agent didn’t have great news. They had been shopping the manuscript to larger houses and were coming up against a common refrain:

“We are only really looking for influencers these days,” and “What do they have for followers?”

From the soapbox of my office sofa, the writer lamented how great art doesn’t matter these days—any hack with a social media presence can get a deal while a great writer sits on the sidelines with a thoughtful and well-crafted manuscript.

Nodding my head, I asked, “What do you need to do?”

He promptly replied, “I just have to build an audience.”

Agreeing, I said, “Yes, but what will you do this afternoon when you leave my office?”

The author was stumped.

We quickly considered what goes into building an audience, and after weaving through ideas of what a brand is, we landed on a concrete story. A brand for an artist that is capable of building an audience requires a narrative. The author left my office ready to take action. They worked on their bio. Building an audience is weeks or months away, but clarity on their story can happen now.

All you have to do to succeed with your art is just… finish the project, sell the painting, find a dealer, secure a show, get a critical review… we all have our list of things we just need to do. The challenge is converting the just that is likely too big and too abstract into something we can act on today.

The agency has been developing a tool to convert big visions into action we can do this afternoon. We happily give the tool, called a dashboard, away. We also offer supporting materials to utilize the tool effectively and consistently, as well as host regular, free professional development sessions to explore business in the presence of smart company.