Last year at this time, I had the opportunity to gather 20 of my fellow Cape Ann Artisans for a 1/2 day workshop on arts marketing. It was a huge challenge (many, many hours of reflection) to boil down 30+ years as a professional marketer to a 4 hour workshop. The Marblehead Arts Association, now led by respected arts supporter, Kristine Fisher, has asked me to do a "talk" to higlight a few of the topics covered in the workshop. So a further boiling down to the ESSENTIALS of arts marketing. To do so properly, we have to start with a framework. In the big picture, there are many things that happen in marketing on the way to today's popular "tactics." It's actually the tactics (social media being a key one today) that scare the technology-phobic. But true marketing smarts comes from areas where artists can use their intellectual curiosity and storytelling abilities. So my goal is to make my fellow artists smart about marketing and allow them to decide which tactics make sense in light of the larger framework. All-in-all, this makes for a much richer experience. I hope the messages are well received. If so, this type of workshop and talk will indeed happen again. Please join me and let me know what you think as I reach the next milestone of my own marketing and arts combined professional life ! Sign up here on the MAA site!
