I believe a few things in my line of work:
Let people know what you’re doing.
By this, I mean when you have a new song, exhibit, drawing, or idea, you should share it with your audience or your fans.
Like Rick Rubin says, “make stuff, and show it to your friends.”
Let people know what you’re doing in a way that is as creative as the work itself.
Established artists can send out a flyer with a BUY NOW button because they have the luxury of being established artists.
Radiohead and Beyonce can drop a surprise album because they’re Radiohead and Beyonce.
You’re not Radiohead or Beyonce.
Posting “here’s my new thing” and a link gets lost in the river of content, because everyone posts “here’s my new thing” every hour of the day, week after week, year after year.
“Meritocracy is a myth,” says Delon Om. “I always believed that my art would speak for itself- that its merit would earn recognition and validation. Unfortunately, I have learned that is not the case.”
It’s never been easier to distribute your work and get it seen by a million people by lunchtime, but because everyone can do that, it’s also never been harder.
This video from Noah Kalina documents how he captured a photo and made it into a print, which sold out in a few hours. To my knowledge, he only mentioned this offering in his video, which “only” got about 900 views in a month, but his work doesn’t just speak for itself. His work is the work, and his art is the art. It’s all Noah Kalina.
He didn’t just post “new print for sale” on his Instagram Threads and call it a day.
He spent many hours making that art and told his friends about it in a 100% Noah Kalina way.
Bobby Hundreds doesn’t need to write 500+ word newsletters, he’s Bobby Hundreds! He could easily get away with posting his random thoughts and links to new endeavors. But I imagine someone like Bobby has so much creativity coursing through his veins that he’s compelled to share more about the big things he’s doing.
QUESTION: How can your creative spirit inform how you tell your friends about your work?