Starving Artist No More Blog

055: Creative Branding Deep Dive

May 14, 2024
Starving Artist No More | Jennifer Jill Araya
055: Creative Branding Deep Dive
38:06
 

Questions related to branding and marketing can often feel incredibly overwhelming for artists. The vast majority of creative entrepreneurs got into their line of work because they were passionate about the “creative” part of the “creative entrepreneur” label, not so much because they felt drawn to the “entrepreneur” part. But as I’ve said before on this podcast, the flow of work into your artistic business is directly related to the flow of marketing efforts out of your business. So even if you feel lost when you think about what it would take to effectively market your creative business, doing that marketing work is still something that is part of what it takes to build your creative business into a thriving enterprise that meets your needs. And I’m here to tell you that marketing and branding don’t have to be as scary as they seem. Your branding and marketing decisions can flow naturally out of who you are as an artist. Today, let’s take a deep dive into the topic of branding and marketing for your creative work.

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Hello, thriving artists, and welcome to episode 55 of the Starving Artist No More podcast. I’m so excited to share with you today’s discussion, which is actually a true conversation that I had this week with my good friend Gail Shalan, who is a multi-disciplinary artist and who has so much that she can teach us about branding and marketing our artistic businesses.

I asked Gail to join me for today’s podcast episode for a couple reasons, but the biggest one is that I wanted her to give a sneak preview here on the podcast of the type of branding and marketing concepts she’s going to be teaching this August 2024 at the Thriving Narrators Retreat, which is coming up in just a few months. This retreat, which is specifically for the audiobook narrators in our community, provides an opportunity for attendees to focus on both the craft and the business sides of what it means to be an audiobook storyteller.

Gail, who is an award-winning audiobook narrator and who also works actively as a stage performer, puppeteer, writer, model, and more, is going to be one of the retreat faculty members. At the Thriving Narrators Retreat, Gail is going to walk us through a branding exercise that I’ve undergone with her once before. It was that experience of journeying through the brand development process with Gail that told me that she absolutely had to be part of the Thriving Narrators Retreat, and that told me that I wanted to interview her here on the podcast so that she could share her insights with all of you in the Starving Artist No More community, including those of you who won’t be joining us for the Thriving Narrators Retreat.

Branding and marketing can sometimes feel like cold, clinical, calculating business topics that have nothing to do with our creative processes. But as you’ll hear in my conversation with Gail, nothing could be further from the truth. When we allow our creative selves to manifest in the way that we talk about our work – which really, that’s all that branding and marketing are – then that is when our branding and marketing will truly be a reflection of our full, creative selves. That is when our marketing material, whether it’s in the form of direct reach outs or attendance at in-person events or social media content or something else entirely, will draw to us the kind of projects that fit into our Creative and Financial Sweet Spots. When our creativity is reflected in the way we market our work, everyone benefits.

A systematized plan for marketing and networking is one of the six components of a thriving creative business. If you want to build an artistic business that works, marketing is something you need to think about. Being consistent and efficient with your marketing will allow you to have a steady flow of work into your business. As I said at the top of this episode, the flow of work into your business is directly related to the flow of marketing efforts out of your business. And if you want to know more about how to develop that marketing process for yourself, I have two podcast episodes that dig into how to develop systems and processes for your marketing and networking, Episode 26 and Episode 27.

But sometimes I work with an artist who understands the need for marketing and networking, but who doesn’t even know where to start. They’re not ready to develop systems and processes yet, because they’re stuck and stymied before they even get to that point. What do they talk about in their marketing and networking efforts? Which marketing streams are the right ones for them, whether that’s direct reach outs or social media or paid advertisements or … or … or? Who are they talking to in their marketing materials, and why would those people be interested? 

There’s no doubt about it, when it comes to your marketing, there’s a lot to think about! Sometimes it’s hard to figure out where to even start.

That’s where branding comes in, helping us figure out the base components of what our brand is, and taking that information and using it to shape our marketing content. And that’s where Gail excels as a teacher. I’ve worked with Gail some myself, and I know firsthand that she can help bring order to an artist’s chaotic confusion about all of those branding and marketing decisions.

So, without further ado, let’s get to that conversation I had just a few days ago with artist and actor Gail Shalan.

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Jennifer: Gail, thank you so much for being here today for this conversation as part of the Starving Artist No More podcast. I am thrilled that you are joining us.

Gail: Thank you. I'm so thrilled to be here.

Jennifer: So I wanted to talk to you specifically about branding and marketing. You're going to be leading a session at the Thriving Narrators Retreat in August of 2024. That's going to be talking all about branding. And when I look at your marketing and your branding material, especially your social media presence and the kinds of projects you accept and how you present yourself, I really see a unified concept of who you are, at least as of how you're portraying who you are. [You can see Gail's online presence for yourself on her website and on her social media.] You use similar colors. You have similar types of poses in your photos. Just the overall aesthetic of how you present yourself publicly is very consistent, and I would love to know how did you come up with that? What informed your branding? How did you develop that concept for yourself?

Gail: That's so interesting to hear and means that, good, it's working. It's been a long and is an ongoing journey to figure out how to match all of what I feel I am within, I've come from in terms of life experience and skills and how I see the world, with what the various industries I'm working in need, what my clients need to try to distill all of that, all of those ingredients that make up who I am, into something that is palatable in a moment. And I think that from looking from the outside in, it sounds like it's very concise and clear and precise, which is wonderful. And working from the inside out, it's been a long journey of mining data, asking myself questions, thinking about what I want in the future, thinking about what matters to me, what are my core principles, in my business, as a human, and trying to work that into something again, that's a nice little bite that anybody can have a taste of very quickly.

Jennifer: So so I want to expand on that. You said you ask yourself questions. What kinds of questions have you used to develop your branding concepts?

Gail: Yeah, some of the questions I've asked myself are, what are the opportunities that I've had in the past? And I'll make a long list of all of that, and I'll try to draw patterns between those things. Some of the questions I've asked myself are, what are the opportunities I want in the future? And I'll write all of those down, and I'll draw lots of connecting dots between those, and then I'll see if I can make connecting dots between the things that have happened in the past for me and the things that are happening in the future, and write those things out. So it's almost like a little distillation process, I think, is the right way.

Jennifer: Like you're finding the Venn diagram overlap.

Gail: That's right. Exactly. Where, in the the sort of nexus to things, are there little connections connecting dots. And same thing goes for, okay, here's the client that I'm interested in working with or I would like to work with again, but I want them to think of me as X. Well, what do we have in common? Where do our personal interests, passions, work experiences overlap with the things that I'm shooting for? So trying to find as many little connections as possible that then I can use those data points as leverage to to create a certain image that I put out there into the world.

Jennifer: Sure. So I'd like to touch a little bit on what you were just talking about, you know, for the clients and tailoring your marketing for the clients. Because especially in terms of our social media presence, artists and actors of all kinds always have lots of different audiences that we're possibly reaching out to. You know, there's the casting directors, there's the agents, there's the managers, there's the fans.  For us as narrators, there's the authors, and all of those audiences are possibly looking for different things from us and from our branding and marketing materials. So how do you balance that for yourself?

Gail: Totally. I mean, I think it comes down to a perspective shift that our brand is not our product, our brand is not our casting. Our brand is not a genre of novel or film or network that we're working on. Our brand is not an award, an accolade. Our brand is so much more than that. Our brand is this essential understanding of who we are. I actually have a quote from the writer of Personal Branding for Dummies, Susan Chritton. It's a great 900 page read. But I think this really actually gets to the point of it, that that we're allowed to be complex and we're allowed to have many audiences as long as we understand what they are and we're constantly touching on that. So, "Personal branding is an ongoing, conscientious effort to show the world your best, authentic self, not an inflated version of yourself that can't be maintained. It's the process of bringing every aspect of your life into alignment with your characteristics, strengths, values, and goals so that you can make an instant and lasting impression on the people you meet."

Jennifer: Hmm.

Gail: Yeah, that's a lot of stuff in there.

Jennifer: It is a lot.

Gail: It's a lot to be holding. Right. And I think that's okay to accept how how complex we are and how much is going on. And we are in this sort of moment of the multi-hyphenate. We're in this moment of the empowered artist's voice, where you can go out and get work without needing to get the approval of a gatekeeper. We have a lot of agency in how we tell our own story, and I think that it's okay to sit with the fact that it's multifaceted. Sure. And let others observe that and let others be like, ooh, they're also doing that. That's cool. Or they also work for those folks, like, wow, I mean, that I think that's not a bad look in my experience.

Jennifer: Yeah, I would agree with that. And you are a multidisciplinary artist yourself. You do stage work and you do puppetry and you do audiobooks. And, you know, probably even more than what I'm mentioning. So how do you balance that for yourself in terms of how you present in all of those different arenas?

Gail: Again, an ongoing conscientious effort. I think that no matter what we do or how many disciplines we play in as creative entrepreneurs, we're always balancing many different, spinning many different plates. Right. And and so, it's a little bit of an ebb and flow between just absorbing information and allowing it all to be there and taking it all in when it comes in, and realizing we don't have total control over a process or over what comes next our way. But it's also a lot of disciplined time doing administrative work where I sit down and I look at all this stuff and I decide. I set goals with, with you and Marnie Penning my accountability partners. We make goals about what we want to do in the next couple weeks, breaking it down into little chunks of time. I've been really lucky to go on some wonderful artist retreats myself that have been really pivotal in helping me realize dreams. I have a lot of co-collaborators that I lean on for both inspiration and to make with. And so I think it's constantly dipping back into that pool of the world outside of me, and then examining myself in that larger reality and being like, "Okay, where, where am I going next? What would I like to do after that? Oh, what did that thing connect to that thing over there? Great. I'm going to go like follow those and see if I can see what happens there." And it's a constant flow, which I think sometimes makes me feel absolutely bonkers, but um, but but it's my life and I wouldn't trade it.

Jennifer: Yeah. For sure, for sure. Because, as you mentioned, we are business accountability partners, I happen to know that last night you sent a bunch of email reach outs, taking care of that marketing system and process in your business. I would love to know how you decided what you were going to talk about in those reach outs. Give us a little peek into your process.

Gail: I'm glad you asked that. So actually, as you also know, this is a long overdue part of my marketing plan that I'd been putting off for a while. And part of that has to do with the ebb and flow of work. I was completely overwhelmed and swamped with work in the last couple of months. But part of it also is to do with my own reservations, imposter syndrome, anxiety around presenting myself, which I know we all struggle with or many of us do. I shouldn't say everybody. But I was very lucky and very shocked to be nominated for two Audie Awards this January. Thanks. Which are, for those who are not audiobook people, the the Oscars or the Tonys of audiobook land. And then in March, I had a week of my schedule that suddenly was about going to LA and attending this ceremony. And we won both of them, which was huge. Exciting news. Yes. So exciting. And I needed to tell people about that because that's good for my business. Right? It's good for me to to let folks know and also to reach out to people, my colleagues who worked on a lot of these wonderful winning and nominated projects and say congratulations to them. And hey, we're we're in this together. And what an exciting night that was for us.

And it felt like this really big scary thing to put out there for a lot of different reasons. So I think that's part of this sort of subconscious resistance. So I finally was like, you know what? I've got I got some free time. I'm looking ahead in my calendar and I know what I want, and I'm not getting those things coming through as much as I'd like. It's time for me to just, you know, brush off my hands on my pants and get down to work. And, so I started with that. I started with, "It was so nice to see you." Or it was, "I wish that I'd seen you in March, but I just wanted to say congratulations," or "I saw you across the room, but I couldn't get to you. i want to say congratulations on on your nominations, on your wins. And I also wanted to share the great news about mine." And I attached samples of the project so they could go have hands-on experience, or ears-on experience, with that award winning work.

Jennifer: That attraction marketing, allowing the product to speak for itself.

Gail: Sure, yes. Give them a little taste of it. And also these are these are real people. These are human colleagues that I have relationships with. So I also do my best to reach out with a very personalized sentence or two, acknowledging that relationship and and truly inquiring, how are they doing, you know, hoping that they're doing well based on X, that I know about their life or Y. And then I try to drop in a few recent projects that feel on brand, that feel like they align with what everybody already knows about me, but are also little seedlings towards the things I'd like to move towards. And I highlight those things about the projects. So I'll link the project so they can go listen. But I'll preface with, you know, "I really loved this historical fantasy set in World War II that had a myriad of Slavic accents and was all about witches and magic." And in there, there's a few little things that I'm working towards getting more of. So when they go listen, hopefully that's framing the work in that way, and it's framing me in that way in their mind. And I'll have 3 or 4 varied examples that feel appropriate to what that client can offer me. I think that's another part of it, is understanding what that person has for you in terms of work, and presenting yourself as a solution to their problems, not just, "Here I am and this is what I want and give me everything I want," because maybe they don't even have that to give to you.

Jennifer: I mean, if you're reaching out to someone that primarily casts romance, telling them about your mystery thriller work, you're not ..

Gail: Yeah, "womp womp!" They might love your work. They might love you, but they're like, "Great. I don't have any mystery thrillers. Hope you get it."

Jennifer: For sure.

Gail: And then a little, you know, a personalized sign off again that feels more one-on-one and and less broad strokes. And maybe another little thing I can say about who I am as a human out of my business. Right? "I've been really enjoying walking around the city. I just took a trip to Cincinnati to see the eclipse with my best friend," you know, which is you. That kind of thing.

Jennifer: I love it, I love it. So we've talked a little bit about social media. We've talked a little bit about direct reach outs and also some about you traveling to the industry event to see people in person. So those are three different ways that you are marketing yourself and showing that branding work that you've done. Right. What other methods do you use to market yourself?

Gail: Oh, that's a good question. So in person, direct reach outs, social media. This one I think is a little bit sneaky, but I think, it's still in person, but it's not directly client-facing. Okay. I like to show up in professional social spaces on brand, if that makes sense. The parts of me that I want to share with somebody in a professional networking space that isn't about a direct one on one with a potential client, is still going to align with being on brand. And by that I mean the things I talk about passionately. I'm going to make sure that that aligns with the industry that we're in or the things that I want to be doing, the projects I want to be working on. What I decide to wear to that event, I'm going to make sure aligns with a color scheme I've worked hard to make sure works with who I am in terms of where I'm going and where I have been, and what I look like and what I feel in terms of my vocal space. All of that. I think in little conversations, talking about process and what parts of my process are really aligned with my brand gives this deeper, more well-worn in shine to what that brand is. "Oh, there's something behind the curtain and we know a little bit about it. And, oh, when she works on character, this is how she approaches it. Oh, it's from a puppetry place." Surprise, surprise. And I do a lot of kid stuff. So all that stuff kind of connects. But does that answer the question?

Jennifer: Absolutely. So it's when you do go to an in-person event, it's not just about showing up -- and for you, winning two awards. It's actually about everything of how you present yourself. It's what topics you choose to discuss. It's how you dress, it's how you present yourself. It's the way you talk about your creative process. It's not, "Give me a job."

Gail: Exactly. And also I will say this is not a premeditated script. I don't go through before every event and say, okay, this outfit is on brand. And when I talk to this person, I'm going to tell them about that part of my process. No, no, no, no. I work constantly on understanding that inherently so much myself that it feels natural coming out of my mouth or when I pull it out of the closet. Right. It's something that's so integrated into who I actually feel I am. It's not all of who I am. I don't show everybody all of who I am. That's my business. And I don't think anybody can do that all of the time. But but it is so true to who I am that it's natural, if that makes sense.

Jennifer: Absolutely. It absolutely does. So if you are working with an artist, someone comes to you and says, "I admire what you do for branding. I would love your help developing my own." What initial steps do you recommend that an actor take as their very beginning baby brand development process to make sure that their brand that they're portraying aligns with their goals and their values?

Gail: Well, I want to talk to them about what those goals and values are. I want to talk to them about how they got to where they are now, what is making them, what has brought them this far along their journey in their pursuit of what they're doing or in their craft? And I want to get detailed about that entire story. I want to look at the story of who you are, who you were, and who you will become, and allow that your creativity to also play a role in that. Because every memory is subjective. Every story we tell is subjective. Every dream we have is incredibly subjective. And I also think how we realize it is very subjective. So allowing your creativity as an artist to come through in how you tell your story is an essential part of developing your brand.

Jennifer: Absolutely. I love that so much. I talk a lot, and I think in last week's podcast episode, I talked some about how the stories that we tell ourselves are so powerful. And that then relates to the stories that we tell through our marketing and through our branding materials.

Gail: Yeah, and I think there's something relatable too. We have this buzzword authenticity, but it really is a good word. There is something really authentic about being honest in the subjective truth of it all, that we're not sharing it all, that we're not everything all at once. That we we do have a certain lens of how we see ourselves. That's a relatable thing because that's true for everybody.

Jennifer: Yeah, artists or not. That's true for every human.

Gail: Exactly, exactly. Artists are the window, or the mirror, for all other humans. I would say, mirrors better than a window, the reflection of what we all are. And that's when art is resonant is when we can see ourselves in that. So that's another thing to keep in mind in branding. You know who am I the mirror for?

Jennifer: Good stuff. So I want to pivot a little bit and just get some advice from you that perhaps is even advice directly for me, even more than anyone listening to this interview. So, you know, because you've walked with through me through the many iterations of my social media strategies that I just really have struggled with social media and figuring out how to feel comfortable and sharing authentically. I've had some issues with some online stalking that's gone into real life stalking, which makes me just hesitant sometimes on social media. I know that you've given me really good advice over the years, so thank you.

Gail: You're welcome.

Jennifer: But I would love for you to share some thoughts now with everyone listening. What advice would you give to artists who struggle to figure out their approach to social media?

Gail: I would say start with what interests you and go from there. I would give yourself a little private time to reset, to retreat and study yourself and your interests. What do you like to look at on social media? What what makes you go off of that platform and go buy the thing, or listen to the thing, or do the thing? And just take a few notes there. And then see if that's an approachable place for you to start creating content. I also would start with your joy. I would start with what lights you up with your enthusiasm. And you don't have to share all the details. You don't have to get really, really personal with it all in the sense that you're telling everything, but what you do have to get is really personal in the sense that it's there's a core honesty about it. And if there's something that lights you up, that's easy to share. I also think a great way to share our accomplishments, our joy, is to look at the "we" instead of the "me" and make it collective narcissism and brag truly.

Jennifer: Brag collectively.

Gail: Yeah, exactly. "I'm so proud of all of us. I'm so excited about these amazing words I get to read. I'm so thrilled to get to meet you all at this convention." Whatever it is, if it comes from a place of connection and a place of we, I think first of all, that's easier for me to do. But secondly, it's way more inviting, it's way more inviting. And I think of social media, this is maybe tangential, but I think it might help. I think of social media as a salon, as a living room, as as a shared space, that is. Not completely public, but also not private. It's a place you're inviting people into that's yours. So you get to decorate it. You get to decide how hot or cold the temperature is, what you serve in there. You know how many seats there are, sure. But it's not your bedroom. It's not your shower. It's not your bathroom. Right. That's yours. And it's also not the street.

Jennifer: it's a semi-public area.

Gail: Yeah, exactly. The public area of your home. Exactly. And it's also a place for passing through. If it's your salon, if it's your foyer, if it's your welcoming area, people are going to come in and they're going to go out. And you don't have to have the burden of them being there forever. You know, people will pass through. Some people might be visiting people's socials obsessively and staying in those places only, but most people are passing through. And so the pressure's off. You don't need to host for that long. It's just a moment of, "here's your cup of tea."

Jennifer: Yeah. And every piece of content doesn't have to be hooking and grabbing to every single audience member. Which maybe gets back to my earlier question about how to talk to all of the different audiences.

Gail: And I don't know enough about algorithms to really speak to this, but I do know that creating content regularly and creating diverse content is algorithmically also good for you. So yeah, if you have something, excuse me. If you have something to share, share it.

Jennifer: I love that. That's a that's a good maxim to live by. Sharing is caring, you know.

Gail: Absolutely if you have something to share, share it.

Jennifer: Well, Gail, I would love to wrap up our conversation today by asking what tools or resources you use yourself to help you in your branding and marketing journey, and what you would recommend to the listeners that that might help them?

Gail: Sure. So again, my number one resource is my A-Team over here, you and Marnie. But truly, I mean accountability partners. Yes. Have accountability partners come up with strategies with with colleagues. Do some workshops that help you have designated time to focus in on building these strategies.

Jennifer: I think that time to just have deep thought work about how you want to present yourself is invaluable.

Gail: Yes, yes, yes. Your brand is not an afterthought, and marketing precedes branding. So starting with branding before you start to market is really, really important. So my journal is also like my number one. Pens and paper, colorful pencils, places for my creativity to splatter out onto the page in a private way,  before I decide how I'm going to pull that together publicly. I do a lot of drafting of captions and emails in places like Google Docs or the notes app. I sometimes have, when I've been marketing for other entities that are beyond just myself, and sometimes I guess I do this with myself as well, but, like a catalog of hashtags, so it's easy just to pull those very quickly, knowing what audiences I want to reach, because that's about pinging visibility. I use the Canva app now. I used to use Godaddy's app to create social media posts. And then also the headliner app to add audio. I use the Pantone app to discover color, and there's a whole bunch about color psychology and marketing that I'm really excited to share in our workshop. And I also use things on the back-end of the social media itself, like saving and making lists out of Instagram posts that I have. I use Instagram like Pinterest, I have many different boards. I also love Pinterest for this, creating visuals, vision boards that I can slowly collect over time, like 

"This resonates with me, that resonates with me." And then I'll have 50 posts and I can just zoom through and go, you know, broad view. "Oh, this is kind of what I look like. This is kind of what that part of me is like."

Jennifer: You're making lists of your own posts then, and viewing them?

Gail: No, things that I'm attracted to.

Jennifer: Okay. Sure.

Gail: So there so there might be one that is like, you know, other people's branding that I like, but there also might be one that's like European holidays, you know, and there also might be one that's like poetry that resonates with me. And there also might be one that is, uh, bookshelves I love. There also might be one of future clients I want or projects I'd like to reach out for, and, and just collecting those as they come by me, because we're inundated with so much all the time. We're spending time learning about ourselves on these apps, collecting those and storing them away in an organized fashion. Then let's me go back later and be like, oh, that's what that looked like.

Jennifer: So it's part of the self-discovery that allows you to then develop an authentic brand and continue that brand development over time.

Gail: Yes. Continue that over time. Exactly. I mean, I'll do that even with fashion. "Oh, I like this style. I like that style." And then I'll go, "okay, well, for the Audies, this is kind of aligning with all of the styles that I've been collecting over the past six months, but also aligns with the color scheme of the book cover, but also aligns with the category I'm nominated for." If I were to break down the thinking process, which I don't think I went into that much detail about it, but now I'm riffing on it, I'm like, "yeah, that's how I got there. Cool." Like examining that process.

Jennifer: That overlap of the Venn diagram, and allowing those elements of yourself to show in the self you present in public spaces.

Gail: And then other resources. I would just also say, reading people's blogs, posts, books from the library on branding, on the things that you're interested in moving towards. Libby, the library app, is just such a wonderful resource for anything you could need, truly. And podcasts, there's so many people with so many cool podcasts out there, like if you're honing in on a specialty, whatever that means to you. Like this is I want to focus on the art of branding itself. Or like, I really want to focus on terra sigillata in my ceramics. Dive deep into that world on somebody's podcast or on their social media. There's just so much out there to collect. And then collect the things that stick for you and then look at the collage later.

Jennifer: Oh, I love that. These are such great ideas. Thank you so much, Gail, for spending this time with me today and for sharing with starving artists. No more podcast audience. I really appreciate it.

Gail: It's my pleasure as as a part of that audience, I appreciate you. Thank you so much.

Jennifer: Absolutely. Thank you.

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Thank you so much for spending this time with me and my special guest for today, Gail Shalan. I hope our conversation gave you some new ideas for how to think about sharing your creative work in a marketing and branding framework. If you enjoyed today’s episode, I hope you’ll take the time to subscribe to this podcast in your podcast player of choice, and I’d also truly appreciate you leaving a review. Reviews and subscriptions help new artists find this creative little corner of the podcast world. And if you know a fellow artist who has been struggling with their marketing and branding decisions, please share this episode with them. As I said during my conversation with Gail, sharing is caring! If you have any questions for me, if you’d like to learn more about how you can work with me, if you’d like to learn more about the Thriving Narrators Retreat that’s taking place in Cincinnati in August 2024, if you have a topic suggestion for me for a future podcast, basically if you want to reach out to me for any reason or if you have any questions about my work, you can get all that info and contact me via my website, www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com. Everything you need is there. A huge thank you to Gail for joining me for today’s episode, and an enormous thank you as well to my husband, Arturo Araya, who handled all of the sound engineering for this episode, as he does for every episode of this podcast. Thanks, Arturo!

As creative entrepreneurs, marketing, networking, and branding can feel like big, scary, confusing topics, but they don’t have to be. If we allow our passions to shape the marketing material that we put out into the world, then that marketing work will flow naturally from the artistic process we enjoy so much. I love Gail’s idea of thinking of our social media sphere as the public space of our home, a place where we invite people to experience a bit of our creativity, where we can curate the conversation, and where it’s fine for people to come and go. Your marketing efforts are a part of your business, and because a thriving creative business is shaped by the creativity of the artist behind it, your marketing efforts can also be a beautiful reflection of who you are as an artist. I can’t wait to see what you create.

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