MINDFUL MARKETING

Lately, marketing has been at the fringes of my attention. 

If there’s anything I’m trying to learn from my burnout era, it’s to find ways for my business to energize me, rather than deplete me. And that means all of it, including how I share my work with the world.

The most depleting part of being a photographer v1.0 was the constant expectation that came with being asked to let my photos be used or made in exchange for exposure, or the expectation that my work could be used to promote other businesses without payment or consent as long as a tag was provided. More than anything else, this made me feel invisible and devalued. I didn’t believe I could speak up because I was afraid of offending the people who were using my work for free – and that wasn’t a hypothetical, it often turned out that way (this is my least favorite type of good girl conditioning – the kind that convinces you if you express a boundary, you will be exiled forever).

I’ve avoided saying any of that publicly, and I think part of healing is admitting that it’s true, even when my inner critic says that it sounds victim-y. I also have to admit that there were times I believed that making things for other people for free would provide me the connections I deeply desired, so I am also responsible for perpetuating the stories I held about working for free. My point is there is nothing about working for free – for other people – that works for me anymore. Giving away my work and energy for less than it’s worth to build things for other people can no longer be my marketing strategy.

The tension is in figuring out how to be generous with my work in a way that allows everyone involved to feel nourished (that means it nourishes me, too). Generosity does not have to mean that we give our work away for free; there are ways to be generous without depleting ourselves. Maybe the question I’m really trying to answer is how can generosity be a practice of abundance – what do I have more than enough of to give?* And can marketing be a practice of business generosity and abundance? What I’m turning my attention toward is how to market and sell my work in a way that feels deeply fulfilling and intentional, that not only brings awareness to the work I’m making but helps to build a more delightful and sustainable world in the process. There is a dramatic difference in the energy of generosity as a people-pleasing practice and generosity as an intentional practice of self-determination.

The most joyful world I can imagine is one that is filled with experiencing art and making art and being surrounded by art that creates opportunities for connection to self, each other and the natural world. In my imagination, this looks like creating ways for people to experience art in real life, not just through a screen. Maybe it is easiest to find a platform, like Etsy or Instagram, and learn the secrets to getting seen, but that doesn’t bring my body any thrill or excitement. And yet, finding ways to make art accessible is at the heart of this. I crave finding ways to invite humans into experiencing this work by making it together and by sharing it in other tangible ways. I’m being vague here because making a plan is the next step in the process – right now, the possibilities are just floating around in my brain waiting to find their way into a more solid space.

So that’s where my work is leading. I can’t keep living in a world where business is a dull and boring topic that feels like it’s just going to drain the life and resources from us all, where consumption is prioritized over connection. This time around, I’m looking to enjoy every part of bringing this to life and using it to energize and nourish.

*Attribution note: This question, and a lot of this post was inspired by the work of Amelia Hruby via her podcast, Off the Grid.