This is Why Artists Starve

So last weekend was Jamie’s birthday. We went up to Duluth, up on the north shore, Lake Superior, and we went to this art festival. We didn’t intend to go up there for the art festival. It just happened to be going on at the same time. And we’re like, hey, that looks cool. Let’s go over there. Big event in the park. All of these tents from these different artists, and they’re amazing.

We got photographers, we got painters, we got woodworkers, we got potters, we got driftwood sculptors. It’s amazing. These people are wildly talented. But we walked around this event for about an hour, and at the end of it, I was just so frustrated because I look at everything through the lens of entrepreneurship, of business, and I looked at what these people were doing, and these guys have amazing, incredible talents. They have products that they could make a lot of money off of. But over and over and over again, as I’m looking at these people, I’m getting the sense that they are just miserable, that they seem like they don’t make any money. They seem like starving, like the quintessential starving artists, if I’m being completely honest with you. And I wanted to share why exactly I think that is.

It’s getting a little bit loud out there, so we’re gonna come inside here and sit down at the table. So I think the reason that many years ago, if you guys don’t know my backstory, I was writing science fiction and fantasy novels, right? And some of those books ended up doing pretty damn well. And it wasn’t because I was the most talented writer in the world. I think I’m an above average writer, but I wasn’t, like, not Stephen King or anything like that, but I’ve been able over the last decade, to make over a million dollars from my writing. And the question is, why is it that I’m able to succeed and make a living off of my writing when there are countless better writers out there who are not able to? And it’s the same with painters and photographers. All these creatives, why is it that they have this skill that is truly puts them in an elite tier, and yet they can’t make a thriving, successful business off of it? And it’s because they don’t know how to market themselves, they don’t know how to put them out themselves out there, their product out there, and to communicate that message in a way that compels the audience to lean in. And this came to mind because at this event, we’re walking around and we’re there for over an hour, we go into countless tents and booths, and we’re looking at all this stuff. We’re picking up stuff, and it looks really cool.

And I. Only one person. One person actually talked to us, said anything, and all they said is, hey, let me know if you need anything. I’ll be right here if you have any questions. That’s it. That’s all they said, right? So we went to all these booths, and all the artists, they just sat in the back of their booths. They’re on their phone, they’re doing something, but they all look grumpy, none of them looking particularly welcoming or anything like that. And so the whole event just had this weird vibe about it where it didn’t have a lot of energy.
It felt like this quiet museum. And as we left, I turned to Jamie. I was like, man, if I could just spend an hour with these people, they would all increase their revenues for this event by, like, five times. Five x six x easily. But you can see the reason these artists sit in the back and they look grumpy and they’re just not communicating with anybody is probably a mixed bag. Number one is they’re probably introverts. That’s probably what leads a lot of people to become an artist, right? They like to be in the work itself. So putting themselves out there, talking to strangers, I get it uncomfortable.
But we only have two modes, right? We can either do things that move us forward or we can do things that hold us back. And that’s either an empowering action or a limiting action. And I’m sorry. If you’re an introvert and you want to grow a business, if you want to make your art into something successful, you need to learn how to step out of that and step into your extroverted self to talk to people. Because to make a successful business, you have to have a product. You have somebody to sell it to. So 50% of that equation is other people. So you got to get out of your way.
Now, I think the reason a lot of them look so grumpy is because they expect people just to come up, see their beautiful work, see how brilliant it is, and just give them money. And then when that doesn’t happen, then they get discouraged, and they start to doubt or to question either the quality of their work or the intelligence of the consumer. Like, these guys are idiots. They don’t recognize the value of what I’m doing here, right? And it’s very easy to get discouraged then and just go, I’m gonna sit in the back of this little tent. I’m not gonna engage with anybody or anything like that. So what I wanna share with you today is, like, in that situation, if I was an artist and I had a booth, and this, depending on what kind of business you have, if you’re listening to this, this is gonna serve you very well. So a number of years ago at escape climbing, one of the initiatives that we put into place to start growing from $400,000 a year to $3 million a year in three year span, it was very, very quick. Rapid rise is we started going to industry events, and we started to take a booth, and so we were these people.
Like, we had our art, we had our, you know, our items, and then we’re trying to sell them. And the number one rule that I had, as we would take our team there, is you never sit behind the counter. You are out in the hallway, out in front of the booth, and you are grabbing people, and you’re bringing them in. You’re talking to people as they walk by, and you’re giving them a reason to stop and to engage with you and the items. So as somebody’s walking by, you say, hey, how is it going? Hey, we’re doing a raffle. We’re giving away a free such and such. Have you entered for that yet? All you got to do is answer one question correctly, and it’s not even a very hard question. Do you want to try it? And they go, oh, sweet.
Yeah. You get them into the booth, you get them to answer the question, you get them to fill out the raffle, and you go, hey, by the way, we have this free sticker. You check this out, put this on your water bottle, whatever. If you have any questions, here’s my card. We’d love to hear from you. And then. Or maybe ask them an opening question of, like, hey, what brings you guys here? What are you looking for? Are you guys a gym owner? Are you a root setter? Like, you start the conversations. And the way that I would have seen this playing out is like, if I’m a photographer and I’m at one of these events, you can bet your ass.
I’m out in front of the booth with my camera, and as people walk by, I go, hey, stop right there. And I would take a beautiful picture of them, and I go, I bet you’ve never had an amazing photo of yourself. This is a. This is going to be the best photo you’ve ever seen of yourself. I’m going to post it on this website. At the end of the day, here’s my card. Here’s where you can find it. Go download it.
You’re going to love it. It’s totally free. By the way, this is my gift to you. By the way, this is my booth. I’d love to show you something real quick. By the way, you might be really interested in this. I love your shoes. That color is beautiful.

You’re going to love the color of this thing. Come take a look at it with me. Reaching out, you’re grabbing people’s attention, you’re giving them something for free. You’re engaging them in conversation. You’re then bringing them into the booth. That is how you to these, that’s how you, that’s how you get people to engage with you, to connect and to pull out their wallets and actually start buying. So I want you to take some of these ideas and start thinking like, oh, if I’m an artist and I’m going to these conventions, I’m going to these fairs, or if you go to these industry events, like, what can you do to grab people’s attention, to engage with them, to get them to stop and to consider your product? Because at the end of the day, people do business with people. And there were a couple of different things at this art fair that if somebody had stopped me at the right moment and asked me the right question, I would have walked away with one of their items.

But they didn’t ask me. And so, like, my threshold, I didn’t want the thing that badly to just impulse buy it. But if they had stopped me and talked to me, I’m like, this is a kind of a cool person. I like what they’re about. I dig their vibe. This thing is really cool. I want to support them. Bam.

$50 purchase right there. No burner, right? So take this, run with it. I hope this serves you. Get out of your own way. If you’re an artist, go out there and make your millions because you deserve it. You have an awesome skill. You have something awesome and beautiful to bring to the world. And I hope that this podcast is helping you bring that and blossom that out into the world.

So that’s going to do it for me. Guys and gals, as always, I appreciate you. Thank you for being here. I’ll catch you in the next episode. But until then, stay hyper focused, my friends.