What Message are Your Sending?

I've read an enormous amount of marketing and pr materials and really examined what it appears the pr and marketing people are saying to me. The biggest problem I see is that most of these books lack voice. After reading their work, I know little to nothing about the authors or why they do what they do.

One such pr/marketing guy gives out a free chapter of his book and then sends a follow-up e-mail asking what the readers think. I responded that I won't be buying it because of lack of voice, choice of content (nothing struck me a new, novel or urgent) and the fact that I just don't feel his goals are in line with mine. I was shocked that he wrote back, personally, almost immediately. He said I make a lot of assumptions but he needs to provide for his family.

Fair enough, but my ideas about him came from my perspective of the message he sent out. Not once did I see or hear anything about helping people, building relationships (not for gain, but for the sake of positive connections to others) or that leaving a lasting legacy were his goals. I feel badly for him, because he apparently is a person with heart, but he never shared it with his readers. (Or if he did, it was so buried in marketing copy that I missed it.)

I am not out to make a quick buck. Would a windfall be stellar? Absolutely! However, my primary mission is to live my creative truth while helping others do the same, and leave a lasting positive legacy for the world. I rather have a thousand fans who really appreciate the stories I share of creative people, and have those fans become long-term customers of the creatives I've interviewed than to be a household brand name with no positive impact.

Here are a few marketing books that I love because they are rich, rich, rich in voice of the author.

• Self-Promotion for the Creative Person by Lee Silber
• We Can Do That? by Peter Shankman
• How to be a Famous Writer Before You're Dead by Ariel Gore

These books are all in my personal library and I go back to them time and again because I feel a connection to the authors. My question to you is, if you're leaving your voice out of your promotional or written work, what are you forgetting to say that might make all the difference between a purchase, a pass or a lasting connection from a committed fan?

PR and Publicity Books for Creative People

More often than not, when I meet an artist or creative person the first thing I'm asked is if I can help with publicity and marketing. Alas, Votre Vray is not really an expert in this area. I try new methods all of the time and work, work, work on getting people to know who I am, what I do, and the artists and creative people whose stories I have learned.

Just this month I signed a one-time contract with a direct mail company to see how that impacts my local market. The price was right (only $405 for a half-page ad to go to 10,000 homes, and $630 for brochures to go to 10,000 more) and their artwork department had deals I loved, including the option of having 1,000 brochures printed for me for $60 more than my other services. One of the local free papers charges $300 for a one-time quarter page ad and the only people who see it are those who go out, pick up the paper and bring it home. They had no way of making sure it arrived in 20,000 homes. My direct mail company at least can get it into each residential mailbox.
Below is a list of some PR and Publicity books I have seen mentioned and some I've read. Please note a few of these are print-on-demand and must be ordered before a copy will be printed. I'm not endorsing any book but simply letting you know what is out there. Good luck and keep creating!
-Mel.

• Complete Publicity Plans: How to Create Publicity That Will Spark Media Exposure and Excitement (Adams Streetwise Series) (Paperback)
• The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly (Paperback) by David Meerman Scott (Author)
• Guerrilla Publicity: Hundreds of Sure-Fire Tactics to Get Maximum Sales for Minimum Dollars (Paperback) by Jay Conrad Levinson (Author), Rick Frishman (Author), Jill Lublin (Author)
• The Publicity Handbook, New Edition : The Inside Scoop from More than 100 Journalists and PR Pros on How to Get Great Publicity Coverage (Paperback) by David R. Yale (Author), Andrew J. Carothers (Author)
• On Deadline: Managing Media Relations (Paperback) by Carole M. Howard (Author), Wilma K. Mathews (Author)
• Making News: A Straight-Shooting Guide to Media Relations (Paperback) by David Henderson (Author)
• Press Releases Are Not a PR Strategy (Paperback) by Linda (Author), B. VandeVrede (Author)
• PR Idea Book: 50 Proven Tools That Really Work (Paperback)by Jeff Winke
• PR on a Budget: Free, Cheap, and Worth the Money Strategies for Getting Noticed (Paperback) by Leonard Saffir (Author)
• Media Training 101: A Guide to Meeting the Press (Hardcover) by Sally Stewart (Author)
• The New PR Toolkit: Strategies for Successful Media Relations (Financial Times Prentice Hall Books) (Paperback)by Deirdre Breakenridge (Author), Thomas J. DeLoughry (Author)
• Full Frontal PR: Building Buzz About Your Business, Your Product, or You (Paperback)by Richard Laermer (Author)

Who Cares About Your Bills?

Award willing, top dollar public speaker James Malinchak did not become one of the best in the business while commanding tens of thousands of dollars for each event because he learned how to be the best speaker in front of coaches. He became famous and rich because he realized that "No one cares about your bills but you and the people you owe." He advises to go to those who know how to make money. They will be the mentors who help you pay your bills.

Now, that is not to say if you're not up to par in your art that you don't need to work on those skills simultaneously. Keep practicing your art and develop a body of work that you can share with those who you want to hire you. However, as you create, think about what audiences want.

You don't have to "sell out" to make your mortgage. Decide what your art/skill is and then look for people who want that art/skill. Providing the market with what they already want will make everyone happy in the long run -- you as the creator, and your audience as consumers.

GreenKangaroo and YOU on Flickr

Are you looking for a way to have photos of your work readily accessible to your audience? Maybe you can't afford to have a web designer upload all of your work each time you get a new image. Perhaps you're just a DIY kind of person anyway or you know the value of being seen in a variety of forums. (The whole "I have one website, why do I need a blog, to post my images of work elsewhere and take time for social networking?" just doesn't hold up in to marketing standards. It is nearly as narrow of a market as saying, "I have a business card. Why aren't the customers running to me?")

Rachelle Matherne, artist in charge at GreenKangaroo, of New Orleans not only maintains a website, but makes sure her Facebook friends can see what she's up to when she posts her work on Flickr. Check it out, and if you're in her area, follow her on Facebook and see her at the numerous shows she does regularly. By the way, she has a pretty big following of friends. Why? Because she takes time to be a friend and not just do her art! (Three cheers for Rachelle! You're Votre Vray's inspiration today.)