A couple of years ago, I wrote a post about why I’ve had it up to here with problem solving marketing. You know what I’m talking about. The idea that you have to figure out what problem your art solves in order to market it.
This idea has now become pretty standard advice in marketing circles, and if you talk to most marketing “experts,” they’ll tell you that of course it applies to art too.
To which I say, “hell no!”
Not only do I hate this advice because it keeps artists and makers from sharing their work until they “figure out what problem it solves” but it totally misses the point of art.
Art doesn’t exist to solve our problems, and people don’t buy art to have their problems solved.
We know this is true in other art forms like music or movies or literature. No one thinks about what problems will be solved by blasting their favorite Lizzo song. No one asked Parasite what problem it was solving before watching it. You don’t crack open your favorite fiction book because you expect it to solve all the problems in your life. (You might crack it open to escape those problems, but that’s certainly not the same as solving them.)
So why do we expect this from the art we make?
Because some marketing guru told us we had to sell that way?
Honestly, I feel bad for those marketing gurus. Because if they think art exists only to solve a problem, it means they’re missing out on the full experience of art. (And life.)
I wonder if they’ve ever held a beautiful handmade mug in their hands or experienced the pleasure of using one to drink their morning coffee. Or do they only buy a new mug because they need a new mug? (I certainly don’t NEED more mugs, but I continue to buy beautiful handmade mugs because they make me happy. And because I like to have different mugs for my different moods.)
Have they never put on a piece of jewelry or clothing made by someone with creative vision (an artist) and been simultaneously connected and transported? Have they never let those things change them in some palpable, yet intangible way?
And have they never stood before a work of art with tears in their eyes? Have they never been moved so deeply that they forgot, even for a moment, that life isn’t a problem to be solved, but an experience to be lived?
Chances are, you didn’t create your art to solve a problem. You created your art because you wanted to bring it into the world. You had a vision to provide beauty or meaning or fun or joy. Maybe you just wanted to make something pretty. (No shame in that!)
Trying to reduce that vision to solving a problem doesn’t do justice to you as an artist, and it doesn’t do justice to the person who will experience and love your art.
But there is another way.
In Sell Without Shame, I introduce an idea called the Art Experience Framework. The Art Experience Framework honors all the ways someone might experience your art – from purely visceral responses to ideas that shape our collective culture. It’s a much more nuanced way of thinking about the value of your art and how you can market it.
It doesn’t negate problem solving marketing, but it shows how solving a problem is not the only path to talking about and finding value in your art.
We’re only two lessons in to Sell Without Shame, but the response to this new way of thinking about the value of art has been nothing short of astounding. The collective sigh of relief as artists and makers shed these unhelpful modes of marketing and truly find the value in their work is palpable.
Here’s what one student had to say:
“I was literally crying (yes, really actually crying) to a friend yesterday about being stuck not understanding the value of my art. I even used the word “frivolous”. I felt totally blocked and stuck. Today after having done three exercises, I’m starting to feel great. I am now feeling worlds better and no longer feel blocked. YAY!”
-Laura Shape, Viv & Edie
As I recently shared on my Instagram, it’s not enough for me to just tell artists that their work has value. I need to guide them through a process of finding and articulating that value for themselves. That starts with letting go of the idea that your art needs to solve a problem to be valuable and embracing the full experience your art brings to the world.
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Tired of one sized fits all business advice that doesn’t really apply to artists and makers? Click here to get my exclusive Free Training: How to Sell your Art (of Craft) Without Resorting to Problem Solving Marketing
