When we think of the word marketing, we think of the aggressive, purely commercial act of selling… but I want to offer it to you from a different perspective.
Why not learn to see it as a letter of introduction to the world?
Doing marketing means choosing what approach we want to give our work.
Do we want to make it personal, purely professional, technical?
It’s choosing what values to give our brand.
It’s a colour palette.
It’s the choice of materials.
Do I choose quality or quantity?
It’s deciding to be recognisable.
It’s choosing how and where to sell.
To understand all these things, we first need to be clear about:
Who are we?
Artistically.
Professionally.
Ethically.
What makes you recognisable?
It’s choosing to be poetic or ironic, aggressive or delicate, commercial or personal.
Taking a position on these points means creating a brand.
Where am I going?
What kind of career do I want to build?
Who are my ideal clients?
What kind of life do I want to build and live?
What kind of projects do I want to attract?
Because selling prints online, making picture books, painting and selling only originals or teaching art are not the same thing… Each of these paths will take you to a different destination…
You can choose to drift along passively or you can choose to decide, because the sum of many small decisions will let you live the life you dreamed of… or not.
It took me years to understand all these things.
It was a long journey, full of trial and error, that brought me to where I am today, which, at least for now, is my place in the world.
And this brings us to the next and final question:
How do I find my place in the world?
And this is where we find, in our hands, real marketing:
How do I speak, communicate and set myself apart from others?
How do I create a connection that reaches the right people?
For an illustrator, all these questions can mean having a recognisable style, a coherent universe, creating content that makes people feel part of something and turning an audience into a community eager to discover what comes next.
It means coming to occupy a place that only you can occupy.
Rather than answers, in this chapter of my Creative Gym I’ve filled you with questions… I know.
But only you can give yourselves those answers.
And looking at it from this point of view, do you agree with me that finding that “je ne sais quoi” that others don’t have takes wit, imagination, strategy and creativity?
In my case, since I decided to approach my work in a very personal way, it was simply a matter of putting myself out there and being myself, with a more commercial touch and also a competitive edge that represents me, especially in the choice of materials and supports, which I decided to turn into one of my strengths.
I chose higher-quality papers.
Vintage or handmade frames instead of new, industrial ones.
Adding words to my illustrations, because they’re also part of me.
Selling in different shops to make myself known in more regions and countries.
Taking part in events because I love meeting you and talking to you.
Working from home, because I love the solitude of the green meadows I see from my window.
All that is marketing.
Even this newsletter and this blog are.
I choose an approach.
And I state my intention.
So I ask you one thing: have fun, experiment, let your mind run free like a wild horse.
Lose your mind, dream big… and then come back down to earth, weigh up the pros and cons, compare prices, materials and the reaction of the people who follow you… and create a little corner of the world that is completely yours.
I think of my body as a garden,
I have to take care of myself,
water myself,
find my place in the world,
the weather conditions,
the perfect environment.
I have to hydrate,
soak up nutrients.
Accept that some parts of me are gone, others have died, and many are about to bloom.
I am a seed,
a flower,
a garden.
In the next newsletter I’ll teach you how to be resourceful when it comes to selling yourself.
ARTIST OF THE MONTH:
Alexandra Hochreiter is a visual artist and illustrator who moves fluidly between rich layers of gouache and ink on paper and the digital world, guided by play and experimentation, capturing glimpses of fantasy and everyday poetry through vibrant colours and intense textures. Inspired by nature, folk traditions and the passing of time, she seeks a sense of magic in each of her works.
IG:
“Seeds of Knowledge” uses dandelion seeds as a metaphor for the ideas and information that surround us every day.
Each seed represents a thought we come across or a piece of information that passes us by: some we ignore, while others we choose to welcome, plant and grow.
Over time, these chosen ideas take root and grow, shaping our understanding of the world and of ourselves.
The illustration reflects this ongoing process of choosing what we let influence us and how those choices turn, over time, into something meaningful.
I’ll write to you in a month
CIAO♡
