Public relations for creatives allows artists, musicians, actors, authors, and so many other creatives to double their bookings, sales, and gigs. Therefore, you should spend twice as much time promoting yourself than you do your actual craft to create more fame.
Creatives: Listen to my podcast interview with Daedalus Howell of The Culture Dept. For Artists & Creative Entrepreneurs
As an artistic soul, it’s sometimes hard to grasp the concept of self-promotion. You like to be creative, you like to share your work for others to embrace and enjoy. But how do you actually get positive feedback and sales when your passion is also your revenue generator? This is where UpMyInfluence.com can help you significantly grow your business. Not only do you need to think creatively to produce a great product, you need to act strategically like an entrepreneur to grow your business.
Public relations for creatives is a needed skillset that can reap big rewards if executed properly and precisely. Let UpMyInfluence work with you to gain great exposure to larger audiences. This will allow you to showcase your work and expertise to the right audiences in a meaningful way. As a result, our company will help you develop a strategy for your business as well as provide you the tools necessary to make a name for yourself.
A good public relations for creatives strategy doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. It doesn’t require hiring a costly PR firm either.
If you would like to give PR a try, we recommend taking these actionable steps to get started today.
- First, invest in developing a good, clean, user-friendly website. It should be simple, modern and attractive. Hire someone if you need to, but you can also do-it-yourself via WordPress as long as you have a good theme. A website offers a landing place for all of your other social media outlets. In addition, it’s very important to also have an up-to-date copyright. Trust me… creatives and entrepreneurs miss updating that little number all the time!
- Second, know your digital reputation. Simply conduct a Google search on yourself. Keep a log of what your find, what needs to be fixed or updated. Then, take action to make sure your image is positive. This is important because you are going to need to work with digital influencers – that is, anyone who is creating content online. These are key people you want to work with. They will do a quick online search on you before ever responding to you.
Imagine standing in front of an audience or room of potential clients, investors, or customers when they are making a decision whether to hire you or not. It’s a powerful thing when you can say “Just Google me” for people to know who you are. Endorsements are also a huge support for yourself. - Third, if you want public relations for creatives, you need a platform for communicating with influencers & journalists. My #1 tool for making those PR introductions is Twitter. In terms of upping your game, you don't need to invest a lot of effort but you will be using your Twitter presence to introduce yourself to some busy & well-known influencers. Make sure you have branded yourself well on cover art, an avatar, your bio, and have several hundred followers. It may take you a month to accomplish – but it's a presence that will pay you back!
Once you have accomplished the three steps outlined above, it’s time to pitch yourself to the right media.
The big key here is knowing who you should target to tell your story to. It’s better to have ten highly targeted media influencers on Twitter than to tweet to the masses so no spamming!
Know what is going on in your industry and look for ways to tell your story in a way that is in direct relation to what is currently of interest. We call this “news jacking”. Nobody is just going to help you sell your product or service. Doing public relations for creatives will take some time to build some strong relationships, but the time spent will be well worth it in the long-run.
If you are comfortable with utilizing TV as a medium of choice, there is somewhat less competition to get your message out, in my experience. I've been on TV more than 700 times alone and I've learned that if you can get it down, you're in a great medium. That said, if you are just getting started, I highly recommend reaching out to podcasters.
Where do you start? How do you connect with media for PR?
If you are more comfortable behind the scenes and utilizing social media, Twitter is a great way to go if you want to immediately connect with influencers within the media. Remember, your message should always be of value to the influencers you are sending it to. And, you always want to make sure the information you send is useful, streamlined and easy to follow. Ask for permission via twitter before direct messaging or emailing a reporter. Their time is valuable and limited. Position yourself as an expert, be reachable should there be a need for follow-up and always respond in a timely manner. Have a strong press kit on your site ready to go. Here's an example of mine you can copy.
What's next?
- You can do all your own PR and save tens of thousands of dollars. Here's a word of advice: It can take some time to get momentum. You are likely to make many costly mistakes that will prevent you from the YESes you covet.
- You can use our do-it-yourself PR tools & videos and speed up the process.
- You can use our Advanced level PR service for done-WITH-you PR success and double your PR results.
- You can bring in our team of PR pros with a pro membership. We come from a background of entrepreneurial success – not the charge-you-crazy-billable-hour corporate PR world. We accept pro clients by application only.
Note: The recommendations contained in this blog can be applied to any small business, startup, or entrepreneur.