Reverting to Old Technologies

After merely a few decades, the digital revolution has transformed our lives. It has changed the way we take, store and share photographs, listen to music, send mail and entertain ourselves.

It seems not so long ago that I said to someone, “What’s email?” Then, for a while I started asking people, “Do you have email?” But in no time at all, I was asking, “What’s your email address?” I moved from wondering if you had email to assuming you had it, in a heartbeat. The power, speed and convenience of email stunned me. The pen had long been mightier than the sword; email was a mega arsenal.

The impact of the digital revolution on the visual arts has been significant. It has given us new media with which to create work and it has enabled artists to sell work in many new ways. Never before has it been so easy for self-employed creative professionals to have lucrative professional practices. Visual artists have added websites, blogs and social medial accounts to their administrative palette and have reported, as a result, vastly higher sales – and, it should be noted, commission-less sales!

Over the past few decades, I have written about the impact of these new technologies, always in positive terms and often about specific web-based services, software and associated new marketing methodologies. Lately, however, I have been reconsidering the value of some of these technical and methodological advancements.

I hear a lot of negative talk about email today and I sense a “digital backlash” in the over-thirty crowd that has seen wonderful innovation overwhelmed by corporate culture. In many circles, excited conversations about innovations such as Twitter and Facebook have been replaced by discussions about the difficulty of removing profiles and the risks of social media.

I remain gobsmacked by the projects I was able to conceive, develop and complete so successfully thanks to my computer, a massive mailing list and graphic communication skills. I used technology and my talents to vastly increase the scale of my income, influence, and pleasure through the use of digital technology. Recently, however, I have found myself re-introducing old media into my business practices. I am increasingly involved with snail mail and the telephone to achieve the results I seek in my communications.

The object of my professional communications has always been to deepen or strengthen my relationships and a prime concern has always been to stand out, but whereas not so long ago it was the new technologies that were helping me to achieve my objectives, now I find I stand out better and warm hearts more effectively with telephone calls and hand-written and drawn notes.

Since reverting to these old forms of corresponding – particularly to important clients/customers/friends – I have been deluged with comments of appreciation and it pleases me enormously to know that my extra efforts are appreciated.

Today, the unsolicited correspondence that fills up your real-word and email inboxes are “junk” to some, valued reading to others; and they no longer only come from corporations. Now everyone is creating promotional communications, advertising their lives and activities via Flickr streams, blogs, newsletters and via social media.

Consequently, it is hard to stand out, and hence my reversion to old communications practices to achieve that end. Every artist should have a mailing list. It is the most important sales and promotional tool the artist has at her/his disposal. Its thoughtful, judicious and strategic use can have an incredibly positive effect on direct non-commissioned sales – the most profitable sales artists can make. “Thoughtful” refers to form and content; “judicious” refers to frequency, and “strategic” refers to timing in relation to your sales events and exhibitions.

For me, today, nothing achieves “thoughtful” better than something that takes an “extra” effort, be it a phone call or a snail mail letter.

I am not advocating that you replace your current digital communications with old-style phone calls and letters. What I do think is that you might be wise to communicate infrequently with the most important people on your contact list with a phone call or letter. And depending on how communication technologies evolve, these warm and more personal communications may become increasingly important.
Remember, the point of the professional communications of an artist is to make the artist memorable. You are the person you want to come to mind when all the people on your mailing list want to buy art or decoration or creative services, and to be that person, you must stand out. I find that can best be achieved by being as creative, affective and personal in your communications as you are in your work.

Want to join me on a cruise next spring? Travel agent Carol Gallant approached me about being the featured guest on a cruise to Alaska on The Diamond Princess for seven nights, May 19–26, 2012. My job is to provide each person who joins the group with both my books and four workshops on visual art marketing.

The trip is up BC’s famous inside passage. There are three days of visits to towns such as Ketchican where you can disembark and take advantage of local sightseeing opportunities, there is the visit to the famous glaciers, and on the days at sea, we hold our workshops.

There are cabins for one to three persons, and you can choose to have a balcony should you want one. I have never done anything like this before, but it sounds like a lot of fun and a big change from my normal teaching environment at Emily Carr University of Art & Design. If you would like more information or a reservation, please contact Carol at cgtravelgetaways@gmail.com.

Chris Tyrell is the author of Artist Survival Skills and Making It!, an arts writer and educator. His popular opinion pieces have appeared in our newsletter since its first issue in 1986.

Visit his website, www.christyrell.ca, or his art marketing blog visualartmerchandising.blogspot.com, to learn more.