In this Podcast interview Marysia interviews Ryan James Lock.
In this podcast I ask Ryan about his ebook ‘Be Your Own Publicist” and get some advice and tips on what creatives can do to promote a show, exhibition or event they are working on as part of the selling of their own work.
Here are some of the highlights (this is not a full transcript) so listen to the show either by clicking on the right pointing arrow above or you can go to iTunes Love Your Creativity podcast channel
The first half of Ryan’s course Be Your Own Publicist” is about getting in the right mindset and coaching – -Ask yourself who is your ideal listener, buyer, client?
– What beliefs are you holding that keep you from going forward and getting yourself out there as a great brand or product that people want to talk about and buy.
I asked for advice to a creative who is about to launch a product.
The best piece of advice he could give was ‘You have got to decide to make it a priority for you, it is so easy to say I will promote my show but you have to commit to making this a priority, set goals such as how many people do you to come to your event, how many book copies to sell etc
Then ask Who is the ideal person you want to sell to?
It is very easy to be general and say’ I want to fill the room with people’ but the more vague you are the more vague the results.
Once you can say ‘I know who I want now’ in the ‘Ryan Lock branded way’ and the reason why you want to target those people then you can get clear on how to market your service or event to them. So you know what to say to them, marketing materials etc.
If you have a friend who is like your ideal client or buyer, write a description of them and ask them what would make them go to an exhibition or book launch.
Really important to be fully behind what you are doing
Make sure you do believe in yourself
You should be your own best publicist.
If u know who you are going after eg bloggers or press, the path is clear as you have got a specific message that is easier to sell.
When you are doing a launch, the clearer you are on who you want there and how to get them there, clarity will give you better results.
His advice on dealing with failure was fantastic.
Failure – really acknowledge how you feel, first step through anything is being conscious of it, once you have calmed down, reframe your situation.
He gives a great example of dong this with rejected writing, reframing and refocusing the article to a different market.
Ask ‘what can I use from this piece of work and process” where you have created something or a piece of work. “What can I now do to make this frustration work for me” such as change the title and some of the content, hassle your contacts and sell it.
It is easy to wish and sit there with folded arms saying why is no-one writing about my product but opportunities only come from being pro-active.
I asked ‘How do you think we can balance the time it takes to create the event and the marketing and press plus the social media
Put systems in place Hootsuite.com to automate as much as you can
Balance the process, using different sides of your brain, so for work effectiveness you must treat it like a job, really schedule things in.
Schedule appointments with yourself,
Tips for calling journalists
If you are inviting journalists down to see your work, get in right head space
What to say to yourself – “This is just a job, nothing personal, they are very busy people so if they are snappy or not interested you have to realise that it’s not you.
Write down description of yourself as a brand, it helps to be objective, and then when you calling people you not selling yourself but your work.
Make sure the journalist you are calling is the right one
It is hard to receive negativity as a writer, painter, actor or artist as you are your work and your brand, understandable that there are strong emotional attachments but the wall you have to go through to journalists not talking to you or ignoring your emails, its not personal and learn to play the game
One memorable moment was someone emailed Ryan about one of his articles and said it really helped them through a difficult time in their life,
The ebook is selling really well in New York and he is getting great emails saying thanks and it really made them think.
I chat to Ryan about doing good today.
He says ‘Take one thing from your personal pain and help one person, create value, turn poison into medicine. When we go from competitive to collaborative life works”
I recalled Ken Collard the actor I interviewed last week saying ‘When you decide to be an actor, you have to just make a choice that you will make it work’
Ryan’s response was
Really decide to be on your own side, and stand up for yourself.
Support yourself by learning things that will move your career forward. Don’t expect to know how to do PR if you are a painter or actor, but you can learn.
Seek out things and people, and look at your belief system as it impacts everything from how you work to how you speak about your projects.
If you, as a listener would like to ask myself and Ryan a question on creativity or marketing just email us or call me via the web. The advantage of leaving a message on my Speak Pipe (button on the right of my website saying ‘Leave a voicemail’ is that If you leave your blog details etc we can play the call live.
The Coaching Sessions in reverse order are as follows
Why you must get comfortable being uncomfortable – Coaching podcast session 4
Podcast Coaching Session 001 How to start promoting yourself and stop holding yourself back
Ryan’s contact details
@RyanJamesLock
Face book : The Ryan James Consultancy
Ryan James Lock ryan@beingyourownpublicist.com
The website and place to buy the ebook is here
He also has on his site a free weekly mindset and pr strategy emails you can sign up to plus a free ebook 10 ways to instantly promote yourself and your work.
I have asked Ryan to come back in a month to coach me on a creative project which we will record as a podcast so listeners can learn to. Any questions for Ryan to answer during that podcast just let me know.
If you like this podcast please rate us or subscribe on iTunes, it’s free and will help others find it. Or you can just go the website for the blog and you can subscribe there via your email if you dont want to miss a post
Love Your Creativity.com is dedicated to all creatives trying to make great work and make a living from it.
About Marysia and Love Your Creativity
I blog at least three times a week on creativity and techniques to get your art on.
Whether you are a musician, an actor or a choreographer I endeavour to make https://loveyourcreativity.com is a place to come for inspiration and motivation.
The dance music I use Londontown, is a track I wrote years ago and Andrew Hyde and I are currently working on 3 remixes of it. We will be releasing it very soon as a dance track, dub step mix and bar mix. I figured if I was going to podcast I may as well use my own tune! The other bits of music are me, my inspiration and whatever instrument is lying around!!.
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Tags: Becoming successful, branding, dream and take action, marketing genius, Podcast, showing your work
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