For Artists, Numbers can be blinding.
Creativity is not always numbers.
Hey there folks,
We hope you are having a good day and wading through the mid-year drudge!
Let’s talk about success today. How do we see success and measure it in our work and career? The creative field by virtue of its volatility and diversity does not have any fixed parameters of success applicable across verticals and artistic forms.
Obviously, there are the analytical metrics of the number of followers/subscribers or content-specific numbers like likes/shares, etc. The amount of money you make off your content or the number of sponsored deals, monthly, quarterly, annual growth, etc is there and very much important. Because the numbers do define something and help you get a vision of your work. However, we personally see and define success in a few unquantifiable ways.
Establishing a distribution empire-
It is extremely important to establish a pan-platform presence. The most successful creators today are the ones who have leveraged their initial presence on a specific content platform and spread out to every other channel thereby establishing multiple revenue streams. You might be a Youtuber but you also need to create a strong presence on Instagram, and Twitter, have a decent email list, create merch, create courses, have a separate niche community on Discord, etc etc. Being successful means having a well-rounded vision and a well-spread-out digital presence. This is also important because it shows the creator’s capability to repurpose their content according to the specificities of the platform as well as adapt and cater to different sub-sections of their audience.
Finding a unique voice-
This might sound quite cliched but it is actually very powerful and absolutely essential when it comes to creating a presence in a highly saturated content market like ours. No matter how niche your field is or how closely knit your community is, the only thing that gives you an upper hand over your peers is your personal voice. Think about brands who have monopolized their fields, think about digital platforms that instantly stand out. It is almost always a unique brand voice that makes them so memorable. You must strike a chord of utmost familiarity with your content pieces so that your followers recognize your piece of content through a single sentence, through a single frame.
Enjoying what you do-
“Are you telling me to enjoy my process of creation? ” well, yes.
This almost sounds intrusive and unsolicited. The fact of the matter is we have been here in this space long enough to know how demotivating it can get at times. We know the imposter syndrome, the worthlessness, the competition, the stress. “Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life” is a lie. Even the things you are passionately in love with can leave you feeling unfulfilled and stressed on days. The challenges are never-ending, and creativity takes its toll. And sometimes the bad days just don’t seem to end, and sometimes we keep doing things even if they frustrate us and finally end up losing our spark. It is important to hold on to the joy that creativity provides, to keep doing it because we actually love it not because we have to.
When you start aligning these qualitative metrics with the analytical ones you start seeing your success in a more wholesome way and indeed start becoming successful in a well-rounded manner!
Thank you so much for reading till the end.
Do share this newsletter with all your creators, entrepreneurs, founders & tech people in your network!
Reach out to us directly on Instagram @platformforartists for any queries or suggestions regarding the same.
Hello. Writing from Valencia, yet I'm Indian. The article is interesting and the subject (of numbers, presence and competition) is very pertinent, especially for new younger artists. However, as you say "establish a pan-platform presence..." If so, one has to invest a fair amount of time, mental and physical labor and the corresponding capital required to fulfill that pan, omni presence. Which then leaves the given artist little time or less to be creativity, make music or take artistic risks and decisions. One has to define certain limits here, in terms of invested time versus returns. Adios!