Navigating through an unstoppable whirlwind of ideas, crashing through insurmountable barriers, making anxiety-filled choices and nerve-racking decisions, wrestling with doubt and resistance, challenging yourself, growing, failing, creating art and commerce that inspires people, contributing something worthwhile to the world—THAT’S what being a pro artist or entrepreneur is really about.
However, making a living at it is different. And if you’re not good at that part, if you’re not a fully loaded “left-brainer,” if you don’t have connections to investors, or media, if you’re not proficient at “intelligently” promoting, marketing, distributing and selling your art, products or services; then you simply bring in someone who is, and make them part of your “circle of influence.”
In the same way you would hire a pro producer to master your recording, or a web expert to connect you to your customers & fans, or a designer or writer to put the finishing touches on your book or script, you do the same thing on the commerce side. Bring in a coach or consultant, or an expert to help you figure out how to promote, market, and sell your art (or yourself). Because to me, “creating art that matters” means sharing it, distributing it, marketing it and selling it—and making a profit! It means making art that matters to others, so that others can benefit from your hard work and your own special, unique brand of crazy genius.
The one line in the movie Rocky, that nailed the “best supporting actor” nomination for Burgess Meredith was, “Rocky, you’re gonna eat lightning and crap thunder…Rocky…you need a manager!”