Photo by Chris Metcalf

Are you an artist, writer, photographer, or doing some other creative work you’re trying to sell? How can you sell your creativity? You can’t. There’s no section in the Yellow Pages for creativity, nor is their a college major in “creativity”. People don’t buy creativity – they buy things and services that help them solve problems.

So before you start advertising your “creative soul” to everyone, stop and think. When someone purchases your offering, what do they get? How does that improve the quality of their life? A painting could be inspirational, or it could add some color to an otherwise barren wall. Your book could change someone’s life, or it could be put on the bookshelf, never to be opened. You don’t really know until you ask someone why they’re buying from you. And when they do, don’t show your shock — just listen.

People think of creativity as something that’s simply magically dropped in to whatever the project needs. A dash of color. The perfect turn of phrase. An interesting perspective of a photograph. A little guitar riff. People might notice the extra creative effort you applied…or not. It really doesn’t matter. You’re being creative for your sake, not your customers’.

Think of your creativity as a gift that you freely give away. The more you give, the more creativity you develop. You can take your creativity and apply it a myriad of ways – that’s your secret joy. If someone notices it – enjoy the serendipitous connection. You’ve found another creative soul. But they’re not asking for your creativity – they’re asking for what you can do for them with it.

Don’t stop being creative. But don’t market yourself as a creative person – people don’t really care. Do market yourself as the person who changes others’ lives for the better.

Photo by Online Photography School

Endurance athletes (who run marathons, bicycle centuries, swim miles) know that they need to pace themselves if they wish to finish successfully. To train these feats, they exercise to build up aerobic capacity and strengthen their body’s core. But they also know that repetitive motion needs to be efficient, since engaging a muscle requires energy. To conserve their energy, they need to move optimally.

Your business has similar needs. Crafting an email, an advertisement, a newsletter, a mailing, a direct mail campaign, or even a customer event takes both energy and money. If you wish your business to last for the long haul, treat running your business as a marathon – not a sprint.

Before you begin a new activity, study the need for it. If an email every month works well, then don’t think that an email twice a month will be even better. Consider seeing if an email every 6 weeks works as well as every month. I’m not advocating for you to become lazy – on the contrary – I want you to be efficient in each of your business and marketing activities.

While it may be tempting to jump in to the latest social media tool to “stay connected with your customers”, if doing so will take energy away from other tasks, understand the trade-off you’re about to make. Something else in your business will get less attention.

People may notice that you’re doing less of a type of marketing than you used to (for example, writing shorter newsletters). Don’t react to what people are saying – react to what they are doing. Are fewer people contacting you? Fewer people purchasing your offering? Fewer referrals?

Figuring out your marketing mix should be an ongoing research project. Don’t be afraid to ramp down efforts that aren’t benefiting your business (either directly or indirectly). Only spend energy on efforts that propel you to your goals efficiently.