I see the greatness inside you even if you don't.
This edition of The Hungry is sponsored by…me.
Turn Window Shoppers Into Repeat Customers
Take back the power from marketplaces like Etsy, RedBubble, and SaatchiArt with practical tactics that help you keep the potential buyers who pass through your shop.
You Are What You Believe
I've been reading a lot about psychology lately because many issues creatives face stem from ideologies formed through psychological beliefs.
A term that keeps coming up in my reading is self-efficacy, which is "people’s belief in their ability to control their functioning and events that affect their lives." - SimplePsychology.org/self-efficacy.html
This means we learn to believe in ourselves based on emotional and physiological feedback, social persuasion, vicarious experiences, and learned expertise.
Emotional/Physiological Feedback: When you're feeling bad, mentally, emotionally, or physically, if you do something that boosts endorphins and raises dopamine, you feel better and understand you can improve your state based on those actions.
Go for a walk
Listen to your favorite album
Spend time with friends
Social Persuasion: If you share your work online or in a live event and get positive feedback from fans and buyers, you feel a sense of pride and accomplishment, which creates a belief that you have control over how your work is perceived and received.
Engage with others on social media
Join meetups of other creatives
Create in public
Vicarious Experiences: When you spend time with others or consume information about peers and colleagues who have achieved a certain level of success with their work, you learn what is achievable and begin to believe in the possibility for yourself.
Join a webinar hosted by a hero
Go to a conference
Read a book about success stories in your field
Learned Expertise: Reaching a certain level of mastery in your work, knowing you're achieving more than others, creates a belief that with the right amount of effort, anything is learnable and achievable.
Take a class
Watch instructional videos on YouTube
Read and share The Hungry (just saying)
“
Regardless of our obstacles and challenges, most of us have the power to push through them to prove we can achieve our goals and aspirations.
— Dave
The whole purpose of The Hungry is to share stories and information to help creative people like you do all these things. Whether it's this newsletter, the deep dives, or the courses and training I have planned—everything is shared to prove that you have more power and ability than you give yourself credit.
I won't be satisfied until I've helped everyone believe in their greatness. I hope that's what you're into because that is all this ever was and will ever be.
Art Snack: Kelly Dale Moore
Santa Fe artist Kelly Dale Moore is a prolific and curious explorer. His raw and often (in the best way) creepy folk can be seen on walls, mantles, and, quite successfully, NFT wallets.
Smarter Faster
I've been reading Justin Welsh's Saturday Solopreneur and following his Twitter account for a long time. His thoughts and insights are always concise and honest. His approach to work and sharing content is next level, and it's fair to say I'm using him as a model for what gets shared on The Hungry.
Biz Bites
Essential Read: Is Adobe now charging creatives for the privilege of making them irrelevant?
I never recommend anyone cater to the latest trends to sell, but perhaps your work is trend-adjacent and can associate with current trends. Etsy has a post about trends that are hitting this holiday season, and maybe there's a spot for you (the post might be behind a paywall—sorry).
Could selling creative work on Pinterest be the new thing...again?
I found this post detailing all the different types of marketing incredibly fascinating. This is ironic because I went to school to study marketing and dropped out because I hated it.
If you are thinking about creating new packaging for your goods, remember, less is more.
Speaking of packaging, get inspired by The Dieline.
Don't let the marketplaces steal your customers. Learn how to keep them for just $1.
For the ergonomically challenged, the Herman Miller Aeron chair is still on sale for 40% off normal on Amazon (still not cheap, but worth every penny).
I get it: advertising is scary because you don't want to throw money away, but Frankie has tips for those Google Ad woes.
Art Bites
Essential read: The state of the creative industry from a Black perspective.
It's like you will see a lot of Barbie costumes this Halloween.
Henry has more artistic talent in his lips than I have in my entire body.
If you've ever witnessed me in the studio (not many have, but still), you'd know that part of my process is destroying what I already made. I'm not alone in this.
This video game took seven years to paint. Yes, paint!
Need a new outlook on your creative work? Move.
Like your art dripping with blood and ooze? The popular L.A.-based Copro Gallery is going dark this October.
20 years ago, Public Discourse changed how most people saw street art and graffiti.
Andy Davis paints like a soul surfer.