Artists and Internet Marketing: a Conversation with Mark McGuinness and John T. Unger

Drawing by Hugh MacLeod

My recent article Why Artists and Creatives Have an Unfair Advantage at Internet Marketing turned out to be one of the most popular things I’ve ever written at Wishful Thinking. So if it touched a chord with you then you might like to download the hour-long podcast interview I recorded with John T. Unger, in which I expanded on the opportunities and pitfalls of internet marketing for creative people.

I’ve never met John in person, but due to the wonders of modern communications I’m pleased to count him among my friends. Read my interview with John T. Unger over at Lateral Action to learn about the amazing business he’s built himself as an artist, sculptor and ‘impossibility mediation specialist’ leveraging the power of the Internet. His podcast blog Art Heroes Radio is essential listening for 21st century artists, and I was delighted to join the panel of experts he’s interviewed about the business of art and the out of business.

In the course of the interview, we cover topics such as:

• why artists are resistant to marketing in general and marketing themselves in particular
• why we are scared of selling out or just plain scared
• the pain of trying to balance time spent on marketing with time in the studio
• why it’s no good just posting your artwork, writings, videos etc. and hoping this will magically lead to fame and fortune
• practical tips on things like like using a professional blog platform, getting people to subscribe and writing headlines that get your work noticed

The audio file is free to download and share, so do forward the link to any of your friends who you think would benefit from it.