The Larb

In this the first episode of The Larb from artist and writer Larry G. Maguire, he explains why he started the show, who the show is for and what you can expect in upcoming episodes. Larry is a creative first and foremost and has been a business person since age 25. He is a freelance writer and marketer as well as an occasional charcoal photorealistic portrait artist and on The Larb he invites guests to share their work and philosophy. On the show you can learn such things as how to find an audience for your work, how to build a business around your art and how to find success. Whatever that means for you.

Apologies in advance for some interference in certain parts of this recording. I'm not sure where it came from but obviously slipped in via my equipment. Must sort that out.

How To Build An Audience For Your Art

In today's show, I'm discussing "how to build an audience for your art. Every creative person needs an audience. To build an audience, a fan base, customers etc. around our work is required not only to make a living but to complete the creative process.

In the digital age of the internet, the opportunities to share our work are almost endless. And so there is no reason for a creative to go without recognition or reward for their work. In other words, if you're not using the internet to get your stuff out there then you're missing the boat.

10 Steps To Building An Audience For Your Art

There are a number of fundamentals we need to put in place in order to successfully build an audience for your art. For me, this is how they break down.

Step 1 Build Your Own Platform

You need to build a website on your own domain. Wix, Blogger and other simple website builders are fine for beginners, but if you are serious then you need to build your site on your own domain with WordPress. Consider starting on WordPress.com then progress to WordPress.org (self-hosted). If you go cheap don't expect great things.

Host your domain on Bluehost (for beginners)

For advanced users, use WP Engine

Build your site on Medium

Step 2 Choose A Medium

Decide what medium you will use to share your content. Choose audio, video, writing or some combination of the three. If you are going with audio or video I would recommend adding text and publishing the content as an article on your own website in addition to the audio or video platform.

People consume content in many different ways. Some like to listen to podcasts on their commute, others like to sit and read. Others like to watch video. There is merit in publishing in all three formats but it's got to be easy for you. If you are not gifted technically then this will be a serious challenge.

The key here is to start off with a medium you're comfortable with then steadily grow from there.

Share audio using Anchor

Republish on Medium

Record a video and publish to YouTube

Step 3 Create Regular Content

You've got to show up every day. If you creating every day that's your work, but you also need to share your stuff regularly. Pick a day each week where you publish your stuff. Create weekly, not monthly. Monthly is too infrequent in my opinion.

Share something every day that directs back to your content. It can be a picture on Instagram, a segment on Anchor, a live video on Facebook. Whatever social platforms you use, share your stuff there to a

Step 4 Share Your Unique Voice

Beware consuming too much of other people's information. Censoring your stuff will spoil the uniqueness of your voice so just be yourself and let it out. People will eventually be drawn to what you do and your audience will grow. Be patient with it and be content making imperfect work.

Step 5  Be Consistent

Consistency is vital. Showing up every day, or whatever frequency you've chosen, even if you don't feel like it is important so that we build momentum. Good advice and I need to take some of it myself!

Hey folks how are you getting on? Welcome to episode number six of The Larb. this is the podcast show for artists, creatives, creative people, creative entrepreneurs you might say. This week in episode six I'm taking a look at the secret to success. It's something I've written about quite a bit on larrygmaguire.com, and this week my partner in conversation, Tom Carter and I get into a conversation about this.

In particular, we discuss whether or not the majority of self-help material out there, be it book or course form or whatever form you want to consume it in, really is counterproductive or at best doesn't actually work. That's my position, and Tom will take up a counter position. We get into a decent conversation about the secret to success and I think you're gonna find it interesting.