American marketing guru Seth Godin’s October 15 blog post Maybe you can’t make money doing what you love? Read it. Live it.
An excerpt:
“That blog you’ve built, the one with a lot of traffic . . . perhaps it can’t be monetized.
“That non-profit you work with, the one where you are able to change lives . . . perhaps turning it into a career will ruin it.
“That passion you have for art . . . perhaps making your painting commercial enough to sell will squeeze the joy out of it.”
it depends on how you define success and abundance.
If I had a nickel for every time this line of thought has been put forth as though it’s new… as though there was an all encompassing theory on what people/artists should do… “maybe if you forget about the money you will get it”… “but if you search for the money it will lead to corruption”…
Blah. Do your art, make money off it, and number one, don’t listen to anyone else!!! Especially not people who give unsolicited “advice”! Run from those people. Run towards people who are hesitant to give advice. That you have to pry true knowledge from…
I don’t know Ben. You had me until “don’t listen to anyone else.”
Godin runs a blog, where he gives advice on marketing. His advice is as unsolicited as your comment, I suppose. I mean we’re all here surfing the Internet voluntarily, seeking out information and, sometimes, getting and giving advice. I don’t know how much solicitation figures into it.
Sometimes formally studying a craft kills it for a person. Or doing it as a job. Or obsessing over it too much. That’s what I got out of Godin’s advice. Just because you love theatre doesn’t mean you have to do it 100% of the time to be successful at it. That doesn’t have to be the goal.
Speaks to me.
umm, something about this really, really , rubs me the wrong way. I want to resist the urge to lash out at it because the economic reality of theatre gives some validity to the perspective.
The theatre isn’t a good place for anyone who desires stability, a constant wage, peace of mind, and any other of a number of the cardinal middle class virtues. I say that without any disdain for those virtues, as I also would like a car and a house and to not have tens of thousands of dollars on student loans. It seems difficult to reconcile those desires with this craft.
It is in fact a craft though. it has a set of skills and a philosophy and a work ethic. The only way to maintain this craft is for people to do it all day most days like it was their job, regardless of their pay rate. This is why some people must always make a living creating art. If everyone treats it like a hobby, then it will become a hobby and not a craft.
It rubs me the wrong way too Mike, and what’s rubbing me is the truth of it. I’m afraid that a big part of the reason that so many people don’t stick with it is because of the dreary economic reality of the thing. It annoys the shit out of me, and at the same time I can’t blame them at all for shifting energy into a field that holds more hope for financial security.
But what really annoys the shit out of me more than anything is that that the theatre community that came before me in my city like 20 or 30 years ago didn’t figure out how to make it more popular, thereby creating a comfy world for me to make a living doing what I love. I mean, what were those companies doing? I’m sure they felt the same way, but responded to it with the same old method, putting on their shows and hoping that theatre would magically become popular with the masses. I guess not much has changed.
Does the fact that theatre right now doesn’t offer stability and a constant wage mean that it never can? Or can a group of determined artists band together and change the status quo to make indie theatre a stable industry? How could this be done? I honestly have no idea, but it seems like a worthy project. I’m just scared of some young Vancouver theatre grad 20 years from now being mad as hell at me for not building them an industry to do their work in.
“Never doubt that a small group of commited citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead
By unsolicited I mean what is the context? Is this what Mr Godin has found to be true in his own life and work, or it is from observation of others around him? If so, who and give examples. Then there will be a context, data, that others can use it to help make decisions in there own lives. Specific advice is usually the type sought by people, not vague theories. This article is a collection of common thoughts that pass through most people’s minds on a regular basis. Why not give some examples? Would the simpleness of the theory fall apart? Maybe things are more complicated than Mr. Godin is presuming in his piece. Some artists do make money, even poets. So there are no absolutes, and listening to this kind of advice doesn’t help anyone.
Technically, unsolicited? No. Does it feel like the type of advice easily thrown around? Yes. Why not do an in-depth study, by genre, with charts and lots of data. That would be interesting. That would be helpful. That would also take a lot of work… But it would give viewers something to actually talk about, instead of writing something vague that anyone can superimpose their own situation on, but ultimately does not forward anything new to help them.
Hey Benny! How’s Tokyo? For those of you reading along, I feel like what would be much more interesting at this point would be for people to hear how getting an acting career in Japan is going for Ben 1 month in? Maybe this should be a post unto itself methinks… What do you think Ben?
Hey Mikey. Yeah, sure I could do a thing on what the scene is like in Tokyo, if people are interested.
Also, one last thing about this article: I can see where it could have some relevance in the digital age, but I still want to discourage anyone from putting forth the idea that artists should give up ANY dream, including making money at what they do, no matter the odds. In fact, the worse the odds, usually the better.
As a footnote I’ll add that: my initial post on “don’t listen to anyone else”…, also extends to myself and my own advice as well.
cool ben. i agree. much of making money at anything unconventional is about enduring poverty (relative to your socio-economic class) until one day it become something that pays enough. a lot of it is about sticking it out.
ian – do you have any parameters for ben’s post? I’m guessing not much more than 1000 words (although it could be less), focused on what its like to try to get acting work there…..
Ben. That would be great. I’ll pass along a couple more thoughts, via Mike.
Thanks!
this sounds like my parents–g_d bless ’em–and other ‘practical, well-meaning people’ who wish that they has ‘gone for it’ and taken a chance on their art.
how do they know if they have no first hand experience with it (and are also potentially blocked artists)?
I know a poet that gets paid–and has most certainly not sold out.
and for the record, yes money is important, but I wouldn’t exactly call settling on day job and not pursuing your art the path the peace of mind.
love,
Alex