Last year, musician, entrepreneur, and thought leader Amanda Palmer gave a groundbreaking TED Talk called The Art of Asking. In this talk, she urged artists and entrepreneurs of all creeds to change the way they approached their interactions. Instead of demanding, ask. Instead of fighting with gatekeepers, create. Instead of worrying, give.
We live in a world where anyone can learn how to publish music, how to put their artwork online, or how to print and distribute their novels and essays. However, there's still a huge stigma levied towards the "self-published," the people who have not been chosen and approved by a select few gatekeepers. There's also still the ultimate question that has faced artists since the dawn of humankind: how do we earn money from our art? How do we give of ourselves and earn enough to support ourselves as well?
If you trust Amanda Palmer's message, all you have to do is ask.
Revolutionizing the publishing process
A generation ago, if you wanted your music to be heard by thousands of people, you had to get it through a series of gatekeepers. First, you had to record a demo, often at a professional -- and costly -- recording studio. Then, you had to find an agent who would give your demo to record companies, or find record companies who were willing to accept unsolicited demos from bands without agents. While you were working on getting your music to the record labels, you also had to tour constantly, building your fan base one show at a time.
Now, learning how to publish music is as easy as going online. Even if you know nothing about audio processing, there are plenty of online tools to help you record and mix an album and learn how to publish music to iTunes. You don't need the recording studio. You don't need the agent. You don't need the record company. All you need is your own vision.
This is truly revolutionary. It is the first time in human history when publishing was opened up to the masses, and the masses have responded. Artists like Jonathan Coulton have amassed significant fan bases without ever signing with a record label. Other artists, like Adele, started by self-publishing and then used record label resources to build their careers. Every town and city also has its local bands, that regularly perform, play, publish, and earn money without ever seeing the inside of a record company office.
Learning how to ask
Opening up self-publishing to anyone with an Internet connection was only the first part of this new artistic revolution. The other part, as Amanda Palmer noted, is learning how to ask.
When you trust people to help you, they often do, and artists have done this from the dawn of time. -- Amanda Palmer
Entrepreneurs, especially artistic entrepreneurs, often have a hard time understanding how to ask and how to trust that people will help. The standard entrepreneur advice, after all, is to promote, promote, promote. To make checklists and plans and send out that latest mailing list campaign. If you're the type of person who has taken the time to write a novel or to record an album, you're probably already pretty driven. You're ready to push and push and make things happen.
The trouble is that you can't push. Pushing never works. Instead you have to ask, and wait, and trust.
Take, for example, Amanda Hocking. She published her first novel online with one simple goal: to earn enough money to travel to Chicago and see a Muppets exhibit. She wanted a few hundred dollars. She asked her friends to help out by buying her book. Her story quickly spread. Her book was quite good. Now she is a full-time author working with St. Martin's Press.
Amanda Hocking didn't push or promote her novel. All she did was ask.
Taking the first step
If you have not yet published your music or made your art available, it's time to take that first step. Use the new resources to put your music online or get your book into print.
If you already have your work online and are knee-deep in the promotion process, take a step back. Ask yourself: Are you trusting people to help you? Are you asking people honestly for help, and not simply spitting out canned promotional tweets and posts? Are you trying to force something to happen, or choosing to let it happen?
We are in the middle of an artistic revolution. It's time to take part. First, do the work; second, trust and ask.
Author Bio
Devin is an Search Marketing expert and professional in backlink outreach/acquisition. Devin began his career in SEO while in college and now helps SEO agencies and in-house marketing teams scale their outreach and publishing campaigns by leveraging his knowledge of the industry. You can find Devin on twitter @dmak_11, LinkedIn, or Google+.
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