The starving artists myth, it's time to let go of the starving artist myth, as well as the other stories we tell ourselves about marketing, self promotion and making money. What happens when you've done the work when you've birthed your creative projects? And it's out in the world, kicking and screaming and making a fuss? What next? How do you actually send your creative work out there so that it doesn't fall flat on its face? So that it actually gets noticed by the cool kids and hopefully not bullied?

These are the questions that marketing answers. Okay, so I've said the N word already. Marketing. How about this one self promotion for personal brand? If you're still watching, I applaud you. These are the terms that many creative introverts are running from the hills from, or better, a nice warm bed far, far away from the land of advertising and Sherry sales pitches.

Can't we just As Steve Martin says, and be so good, they can't ignore you. Well, not unless you're Steve Martin. Not unless you're willing to wait until it's too late to be discovered by your knight in shining armor. In order to be found, you have to be finable says Austin kleon. Being fundable means sharing you work regularly with your audience. Knowing what you do and why you do it, and being able to explain that somebody in a clear, concise way, having a specific idea of your superfan, specific enough that you could write them a friendly email about a subject that interests them, making it a no brainer for your audience to tell their friends about your work.

It does not have to mean schmoozing with journalists at glitzy networking events, spending multiple hours a day on all the social media platforms yelling about your stuff for sale, buying likes or followers pretending to be something you're not selling yourself to the devil or becoming an extrovert. It's quite simple, really, in order to make a living from that, that involves doing the work you love for the most part, you need to get paid to attract a group of people who appreciate what you do, and want to support you so that you can keep doing your work and they keep benefiting from it. No extra thing required. We don't make movies to make money. We make money to make movies according to what Disney. Jeff coins in real artists don't starve in licensing about the real Michelangelo.

The myth that he was simply a poor servant of others, a slave to his art. It surprised me to learn that Michelangelo was in fact very wealthy. his net worth after finishing the Sistine Chapel was roughly $47 million in today's money. I went like this little factoid didn't make me wolf the artist nearly as much as being told about Vincent van Goss was the starving troubled artist. He never got his veggies in his lifetime. I was in love with the romance of the starving artist until I realized that's not the life I wanted.

I didn't want to live a life of misery because no one values my art. I decided I'd make a living a good one doing what I loved, at least for the most part. Similar similarly, the archetype of the extroverted salesman with slicked back hair and shifty eyes, is also one I knew I wanted to avoid. And I imagine you do too. The danger of fearing these archetypal characters is the risk of you losing your power to choose something better. A life on your terms.

When you lose this power, you get lawyers who dreams of painting accountants too scared to see ballet. Worse, you get the miserable artist who grows old and cranky with resentment, struggling to make rent because it isn't honorable to get paid for their work. The internet is supplying us with more opportunities than ever to find support. In the communities, both financially and emotionally, you don't need an expensive PR team, a degree in marketing or to go on every networking event under the sun. You don't even need a rich Italian family supporting you, like old Michelangelo did. creatives can step up, take risks and go for opportunities they never had before, and reap the rewards.

All without becoming something they're not creative introverts can do what they love, get the recognition they deserve, and make a good living doing it. If they'd be prepared to take matters into their own hands. This isn't the easy path I'll grant you. In fact, this part of the course might make you push your comfort zone a bit more than any other. But my promise to you is that you will be given with the tactics and tools to craft your very own promotional plan that feels right for you. And that actually works.

So how to drop the starving artists myth. First of all, start surrounding yourself with folk who don't moan about money. They certainly don't have to be billionaires. But they do have to have a positive outlook about financial success, and might even have made a fair penny from their own creative pursuits. If you can't find them in person or don't want to have a quick look online, and maybe join some Facebook groups, who are the professionals in your chosen industry? Whose success would you like to emulate?

If that's somebody you can ask the question, how did you get to where you are? This is partly why I began that the creative introvert podcast to have these very conversations, having conversations with people who have a healthy relationship with money, or at least have little to no resistance around earning money, and it will ultimately rub off on you. It said that you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. I've come to believe this one. Who are the five people you hang around most? Are those five people helping or hindering your money mindset.

Even if you don't want to hang around anyone new, you can still go on a junk Conversation diet, no more moaning about money, lack of money, or people who make money to identify your starving artists myth. Something that has accelerated me healing my relationship with money was getting clear on what my money blocks were. Get a pen and a piece of paper and answer questions like, what thoughts do I have around my ability to make more money? What do I think about people with a lot of money? What do I think my work is worth? What if others told me about making money from creative pursuits?

Write out all of your money, beliefs and thoughts and don't censor yourself. Like I said, this is an ongoing process for many of us. And I often returned to this exercise when I reach new financial goals and feel the resistance creep in three lists of ways you could be letting more money in. This could range from going for a promotion at work, or the capital markets to fund your creative work, to raising your rates. If you Your services and adding higher priced products to your online store. You don't have to act on any of these straightaway.

But notice the opportunities you already have. The more often you do this exercise, the more readily you'll spot new opportunities for creating income, and the more comfortable you'll feel with asking for a fair price for your work. Action Step. Work through three steps in this class in order to drop your starving artists myth.