Should I automate my art business and marketing?

For most artists and photographers, you should have virtually nothing automated in your business. Automation is often oversold alongside concepts like passive income, which doesn’t truly exist. Most artists don’t have enough customers yet where automation provides more value than personal, hand-to-hand combat marketing. The personal touch is almost always the better route when you’re building your business. Instead of looking for ways to automate, focus on personal engagement—directly messaging people who watch your content, personally thanking supporters, starting real conversations with your audience. These activities don’t scale, but they’re exactly what you should be doing to build deep bonds with your followers and customers. The work that feels inefficient—personally reaching out to individuals—is often the most valuable marketing you can do.

---

Asked by an artist considering automation · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2017-02-01