What's the biggest mistake successful offline artists have made during the pandemic?

The most heartbreaking situation has been artists who built incredible 20-30 year careers selling successfully through offline channels—galleries, art shows, fairs—but never built their own online presence, social media following, or email list. When the pandemic hit and all those revenue sources disappeared overnight, they had nothing to fall back on. Despite decades of success and being at the top of their game, they essentially had to start from scratch online with zero email addresses and no digital audience. The lesson is clear: no matter how successful your offline channels are, you must simultaneously build your own online assets—your website, email list, and social media following—so you own those relationships and have a foundation that can’t be taken away by external circumstances.

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Asked by synthesized from presentation · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2020-11-13