Two Creative Ways to Market Yourself and Your Work That Won’t Make You Cringe
All creative roads, even funky beach paths, lead to marketing
If you are like me, you’ve got the creative part down.
Our folders are full of great ideas and fully realized concepts for business, books, seminars and articles. We’ve done the dreaming, the drafting, the refining. But that wasn’t the hard part.
The hard part is creating an audience and getting it out into the world.
Marketing is one of those things that comes up in every creative workshop I've given or attended so it was no surprise that when I started my 12-week Fall Writing Workshop this past Monday, one of the first topics was marketing.
For most of us, marketing can feel like the opposite of art. It asks us to be visible when we’d rather stay behind the work, to promote when we’d rather create. But it’s part of the process, and perhaps the most important part.
I return often to this quote from Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Selling Work that Lasts by Ryan Holiday:
"You can cut back on a lot of things as a leader, but the last thing you can ever skimp on is marketing. Your product needs a champion. That must be you. Marketing is your job. It can't be passed on to someone else. Even if you're famous, even if you have a million Twitter followers, even if you have a billion dollars to spend, it's still on you and it still won't be easy."
Putting your work out there, open to both applause and critique, is one of the most vulnerable parts of the creative process. Especially when what you're sharing is personal.
But finding a way to share that feels aligned with who you are—that’s the key.
Take Taylor Swift. Whatever your opinion of her or her music, she’s built the kind of audience that makes every release a cultural moment. She almost doesn’t need to promote. And yet—she still does. Podcasts. Interviews. Social media. Even at her level, Holiday’s point holds true: it’s still on you. And it’s still not easy.
But you do it anyway. Because you didn’t start your business, write your book, or paint your canvas to keep it hidden. You created it to share.
That’s where the joy lives.
TWO MARKETING PROMPTS
Here are two easy, creative ways we’re experimenting with in my writing group to reframe self-promotion and begin crafting a stronger presence:
1️⃣ Write Your Amazon Blurb
This is for your eyes only (for now). Pretend your project is already published or launched. What does the Amazon sales blurb say? What does it promise to the audience? This is a powerful way to clarify your message and connect with your audience before you even begin marketing. You can even take it a step further and write “reviews” from imaginary readers or clients—what were they looking for, and how did your work / product / service help them?
2️⃣ Draft Your Wikipedia Page
This idea came from our writing workshop, and I love it. Draft (and post if it so moves you to do so) your Wikipedia page. Document your contribution to your field. What projects are you known for? Where have you been published, featured, or interviewed? ChatGPT is great for helping you integrate these URLs into the desired format of Wikipedia.
While the Amazon blurb is an inward-facing tool, the Wikipedia exercise is outward-facing and excellent for SEO and becoming known when you publish it. I've crafted mine and have asked a colleague to submit mine (Wikipedia prefers it come from a third party). I'll let you know how it goes.