I’m, essentially, almost exactly like you, just with a different set of talents.
I was all sciences at school, went to uni in Leeds to study computer science, and .. dropped out. This was 1980. Yes I’m that old. Red trousers. Rainbow leg warmers. I kept finding myself in the arts library instead of studying my actual subject. I ended up in a PR company. Learned marketing that way. Had my own PR/direct mail company in Derby for a bit. Closed it to follow my partner to Scarborough and live by the sea in North Yorkshire.
We have a beautiful, old, untidy, somewhat in need of repair house with a stunning view of south bay. I went back to uni here and got that Internet Computing degree (1st class .. I wanted to check I wasn’t stupid). My partner went to study further and got ill with ME/CFS .. chronic, debilitating, incurable fatigue. So that’s shit, basically, but we have an assistance dog called Gilly and a fabulous, accessible walk around the castle so we are somewhat blessed.
Anyway, I work from home as a freelance digital marketer. That’s been a mixed bag, to be honest. I enjoy working for small clients. Good job .. there aren’t many blue chip companies in Scarborough.
One thing Scarborough is good for though is creative people. It’s not St. Ives, but it’s close. Back in the day we went out to art exhibitions, bought art, made some great friends, and I got involved with publicising the Coastival arts festival here every February.
So one day I offered a free half hour of SEO coaching to my Facebook friends, and everyone who came back to me was an artist. SEO is Search Engine Optimisation. Artists want to be discovered, right? This is how to make yourself discoverable. So that was interesting. Artists, eh?
The thing about SEO is it changes fast. Advice that worked last year probably doesn’t work this year. I’ve built a system to track all that. So I’m bang up to date. I ask deep questions so I discover what you’re all about, tie it together with the SEO stuff and … seriously, I love it. I’m fixing things people have been stuck with for years.
The more I speak with artists, the more impressed I become. You artists are entrepreneurial! And actually, we’re the same, you and I. It’s just you can paint and I can do digital marketing.
I have an underlying social motivation too. It feels like we are gradually losing our humanity, and I think art can help bring it back. So I’m here to promote art in general. Let’s feel something.
I’ve a lot cooking, but for now the best thing for you to do is look around for my mailing list “Live Well From Your Art” and sign up to that. I’m tackling the core issues (how to get a good price for your art is the biggy) in a weekly email, so go sign up.
I also have a big training course on SEO for artists, and occasional free weekly challenges and lots of stuff coming up which you’ll also hear about in the mailing list.
Lovely to meet you, let’s get this sorted.