As a Visual Artist, Are You Press Release Worthy?

The question posed in the title of this post asks you to consider if you are doing something worthy of preparing and sending a press release.

Stop now! Think back to what your immediate reaction to the question was. Examining your self-perception and reaction should be quite insightful to you. There is no wrong answer. There are just three basic ways to respond:

1. You immediately agreed you were press release worthy.
2. You stopped to assess if you were worthy.
3. You instinctively felt you were not doing anything to make you press release worthy.

How you perceive yourself is one aspect of this challenge. And, your concept of the value of a press release and what they do could easily color your decision. There is not much, if any training on how to use a press release, and not much exposure to them for many visual artists. The lack of exposure could easily cause the activity be filed away as intimidating, mysterious, or bothersome; all leading to inactivity and improper assessment in answering the question.

While you are a product of many things, your self-perception nevertheless is your choice.

If you believe you are press release worthy, good for you. It's a shows a bit of confidence and self-awareness that undoubtedly helps you in other aspects of your career. Having a healthy ego is a good thing for artists. It's much easier to convince others about the value of your work if your persona portrays confidence and self-esteem. We might root for the underdogs, but we buy the winners.

Learning from American Idol, who'da thunk it?

Last year in an admission to a guilty pleasure, I posted Art Marketing Lessons from American Idol. Visual artists should take note of the implied advice the show offers. This year, comparable examples for visual artists are obvious. British judge, Simon Cowell, continues to make the point to those who don't portray confidence that talent alone will not win the contest. Artists need to exude self-confidence. It doesn't have to be done in a swaggering braggadocio style. Confidence can be shown in many ways. Whether it is an outgoing or quiet style is irrelevant.

In social settings, we all have radar for how someone feels about themselves.The manner of how it is expressed doesn't matter. We read the person and evaluate them on the subtle clues we observe. This is why the kids with the good voices who come off as not quite believing themselves ultimately will be voted off American Idol.

There practically is no reason for any artist not be press release worthy. If you thought you weren't or were not sure, I hope to help you change that perception. It will come in learning more about how press releases work, what their real value is and how to get a good one written and submitted. Look for information on press releases in subsequent posts here soon. I believe it will be a confidence booster for you to come to realize you are press release worthy.

Related Posts:

How to Write a Press Release for Artists