235 stories from Mission Paradox
In addition to my life as an arts marketing consultant/international spy, I'm also the Director of Marketing for one of the largest nonprofit theatres in Chicago. So it's my duty to let you …
Every couple of days I send out a report to the entire staff at my day job. It details the sales that have happened each day and gives the cumulative progress toward the bottom line revenue …
You can convince yourself that no idea is big enough, or ambitious enough to satisfy you. You can convince yourself that you must get published by that big NYC publishing house to have "made…
Most of the time it doesn't work out. The first book doesn't sell very well. Neither does the second. The people don't come to the show. The music doesn't get a lot of downloads. When people…
Figuring out what to do next is your real job. It doesn't matter what your job title is. It doesn't matter whether you work solo or with a team. Your real value is determined by your ability…
Promise me (and yourself) that this year you will: 1. Make more art - If you produce two plays a year, this year produce two plays and six workshops. If you write one book a year, this year …
Two or three times a year I like to work directly with individual artists and organizations from all over the world. The process has the incredibly creative name of Paradox Marketing Coachin…
We do not have a shortage of flash. We don't have a shortage of people willing to do silly, loud, ridiculous things to get attention. We create tumblrs full of people's misguided, but often …
It's 1:00am in Vegas. I'm at the View Bar inside the Aria. When you think about it, most bars are the same. Sure some have better decor, the one here was quite nice, but all bars basically h…
Note: This post was originally sent out via my email newsletter, so consider this another preview of what the newsletter offers. You should subscribe. Click here to do so. One of the grand p…
Here's the core marketing problem both in the arts and damn near any other field: How do you get people to chose you when the number of options approach infinity? That's what technology and …
The agenda for most arts marketing is very clear. The agenda is to get someone to buy a ticket, come to the exhibition, donate, volunteer, etc. My theory is that the best way to achieve that…
I learned these at the poker table: 1. Pay attention - Most of the mistakes that happen at the poker table happen for a very simple set of reasons. You got bored. You got distracted. Importa…
We have become very good at marketing. We have a grasp on social media, some more than others. We know how to buy ads. We know how to maintain websites. We know how to do promotion via email…
We have enough stuff. Enough TV, enough plays, enough museums. No one is clamoring for one more thing. What we need is more meaningful experiences. There is always room for that. Always. We …
In most of the arts world, but particularly in my world of the nonprofit arts, there is an understandable desire to bring in a new, more diverse, audience. The events of the past few days ha…
If you learn anything this political season, learn this. To win, you've got to please somebody. The good news is that you get to choose that somebody. You get to choose the group of people t…
The people you want around you are the people motivated by doing the next big thing, not keeping the status quo. Those are the people who will help make your artistic dreams a reality. The c…
There is a point where the marketing no longer matters. In my little world of theatre, my experience has been that once the show is reviewed by the press the impact of direct marketing is re…
Marketing is storytelling. Price is a pivotal part of the story. In some cases, price is really the only part of the story. The airline industry learned this the hard way. Customer service w…
The always awesome Thomas Cott has sent out this recent roundup on a consistent issue in the arts, dynamic pricing. If you have followed this blog over the years, you know that I'm not a fan…
Millions upon millions of people will NEVER experience your art. Never. Ever. It doesn't matter how skilled you are at your craft or how fantastic your marketing is. The people who will neve…
You might recall a video with a certain politican. In the video the politican said some things about 47% of the country and it landed him in some trouble. But this isn't about the answer. It…
Let's consider these three statements: 1. I want to make art - The combination of technology and low barriers to entry has made the ability to create art more accessible to everyone. That in…
Part 1 is here: I would argue that there is really one reason to spend money on marketing. You spend money on marketing to leverage an organizational or artistic strength. Stop. Read the sen…
