Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered
Kleon, Austin
Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered
“Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating.” —John Cleese
| Location: 1 |
Date: November 9, 2015 |
I hate talking about self-promotion. Comedian Steve Martin famously dodges these questions with the advice, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” If you just focus on getting really good, Martin says, people will come to you. I happen to agree: You don’t really find an audience for your work; they find you. But it’s not enough to be good. In order to be found, you have to be findable . I think there’s an easy way of putting your work out there and making it discoverable while you’re focused on getting really good at what you do. Almost all of the people I look up to and try to steal from today, regardless of their profession, have built sharing into their routine. These people aren’t schmoozing at cocktail parties; they’re too busy for that. They’re cranking away in their studios, their laboratories, or their cubicles, but instead of maintaining absolute secrecy and hoarding their work, they’re open about what they’re working on, and they’re consistently posting bits and pieces of their work, their ideas, and what they’re learning online. Instead of wasting their time “networking,” they’re taking advantage of the network. By generously sharing their ideas and their knowledge, they often gain an audience that they can then leverage when they need it—for fellowship, feedback, or patronage.
Notes:“Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating. ” —John Cleese
| Location: 1 |
Date: November 9, 2015 |