Making Art for Yourself Won’t Make You Money. Let me explain…

Many artists use just go make it for yourself as an excuse to not do the thing that they actually want. I think every artist wants to stay true to their artistic vision. They want to be authentic to who they are and a lot want to be able to make a living. And what I've learned is that there is one equation that we're going to talk about today that you can implement now. Like if you're watching this video and you take action on this, by the end of it you will have clarity on how to be more fulfilled and more balanced in both the creative side as well as the business side. Should that be your desire? Alright, so let's take a look at this formula. Self plus serve.

Equals success.

Success equals fulfillment. And so in order for you to have success or fulfillment, you need to know what this is, right? And the problem is that most artists don't actually know what they want. So think about it this way. A lot of artists think that they want more views, right? Well, they go and they do the tactics that they think will equal views, right? And the problem is that these tactics right here, they don't align with who you are. They're just what someone else has told you that you should be doing. So you don't actually enjoy these, but you do them anyway. And then what happens? Well, you don't get any views, right? And now it's a lose, lose, because you've not gotten any views and you're using tactics that you don't like.

And so what do you do? You quit. You stop doing any of this stuff and you say, well, I'll just go make it for me. Or maybe you get views, right? Let's call it, you know, 10k views. But you still don't like the way that you got these views and now you're afraid, well, I don't want to have to do this over and over. This is going to become a prison. And so you go back and you don't do it, right? You stop, you quit, you get the views, but you don't get any sales, right? And when you don't get any sales, like you realize, actually I wanted sales, not views. Like that's not what I was looking for. And now again, it's a lose, lose. And now you're frustrated because you're like, well, now I got to start over, this is a waste of time. So what do you do? You quit. I'll just go do this for myself. I'll just make art for me. So what do you want? Right? That's the question. You have to ask yourself what you really want, because it's not views that you want, right? It's probably something more like community.

Or connection with people.

Right? And people will say, like, I want engagement. This is really what they're talking about. They want community, they want connection. And that makes sense, right? Because even from the beginning, when art was made, you know, I love this thing that Adam Neely talks about where he says, forget where this came from, but the idea is that music, something that we do together, I think art is something that we do together. It's an experience that's created. So from the beginning, when art was made on cave walls and they were doing it in poor penmanship like mine, like, there was something that happened there. So it's always been about connection, right? And so you don't want views. You want community and connection. Maybe. Maybe it's something else, right? But I hope you just hear where I'm coming from here. And you don't want sales. Like, what you really want is the opportunity to serve somebody because you don't want to feel like you're being salesy in some way. You want the opportunity to serve your family, right, with whatever they need. Maybe that's like groceries or, you know, like paying your mortgage or just being a contributing part of the household with this beautiful thing that you get to do all the time. And ultimately, what this comes down to is you want appreciation, right? This is so key. I think most artists want to feel appreciated for what they do. And you can't do that in a silo. You can't do that alone. So you have to ask yourself, like, what do I want? So ask yourself these questions. Why do you want views? Why do you want sales, Right? What are these things going to give you? Whatever it is that you're trying to get that you're striving for. Ask yourself why you want those things. What will those things give you? Is it connection, community? Your family? Appreciating what you do? Maybe that's where you need to go. Okay, then you have to ask yourself another question. How do you get there? What is the fastest.

Way to get there? That's the most fun. Can you believe it? That we have to actually enjoy this process of, like, creating a creative business for it to work out? That's all right. It's weird to think about. And then I want you to ask this question. Where.

Does it already exist?

This is big because a lot of us are looking for evidence that it won't work rather than evidence that it is working. And so if you said, well, I want connection, then ask yourself, where is there evidence that connection already is existing somewhere? If you said I want sales, where is there evidence that you're one step closer to getting sales? And, and then that will help you see maybe you know, potentially here that those were maybe the fast or fun ways to do that, that you have like a step in the right direction, a foot that you can put forward, that is not rebuilding an entire process. So back to our equation here. So we have our self plus serve equals success. So your success is what is beneath the money, the views, right? What is here? That's what success is. And you can ask yourself, where does it exist? And then the self, which we've already figured out, is simply what is the fastest.

And most fun way.

That will allow you to get to here? And how can you do more of that? How can you refine that process? Because now you've got something that fulfills you because it's fun, it's getting you what you want. And it's easy, right? We all have these zones of geniuses, these things that we're already good at. Many of us are just afraid to lean into them. But what about this service part, right? Because we need to be able to make some money. Because the money not only serves our mission, not only serves what success is for us, but it also just is a proof of concept. It shows you know, that what you're doing is worth doing in some way. It's not the end result, mind you. That's why we're looking underneath and asking where this already exists. Because then you are still making it for you. And now you're asking, alright, how does it serve others? And this is where we bring other people in. And here's a question I want you to ask. How do you change your little corner of the world, right? How do you change this little area right here? What have you gone through that as an artist you would like to stand for, that you'd like to stand against? Is it anxiety, depression? Maybe it's something as simple as like being a great dog owner. Maybe it's helping people with ADHD or other neurodivergent tendencies. So let me tell you a story to illustrate what I mean here. So there was a gal named Chloe that came into my creative impact academy and she was very over social media, as many of you probably are, and very over the idea of like, she's like, I'm just going to do it for me, then just forget it. I was like, okay, well, but don't you want to make money? Don't you want to create a business out of this? She's like, yeah, but if this is what I have to go through to do it, it's not worth it to me. And so I asked her what it was, and she said, well, social media just feels inauthentic. It feels like, I don't want to feed that beast. You know, I don't want to be fighting this algorithm. And we really shifted her perspective by saying, well, what would you want to achieve using this tool? Like, if you had your way, you know, what would you really start to change for people? And she mapped out this entire outline of how she would like to change people's minds around the way they see the life they live. And she asked herself, like, how can I make this fun? Right? And I also gave her some frameworks, some communication things she used, things that she already knew. And she started talking about, like, how she wants to change her corner of the world. And she had two videos about these things get over a million views each. She ended up making thousands of dollars off of her art from this. And I asked her what she thought about social media, like, what was different for her, and she said, well, I realized that I can be myself. I can show up for my people. And that's what this formula is. And here's the thing. I think artists deserve to make more money than anybody else because I think they are operating at the highest value, which is their imagination. And many of them, maybe it's. You just don't know how to communicate that value yet. And so you let statements like this get in your way that say, I will just do it for you, and people will show up. That's not how it works. Well, just do it for you and you'll be happy. That's not how it works. Right? Like, we are communal creatures. We want to do things that serve each other, and that's beautiful. And your art, and you as an artist can absolutely serve people well. And I hope that this formula helps you see a new way of thinking about it. And real quick, I want to offer this to you as a synopsis in case this hasn't sunk in yet. Instead of just making art for you, make the process.

For you, communicate your vision to the world for them, Offer them your work that does these things, and then do it over and over and over again. Because the more you do this, the more you'll learn where you can get better at making the process something that you love, at showing them the vision that you have. And at putting work out there that serves them well and that they can buy into. Because people don't buy art, I'm sorry to say it. They buy feelings. And when you make somebody feel something, it will change everything, not only for them, but for you. Because I know ultimately, as artists, that's what many of us want, is just to make somebody feel something.