Digital Marketing for Creatives

Alright. Take a breath. Put down the thesaurus. We need to have an uncomfortable conversation.

You know that feeling when you’re at a dinner party, and someone asks what you do, and you launch into this beautiful, poetic, deeply intellectual explanation of your work? You talk about “deconstructing the male gaze” or “exploring the intersection of memory and decay” or “the liminality of suburban spaces.”

And the person across from you just blinks. Nods slowly. Takes a long sip of wine. And then says, “Cool. So… like, what is it exactly?”

That moment? That hollow, sinking, “nobody gets me” moment? That’s on you. That’s not their fault. That’s your artist language getting in the way of your audience finding you.

Here’s the brutal truth: You don’t need to find people who like you. You need to find people who are searching for what you solve.

And right now, you’re speaking Swahili to a room full of English speakers. You’re complaining that nobody understands you, but you’re the one using words that make zero sense to anyone outside your MFA program.

Let me break this down. This is the “Translation” technique. And yes, I’m about to talk about SEO and copywriting, so all you purists out there can stop gagging. I know. I hate it too. But stay with me.

The problem: Artist Language vs. Audience Language.

Artist language is what we use to impress each other. It’s the jargon. The intellectual wankery. It sounds good in a gallery statement or a grant proposal. But nobody, and I mean nobody, types that shit into Google.

Nobody wakes up at 2 AM, opens their laptop, and types: “Please show me contemporary mixed-media installations that interrogate post-colonial identity through found objects.”

They type: “Cool wall art for my boring apartment.”

They type: “Gift for my girlfriend who likes weird stuff.”

They type: “Painting that makes me feel calm.”

That’s the gap. That’s where you’re losing people. You’re standing in your beautiful, complex, layered world, speaking a language that only five other people understand. And the other ten thousand potential fans are walking right past you because you forgot to put up a sign in their language.

Here’s the exercise that will change everything.

I want you to do something uncomfortable. I want you to find five people who are not artists. Your cousin who works in HR. Your neighbor who’s an accountant. Your friend from high school who sells real estate. People who have absolutely no investment in your creative ego.

Show them your work. Don’t explain it. Don’t give them the speech. Just show it to them. And ask them one question: “Describe this in three words.”

Not “how does it make you feel?” Not “what’s the deeper meaning?” Just: “Three words. Go.”

And then, this is the hard part, you shut up and write down what they say.

They’ll say things like: “Sad but hopeful.” “Messy and colorful.” “Makes me think of home.” “Weirdly comforting.” “Like a dream I had.”

Those words? Those are gold. Those are the words your actual audience is using. Those are the search terms. Those are the phrases that will connect you to people who don’t know your name but desperately want what you make.

Now, here’s the part that makes you squirm. Take those words. Put them in your Instagram captions. Put them in your blog titles. Put them in your Pinterest descriptions.

Instead of: “Exploring the liminality of urban decay through mixed media.”

Try: “Art for people who love cities at 3 AM.”

Instead of: “A deconstruction of domestic femininity in the postmodern era.”

Try: “Strange paintings that feel like your grandmother’s house.”

Does that feel dumb? Does that feel like you’re selling out? Good. Get over it. Because here’s the thing—matching their search terms isn’t selling out. It’s being found.

Why this reduces the hassle.

Think about it. Right now, you’re probably spending hours every day on TikTok, on Instagram, on Twitter, chasing the algorithm like a dog chasing its tail. You’re making Reels. You’re trying to be funny. You’re dancing. You’re posting at optimal times. You’re exhausting yourself trying to find people.

But when you use their language? When you speak the words they’re actually typing into search bars?

Suddenly, they find you.

You post one blog post titled “How to Make Your Small Apartment Feel Bigger with Art” and suddenly someone in Ohio who just moved into a cramped studio finds you on Pinterest. They click. They browse. They buy. They tell their friends. And you didn’t have to do a stupid dance.

That’s leverage. That’s minimum hassle. That’s the difference between chasing and attracting.

You want to stop screaming into the void? Learn what the void is actually saying. Listen to the void. Use its words. That’s not manipulation. That’s just finally speaking the same language.

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Now look, I know what you’re thinking. “This is great, Andy, but I don’t know how to actually implement this. I don’t know how to do keyword research. I don’t know how to optimize my stuff for Google. I’m an artist, not a search engine nerd.”

Yeah, I get it. That’s why I wrote “Digital Marketing for Creatives.“ This book is for people who get nauseous at the word “SEO.” It’s for painters who don’t want to learn coding, for writers who hate spreadsheets, for musicians who’d rather play a shitty gig than optimize a landing page. It’s the practical, no-nonsense, plain-English guide to making your work actually findable without losing your soul in the process. I cover keyword research for dummies, writing copy that doesn’t sound like a press release, and building a simple system that attracts the right people so you can stop chasing the wrong ones. It’s short. It’s honest. It’s not trying to turn you into a marketing bro. It’s trying to help you get your work into the hands of people who actually need it.

Go grab the book. Learn to translate. And for the love of God, stop using the word “liminality” in your Instagram bio. Nobody knows what that means.