The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Rise & Jack Trout
I’ve seen this book, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, listed here and there as a must read for artists wanting to grow their business skills. If you pick this one up you’ll have to forgive it for being outdated with its examples… and slightly wrong about its predictions for the future of the companies discussed. There were some worthwhile nuggets and it’s a breezy read to get your feet wet on the topic.
Some of the “laws” can easily be applied to an artist’s business model; such as being first. The people who were there at the beginning of Etsy did much better than anyone I know trying to join now. This is also the very first suggestion people make: join Etsy. Trying to join any similar creative community site buries you under piles of images. For myself, I’ve decided that I don’t want to swim in schools of creators on Etsy or Saatchi. Currently there are artists jumping in on the early days of the NFT market. I paused to think about this and decided that I was firmly against blockchain from an energy standpoint. Money won’t corrupt my values.
“When you look at customers in a given product category, there seem to be two kinds of people. There are those who want to buy from the leader and there are those who don’t want to buy from the leader. A potential No. 2 has to appeal to the latter group.”
Excerpt from: “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Exposed and Explained by the World’s Two” by Al Ries.
Oh. That makes sense now. Some people are out there and they just can’t wait to discover a new artist. I never looked at it that way. Hence the term “emerging artist” being projectile vomited all over the web.
Perception. Well that’s the entire game of why I am curating my online space and presence. I want to leave an impression on visitors. Here’s Taryn Okesson: artist, creative, strong attention to details, tenacious, and oozing with an awkward yet charming personality.
“Where is it written that you have to appeal to everybody?”
Excerpt from: “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Exposed and Explained by the World’s Two” by Al Ries.
I’m going to tattoo that on the inside of my eyelids. The other phrase I keep reminding myself is to “make the art I want to see in the world.” Other wisdom nuggets that apply: don’t spread your ideas thin. Trying to make everything will drown your voice. Failure is ok. Fail and move on.
Overall the book is useful if you consider the generic big business examples one by one and think about how they translate into a studio practice. It isn’t a passive read that will give you answers off the page, but there are good golden eggs▪️
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