After reading the title of this post, you’d probably think I’m being sarcastic or just plain crazy. Actually, no. The thing is, anytime you are losing “fans” (email newsletter subscribers, Facebook Fans, etc.), you’re probably not actually losing fans, you’re losing people that weren’t really interested in the first place. There are many reasons why someone may subscribe to your newsletter or be your fan on Facebook or follow you on Twitter. You would hope that it’s because they just love your art, but that’s not always the case. Some are other artists just doing research on you, some are acquaintances that felt obligated to join because you asked, and some may have been interested but quickly discovered that your work is not what they expected- the list goes on.
So why is this a good thing? Because it translates to more time and effort put into those who do care about your art, and less wasted on those that weren’t interested. For every email, every phone call, every Tweet, every newsletter, every postcard, etc. etc., there is less time, money, and energy invested into those that are not interested in your art, thus allowing you to focus on those that do care. Sure, you want to know that your art resonates with tons of people- everyone, for that matter- but it’s not going to do that if they’re hitting the delete button every time you send them something. And it’s not that you’re doing anything wrong or that your art is “bad.” Some people are just not going to be interested, but this frees you up to fully invest in those that are. If you were to send out a newsletter and end up with a few “unsubscribes” as a result and one heartfelt email from a fan, that fan’s response far outweighs the unsubscribes. (More than likely those unsubscribes are people you’ve never heard from anyway.) Having a meaningful connection with your fans is much more rewarding and better for your career seeing as these are the folks that will talk about your art, come to your shows, and share your news or posts with others.
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