Valerie: 0:01

Hi, welcome back to the podcast. You are listening to the Peaceful Creative. I am your host, Valerie McKee, and we have been with you. I'm with my husband, Matt.

Mak: 0:13

Hello again.

Valerie: 0:14

We are with you all week. So this is day three. We're excited for another conversation. This has been really fun.

Mak: 0:22

It has been. I've actually really been enjoying this. I don't want to sound like I'm surprised by that, but but because it's not true.

Valerie: 0:28

I knew this would be fun, but I think it's even more fun than I anticipated yeah, well, I've enjoyed doing the episodes we have together before too, so it's just fun to be doing this and to be doing this every day it's. It is a lot of fun yeah, and I think it's because we're talking about something that we're passionate about, because we have lived this life for the last. My math is just 10 to 15 years.

Mak: 0:51

That's what I just tell everybody. It's somewhere in that neighborhood.

Valerie: 0:54

It's more than a decade, yes, way more, and we are talking about entrepreneurship all this week, but more specifically, we're calling it artpreneurship for those who are artists and want to begin selling their art. We've been covering topics on that subject all week long, which has been so fun to talk about because we've been doing it for many years. We've made probably every mistake that you can possibly make. We've had spectacular failures. We've also had spectacular successes, too, and it's been a real journey, and we're at this point now where we want to share it and talk about it, and we've gotten far down the path that it's time, and so we're doing that through a brand new course that we are introducing, beginning in January, that we're both very excited about.

Mak: 1:52

It's the first time we've decided to teach a course together, and it's called the Peaceful Entrepreneur.

Valerie: 1:59

Yes, so pre-sale is open for that course now, with some amazing bonuses. Although the course does start in January, we have some calls that are going to be happening in November and December for you to really be prepared to hit the ground running in January. Want to miss out on that. Like Max said, it's really fun that we both have the way that we come to this idea of artpreneurship together. We have been in business so long together and the unique perspectives that we bring is just really going to be good. And I think the biggest thing about this course that I'm excited about and that makes it different than other courses that you may have seen, is that it's live. We are going to be actual people showing up with you on Zoom in all of the real rawness, vulnerability that that is. We are not going to be edited, um produced modules and videos to just sit on your desktop forever and never watch, which I think we can all say that we have done that oh yeah and purchase that.

Valerie: 3:17

But this is live, this is connected. We want to come alongside of you and truly be on this journey and helping you in a group of kindred spirits who are also on this same path, wanting to encourage each other, support one another. I think it is in that magic of the live connected that real change happens and real learning and just making something happen and the accountability of it that you will stick with it because it is live.

Mak: 3:53

So of course, we do have a plan for those first three months of the course January, february and March but what I love about doing live courses is that, while we have a plan, we can actively be getting feedback from everyone who's in the course and we can make changes and shifts and move things around, because, as much as we want to think we know exactly where this needs to go, we might find in the midst of it oh, people need to dive more into this subject than this subject and using it. So that's what's really great about getting in on the ground floor of a brand new course, especially when it's live like this, and we've structured it that it won't be taking up so much of your time. We're both very busy. We have a family with two really young girls and life for us is crazy. We have two businesses. So this also isn't going to be something that's like this massive time commitment, and we have developed it to be lighthearted, to be fun, to be interactive and to give everybody a chance to really enjoy digesting the material but also being able to apply it right away.

Mak: 5:01

And the first three months is going to be all the lessons and all the time on Zoom, with us instructing through everything that we know that you will need to do to prepare you and get you set up to be a successful artpreneur and selling all of your art with peace. But then you get a bonus three additional months, so it's a six-month total, and those three additional months we're all just going to show up on Zoom together and you're going to be able to ask your questions. You're going to be able to be together with the community and we're going to not only we're not just going to like drop this course on you and leave you in the dust. No, we're going to give you the course, but then you're also going to get support from Valerie and from me, potentially some special guests and also the community.

Valerie: 5:51

Yeah, because knowing something and doing something are two very different things. You can have all of the information, you can know what to do, but without the action piece, without the doing it, it isn't worth anything then. And so we want to come alongside of you in the doing. In the action, there are what we're calling inspired action calls where the purpose is to set aside that time to actually move forward, do these actions. That may seem scary, and we're going to be there with you, and having the accountability of the group is going to be so, so powerful, and I'm just really excited to meet you, to help you and be with you in the new year and also before that.

Valerie: 6:37

So if you go to valeriemckeancom slash sellwithpeace, you will have all of the details there who this course is for. Read that over. And if this is calling to you, if you have that dream inside, or maybe it even sounds like, if you have that dream, but then you're like, oh, I don't know, is that for me? Can I do it? You are probably more ready than you think. So head to valeriemckeancom slash sell with peace, and you will get all of the details for that, and you'll definitely want to do that here in the next couple of days because there is a significant discount going on for our presale.

Mak: 7:16

Yes, and that discount is happening now but it expires in a few days. So definitely go there, don't wait, don't sit on it, go check it out. Valeriemckeoncom slash sell with peace. And if you order before our early bird special ends, that is how you get the additional calls beginning this very month and those will help you, as almost like a prerequisite, get set up and ready to go. But you could also hit the ground running. It's the holiday season and that's going to be one of the topics in those calls. You could potentially cover the entire cost of the course before the course even begins, which is really cool. Do you want to tell them about those three bonus calls?

Valerie: 7:55

Yeah, so the bonus calls. There's going to be a pricing your work masterclass, which we really just dipped our toe in the water in the last episode on pricing, which is the question. That is the thing we hear the most often how do I price my work? And it's vulnerable and it can be scary. So we really just touched on that subject in the last episode. You'll definitely want to check that out, but we're going to be doing a full pricing masterclass.

Valerie: 8:19

There's going to be a holiday sales boot camp, like Max said, to get you set up to even capture some holiday sales now, and there's also going to be a vision casting and a vision boarding workshop, which you are going to feel so, so good setting yourself up to go into the new year. This is a practice that I've started adopting every year and it just makes me feel so good heading into the new year in a way that isn't this maybe harsh goal setting that you've heard before. It's in a way that is freeing and light and opening up to possibility of what can exist for you and how you want to have 2025 be. So I definitely recommend getting in now so that you can be part of those bonus calls. But then again, we're going to hit the ground running, with the first three months starting in January and then the additional three months of support after that.

Mak: 9:14

And, as you know, up to this point, everything that Valerie has done has been related to soft pastel, because that is her medium. But I want to underscore that this is not just for people selling soft pastel. This is for virtually any visual artist, even if you have a medium that isn't visual. There'll be a lot of good stuff here that could really help. But this is so. You know, I don't know if it's watercolor, if it's oils, or even you know sculpture, I don't know. It's something that is beneficial to every artist of virtually every medium. So this isn't just for soft pastel folks. So if you're listening right now and let's say you do acrylics, just because Val does soft pastel doesn't mean that this won't apply to you. This applies to you too.

Valerie: 9:58

And I will say, just in our past of being artpreneurs, we've pretty much hit every gamut of that business, the fine art side to the manufacturing side, the product manufacturing, licensing prints. I mean, we really have that covered in our decade, plus of doing this Pretty much if you can sell it and it's art related.

Mak: 10:24

We've sold it, at least in one form or fashion.

Valerie: 10:27

Yeah, so we're excited. We're excited to be with you. We're excited to help you. If this is speaking to you again, valeriemckeoncom slash, sell with peace.

Mak: 10:36

And we'll put that in the show notes as well. And if you know someone who you think maybe this isn't for you, but you have of artists friends or an artist friend who's been like hey, you know, I've been really thinking about getting started, or whatever, please forward the these episodes to them, because even at the very least, if you don't do it, these episodes should be helpful, and I just want to say, too, that the whole idea with the peaceful art printer okay, I'm over it, let's be done.

Valerie: 11:05

Struggling, starving, suffering, tormented artists it's hard, it's this, it's like please, let's just get that out of the way, because that's not what we're about and that is not what this course is about. This is supposed to make your life better. This is supposed to expand you into your potential better. This is supposed to expand you into your potential, into what is calling to you, and it's like no suffering artist necessary as a prerequisite here. In fact, we're about the opposite. We're about entering this artpreneurship journey in a way that feels authentic and joyful to you. And it's also not a cookie cutter Do this and this and this and this man. We've again, we've seen it all, we've heard it all. We've. We've tried so much of that. That didn't work for us because it was cookie cutter, and that's not what. That's not what we're about either.

Mak: 11:58

So I say that and that's why we feel confident doing this. We didn't create this course eight years ago, when we were a few years into our art journey. We didn't feel ready at that point. But now, where we're sitting, with the number of people that ask us questions and the experience that we've had, we're really doing this because, a we think every artist is completely capable of supporting themselves, or at least their goals, through selling their artwork. We literally believe that, valerie and I believe that, and we want to help. But B we understand, because we have done so much of it and we have failed, I think, at every possible turn.

Valerie: 12:42

We've made a lot of mistakes.

Mak: 12:43

Let's put it that way we really have and it has been failure, but this is the course I wish we had when we were starting out and just getting started. So our goal is to help you avoid all of the mistakes that we made and get you started in your art career Again. Whether you just want to, you know, cover a couple extra bills a month, or you want to quit your job, we're going to help you get the tools you need to start on that path. Yeah.

Valerie: 13:13

So what are we talking about today? It's day three of this sort of mini series that we've been doing. We're going to be with you. We're doing five days. This is day three. We're covering some of our most frequently asked questions, I guess, and just talking about that, I hope that you have had some ahas, some breakaways, some breakthroughs, some takeaways so far in the previous two episodes, and today we are going to be talking about how to sell without an audience.

Mak: 13:44

This is one of the. I think this is. This is a stumbling point for people. But but because it's more of an excuse that you want to say hey, you know what, I can't sell because I don't have a massive amount of followers. Oh, Val, it's easy for you to sell because you've got all these followers on social media and you have the success in the industry, but you know what? That's just simply not true. You don't need all that to sell. So today we're going to cover at a high level how to get started, whether you have 100 followers or thousands of followers.

Valerie: 14:17

Well, and everybody started somewhere.

Mak: 14:20

Exactly.

Valerie: 14:20

That's something else to keep in mind that everybody started somewhere. And what did that take? Did that take the audience before the? What is that? Like the horse before the cart, the cart before the horse, the cart before the horse, whatever.

Mak: 14:34

You know what was there? Even Instagram when you first started, or it was so in its infancy, I don't even remember, it was just getting started. Yeah, so you started out and had success without all the stuff that everybody has available to them today, Like yeah, and just the world changes to like.

Valerie: 14:52

Etsy is different, the, you know, instagram is different, like it all changes, and I want to encourage you that you can change to like. We can all adapt change too. We're not beholden to any one media, because if Instagram went away, you know, I don't want to have a business that is solely relying on that either. And just know that you are adaptable and you are capable, more capable than you even think. You are resourceful. That is what you need. It's courage and resourcefulness, way, way, way, way, way more than an audience and a platform.

Mak: 15:37

Instagram, email, facebook, pinterest, etsy. These are all tools. These are all tools that you use. I like to say that if Bobby Flay came to our house and was cooking dinner with the same cookware that I have not his really fancy stuff he would still outcook me in this kitchen, even though my cookware isn't as professional as his. So it doesn't matter the tools that he has. He'll make an incredible meal because of who he is and his story and what he brings to it. It has nothing to do with the kitchen that he's in and the tools that he's using, and that's what this is. The tools are the media and what's available to you, but what you bring to it and your resourcefulness is what will make you successful.

Valerie: 16:24

Yeah, totally so. I think the other thing that we forget is how we are an influencer in our own circles. Every single person listening to this is an influencer, regardless of audience. You have people in your life that you are influencing, whether you know it or whether whether you don't, and how many more people we have contact with and can can speak to than we realize. Because, if you think about even social media since we're, you know, zeroing in on that because that's what's considered to be having an audience these days there's plenty of people we realize because, if you think about even social media since we're zeroing in on that because that's what's considered to be having an audience these days there's plenty of people with businesses and being entrepreneurs and everything way before social media happened. So, again, instead of focusing on that as a must have, there's no reason to not be able to get started and really utilize who you have in your sphere of influence right now.

Mak: 17:31

And we did cover this a couple days ago, but it applies here too. You are like, like Val said, you are already influencing. So a movie comes out that you absolutely love, or an artist puts out a brand new song and you just want to tell everybody about it. You go out into the world and, no holds barred, you say, oh my goodness, have you seen this new TV show on Netflix? Did you see this movie? Did you read this book? Have you heard the latest song by Ed Sheeran? You're already going out and people will say, okay, I'll check that out, I'll try that restaurant, I'll listen to that song, I'll watch that TV show. You're already influencing people in your circle, but you don't think of it that way because it's not attached to the idea of selling your creations, but it's the exact same thing.

Valerie: 18:19

Right, and there are plenty of people that you have access to now to be able to start talking about what you're doing. That takes courage and that's really the only thing separating you. It's not the audience, it's not the I don't have a website or any of this. What is really separating most artists from stepping into entrepreneurship, artpreneurship. That they want is courage. That's it, and it doesn't even take much. It's not this sudden burst of oh, I'm courageous now, where yesterday I wasn't and now today I am. It's not even that. It's these tiny micro bursts and moments of courage. So it's the courage that you tell people what you're doing and you're not even thinking about hey, do you want to buy this? You're just like I'm doing this now, and you take those few, that micro burst of courage to say this is what I'm doing. If you know anybody that's interested in this, this is my work. That is going to move you forward. That is the beginning. It always is going to start with courage.

Mak: 19:30

And you know what I'm going to say this, because we just came out of this election in this political season, but there are so many people that had no problem being courageous, pushing their candidate. You go onto social media and you could have an audience of 50 on social media, but if you felt strongly, there are a lot of people who had the courage to not worry about what people thought of them or you know, you're not worried about what people think of you or whatever the case but you went out and if there was a policy or something about a candidate that you were passionate about, you pushed it and you went into other people's comments and you might have argued with people a little bit and listen, that's OK.

Valerie: 20:09

There's no judgment. There's no judgment here.

Mak: 20:10

There's no judgment here. But listen, but I'm just trying to illustrate a point. When it comes to other things, you have no problem being courageous and putting your opinion out there. So if you're somebody who was doing that, but then you're sitting here and we're saying, okay, you have influence in your circle, you're going, no, I don't, then why would you post anything? Why would you post any opinions? Because all it is is you trying to point people in one way or another about something you're passionate about.

Valerie: 20:38

And even just think about good old fashioned conversation with people that you've just met, people that you see back. You were just having a conversation with the woman that you see at Trader Joe's every single week.

Mak: 20:50

Yeah, that's true.

Valerie: 20:51

Just start to be like, hey, what do you do, you know, and it like turns into these relationships and just being open to that and what's around to say, hey, well, this is what I do. And then you start to say, oh well, I have someone who might like that, and it's like it is okay. It is amazing what happens when you decide. Let's just say that. When you decide, let's just say that, when you decide I'm doing this, it is amazing what will start to happen, that you'll start to see people come out of the woodwork or things will change, and you just put that out there.

Mak: 21:30

So I have a little bit of a story about that, and that is you know, Val and I have been doing this work and own these businesses for so long and after a period of time people would message you and they say, hey, could you help me with X, Y or Z? And previous to working with Val, even in what we're doing, I've been an entrepreneur basically my entire life. I owned my first business in high school and so I've learned a lot doing that, being involved with startups and being in the entertainment industry, and my successes and failures. So people have sought out my advice from time to time, and I remember we were having a conversation not too long ago and I was saying I think I'm thinking about maybe starting a coaching business, and you and I talked about what that would look like. And I don't have a ton of followers. I have what like 700 followers or something on Instagram. That's more than I thought you had.

Mak: 22:21

Yeah, well, that's because it's grown because of what I'm about to say. Yeah, so Val, thought I had like 100 followers, thank you, val. So, anyway, I have no Biden and nobody. Everyone knows Val. They don't know who I am. So what I did was I just said, ok, well, look, I'm just going to make a quick video. And I went live on Instagram for like two minutes and then I went live on my Facebook for like two minutes and I basically said the same thing hey, I'm going to start a coaching business. Here's what I'm interested in, here's what I'm interested in, here's what I think you know and here's how I feel like I can help. Here are the people that I can help. If you're interested, just shoot me a DM. And then after that I maybe made like six more videos over the summer. I'm saying I started this in March and it's now November and I've put out maybe seven or eight videos. I mean that that's like one a month, basically one and a half a month.

Mak: 23:12

I have had so many people come out of the woodwork, people that I haven't talked to in years, who used to be friends or colleagues or whatever. Nothing bad happened, but we just, you know, time goes on, you get separated. I had people who were friends of friends send me DMs. Hey, my buddy forwarded me your video and I was. We were in this conversation that I'm having troubles in my business this way and it sounds like you might be able to help. I got clients right away and those handful of videos have made tens of thousands of dollars, and so I had no audience. I was basically a nobody and I was able to lay the groundwork and build and listen. I didn't workshop my messaging, I didn't have a brand, I don't have a logo, I don't have a website. I don't have any of that. I literally just went on to my very small audience and said this is what I'm doing and, lo and behold, listen, and I've been in media my whole life. I've been in the public eye at various levels, and this was.

Mak: 24:19

It was hard for me to make those videos and I was terrified because it was a part of me that was different and that people weren't used to seeing, and I think a lot of artists and creatives feel the same way, and it's like I had all the fears. I had the fear of saying, well, everyone's going to think, oh yeah, like this guy thinks he can help people. Oh, look at this. What does he think? Who does he think he is offering to help people and charging for it? How dare he? I was thinking all that. Do you know what? I don't think. Anybody thought that.

Valerie: 24:47

I think they saw the video okay and they move on with their lives. It's really interesting. I'm sorry I didn't cut you off, but it's really interesting that you say that, because I feel like so many artists or people who want to be artists but you know, they're maybe known in their circles as something else. There is that fear of when we switch what, what we think other people are going to think of us like, oh, she's doing that now, or people in, and I almost feel like we have eras with people. You know it's like you have your high school era okay, taylor swift I know, but it's true.

Valerie: 25:24

And then you have like your college era of people, and then you have like this pocket of people that you were in a corporate job with and you were all in your cubicles, and you have that era of people. And then you have this era of people with your career now or whatever it is, and sometimes we can let that hold us back because we're afraid of what people are going to think of the new era of you, the different era of you, the you that is starting something new, and we let that stop us from just saying, hey, this is what I'm doing now, and it really just takes that small act of courage to open up to it. And here's a secret Nobody's thinking about you.

Mak: 26:02

Nobody cares.

Valerie: 26:02

Nobody cares. And you know what. Somebody said this and I was like, oh my goodness, it's so true. And let's say the worst comes true. And there are two friends that you went to high school with and they're out to lunch and they're like oh well, did you see so? And so she's selling her art. Now she's doing this, and can you believe that? And the other person is like, oh yeah, wow, that's crazy. All right, so what are you ordering? Are you gonna get a glass of wine? Are you gonna have the salad?

Valerie: 26:28

it's like there, it was done, it's over, they moved on. That is that literal moment, that 10 seconds, which is the worst thing, is what can be holding you back from a life that you want and stepping into an identity that you want to have, because you're afraid of how silly that sounds, those 10 seconds to have people be like, oh, I thought that she was into whatever, and now she's doing this thing. Okay, I don't get it, but whatever, okay. So, anyway, what's for dinner tonight?

Mak: 27:04

So the point here is that it doesn't matter how big your audience is at all. What matters is what you're communicating and having the courage to communicate and get started. There are people in your audience right now who will buy art from you and if they don't, they know people who will that you you can easily affect, like we all know the seven degrees of kevin bacon, like that was a thing but now they're actually talking about how we're now, because of social media, two or three points away from every human being in the world and again billions and billions of people in the world and now we're so much closer than those seven degrees. That was what was accepted decades ago as the truth. But imagine that, that you could literally go on your personal profile and just start talking about what you're doing. But beyond that, let's just take social media out of it altogether. I'm sure you have people that you email on a regular basis. What's wrong with sitting down and just making one big email and sending it out to everybody you know and saying, hey, I'm really excited to announce I have art for sale.

Mak: 28:19

This is my new thing. I'm passionate about it. Here are some pictures of some things. If you're interested, get in touch with me or if you know someone who is get in touch with me, but also just in general conversations. You and I were invited to a party this past Friday with some friends conversations you and I were invited to a party this past Friday with some friends and we got into conversation with people there who we had never met before. And one thing led to another and now they're saying oh, we got to introduce you to these people, we got to introduce you to these people, whatever that can happen in your neighborhood, that can happen at your church, it can happen where you work, it can you know anywhere. You just start talking about what you're doing, your passion behind it, and those doors begin to open.

Valerie: 29:00

Do not underestimate the power of going first, taking that first step, because nobody is going to come to you with a you know a big signed permission slip and say we all collectively got together and realized you are worthy of doing this and starting this and selling your art. And we kind of sit there and we like, want that. We want somebody to like call us up and say I pick you, you're great, let's you know you, let's do this. Ain't going to happen, like, don't, don't wait for that. The power of choosing yourself and the power of going first and saying I'm not waiting for that, I'm going to own this and take this. And if it is a 30 second burst of courage that you have that, then maybe you have to recover from for a couple days because I think we've done that where we've put ourselves out there. And then you have that period of shrinking back and like, oh, what have I done? It's so vulnerable, I'm so scared. What are they going to say? Oh, no, this person said this, whatever, whatever. But give yourself that grace to have that burst and then prepare even for the retraction that is very, very, very normal of when you did something vulnerable.

Valerie: 30:16

But do not underestimate the power of going first and saying I'm doing this and then wait to see what happens, the synchronicity that can happen, the way that I believe what you look for you're going to find. If you look for evidence in one way, you're going to find it. If you look for evidence in another way, you're going to find that too. And it is so interesting to me that whenever I have decided and said out loud this is what I want Even dreams that I have now that aren't fulfilled yet I have things that I think of, and if I am saying that to somebody, it's amazing what I get back and have people say, oh well, you should talk to this person and well, I know somebody who does that.

Valerie: 31:12

And have you, you seen this? And even I'm thinking just examples of I am, I'm really, really passionate about flowers and flower arranging and gardening, and that's another, just a passion of mine. And it is amazing the connections that I have made from where we used to live in Pittsburgh, I ended up being invited to private tours of flower farms and just by putting that out there and saying, hey, this is something that I'm interested in, I really love this, and I meet somebody else and I talk to them and then I meet them and then, before I know it, I'm being invited to a private thing to pick dahlias at a flower farm. And it's like you don't know what will happen with that act of courage and going first.

Mak: 31:57

And I just I also want to say real quick that we're by no means sitting here saying so. All you have to do is make one post or send one email and you're all of a sudden going to get all these people who are buying your art. That is not the case. I mean, it could be. It is very well possible. You don't know until you do it, but it's going to take a commitment inside the time to make your opinion known over and over and over again over time. And even if it's with a new song let's take politics out of it or a movie or whatever. You tell multiple people and you talk about it because you're excited about it. This is the same way. So what we're asking you to do right now, or what we're challenging you to do in a way, is to commit to yourself that you're going to make this a part of what you do. So whether you have an audience of 100 people or 10,000 people, it doesn't matter, but you have to talk about it over and over again, send the email out and then send another one out, and when you talk to people in person, oh, what are you doing these days? Well, I just started selling my artwork and I'm really excited about it and things are going well or whatever, and you start engaging people and naturally, as people, we do want to help other people, we want to connect other people. It feels good and those connections and things will begin to happen. But where it starts is with that mindset shift. So you can't just do it once and think, nope, I did it, it didn't work and so that's wrong, that's not going to happen, that isn't how it works at all. But what it is is more or less that shift in your mindset that I'm going to start today and I'm going to start talking about this just to the people in my circles. I'm not going to grow this huge audience. I don't need 50,000 people. And on that note, you know we've been talking Valerie and I have been talking back and forth for a while now about, like, all these vanity metrics. That's a fancy term, marketing term.

Mak: 34:08

Now for the metrics on social media where people say, oh well, I don't, I don't get any likes and I don't get many comments and people were saying followers you probably heard this recently is that followers don't mean much anymore. It's about the engagement, how much people are engaging with your posts. But we're actually finding out now that that has even less to do with it, that a lot of people who buy don't ever like or comment on anything. So what I'm trying to say by making that point is I don't want you to look at your posts.

Mak: 34:41

If you get no likes and no comments, that doesn't mean that your post hasn't been effective. Because of the people who decided to hire me after I posted my videos, none of them liked or commented on any of the videos that I made Not a single one of them. But they became clients, and so the same can be true for you. So don't want you to put a post out and see that 50 people watched it, or 100 people watched it, but nobody liked it. That doesn't mean that it wasn't effective or didn't start working toward your cause of selling your artwork.

Valerie: 35:14

I'm so glad you said that, because that is such a point of discouragement. And then you think, oh yeah, look, nobody cares, no, I'm just screaming into the void. I hear all of those things from artists all the time, feeling like they're screaming into the void and it's just not working. And then you get discouraged and then you end up showing up with that energy of discouragement and putting things out there. Oh, no one's hearing this anyway, and it's like, and then that's, that's not a vibe to come in with. So I love what you said about how this we're not talking about a magic pill, we're not talking about hey, do this, and then this is going to work and it's going to be perfect, and that is all.

Valerie: 35:54

Looking at an outcome and needing that outcome to happen in order to feel good about something. And that is always a recipe for disaster. Anytime you go into anything with this huge expectation of I'm going to post this so that everybody is going to say this, or, and then you're just setting yourself up for disappointment, just like if you are hosting people for Thanksgiving and you are setting up these grand expectations and then you run yourself ragged or you're upset because of these little things you're not going to be there, you're not going to enjoy. If you can just sit back and say, all right, I did what I can and if conversation goes to where it's going to go, whatever it's like, I'm not going to be in control of that outcome. You can just bring your own high energy. You can bring your own joy to the party, and that's what we're talking about here is not even going at it with this like I've got to sell these people and blah, blah, blah.

Valerie: 36:49

Bring your own joy to the party and that's what is so important about the mindset portion. That's also what's so important about staying within a group and a container that gets it to be able to lift you up when you're feeling those feelings of discouragement, because it's about keeping yourself in this place of like. I love my art, I want to share my art, I want to make these invitations, I'm excited to talk about it to the barista at Starbucks or whoever, because I'm excited about it and you're not holding on so tightly to that outcome of this person is going to buy for me. No, you're just being you and you are having the courage to live that out loud to other people having the courage to live that out loud to other people.

Mak: 37:39

And I think that is another really strong point that should be underscored here is that you cannot be attached to the outcome.

Mak: 37:42

The moment you attach your self-worth or your ability to make money or to sell or whatever to actually selling your art, that's when things go awry every time, because a vast majority of people will not buy your art. Let's be honest Most people will not buy your art. Almost everybody will not buy your art, but there are people out there who absolutely will. So if you die a little bit each time inside when 100 people see your reel or your post and they don't buy, then you're going to become discouraged and angry and you're going to give up. And you cannot do that because almost nobody is going to buy it. You have to be detached. You have to be creating artwork for the purpose of bringing joy, peace and happiness into people's lives and know that if you talk about it and you're putting that into the world, the right person will eventually come along, whether it's next week or in three months, you will get the sale, but you can't be attached to it.

Valerie: 38:51

And the big secret is, if you come into it in that way and being so attached, it will never be enough. That's the big secret. You think that, well, if I hit this number and if this sells right away, I'm going to feel so good and you may for like a minute, and then there's the next time and the next time and this isn't a magic pill, this isn't a hit, a home run every single time sort of a thing. So when you're holding so tightly to that and you're living and dying and rising and falling by that, it's just going to bring on more of the feeling that you don't want, because that is the nature of the game. That's what we're doing here, and you will have massive success in the eyes of other people, but it won't feel enough to you and it will be insatiable. When you're always holding on so tightly like my worth depends on this. Please buy this like this, whatever, because I need this. It will always leave you feeling empty, even when the thing that you say that you want happens.

Mak: 40:02

And we've all been sold to at one point in our life by a somewhat desperate salesperson who really needs the sale and it never feels good. It's not that enlightened transaction that we talked about on the last episode, and that's another reason is people can sense desperation and nobody wants to buy out of despair or pity. So you want to be sure that you're coming at it with the right attitude and if you're listening to this whole episode, I feel like I've said this every time and you're going no, this is scary or this, this is weird or whatever. I think you need to examine that and say, hmm, maybe it feels weird or not right, because I haven't thought about it before and the idea of feeling good when I'm selling and not being attached to it doesn't necessarily feel natural, but it is the right way. It is the way to make things happen, and so if this is feeling a little odd, that's a good thing. You need to be uncomfortable. Our goal here is to help you find success and you will find success if you get uncomfortable.

Valerie: 41:11

I think that this again mirrors the creative process, because even in the act of making art, if you're holding on so tightly to how it needs to be, you miss out on the joy and fulfillment that it can be in making it. And this is the same thing it really is. I am a big believer in fulfilling the artist's heart, in filling up you as the artist, as the vessel then to be able to pour your work into the world, and the same thing goes for this. I am a big believer in filling up you, your joy, your feelings, that you can then show up with in this way, not in this desperate way that's holding on so tightly to an expectation. And it's in doing that where you just show up differently and then you get different responses as a result.

Mak: 42:06

So this has been just like a real quick, broad swipe over this topic and obviously you can see it is very deep. So we'll be covering this and everything else that we've been talking about this week at a much deeper level in the course beginning in January. So if this is getting you to a place where you're feeling a little uncomfortable because it's a little different and you've never heard people talking about selling art this way before, that's a really good thing. And if something's kind of making you feel a little tingly inside, we're talking about, or you're thinking about the possibility, we invite you to definitely check out the website valeriemckeancom slash sellwithpeace.

Mak: 42:49

All the details are there for the course. It begins in January. It's three months and then an additional three bonus months of support and again it's a live course. You will be on with Valerie and with me throughout the entire thing and we will come alongside you, because these are deep issues and it's not something that you can just like. Okay, here's a checklist. Do these five things and now you're going to be selling lots and lots of art. That's just not how it's going to work. There is mindset shift. There's a lot of things that we're going to work through together, but we're going to help you get there.

Valerie: 43:22

That's the point. It's together.

Mak: 43:24

You're not going to be just thrown to the wolves, and we're so passionate about this because we see it all the time. It's like we want everybody. I firmly believe every human being alive has a creative element of them, and if they would tap into that and put that out in the world, the world would be a better place. I really honestly, firmly believe that and I believe in everybody, and so through this we will be able to help you develop that part of yourself that gives you the opportunity to put your beautiful creativity into the world, but also get an energetic exchange. Get that energy back in a form of financial compensation that feels good and lights you up, but also lights up the person who's buying from you.

Valerie: 44:12

It helps you going. It's, it's a resource, it's a way that you can keep doing what you're doing, keep putting more beauty into the world and bringing your own individual stamp into the world, because you're the only one. You're the only one that has your views, your experience, your strengths, your weaknesses, your point of view, the way that you see the world.

Mak: 44:32

You are one it's one of 8 billion or whatever.

Valerie: 44:37

It is 6 to 8 billion, it's something in that range. You are one. You are one, so we believe in you. We're so excited to take this journey for those who feel like this is the next right step. So to determine if this is the next right step for you, it's ValerieMcKeoncom. Slash sell with peace. We've so enjoyed being here. We want to hear from you If you've had any breakthroughs, any takeaways. My DMs are always open. You can DM me at ValerieMcKeon. You can also contact us at support at ValerieMcKeoncom. If you have any questions about the course, if you want help figuring out if this is the right next step for you, please feel free to email support at Valerie McKeon dot com.

Mak: 45:17

And don't forget, we are under an early bird right now early bird special that expires this weekend. So there's a significant reduction in the cost of the course right now If you get in early and you get those three bonus calls. So if you're like, hey, we're really excited, I'm really excited about this and I want to get started right away. And oh, by the way, it's Christmas, people are like they got their wallets out and they're spending money like crazy right now and I want to take advantage of that, I don't want to wait till January Then this is for you, because if you sign up before the expiration of the early bird this weekend, you get those three bonus calls, which are valued just really good value and we will help you through this holiday season. Do you want to run through those again real quick?

Valerie: 46:01

We're doing the pricing masterclass. So if you caught yesterday's episode, it's all about pricing. But we're really going to be diving into that. We're going to do a holiday sales boot camp and then also a vision boarding workshop to really help you be able to hit the ground running in January.

Mak: 46:17

So that's all at ValerieMcKeoncom. Slash sell with peace.

Valerie: 46:22

All right, everybody. We'll see you again tomorrow with our next episode in this fun series. Bye.

Mak: 46:29

Bye-bye.