from zazzle.com
Last night I was talking with a friend about the state of the business world and internet marketing. We were talking business politics. He told me about how in business school he learned about negotiating with older people in the work force and how they are often uncomfortable with the Gen Y mindset. I didn’t go to business school, but I work for a business, so it was an interesting conversation (I’ll get to how this relates to art in a minute, I promise).
Let’s talk about the Gen Y mindset for a moment. What is Gen Y? Who are the Millenials?
They’re the people who have grown up their whole lives with the Internet. They don’t remember having to go to a library to look something up, and they are intimately familiar with Snopes.com. They do their homework with Google and they have little patience for getting information slowly because information is readily available if you simply turn on a computer.
The portals to the information superhighway were built by people under 30 and the vanguards of the current generation of businesses have yet to hit their midlife crisis. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook (the company most likely to challenge Google for Internet supremacy) is 25. The founders of Google were 25 when they started.
This environment that they (read: I) grew up in has fostered certain attitudes. Foremost among those is that you don’t have to slog through ‘paying your dues’ simply because you are young. If you know what you are doing, and you know how to find and implement the information you have, then we think, “Go do it!”
This attitude scares a lot of old school thinkers, so they act out of fear. The problem with acting out of fear is that most of these Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers are currently the ones in positions of power. When you are in a position of power and you act out of fear it adversely affects those around you and under you. People get hurt. The Gen Y people get hurt. When people get hurt, they last out.
There’s a big tranfer of power and wealth coming in America. The Baby Boomers are sliding into retirement. What wil Gen X do when Gen Y starts moving into power and they have to listen to our ideas?
“I love learning, I love helping people and I have found that I MUST lead a balanced life in all aspects. I can’t be social all the time, I can’t stay cooped up in the house all the time, I can’t work 60-70 hour weeks, and I must incorporate being active and a healthy lifestyle into how I live. My next goal in life is to take what I am passionate about find a way to make it my livelyhood, but until then I will be passionate at night and work during the day so I can pay the bills. So how Gen Y is that?” – ybalanced.wordpress.com
Another conversation that I had last night comes to mind. I told someone that I teach artists how to make money using the internet and she said, effectively, that all artists are starving so they could never afford to pay me for my services. I called her bluff and told her that I knew, and worked with, several artists who are financially successful and that I think the Starving Artist is a myth. Those artists who know how to use the internet have a huge opportunity in front of them to grow their work and their business.
She was an artist. She could have asked me about how I teach artists to make money. Instead she made an awkward comment that made everyone in the conversation go dead quiet. It was obvious, to me, that she was angry and/or afraid.
To bring this full circle: Just because an idea is traditional and has been in place for a long time (the starving artist myth), that doesn’t mean it’s true or worthwhile. Just because the Baby Boomers and Gen X are in power and have built up institutions to that power doesn’t mean that Gen Y can’t do it better, faster, stronger, and more balanced.
If you are an artist know this: Just because generations of artists before you have romanticized the starving artist, you don’t have to follow in their foot steps. You’ll probably make a few of them angry, but you know what?
Y not?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting blog, but it’s missing an important part of the equation: Generation Jones (born 1954-1965, between the Boomers and Generation X). The vast majority of GenYers are the offspring of GenJonesers.
Google Generation Jones, and you’ll see it’s gotten a ton of media attention, and many top commentators from many top publications and networks (Washington Post, Time magazine, NBC, Newsweek, ABC, etc.) now specifically use this term. In fact, the Associated Press’ annual Trend Report forecast the Rise of Generation Jones as the #1 trend of 2009. Here’s a page with a good overview of recent media interest in GenJones: http://generationjones.com/2009latest.html
It is important to distinguish between the post-WWII demographic boom in births vs. the cultural generations born during that era. Generations are a function of the common formative experiences of its members, not the fertility rates of its parents. Many experts now believe it breaks down more or less this way:
DEMOGRAPHIC boom in babies: 1946-1964
Baby Boom GENERATION: 1942-1953
Generation Jones: 1954-1965
Generation X: 1966-1978
Here is an op-ed about GenJones as the new generation of leadership in USA TODAY:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090127/column27_st.art.htm
I am a baby-boomer who has been making money by selling my artwork for over a decade, and I personally have artist friends who make over 100K annually.
About a year ago, I embraced social media marketing for selling artwork, and it is the best thing going for artists. It’s easier to skip the “gatekeeping” galleries if you prefer and sell on your own. Even if an artist works with galleries, he or she can promote events/shows on Twitter and Facebook and on their own blog or with an email newsletter to subscribers.
Those artists who are not already firmly established with collectors may find it impossible to get established without knowing how to use their computers. While it’s true that many art collectors aren’t social media savvy, it’s just a matter of time until they get that way. Even my parents generation is using Facebook now.
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Thanks Lori! I’m amazed at how when you start talking about this stuff, people start going, “Oh, yeah. I know lots of artists who are making a lot of money.” There are over 2 Million millionaires in the USA. How many do you think are artists?
HD4006 – thanks for letting me know about Generation Jones. I’ll look into it.
I like your post and feel very strongly about artists developing the skills to market themselves. I owned an art gallery for a short time and realized that many artists lack the marketing skill to sell their own work, regardless of generation.
I always send them straight to LinkedIn, Behance Network, and Etsy to begin learning about self promotion.
Good post!
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Did NPR/OPB do a story on your workshop for helping artists make money that was done outside of a library?
With regards to Generation X and Gen Y moving into positions of power, Gen X has a very different attitude than the Boomers. We understand the work place is very fluid, developed resiliency for change, and have low expectations on being handed positions of power. The main tension that I see is not with listening to Gen Y and sharing power as we have continually adapted. Rather the main tension that I see is that Gen Y likes to combine work and social life while are more inclined to keep them separate.
.-= Deadhedge´s last blog ..That’s Deep: the Anti-MBA View of the Economy =-.
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@deadhedge I need to see that OPB story, because a couple of people have asked me about that. It wasn’t me, so I’m curious who they interviewed. Your point about the combination of work & social life is probably the crux of the whole argument. I’ll have to explore that further.
@Caitlin – thanks for stopping by! From now on, perhaps you can send them straight over here as well… *wink*