Artist Myth #2: You have to live in LA or New York to be a real artist

In the days of old, trawler fisherman would drag a net behind their boat and scoop up everything in their wake: shellfish, cod, lobster, crabs, car tires, etc. This style of fishing worked if you were hungry, but not if you wanted to make a profit, especially in terms of maintaining a long term industry. This style of fishing left fisherman with a lot of product they just couldn’t do anything with.

A lot of artists think of networking in the same way. They think that more is better. That meeting as many people as you can in a speed dating-like frenzy (akin to trawler fishing) is the best way to network, but that’s simply not true. In fact, this premise takes away from the focus of networking which is simply about meeting new people, (including those in and out of the art world) and winning them over with your authentic self.

An honest, authentic interaction wins the race in terms of networking. It’s not about selling someone something; in fact it’s better if you don’t. It can be as simple as meeting someone for coffee or exchanging a business card in a parking lot.