Mariam Marks On Becoming A Positive Influencer And How To Succeed As An Artist
Mariam grew millions of followers on social media by creating hilarious, fun-loving content that puts a smile on your face. She paints characters on her face. Using the characters she makes them dance, sing and tell stories across social media.
We talked about painting, monetizing artwork, and life lessons learned along the way.
Mariam was a great painter, but to take on this venture she had to learn. She had to learn how to paint her own face. She had to figure out what styles and supplies worked best. Developing a skincare routine was super important too, given she paints her face a few times per week.
Mariam hardly used social media before, and according to her was not tech savvy at all. But now she is able to create a ton of great content. She is busy, but still manages to pump out videos, with art, edited clips, and sound, while posting to multiple platforms and engaging with her audience.
The necessary evil of growing on socials is well worth it if you can maintain a positive attitude. Along these lines, we talked about dealing with haters, coming up with ideas, and sharing what the audience wants to consume v.s what you want to make.
Seasons Of Life
We actually got talking about life in general. How does one balance life when they are a creator, but also a professional, partner, and parent?
Mariam shares her belief in being open to new possibilities and living with your values as the foundation first. It’s about being in alignment in each season of life.
This is clear in her story. She went from traditional painting on canvas to sharing art online. She also, all of a sudden, became a really popular influencer.
Mariam shares how important it is to try different things. Then, you can see if they are aligned with your values, but also figure out if people are appreciating the work. If you like it and an audience likes it, then you have a match.
It was awesome hearing Mariam open up about these seasons of life we all go through. She has had to face a lot of change in life. Growing up in difficult circumstances that she shares about made her a resilient person.
She was an elite basketball player with many other big dreams. Now, here she is as an online, social media, artist. Mariam is a big believer that it is important we recognize we can shift our identities and recreate ourselves many times. If we have a new project, or goal we need to see ourselves as that new person.
8 Tips On Success As An Artist
- Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Don’t get discouraged because you think you aren’t good enough, or other people are “better than you”. Art is super subjective, keep going.
- There are no rules when it comes to creating. Keep trying various mediums. Combine styles, learn from different role models and over time your style will develop.
- When it comes to selling art, remember that people don’t tend to buy, or remember the actual piece. In most cases, they are buying from a person they connect with.
- Be willing to create more of what your audience wants. This only happens when you get to know your community and craft something they will love. Balance what you want to create with what they want you to create.
- Avoid burnout by managing expectations and priorities often. Shoot for the moon, but recognize that we are human and we need to find some way to be healthy and get rest. Push yourself, your skills, and your marketing. But not too hard. Only do what you can easily recover from by tomorrow.
- Re-evaluate your habits and actions. Check-in with your time management, your overall goal, and how much your daily actions map toward the big goal. A few times a year, decide if you should slow down, speed up, or pivot.
- Continue to build leverage you own by growing on social media, and creating a website, vlog, blog, or podcast.
- To monetize it takes consistent brand building combined with research and empathy. Always be thinking of different ways that you can make money and try one at a time. Ads, sponsorships, books, courses, downloads, cameos, birthdays, paintings, prints, freelance, paint by number, puzzles, clothing, NFT’s, murals, etc. Once you have a sustainable income stream that’s automated, start trying another.
Memorable Quotes
“When you work on something, the joy in life is in progress. So you want to feel like you're progressing. You don't want the same thing over and over again.”
“Don’t put yourself in a box. It's okay to try a bunch of things until something catches traction and sits well with you. If it’s something you would love to make money doing, ask how can I create a brand for this?”
“Something you do in art is called a concentration. I like to look at each stage of life, like it is my current concentration. This is the medium I am focused on, but I can change it at any moment.”
“Most people are not going to pay $4,500 for a painting, but they might pay $65 for a print about the same size. So figuring out what works for different people in your audience and serving their needs is important.”
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Instagram mariammarksart
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