It’s Not Who You Know. It’s Who Knows You.
It’s Who You Know, Right?
We’ve all heard the saying “It’s who you know” when people talk about how others have gotten successful. We see signs of nepotism throughout the art world all the time whether it be a new up and coming actor who is actually the child of an already famous actor or an artist who’s family runs an art gallery. We can simply look at those cases and say “it’s who you know”
For the rest of us that don’t have a famous parent or a well connected Auntie, it may seem impossible to get any traction in our art career but I don’t necessarily think that’s the case.
It’s Who Know You
I was once told that “It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you.” What this person was really telling me is that it doesn’t really matter who you know, they need to know you and know that you’re worth their time. It doesn’t mean much if a musician has a well connected parent, that musician still needs to be talented. If you are not talented, people will be less likely to take a chance on you regardless if you know them.
As a Media Composer, I was able to understand this concept of “Who Knows You” very well because in the film, tv, advertising world, a lot of the jobs I got were based on who knew me and were willing to stake their reputation on me. I knew a lot of directors and producers but the ones that knew me well and knew how hard I worked would be more likely to re-hire me and tell their network about me.
Networking
How do you get people to know you? There are many ways to go about this but I’ll keep with the example as a Media Composer. When I was starting out, I went to events like Food pop ups and Clothing brand events and whenever I’d see someone with a camera, I would try to start a conversation with that person about filmmaking. Part of the reasons why I wanted to be a Media Composer was because I love movies and always wanted to score them. So with getting to know these filmmakers, I kindly mention that I make music and if they needed any music, I’d love to work with them. Since I was new to the game, I didn’t have much issue getting little to know money for my music to use in their videos. But as time passed, these filmmakers grew into bigger projects and with those projects, they “knew me” and I would get hired by them as a result.
Of course this is only 1 example but the importance of getting to know people in your industry and the importance of collaboration in the art world can lead to big things. So whichever your art medium is and if you’re looking to sell your art, getting to know others who are in your art world and getting them to know you can help build your art career.
Conclusion
Getting people to be interested in you and your art can be difficult but it’s worth investing the time if you are looking to earn a living from your art. “Who Knows You” will ultimately be about how well you get along and your talent can serve their needs. And from “Who Knows You” are the people “Who You Know” and can tell about to others if they are looking for other types of artists. Your network grows and you all help each other out to build your careers.
