125: What "Youtubers" can teach us

Back from Vidsummit and recharged

D.J. Coffman

Sep 08, 2024

Weekly Dispatch…

Quick notes!

I will be LIVE at 7pm EST tonight for the Draw or Die Podcast, talking about some new sponsors for the Promptober & more. Watch on Youtube LIVE https://www.youtube.com/@DJCoffman/streams
Promptober is coming! Join the October drawing challenge with daily spooky prompts and win prizes from brands like Blackwing, Maker’s Cabinet, and Sketchbox. Download the full prompt list at promptober.com

Welcome to Week 125 of the Draw or Die Club Newsletter for Artists.

My 3 BIG Takeaways from VidSummit for Artists

I’m fresh back from a week at VidSummit, hanging out with some of the world’s biggest Youtubers and creators. Many of whom are artists.

I’ve had a few art friends question why I’d go to a “youtuber” show, am I just trying to be a famous youtuber? Not at all.

It’s just the fact that Youtube is, and will remain, a GIANT opportunity for artists out there, but only if you understand the game and the formula.

I don’t mean “go start an art youtube channel”, or be a “how to” or just show yourself streaming. You could do that… but it’s DEEPER than that.

#1 Know Your Niche…

What I love most about VidSummit is, there are success stories in just about every niche or category of life you can imagine. I’ve heard similar success stories from plumbers, real estate agents, agricultural channels, thriftshoppers, sports enthusiasts, the list goes on and on. Literally any topic you have a passion for has a niche somewhere on Youtube. Youtube just happens to be their platform the blew up on. But you can do it anywhere. Even at a local farmer’s market.

How artists should think about this: The big mistake most artists make is their “niche” becomes that they are an artist. And you casually fall in to making art content targeted to other artists.

The formula is simple:

YOU (the artist) + TOPIC / PASSION = Your Niche

My uber drive to the airport happened to be a digital artist who was trying to “make a go of it.” - He knew his niche pretty well, he said he wants to make art (digital art) for the texas lifestyle. He showed me some of his art in the car, it was good, it had a “texas vibe”.

But then what the uber drive said next, was him falling into the classic trap…
“when I get to ____ , then I’ll ______.”

In his case he was saying he was going to wait until he had 10 solid pieces before launching his art business in time for the holidays. But in the meantime? Nobody knows who he is yet.

He’s setting himself up for disappointment, to spend all that time working on pieces he thinks are solid, to maybe have a few sales. Then he’ll quit again, and the cycle repeats itself.

#2 and #3 takeaways…

You know, I’ve written too long here already this morning, I have a lot to do today, AND Ally and I also want to go see Beetlejuice. :D (Believe it or not, this is a big takeaway)

#2 is about taking action , #3 is the most eye opening to me…

I’m going to talk about those on stream in detail tonight live at 7pm EST. Hope to see you LIVE or watch the replays at https://www.youtube.com/@DJCoffman/streams