Entries from November 2007 ↓

We now reach the eighth step on the Eightfold Marketing Path: Right Concentration. This is about learning to focus and learning to focus on the right thing. By now you know what is right and good and what you should be focusing on. Right concentration will help you focus on your marketing in such a way as to see what is effective and what is not. Make a plan and a series of steps to follow and focus on each one as you come to it. Plan ahead, but keep your focus on the task at hand. Learn to see all aspects of what you are concentrating on and how it fits into your overall plan. Sustain and intensify your concentration until you have successfully accomplished your task.

The next post will be a wrap-up and brief discussion of the whole Eightfold Marketing Path.

Chris O’Byrne
OnlineArtsMarketing.com

Right mindfulness is one of my favorites because I try to practice mindfulness every day, throughout the day. Mindfulness is about being aware of what you are doing and how you are feeling at this very moment. Mindfulness is about seeing things as they really are. It’s one of those things that affects every aspect of your life and the more you practice, the more it builds.

People often tell me that I am a very laid back person, that nothing much fazes me. It still seems strange to hear that because I used to be very uptight and volatile. I know the changes have come about because of my mindfulness practice. If you’re into meditation at all, you know that it is merely a practice in being mindful. It’s not about escaping your current reality, it’s about being even more present.

Try practicing mindfulness throughout the day and see what a difference it makes in every area of your life.

Chris O’Byrne
OnlineArtsMarketing.com

Right effort has to do with your mindset. It is a precursor to any action you might take, not the actions themselves. Right effort has two main parts to it. One is the effort to not do bad and the other is the effort to do good. Let’s put it into practical terms.

This website is about selling your art. It is not about selling your art no matter what it takes and no matter who might be hurt. It is about selling your art in a way that only helps other people and yourself. If you feel the urge to exaggerate when marketing your art, it takes right effort to supress that urge. If you don’t feel like going the extra mile to help a customer, it takes effort to overcome that. It takes effort to feel benevolence towards your customer, towards other people.

Right effort is about overcoming those bad feelings and promoting those good feelings.

Chris O’Byrne
OnlineArtsMarketing.com

I feel that “right livelihood” is similar to “right action” but more comprehensive. Right actions are taken every day throughout the day and right livelihood is the path you are following. Perhaps for artists this is not so much of an issue and not really worth talking about. I do think that it is worth taking a look at both in an easy way and in a less easy way. The easy way is to look at how you earn a living and decide if it is harmful or beneficial to others. Do you work for Remington and produce firearms? Do you work for Wal-Mart and help put small businesses out of work? Some choices are easy to see (although not for everyone). The less easy way is to look at things more subltely. Do you work for a large, institutionalized school district that is not really helping children, but rather stifles their creativity and curiosity? Do you work for a store that buys it’s products from sweatshops or sells products that can potentially hurt people (alcohol, factory-farm meat, etc.)? Get picky and take a close look at what you do and how it affects people.

Chris O’Byrne
OnlineArtsMarketing.com