Effective marketing has two essential components: simplicity and focus. Both require an absolutely clear, strong foundation, upon which a kaleidoscope of engaging, unique and resonant content rests.
It helps to focus on one thing, a north star.
Artist Grace Duong found her direction by uncovering a single product that led her to a web of creative outputs, and a thriving livelihood: Mystic Mondays Tarot.
What started as a passion project with over $45,000 in Kickstarter revenue and a broad swath of publicity that has fueled her art and become a business.
Since its publication in 2018, the Mystic Mondays Tarot has netted over 215,000 copies and sold over $3 million in revenue.
Systemizing for growth
For many creators, the art process and the marketing process puts them in two very different spaces. One of Grace’s biggest challenges is that of doing both at once.
“You can immerse yourself in the product creation,” Grace says, “but then marketing is something you have to pay attention to also. What I’ve noticed is I’m not very good at doing both at the same time.”
Grace began developing a tarot deck in 2017 as a personal project that reflected her own vision rather than that of clients, who she served in branding, illustration and design at the time.
As passions sometimes do, if we’re lucky, that journey led to what became Mystic Mondays, a tarot deck that she launched on Kickstarter in 2017.
Since then, Grace has built a content-fueled business with Mystic Mondays at the helm, including a downloadable app which has over 100K downloads, a podcast, and five more decks with a sixth one in the works.
She has also launched a line of courses to help others along their spiritual or creative journeys. Currently, Grace has a course for people who want to create their own tarot deck, a course for tarot readers focused on business and a course for those who want to dive deeper into the world of tarot.
Her podcast, Graced, which you can listen to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and Amazon Music, centers around all things magic, ritual and wellness and hosts guests who have either created a deck or authored a book.
Synthesizing art, tools and community
Usually, she first creates the product; then she switches to the marketing side. Recently, Grace has begun to rebalance, reprioritize and build stronger systems behind the scenes. She has also begun to focus on tracking – including dropoff rates, clickthroughs, stream metrics.
Here are some things that have helped Grace along her journey.
Industry networking
By collaborating with fellow authors and deck creators, Grace expands her reach to other likeminded people who often become friends and customers.
“Recently someone posted a comment under an episode on YouTube,” Grace tells us. “They were looking for the author [I interviewed] and then found me.”
Marketing tools
Grace streamlines her biweekly podcast workflow using ClickUp, creating a board that tracks each episode from recording through production. She uses Metricool to help with social media and online ad management, and she uses the platform High Level to help her streamline and elevate her marketing campaigns.
Automated forms
To help build out her back-end systems, drive engagement and encourage reviews, Grace sets up automated forms that unlock giveaways. While most of Grace’s audience is on Instagram with over 52K followers across both of her accounts, these automated forms, managed through Flodesk, help her grow her email list and expand her presence on other platforms like YouTube.
Social media marketing
The month leading up to the launch of her first Kickstarter campaign, Grace posted on Instagram everyday with educational tarot content and small giveaways. She also sent 22 tarot cards out to influencers who posted images of these cards, further amplifying the campaign.
Creative lead captures
Sometimes, free or inexpensive offerings can help people take the leap and purchase your actual product. For Grace, it was the Beta version of her app, a $5 option for people to explore her first deck. Over the years, Grace has monetized and updated it to include a slew of new features.
Grace’s colorful strategy is one example of how a passion can become a career. If you have a unique, multilayered business, let’s chat. HageyMedia can help you create a strategy to share your passion with the world. Schedule a call with us!