The Andy Warhol guide to business success
Today, I’d like to share one of the most valuable lessons in business with you. It comes from an unusual source: Andy Warhol. And it starts with a quick look at the story behind his masterpiece, Campbell’s Soup Cans !
Here’s the story!
When Warhol’s collection was first exhibited in 1962, very few people attended. The exhibit was arranged by West Coast art dealer, Irving Blum . It was Warhol’s first solo exhibition.
Those who attended the exhibition at the Ferus Gallery either made fun of the art, dismissed it or ignored it. Very little art was sold. It was a huge failure.
Blum decided to buy the Campbell’s Soup Cans canvasses. He paid Warhol $100 a month for 10 months. Just $1000. Though many believed it was $1000 more than they were worth.
Of course, despite his disastrous, first solo exhibition, Warhol refused to quit. He kept on creating his art. He also kept on promoting it; getting his work in front of prospective buyers, believing that if the right people saw it, they’d see it for what it was. Art that would change the landscape for ever.
Here’s what happened.
Warhol did the work required
Instead of working from a studio like every other artist, he worked from what he called The Factory . This was a very deliberate strategy. He created as much art as he could and took every opportunity to showcase his work.
As you know, his belief and work finally paid off. Warhol became one of the most important names in art of the 20th century and his work is even more valued today.
Irving Blum’s $1000 investment in the Campbell’s Soup Cans, which people laughed at, was sold to New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1996 for $15MILLION .
This was seen partly as a gift from Irving Blum, as the art was valued at well over $100MILLION .
Without persistence and passionately promoting his art, there would have been no Andy Warhol. Certainly not the internationally respected artistic genius we know today.
Had Warhol decided to quit after his initial, disastrous exhibitions, a genius would never have flourished. At that time, he was being rejected by his peers and his work was being insulted.
Had Warhol created the same great art, worked just as hard, but refused to get better at promoting his work, both he and his art would have remained undiscovered..
Instead, Warhol did the right things, correctly. Creating and promoting great art.
Business without the promotion required
How many small business owners have worked hard without the success they could have enjoyed, because they failed to market their work correctly? How many small business owners reading this post, are struggling because too few people know how amazing their products or services are? How many small business owners are not putting their ideas into action, because they allow fear of failure or ridicule to stop them?
I honestly don’t know.
What I do know is that some amazing people, providing great products and services, fail to get the rewards they deserve.
Why?
Because unlike Warhol, instead of doing 100% of what is required, they do 100% of the things they’re comfortable with .
So, in one of the fastest-changing economies in living memory, they dabble. They refuse to do what’s required; opting instead to drift along doing what’s familiar, even though it’s failing them. I find that fascinating.
There’s a proven, better way
The alternative is simple. By simple, I mean everyone reading this can do it. Everyone reading this can turn an average business into a successful business or turn a successful business into an even more successful one.
So long as we embrace all the tasks required in order to succeed.
This means changing things, because you can’t improve and stay the same. So, you have to choose .
The choice to stay the same is made by default. It’s what happens when you allow yourself to drift without an aim.
The choice to improve is a deliberate, intentional decision. When backed up with a commitment to do the right things, correctly, you become an unstoppable force.
You can do it, my friend. But only if you choose to.
The Andy Warhol guide to business success was written by Jim Connolly and originally published on Jim's Marketing Blog
