In this edition of Marketer of the Week, Ignite Visibility spotlights Joshua Tatum, co-founder of Canvas Cultures.
Ignite Visibility applauds Tatum for his innovative contribution to the creator economy with Canvas Cultures, a company that creates a community for artists to sell their pieces and spread the passion that is involved in each piece.
Joshua Tatum
Joshua Tatum grew up in Oakland, CA. He was no stranger to struggles throughout his childhood. Thanks to his impressive football talents and strong work ethic, he achieved a full athletic scholarship to the University of Southern California.
Life doesn’t pan out as expected, and that rang true for Tatum in college. While playing football, he was devastated by a spine injury that dramatically changed his future. With his dream of entering the NFL gone, he transitioned to the University of Missouri-Columbia and figured it only natural to dive into entrepreneurship.
Through Canvas Cultures, Tatum created a platform that gives artists and creators the ability to embody their best selves through a strong mindset—a mindset that Tatum himself knew all about.
Tatum founded Canvas Cultures with Joey Baccus, an expert in YouTube advertising who discovered and fell in love with the Shipibo culture. It was the people and their art that caught his attention while traveling in the Amazon jungle.
Tatum met co-founder Joey Baccus as a successful entrepreneur who owned and operated an advertising agency specializing in Facebook and Instagram advertising. At the time, Tatum had just completed taking an online art brand from doing four figures in monthly sales revenue to the high six figures in just under 60 days. It was a huge feat and one that Tatum felt propelled by.
Together, Tatum and Baccus created an online platform that supports artists, regardless of circumstances. The platform enables them to earn a high-level income from their art by connecting their designs through digital space to the mainstream masses.
Canvas Cultures
For Canvas Cultures, content marketing is an essential tool in connecting the platform’s partners with customers through informative and entertaining blog posts.
One day, Canvas Cultures is talking to artists about how they can collaborate to get their designs out into the world, enabling them to focus on their passion and make an income. The next day, they’re educating prospective buyers and introducing them to the artists and their art. This content brings partners and customers together into the same space, much like the ambiance of a traditional brick-and-mortar art gallery.
This shift to digitization is not lost on customers, who continue to shift to Canvas Cultures amidst the distraction of virtual art sold as NFTs.
Kivo Daily wrote about Canvas Cultures, “What used to be a highly exclusive and time-consuming pastime now takes minutes.” That is a built-in benefit that surely works in Tatum’s favor.
Ultimately, Canvas Cultures uses content marketing as a way to showcase various artists’ talents. They use their platforms to take the buyer from awareness to purchase all in one fell swoop. The platform’s longer-form sales enablement content strategy proved successful and essential during the pandemic as they collaborated with artists and serviced customers across the globe. Providing relative and informative long-form content for both partners and consumers helped build trust and loyalty alike. Plus, it definitely helps bolster sales and increase the company’s bottom line.
For Tatum, the trajectory for Canvas Cultures shows serious longevity. In an interview with Craig Sewing on The American Dream, Tatum said, “It’s been a true eye-opening experience to see people that come from poverty or people that are just working jobs they don’t have a love for.” All artists make a royalty of the gross revenue, which means they have a true incentive in the business model.
Wrapping It Up On Joshua Tatum of Canvas Cultures
As co-founder of Canvas Cultures, Joshua Tatum built an online marketplace that gives the average artist the ability to generate passive residual income. It’s a way to open up doors and opportunities for artists who deserve an audience. Established in 2017, Canvas Cultures has worked with creators on every continent, connecting their designs to the walls of homes and offices for people the world over.
In an environment where Patreon and Etsy are large enough to be publicly traded companies, Canvas Cultures has the right idea. The creator economy is adept to innovation, and it’s exciting to see founders and marketers like Tatum and his team take on such a staunch role in the next stage of innovation.
Stay tuned for Joshua Tatum’s next ventures. Some entrepreneurial spirits are fast-paced, and Tatum may very well be one of them.
