Start moving from Creative Professional to Business Owner

I have had the pleasure over the past while of working with a number of different creative professionals; Artists, Writers and Dramatists. And while they are all different they share many of the same traits. They are in the profession for the love of what they do. (this is why I love working with this group). It is a calling. They would paint, write, and act regardless of the financial reward. It is a need. Planning and Marketing are not their favourite things to spend time doing (understatement for sure).

Many clients have come after years of struggling and now feel they are moving to the next stage of their career and know they need to take a more proactive approach to driving their business. The are making the mental transition from creative professional to business owner and need some help.

And while many have been able to delay getting involved in the business arm of their career up to now the world is changing and with social media becoming an integral part of the Marketing machine, more and more publishers, agents and galleries etc are looking for reassurance that you have a following before taking a chance on an unknown. It is no longer an option to put it off getting involved in the business side of things for so long. The reality today is the creative professional with an existing audience is always a safer bet than the professional without, and thus makes getting the breaks easier.

If you are a creative professional, ask yourself — Can I afford not to take a proactive approach to my customers, and audience?

Start your journey here in making the mental transition to running a business. So whether you decide to do it yourself, outsource it to an agent, marketing professional, gallery or publisher, remember you are the business owner and must oversee what is happening. It is your business, your customers, your audience.

When promoting yourself, you need to think about 3 different groups of people:

1) People who have never heard of you

2) People who have shown an interest in your work but not purchased it

3) People who have previously purchased your work.

The most important place to start is always with people who have previously purchased your work. These are your loyal customers. It is easier to resell to one of these than to find a new customer. You should always ask people when they buy a piece if they want to be kept informed of any new work; this could be on the inside cover of your book, or the compliments slip you send with a painting. Choose the medium that works best for you to do this; sign up for a newsletter on your website, Facebook, twitter etc. So if you are an artist and having an exhibition you as the artist can personally invite this group, perhaps give them a preview etc.

Once you have a plan for your customers you can work on the other two categories. Think about yourself how you interact with other business’s, and them to you when you are making a buying decision.

Start simple, but do start!

If you need a hand getting a basic plan together built specifically for your needs and creative goals, do reach out. The initial step is a 2 hour clarity workshop called Really Starting and can be done in person or on Skype.

Love what you do!