ARE YOU A CREATIVE ENTREPRENEUR?

WHAT IS A CREATIVE ENTREPRENEUR?

Creative entrepreneurship (as defined by Wiki) "is the practice of setting up a business – or setting yourself up as self-employed - in one of the creative industries. The focus of the creative entrepreneur differs from that of the typical business entrepreneur or, indeed, the social entrepreneur in that s/he is concerned first and foremost with the creation and exploitation of creative or intellectual capital. Essentially, creative entrepreneurs are investors in talent – their own or other people’s.

Caves listed seven basic economic or “bedrock” properties that he believes distinguish creative activities from other sectors of the economy:

(1) Demand is uncertain

(2) Creative workers care about their product

(3) Some creative products require diverse skills

(4) Differentiated products

(5) Vertically differentiated skills

(6) Time is of the essence

(7) Durable products and durable rents"

A Creative Entrepreneur as defined by the British Council is as follows: 

• "Somebody working in the creative sector who is able to demonstrate business success in the classic terms of business growth (profit, market share, employees) and/or in terms of his or her reputation (creativity, quality and aesthetic) amongst their peers.
• Somebody working in the creative sector who has developed a successful (in terms of impact and reach) social or not for profit enterprise in this sector.
• Somebody working in the creative sector who has shown leadership in the industry by championing its development in their country.
• Somebody working in the creative sector who has developed initiatives (exhibitions, trade fairs, festivals etc.) that develop and grow the market for this sector in their country."

Amazon list a few books for Creative Entrepreneurs which I can personally recommend: 

The Creative Entrepreneur: A DIY Visual Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real

"This book is for the large audience of artists, crafters, and creative individuals from all walks of life who desire to make a livelihood from their creative work, or who possibly have achieved some success, but don't know how to replicate it or move to another level of accomplishment.

The Creative Entrepreneur takes readers on an inner journey of creative exploration to discover how to make their dreams of creative livelihood real.

 It's a visual, project-oriented, step-by-step approach to business development for anyone who is mystified and possibly frustrated by how to make a business out of their creative work."

The Right-Brain Business Plan: A Creative, Visual Map for Success

"Turn Passionate Ideas into Profitable Enterprises

Do you dream of making a living doing what you love but find the process of creating a viable business plan like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole? Jennifer Lee knows what it’s like to make the entrepreneurial leap — and how to do it successfully. The key is using, rather than stifling, imagination and intuition. Lee’s illustrated, colorful worksheets and step-by-step instructions are playful yet practical, transforming drudgery into joy. They’ll enable you to define your vision and nail down plans for funding, marketing, networking, and long-term strategy.

The Right-Brain Business Plan: Jennifer Lee

Discover how to:
* Develop a financial plan with fun and flair 
* Select your circle of support to get the work done
* Clarify your business values and goals 
* Paint a picture of your business landscape
* Understand your competition and what makes you stand out from the crowd
* Identify your perfect customers and create a marketing plan to reach them
* Map out concrete action steps to bring your Right-Brain Business Plan to life"

Digital Arts explains "How to be a Creative Entrepreneur" because we have all had those light-bulb moments, but very few actually act on them and then when we do take that leap of faith, are not sure how to proceed.  Make no mistake, this certainly is a very challenging road to embark upon for Right-brained Creatives as one has to get that Left-brain to do all those boring admin matters too.  Especially, if you only have a small budget to work from and start off as a one man team.  Having said that though, when it all starts to come together, that sense of accomplishment just makes you want to pat your own back ;-) 

The Atlantic describes it as "The Death of the Artist—and the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur"

"... in the age of creative entrepreneurship, producing becomes an experience, even the experience. It becomes a lifestyle, something that is packaged as an experience—and an experience, what’s more, after the contemporary fashion: networked, curated, publicized, fetishized, tweeted, catered, and anything but solitary, anything but private."

Creative Entrepreneurs.co believe that "Creative Entrepreneurs are Different. They’re often primarily motivated by a creative idea, not financial reward. The size of the ventures they create has a broader range, many of them smaller than in other sectors. They work differently, with less predictable business cycles and business models based on subjective factors like taste and emotional intelligence." Join Creative Entrepreneurs.co and you will soon learn all you need to know about becoming a Creative Entrepreneur by bringing together all the resources you need to start your Creative business. 

Questions to ask yourself:

• Are you doing what you Love? 
• What can you contribute to the Market?
• Do you trust your gut?(If you don't believe in yourself, how can you expect others to)
• Are you resourceful? 
• Can you manage your funds/overheads? (That left-brain stuff)
• Will you be able to overcome those challenges? (Rome wasn't built in a day)
• How will you engage with your community? (Social Media, Expo's, Marketing, etc.)
• Are you able to work longer/flexible hours? (Being self-employed means longer hours, but they are flexible)

The Art of Creativity Studio started in my study and I hope to grow it with other Creative Entrepreneurs who share the same vision as myself. I would love to be able to hire an administrator who can do all the Left-brain stuff, so that I can just be creative all day and everyday ;-) 

Share on The Art of Creativity Studio Facebook Page 

how you started your business and what you think defines a Creative Entrepreneur. 

Until next week, go on and Make your Creative Life your "Proper Job" and embrace being a Creative Entrepreneur.

Keep Creating

Shirley

Creative Entrepreneur

PS. For this post I have inserted links to the definitions of a creative entrepreneur

 from various sources and inserted them in Direct Speech

"I'D RATHER BE IN THE STUDIO!"

THE ARTIST'S NO-EXCUSE GUIDE TO SELF-PROMOTION

To follow on from last week's post where I commented: "I must admit that I am becoming both very nervous and excited to start my next chapter, which has taken me forever..... And the reason why I'm ACTUALLY starting will be in my next Blog Post....."

Well, here it is! I'm putting myself out there.... I have been reading this inspiring book: "I'd Rather Be in the Studio by Alyson Stanfield The Artist's No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion."

Alyson, an Art-Marketing Guru, offers sound advice, a wealth of ideas, tips and encouragement that I'm sure that I will be referring to this book, over and over again. 

Her mission is to Empower us Artists and to say Goodbye to those Excuses and say HELLO to our new found Success, therefore each chapter ends with a summary (a "no-excuse principle") and a gentle nudge (a "no-excuse action").

For so long, I have doubted my ability to promote my work for so many reasons, which Alyson regards as excuses. Some of the Excuses are: "There aren't enough hours in the day to do it all," (Previously, one of my excuses....) and "I don't know where to begin."  So where to begin? Well, for starters, I have begun by reading her book (a move in the right direction, no doubt, otherwise I would not be self-promoting, here). What to do next? Well, that would be to follow her suggestions and perhaps this will be a challenge on my part to make my voice heard, as my art is my voice. "I am an Artist, I Make Art," is just one of the many words of encouragement from Alyson. 

It is great to be self-employed, however, goals and boundaries do need to be set. It is time to get out of that comfort zone and to be taken seriously and not just muddle along. All the while, wondering why you are not growing as an Artist and remaining as a Hobbyist only gifting art for family and friends! I have to become more self-disciplined, which means that I have to set regular studio hours and to use this sacred time, actually creating art. I need to ensure that my Art comes First before marketing does, as one actually needs a product to market before marketing it. Then set aside an hour or so, everyday, marketing my Creations.  All the "other" stuff (domestics, chores, etc.) can wait, as they can be done after studio hours and they always have to get done, anyway.

If you have not read her book and you are making excuses for self-promotion then I suggest that you download her book and start reading today. In addition, you can find ongoing support on her website: ArtBizCoach

I will be using this book as my Self-Promotion objective as I really don't want to be that cliché artist who starves because I'm too afraid to market myself, therefore, I would like you, my audience, to appreciate and buy my work for your pleasure as much as it is my pleasure to create it.

IN MY STUDIO THIS WEEK

PHOTOGRAPHY LIGHTBOX

I thought it would be a great blog post today to show you what on earth has been keeping me so busy that I have neglected my Blog..... No Excuse, mind you, but I was having so much fun creating "unique handmade treasures for your pleasure" to start selling on Etsy, soon.  Watch this space!

My latest project has had me creating beautiful unique handmade cards, as seen in the images, and preparing them for marketing.  For the purpose of marketing, I needed good stock photography, but the lighting in my home constantly caused many issues.  Why? Well, I have so many large windows, producing far too much light and casting shadows throughout the day and outside is way too bright and mostly windy. Leaving me with only one choice.


My solution a Lightbox, but Lightboxes are so expensive :-(  and this lead me to do some research, which is when I discovered: yay  How to Make Your Own Photography Lightbox in the Etsy Seller Handbook. In addition, they also give tons of advise on Photography, Seasonal tips, Growth Strategies, Productivity, etc.


The Lightbox they shared was so easy to make for my intended purpose of photographing cards.  I made it so quickly though, that it is not perfect, however, I will make another, neater version when I make my next project, which will be to a make a bigger one to photograph my Mixed Media Crafts.

The Tools needed to produce these images where the Lightbox, my Nikon D3100 with a Tamron 16-300mm lens and tripod, different backgrounds and of course the cards. For the backgrounds I used beautifully designed serviettes, (I have collected so many for creating Mixed Media Projects) different coloured papers (who doesn't have enough of those) and even some prepared canvas (for future artwork). A handy tip is to attach your papers with Washi tape and let the papers drape to form a curve. This way your photos will have a seamless background and a white background will give the image an illusion of floating.

I mostly shot with the Macro setting and no flash, as I sat with my back to a large window.  As the sun moved overhead, I had to beware of shadows that my body created, but that was easy enough to rectify by just moving to the side.  I used a LED strip light attached to the top of the tin foil, (reflects the light)  creating an even light on the cards and no additional shadows to contend with.  The Result:  These stunning images which I will be proud to showcase for my products on Etsy.

Next step:  Cards photographed (check). Produce packaging for them (not checked).  Etsy store is set up and almost ready to go live (check). I have registered with a Courier Company (check).

I must admit that I am becoming both very nervous and excited to start my next chapter, which has taken me forever..... And the reason why I'm ACTUALLY starting will be in my next Blog Post:  I'd Rather Be in the Studio by Alyson Stanfield The Artist's No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion

CREATIVE BOOKS TO READ

I find that I am constantly hungry to read books and magazines on Painting, Art, Photography and that I feel that I just want to feed my brain with all that everyone wants to share.

I constantly want to broaden my horizons with all that knowledge and information out there to do with Creativity. I subscribe to various Magazines on my Kindle so that I have the resources on hand at any given moment and also so that I don't have to store them. In addition, I love reading books (on my Kindle) and will gladly read to learn new techniques, and try to incorporate that information into my latest artwork.

In the meantime, I will continue to read and share the books I'd like to read and have read on: The Art of Creativity's Pinterest Page: Creative Books/Magazines to Read

40th BIRTHDAY CARD

On the 8th of November, my brother turned 40 a few years younger than my sister and I and the only boy.  We also have a much younger sister. Anyway, I wanted to create a special card for him from me and my sisters as I did not just want to hand him a standard store bought card.

I decided to use my newly acquired Silhouette Cameo to make a unique card representing him.  It took me awhile to do this as I am still playing with the Silhouette Cameo (so many features to play and design with). I cut the stencil "1974 Vintage" on card stock with the SC and copied the wrapping paper for the image which I then used as the insert and typed a verse celebrating his Special Birthday.  I then used the insert as a secret envelope to enclose money which my sister and I gave him as a contribution towards his gift.  (He wants to purchase a Gas BBQ).

He had a really awesome get together with all of his mates at a venue which he hired and amidst the free champagne, we danced the night away.