3 Ways to Pull The Trigger on Your Creative Business

Have you hesitated to pull the trigger on your creative/art business because you are unsure of yourself? Let’s look at 3 things that hold people back and ways to get past them.

Fear

I took a class 8 or 9 years ago with someone who is now a pretty well known artist. I had just gotten back into creative work, and while I had made extra money with my creativity in the past,  it never occurred to me that I might be able to make a LIVING with it.

Something was said in class about money and being my usual, direct self I came right out and asked, “You make a living with your art?”

I wasn’t trying to be offensive but I had been told for years and years that I’d only be able to make pocket money with my art/creativity. It wasn’t anything I could LIVE on. I knew from the look on her face that I had hit a nerve and that she must have heard all of those same naysayers but she did say, “YES, I am starting to make a living.”

THAT was my one ray of hope that kept me going in those early days.

If she can do it, and I can do it, YOU CAN DO IT!

 

Money

Yes, it does take a certain amount of money to get going but maybe not as much as you think. If you are already making things just because it’s what you love to do and you can’t help yourself, then you already have a little inventory.

Sell it.

Friends, family, neighbors and co-workers are all people who may be your first customers. Once you have a few sales under your belt you have a little money for business cards, purchasing a domain, web hosting or any other thing you can do as a next step.

Advertising and exposure is as close as your facebook or twitter profiles. Facebook and twitter are both free, and at the same time, some of the best marketing tools on the web right now.

 

Business Knowledge

Did you ever start a new job without some sort of on-the-job training? I doubt it. Starting your own art/creative business is no different.

One of the really great things about living in this day and age is the amount of FREE information on the internet. The web is loaded with lots of free business advice. Yes, it takes some time to comb through but if you were to take a business course at a local school you’d be out time AND money. Right?

Another personal example; I had NO IDEA how to file my business name with my state or how to do some of the very basic paperwork that was necessary to get started here in Ohio. My favorite banker helped me with it. I sat in his office one afternoon and he had my business name registered, a Federal Tax ID, and a business checking account all squared away in less than and hour and it was FREE.

It is my experience that those three things, Fear, Money and Business Knowledge are 3 of the biggest things that keep people from just getting started. And as you can see, they aren’t so big after all.

Read, Set, GO!

By: Vicki O’Dell , The Creative Goddess