Last Updated on March 24, 2021 by Jessica Adams
‘Making it’ in a creative industry can seem practically impossible, at first. After all, there are so many creative markets and each one seems beyond incredibly saturated. Many people associate ‘creatives’ with phrases such as ‘starving artists’ – it doesn’t sound like too much fun (or money!) when you look at it like that though, right?
If you are focused on practicing whatever you’re passionate about and your mindset is clear and focused, you will make something of yourself! However, if you aren’t lucky enough to be encouraged or informed about how someone with your particular set of skills can make it in the creative industry, we’ve got you covered. The following pointers will help you learn how to truly thrive or even, simply “make it” in a creative industry. whether you’re the ‘creative’ or you have a knack for creating.
7 Tips on How to Make It
In a Creative Industry
Think About What The World Needs
What do you think is missing from the world? Can your creative talents affect what you think the world needs? Allow yourself to be inspired by this question and definitely, answer it for yourself. Perhaps when you’re asking this question to yourself However, don’t forget to focus on what makes you come alive, too. The world needs more people who come alive!
Make Failure Your Friend
It’s important to treat your business experience as a journey and almost every great journey you’ve ever heard of has a lot of obstacles that someone had to overcome. You should value the process of what you go through to get to where you want to be and just try to enjoy it.
A lot of creative makers & doers have failed an audition or failed at getting a studio space. Creative business people have failed businesses and ideas all the time too! It can be really embarrassing and it makes most people not want to not start at all.
However, when you take a look at some of the most successful creative makers & doers who have made it, they have plenty of failures under their belt. Making failure your friend is a crucial step in any creative industry.
Make The Customer Your Primary Focus
Try to focus on the people who should be enjoying your project or creative collaboration. If you’re looking for an audience for your creative work, that’s exactly where you’ll find your answers. It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to build the creative part of a project, or if you are trying to build the business part.
You have to be patient and go step by step to achieve something. You cannot do everything immediately. Start by making the customer the focus of everything and put yourself in their shoes. Whether you’re writing a new song, a book, or making something that has never been made before, ask yourself what they want, what they would say, and anything else that will help you to hone your project and make it successful.
Build a Network & Strengthen Relationships
If you want to have a great life doing what you love for a living, you need to know people. You need a big network all over the world. They say, ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know and for the most part, that’s true.
Practice building your network by speaking to everybody you meet, handing out business cards, and following up once you’ve met somebody. You can’t allow your connections to go stale!
Compromise Is Key
If you run a business on the basis of some values, you have to compromise on others. You can’t offer everything as a business. For example, you can’t have the highest quality and the cheapest prices and the quickest delivery time all at once – it isn’t logical.
It’s good to think about what your priority values are and which you are willing to compromise on. Make sure you know what you truly stand for as a brand and what your target audience stands for, so you can do this effectively.
Know That Times Will Get Tough
The beginning of any journey is tough, especially a creative one and you might need other sources of income to support yourself. You have to have a business plan and know where you’re going so that you can stay focused on your ultimate goal.
You will face some challenges, and you will need to continue learning and growing to be successful. Whether you’re looking at an article about intellectual property law or finding other ways to ensure your work is protected, make sure you’re prepared to stick it out through the tough times.
Just Get Started
Starting a conversation with your community and audience can help you to find new ways of doing things. When you change your approach and try to build a community around your project then one of the things that a community can help with is funding. However, the most important thing is starting that conversation.
Ultimately, you have to believe in yourself to get to where you want to be in life. Don’t hesitate! If you want something, you have to ask for it. You have to admit to yourself (and others) that this is what you want. How do you think you’ll feel years down the line? More than likely like you’ll wish you had started today!
Jessica Rose Adams
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