Megan & I are starting to get ready for the first roll-out of The Creative Empire. And we’re talking a lot about what subjects the creative community needs to embrace, work through, discuss, and learn to maximize both the profitability & the personal satisfaction we experience with our businesses.
The main question we keep coming back to is:
What should drive my business?
Is my business driven by personal passion? Is my business driven by the market? Is it driven by our competitors – or lack thereof?
What forces determine what products I roll out? What affects how much I charge for them? What determines my audience & client base?
We have our ideas. And I really can’t wait to tell you about them. If you’re not on the list for The Creative Empire yet, sign up below! List members will, well, be getting some downright awesome information & opportunities over the next two weeks.
If you are on the list, tell me: what is driving your business right now?
And if you’d like to know a little bit more about what Megan & I think of “creative empires,” be sure to check out the video discussion we posted about a month ago!
After you hit subscribe, you’ll receive a confirmation email. Click the link in the confirmation email to get yourself on the list!
I’m so excited to see what you and Megan are cooking up! What’s driving my business right now? Well at the moment I’m reaping the rewards of being brave…magazine submissions have not only been accepted but have led to invitations to TV! WOOT! Of course, these only came about because I’ve spent years developing my technique and my style of art. (SO easy to say, but back about 10 years ago I was agonizingly trying to figure out HOW I could make art that would make people exclaim – Candy made that!)
I’ve been doing a lot of reading over the past year (TONS of it by you two!) on what an indie business is, I’ve considered lots of options, and I’m definitely working my way around to honing exactly what kind of business I want to have…and these thoughts are there because you gals put them there! thank you!
i’m am SO happy about your TV news! you are going to rock that out – hard.
i’ve really loved seeing your business grow & shape itself as i’ve been learning & shaping mine. so glad we’ve connected!!!
Totally thrilled and excited with anticipation with what you are cooking up!! I’ve gained so much from reading your blogs! and being a fledgling crafter-entrepeneur, I can’t wait to kick it up 10 notches!! thanks for all of your wisdom!!:)
sally
sallysangelworks.com
thanks sally!! looking forward to getting to know you better. if you’re on the tCE list, look for an email tomorrow with the first of a bunch of exclusive content!
Hmm, what’s driving my business. Dare I say “balance” – well actually trying to achieve balance between what keeps me going creatively, my need to create new and to learn & use new skills to create new pieces AND having the items I make be profitable. I want to (have to) create – I also want to / have to sell, or this isn’t viable. So am trying to figure it out as I go. I am new to indie / creative biz and have really appreciated the info I find from you two. Helps me think, helps me clarify.
hey leona – that’s exactly what megan & i plan to talk about in the first month at tCE. we’re very interested in the discussion about profit vs. creativity and we have slightly different perspectives. hint: i think picking between the two is a false choice!
looking forward to connecting with you more!
I’m super excited to find out what you two are conjuring! I would say my passion is driving my business now…I think that’s how it all starts as I’m in the beginning stages. Without the passion, it’s hard to keep going when you are a “nobody” in this world that seems so saturated, no matter what you do.
I am continually learning, growing whilst creating with passion and excitement, but sometimes feel quite insular, working from home and raising three little people under 7… Being able to access this sort of information is fantastic, I am enjoying the process of taking my small boutique handmade handbag business to greater heights! I am new to the game, am learning how to push that self-doubt out the window, make everything myself, am keen to increase my sales and look at ways to branch out with manufacturing… it’s all in front of me.
cheers and thanks
Sandy
xx
Right now what’s driving my business is the desire to improve my product and develop something more unique. I started making jewelry simply because I thought it would be fun, and I wasn’t concerned about creating something unique and making a significant profit as I was about making pretty things that would sell well enough for me to have a self-sustaining business that would provide me with some extra pocket cash and let me donate money to some causes I believe in.
What actually made me want to take it a step further was Megan Auman’s posts on Crafting an MBA about profit and the idea of “creative tithing.” It’s ok to want to make a sizeable profit, and if I can use a chunk of that profit to support other creative businesses while purchasing unique, high-quality products, then all the better! And having more money to put into long-term savings or set aside for my short-term goals is always a good thing.
But to do that, I need to start making my own product stand out more from the competition, and that means improving the skills I have and learning some new skills. Not to mention learning more about the ins and outs of running a creative business, which is why I’m really looking forward to getting that first Creative Empire email!
Ultimately I want to feel self-sufficient and challenged by doing work that’s meaningful to me. I recently let go of my first creative business because I wasn’t passionate about it (and not surprisingly it wasn’t very profitable either!). So now what’s driving me is my vision of a profitable creative business that supports my ideal lifestyle and lets me use my passion for minimalism to help other people.
What drives my business? A deeply-rooted desire to experiment and grow. But above all, afervent passion to create works that will enrich my collectors’ (and their progenies’) lives for generations!