Successful Art Business, Planning and Marketing Tools and Techniques You Can Use

There is a lot of buzz right now about how the US is in a creative crisis.  According to the recent  Newsweek article The Creativity Crisis  – “Kim(Kyung-Hee Kim) found creativity scores had been steadily rising, just like IQ scores, until 1990. Since then, creativity scores have consistently inched downward. “It’s very clear, and the decrease is very significant,” Kim says.”"

Charlie Rose also had a segment on Creativity which featured Ashley Merryman who co-authored the Newsweek article as well as a couple of other creative guests.  I suggest you check out both the Newsweek article and Charlie Rose video – very interesting!

Even businesses are getting into the act as a result of the poor economy and the uncertain future.  In the recent study conducted by IBM –  ”2010 Global CEO Study: Creativity Selected as Most Crucial Factor for Future Success” executives cited creativity as the key to success – “More than 60 percent of CEOs believe industry transformation is the top factor contributing to uncertainty, and the finding indicates a need to discover innovative ways of managing an organization’s structure, finances, people and strategy.”

Clearly this is a broad application of “creativity”.  The world has changed and what worked in the past may not work now.  It will be interesting to see how businesses try to nurture and implement creativity into their organizations.

Some ideas on developing and harnessing creativity:

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The "Authority" on LinkedIn

I find the use of social media / networking (I prefer networking over media – more on that later) among artists and other creative business people to be all over the board.  Some are quite proficient at using Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn as well as other social sites, some have a presence and really don’t know why, some know they need to start and others are not even aware.  Social media may not be for everyone but if you have a creative business then you need to take a hard at these powerful tools.

One of the more interesting social media channels is LinkedIn.  According to their website “Relationships Matter – Your professional network of trusted contacts gives you an advantage in your career, and is one of your most valuable assets..”.  The key word here is “professional” -  LinkedIn is not for chit chat.  Its a place where you present yourself as a professional, show your accomplishments and keep in contact with other professionals who you know. Read more

A basic part creating your business and marketing plan is conducting what is called a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis.  SWOT analysis is a staple in most business programs but I bet you didn’t hear much about it in art school.  The first part of conducting a SWOT analysis is doing an inventory of you or your firm’s business strengths and weaknesses.  Your strengths are areas which you can capitalize on, they help identify your competitive advantages and provide ideas on how to market your brand.  Weaknesses are areas on which you need to improve and they may be a hindrance to your success and growth – either fix your weaknesses or figure out some way to get around them.  You need to know your strengths and weaknesses in order to develop effective strategies for your business. Read more

There is an old saying – nothing make you crazy faster than hanging out with crazy people.  The same could be said for being successful – nothing makes you more successful faster than hanging around with other successful people.  One common thread with successful people is that they say that they had the help of the people they surrounded themselves with – few say they did it alone.  Make it a point to associate with interesting and successful people.

Here are a few ideas on the types of people you should get to know: Read more

You can help them — and they can help you

In the first article I discussed how the creative sector is the fifth-largest sector of the Colorado economy, directly employing over 122,000 people-plus another 75,000 supporting these creative enterprises. This puts it slightly behind biotechnology/biomedical, IT and telecommunications and larger than defense/security, agribusiness, food processing and technology in terms of employment according to a recent study by the Colorado Council on the Arts.

So what is the creative sector? The study described Colorado’s creative enterprises as: “The creative enterprises include nonprofit cultural institutions, commercial businesses that are producing and distributing products in which the creative content defines their market position, and, finally, the thousands of individuals who are self-employed.” Broadly speaking the creative sector includes businesses and occupations in the design, film & media, heritage, literary and publishing, performing arts and visual arts & crafts fields. Read more

I am going to be presenting some of the things you need to do to when starting a new creative business.  Even if you have an existing company you should take a look at these topics and make sure that you are positioned for future growth and success.  I like to think of these areas as the “nuts and bolts” which build the foundation for your company.

Some of the areas we will be exploring in future articles include: Read more

I recently watched a very interesting program on PBS Frontline entitled Digital Nation that has some major implications for your business or personal brand. We are spending more time on our computers, notebooks, netbooks, PDAs, Smart phones iPhones, and soon the iPad – increasingly we are using more than one of these devices at the same time. Read more

The creative economy: define success to achieve it

Nine questions to help you get there 

In working with creative individuals I have found that it is hard for many of them to define what success means. “I want to be a successful artist working in my studio” seems to be about as far as many of them can go in defining their success.

When you ask other entrepreneurs what success means they will describe their success in terms of being a market leader, capturing market share, developing new and innovative products, their distribution chain, market capitalization and the financial rewards. Thinking in these terms is not so easy for many creative types.

Success for many creatives is simply being able to pursue their passion – not a bad measure of success for any business. In some respects many businesses have to work hard to instill and keep passion thriving with their owners and employees. Passion for one’s work will get you a long way but it is not a guarantee of success. Read more