What a journey! Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to be part of a group of artisans, who took part in the very first online version of the 'Artists Transformation school' a wonderful program that took us through the nitty gritty of running your own Arts business. To be a successful artist you need (obviously) skills and creativity, but in the fine print, even more importantly, you require a dam good set of entrepreneurial skills as well!
I myself have never been terribly 'big brained' when it comes to paperwork, invoicing, scheduling and marketing. "I'm out of my comfort zone" I would yelp from my very cluttered desk space. Alas, I was utterly wrong! Being an amazing Artist, is the easy part, earning a viable living creating my art? Well, that's just crazy talk! Luckily, just as my children are all heading off to school, for the first time in a long time, I'm putting myself and my career first. The ATS offered me industry specific, on point and a completely web friendly course that took me every step of the way forward. John Paul Fischbach and Craig Lambie held our hands through every single web module, with additional live question and answer sessions, and culminating in a wonderful intense two day workshop in Melbourne. These guys made it their priority to teach us arty types, all we need to know about 'our brand', scheduling our time, the importance of good book keeping, and even more importantly the importance of great customer relationships and the magic of value based language.
I had a lot of help to make this trip possible, and a big thanks goes to Artslink Queensland, it was through their wonderful funding program RAF (Regional Arts Funding) with their financial support I was able to travel to Melbourne. No small feet from a small town in the middle of Central Queensland! I would also like to thank Creative Capricorn and the Auspicious Arts Incubator, through my new found knowledge, confidence and gusto - I am on track to making my arts practise the long term career I always hoped it would be.
If you think your arts practise could do with a lifeline, head on over to this link.
1 comment:
You've taken the words right out of my mouth Miss Emma!! It was a huge learning experience participating in the Artist Transformation School and now the journey continues as we take our next strides along our journey of being artists whilst putting all that knowledge to work for our arts businesses.
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