As a creative person, you may have already heard that there’s no money to be made from working in the arts. The reality is that you can make a living and express yourself creatively as long as you know how to put your work in front of as many eyes as you can. Allowing yourself to be creative in all areas of your life could positively benefit your mental health.
You can live off your passion when you know how to be discovered by those willing to pay for your services. Here are some tips from the Art Connective to help you get started.
Give Yourself an Online Presence
The internet is one of the most important tools at your disposal. Putting yourself online gives you access to millions of people. You can promote your work, sell your work and ask others to promote you through your social media and website. Try to put yourself on various social media sites. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter allow you to engage with others and discuss your creative process. The more approachable you are, the more likely people will support your business.
The Digital Marketing Institute explains, to make yourself stand out online, post as regularly as possible. You should post at least three times a week, but once a day is preferable. On social media like Facebook, you can run ads that help you target your demographic.
Make Your Resume Stand Out
When you think of a resume, you might think of business people and office workers. However, creative professionals also need a resume to pursue their careers. To be a creative professional, you do not have to work for yourself if you don't want to. Writers can be hired to write for other people; graphic designers can work for major publishers and musicians can work for schools.
Before snagging a creative career, you need a resume focusing on your skills. When designing a resume, be creative but do not overdesign it. Create visual interest without taking away from the content of the resume. Your resume should include your education, your skills and a career chronology.
You may have to learn how to digitize your tasks as a professional. Start with your resume by using a PDF editor to allow you to save your resume and make changes as a PDF. To create a PDF, you upload the file online, make changes and then you can download and share it.
Form a Creative Business
Sometimes, forming a creative business might suit your creative venture better. Careers in the arts could include:
Craft artists
Fashion designers
Industrial designers
Editors
Photographers
Any career that allows you to utilize your creativity and provide a service to others falls under the umbrella of artistic careers.
When forming a business, consider an LLC. According to the experts, an LLC has many tax advantages, flexibility and generally less paperwork than other structures. To form an LLC, a formation service is less expensive than paying lawyer fees. As you look through formation services, read reviews to know which services fit your needs.
If you will be freelancing, then you should learn to use an electronic signature tool so that you can have people digitally sign contracts. Click here to see how easy it is to add a signature field to your PDF. Just create the contract, convert it to a PDF, upload it, and insert the field.
The next step is to start marketing! If you aren’t sure where to begin, use this app to generate memes, which you can then share via social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to reach a large audience of potential clients and customers. Best of all, it’s free!
Get Your Name Out There!
Making a living off of your creativity does not have to be an impossible dream. Many people manage to turn their creative ventures into long-lasting careers. If you want a career in the arts, you must make yourself known to others. Putting yourself online and having a portfolio and resume that people can see helps you gain more traction. In addition, forming an LLC can help you become a more reputable business.
The Art Connective is a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and cultivating the arts. Visit our online gallery, our physical gallery, or take classes at our studio!
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