You know the stereotype of the artist: We musicians, painters, or writers are locked away in our garrets, obsessively making music, slapping paint on a canvas, or struggling to come up with the perfect metaphor.
Sometimes I WISH that’s all we had to do!
As we all learn, all too soon, creating our art is only part of the equation that adds up to successful self-employment. Business skills (keeping track of income and expenses, marketing and public relations, networking, billing and budgeting ) are essential, as are teaching skills. But as it turns out, many of us also need to borrow the skills of OTHER artistic discplines. At the very least:
1) Writing: We need to be able to write about what we do. We should be able to send out a literate, publishable press release to our local papers and radio stations, write brochure copy about our products and services, and provide coherent text for an Internet site. More and more interviews are being done via e-mail these days, as well: If you are answering questions in writing, you want your answers to be readable, interesting, and smart. http://createworklive.com/2008/09/24/essential-skills-for-artists-writing/
2) Photography: No, your pocket-sized mini-digital camera is not a substitute for a professional rig; nor is your eye the equivalent of the eye of a pro photog. But there are plenty of times you might need a picture on the spur of the moment. Visual artists and designers might need to send a quick picture on a tight deadline to an editor, journalist, or TV producer. Writers are often asked to send “scouting” shots for a potential story (so the editor can evaluate its visual appeal); we also may be expected to send actual field photography from places where a magazine or book publisher can’t afford to send a “real” photographer. Even if the picture is of you — say you’re an author, an actor, or a dancer – having the skill to set up a shot of yourself can be invaluable. http://createworklive.com/2008/09/26/essential-skills-for-artists-photography/
3) Public Speaking: You may not be an announcer, an actor, or an entertainer, but you should be able to speak in clear, direct, sentences in front of a microphone or a camera (without a lot of “uhms” and “you knows” and “likes” cluttering up your speech; it wouldn’t hurt to drop the “awesomes” and “totallys,” either). For high profile appearances on television, media training is a must. http://createworklive.com/2008/09/28/essential-skills-for-artists-public-speaking/
4) Web Design: Putting up a blog or an Internet site has gotten easier and easier in the last ten years (Hey, even I am doing it, and if you knew me personally, you’d accept that as final, inarguable proof that ANYONE can do it). You don’t have to be a pro designer to put together and update a website or a blog. Fortunately, the templates that are available, and the free hosting, make this ALMOST a no-brainer. http://createworklive.com/2008/09/27/essential-skills-for-artists-web-design/
I’m not implying or suggesting that every artist needs to be (or even would be able to be) an expert in all or even any of these other fields. We can’t ALL be professional writers AND photographers AND speakers AND web designers. When we take on these tasks, we should realize that we are not going to be able to immediately produce professional results; most of all, we need to keep things simple. As our businesses grow and as our needs become more complex, we can bring in (and pay for) the pros. But in the meantime, “Do-It-Yourself” is the name of the game.
