The creative journey is hard. Period. There are a few that make it look easy but it is called a hustle for a reason. With social media and the success stories floating around it is easy to think, I can do that. Which, of course, you can but what those cute little videos and articles don’t show is the HARD, HARD work. The hours away from family. The months or years of setbacks, facepalms, re-branding, tears, screams of frustration…. I could go on but you get the idea. The successful ones are the ones that push past all that and keep trying. Those friends and family member that tell you that it isn’t worth the trouble, IGNORE!! They mean well, trying to shield you from pain but those logical thinkers don’t understand; Pain to a creative is not creating. We are a weird lot.
Setbacks and struggles are the lot of everyone, we just get to choose journey they happen on. I have been falling on my butt and trying some new angle every week since starting my entrepreneur adventures in August. First of all, you probably shouldn’t start two completely unrelated side businesses within a few months of each other when you have littles at home. But I did and I have sunk time and what little money I had into both and I am glad I did. One is panning out into something and the other has taught me a number of things on marketing. Just get your name out there to people in the community. Everyone says, social media and yes those hashtags are important but actually talking to people in your community, placing your product in front of people that live in your neighborhood does wonders. My wreath business on Etsy has seen more hits since I have put my products in local businesses. No hashtag has topped the amount of traffic I have now.
As a creative, it is hard to put your creation out into the world. It is a part of you and all creatives feel they will be judged by their art, which makes it important to be authentic. The wreaths I made that do not fit my personal taste. Guess what? Are not selling! Stay true to what you like and what you would buy. My first book is doing quite well for no paid advertising (more on that in a later post) and I truly believe it is because I wrote it for myself and not for market. It is original and not a cookie cutter mass market paperback. There is a price for being authentic. The emotional hurdle of separating oneself from their art is nerve-racking and anxiety-ridden in a society that ties the muse and the creator into one being. If we keep the philosophy that the muse is a separate entity, responsible for both the bad and good, then our ego can neither be bruised by failure or inflated by success. Read Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic. A fabulous read for separating yourself worth from your creations.
Another piece missing from those success stories is money. Most success stories started out with some sort of capital. The saying goes It takes money to make money. My question is can hustling harder turn this saying on its head? Here’s to continuing the journey of being a creative entrepreneur.
Are you new at the creative business? What have you learned in the first months of your business? Comment below.
Check out book one of the Lace and Leather series
Whitney Buckley 