It Takes More Than Talent

Think about it: Did you or are you thinking of starting your business primarily to make money? No, that’s secondary. The primary goal is to be able to do what you love, right? It was for me, too.

In that respect, it’s understandable that you are more focused on your talent when you start out. Perhaps you want to deliver good customer service and satisfy clients, so you focus solely on your talent, or what you can deliver. Who cares about a contract, right? You just want to be able to create a logo for this really cool coffee company, or draft an annual report for a big-name national vendor. Once you hear a few positive remarks about your work, it can feel tremendously rewarding. Then you think, “Hmm, maybe I am good at this. Maybe I can really do this! Maybe I really am a writer/photographer/designer/blogger.”

Look, there’s nothing wrong with appreciating your talent—or centering your energy on it. Once the honeymoon is over, however, you may realize that not all projects give you butterflies. That’s when you’re going to have to be very efficient with your time, and time is money.

This is really the ultimate goal, isn’t it? Not to spend half your day compiling invoices and the other half creating, but to get the business practices down pat so you can spend more time doing what you love.

It’s reasonable that you want to do what excites you; few people are brave enough to even entertain the idea of trying to make a business based on their talent. You will just have to make an effort to put
as much into the business aspects as you will with the creative time. In time, maybe even the “business ickies” will be enjoyable for you, or at least they won’t take up too much time. (Hey, invoicing could sort of be fun if you think about all the money coming in—especially if you took the time to ink a contract and ensure you’ll actually get paid.) If not, you will have to simply accept that business practices have to be a part—but not all—of what you do as a creative professional.

Must-Read: Creative, Inc.: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business by Joy Deangdeelert Cho and Meg Mateo Ilasco

Make Business Part of Your Business

Elise Cripe knows how important revenue is. The blogger uses her Web site (www.eliseblaha.typepad.com) to promote her workshops and the sale of her paper goods, and also earns income from advertisements on the site. I frequent her blog a lot for visual inspiration and have always been impressed at how she ties her talents into making a living. Though she is artistic, she also puts a great deal of emphasis on being professional.

“I like to say that it doesn’t matter how smart or creative you are. If you can’t communicate your idea or market it well, it will never bring profits or rewards,” says the California-based blogger. “I think talent gets you started, but business know-how will keep you going.”

Cripe says it is vital to keep track of money. “Don’t underestimate the importance of tracking the money,” she says. “Save everything and keep notes on expenses. If numbers are not your thing, then consider hiring someone to handle that aspect of your business.” (See? You don’t have to be a QuickBooks whiz or understand what Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code is.)

Cripe says her genuine love of writing helped her blog to grow into a revenue-generator. Although blogging is part of her full-time job, she says it is not the only way she brings in money. “I wear many different hats to generate my total income, but blogging is the glue that holds it all together,” adds Cripe, who draws a small amount of income from sidebar advertisements and affiliate program commissions. Her blog evolved into a vehicle to promote on-line workshops she teaches on paper crafting and Web design, and is also the on-line shop where she sells charming paper goods.

The blog has opened up numerous opportunities for her as well, as Cripe has secured consulting gigs and product design projects.

“All have been very unique experiences and something I am so grateful for,” she adds. “I have been blessed to turn my hobbies into something that generates income for my family.”

What skills must creative professionals possess innately— and which can be learned?

“The only innate ‘skill’ I believe one needs is a passion for what you are doing. Creativity and business can be learned through focused practice/repetition. One needs an overabundance of passion for what they are doing to keep them going through the inevitable rough business periods. If you aren’t in it completely, it will be very easy to be discouraged and the business will eventually suffer.”

—George Coghill, cartoon logo artist/designer, www.coghillcartooning.com

A Little About Me

Before we get going on all of the juicy details that will help you run an awesome biz, I want you to know my story. It may help you better understand where I came from, why I felt the need to write this book— and why you may want to take some of the advice in it.

After graduating college and securing my first two jobs as a newspaper reporter, I then switched gears and entered the environmental industry. I knew I loved writing, so when a job came up for a technical writer at an environmental company that offered better pay, I took it. The chance to do some corporate writing (and the ability to alleviate my fears about not “using” my environmental studies degree) was all I needed to move into a less-creative sector. I worked there for about two years when I realized how much I had loved writing and journalism— just not necessarily the job I was in at the time.

About that time, I began exploring creative careers and I guess you could say stumbled upon the concept of copywriting. I never knew that it existed, or that it could be a lucrative career. At the time, I had a boss who would pick apart my highly technical environmental reports, which did little for my self-esteem. Soon after I discovered copywriting, I inquired about taking on some projects for a local two-woman creative firm. I remember being so nervous to meet the women at a local coffeehouse that I didn’t even offer to pay for our drinks before I left. I was so thrilled that they thought my writing was promising. “What a ditz I am,” I thought when I realized I forgot to offer to pick up the tab. “They’ll never hire me.”

But they did, and I was amazed. From there, I started moonlighting. About a year later, I wanted to take my business to the next level and be out on my own, but I knew I wasn’t quite ready financially. Most of my hesitation was because full-time freelancing didn’t offer steady pay, and without a traditional job it would be tough to get health insurance, which my momma said never to go without. What was the next logical step?

I applied for a part-time job as a copy editor at a bigger newspaper. It required evening hours so I could develop my copywriting business during the day. Finally, I had a solution I felt good about: I wasn’t taking an all-out plunge into full-time freelancing, but I was on the right path. I could build up my business, earn a steady paycheck, and dive into full-time freelancing once I knew my business was sustainable.

No job is perfect, though (even the ones you cherry-pick). At the newspaper, all of the copy editors except for the veterans had to travel to the warehouse about 20 minutes away once a week to proofread pages as they came off the printer. The problem was that I was going nearly every night I worked. The warehouse didn’t exactly feel like a safe place—particularly at 1 a.m.—and I soon got fed up being the boss in my freelance life and being treated like a peasant at my part-time gig.

After about a year as an editor in the doldrums of a warehouse instead of a newsroom, my copywriting business was booming. I was engaged to be married to my husband, Tim, and I would soon be able to go under his medical insurance—a monumental relief.

I connected with a prospective client who wanted to hire me part-time and let me work from home—score! Now I could transition to working from home full-time, but still have a steady income coming in from a stable job.

It all sounded great until I left the newspaper and the new job fell through. “Now, I’m screwed,” I thought to myself. With nothing else to do but try to find another part-time gig, I started working full-time for myself while I sought another part-time job in the writing field. There I was, doing what I wanted to do. I was a full-time freelancer. I was an accidental full-time freelancer.

I never returned on-site as a part-time employee. Things just took off from there. These days, I work mostly from home, primarily because I can. I still take on copywriting projects, but I also have been able to use my journalism expertise to write books and magazine articles. Luckily for me, all of my experiences before becoming a solo-pro were not a waste: I use my technical background and journalism expertise every day. I’ve built up my skills in the marketing field. Each step I took was helpful to build my talent and business know-how.

For me, baby steps were the only thing that worked, but I know plenty of solo-pros that have taken the plunge headfirst. There is no one right way. To have a creative business, you just have to set yourself up for success and do the best you can, integrating your talent and business knowledge. If you’re not sure what you have to offer on the business side of things, you have definitely picked up the right book.

Rock What You’ve Got

Whether you fall into self-employment without a penny in your pocket or intend to moonlight on the side while you work a full-time job, you have two things to work with: your talent and your ability to do business. Your talent is there already. I’m sure of it!

Your ability to conduct business? That’s where I come in. Once you can fuse your gifts and your professionalism, you will be able to thrive. It is my hope that however your creative career plays out, you will be able to enjoy what you do for a living. And if it’s in your PJs every day, well, there’s nothing wrong with that!

Sweet Success: Diversify and Nurture Your Talent

Few people can make food look appetizing in photos. Kitty Florido (www.asterisco-sa.com), a graphic designer and photographer that splits her time between New York and Guatemala, has become pretty good at it. Florido launched her business 12 years ago after she enrolled in some marketing courses. After taking a job in sales for a postcard company, she realized she enjoyed the creative aspects of the job more than the sales part. “I started playing around with design software, and realized I was good at it,” she recalls. A few months later she landed her first client, and soon after launched her own business.

When a client needed photographs of food, she started exploring her photography aptitude. Since then, she has completed a class on food photography and recently started a culinary Web site (www.thefoodieskitchen.com). She says that her skills as a designer have changed, and a huge part of her business has evolved into the food photography arena—a niche she loves.

Florido says it’s important to keep cultivating talent so you have something new to offer clients. For her, developing her natural gifts has been, well, appetizing.

Beginner Mishap: Business Comes First

After Tim Wasson (www.tjdub.com), a Web designer from Illinois, graduated from art school, he worked as an illustrator and animator at an advertising agency.

“I just hated having to come to work at a designated time, all the meetings, the time-tracking. I was a creative, damn it!” he recalls. “I detested estimating time on projects, logging hours, answering phone calls, and revising work.” That along with being confined to a cubicle was unbearable for Wasson, who was just 21 at the time. He quit the job to pursue life as a solo-pro.

“I assumed my pure talent and portfolio would sell me [as a freelancer], no problem,” he says. “What I didn’t have, unfortunately, was any skill at all in selling those features to potential clients.”

The jobs he did get as a freelancer involved more than just conceptualizing mockups. He had to meet deadlines and keep within project budgets—two things he loathed. “I always fell back to the excuse that ‘I’m a creative! I should be able to do what I want…business should be plentiful,’” says Wasson.

He continued to miss deadlines, struggled with client communications, and was puzzled on what to charge for projects.

“My business was crashing and burning,” he adds. “I still had a great portfolio, but without the almighty referrals that drive my business today, and with no testimonials, I was going nowhere.”

Soon after, he went back to a traditional job. He took another stab at freelancing after a few years, and, though he did better that time around, he eventually took an offer for an in-house design job. Wasson says that running his own business isn’t quite for him.

“To be successful, you have to master sales, proposals, and client relations,” he notes. “Talent comes after all that.”