Creative Entrepreneurship 101 (a totally epic handbook)
I’m an artist, musician and traveler with a couple blogs. Like you, creativity has always been the default mode. But what wasn’t natural was sales, business and monetizing my stuff.
So let’s get to know creative entrepreneurship, what it means to be a creatrepreneur and how you can become one.
From core character traits to a blueprint moving forward, this post has got you covered.
So let’s get to it!
Table of Contents Show
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What Is Creative Entrepreneurship? (pros + cons)
Creative entrepreneurship, or creatrepreneurship, is the act of turning your creative expertise into products, services and/or content with the intent of growing a business and a brand.
Put another way, it’s the ability to make money from your creative craft.
It’s the artist entrepreneur and the business-savvy musician. It’s the new way for creatives. There are no gatekeepers and opportunities are everywhere. So it’s an exciting time to be alive.
But let’s look at some of the pros and cons of creatrepreneurship.
The Pros + Cons of Creatrepreneurship
Everything will have ups and downs to it.
So here are some common pros and cons you may experience with creative entrepreneurship.
Pros
More autonomy, independence and flexibility
Make money from doing what you love
More creative freedom and control
Deep personal fulfillment
Full control over income potential
Access to unique opportunities and networking
Cons
Work can be infrequent and takes a while to get traction
Many parts of running a business are non-creative (which can be boring)
There can be many self doubt and confidence issues that pop up
You’ll need to deal with a lot of rejection and setbacks
You have to manage taxes, insurance and other life logistics yourself
It’s not always fun or smooth (you know, things don’t always go as planned)
Who Is Creative Entrepreneurship for? (types to know)
Whatever your creative domain is, you can monetize it and turn it into a business.
So who is creative entrepreneurship for exactly? Here’s a list of examples:
Musicians
Artists
DIYers and crafters
Jewelry makers
Writers
Illustrators and web designers
Fashion designers and enthusiasts
Photographers and filmmakers
Dancers and performers
Creative coders or tech gurus
5 Types of Creative Entrepreneurs
When it comes to creative entrepreneurs, there are a few common archetypes worth knowing.
Here are the main types.
The Small Biz Owner
The Small Biz Owner is probably the most “formal” type of creative entrepreneur on this list.
The small business creatrepreneur may have an actual physical store and other “traditional” business structures in place (such as an LLC, business registration and a Google Business Profile account).
The Side Hustler
You know this type of creative. It’s the weekend warrior — the midnight oil-burner!
The Side Hustler is a type of creative entrepreneur who tends to pursue their dreams part-time, often while still working another job.
Some Side Hustlers prefer this part-time lifestyle, while others hope to eventually transition to a full-time status.
The Content Creator
The Content Creator focuses on (you guessed it) content. This is probably the most common type of creative entrepreneur (and one of the easier ones to start with).
As a Content Creator, you’ll focus heavily on social media strategy and content creation.
You’ll need to sharpen your storytelling, social media, video and creative SEO skills, but this is an awesome way to grow a brand online.
Actually, every type of creative entrepreneur should also be a content creator to some degree.
The Nomad
The Nomad entrepreneur prioritizes location freedom.
You can find this type of creative entrepreneur in many places — from a cafe in Shibuya Square to a beach in Thailand.
In case you’re curious, this is my current creatrepreneur persona (as I write this post from a tiny desk in Seoul).
Nomadic creatives can take their craft with them. So these types of artists tend to do more digital work or have a solid system for traveling with supplies and shipping stuff while abroad.
Check out my post on how to travel more if you’re keen to join me as a fellow nomad!
The Explorer
As The Explorer, you may not know which direction to pursue yet. Explorers are creatrepreneurs who are still in a research and testing phase.
This is a normal part of the process.
So keep testing and trying and failing forward. Eventually, you’ll narrow in on your direction and which type of creative entrepreneur you are.
What Are the Characteristics of A Creative Entrepreneur? (+ examples)
Got what it takes to be a creative entrepreneur?
I think you do.
But for a little more inspiration and clarity, here are some common traits that successful creatrepreneurs tend to have:
Okay with taking risks
Naturally optimistic
Can roll with the punches
Patient and think in the long term
Commonly notices and connects the dots
A drive to help others and provide value to the market
Independent and prefers autonomy
Attuned to people’s needs and emotions
Have a love for the process
Recommended: How to Be Happy-Go-Lucky
Examples of Creative Entrepreneurs
Creative entrepreneurs are more common (and impactful) than you may realize.
In fact, creativity is a super in-demand skill. It’s essential for things like business innovation, content strategy and marketing.
So here are just a few examples of creative entrepreneurs:
Walt Disney
George Lucas
Thomas Alex Norman
Beyoncé
Sofia Amoruso
Sorelle Amore
Austin, from Make Pop Music
Steve Jobs
Sean Kitching
Ryan Reynolds
Rick Rubin
John McLucas
Arianna Huffinton
George Washington Carver
Rihanna
How to Become A Creative Entrepreneur (6 steps)
Ready to take that first step to becoming a creative entrepreneur?
Epic. Let’s do it!
1. Create A Plan (+ know your “why”)
We don’t want to be too willy-nilly with our creatrepreneurial dreams. So let’s create a plan.
Having a plan adds clarity and keeps you focused and intentional with your actions. So, what do you hope to achieve and what are your motivations?
Here are some key things to think about:
Identify your goals
Brainstorm your potential bottlenecks or weaknesses
Create a business plan
Target audience research
Marketing and content plan
Market analysis
Financial planning and budgeting
Identify your core products or services
Once you’ve got a clearer picture of your goals, it’s time to take action.
2. Become A Content Creator
Creating content is one of the best ways to start your creative entrepreneurship journey.
It’s quick, free and easy to start.
Plus, love it or hate, it’s pretty hard to grow a creative brand these days without dabbling in some type of content (unless you just want to build on creative marketplaces like Etsy or Gumroad).
Luckily, there are lots of different ways to go about it. You could:
Create social media content
Focus on video
Focus on graphics and images
Start a podcast
Start a blog and focus on writing and SEO (this is where I started)
Content is value for your audience (it’s something educational, inspirational and/or entertaining). It’s how we connect with our favorite brands and creatives.
So it’s important.
Great content builds relationships, authority and trust and gives you a deeper understanding of your audience. This makes building a business and actually selling stuff way easier down the road.
It’s a modern creative skill.
But if you’re just starting out, I would ignore quality. Because perfection is an illusion and it takes a while to get traction anyways.
Quantity over quality is a great way to get better and actually reach quality content.
There are tons of free tutorials and courses online. But really, you could just start by creating something (anything) and hit publish. Watch YouTube tutorials, but don’t forget to take action too.
And remember, you don’t need the perfect studio setup or a fancy camera with epic editing software to get started. CapCut is free and raw, phone-style content works.
(and don’t be afraid to break the rules by using your artistic intuition either)
Hot Tip: Focus on building an email list early on. This is a direct connection with your audience and something you own.
3. Don’t Forget Your Other Infrastructure
As a creative entrepreneur, people need a way to contact you and find you online (beyond your content).
There’s no way around it — you need infrastructure.
This includes things like a personal website, active social media and a professional email. These things are super important for your brand image and development.
Content gives you social proof and a website makes you look more professional while establishing deeper authority and trust.
Plus, it’s another way to generate leads.
But if you’re like me, you’ll have fun with this part also. Designing websites and building out branded social media content is basically creative play.
So here are some core things you’ll need as a creative entrepreneur:
A website — I use Squarespace (my go-to website builder for creatrepreneurs)
A business email
A newsletter (Beehiv is a popular platform)
At least one social media account (preferably where your audience spends their time)
Any necessary legal stuff (such as tax stuff or registering as an LLC)
Recommended: My Favorite Squarespace Benefits
4. Develop An Offer
As a creative entrepreneur, you need a main offer. This is your product or service.
This means using your creative expertise to solve a real market/audience problem. The benefit of starting with content is you get a deeper understanding of your niche.
You can grasp audience’s pain points and values through free content and relationship-building.
For example, let’s say you play guitar. What are some needs in the market for this skill?
Some demand points could be beginners who want to learn guitar, music studios who need professional studio musicians and musicians who struggle with confidence or live performance.
Finding a market demand and matching it to your unique set of skills will be the foundation to your creative entrepreneur brand.
If you’re struggling to find ideas, consider the common problems and struggles people have in your domain.
You can also ask ChatGPT or try Googling “common (your audience) problems” for more inspiration.
Here are some ideas for developing an offer:
Sell your knowledge and skills as a service or a digital product
Repurpose your art onto products, such as t-shirts or mugs
Teach what you know
Turn your process into a custom strategy and sell it as a course
Solve your own problems, and then sell your solutions
Study offers that inspire you and reverse engineer them (*but make it your own)
5. Promote
We need traffic and eyeballs on our stuff. Otherwise, all our work will go unnoticed.
So we need to do some marketing — but don’t worry, this doesn’t mean being salesy or bugging people with “buy me” posts. Modern marketing is more about creating genuine, non-salesly and engaging content.
Luckily, if you’ve been building an audience through content creation, promoting your stuff will be easier.
This is because great content builds trust and establishes an emotional connection. This segues perfectly into demand and selling.
Effective marketing follows a funnel pattern:
Awareness —> Consideration —> Conversation —> Loyalty
You can learn marketing strategies pretty easily online these days. Or you can reverse engineer the marketing campaigns of successful creatrepreneurs to understand their tactics.
Put another way, you’re not alone and you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. There are formulas to follow and tons of free resources available.
Here are a few common ways to promote your product:
In your newsletter
Running paid ads (*this takes some technical finesse and marketing chops)
Within blog posts
Within social media content that highlights the benefits of your product or service
Paying other influencers to promote and use your offer (sponsorships)
Creating and sharing your QR code
In-person events (busking, art shows, creative markets, etc.)
6. Test + Read the Data
Never assume you know anything without first testing or gathering actual data.
This sounds obvious, but it’s a common mistake many people make (myself included).
We assume we know what our audience wants. We assume our product is perfect and ready for the masses. And we assume if we just follow the script, everything will go smoothly.
But I’m constantly being humbled and reality checked. So don’t fall for the Dunning-Kruger effect.
This is when a lack of experience or knowledge on a subject makes you believe you know more than you actually do.
Put another way, the more you study something (anything), the more you’ll realize you don’t know.
So as soon as you think you’ve got it all figured out, hit pause and ask yourself one question: “do I really, though?”
This is a good habit to get into and ensures you stay competitive and agile.
You can use things like surveys or polls and your social media or Google Analytics dashboards to get insights and data.
Outside feedback and unbiased data will be your guide for growing and optimizing your offer and your brand.
It’s creative grunt work, but it’s necessary.
BONUS (develop your UVP + brand)
As you create more content, develop your offer(s), learn more about your audience and become a stronger creatrepreneur, you’ll learn what makes you stand out.
You’ll develop a UVP and build a strong personal brand. These are your greatest assets — the stuff that can’t be copied.
A UVP (unique value proposition) is what makes you different from everyone else in your niche.
Some examples of potential UVPs for creatives include:
A different style
Experience
A higher quality service offering
Your individual story
Some unique blend of mediums
Being a first-mover in your niche with a novel product or offer
If you’re not immediately sure what makes you different, no stress.
It’s just something to keep in mind as you grow, as it can seriously elevate your creative brand.
Recommended: Branding for Creatives
Creative Entrepreneurship (some faqs)
To wrap up this guide, here are some common FAQs on creative entrepreneurship.
What are some creative entrepreneurship ideas?
Here are some business ideas for creative entrepreneurs:
Etsy shop owner (or a similar marketplace)
Blogger or freelance writer
Starting a personal brand through social media
Creativity coach
Selling handmade goods
Video editor
Filmmaking studio
Photography agency
Music producer or music studio
Fashion designer
Interior design
Web designer
Indie illustrator
Full-time artist (sell art to businesses; teach; trade shows; commissioned work; etc.)
Full-time musician (studio musician; teaching; playing shows; etc.)
What is the difference between an entrepreneur and creative entrepreneur?
Fine lines and splitting hairs, where does entrepreneur end and creatrepreneur begin?
The biggest difference is a creative entrepreneur uses their creativity or artistic skill set to build a product and business.
An entrepreneur on the other hand does not (or at least, to a much lesser extent).
How can a creative entrepreneur be successful?
This isn’t the most groundbreaking answer, but reaching goals comes down to simply not quitting.
Showing up, staying consistent and being patient are true secrets to success. And I think we all know this.
The trick is in having long-term time horizons, realistic expectations and a love for the process (and also improving along the way).
Because if you continue to simply show up everyday and push yourself to learn, adapt and get better, there’s only one result: you will find success (eventually).
So stay the course – your future self is waiting.
Why is creative entrepreneurship important?
Imagine a world without creativity. Awful, right?
Now imagine business, products and services without innovation or artistic finesse.
Also awful.
Suffice to say, the marriage of creativity and entrepreneurship is essential for building brand, innovating products and services and connecting with consumers.
Entrepreneurship allows creatives to pursue their artistic visions and change the world in often the most aesthetic and share-worthy ways.
So why is creative entrepreneurship important? Well, it supports innovation and more art in the world and adds more creativity into our daily life.
And who could argue with the awesomeness of that?
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