Not too long ago I had the opportunity to sit down with a group of CreativeLive students attending a special week of programming in our Seattle studios. This conversation was never intended to be published, but after listening to this intimate conversation with some fellow creators, I had to share it.
One of the things I really love about having students in the studio is 1:1 interaction and that non-tangible exchange that happens when a group of people gets together.
Let’s face it, the internet can be a mixed bag. It’s sometimes hard to ask important questions. It’s been hugely beneficial for me to seek out and find safe communities where I can learn, explore, and ask questions that I might otherwise be afraid to ask, and this is something I recommend all of you find, too.
A few topics we explored:
- To find your niche and truly differentiate yourself, you need to make art that no one else can make. Show the world how you see the world.
- If you want to make money with your art but don’t enjoy the business side of it, you have two good options: either partner with someone who enjoys the business side or figure out exactly how much you need to comfortably live, and reverse engineer what it would take to make just that much without having to do too much of the stuff you hate.
- To build a community, first start by giving and asking nothing in return. If you want likes, comments, and shares on your photos, first give likes, comments and shares to others. Participate.
Enjoy!
If you ever wanna make a dollar, there’s a business component to it.
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Questons Asked
- How do I figure out my niche in photography? [10:00]
- What do you do if you like something but you know it won’t make you any money? [16:27]
- How do you balance being an artist and a business person? [19:00]
- What is your vision for CreativeLive? [27:00]
- What are your thoughts on intention? [34:40]
- Do you have advice for someone who’s creating a community? [38:26]
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
- If you don’t know what your niche is, just keep trying things until something sticks. [10:10]
- In a perfect world, you’re taking pictures that no one else in the world could take. [13:00]
- Check out Chris Guillebeau’s book, Born for This, to learn about the venn diagram that can guide you to finding a career that you love. [13:55]
- You can’t find your personal style until you exercise it. [15:30]
- How Lady Gaga went from being a regular performer at a bar to being… Lady Gaga. [15:51]
- How Ansel Adams kicked his photography career off by selling photos for 25 cents and then hawking them at parties where he was hired to play the piano. [16:55]
- How my artistic pride lost me a billion dollar deal. [19:20]
- If you can tell yourself the right story of your success, figuring out how to get there is actually pretty easy. [20:35]
- Being a wedding photographer isn’t niched down far enough. Instead, niche down as far as saying that you shoot wedding for pro wide receivers. [23:40]
- If you don’t enjoy the business side of your art you have two good options. Either partner with someone who enjoys the business side or figure out exactly how much you need to comfortably live, and reverse engineer what it would take to make just that much. [24:48]
- You wouldn’t build a house without a plan. Treat your business the same way. [25:00]
- How one audience member is using CreativeLive and Photoshop as medicine to taper off opioids. [27:00]
- My take on the importance of creativity and its role in our future. [28:30]
- Creativity is a habit, not a skill. [29:43]
- “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it” – Simon Sinek. [32:47]
- A lesson in intention and “what is art?”. [35:00]
- What your brain is evolutionarily designed to do. Hint: it’s not to keep you happy. [41:25]
- How I got into photography from oil painting. [43:30]
- The power of visualization. [45:14]
- To build a community, first start by giving and asking nothing in return. [46:10]
- You have to do the work if you want to build community. [50:23]
- A lesson in intention and “what is art?”. [35:00]
- What your brain is evolutionarily designed to do. Hint: it’s not to keep you happy. [41:25]
- How I got into photography from oil painting. [43:30]
- The power of visualization. [45:14]
- To build a community, first start by giving and asking nothing in return. [46:10]
- You have to do the work if you want to build community. [50:23]
This podcast is brought to you by CreativeLive. CreativeLive is the world’s largest hub for online creative education in photo/video, art/design, music/audio, craft/maker, money/life and the ability to make a living in any of those disciplines. They are high quality, highly curated classes taught by the world’s top experts — Pulitzer, Oscar, Grammy Award winners, New York Times best selling authors and the best entrepreneurs of our times.
