This is an age-old conundrum.
There is a long-standing, age-old belief in the world that being a professional artist of any sort doesn’t pay. Right alongside this idea is the notion of the “starving artist”.
Many people will tell you how impossible it is to make money writing, painting, cooking, acting, singing, and so on. Pick an art and you’ll pick a way to earn little to nothing, they’ll insinuate or state outright.
Lots of messages out there will tell you that you can create stuff or make money.
Why not both?
Be relentless
It’s not easy to create stuff and make money at the same time. At least, not right off the bat.
The myth of the overnight success is pervasive and, frankly, invasive. Lots of stories both true and false are out there emphasizing this. The reality is, however, that most creatives put in time and sweat equity, plus energy and perseverance to create stuff and make money.
You must be relentless. Relentless, in this instance, is how you treat yourself and what goes into the pursuit of your goals. To both create stuff and make money takes constant, ongoing work.
Often, that work is self-reliance and putting yourself where you need to be to get the work done. For every writer with a finished book(s), there are probably 10 times as many writers who’ve never finished. Then, there are 10 times that many would-be writers who never even started.
This also applies to every actor, musician, painter, and other artist you can think of. To go from idea to finished product is a matter of being relentless in your thoughts, feelings, intent, and actions to make it so.
Once you have the creation, a new level of being relentless is required to make money from the stuff that you create.
Easy on paper and conceptually. Less so when it comes to the work.
Create stuff and make money
This is the challenge I still work on regularly.
Marketing is important because, without it, you have uncertain avenues to sales. Even with it, there’s still a lot of uncertainty to consider.
Still, to create stuff and make money, you can’t just be a creative. You must promote yourself, promote your work, market to the appropriate people and groups, and so on.
Sometimes you will need help with this. You might need to get a publicist, a marketing company, and/or some other form of expert to help you take your creativity to the next level to make more money from it.
You might also, at least for a time, need to work another job part-time or full-time while you create stuff and work to make money from it. This can be tricky, especially when the time working for someone else interferes with doing your work.
This can also get frustrating when you put in the work, take new approaches, and try new things, yet still aren’t seeing the degree of success or making the kind of money you’d like to.
The truth is that while you can create stuff and make money, if you’re an independent of any sort, you’re the whole business. You are in charge of productivity, hiring and firing yourself, and all else. That can be intimidating.
This is also an interesting challenge when you’re great at creating, but need help with the other elements of all it takes to make money.
No matter the case, it’s not a question of either/or. Create stuff or make money? Both is an acceptable answer. For some, it’s the ideal answer, too.
Create stuff, make money, live mindfully
This is, unfortunately, a fear-based society you and I live in. Hence, fear is often used and abused to keep you on someone else’s notion of the “right” path.
When you’re an artist and create stuff, you tend to make your own path. That can, will, and does run counter to society’s expectations of and for you. This can cause a great deal of distress along the way.
Because you must be relentless, you will likely try and fail a few times. Possibly many times and in many different ways. This can be frustrating, upsetting, and annoying. However, you also have the advantage of living mindfully when you create stuff and turn around to use it to make money.
Too many people see no options aside from the societally acceptable ones. They take jobs and live lives that they’d really prefer to improve upon, but are too scared to create stuff and use it to make money. Sure, for some people, this is fine. Maybe for you. But if not, you can apply active conscious awareness – mindfulness – to take action. Work with your thoughts, feelings, intentions, and approach, here and now, to change your life. If that means you create stuff and make money, go for it.
Never before have people been so capable of doing, learning, and growing on their own. The internet is a wealth of resources and ideas you can use in many ways to create stuff and make money. It’s often as simple as a Google search away.
You are worthy and deserving of both creating stuff and making money. It need not be an either/or proposition. If that’s what you desire, isn’t today a good day to make a start?
Thanks for reading. As I share my creative journey with you, I conclude with this: How are you inspired to be your own creator – whatever form that takes?
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