Passion to Profession: L@5 6/8/18

Here are the show notes for the latest 
Instagram Live @ Five
Original Broadcast: June 8, 2018



"I want to paint full-time, how do I go about turning my art into a profession?" 

This great question, submitted by one of our viewers, formed the basis for the June 8th broadcast of 
Live @ Five.

Here is the show recap!

From Passion to Profession... 


The most important thing to do in order to turn your Passion into a Profession is to start thinking of your studio/creative endeavors as a business!

• Develop a long-term plan for where you want your creative efforts to take you.
• Continue generating your art/offering and commit yourself to creating a meaningful body of work.
• As you're building up your portfolio you also need to set aside half of your time to growing and marketing your business (yes, I said 50% of your time).
• Really take it seriously and think of your work as much as a business as it is a creative, artistic practice!

These are the 4 key elements I recommend you have in place if you wish to transform your creative endeavors from a pastime profession to a full-time profession:

1. Business License

• Make sure your operation is up to any local or national legal standards.
• I recommend using your proper name as your business name, for example "Jane Smith Art", "Jane Smith Studio", etc.
• People need to be able to identify you as the business owner so that they can further connect with you.
• Oftentimes creative and whimsical business names, while fun to create, obscure the person behind the business. 
• By using your proper name in your business licensing your name can stay the same even if your business transforms.

2. Social Media

• You should have one or more social media accounts
• Set-up accounts on as many platforms as you like: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, etc. 
• Don't overextend yourself.
• In the beginning, narrow down to one or two platforms that you enjoy as a user and nurture those daily to build an engaged audience. 
• (Oh, by the way... I'm in the process right now of creating an online course that will help you through this very process. In the course I'm sharing the methods I currently use to grow my own creative enterprise using social media.)
• Remain professional and on brand when posting to your social media accounts.
• Save the rants, vacation photos, and cat videos for private accounts only.
• Be consistent across all your profiles so people know who you are no matter what platform they find you on.
• Use your business name, based on your personal name, for all your accounts.
• Use the same photo of you (recommend) or of your logo for all your accounts .
• Post regularly to your profiles.
• I recommend once daily for Instagram and 2-3 times a week for Facebook.

3. Website

• It's a must that you have a website, it's your home base on the internet and should include, at minimum:
• Portfolio 
• People will contact you through your creative work so let that be the focal element.
• If you have an extensive portfolio (more than 25 or so images) pare it down or organize into groups.
• Contact information 
• Make sure visitors to your website have a way to reach you. 
• About page
• Tell visitors about your creative enterprise; who you are, what you create, and why you do it.
• Share what makes you unique and what makes your art special. 
• When you first create your website here are some things to consider:
• It does not have to be perfect, just get it up and live so people have a place to go to see your work and get to know you better.
• Even just a contact page as a placeholder for a full website is enough until you get things going.
• You can build out as you go and add more elements.
• Don't get stuck in perpetual "Coming Soon"; remember your goal should be published not perfect, get something up and you can tweak it later.

4. Business Card

• This may seem old school in today's digital world, but a business card will be one of the hardest working assets in your marketing toolkit.
• What to include:
• An image of your art, offering, or a design which conveys your unique style.
• Your name.
• Your discipline/offering.
• Your preferred method of contact (if you only want to be contacted via email then just include your email address).
• Your social media handles.

To catch the next Live @ Five tune in to my Instagram @AliciaTormey every Friday at 5pm PST. Thanks for watching, thanks for listening, and thanks for reading!

To learn more about Alicia's original art, hands-on workshops, and online courses, check out her website aliciatormey.com.