The Art of Work - Fresh Thinking for Creative People

Don't Sell...Make Friends

2012-01-12T18:16:00.001Z

You might sell a stranger something once, but isn't it better to make a friend - who might come back again and again because they like you and they love what you do? People don't like being overtly 'sold' to. (think, honestly, how you feel when someone presses the hard sell on you...) Much better to put aside the hard sell and concentrate on getting to know your customers instead - and on letting them get to know you.

They may not buy something immediately - but they will remember being spoken to with respect by someone they will now regard as an interesting person rather than someone desperate for a sale. And if they like your stuff, they will buy on the basis of the killer combination of the quality of your work and the warmth of your approach - and for that same reason are much more likely to come back again and again.

Make Today Count

2012-01-05T11:54:00.000Z

Woke up with this phrase going round in my head - wondering sleepily what it meant both specifically and metaphorically. It's not just to do with wanting to get to the end of the day today having achieved something tangible. It's also about what counts and who it counts for. For the day to have real meaning my actions have to have a broader impact - not just on things that benefit me and my immediate environment. It only takes one simple thing each day, done well, to make a difference.

Reflections and Resolutions

2011-12-31T17:39:00.003Z

Reflections and Resolutions (mp3)

Runtime: 4m 15s

A few honest reflections on being focussed, being brave, showing up, spending wisely and setting personal goals for 2012. Happy New Year - Pete

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

2011-12-22T19:09:00.002Z

Apt, I think, to post this on the shortest day of the year. And a hell of a year it has been. But I'm an optimist - and I think that difficult times have within them layers of opportunity. Sometimes it's only when you have your back up against the wall that you begin to get right down to the basics of your wants and needs and really begin to consider what's essential.

2011 forced many of us to dig deep into our personal resources and start a process of renewal - a bit like Dr Who - regenerating, metamorphosing into new versions of ourselves.

2012, I wager, will see a raft of new collaborations. Creative people will work together like never before. Whether it's joint marketing and promotion, joint purchasing of materials, joint investments, or just huddling together for some shelter from the storm, it'll be safer to share our concerns and work out how to build an ark from our many small vessels. We are stronger when we work together.

No apologies for the metaphor. I see so many of you working in glorious isolation and it doesn't need to be that way. As you know, I've been working to boil my contribution down into bite size, affordable chunks. I'm now looking at ways to work with small groups to generate useful ideas, co-coach, learn from each other. This will be coupled with more publications - in both print and digital formats - tailor made, affordable content - to complement and add depth to the book I published this year.

I'm also collaborating on exciting and inspiring new courses and 'expert group' events for 2012 - offering space to learn, collaborate, exchange ideas, network, and eat great food in a really comfortable and stimulating environment. If the idea of a get-together with like minds, tasty stuff to eat, inspiring input and lively discussion appeals to you, why not join us at an event in the new year?

You can find out more, and book, at http://artofwork.eventbrite.com/

Meanwhile, I wish you all the very best for 2012. Have a fabulous Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Tell Your Story - and Tell It Well

2011-11-17T18:09:00.000Z

‎"As a creative person who is making and creating all the time, you occupy the position of being one of the most interesting, absorbing and fascinating people on the planet...You need to tell your story - and tell it well."

With less disposable income around people are more discriminating about what they buy. Recent research shows that the story of you and your work adds value and can be a clincher when it comes to making a sale. You owe it to yourself to send out the most compelling message about your work that you can.

Not everyone is a natural writer or teller of stories. However, there are a few things you simply have to do, if you are to inspire and enthuse people to buy, recommend, or review and promote your work.

You need to:

Find your voice - tell your story as opposed to talking about yourself.
Tell the stories of your work - what inspires and influences you and the beliefs and values that drive you.
Make decisions about what parts of the story to tell, and what to leave out.
Prepare text to use in your marketing materials.
Decide on the right medium to use to tell your stories - face to face, the web, social media, or the printed page.

Stories are the currency of human relationships. The most valuable bits of our history, culture and value systems get transmitted through storytelling. Why produce a 'me too' brochure, website or postcard, when the thing that will sell your work, over and over again, and will enthuse people to talk about it to each other thereby transmitting it virally, and will add value (I mean real cash value) to your work - is the story behind it and the artist who made it.

I'd rather sit and talk to an artist and maker about how to develop the story of their work than talk about the 4 p's. The theory is useless without the substance. I'm spending much more of my time now working on this, because it is really important - for both individuals and organisations too. If you'd like to find out more, have a look here: artofwork.eventbrite.com

Reader's Christmas Special

2011-11-14T16:15:00.004Z

Hi - It's coming up Christmas, I'm nearly at the end of the first print run, and I wanted to share the love. Readers, Facebook and Twitter followers may now buy the book for £9.99 - until my boxes are all empty and I need to phone the printer again, that is!

A couple of lovely comments this week: 'I hug your book' and 'should be on every dreamer's bookshelf'. I'm humbled.

Thanks for your loyalty this year. Watch out for the drivetime version of Make Your Creativity Pay - a special audio version for audiobook fans - coming soon.

If you want to find out more visit www.makeyourcreativitypay.com or join up on Facebook at www.facebook.com/makeyourcreativitypay

Upcoming Talk and Workshops

2011-11-10T10:04:00.001Z

Just a quick update to let you all know that we have now set up an Eventbrite page to manage our ever expanding range of Talks and Workshops. Eventbrite is a great tool, enabling you to professionalise the marketing and booking of events.

Eventbrite integrates well with social media - meaning you can post events direct to your Facebook page, and Tweet them as you go. There is also an Eventbrite app for Facebook, so you can have a tab on your page specifically for your events and workshops. You also get a profile page that remains static however much you alter your events schedule. Eventbrite hompage is here. It's seriously worth a look.

To get an idea of how it all works in practice, have a look at our new page.

I'll be back soon with more posts about the business of art, craft, design and creativity - meanwhile, very best wishes - Pete

Who's The Best Judge Of Your Talent? (and it's not your mother/lover/best mate/brother)

2011-09-07T10:33:00.000+01:00

I found myself watching the X Factor auditions the other night, and reflecting on how many of the failed auditionees could have been spared their pain and embarrassment if someone had done the honourable thing and been straight up with them about their lack of talent. Instead, some had obviously been told that they were really good and that they should go for it. Did they get knowingly dishonest feedback, or were they naively misguided? Who knows.

The problem is this, I've met people who have set up businesses on the basis of similar misinformation. Someone close to them said their work was good, and they committed to the whole set up - without bothering to conduct any further reality checks. Tragic. This may all sound a little harsh but it is, unfortunately, true.

What's the lesson? Get independent feedback - when starting up, when branching out, when you need to know if an idea or product is going to cut the mustard. Your mates love you too much to be objective. Constructive, objective criticism might be uncomfortable. But it'll save you a shedload of cash and pain in the long run. And if you have got the X factor, it'll help you get where you want to go much, much faster.

To find out more about the book, visit http://www.makeyourcreativitypay.com/ or if you are a Facebook fan, you can find the book page at www.facebook.com/makeyourcreativitypay

The eBook (144 pages, 5 by 8, £5.25) can be downloaded instantly from http://snurl.com/1y2zln

The Heart of the Matter

2011-08-25T10:15:00.000+01:00

This feedback appeared on Amazon yesterday. I decided to share it, because it sums up the core of my intentions in writing the book way, way better than I can...

"There are many books out there dedicated to helping creative people make money from what they make. Some can be very overwhelming with the underlying message of "look at these people, why aren't you doing it too?". This book is different. It's based in the real world and understands that people still have to pay mortgages, bills and other responsibilities such as caring, parenting and that in order to do that they need to work away from the creative stuff (like me).

I read this and made copious notes alongside the text as I did. I will revisit these notes and the text many times to help me start my business. I believe this book will lead people into a well ordered and well planned creative life. Helping them to take account of all that life throws at them. I loved it and highly recommend it's down to earth and realistic view of how creative people can plan ahead, stay motivated and still live their dream. I now feel much more structured in my approach to my future. A good read."
J***y - Amazon 5* review

Notionally, the book is about marketing and business, websites and social media. But really, it's about people and the things that inspire them and the way they get to grips with their ideas in their own way, in thier own time, and on their own terms.

Thanks J***y, I don't know who you are, but I hope you stay in touch. I'd really, really like to know how all this turns out.

To find out more about the book, visit http://www.makeyourcreativitypay.com/ or if you are a Facebook fan, you can find the book page at www.facebook.com/makeyourcreativitypay

The eBook (144 pages, 5 by 8, £5.25) can be downloaded instantly from http://snurl.com/1y2zln

Page 13 - Competitors or Allies?

2011-07-26T18:18:00.000+01:00

Talk to your competitors – they might actually be your allies. I’m always amazed by how cagey people are about their perceived competitors. Scared I guess that others will grab their share of the market. To use an analogy – if you are shopping for shoes, where would you rather go? To a local village with one shoe shop, or to a city where you know there are many shoe shops within striking distance of each other?

Big retailers use this clustering phenomenon to their advantage. The lesson to be learned here is one of differentiation. If your work stands out you will have nothing to fear from being in proximity to, or even working with, your competitors.

If you are a Twitter user, you can tweet this blog to your followers by clicking here

To find out more about the book, visit http://www.makeyourcreativitypay.com/ or if you are a Facebook fan, you can find the book page at www.facebook.com/makeyourcreativitypay

The eBook (144 pages, 5 by 8, £4.99) can be downloaded instantly from http://snurl.com/1y2zln

Page 36 - Discovery Marketing

2011-07-17T18:07:00.001+01:00

A few weeks ago, we held an open event in our garden. The aim was to meet new people, eat cake, and have a good time. My partner Janet had been talking with our good friend and artist Maxine Greer who has an upcoming show at Origin later in the year. She makes these wonderful paper sparrows which together make up 'Flock' - Maxine's way of raising awareness of this lovely little bird's 'threatened species' status.

Max brought along hundreds of them, and displayed them around the house and garden for people to discover as they wandered around, chatted and and ate. Our visitors were amused and amazed. It was a wonderful focus for our event, led to sales for Maxine, and contributed to a great atmosphere for the event overall.

This form of 'discovery marketing' - where people get the chance to get up close to work, sample it in some way, and get to talk with the artists, is just one of the ideas I explore on page 36 of 'Make Your Creativity Pay.'

It completely cuts out the need to feel pressured to sell - you just need to be there and talk about the work. And, of course, eat cake :)

If you are a Twitter user, you can tweet this blog to your followers by clicking here

To find out more about the book, visit http://www.makeyourcreativitypay.com/ or if you are a facebook fan, you can find the book page at www.facebook.com/makeyourcreativitypay

The eBook (144 pages, 5 by 8, £4.99) can be downloaded instantly from http://snurl.com/1y2zln

Glastonbury 2011 #1 - The Launch

2011-07-07T09:07:00.003+01:00

Well, what can I say? Back from the annual trip to Glastonbury Festival and the 'soft' - or should I say 'muddy' launch of Make Your Creativity Pay.

We met some great people - Robin Wood, from the Heritage Crafts Association - doing some bodging, Tom Vaughan - demonstrating the art of Coracle building, and a lovely chap called Ian Thorpe who talked about the archaeology of Bee Keeping. I also sadly missed Sophie Hussain - the stained glass artist who featured in the Mastercrafts series on TV.

I'm going to follow up this post with photos and more in depth info about all of these people.

Felix and I took some advice from page 83 - and made some T shirts to help with a bit of low key promotion. (Thanks to Avalon Ales for letting us distribute flyers in their bars). Now were are back, and getting seriously into book promo mode. The paperback (144 pages A5, £11.99) is available now on pre-order (postage free for the first 25 to order) and the ebook (144 pages, 5 by 8, PDF and ePub, £4.99). You can buy them from the Paypal store on the sidebar >>>

But that's enough of that! Robin Wood is doing some seriously sterling work on behalf of traditional crafts, and it wouldn't surprise me if we see a new raft of crafts programming on TV shortly. Why don't you look him up and join the HCA page at: http://www.facebook.com/Heritage-Crafts-Association

All the best for now - I'll be back with more Glasto news shortly!

If you're thinking about Self-Employment...

2011-05-31T14:36:00.000+01:00

Taking the first step to self employment, however small or part-time that might be, is exciting and challenging and scary in equal measure.You’ll find yourself surrounded by people with differing opinions. Champions - who will encourage you to do it and doubters - who will question the risk.

The champions will radiate energy and support and will be there for you through the sticky moments, the doubters will drain you and add to your resistance. Gravitate towards those who support and encourage, and stay away from the doubters if you can - or at least insert some metaphorical earplugs if you can’t. And don’t procrastinate.

Don’t wait for better economic conditions, or for the stock markets to pick up, or until you’ve got that production process or cake mix just perfect. Procrastination has a whole armoury at it’s disposal. So if you find yourself with a list of pre-conditions to getting started; when the kids are older, when you’ve got enough time, when you’ve got enough cash, please make sure you aren’t simply putting it off.

Cos’ when you finally get started, when you overcome the resistance and the doubters, when you’ve done the first job and sent out the first invoice or had a wodge of cash put in you hand, and had your first satisfied customer say ‘Thank you, you’ve done a great job’, or ‘Can I have your business card, I need to tell my friend, colleague or boss about you’, you’ll feel like you’ve never done before.

And it beats the pants off the 9-5. I promise.

A Few Thoughts on Personal Branding

2011-05-24T22:51:00.001+01:00

Personal branding isn't all about the clothes you wear and the quality of your watch. In a smaller company, you are the personification of your brand. If you are a potter or a cake maker and live most of your life in an apron the chances are that folk will understand that. OK, someone may ask you to do a talk and you may or may not wish to put on a suit or smart casuals at that point. That's both context driven and a matter of personal choice.

It really boils down to this: the way that you talk to people and conduct yourself with others is in effect the main transmitter of your personal brand consistency.

If you have the reputation for being a cheery soul that is also exceptionally good at what you do, and who listens really carefully, and takes into account what it is that the customer really wants, then you are well on the way to creating the sort of personal brand that a creative person really needs.

However, if you're a grumpy so-and-so on Monday mornings, the suit is neither here nor there. Stay away from the phone or get someone cheery to answer it for you. I wish I were joking, but so many businesses are spoiled by a lack of awareness of the details that really count. If you're grumpy, or awkward, or you don't listen, people will simply stop calling – and you'll soon see the results in your cashflow.

At the end of the day, all marketing comes down to getting an enthusiastic 'yes!' to your proposition – whether that's a sale, a booking for a workshop or lecture, or negotiating a better rate with a supplier.

Your business is dependent on getting enough warm human beings to say 'yes'. Not just the once, but over and over again. And how you conduct yourself is absolutely critical in getting them to a 'yes' decision.

Read more like this in craft&design magazine: http://www.craftanddesign.net/
Or in my upcoming book: www.facebook.com/makeyourcreativitypay

A quick update on... The Book

2011-05-17T16:51:00.000+01:00

Oops - I've not posted in a couple of weeks. Truth is, I'm absorbed in final edits and arrangements to get 'Make Your Creativity Pay' off to the typesetter and on to the publisher. Lots of interesting things being discovered along the way - like how to do the ISBN thing, and get listed on Amazon.

Once it's all sorted, I'll share the relevant URL's.

But for now, if you're interested, or know someone who is thinking of starting a creative business, please share the facebook or website links.

www.facebook.com/makeyourcreativitypay
http://www.makeyourcreativitypay.com/

I'll be back to normal posting soon! Best wishes - Pete

QR codes - a superfast link to your website or Facebook page?

2011-04-29T10:02:00.003+01:00

You've probably started seeing these around more often - so what are they, and how might you use them?

QR codes, when scanned on a smartphone, enable the user to jump straight to a website, social media page, map, or any other information that can be linked to with a URL.

If you have a smartphone, you can download a simple free app which allows you to read them (I use QRReader on an iPhone).

QR codes are simple and free to create - all you need to do is enter the URL of the page or website you want people to visit into a QR code creator like http://quikqr.com/

QR (quick response) codes are being integrated into marketing activity all over the place, for example: guerrilla marketing campaigns, in-store displays, business cards, magazine ads, contests, direct mail campaigns, websites, and email marketing. Tourism Organisations are using them to interpret natural and historical points of interest, and QR codes have been used in Japanese cemeteries on grave markers to let mourners get access to information about the deceased. And (why doesn't this surprise me?), tattoo parlours in the States are giving QR tag tattoos that linked to people's websites and Facebook pages.

They are new and quirky enough to attract attention. How could you use one?

The code in the picture, when scanned, links directly the Facebook page for my new book: Make Your Creativity Pay. If you visit and like, I'll make sure you get interesting and useful tips like this in the run up to publication.

www.facebook.com/makeyourcreativitypay

Crafts Buying Trends

2011-04-16T17:57:00.000+01:00

From my AudioBoo account, here's some reflections on crafts buying trends and why buyers like to hear the story behind both the artist and the artefact they are buying.

Listen!

Approach Things with a Beginner's Mind

2011-04-08T16:22:00.001+01:00

I was interviewing a participant from a Cultural Leadership programme in West Yorkshire, and we were exploring the way that the programme had changed his mindset. He recalled something a mentor had said to him, and said it had a huge impact on him at the time. What was it?

'Approach things with a beginners mind'

It's one of those phrases that is all at once totally obvious and yet truly profound. How many of us are truly open minded? How many of us are prepared, when confronted with new ideas or ways of doing things, to roll the tapes back to the start - metaphorically at least, in order to try and start afresh?

It's actually extremely hard to do. I remember, as an adult, learning the basics of karate and it was just as much, if not more, about jettisoning bad habits and unhelpful patterns of thinking than it was about learning new stuff.

Real learning involves chucking out preconceptions and defunct scripts. It definitely involves getting out of the comfort zone. It may even mean starting from scratch in some respects. It's jumping and trusting the parachute.

I'm off to plant some potatoes. I've decided not to put them in the ground this year. They're going in a bag. It seems a little odd to me. Will it work? I don't know, but it's got to be worth trying things from a different starting point now and again.

For more daft ideas, join me at www.facebook.com/makeyourcreativitypay

Micropatronage - can funding really be just a click away?

2011-04-07T12:16:00.001+01:00

I attended the 'Please Give Generously' symposium on patronage in Nottingham yesterday, It was hosted by Cultivate - the audience development agency for the East Midlands. Whilst a lot of the content was clearly focussed on the way that arts and cultural organisations can access large gifts from high net worth individuals, there was some content that really stood out in terms of it's suitability for individuals or small companies seeking funds for very specific projects.

There were two presentations in particular I thought were thought provoking. The first was from Ed Whiting - the creator of the WeDidThis crowdfunding site: http://wedidthis.org.uk/ He's clearly a man with a spark, and although the site is very new, he talked convincingly about the possibilities of crowd funding as a plausible source of finance.

The second was from Jeanie Finlay - an independent film-maker, who has used crowd finance to successfully fund her film project, even taking her over to the SXSW festival in the States. Her film site at: http://www.sounditoutdoc.com/ describes the project, and her crowdfunding page at: http://www.indiegogo.com/sound-it-out shows how she has set out her stall.

She acknowledged that it had been hard work, and that the biggest challenge was getting people onto the site to see the story of the project. Once there, she's made provision for people to contribute in a number of ways, according to what they can afford, and this menu of choices has allowed her to tap into a very wide range of donors indeed. It's also very clear about what donors get back in return for their money (and it's not always what you might think). You can see who backed her and how, and some explain their motivations quite clearly.

I'm now convinced that for some, crowd funding could be really helpful way to secure funding and raise profile simultaneously. As Jeanie explained - you need to be able to tell your story convincingly - but that has a twofold benefit - many more people get to hear about your project, and some of the visitors may well end up reaching for their credit card. In effect, 'putting their money where their mouse is....'

For more in depth stuff about the economics of micropatronage,and pricing strategies - have a look at this: http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2010/09/micropatronage_sweet_spot

Meanwhile, thanks to both Ed and Jeanie for sharing what they know so generously.

Chaos and Dancing Stars

2011-04-04T18:01:00.001+01:00

The world as we knew it is dropping away from under our feet. Familiar structures, familiar ways of doing things are all being torn apart, redefined, redrawn - and at a shocking pace. What interests me is the range of reactions that I'm encountering. Yes, some are rightfully distraught and anguished, and some simply shrug and carry on. More than a few seem a little beaten.

However - many of those who you might think should be all of the above are actually responding with energy, vigour and a sense of excitement. They are rising to the challenge.

The truth of the matter is this - how you respond to chaos, upset and instability has a marked effect on where you end up.

People have asked me what my book is about - and it's not a 'how to' book, or even a business book, really. It's a 'mindset' book. It's about how the way you think affects the outcomes you get. And history tells us that there are indeed some immutable rules around creative self employment which, if followed, move you towards better outcomes.

If you are thinking of ditching the 9-5, or using redundancy as an opportunity to start afresh, or you've hit the point where you simply must act or miss the opportunity of a lifetime, then now is not a bad time to do it. Not a bad time at all. Chaos has a fertile energy to it.

"You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star." Friedrich Nietzsche

Your Audience is Closer than you Think

2011-03-08T12:35:00.003Z

I struggle sometimes to get people to take Facebook and Twitter seriously. I still hear hoots of derision and the 'I really don't care what someone's had for their lunch' retorts. Therein lies the problem. When a huge percentage of what arrives on our screen via social networking is, how shall I say this politely... 'low in relevance', it's not surprising that many folk are still not engaging with it. BUT - in amongst the chatter is an impressive amount of truly excellent content.

The thing we need to focus on is just how effective this truly excellent content is. It's generous, warm hearted, giving, and doesn't carry an overt marketing message. The best of it is pure and engaging storytelling.

Which brings me back to you. By far the most effective way to make friends, build relationships, gather support, find collaborators, win over the doubters, sway opinion and - dare I say it, sell your wares - is to tell your story. Don't be shy. Tell it loud and clear. People will read it, watch it, listen to it - because as creative people you have the best, most engaging stories in the universe.

And so to Twitter and Facebook. Social networks bring us close to people - followers and friends have chosen to fall into step with us. They have willingly opted in to our stories. Share ideas, pictures, galleries, videos, podcasts or downloads - 140 characters and a well chosen link can move people into spaces they've never been before. Your audience is waiting - tell your story well.

https://www.facebook.com/makeyourcreativitypay

Twittering in my Pyjamas

2011-02-24T18:49:00.003Z

There's not many days pass now when I don't get a number of emails telling me that I have new followers on Twitter. I seem to have gone viral - albeit in a fairly modest way. It comes down to mathematics really - if you assiduously sit and follow people who share your values and interests - they follow you back - and at a certain point, thier followers start following you as well. I reckon this begins to cut in when you have around 500 followers. I've been doing this for craft&design magazine since October last year - and now their Twitter following has topped 2100.

Where do the pyjamas come into it? Well I did most of my initial work on 'following' at quiet times - for about 15 minutes a day - just before going to bed, or just after I'd got up and made a cup of tea. It takes the pain out of the process. And the results are starting to prove quite satisfying.

I follow Hugh McLeod's maxim - give a gift with each tweet - a useful link or article - don't put overt marketing messages in your tweets, and leave a trail of breadcrumbs - easy to follow links back to your website, blog or facebook page. Hugh blogs at http://www.gapingvoid.com/.

They're striped, by the way. :)

PS. This is a secret... Don't tell anyone...I've written a book...find out more at http://www.makeyourcreativitypay.co.uk/

Collective Curiosity and new Maps of the World.

2011-01-29T11:41:00.000Z

I've been out and about in Lincolnshire over the past couple of months working with emerging arts organisations. And I'm really impressed by some of things I've seen. Times are tough, and traditional funding streams are getting harder and harder to access. A lot of people are troubled by the changes, and yes, the pace of ideologically driven change and the decimation of services as we have known them is quite sickening. However, it's the way we respond to situations that is the real measure of our collective mettle.

What's impressed me? Well, it's the degree of open minded, healthy, visionary collaboration. No whinging, no complaining. Just a clear view of what's required and a collective curiosity as to how to make it happen. With no compunction to follow old models or harp on about things being taken away.

This is the way forward. At the end of all this change, the true survivors will be the ones who have:

Taken responsibility for their own destiny
Sought out like minded people, collaborators or mentors
Taken the time to explore the nooks and crannies of possibility
Redrawn the Map
Taken some decisions, made some plans and - crucially,
Started to act on them

These are the people that will be taken seriously. Serial complainers will fall by the wayside. Grumblers will be passed over. I'm absolutely not saying we shouldn't protest. Just that protest and progress can only usefully coexist in the presence of smart thinking and action in both fields of endeavour. One mustn't be allowed to hold the other back.

If my job is to facilitate thinking, this is the way I want to work. Thanks Lincoln folk - you know who you are, for bolstering my faith.

Robin Wood/Heritage Crafts at Glastonbury

2010-07-02T16:53:00.001+01:00

I went to Glastonbury this year and had the pleasure of meeting Robin Wood – heritage craftsman and Chair of the Heritage Crafts Association. Robin has a worldwide reputation for promoting and developing Heritage Crafts.

Robin practices bowl turning using heritage craft techniques rather than contemporary bowl turning methodology – the main difference is that no sanding and finishing takes place – the final finish of the piece is determined solely by the dexterity of the crafts person and the sharpness of the tool. The piece is turned on a pole lathe, then finished with curved knives.

Robin does sterling work on behalf of the Heritage Crafts Association which is the advocacy body for traditional heritage crafts - and his stand in the Green Fields had the dual purpose of allowing Robin to demonstrate his craftsmanship and promote the work of the HCA. You can find out more about the HCA at www.heritagecrafts.org.uk/
Robin has made replica bowls, plates and cutlery for a number of nationally important exhibits including: The Mary Rose Trust, the Tower of London, The Globe Theatre, and for use in Ridley Scott’s film ‘Nottingham’

Robin has his own website at http://www.robin-wood.co.uk/

Lessons from Green & Black's

2010-05-08T09:29:00.001+01:00

Earlier this month, I had the privilege of spending the afternoon in the company of Mark Palmer – Global Marketing Director for Green & Black’s. He's been at the helm for some years now and has seen the company grow from the initial stages through to its current position as a market leader with a distinctive niche.

Mark was incredibly frank about all the ups and downs along the way, including stages during the company's development where the sheer pace of growth nearly shook it apart - where the demand outstripped the capacity both to manage resources and to bankroll the growth.
He shared, very eloquently, the mistakes he felt they had made and all the lessons he felt they had learned, the essence of the strategy they had developed and the elements he felt were prerequisite to success.
Come question time, I asked him this: How did he think the Green and Black’s strategy might translate across to solo entrepreneurs? This was his answer:

There are four stages to this:

1. Understand your niche, your product or proposition.

2. Be clear about who it is that you want to buy from you. Target carefully - its laser precision marketing - not scattergun.

3. Find a way for people to discover and taste or sample it in some way. Gather feedback; get endorsements and positive comments - especially from individuals that are a match for your demographic.

4. Incorporate this feedback into your marketing. Don't spend large amounts on marketing until you are sure that all of the above elements are working. As soon as you know something is working - immediately scale up or increase your effort in that area.

Repeat this process with new ideas or products!

What Mark said absolutely endorses all the best lessons I’ve ever had in Marketing:

• Have a great product and allow people to taste it.

• Get endorsements - from celebrities - or your version of them!

• Allow people to sample your product in whatever way proves most effective.

• Be prepared to flex your message - essentially be ready to tell your story in slightly different ways for different audiences.

• Work out where your heartland is.

• Consolidate that so you can expand without losing existing customers.

• Create advocates who will help you spread the brand.

• Who are your customers now? What is it that they are buying into? How do you make your niche bigger? Who are the low hanging fruit? Who else is a bit like the people you already sell to?

• Don't sell at the same price to everyone. Have a range of things they can buy into (what might that be for you?) Think big chocolate bars, small bars, Easter eggs, make the product cheaper and stronger by increasing content and cutting down on packaging.

• Before spending a fortune on marketing, understand your values - your DNA, the things that people really love about what you do.

• Know what differentiates you.

• Perfect your product and presentation accordingly.

• Develop a distinctive point of view.

• How can people find and sample your product? – This is ‘discovery’ marketing.

• How might they have an adventure with or distinctive experience of what you provide?

• Marketing is about charging more for your product. What does that mean? It’s not charging more for the sake of it – it’s charging more because it is unique and distinctive and it resonates with people’s higher sense of value.

Thanks Mark – it was an enlightening talk. And having tasted the chocolate (Yes – Green & Black’s practice what they preach – we all got masses of chocolate) I have to say I’m a convert – and won’t think twice about spending a little more on what is clearly a class experience.

Or join me on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5223943657

Pete Mosley

The Art of Work

I’d like to thank the Coaching Circle for the opportunity to hear Mark speak.

Creativity, Motivation & Reward

2010-04-08T20:00:00.001+01:00

What satisfies you more - recognition and financial reward, or the pure joy of creation? Or do you walk (like most of us) a bit of a tightrope between the two? Do you find the rigour of working to commission, or mass producing 'bread and butter' artefacts exciting, or does it dull your senses and blunt your creative edge?

The inbuilt problem for creative people is that we are motivated more by intrinsic factors - the love of what we do, the creative muse, the magic of it all coming together - and less by extrinsic factors like money and material rewards. In fact, scientific surveys of creative activity (externally moderated by artists and curators themselves) show that whilst quality remains high when working to commission, levels of creativity drop. The focus on monetary reward and the external influence of the commissioner on the idea itself can suppress the magic.

So how do you reconcile freedom of expression with the need to put food on the table? A survey we are currently undertaking for craft&design magazine tells us that many of you get 50% or more of your income from secondary sources - which all sounds a bit bleak. But let's think about the science again. If the creative edge is indeed dulled by monetary rewards, what's so wrong with earning at least some of your income in other ways?

I'm not going to try and provide an answer here - every single person I work with resolves this in different ways. But the realisation that some degree of separation - between the work that you do for money and the work that you do for love - might actually be quite healthy, can be freeing in an odd sort of way!

The clincher for me is this - the people that consistently do the work they love in an uncompromised way, and create works of authenticity and passion as a result, usually end up harvesting richer rewards than those who doggedly try to link the monetary reward directly to the creativity.

This can be resolved. A little support, analysis and honest feedback can go a long way!

Lessons from 25 years in Business

2010-04-02T08:04:00.005+01:00

When Paul and Angie from craft&design magazine realized that this was my 25th year in business, they asked me if I'd write a short piece reflecting on a few universal truths - success factors that seem to hold their value over time. I was happy to say yes - because I am convinced that there are a number of factors that determine whether our businesses make it in the long term.

Adaptability. The history of evolution tells us that the capacity to adapt to new conditions is a prerequisite to survival. Recession forces change, and can be a useful catalyst - the most adaptable people take on the challenge and come up with new ideas, products and strategies.

Quality. Quality always wins through in the end. And not just quality of workmanship and materials – the quality of the ideas and the authenticity and passion behind the work matter too – we’ve all seen fabulously well made work with no soul.

Track Record. Being seen to do ‘what it says on the tin’. Being reliable, consistent and on time. Doing this with a wide variety of different customers who all rate what you do and would recommend you at the drop of a hat. Maintain a great business over time and developing lasting trust from the people you deal with.

Good relationships. The very best companies nurture great relationships with everyone they deal with - from suppliers up to the most important customers. Every link in the chain is treated with equal respect.

Brilliant communication. The ability to get a message across simply, elegantly and regularly to keep people’s interest without overtly overselling.

Dashboard data. What three things do you need to keep a close eye upon on a daily basis to ensure your survival? Often cashflow, quality control and marketing activity. But this varies from business to business.

Keeping in touch. With your customer’s wants and needs - and not making assumptions based on their past behaviour. Survey your customer’s requirements regularly and adapt accordingly.

Innovate. Always have new products and ideas up your sleeve. All products, however brilliant, have a finite shelf life. There's an old saying - if you don't have a new product in development, you're not really in business.

Keep learning. Set aside time to learn new skills, attend training courses – or at least go to conferences and fairs. Be open to ideas. Make a list of things you’ve fancied learning or trying out – go to taster workshops. You never know when something will grab you and put a new spin on the way you work.

Set aside time to dream. Stephen Spielberg once said ‘I dream for a living’. It's no accident that our best ideas come to us when we are half asleep - our brain goes into Theta rhythm, the gateway between our conscious and unconscious mind opens up and the creative part of our brain gets to work. If you get stuck - the equivalent of writers block, give yourself time and let yourself go into neutral. The General Theory of Relativity was born while Einstein was lying in a meadow – where he regularly went – simply to daydream.

See this article and more like it at http://www.craft&design.net/

Listening Skills - The Art of Keeping your Mouth Shut!

2010-03-06T10:46:00.004Z

Do you know someone who hasn't quite nailed the art of listening? Or maybe, as a bloke, you know you're getting something wrong when you try to help. Have a listen to this! (Click the arrow to play)

On Deadlines, Time Management and Motivation

2010-02-10T00:02:00.005Z

I nearly missed the deadline for the latest craft&design magazine article. I stopped to buy a sandwich and check my email, and found to my horror that I had 48 hours to write something – and then spent the remainder of my journey writing 1000 words in my head, then frantically jotting down my thoughts onto my mobile phone in Tesco’s car park before doing the shopping for the evening meal.
Time is such a mercurial commodity – and in a world increasingly dominated by (allegedly) time saving technology – seems, paradoxically, to pass ever more swiftly. Now admittedly in my case, along with the loss of hair, this may be a function of age. I would however assert that many of the devices we use to manage our time end up having the opposite effect.

I watched a charming documentary about Warren Buffett hoping for clues, I guess, as to how to make my first million - only be horrified to find that Warren carries constantly in his head a tally of the number of days and hours of life he has remaining in which to achieve his life’s ambitions. As a coach, I actively encourage people to set smart goals that have clear dates and times for completion – but running a countdown to eternity seems a little extreme even to me!

And so to the reasoning behind this article. How can we manage time in simple and elegant ways? Why, despite our best efforts, do we let our personal deadlines slip – or fail to set any goals to start with?
Let’s have a look a variety of things that help and hinder our relationship with time.

Prioritising unpleasant tasks

The knowledge that something unpleasant has to be done can really slow us down. It lingers much too long on the ‘Things To Do’ list and saps our energy. It hangs around like a bad smell and pollutes our ability to get on with the more exciting stuff. There is only one solution – get the bad stuff out of the way as fast as possible. In his book ‘Eat that Frog’, Brian Tracy (a high profile performance coach) exhorts his readers to get the most unpleasant or difficult tasks out of the way first – and to set aside time and work on them exclusively until they are done. So – what is it you hate and continually put off doing? Identify it and eliminate it – ASAP – you’ll feel much better.

Beware lists

Lists are thoroughly necessary, and we all use them - but how many tasks creep from one days list to the next and remain undone? Listing encourages us to fool ourselves into thinking that something is being done. I’ve found myself being asked why something has not happened, and I say –“‘yes I know - but it’s on my list!” Maybe there are ways to manage our tasks more actively – read on…

On busy days, I write each task from my list onto a separate post-it note, and stick them all on my desk. I write the amount of time I estimate each task will take in the top right hand corner of each post-it, and arrange them in the order that I intend to tackle them. I then take great pleasure in trying to ‘beat the clock’ rewarding myself by scrunching up each post-it when the task is completed, and rewarding myself for any time I have saved with a walk in the garden or an extra cup of tea. The side effect is that I usually win a little time each day between tasks, and it feels like a bonus.

Why does this work for me? Well, there is a good reason for this. We all have a dominant sense – some of us are visual and like things in pictorial or visual form, some are auditory and like text or audio based things, and some are kinaesthetic – preferring some kind of physical activity or involvement within their activities – I’m a bit visual and a bit kinaesthetic – I like the post-its (visual) and the pleasure that comes with scrunching up the task when it is complete (kinaesthetic). What’s your sensory preference, and how can that clue help you figure out the right time management technique for you?

For example:

• You can get a lovely little application for the iPhone now that lets you make your lists in colour, and set the most important tasks to blink at you until they are done and erased.

• If you hate writing, the latest voice recognition software lets you dictate text straight into your computer (it’s actually really accurate) whilst you stroll around wearing a wireless microphone headset.

• You can download mind-mapping software that lets you organise ideas in thought bubbles visually on your computer screen.

It’s all about finding a technique that suits your values and personality.

Baby steps or big leaps?

At the end of the second world war, a lot of thought was given as to how the of reconstruction of manufacturing industry might be approached. A lot of the really effective management techniques that are used today evolved out of that process. Amongst then came a realisation that some things are best achieved in baby steps over a long period of time, and some by taking massive, decisive action – getting the change over with and new systems in place as rapidly as possible. Think about the things you want to tackle over the next year – are they best approached with a small step strategy or massive action?

A bit of psychology

There’s no point in having goals unless you do something about them – the most important thing is to make the decision to act, and then to carry out the requisite action. Otherwise all our planning is simply ‘wish-listing’.

If there’s something you want achieve, and it’s not happening, you need to know why. Most often, things don’t happen because they conflict with our values at quite a deep level.

Your values are the energy behind your goals

Some days we feel that everything is going right, work flows effortlessly, and our creative juices bubble away inside us. Sometimes we end up doing stuff that just plain feels wrong. Getting up and going to work feels like a drag, and there’s no pleasure in the work itself.

The sense of flow comes when our goals are fully congruent with our personal values. If things aren’t flowing, sometimes what we are doing has got out of kilter with our innermost sense of what’s important.

For example,

A client wants you to make more of a product that you don’t feel excited about any more.
You’ve got to do your accounts, and you’d rather be making things.
Income requirements rob you of the time to experiment with new ideas.

Any scenario of this type can rob us of energy and motivation – the trick is to recognise what’s happening and find a way around it. I’ve produced a tipsheet this month with lots of ideas and links to follow if you want to find out about or act on any of the ideas in this article. You can download it at http://www.craft&design.net/

Artist's Retreat in France

2009-05-09T13:18:00.005+01:00

My brother Frank and his partner Julie are fabulous hosts at this wonderful French retreat.

The tiny hamlet of Les Brugues, in the Dordogne (Dept 24) is just minutes from the fairytale Chateau de Biron and the beautiful Bastide towns of Monpazier, Villereal, Monflanquin and Beaumont. Les Brugues is the ideal property for a family or friends who wish to holiday in rural tranquillity, yet be within easy reach of a host of restaurants, markets, tourist attractions and every conceivable sporting/recreational facility.

For wildlife enthusiasts and nature lovers, Les Brugues is a paradise. Deer and wild boar abound Bird life is abundant and varied: Buzzards, Hawks, Kites, Barn Owls, Jays Hoopoes and Redstarts are all regular visitors to the garden and the antics of the tiny sun-loving lizards will keep you amused for hours. Woodland walking is a particular delight with a myriad of tree and plant species to be found at every step. During the month of May the surrounding fields are awash with a stunning array of wild orchids.

In September/October, the surrounding countryside reverberates with the sound of the ‘brame’ - the rutting season for the stag population. Often, at sunset, you can occasionally catch sight of these magnificent creatures silhouetted against the skyline.

For further details, contact Julie via the website at: http://www.santefrance.com/

Creative Tactics for surviving the Crunch

2009-05-06T11:10:00.005+01:00

In this article, I've focussed on a range of simple tactics for getting through the crunch. At times like this, it's prudent to simultaneously strengthen existing ties and keep an eye out for a few new opportunities.
Strengthen your base, think laterally, be open to new ideas. The history of the universe shows that survival and one's capacity to evolve are very closely linked indeed!

Here's a few things to think about:

Who are your real fans - people that stick with you through thick and thin - are you staying in touch with them, keeping them up to date with what you are doing?
Recessions affect rich people far less than those on middle incomes - are you targeting wealthy clients and customers?
Even during hard times, people tend not to cut back on gifts, special occasions and creature comforts - what do you make or do within this niche?
Are you keeping an eye on your competitors? If they are coming up with innovative ideas or marketing tactics, you need to be one step ahead - do some research!
Do you make as much of referrals and personal recommendation as you might? Make sure you leave every customer with business cards or flyers to pass on to friends, relatives and colleagues.
Are you using your email list effectively? - use it to remind people that you are still around and working, and attach your latest catalogue or provide a direct link to an appropriate webpage - keep the message as specific as possible. Divide your list up and target the message at people's personal preferences where possible.
Is your network as fresh as it might be? - look out for events that it might be prudent to attend, where you might meet new customers, clients, or others that might champion your work or spread the word.
Don't be tempted to sell goods and services cheaply - if you are offering discounts, do so for early payment or bulk or repeat purchases - it has to be advantageous to you, and not perceived as a panic sale!
Invoice other people as quickly as is prudent - cashflow is key when money is tight.
Set clear goals for yourself - and find someone to share these with - a little bit of support and encouragement goes along way!

If you'd like to know more about coaching, or think it might be good for someone you know, don't hesitate to drop me a line, or call 0141 416 0555 (internet line). To visit the main webpages, follow the 'Quick Links' on your left.

craft&design Magazine - Newsletter

2009-05-01T18:15:00.006+01:00

I write regular business articles for craft&design Magazine. They also publish a regular newsletter for makers - if you'd like to sample a copy, then follow this link. The magazine has a big following, and is stocked right across the UK - from Stornoway to the Channel Islands.

They have just asked me to join the team as business editor, so watch this space for links to articles, tipsheets and downloads.

Main magazine website: www.craftanddesign.net

Successful Fundraising - Free Download

2009-02-19T12:35:00.004Z

I write regular business articles for Craft & Design magazine, and was recently commissioned by Designer Maker West Midlands to write a PDF guide to Successful Fundraising for Designers, Makers and Artists.

I'm happy to share this with you - the link can be found at the top of my coaching page here: http://snurl.com/bvla1

Join me on Facebook

2008-11-09T18:39:00.003Z

I've now got a Creative Coaching group on Facebook - and I'd like you to join me there. If you have a creative website or blog, and like to contribute ideas and connect with other creatives - join me on the group here: Pete Mosley - Creative Coach/Consultant

The 'Human Givens' - a self-coaching exercise

2008-11-09T18:35:00.003Z

The Human Givens is a really great tool for checking the balance in your life and work - try it out.

How to use the 'Human Givens'

Open up the checklist here and for best results, print it on a sheet of A4.

Consider each area on the chart, and score yourself from 0-10 in each area - 0 being unsatisfied, 10 being totally satisfied.

It is usual for the scores to vary - however the closer you are to 10 in each area, the more fulfilled and rounded off you tend to be. If you find that you have very low scores in one or more areas, then you need to take action in those areas to bring things back into balance.

A lot of this can be improved on a DIY basis once you are aware of the imbalances. Sometimes it's hard to put your finger on the best solution - which is where a coach can be a really useful 'critical friend'!

Try it out, see what you think..

Ansoff's analysis

2008-09-02T13:20:00.003+01:00

Thinking creatively about new products, services and customers.

Ansoff was a clever chap - he devised this really simple grid analysis to help people like you and me think laterally about ways to develop and diversify.

As Jack Trout explains in his book 'Differentiate or Die', we need to keep innovating if we want people to choose us rather than our competitors. Ansoff's is a simple and fun way to think about new things we could be making and doing, and new people we could be making and doing things for - whilst not losing sight of all the great stuff we do already!

Download the exercise, and have fun with it. Better still get a colleague or family member to help - two brains are better than one.

Coaching Podcast #2 Relaxing Birdsong

2008-04-30T13:47:00.003+01:00

I recorded this relaxing birdsong whilst staying in a Forest Lodge in Keldy, North Yorkshire, last weekend. I find relaxation tracks like this one are really useful for slowing down a busy brain. If you'd like written information about my coaching services, or a sample coaching call, please drop me a line at pete@petemosley.com

You can download the track for your mp3 player here

Creative Timelines Revisited

2008-04-15T14:18:00.002+01:00

I thought I'd re-post this as it is the single most visited page on this blog. I've also recently explored some NLP based exercises based on timelines - watch out for a separate post on that in the very near future.

Timelines are a wonderful way to visualise events in chronological order. All you need to create a successful timeline is a large sheet of paper - a flipchart sheet will do - although you can use an unrolled length of lining paper (dirt cheap at B&Q or similar) if you are feeling really ambitious.

Arm yourself with a selection of marker pens, and decide how long your timeline will be - this can be marked on the paper as a straight line or a wiggly path - depending how creative you want to be, and marked off in units of time - usually months - the picture above is a fragment of a large timeline depicting the process of planning and developing a new youth centre.

I find it helpful to start the process off using mini post-its. Then you have the opportunity to move things around as you explore which events are dependent on each other. When you have the final arrangement, you can then transfer your commentary onto the line in a more permanent way.

Stick your timeline up on the office wall - that way you can tinker with it - revisiting the diagram as events unfold and your actual path becomes clearer.

This is an ideal tool with which to lead a group through everything that is involved in planning new projects or events - it's highly involving and supports rapid thought processes.

I've used it with groups as diverse as national Charities and youth groups planning expeditions.

It's one of those exercises that allows a group of people of differing status to work together on a more equal footing.

Coaching Podcast #1

2008-04-15T13:14:00.008+01:00

This the first in a series of podcasts about coaching. I specialise in coaching creative people - across the full range of the Creative Industries and beyond - I regard most entrepreneurs as creatives also. Have a listen - this first instalment explains how and why I do what I do. Subsequent stories will be about things that have been achieved using a 'coaching' approach. If you'd like written information, or a sample coaching call, please drop me a line at pete@petemosley.com

Celebrating Success - the LCSI Impact Study

2008-03-13T12:46:00.004Z

For the last three years I've been one of the business advisors for the Lincolnshire Creative Solutions Initiative. Now the programme has come to an end, Adroit Economics have published the Impact Study showing the massive benefits to the Creative Industries scene that have come out of the work. To download a full PDF of the report, Click here: LCSI Impact Study

One to One support

2008-01-03T14:17:00.001Z

Would you like support from:

Someone who actually runs a successful business?
Who can provide support tailored to your precise needs?
Delivered at a time, place and pace to suit you?
At a realistic cost, and in affordable chunks?

I'm now offering a package of one to one consultancy especially designed for small creative businesses which will provide you with a combination of face to face meetings, email and telephone support, delivered over whatever period of time suits you best. For instance a day's worth of consultancy can be demand-fed over a period to suit you. You'd be amazed how much useful stuff you can produce from seven hours of specialist input.

Sound interesting? Drop a line to pete@petemosley.com

Creative Strategy - Artist Blacksmith magazine

2007-08-29T09:51:00.001+01:00

I was delighted to contribute a three page article to this summer's issue of Artist Blacksmith Magazine. The invitation came from Fran Mackereth, this quarter's guest editor. Fran, together with her husband and business partner Tim (the man with the hammer)are the creative force behind Anwick Forge in Lincolnshire - pictured above.

Three of us worked together on a trilogy in support of creative business development - Fran wrote about her involvement with the Lincolnshire Creative Solutions Initiative, John Owens (ex-Business Link) wrote a really interesting article about the 'Three Legged Stool' approach to running a business, and I contributed a three page article on Creative Business Strategy.

These articles have been incredibly well received in the Blacksmithing world, with requests to reprint the articles in the German equivalent of Artist Blacksmith.

All three articles can be found as PDF files on the links below:

Creative Strategy
Developing a Creative Enterprise
The Three Legged Stool

Tim and Fran were clients of mine on the LCSI scheme - the Anwick Forge website can be found at: www.anwickforge.co.uk/

C I Research #6 Twentythree Cyprus

2007-08-29T09:24:00.000+01:00

Twentythree offer bespoke furniture, interior design and clothing at their premises in Central Nicosia. They have just moved into new premises in Ledra Street – the main shopping street in the tourist area of the City. Working in partnership Constantinos and Sophie are developing the shop – and manufacturing furniture at a nearby workshop.

Ledra Street is famous as the location of the main checkpoint between the Turkish controlled north and Cypriot controlled south of the city. The checkpoint itself became something of a tourist attraction – where you could glimpse the ruined area on the Turkish side, which had simply been abandoned as part of the buffer zone after the time of the Turkish invasion.
In anticipation of relations thawing, the barrier and security has been scaled down, and regeneration monies are now being made available to small businesses like Twentythree who are willing to gamble on real progress being made in this area of the city.

In addition to the shop, Constantinos and Sophie have wider creative interests – Sophie is part of the Noise arts collective and Constantinos is a musician working with electronic music in a band called Babamat. My interview with them helped me understand exactly how, in the face of little external funding, artists are grouping together in order to create opportunities and promote themselves and each other. Nicosia offers a very lively arts scene and self-generated activity helps create and sustain the market – however, they were quite open about potential drawbacks – such as the danger of cliques developing, and collective activity being perceived, counterproductively, as exclusive.

email: info@twentythree.com.cy

Web address: www.twentythree.com.cy//

Podcast #3: Ashi Marwaha

2007-07-11T14:36:00.001+01:00

Ashi Marwaha is a jeweller based in Gainsborough. She exhibits widely, with work featured in a number of high profile galleries and outlets. I spoke with Ashi about changes in her approach to the perennial issue of costing work, how those changes are benefiting her, and the goals she is setting for the next twelve months.

Web address: www.ashimarwaha.com/

C I Research #5 AccessArts Cyprus

2007-07-05T09:29:00.001+01:00

AccessArts is the emergent Cypriot equivalent of Artists Newsletter. Activity is based around a web portal, and they have just published the second issue of Arteri – an exciting and well produced arts magazine.
The website acts as a hub for artists, providing news, online galleries, a blog, directories, Classifieds advertising, Jobs section –and much more. It is a ‘hub and spokes’ site around which much of the arts activity in southern Cyprus clusters. The site was conceived and set up by Nema McMorran. She could see that creatives (both those working as individuals and artist led groups) were working in relative isolation from each other.

The site offers a chance for people to become aware of each other’s existence through regular listings and news articles, to register as members, receiving news of events and opportunities by email, to have their business listed in the extensive directory, and to receive the quarterly magazine ARTERI - also available on the site as a PDF e-zine.

Nema also talked about the way that artists are beginning to use the web in a creative way – not just traditional websites but Web 2 alternatives such as blogging and social networking sites such as MySpace.

Nema expressed a strong interest in creating a virtual link with creatives in Lincolnshire – especially if the proposed Art on the Map website is launched. The aims of the two sites are similar, and the characteristics of the artists who cluster around them are too close to ignore. We are in the process of following this up.

By sheer chance, Nema is familiar with Lincolnshire and has family connections there – a fact unknown to me until we met.

Web address: www.accessarts.com.cy/

C I Research #4 Cyprus Open Studios

2007-07-05T09:26:00.000+01:00

Quite a recent development, Open Studios is an annual event for visual artists running in late summer/early autumn – aimed at extending the selling season. The Open Studios Scheme served the Paphos area (west Cyprus) in its first year of operation, and is slowly extending its reach to include Limassol (central) and Larnaca (east) this year. The aim is to serve the whole of South Cyprus.

Nic Costas – one of the members of the Management Committee was fairly open in his admission that the model for the Open Studios scheme was adapted from UK schemes that he had experienced while he was studying over here. In common with Access arts, he is also enthusiastic about UK/international artists visiting Cyprus – there is strong desire to develop the sector through such exchanges.

Cyprus Open Studios has web portal. Nic is keen to follow up our opening discussions – we both feel there is a ‘twinning’ opportunity here.

Web address: www.openstudioscy.com/

C I Research #3 Tekniart Cyprus

2007-07-05T09:24:00.001+01:00

In addition to his role on the committee of Cyprus Open Studios, Nic runs a business called Tekniart in Paphos. Tekniart offers a very wide range of services – primarily to people wanting to learn or develop visual arts and 3D skills. Nic also offers portfolio preparation support – for artists wishing to apply to overseas colleges and universities. This has been developed into a one-year accredited Foundation Course – past graduates have had a lot of success in getting places as far afield as Greece, Italy, Germany, Holland and the United Kingdom. The business also offers language and maths support for young people.

Tekniart also offers a rural retreat - a range of cottages available for private hire in the small village of Lemona, in the foothills of the Troodos Mountains.

Nic and I spoke at length about the way in which artists often develop a portfolio of different skills and offerings in order to make ends meet – Tekniart takes this to it’s logical conclusion. The offer is far more than can be explained in a short summary here – the website offers a visually rich introduction to Nic and his business.

Web address: www.tekniart.net/

C I Research #2 - Red Jelly Web Design

2007-07-05T09:19:00.000+01:00

Red Jelly operates with a dual base – Edinburgh and Cyprus – and Richard Jocelyn has extensive client lists in both countries. Talking with Richard revealed a lot about ways in which companies can work remotely and have a client list that spans a number of EU countries.

The dual base is the unintentional result of an as yet uncompleted move to a single base in Larnaca. However, the spin off has been that Richard has retained and continues to service blue chip clients in the UK. As it happens, this has been to his advantage, as design work commands a far higher premium in the UK than in Cyprus.

Richard has identified and is developing a client base amongst the expatriate business community, and is building working relationships with property developers wishing to advertise primarily to an English speaking audience of buyers.

Web address: www.redjelly.com/

CI Research #1: John Welch Stained Glass

2007-06-12T20:54:00.000+01:00

John has a characterful studio in the centre of Limassol - an Alladin's cave of a shop, plus two workrooms. He makes a wide range of flat and three-dimensional wares, fused glass jewellery, and undertakes commissions from a wide range of customers - from the armed forces through to domestic interiors.

John stayed on in Cyprus after a number of tours with the army - attracted by the climate and lifestyle, and settled on glass as a way of translating his innate practicality into a means to earn a living. The business provides him with a steady income, with most of his work coming either by word of mouth, or through attendance at craft fairs, and traditional marketing - business cards and adverts.

John has joined the Cyprus Open Studios scheme - and has his work featured on the site. When I pointed out to John that as an overseas visitor with an interest in glass, I only found out about him via the web, he was pleased and surprised - the Open Studios scheme runs annually in October - so of course he wasn't expecting anyone to come to him via that project until later in the year. It just goes to show that artists networks, and their role in aggregating artists on group websites does actually generate interest, contacts and useful leads. John doesn't have his own website at present - but I do wonder whether there might be one on the way! John's studio is at 62, Vasiliou Makedonos St. Limassol, Cyprus. email: welbry@hotmail.com He does a lovely cuppa, and has a charming grey cat - pay him a visit if you are in the area.

Podcast #2: Tim Rinaldi

2007-05-02T18:57:00.000+01:00

Tim Rinaldi owns a bespoke furniture business company based in a rural area just north of Lincoln. Tim manufactures a wide range of furniture - from english oak kitchens to top of the range bespoke one-off items. Listen to Tim's own thoughts about the progress of his business and the challenges ahead.

Web address: www.rinaldifurniture.co.uk/

Creative Strategy with Jo Fairfax

2007-04-24T19:30:00.000+01:00

Jo and I have been running creative strategy sessions for artists and creatives - having a lot of fun doing it - and getting really good feedback.

The sessions, which we co-facilitate, introduce a number of challenging concepts drawn from the world of business strategy, and are designed to demystify the 'tools for thinking' that big businesses use and show how they can be used effectively by creatives to extend the way they think about their practice.

Jo - a NESTA fellow and genuinely funny presenter, talks about his life and work - and how it's possible to adopt 'business like' ways of working without
compromising artistic integrity.

Creatives are pretty good at the vision thing - but sometimes fail to set themselves clear quantitative goals. These sessions provide tools for identifying and setting harder targets, introducing concepts such as strategic horizon, product cycles, strategic scope, and Ansoff's analysis.

We also review the way that artists market themselves - and explore the emerging space between traditional print marketing techniques and web and email - the new Web 2 domains of blogging, social networking, and the Long Tail of niche products and services (yes folks, that's us!). Jo has been kind enough to offer an audio interview for podcast - this will appear on the site shortly.

It's refreshing to work with someone who embraces all of these ideas daily without letting them tarnish the creative mettle. Watch this space - but meanwhile, visit his website!

www.jofairfax.co.uk image: persistence works, Sheffield

Podcast #1: PingCreative

2007-04-24T17:26:00.000+01:00

'PING CREATIVE is a commercial illustration and design studio providing quality commissioned artwork for publishers, business and all aspects of the creative industry. It's a collaboration between multi-award winning illustrator Becky Sands and illustrator Wayne Lockwood.' This short interview highlights their progress thus far - I'll revisit them later in the year - watch out for the second instalment!

Web address: www.pingcreative.co.uk/

Creative Industries Research

2007-04-24T12:39:00.000+01:00

The desire to research this area is driven by my experience of working with Lincolnshire Creative Solutions Initiative - part of a team providing around 150 days of support to 66 creative businesses -co-funded by Lincolnshire County Council and ERDF.

Providing support to creatives scattered widely across a large rural area the size of Northern Ireland has thrown up some unique challenges - logistically, environmentally, and in maintaining continuity and quality of support.

It is my intention to undertake several short research trips this year - funded in part by Lincolnshire County Council - to investigate models of support for Creative Industries in the EU and Cyprus.

By choosing projects that mirror the ones I've been working with in Lincolnshire, I hope to make some useful comparisons - between equivalent SME's in various parts of Europe, between models of support for small creative enterprises, and between UK expectations of funding and support and those in other countries where subsidy is not regularly available. I'm also keen to find out whether artists in other countries struggle with the notion of defining themselves as businesses - a mindset I find common here.

There is also an underlying desire to look at the efficiency and environmental impact of various models of Creative Industries support - especially in rural areas where artists live miles away from each other and centres of population - clustering instead around the web, email and the rapidly emerging highly democratic participant led initiatives of Web 2 and the 'Long Tail'

As the research develops, I'll post more information on this section of the site.

Timelines

2007-04-23T23:24:00.002+01:00

Stick your timeline up on the office wall - that way you can tinker with it - revisiting the diagram as events unfold and your actual path becomes clearer.

This is an ideal tool with which to lead a group through everything that is involved in planning new projects or events - it's highly involving and supports rapid thought processes.

I've used it with groups as diverse as national Charities and youth groups planning expeditions.

It's one of those exercises that allows a group of people of differing status to work together on a more equal footing.

Title Tags and Search Engine Optimisation

2007-03-28T20:24:00.000+01:00

I had the privilege to co-deliver some marketing training with Susan Hallam http://www.hallam.biz/ the other day. We were tuning up the Marketing skills of a group of creative industry practitioners from Lincolnshire - and wow, what an eye opener Susan's session was.

I've attended a number of courses about website design and how to get your site recognised in the search engines, but it turns out that a lot of the info we get fed on these courses is, frankly, a load of cobblers.

Susan pointed out some simple home truths - for instance:

A really well worded title tag can make all the difference - and Google ranks the words in your title tag in the order they appear - the first word being the most important, the second, third, etc., slowly reducing in importance to the search engine. One delegate who had put just this simple strategy in place, quickly found themselves on the first page of Google natural results.

It's the inbound links that count - and preferably from institutions that Google ranks as important - if you have Google toolbar, you can see how each page you visit ranks in the page rank box.

And another neat trick - go to altavista.com and type in link: followed by the URL of a competitor with a good Google rank - you'll find out who is linking to them. Might help you get clues as to who you could ask to link to you. And yes - it's well worth asking for these quality inbound links.

I could go on forever, but instead, why don't you visit Susan's website and blog - there's loads of really useful info there - I know you will find it as useful as I did.

Get in touch!

2007-02-01T11:25:00.000Z

If you are searching for ideas, or support for your company or organisation, why not visit Pete Mosley's main site at: www.petemosley.com

It's OK to ask for help!

2007-01-09T16:15:00.000Z

Isolation can be a killer, literally, when you work alone. It's completely normal to run into situations where you don't know the answer, or become paralysed by seemingly conflicting options. Time to ask for help. And the process of finding help can have some really exciting spin-offs.

Our instincts tell us to beware of rejection, and yes, it's not a very pleasant experience - however - for every person that refuses to help you, there will be a couple who will willingly share their experience with you - and it's a rare situation where someone, somewhere, has not experienced and overcome precisely the problem you seem to be stuck with.

There are four or more potential outcomes from a request for help:

1. An outright rejection - rare, but possible.
2. A genuine attempt to help, or at least signpost you to someone more qualified.
3. The beginning of a new and fruitful working relationship or networking opportunity.
4. Serendipity puts you in exactly the right place to not only solve the problem, but change up a gear at the same time.

Years ago, I developed a creative workshop which I wanted to sell to schools. It worked, but only to a limited degree. Someone I met socially handed me the business card of a company in New York who specialised in running creative education workshops. One evening, whilst feeling a bit down, I drafted a letter to them, asking if they could recommend a solution to my problem.

A few days later, I got a call from the director - he invited me to go and work with them for 3 weeks - they would provide accommodation and advice, if I could raise the airfare. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance. I learned everything I needed to know at the time and gained a working relationship that lasted for years, with me returning to New York many times to work and visit my new friends.

The truth is, you never know when, where or how the next break will come - unless you remain open to opportunity - and ask for help when you need it.

There goes that damn phone again...

2006-11-27T16:55:00.000Z

Funny how the phone rings just when you are engrossed in something important - or when you are trying to be unengrossed, even.. The net result (think about the way people have recently answered YOUR calls) is that you can end up sounding a bit offhand, or distracted, or annoyed even - when you pick up the phone. The trick is to train yourself to adopt a really consistent approach to answering the phone, and use the same simple but pleasant approach repeatedly until it becomes second nature. Remember that tone of voice accounts for a huge share of the impression that we make on others in the course of day to day communication.

Here's a trick - every time the phone rings, look at the clock. Note quickly whether it is morning or afternoon. Then answer the phone with a cheery 'Good Morning!' or Good Afternoon!' followed by a simple salutation - 'Jim speaking!' or 'Walter's Widget's!'

The act of looking at the clock, and remembering your 'script' will put you into a consistent phone mode - making a huge difference to what people get from their first few milliseconds of communication.

Quality and Track Record

2006-11-27T16:29:00.000Z

If your work is of good quality and you have a strong track record (doing what it says on the tin, and all that...) you are well on the way to building and maintaining a strong network of clients. One tends to follow the other anyway, but keeping an eye on quality should become as natural to you as breathing. By quality, I don't just mean the intrinsic quality of what you make or provide - it's to do with quality of relationships and attitude too. Did you adopt a really useful attitude when you spoke to that prospect on the phone today, or were you still distracted by what you were doing when the phone rang? I can't emphasise just how 'on the ball' you need to be - quality needs to be so much more than skin deep. Track record builds over time - but you can give this a helping hand also. Keep records of everything you do and maintain a digital CV - a simple list of jobs you have undertaken and for whom - which you can send out with any information you send to potential employers or clients - a list of happy clients speaks for itself.

Cashflow will make or break you

2006-09-20T18:48:00.000+01:00

Mr. Micawber, in Charles Dickens' David Copperfield, said:

'Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen and sixpence, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds and sixpence, result misery.'

Despite the fact that we all know this to be true, an absurd number of small businesses try to manage without any effective form of cashflow forecasting in place. And in truth, the quote is not as obvious as it seems...

It is perfectly possible, even if your annual income exceeds your annual expenditure, to go bust in an eyeblink. If cash is slow in coming in, and bills fall overdue and must be paid, a nasty overdraft can develop very quickly indeed. If you don't have a cashflow forecast in place, how do you know as and when the problem is likely to resolve?

A simple cashflow, updated regularly, means you can predict ups and downs of both income and expenditure, and know your likely bank balance at any given point in the next 12 months. If you do see that you will be short of money, or requiring an overdraft, or an extension of existing overdraft, you can go to the bank and make a lucid argument for the extra borrowing.

If you see a surplus arising, you can see whether it's safe to spend or whether you need to salt away what is really just a high point in overall cashflow.

Keeping positive cashflow is one of the key skills in surviving as a small business - you can download sample cashflow spreadsheets from the Business Link portal www.businesslink.gov.uk or get a tutorial from sites such as www.mindtools.com

Business Plan Guide

2006-09-20T17:26:00.000+01:00

I'm often asked for a simple Business Plan outline. Here is brief guide to the sections you will need in your business plan – some sections will need to be longer than others, obviously, depending on the nature of your business. This is the bare minimum you will need to get started. This process of thinking and writing is really helpful when you first start out.

Summary/Introduction

A brief introduction to the business and what it does.

The Management (yes! that’s you…)

Business is all about people – funders and lenders want to see an introduction to you as a person. Give details about yourself, what drives you, your interests, past experience and employment – this needs to instil confidence in the reader and reassure them that you know what you are doing!

History

How have you arrived at this point? Give a potted history of your business up to date, or if you are a start-up, the rationale for wanting to launch your business.

Product/Service

What do make/provide? How do you do this? What are the business processes?

Marketing/Competition

How will you market your product or service?
Who/what is the target market?
What is the competition like?
How will you compete successfully?

Premises/Operational details

Where will the business be located?
What type of premises do you require – workshop/studio/home?
What equipment is required?
How will the day-to-day operations be carried out and by whom?

Financial Details

Financial forecasts – estimates of income and expenditure, and cashflow forecasts.
Previous accounts if you have already been trading
Details of any factors that might affect your forecast figures

The Future

How will the business grow in the future?
What opportunities are there that you can take advantage of?
Are there any potential threats you can identify?

If you need to borrow money, or raise capital, your plan will need to be much more sophisticated - at that stage, you will really need someone to guide you. Organisations like Business Link and Chambers of Commerce often run short course for start-ups to guide them through this stage. Most banks provide very helpful packs for start-ups - designed of course, to encourage you to bank with them. At some point you'll need an accountant, and a good accountant is worth their weight in gold - more on that later!

Getting referrals

2006-09-20T17:00:00.000+01:00

In a previous post (Pebbles in the Pond) I talked about using simple, regular, e-newsletters to keep past clients up to date and to let them know that you regard them as important enough to keep in the loop. There is a second, subtly powerful, use for these newsletters - and that is as a means to get referrals. This can be done in a couple of ways: if you're not a techie, you can simply suggest that they forward it to any colleagues or partners that might benefit from knowing about your work. If you have got the HTML skills, you can place a 'mail this to a friend' button on the newsletter.

Both of these things do work. It's your core clients - the ones who keep coming back for more - that provide the largest proportion of your income each year - so you need to encourage them to act as ambassadors for you, bringing in yet more business from their mates.

A lot of small businesses are shy of asking clients to do this. The truth is that anyone who likes what you do will be happy to pass the message along - in the way that you yourself would recommend a good plumber to a friend. If you offer a service that is of high quality and you are reliable, open and honest, people will do this.

A couple of good referrals a year can make a big difference to your bottom line - so go ahead - ask!

Worth a read: Differentiate or Die

2006-09-20T13:36:00.000+01:00

This book, from Jack Trout, is well worth reading. It takes you beyond the world of the USP (now a slightly dated concept) towards new ways of thinking about how to differentiate your company, product or service from all the others. It is full of really thoughtful examples and mini case studies which provoke useful reflection and analysis of one's own marketing strategy. What's more, it explores ideas and tactics that apply regardless of the size or focus of your company. In truth, a lot of the thinking could also apply to not-for-profit organisations struggling to attract funding in a crowded marketplace. Thought provoking.

Name that tune - 2580 Shazam

2006-09-05T22:29:00.000+01:00

Absolutely nothing to do with business strategy - but some things are just worth passing on... Whilst playing pool with a mate the other night, a tune on the jukebox caught our attention. While I was trying to figure out who the artist might be, he took out his mobile phone, dialled 2580 (easy to remember as all the keys in the vertical middle row of your phone) and within 20 seconds had a text back with the artist and the name of the track. Jaw dropping. Try it - it works even with a fair amount of background noise. For full details visit www.shazam.com

Promoting your Website #1

2006-09-05T18:10:00.000+01:00

Superb design won't automatically ensure that your website get loads of visitors. Nor will it ensure that the visitors you do get will actually be interested in what you are selling or promoting.

If you can grab attention by means of an off line strategy, people are more likely to come straight to your website, bypassing all the distractions, and they will be coming because they have made a positive decision to visit - this means they are more likely to turn into customers or clients.

So, how do you do this? You need to use every means you can to get to get your URL into the hands of the right people.

Every type of printed promotion that you undertake should incorporate your Web address - business cards, postcards, flyers, letterheads and comp slips.

Send out postcards to all the customers on your mailing list, with an image, a little text and your web address. Put your URL at the end of every letter and email you send.

Put your web address on your car or van. Signs in your office reception, gallery, or workshop should invite people to your site. Print up some T-shirts with your URL and an image, and wear them whenever it is appropriate.

If someone writes an article about you, make sure your web address gets included. People who read the article and are interested in what you do will almost certainly log on to your site - and it could be seen by a great many people.

Distribute cards every time you show your work, and always include two or three with every item you sell. If people like your work they will pass the cards on to their friends. Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool on earth - peer to peer recommendation means that someone who buys your work or enjoys your service will want to tell others about it.

How many people do you talk to in any given week who don't really know what you do? Or what your product or service actually is? A simple postcard can bring colleagues, mates and casual contacts directly to your website.

If you want potential customers to come to your website, they really are much more inclined to visit if you invite them personally. The next step is to get them to leave their contact details with you, so you can keep them informed. More on this later.

Pebbles in the Pond

2006-08-31T16:27:00.000+01:00

Every quarter, I set aside time for my 'pebble in the pond' e-marketing campaign. These seasonal e-fliers are very short, and usually feature some update to my website or a new activity - but the main purpose of the exercise is simply to remind people that I'm still around. I mail a selection of people - not the whole address book - usually folk that I haven't been in touch with for more than 3 months or so. I especially make an effort to include old clients that I know are still around, but who haven't used my services for a while.

I find this strategy more effective that blasting my whole address list with e-news every month. The pebble drops in an unobtrusive way, people notice without getting annoyed, they do visit the site and notice the changes, and I often get an email back saying that they are glad I keep in touch.

I always let people know they can opt out at any time. To date, no-one has ever requested removal from my list.

My old man, a seafarer most of his life, used to urge me to slow down and notice the relationships between people and things. One of his favourite phrases was 'softly, softly, catchee monkey'. Moral of the story? - a quiet footfall doesn't scatter the prey!

Postroom Triage

2006-08-31T12:38:00.000+01:00

Getting people to read your mail is problematic at the best of times. Getting them to both read it and respond to it is even harder. I'm often asked about this - especially in relation to funding applications or requests to regional agencies for specialist support.

The basic trick is this. Never, ever, send anything to anyone unless you have spoken to them first.

Think about how you sort your mail in the morning - junk mail gets binned, brown envelopes go in the 'pending' pile (unless they are cheques - cos' you'll be looking out for those!), and business and personal letters are put in different piles.

Then, before anything else, you always open the post that you have been waiting for with a sense of anticipation. The sense of anticipation (cheques aside) is usually underpinned by a business or personal relationship.

So, in order to make sure your mail is not only opened but prioritised:

Talk to the person you want to send stuff to.
Ask them for guidance on the format of your enquiry, application, or the service they want to hear about.
Customise the mailing to their requirements.
Call them, or email, and let them know that the letter is on the way.
Use a first class stamp, and put it in the mail.

This also works with documents your are sending digitally.

Of course, this only applies to one off or very small mailings. It does, however, help build the relationship.

Finally - and especially if your request is turned down, write them a short note to say thank you for the help and advice. Next time you write, they will remember you and treat you as someone with whom they already have a working relationship.

Stress Management #2

2006-08-29T15:15:00.000+01:00

Years ago, an old Head of Department gave me this tip. When driving home from stressful meetings, and still at least a couple of miles from home, crack open the window and ease your foot off the accelerator a little. Breathe a little more deeply and a little more slowly for the last few miles. Like a DJ mixing between tracks of differing tempos, it smooths the transition from 'work' to 'home'. It really works - the only problem is remembering to do it!

Stress Management

2006-08-29T14:53:00.000+01:00

Here's a funny thing....I used to use Microsoft Outlook calendar printouts for my diary - I could scribble on them, staple them together, file the old ones, etc. I don't like filofaxes and small diaries because they are just too small. I used to look at these pages every day with fear and loathing because tasks and appointments were jostling each other for space on the page - and just looking at the pages stressed me out.

Then I tried an experiment - I went to Staples and bought the biggest desk diary I could find. A4 hard bound. Week to view. I now have an A3 space for every week of my life. I still have loads of tasks and appointments, but don't get stressed every time I open the diary. The visual space I have created on the page has translated into space in my brain as well.

It kind of proves the NLP thing about how we all have dominant sensory systems - I'm a visual person, so altering the visual organisation of my planning system affects how I feel about the tasks. I'm now wondering what the other repercussions of this observation could be - if I choose to explore them!

Evaluation techniques #1

2006-08-23T21:26:00.000+01:00

Evaluation is a powerful tool for the sole trader or partnership. Surprisingly, more than half of the freelance workers and lifestyle businesses I work with don't have any formal system for gathering comment from clients. One side of A4 with a few well chosen questions and a space for clients to make suggestions or write a paragraph or so of personalised feedback is all that's required. Being open to feedback is a powerful way for you to say to the client "your opinion matters".

Sometimes a client will slip away from you - something you've done wasn't quite right, or a situation mishandled. Sometimes people prefer to write things down, rather than risk confrontation by bringing it up face to face.

A feedback form gives you the chance to identify the source of the problem and put things right before the client jumps ship. And if as a result of the feedback, you can put things right, you can end up with a better relationship than you had before.

Gather feedback while ye may...

2006-08-23T19:46:00.000+01:00

When you have a good relationship with a client, ask for feedback. If people like what you do, they will be flattered if you ask them for a comment for your website, or to incorporate into printed material. Testimonials resonate with potential customers because they are the next best thing to personal recommendation. Potential clients are always looking for clues that you can actually do what you claim to be able to do - a good testimonial might just convince them to pick up the phone, or rattle off an email, and talk with you about their needs. Here's an example:

“Pete handled the very sensitive and complex dynamics within the group with great skill, ensuring that everyone felt that their contribution was valued and included. I look forward to working with him again in the future”.

It's all about relationships...

2006-08-22T15:51:00.000+01:00

Just to expand on the previous post - it's all about relationships. The most effective form of marketing is word of mouth - people talking to each other about you and what you do. The art of getting people to talk to each other about what you do can be understood quite simply if you take the time to think it through from their point of view. Whatever turns you on about the service someone provides - rapid response, a personal touch, dealing on first name terms, talking to a person rather than a machine, getting value for money, good after sales service - the list goes on....is a pretty good clue as to how you ought to behave towards your clients. It is actually quite easy to make an impression if you treat them like you would like to be treated yourself. More on this later.

80/20 rule

2006-08-22T10:47:00.000+01:00

Getting a large part (@80%)of your business from a relatively small proportion (@20%)of your clients seems to be the norm. So it makes sense to secure your relationship with the 20%. Talk to them, give them a bit of extra attention, throw in the odd freebie or a bit of extra time. Keeping them is often all about the quality of relationship you maintain with them. However - and this is the big one - circumstances beyond your control can take these customers or clients away - no matter how good the relationship.

It pays to be constantly on the lookout for, and developing relationships with, potential clients who have the same sort of profile as your existing 20%. Widen the gene pool. Make relationships with potential customers even if it might be ages before you actually get a contract from them. Always look for people who are equivalent in some way to the folk you work with already, Make friends with them, cultivate them. It's a good insurance policy.

Oh, and by the way, when you lose a client, don't throw away the personal relationship - cultivate that too - you never know when a old contact might bring new business back in your direction.

creative business strategies

2006-08-22T10:35:00.000+01:00

So - what am I? A consultant, sole trader, lifestyle business, microenterprise. So many ways of describing what I do - which essentially boils down to working with the same set of universal principles, whoever I am working with on any given day. I like to work with people in a jargon free, uncomplicated way using processes that can be easily understood, illustrated with examples from real life.

I plan to use this diary to make observations about the things I find most useful - either things I know from experience, or things others have brought to the table. The groundrule is simplicity and accessibility. Everything posted here should be useful to someone in some way.

2006-08-21T23:27:00.000+01:00

New day, new blog...the starting point of an exploration. I will be posting observations based on my daily work with creative businesses, voluntary and arts organisations. I've been working with these good folk now for over 20 years, so I hope I can throw some useful insights into the public domain.