So for my next blog entry, I want to discuss some of the things that I had been researching up to this point. I had been doing a lot of reading, and a lot of exploring regarding setting up a business of my own–I didn’t want to enter into this blindly. However, I felt a lot of the stuff that I was reading didn’t really apply to my particular situation… It was almost as if there was a specific definition of what was appropriately “business” and what wasn’t… On the other hand, most of the “art” books that I read regarding the art industry didn’t really have a grounding in the kind of business that I wanted. I wasn’t looking for an apparel company model, nor was I looking for a studio artist model. I was looking for something that was in between–an example of a business story that would allow me to straddle three different worlds–those of Craft, Art, and Apparel.
I started out by exploring podcasts. For those that don’t know what a podcast is, it sort of like “educational talk radio”. I had discovered the concept as I was exploring iTunes and hit upon a World of Warcraft podcast. I was hooked. I discovered that there were not only gaming podcasts, but others about art, business, technology–you name it, there was a podcast about it.
Except wearable art. At least from what I could find.
And that’s what I was looking to get into.
So I started to “subscribe” to a lot of different podcasts that were similar to what I felt I was getting into–crafting podcasts, business, design, freelancing, marketing, etc. While many of them weren’t actually about my field, the information I could use was easily extrapolated and applied to my particular situation. So even though I was listening to graphic designers, I was able to philosophically consider their advice from my own perspective. And while some of them were about wool felting as a craft, I could listen to their beginning business endeavors and gain inspiration and confidence.
Here’s a list of the podcasts that I am currently listening to right now or had in the past… There are a LOT more on my iPod and in my iTunes that I haven’t even started listening to yet, but I look forward to diving into them! I know that many of them will have a great deal of knowledge that is useful. I encourage you to go exploring. All of these have corresponding websites that are extraordinarily helpful as well.
43 Folders
The Accidental Creative
Answers for Freelancers!
Art Marketing Action Podcasts
Craftcast
CraftSanity
CraftyPod
Design Guy
Etsy
Freelance America
Inside Digital Design Radio
SketcheeBook: The Creativity Podcast
Threadbanger!
Tweak! The Podcast for the Creative Entrepreneur
The Digital Marketer’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Growing Your Business
I find that it’s really wonderful to put these into my iPod player and listen to them as I work. It feels like one’s double-dipping in a way and getting twice as much work done at one time. Listening to them in the car, piece by piece, as one drives around on that 15 minute errand can be really helpful as some of them are merely a few minutes–intentionally short for the busy worker bee!
Next time, I’ll talk about some of the print resources that I was reading as I’ve prepared to launch Relished Artistry. Believe it or not, the internet isn’t the only source of helpful hints!
Until next time, live life with relish!
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