July Retrospective: Back in July 2014, I wrote a daily series exploring the realities of navigating the creative economy. Twelve years later, looking back at these entries (and my original awful hand-drawn illustrations!), I’m struck by how the core truths of a creative career remain completely timeless. Each day this month, I’m opening up the archive to share these foundational lessons—with a few modern reflections layered in.

If you’re a new creative graduate looking to find your footing in the creative economy, a Gen X looking to pivot into a creative business, a side-hustler or someone who just wants to up their creative business game, there’s something for you in this series. Just don’t judge my drawings 😉

Building Your Audience

At this stage I hope that you’ve got  a clearer understanding of the products and/or services you are going to offer and the target audience you have in mind for them. If there is a good fit between the two then we want to talk about increasing the numbers of targets. If you don’t yet have a good fit between product/service & audience, keep plugging away at it – you will find the right match.

Let’s say you decide your target market is working women in their 30s. There’s a lot of working women in their 30s – and you want to reach out to them and let them know that you can address their problems.

Maybe you make the perfect line of hand-crafted jewellery that will solve every bridesmaids’ problem of what to wear with their puffy bridesmaid dress!

Or maybe you write novels that will make them laugh and forget about their horrible day at work.

Or perhaps you have started a comedy night that features female comics.

If so, you’ve got a potential match.

Once you know WHO you want to reach it’s not too difficult to figure out WHERE you can find them.

Think of where these people visit in the real world, where they go online, what they read, where they hang out and what other services they use. These all present options to you about how to make them aware of your creative business.

Create a list of all the places you might enter their world and figure out how you can introduce yourself and your creative business.

It might be an advert in a magazine, or a flyer in a coffee shop or a stand at the local shopping mall.

Or perhaps it’s using social media. Or a targeted mailing campaign.

Use your freebie to attract attention. It’s probably your very best tool for attracting new potential clients. They can try you out and see if you do actually help them solve their problems. If the glove fits their hand, they are far more likely to buy from you. So, start with your freebie to get their attention.

Action: Where can you meet your target audience? Brainstorm 3 places (real or virtual) where you can put yourself in their space. Use your freebie as bait.

Longevity in a creative career isn’t accidental—it’s built on strategy.

While the landscape shifts, the core principles of thriving as a creative freelancer haven’t changed. For deeper, modern frameworks on building a sustainable creative practice:

• Read the Book: Looking for a step-by-step field guide to building a resilient career in the creative economy? Pick up my recent book The Thriving Creative: Successful Freelancing in the Creative Economy available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and from my publisher Routledge.
• Stay Connected: Join my community and to receive the complete 31-day hand-drawn playbook as a single PDF at the end of the month. Sign up below.