Why marketing is not optional for freelancers, why you shouldn’t chase applause, etc. – Internet Truffles week 12

Excellent set of resources for how to create a business plan. I know most artists and freelancers resist making a business plan – but it doesn’t have to be anything scary. Nor does it have to be anything formal. A business plan just walks you through some important questions of how you are going to structure your business and how you are going to make money in your business. It’s critical business thinking that will pay you dividends.

It’s always about the work. You – creative entrepreneur – need to focus on your work: head down, blinders on, coffee to hand. Make something and send it out into the world. That’s our job. This is a nice post explaining why you can’t or shouldn’t work for the applause.

Yup. That’s what I said to myself after I read this piece. Naomi knows what she’s talking about. Once again the Queen of marketing tough-love points out that often in choosing how we are going to market our business it’s a case of choosing the things we hate the least, rather than the things we most love. For many freelancers and artists marketing is something you HAVE to do, rather than something you LOVE to do. That’s okay. But you still have to do it. Here’s 10 things you could do and a fairly specific idea of how much time you should spend doing it.

Amazon’s dominance of the market grows daily. I confess I use Amazon because it’s so damn convenient (though I feel a bit a guilty every time). However, I agree wholeheartedly with John Jantsch that Amazon offers a real opportunity for local small businesses (including artists and creative businesses) and that is to serve up an experience. There are some shops or restaurants that are so satisfying, so comprehensive, such a complete ‘work of art’ (Gesamtkunstwert or complete art experience) that Amazon could never deliver it. A lightbulb? Yes. A lightbulb, plus a chat, plus some advice on how to use it, plus a tip about a new coffee shop down the road? Amazon can never deliver that. But you, freelancer or small business owner can. And you should.

There are a lot of skills necessary to be a successful freelancer (whether in a creative field or not). This is a very comprehensive list of the 20 essential skills necessary to be effective as a freelancer. It’s worth a read of these and take note of which ones you are already good at and which ones are places you need future development.