I’m a big fan of networking with others in your creative niche. If you know some of the big players in your niche, you can get inspiration and help promoting your products and services. Plus, you can build long-lasting relationships with some amazing people.

What’s holding you back from contacting the best of the best in your creative area? You might feel silly, fear that the person will laugh at and reject you, or wonder why the person would ever want to interact with you. Here’s the thing: social media makes it so much easier to interact with these big players that live hundreds of miles away.

What You Should Not Do

The first time you reach out to someone in your niche, there are a few things that you just shouldn’t do:

• Don’t ask her for something. Don’t ask the person to promote something on her blog, don’t ask her to let you write a guest post, and don’t request that she read your new ebook and write you a testimonial. Many people who have successful businesses and blogs get asked for favors regularly. You want to build a relationship and stand out before you even begin to think about asking for something.
• Don’t tell him that you can do something for him. If you’re contacting someone that you admire and is successful, what you can offer the person may not be anything he needs. For instance, if you contact Darren Rowse from Problogger and offer to review his blog on your website that gets 200 daily readers, he’s probably going to ignore you. Why? He doesn’t need you to review his blog. He already gets enough traffic.
• Don’t act as if she’s so much better than you, and you can’t believe that she would even take the time to read your email. You’re both human, and that’s unappealing. Get confident {but not cocky}.

What You Should Do

Now that we’ve gotten the crappy stuff out of the way, let’s talk about what you should do when you want to build a relationship with someone you admire in your niche:

• Start small. Follow the person on twitter and subscribe to the person’s blog. Begin leaving thoughtful comments on the person’s blog. Leaving a comment like, “Nice post!” doesn’t cut it. Engage in the conversation, add extra tips to the article, or relate some of the advice to your business or life. If you leave a handful of thoughtful comments over a couple weeks, the person will start to recognize your name.
• Every once in a while, respond to what the person says on twitter. Don’t respond to every tweet. You’ll look a creepo stalker. If the person tweets 10 times a day, you might respond once every other day.
• Once you’ve gotten your name in front of the person at least five times through commenting on blog posts and responding to tweets, consider writing a short email. In this email you want to introduce yourself, give the person a compliment, and let the person know how he’s helped you—but you need to accomplish this in just a few sentences. Here’s an example:

Hi April,

Thanks for sharing your latest post on introducing yourself to people in your creative niche. I followed your advice and heard back from an artist I’ve admired for years. I wrote a post about it on my blog, Follow Your Dreams. I hope you get the chance to check it out.

Best,
Lydia

http://www.followyourdreams.com

Why This Works

We’re all humans, and people like to hear that their advice worked for someone. It’s always nice to hear that you’ve helped someone. You’re not asking for anything, and you’re not being pushy about your blog post. This gives the other person complete control. She might write you back, but she might just be too busy. Don’t take it personally if she doesn’t write you back. It sets you up for contacting her in the future and building a relationship.

3 Last Tips in Closing

1. You have to follow the advice of someone before you write an email like the one above. Don’t lie. If the person doesn’t give advice on their blog or website, you could send pictures of one of the DIY projects she outlined on her blog that you completed, or tell her that a post that she wrote touched you to do something. For instance, if she wrote about feeling energized after spending a day at the park, you could tell her that you were inspired to spend a day outside playing with your kids.
2. If the person doesn’t write you back, don’t write another email telling him that you’re disappointed in him, wished he could take the time to get back to you, or anything else snarky. Just leave it for a couple weeks {but continue to leave thoughtful comments on the person’s blog}, and then try again. At this point, you could pitch a guest post. If you don’t hear back again, move on.
3. Link to your website, blog, and twitter at the end of your email, so the person doesn’t have to Google your name if she wants to find you online.

{Image from Only Sequel on flickr}

Successful creative businesses are about much more than creating. To make real money {the kind that’ll pay for all your bills plus extra for fun}, you’ve got to focus on the entrepreneurial aspects on a regular basis. There are tons of creative people in the world trying to sell their products, and you can easily get lost among them.

Ask these 10 questions before you decide to leap into a full-time creative business {by the way, it’s okay to not have the right answers – that’s what learning’s for}:

1. Are you incredibly passionate about your art or craft? Be honest with yourself about this. If you enjoy knitting in your spare time, but couldn’t imagine knitting for more than 5 hours a day, don’t quit your day job. Find something that keeps you up at night and that you can’t wait to get started on when you put your kids to bed.

2. Do you have enough money saved to take a pay cut? In the beginning, you might not make as much money at your creative venture as you do at your current full-time job {especially if you consider the benefits—health insurance, paid vacation, paid sick-time}, so you should save up enough money to cover your expenses. If you’re in a serious relationship or married, you need to discuss this with your partner. Cut back on your expenses and save as much as you can.

3. Do you have a fan base? You know that you have a fan base when you’re making regular sales, you get repeat customers, and you get referrals from previous customers.

4. Do you rock social media and marketing? Are you willing to spend time each day marketing your products or services? Think twitter, facebook, forums, and blogging. You need to learn how to use social media to market your products—and I’m not talking about crappy, in your face marketing. I mean the type of marketing that will establish you as an expert and make your customers know, like, and trust you.

5. Are you good with numbers? To make a living with your creative business, you’re going to have to do a lot of number crunching. You need to know what you want your salary to be, how many items you have to make and sell to reach that number, and how much you’ll have to pay for taxes. Then, you also need to keep up with all of your business expenses. If you don’t like this part of the job, can you budget to hire an accountant to do it for you?

6. Are you willing to constantly learn? Even if you’re one of the best in your niche, you need to commit to always trying to make your products and services better. Everyone has room for improvement. You might be amazing at making jewelry, but not so great at taking pictures, so you’ll need to commit to learning more about photography to improve your online shop.

7. Do you have good time management skills? I’ve had plenty of people say to me, “I could never do what you do or work for myself, because I’d never get anything done.” If you’re the type of person who needs a boss checking your work to ensure it gets done, going into business for yourself may become extremely frustrating. You need to become a master of checklists and strict scheduling of your time.

8. Are you willing to take risks, even if it means you might experience rejection? If you’re like me, and most other creative women, you probably get nervous when there’s a chance of rejection. But if this holds you back from doing things like expanding your services and applying for juried craft shows, think again before going full-time. Gain confidence in yourself and your products before launching into a new career.

9. Do you have multiple revenue streams? It’s not smart to risk all the money coming into your household on one income stream. If something happens {you’re not invincible}, then you’re screwed. Check out, 8 Ways Artists Can Generate Additional Income Streams, for ideas on how to expand your services and products.

10. Are you well-connected in your niche? This doesn’t have to be a deal-breaker, but it can be extremely helpful in raising your income level. If you sell baby clothes, it’d be really smart to get to know some mommy bloggers, other women who sell baby clothes, and women who sew other products. You can help each other out. For instance, you could help a mommy blogger launch her new ebook by promoting it on your blog, and she could help you out by promoting your new product line.

If you’re serious about making a full-time income from your creative passions, make sure you know where you stand by answering the above questions. If you don’t have all the “right” answers, take steps today to improve upon your weakest areas.

Related Reading:

How Trust Can Increase Your Creative Business Sales

{Image from Karin Dalziel on flickr}

Unless you’re making lots of dough and thrilled with your earnings, you should add different income streams to your business plan. The more ways that you offer your product and services, the more money you’ll make.

Many artists make the mistake of spending hours on their original art, selling it for less than they should, and not offering any other products. For some really famous artists, this might work out just fine. But if you’re not famous, these additional income streams can mean the difference between living from sale to sale or making an income that allows you to take time off, travel, and spend more time with your family.

Are you thinking that additional revenue means additional work? You’re actually wrong. Yes, in the beginning it’ll take more work to build up these other areas, but once you have them mapped out, it’ll be easier than trying to make and sell each individual piece of art.

Let’s put this plan into action:

1. Make prints of your original art. You might have lots of fans of your work who just can’t afford it. If you have low and high price points, more people can buy your work. Prints increase online sales. Some people hesitate to buy original art online. They want to see it in person first, but many customers report that they’ll buy a couple prints and then buy an original through an online venue once they’ve developed trust with the artist.

2. Incorporate your art into other products. There are lots of websites {i.e., zazzle.com} where you can turn your artwork in t-shirts, coffee mugs, postcards and more. This is another way to offer different price points to your fans.

3. Make jewelry from your art. There are tons of tutorials on the web that teach you how to make necklaces and rings from your art and websites that give you all the information you need like photojewelrymaking.com. Want inspiration? Check out the jewelry that Tim’s Sally makes using her original art.

4. Sell your products on multiple websites. Many artists have an Etsy shop, but their products can get buried due to the enormous amount of sellers on that site. It’s important to also have your own website {or at least a blog} where you can direct interested customers straight to your Etsy shop.

5. Teach locally. Have a page on your blog or website to let people in your area know that you’re interested in teaching your skills. You could teach classes or give individual lessons to people that live in your area in your studio at a premium price.

6. Teach online. To really make money from teaching online, you first have to establish yourself as an expert. This means providing free content such as simple how-to articles, photos of your work, and basic art techniques. After you’ve established your expertise and have a following of subscribers on your blog, you can put together a class with simple video software {I highly recommend Gideon Shalwick’s FREE rapid video blogging ebook} and sell it over and over without teaching it more than once.

7. Write a book or an ebook. You know a lot about your form of art, right? Why not write it all down and include lots of beautiful pictures of your work, and sell your knowledge. This isn’t easy, but it will establish that you’re an expert in your field, get your work in front of lots of creative people, and continue to generate teaching experiences for you.

8. Consult with other artists. Once you’ve done the previous seven things, other artists are going to want to know how you did it. Charge an hourly rate to consult with up and coming artists to help them establish their expertise and make money.

Pick one thing from the list above and add it to your current business plan. Continue to do this until you’re thrilled with your level of income.

Related Reading:

How Trust Can Increase Your Creative Business Sales

Let’s face it—building a brand and marketing your products must include social media. Why are people afraid of social media? I can answer this question, because I used to be one of the fearful ones sitting behind my computer wondering if anything worth sharing could be sent in less than 140 characters. For years I refused to join facebook.

I had some pretty logical reasons. I used to practice therapy and all of my clients were at-risk adolescents who knew facebook backwards and forwards. I didn’t want them seeing pictures of me on vacation or knowing where I was going on Friday night. Plus, I had this picture in my head of some creepy guy sitting at his computer learning way too much about me. When I realized that the privacy settings would allow me to control those things, and one of my long-distance friends begged me to join facebook, I did. It wasn’t scary.

Then I started a blog that’s no longer active, Stylish Events. I had about 2,000-3,000 readers a day and paid advertisers. I could have made that blog into something even bigger if I had taken the leap into social media. Instead, I swore off twitter as a useless waste of time and made up excuses why I didn’t have time to set up a facebook fan page.

The whole social media scene seemed like a repeat of high school, and even though I was one of the lucky ones who actually enjoyed high school, I didn’t want to go back there. Then I realized that a lot of my competitors were growing much faster than I was, so I did a bunch of research and realized the main difference was my lack of participation in social media. At that point I didn’t want to join twitter or get a facebook fan page, because I felt like the “new girl in school.” I didn’t want to spend the time I knew it would take to learn the ins and outs of social media. Then I realized that the main thing holding me back was my growing lack of enthusiasm for my topic. Things needed to change.

I did a lot of soul searching to grasp what I was meant to do and figured out that I wanted to create art and jewelry while teaching and helping others. When I found my passion for art and leading a creative life, I made a firm decision that I would learn as much as possible about social media and how use it to my advantage. Because I love my niche so much I can hardly keep my brain from thinking about my next post, the latest comment I got on my blog, or the new equipment I ordered to do podcasts and videos, I want to use everything I can to be successful. The passion for this topic makes it fun and much easier than I first thought it would be.

If you really want to be successful at what you do and you have a passion to share what you do with others, you need to start learning about and using social media. It’ll make a difference.

Keep up with me on facebook and on twitter @blacksburgbelle.

If you’re in a creative rut, don’t get discouraged. It happens to everybody. I sometimes get into a rut when I’m trying to make LOTS of something for a craft show, and I have to take a break and reenergize my creative spirit. Sometimes, it only takes 10 minutes of doing something like doodling or flipping through a magazine to get back into a creative mindset. Pick out one thing from this list of 35 the next time you’re lacking creativity and need a boost:

1. Dance. Turn on the radio, turn up the volume, and dance. Dance as if it’s the last time you’ll ever dance and let your body move with the music.

2. Color. Grab a box of crayons and color as if you’re in elementary school again. Pick your favorite colors and have fun.

3. Brain dump. Find a pen and piece of paper and brain dump for 10 minutes. This means writing whatever’s on your mind. This significantly helps when stress is blocking your creative energy.

4. Walk. If it’s a nice day outside, take a walk around the block.

5. Read. Pull out your favorite book and read a chapter from it.

6. Find images from a magazine. Flip through a magazine and pull out pages that inspire you. Post them next to the area you use to create.

7. Visit your favorite blog. Read the past couple posts of your favorite blog.

8. Take a photograph. Get out your camera and walk around your home. Take photographs of everyday, inspiring things.

9. Doodle. Remember how doodling during math class could relax your mind? Try it now.

10. Call a friend. Set a timer and let your friend know that you only have 10 minutes to chat. Then ask your friend what’s new and focus on her for the next 10 minutes.

11. Stretch. You might have a mental block, because you’ve been at it for too long. Relax your body to relax your mind.

12. Take deep breaths. Take 10 deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. Count each breath, and try to completely fill and empty your lungs with every breath.

13. Write a poem. If you don’t usually write poetry, it’s an even better exercise.

14. Nap. Set your timer for 10 minutes and take a quick, cat nap. You might not fall asleep, but it’ll give your mind a chance to rest.

15. Collage. Make a quick collage using glue, scraps of paper and fabric, stickers and other doodads you find in your craft area. Don’t think too hard about it. Just do it.

16. Finger paint. One of the best things about elementary school art is finger painting. It’s freeing.

17. Shower. If you’re anything like me, you get some of your best ideas when you’re in the shower.

18. Eat fruit slowly. Grab your favorite fruit from your kitchen and eat it slowly. Taste every bite, noticing the color, the texture, the aroma. Beware: it’s pretty sensual.

19. Walk barefoot. If it’s spring or summertime, walk barefoot in the grass, noticing the way it feels.

20. Clean your creative area. If you’re a writer, clean your desk. If you make jewelry, clean the area in which you make it. Your creative energy might flow easier when you clear the clutter.

21. Play. If you have kids, this is an easy one. Go play with them for 10 minutes.

22. Enjoy a cup of tea.

23. Watch the video on the free hugs campaign website. If it doesn’t make you smile, I don’t know what to tell you.

24. Play with your dog. When I’m outside with my dogs throwing toys for them, I can’t help but be happy and feel lucky for my life. I also get lots of great creative ideas when I’m playing with my dogs.

25. Make a list. You think lists aren’t creative? Try making a list of things that you feel thankful for and see what happens. Download and print this PDF for a free “Things I’m Super Thankful For” list.

26. Practice kindness. Take 10 minutes to do something for someone else. You could send a handwritten note to a sick friend or go say hi to an elderly neighbor.

27. Check your twitter page. I know twitter can be a waste of time if you let it, but it can also be inspiring if you follow people like @jonathanfields, @marieforleo, or @lizstrauss. And, of course, don’t forget to follow me @blacksburgbelle.

28. Visualize happiness. Close your eyes and visualize that you’re in the place that makes you the happiest. Try to use all of your senses to engage in this activity. For example, if you visualize that you’re at the beach, taste and smell the salt in the air, visualize the beautiful sky, and feel the sand on your toes.

29. Do something new. Invigorate your creative spirit by doing something you’ve never done or don’t usually do. For instance, if you’re a writer, take 10 minutes to draw one of your characters instead of writing about him.

30. Jump rope. If you don’t have a rope, pretend. It’ll get your heart pumping and energize your body.

31. Change surroundings. If you usually work inside, go outside for a while. If it’s too cold to go outside, change rooms.

32. Repeat a mantra. Every creative person should have a couple positive mantras to repeat. You’ll need it when you’re having a rough day, get rejected, or feel incompetent. My mantra is, “I’m a smart and creative woman.” If my inner critic is messing with my head, I’ll tell it to shut up and repeat my mantra.

33. Laugh out loud. Whenever I need a good laugh, I call my stepdad who tells me some crazy story about my mom which is always true. One time, she called the U.S. embassy in Jamaica while I was on vacation and demanded that they look for me, because I hadn’t called her in a couple days. Those kinds of stories. If you don’t have someone like that in your life, you need to find one.

34. Review your goals. Sometimes, you lose sight of why you’re doing something. When you reread your long-term goals, you might be inspired to work those goals into your current creative project.

35. Sing. If you sound awful when you sing, like I do, wait until you’re alone {or warn your loved ones} and then belt out your favorite song. Pay attention to the words and why you love it so much.

Free Downloadable List Sheet {prints on an 8 an 1/2 x 11 inch piece of paper or cardstock}

Use this to complete #25 on the list above! Super huge thanks to pugly pixel for some of the graphics.

{Image from my Mixed Media Art Journal}

Trust me.

Do you trust me just because I tell you to? Probably not. But trust is a huge piece of the buying process. I’d wager that trust matters the most, not only when a customer buys something, but also when he recommends that product to another person.

Before you buy a product or service, you need to trust that you’re going to get what you pay for. Trust can mean the difference between zero sales and LOTS of sales, no matter what product or service you’re trying to sell.

You could sell the most amazing product in the world, but if your customer service sucks and you ship it two weeks later than the customer expects it, he’s going to be disappointed. Your customer won’t pass along the information for the amazing product that he got. Instead, he’ll probably warn people about the negatives.

The best and most effective way to sell without selling is to get referrals from people who fall in love with your product. If a customer trusts you and your company, she won’t hesitate to tell her friends and family members about your services. But, if she doesn’t trust you due to bad experiences she’s had with your company, she won’t. You want people to boost about your products in such a positive way that others have to check them out.

Once you’ve developed trust, you won’t have to worry about selling your product, because other people will do it for you. Pretty cool stuff. You’ll be able to focus on creating new products and improving the ones you have instead of spending lots of precious time on selling.

This probably sounds great, but you might be wondering how to put this plan into action. Follow these 5 steps to build trust with your customers:

1. Be honest about what your customers will get. Some small businesses make the mistake of promising their customers things they can’t deliver. If you want repeat customers, you can’t do this! For instance, if you sell art prints that you get printed on cardstock at your local printer such as Kinko’s, don’t tell customers that they’re getting prints on archival-quality photographic paper. Some may not realize, but others will and they’ll spread the word.

Action: Look through all of your product or service descriptions, and ensure that you can back up every statement that you make.

2. Exceed your customers’ expectations. To get repeat customers, always try to go beyond what your customers expect. For example, you might have a policy that says you always ship within four business days. Exceed expectations by doing your best to ship within two business days. You’re giving yourself a cushion just in case something comes up, but you’re also trying to go beyond what your customer expects.

Action: Figure out at least two ways that you can exceed your customers’ expectations and put them into place today.

3. Offer a 100% money back guarantee. A lot of creative businesses already do this, so it’s something a lot of customers expect. I often see small businesses who won’t offer this, because they don’t believe in their products. If you’re confident in your product, this shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve always offered this on all of my products—online and at craft fairs—and no one has ever asked for their money back. This gives prospective customers a safety net, and they’ll be more likely to buy from you.

This money back guarantee is crucial to creative businesses that do most of their business online. Let’s say you have an Etsy shop where you can give a product description and include five photos. This is often not enough to instill trust for a first time customer, especially if your products are more than $25. They may not be able to tell exactly how long the necklace will be on them or the exact colors of the original art. If they have a way to return the product if they aren’t satisfied, they might take that risk.

Action: Add a 100% money back guarantee to your policy today.

4. Admit when you make mistakes and do everything you can to fix them. If a customer contacts you to let you know that her bracelet arrived broken, apologize, tell her you’ll send a replacement to her that same day if possible, and ask her if there’s anything else you can do. Send a little something extra with her new bracelet. Most of the time, your helpful customer service will override the issue with the product. She’ll let her friends know how fast you responded to her and what a great experience she had with your company.

Action: Respond swiftly to issues and fix them.

5. Try to get feedback from your customers in order to improve your products and services. Contact each customer through email after they’ve received the product. Do not send out an automated message. Type something personal, and ask each customer for feedback. Keep the email short and to the point. Here’s an example,

Hi Sally Joe,

By now your original art entitled, “I love art,” from the I Love Art Company should have arrived. I just wanted to take a moment to thank you again for your purchase and give you an opportunity to give us feedback on your new piece of original art. In order to ensure that every customer has a wonderful experience, we would love for you to fill out our customer feedback form. It takes less than five minutes.

Thank you for your time,

Bonny Joe, Owner

I Love Art Company

http://www.IloveArtCompany.com

In your email, link to a simple feedback form that’s quick to fill out or people won’t do it. Use multiple choice and rating systems. Even if the website you sell your creative goods has a feedback system in place, like Etsy, it’s probably not a very precise one. Come up with your own to show customers that you appreciate them and listen to their advice. If you have a newsletter, include something at the bottom of your email that directs your customers to sign up for it.

Action: Create a hidden landing page through your website that you can direct customers to in order to fill out the feedback form {you don’t want your customers/readers to stumble upon it accidentally}. If you don’t have your own website or you don’t know how to create a landing page, use free survey software such as SurveyMonkey to set up a feedback form. Write a basic email to send to customers after they’ve received your product or service. Decide when you should send it out {i.e. a week after purchase} and personalize it before you send it to your customers.

Related Reading:

8 Ways Artists Can Generate Additional Income Streams