As an artist or creative, there may come a point when you want to take your passion to the next level and turn that hobby into a profession. This is a very exciting step! However, making the leap from a hobbyist to a professional can also feel a little daunting. Where do you start? How will you get discovered? Will you ever earn enough to make a living off your art?

Whether you’re into pottery, painting, fashion, music, or photography, it can be challenging to stand out and make your mark in the highly-competitive creative industry. In this article, we’ll share some tips to help you get discovered and build a business around your creative passion.

Refresh Your Resume

While resumes are essential to those seeking traditional employment, a well-written resume can benefit your freelance pottery career as well. FreeUp suggests using a resume to complement your portfolio, highlighting your talent, expertise, and experience for potential clients. Use your resume to list relevant education, achievements, skills, and client projects. One way to easily make updates to your resume is by using PDF editing tools. These allow you to edit your existing PDF resume without rewriting it in word processing software. Just upload your resume, make your desired changes, and download your new file for easy sharing — here’s an option for editing, rotating, and compressing PDF files (you can even create one from scratch!).

Define Your Brand

Branding is all about the personality and reputation of your creative business. Your branding should tell a story and express your unique identity as an artist. Come up with a consistent personal brand that will define how you present yourself and interact with potential customers, clients, and business collaborators. Think about what drives you to do your work, what you value, and how you want to impact the world. Once you’ve defined your brand, decide on fonts, color schemes, a logo, and a tone to use in client-facing content. Remember to think of your audience when defining your branding details.

Create a Business Plan

Whether you make pottery products to sell online or offer local photography sessions, a business plan is vital to your success. According to Skillshare, an artist's business plan will help you set goals, plan effective marketing strategies, and verify whether or not your sales strategy can be profitable. One of the most important sections of your business plan is the list of your services and offerings. For example, perhaps you want to offer painting classes, teach music online, or sell prints of your paintings at local craft fairs. Define your sales strategy in detail so you know exactly how you intend to earn money with your art.

Build an Online Presence

It’s no secret that creatives can benefit from an online presence, but it’s hard to know where to focus your efforts when marketing your business online. Start by choosing online channels where you can showcase your work. As one of the most popular social media channels today, TikTok has a massive audience of potential customers you can reach with your brand. TikTok is particularly valuable for connecting with a younger audience, collaborating with influencers, and building trust and credibility for your brand.

Collaborate with Established Creatives

Collaboration is key to kick-starting your career as a creative. By teaming up with other artists, you can get your work in front of an established audience of customers who are already interested in what you have to offer. For example, if you do sculpture, you could collaborate with artists of other mediums, such as painters or wire artists, to create mixed media projects. This is your chance to break the mold and flex your creativity!

Are you ready to get discovered as an artist? By updating your resume, defining your unique brand, writing out a detailed business plan, and building an engaging online presence, you can get your work in front of as many eyes as possible.

Become a member of the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce for more resources and events that will help you start and grow your business!