What is a maker and how do I help them?

For me, a maker is any person who is producing something to sell that they created themselves.

It could be from their own imagination, from combining techniques that they have learned or developed, or from putting their own stamp on a signature process.

Makers create things that could not have existed without their input.

They design, they sculpt, they paint, they imagine, they assemble, they bake, they write.

They use any medium available to express themselves through physical and digital objects.

Makers create the unique products that make the world more vibrant and interesting, so there has been one question that has preoccupied my thoughts for years.

Why is it that makers have such a hard time making a consistent living from their work?

If you’re here, you’ve probably been wondering about this too. Maybe you’re wondering if it’s even possible to make a living from your creative work.

Because the world has a lot of things to tell us about creativity and money.

-> Art isn’t something you do for the money (duh – but we all have to eat)

->Artists are too disorganised (and yet lots of disorganised people run businesses)

-> You can do what you love or you can make money, but not both (I think there are plenty of people who love their well paying jobs)

-> Nobody wants to pay for handmade or artisan products (or maybe people just don’t understand the difference)

-> Small creative businesses can’t compete against a mass market that relentlessly copies and exploits them (a challenge, to be sure, but not an insurmountable one)

The real reason it’s hard to make a living from your work

As a business coach for maker businesses, I’ve worked with artists and makers for almost ten years. I’ve helped them to understand how to translate their creative work into something that they can consistently sell and turn into an income.

I did it myself for six years as a fine art photographer. I’ve struggled myself. I’ve seen other people struggle.

And here’s what I know.

It is absolutely harder for artists and makers to start and profitably run a business from their creative work than it is for the average small business owner.

There’s no point pretending it’s not.

But WHY?

I believe it’s because we have some very real and very complicated thoughts and feelings about our work, and what it means to sell it.

To put it bluntly. We are all afraid. All the time.

Afraid that we’re not good enough. Afraid our work isn’t worth what we need to charge. Afraid we will fail and be embarrassed and everyone who smirked when we told them our plans will be able to say “I did tell you”

Most of all, we’re afraid that we’re foolish for trying to get the thing that we want the most. To spend our time making things and getting paid for it.

And being afraid does something very interesting to us.

It makes us self absorbed, when selling our work requires us to foster connection with others.

Art is all about connection. For the vast majority of creatives, we first create to share something of ourselves. To be understood. To be seen. To be known.

And in doing that, we build connections with other people who think and feel as we do, but who may not be able to express themselves in this way.

They share our art as a way to share something of themselves. So that they too can be understood, seen and known.

It’s a conversation. And it’s always vulnerable.

We risk judgement by sharing ourselves. They risk judgement by sharing their tastes and the things they love.
But in the end we share anyway, because we want to be seen and known.

It’s us and our followers against the normies living their lives in shades of beige.

But, when we start to sell our work, the whole dynamic changes.

The tension between your creative needs and your financial needs

If you’re running a business, suddenly you have financial needs which exist in a kind of tension with your creative needs.

Considering them alongside one another is the only way you stand a chance of building something that gives you everything you are looking for.

But so often, we don’t acknowledge our financial needs. We think they shouldn’t matter, that they somehow cheapen our work.

Because we’re afraid.

Addressing our financial needs brings up just as many fears as when we first started out with our creative work. And we’re not used to these ones. They’re new and scary, and so they preoccupy us more.

We struggle with what our art is worth. Our relationship with our audience changes because ” the customer is always right. Generational and societal issues with money come to the surface.

Suddenly we don’t just have to worry that our work isn’t good enough. Now we have to worry about whether we have what it takes to be business owners too.

Something that was joyful becomes profoundly uncomfortable. And that discomfort takes so much of our attention that there’s often no room left for genuine connection with our audience.

They literally disappear as all of our attention is drawn to these new fears. And without connection, they become a means to an end. A way to make more sales, to prove people wrong, to prove something to yourself.

A faceless source of money to satisfy those financial needs that have now become the only way to prove your worth.

It’s tough to warm to a brand and business like that. Tough to become a fan and a supporter.

So how can artists and makers generate a more sustainable income from their work?

By remembering that there is another person involved in our success. Every sale, every transaction, every conversation. There is another person there, with their own needs and desires.

The buyer. Our customer. The person who loves that item that we made so much that they want to spend their hard earned money on it.

And there’s always a reason for it, that is so deeply personal to that individual

It can be:

• • • a way to create a stronger personal identity, and be seen in the world
    • a way to connect to the people in their lives and show their feelings
    • a way to remind themselves of things, people, places and times that have great personal significance
    • a way to feel pleasure and joy in their surroundings

It is the incredible gift and privilege of artists and makers everywhere to be able to provide these things. To be a conduit for love, joy, excitement and individuality.

When you make your customers happy. When you make them feel more like themselves. When you connect with their needs and desires, everyone gets what they need, and your business and financial needs get met.

And for many of us, this also provides creative fulfilment and meaning.

The problem we solve is disconnection

Artists and makers often struggle to answer that most businessy of all questions – what problem does your product solve?

For the longest time, I didn’t know how to answer it either.

But our products solve the problem of disconnection. They help people connect more to themselves and to others.

But they can only do it if we can get out of our own way enough to be able to serve the people who need this and who can receive it through our work.

When we’re stuck in our heads, we miss out on so much. Connection, success, fulfilment.

So how do we get out of our heads?

Everything I create and teach is designed to help to diminish your fear and doubt over the business and financial stuff, so that you can connect more, and reap the creative and financial rewards.

That might seem a strange thing to say as my most successful product is the Maker’s Yearbook, a business planner and goal setting workbook.

But sometimes, the key to showing up in your business is just about getting out of your own way.

We need to learn to make space for connection with our customers. To not allow our fears and discomfort to take up ALL of our attention and distract us to the point that we depersonalise our customers.

And for those of us who are chronic overthinkers, the most successful strategy is often to disengage your brain for a while.

Routines, habits, systems and strategy give you an anchor to hold on to. A way to stop worrying so much and remember that everything you want is available to you if you only connect more with your customers.

So let’s learn how to get our work done in a simpler and calmer way, so that we can spend more time creating and connecting.