147: Staying Creative and Paying Your Bills

"The game of money making and staying creative has always been the challenge of the artist's journey."
Hey guys, welcome back to ONKEN RADIO (formerly NION Radio), the podcast where we explore the body, mind, and soul of the creative entrepreneur. It's my goal to help you take your creativity, business, and life to the next level. I'm so glad you're joining me on this journey!

I've got an insightful episode for all you Creative Alchemists out there. Today, I'm discussing an essential part of being a creative entrepreneur: staying creative and sustaining your business at the same time. Striking a balance between your business and creative sides is essential for both your career and your inner self. Making money and making time for your creative vision is always a challenge in an artist's journey, regardless of how long you've been in your creative industry. I still struggle with this at times even though I've been a creative entrepreneur for 15years. Mastering the art of striking a balance between money and creativity takes time, and a lot of ups and downs can occur throughout your creative career, which can affect your balance. 

Fear and uncertainty also affect your balance between creativity and business and can be detrimental to your success. I've interviewed many successful creatives on my show, and dealing with their inner fears and uncertainty is the biggest thing that they had to overcome to become successful and balanced. 

Today, I'm sharing five tips for staying creative while also sustaining your business. I'm going to talk about becoming scrappy, getting creative in your business, working on your inner self, finding things that inspire you to create, and creating for the sake of creation. 

Even if you're already successful in your creative field, these tips can still help you create a healthy balance between your business and art. You may even be aware of some or all these tips already, but let them serve as a reminder for you. There's a quote that I love that says, "A novice says, 'I already knew that,' while a master says, 'Thank you for the reminder.'" No matter what stage of your creative career you might be in, you can still benefit from the lessons I'm discussing today, so let's dive in! 
#1. Get Scrappy or Get Back to It
The first tip is becoming scrappy to start your creative career or maintain it. This was so important to me when I was first getting started with my photography business in New York City. I had to be scrappy and really hustle through a ton of work and many late nights. I was building a creative career in an incredibly competitive city, so I had to work diligently to make connections and get my work out to the public. 

There will always be ups and downs in your creative career, so you need always be prepared to hustle and grind. It takes a great deal of effort to get your work out to people, regardless of how many years you’ve been working. It’s especially difficult to be a creative entrepreneur in the digital age because there's so much content to compete with. Now more than ever, you need to become scrappy to succeed in your creative business. 

Do whatever it takes to distinguish yourself creatively and get your work out to the public. Maybe you need to learn a new skill within your creative medium to distinguish you from other artists, or maybe you need to get out of your comfort zone and put yourself out there to make more contacts. I had a great interview with Jordan Harbinger about building professional relationships with people to advance your creative career, so you should definitely check that out once you finish reading this post. Never stop meeting people, building your network, and hustling when you need to. 
#2. Get Creative in Business
The next one is getting creative in your business, and this transcends any medium that you might be working in. A huge part of succeeding in your field is developing creative approaches for marketing your business.