My next Studio Time online workshop is August 9: Create an Online Identity and Social Media Profile That Feels Honest, Professional and Inspiring
What if you could:
- Understand who your ideal audience is.
- Know exactly how to reach them.
- Develop practices to guarantee you create each week.
- Have a support system of other writers and artists.
- Have a plan so you know exactly what to do.
- Level up your creative business.
Too often, people rush into marketing without first finding clarity on what they want to create and who they hope to reach. The result? They flounder, jumping from one marketing trend to the next, each one with results that leave them feeling disappointed.
My name is Dan Blank. Writers and artists come to me, confused about how to ensure their work truly reaches people. I tell them this: Getting the attention of your ideal audience begins with CREATIVE CLARITY.
People work with me when they want a nurturing, safe place to ask themselves hard questions. To make tough decisions and challenge their assumptions. To double down on what matters and say “yes” to their creative vision with vigor.
A lot of people will tell you that in order to succeed with your creative work, you need a website, newsletter, social media and the like.
It’s not true.
What you need is clarity on what you create, how to do it, and how to ensure it reaches your ideal audience. Without these things, all the social media updates in the world won’t help you.
To get CREATIVE CLARITY, you need to:
GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO CREATE. Not only that, but you have to accept that the world needs what you create. That you are ready to be seen and heard as a creator.
KNOW WHY YOU CREATE. Deep down, why are you driven to create?You have to answer this because without it, you will stop when things get hard. Writing and art changes lives. Be clear how it is changing yours, and the potential it has to change someone else’s.
CREATE EVERY DAY. Establish the practices and processes that ensure you show up day in and day out, even when things feel difficult.
PUT CRAFT FIRST. Not trends, not rushing to for the easy “like” on social media. Your growth as a writer and artist relies on the mastery of your skills.
MASTER THE TOOLS THAT MATTER. How you create, connect your work with the world, and develop your business requires the mastery of the right tools.
ACKNOWLEDGE THAT SUCCESS REQUIRES COLLABORATION. Your work dies in isolation. When you collaborate, you are no longer swayed by the winds of trends, of negative anxiety that may drive you, of making incorrect assumptions about process. If you don’t have colleagues to help you along the way, you are destined to always be an amateur.
ESTABLISH A SUPPORT SYSTEM. Have a safe place to work through challenges. This is a support system of coaches, colleagues, and collaborators who hold you accountable to your creative vision.
MANAGE YOUR ATTENTION. Identify what distracts you and create a system to manage your own attention. Sometimes these things are outside of you, but oftentimes they are internal narratives. Learn to control them.
DEVELOP THE RIGHT MINDSET. Your attitude matters more than your tools. Focus more on developing a creative mindset than on whether you have the right tools or the best process.
FILL YOUR CREATIVE WELL. Your most important resource is creative energy. Not time, not access, not money, but having the energy to create. Keep this well full. Become a student of your own physical and mental health needs. Identify ways to feel more healthy as you grow, instead of more overwhelmed by all that life asks of you.
UNDERSTAND WHO YOU HOPE TO REACH. This is not some vague demographic. It is a real person with a name, a face, a lifetime of experiences, and someone searching for what you create.
CONNECT TO A PERSON, NOT AN AUDIENCE. Connecting your work to others should be a process of deep connection, not one of trying to amass faceless followers, judging your success on likes and reshares. It is about connecting through writing and art, and how that changes someone.
CREATE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY. It is important to honor that money is a resource that should be actively managed as a part of one’s creative career growth.
TAKE ACTION
The biggest mistake they make? Waiting too long to delve into this work. When you get CREATIVE CLARITY, everything changes.
Are you ready? Take action.
I believe in the value of collaborating, that it is important to connect on a human level. You can join me in the following ways:
- Creative Shift Mastermind – Oct 1 – Dec 31, 2018
Here you join me and 10 other writers and artists to finally find the clarity, community, accountability, and process to create more, and ensure your work reaches an audience. - Studio Time – August 9
When you want to resolve a single problem in a day — we collaborate for a day-long live online workshop. - Consulting and Coaching – 2 spots available
Work directly with me when you need a co-pilot to grow your platform, develop your audience, or prepare for your big launch.
If you are unsure of where to begin, check out my free Creative Clarity Workbook: