- Self-funding -
Sustaining your creative practice
Business Card
Getting the cash to kick-start your creative work is just half the battle won, how do you maintain and sustain your practice without it crumbling to bits after the first batch of money is pumped into the starting of the work? Many people give out their business cards, name cards or calling cards to reach out to new people they meet that might possibly be in search of something they need or a skill they are looking for someone to have. This calling card acts as a way to obtain jobs and spread the word simply by passing out a card that has information for the receiver to gain access to. This is the same method Sarah has adopted but in a unique way. “One of the things the website currently does is it acts as a professional calling card and often when you meet people and show them the website you the are able to offer business to business services which is what I have been doing for a bout a year or so. I would write for other publications and on sell the content or syndicate the content,” said Sarah. This shows us that the website she runs is not her main source of income, she would require to have jobs on the side made available through the exposure of her website that allows for her to make money off the side jobs and in turn fund her website and come up with new ideas.
Side Jobs act as funding for your content
“You use your creativity to garner professional work. What I often do is people can see the creativity and say great we’d love you do copyrighting for our website and I often do a lot of PR work so people love you writing their media releases, media packs, web-logs Others I’ve done are professional photography, research and television scripting, social media support. So you website acts as that central hub that draws people to your professional services.” With them commissioning her to work on something for the company, she gets to substantiate her website with these side jobs, giving more credibility to the website and thus forming a better image for the viewers and trust in them. As we all know, credibility and image is key for viewers or potential clients and funders to even glance at your work.
Funding in kind
With the term self-funding revolving around “the self” and “the individual”, this is not to mention that help is not important. With self-funding, it is essential to maintain a good network of people and friends that will support and assist you to build your practice with their skills. You in turn, make available your expertise and lend them a hand at what you’re best at. This is very much practiced in the independent media producers industry and circle, which is exactly why you do not have to be a “jack of all trades” to sustain your practice. Furthermore, if you are remarkably brilliant at one particular skill, others will sought after you for that particular skill and a network can be formed and professional creative services can be rendered out for support. “For anyone who is starting out in independent media is to develop a network of trusted relationships where you can offer in kind support to each other. For me, my specialty has always been writing and media production so I have been in a position to offer those services for in kind support for other people with artistic skills," says Sarah.
Sponsorships
Funding in kind can also take another shape through self-funding. “For example sponsorships if people want their MacBook computers given by apple or camera equipment, – that can often be very effective way to get the things you need without necessarily paying for it in cash, which is what a lot of artists struggle with, is being cash poor but resource rich.” As we can clearly see in university the amount of brilliant and inspiring ideas and projects that come out of our course and the brains and talent behind it, there are many amazing traits but little money in the pocket to boost this idea forward. Sponsorships allow for an individual to obtain the equipment and resources needed for the practice to be carried out without having spending much for it. But with sponsorships also tags along some kind of outcome or value back to the sponsor. James Winter is a freelance theatre director and practicing artist of 15 years who co-manages Queen Street Studios (QSS) in Sdyney elaborates on Sponsorships and the kinks that come with it. “Though I think what needs to happen is that people have got to realise that funding, sponsorship and partnerships are liabilities. They’re not cash in the bank, they are attached to some very significant contractual agreements,” says James. This acts as new markets and new ways of doing business in turn getting a benefit from it. “So it’s a sneaky way of getting something achieved. But no way is it devious,” clarifies James. Partnerships and sponsorships most of the time end up being short-term for the particular project or event. This allows for the sponsor to test out the market and business if it is worthy investing more time, effort and money into the practice. “What I do see is that the partnership doesn’t extend beyond that project. The best possible scenario is that an arts partnership continues to grow and change and work with each other as the years go, as both partners move and change and serve each other,” says James (The Funding Engine, 2010) James, a big believer in enhancing youths with the opportunity to display their creative work has started a grant application through Queen Street Studio and Tafe NSW which distributed a total of $10,000 in ArtStart grant money to four organisations working with young people aged 12-24 years old. James wants to encourage the development of pathways and links to further education and training in a range of industries, including the arts and cultural industries and wants to stimulate ongoing youth arts, cultural and skills development activities by resourcing local structures and networks.
Check out the studio's blog for rates and articleshttp://blog.queenstreetstudio.com/?cat=283
Applying for a grant? Here's how: http://www.queenstreetstudio.com/artstart/guidelines.html
Article on James: http://thefundingengine.com.au/wordpress/?tag=in-kind-sponsorship