Making IT Pay by Chris Jones

‘Encouraging enterprise & Creative Business Skills and development’

MAKING IT PAY by Juliet Fay

A Guide for Businesses and Students in the Creative Industries

Mae’r Prosiect hwn wedi derbyn arian trwy Gynllun Datblygu Gwledig Cymru 2007-2013 a gyllidir gan Lywodraeth Cynulliad Cymru, Cronfa Amaethyddol Ewrop ar gyfer Datblygu Gwledig a Phrifysgol Cymru Y Drindod Dewi Sant. This Project has received funding through the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013 which is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and University of Wales Trinity St David.

Published by University of Wales: Trinity Saint David ÂŠ 2010 University of Wales: Trinity Saint David. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without the prior written permission of University of Wales: Trinity Saint David. The author and publisher have used their best efforts in preparing this book and the document contained herein. However, the author and publisher make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, with regard to the informational content, documentation, or files contained in this book and specifically disclaim, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with respect to program listings in the book, the techniques described in the book, and/or the use of files. In no event shall the author or publisher be responsible or liable for loss of profit, or any commercial damages, including, but not limited to, special incidental, consequential, or any other damages in connection with or arising out of furnishing, performance, or use of this book, program files, instruction, audio or video connected with this information. Further, the author and publisher have used their best efforts to proof and confirm the content of the files, but you should proof and confirm information such as dates, measurements, and any other content for yourself. The author and publisher make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, with regard to that content or its accuracy. Further the author and the publisher are not responsible for the content of any external links. The views expressed in this publication are the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own and may not necessarily reflect those of University of Wales, Trinity Saint David. For more information, please write to: Juliet Fay Llwyncrychyddod Llanpumsaint Carmarthen Carmarthenshire SA33 6JS Wales UK Phone: +44 1267-249-057 Email: juliet@onlinesalesmessages.com Designed by Cwdos Design, Carmarthen.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Part 1 - Guide for Businesses in Creative Industries Why are you in business? The Plan - taking a critical view The Plan - case study: Fine Art Banners Marketing - whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s buying what youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re selling? Marketing - case study: Seramik Your strengths & weaknesses Funding/grants Managing the money Legal & financial structure of your business Intellectual property protection Promotion - social, digital and traditional media Promotion - case study: Arts 4 Wellbeing Management/entrepreneurship/dealing with staff Summary

6 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 31 33

CONTENTS

Foreword

Part 2 - Guide for Students in Creative Industries Performing Arts Performing Arts case study: Liane Davies Photography Photography case study: Betsan Haf Evans Visual Arts & Crafts Visual Arts & Crafts case study: Rhiannon Sparks Digital Media Digital Media case study: Eifion Melnyk-Jones Short Film & Animation Fashion Design Fashion Design case study: Sarah Llewellyn Music Music case study: Claire Roberts Creative Writing Creative Writing case study: Rebecca John Graphics & Advertising Graphics & Advertising case study: Clayton Richards Arts Management Arts Management case study: Bryony Evett-Hackfort Summary

35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54

References Resources Student Courses Acknowledgements About the author

55 56 57 58 59

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Foreword by Heritage Minister, Alun Ffred Jones. I hope that this new guide for the creative industries in rural Carmarthenshire will prove to be a very useful tool for those looking for help and advice in order to follow a career path in the creative industries. The creative and cultural industries play a very important part in the Welsh economy and contribute approximately ÂŁ400m to the Welsh economy each year, with 18,940 jobs within the sector in Wales.

FOREWORD

This guide has been specifically tailored to the needs of the industry and will provide a free online resource for the area and will play its part in encouraging entrepreneurship in the artistic sector. In a rural area such as Carmarthenshire, this focal point for the creative sector is an excellent way of bringing resources, people and ideas together to create a strong creative hub.

Foreword by Minister for Rural Affairs, Elin Jones One of my first actions as Minister for Rural Affairs was to bring forward the Rural Development Plan (RDP) to enable the Welsh Assembly Government to provide support to rural Wales. The RDP is aimed at assisting communities, helping boost their local economy by supporting local businesses, improving services, improving skills through training, and improving public and community transport. I am pleased to see the RDP supporting people in Carmarthenshire to enter and succeed in the creative industries, which is not only important for the rural economy, but is an integral part of Wales and its culture.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Part 1 Guide for Businesses in Creative Industries

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Summary In this chapter we look at: Why knowing why you are in business makes for a smoother ride A quick questionnaire? What does success mean to you?

WHY ARE YOU IN BUSINESS?

1. WHY ARE YOU IN BUSINESS?

Why knowing why you are in business makes for a smoother ride Imagine a school girl hunched over her desk, frowning at the work in front of her. She looks up in despair and yearns to be outside enjoying the sunshine that’s pouring through the window. “If only she wasn’t trapped by these rules, this classroom and this stupid exam.” The desire for freedom is a strong one and freedom can lead to profound creative expression in many forms. It can also lead to blank canvases and empty bank balances. If your desire to set up a business is about escaping, then you need to grab a coffee, settle down and read this business guide, so that you can decide if the demands and risk involved in running a business give you any more freedom than being employed in organisations that share your values. Conversely, you may love your art and feel that you are only truly yourself when you are at your craft, in the moment, lost in the act of creation. If “selling” for you is a dirty word, and sales are the dirty end of the business that you’d prefer to avoid, then a specialist role creating in house, for others, could be the way forward. Or you could read Chapter three: Marketing - “Who’s buying what you’re selling?”, and challenge your negative notions of selling. This might just reveal a way forward for you to apply your creativity to business as well as your artistic work.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Why do people set up their own businesses? Can making art and making profit ever make happy bed fellows? The reasons for going into business are many and varied. All are valid, but some may not lead to a profitable business. Let’s look at some of those reasons and explore them further. Reasons to go into business

Ask yourself this.....

be your own boss

Okay but that also means dealing with all the dull bits of business like insurance, accreditations, tax and all the administration. Are you willing to do that to be your own boss?

freedom to come and go as you please

Freedom comes from being able to pay the bills as well as time and space to create. Would a part time job in the arts tick all these boxes?

set your own prices

Have you got the skills to negotiate or are you willing to learn about setting prices, presenting your work as a sales proposition, promoting, selling and doing all the paperwork?

create the kind of work you want to create

Yes you can do that but what will you do if you can’t sell it?

passionate about art

To remain passionate we must feed our love with learning, experiences, criticism and sharing of ideas. Are you motivated enough to do that?

work alone

Only you can kick yourself out of bed, get yourself to events and exhibitions, deal with emails, funding, purchasing and all the other roles you have to take on as a small business owner.

work around my children

Can you separate work from home life?

want to work from home

You may have practical or emotional reasons for wanting to do this? Will you find it isolating, if so consider joining artistic or business networks to help you avoid cabin fever.

change the world

Isn’t this easier from within? If you have a message that needs to be heard, should you be looking at a career in journalism or education?

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

WHY ARE YOU IN BUSINESS?

Why are you going into business a quick questionnaire?

Ask yourself this.....

leave your mark on the world

You can do this by picking up litter in your local community. Is it fame and glory you seek or do you want to contribute and make the world a better place?

become rich and famous

This is one of the clearest goals. It may not be as you expected when you get there but if it motivates you, go for it.

own a yacht

So youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll need a business that gives you a big income. Clear goals are important.

learn new skills

By learning we grow, by learning our creative work develops, by sharing our learning we bring variety, light and colour to those around us. Being in business is a great place for learning. Are you open to a long journey of learning?

freedom from money worries

Desire to pay the bills can be a powerful driving force. Fear of lack of money can bung up the creative channels like nothing else. Finding the audience that you can create your best work for is the key to finding a market that will pay you what your work is worth.

plough your own furrow

There are many areas in life where you can express your individuality. Business is the ideal place where the reward can be measured in pounds and pence.

create the kind of life you want

Do you know what matters to you? Is it place, possessions, people, accolades, glory? It can change, so review it every few years.

doing what your parents did

Not to be sniffed at. The support, experience and advice you can get from family members with business experience can be invaluable.

no jobs where you want to live

Practical choices are often the best. Can you identify the bits that scare you? If so, go out and find the help and support you need in those areas. It may be closer than you think.

friends are in business

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nothing like a group of peers, artistic, business or social to spur you on, share disasters and triumphs and create fertile collaborations.

friends have a good business idea

Some of the best business ideas are born over a pint (and some of the worst too). Nurture the idea and take it into the light only when it is strong enough to bear close scrutiny and criticism.

WHY ARE YOU IN BUSINESS?

Reasons to go into business

If after reading this you are more determined than ever, then please continue.............

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

The fisherman and the business man1 A few years ago, a very rich businessman decides to take a vacation to a small tropical island in the South Pacific. He has worked hard all his life and has decided that now is the time to enjoy the fruits of his labor. He is excited about visiting the island because he’s heard that there is incredible fishing there. He loved fishing as a young boy, but hasn’t gone in years because he has been so busy working to save for his retirement. So on the first day, he has his breakfast and heads to the beach. It’s around 9:30 am. There he spots a fisherman coming in with a large bucket full of fish! “How long did you fish for?”, he asks. The fisherman looks at the businessman with a wide grin across his face and explains that he fishes for about three hours every day. The businessman then asks him why he returned so quickly. “Don’t worry”, says the fisherman, “there’s still plenty of fish out there”

WHY ARE YOU IN BUSINESS?

What does success mean to you?

Dumbfounded, the businessman asks the fisherman why he didn’t continue catching more fish. The fisherman patiently explains that what he caught is all he needs. “I’ll spend the rest of the day playing with my family, talking with my friends and maybe drinking a little wine. After that I’ll relax on the beach.” Now the rich businessman figures he needs to teach this peasant fisherman a thing or two. So he explains to him that he should stay out all day and catch more fish. Then he could save up the extra money he makes and buy an even bigger boat to catch even more fish. Then he could keep reinvesting his profits in even more boats and hire many other fisherman to work for him. If he works really hard, in 20 or 30 years he’ll be a very rich man indeed. The businessman feels pleased that he’s helped teach this simple fellow how to become rich. Then the fisherman looks at the businessman with a puzzled look on his face and asks what he’ll do after he becomes very rich. The businessman responds quickly, “you can spend time with your family, talk with your friends, and maybe drink a little wine. Or you could just relax on the beach.” Understanding what success means to you is very important. There are many measures of success such as: spending more time with people you love, developing your talents, winning awards, taking long holidays, renovating your home, meeting the rich and famous, helping others as well as making pots of money. If you are clear about what is important to you before you start it will help inform your business decision making. However, for any business to thrive, you need to bring in more than you spend and enough for you to be comfortable. Without this fundamental element in place, you will not achieve your other aims. In a nutshell..... Be honest about why you want to go into business Consider the implications of those motivations Consider what success looks like for you

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Summary In this chapter we look at: Why you need to nurture the big idea? How does it serve the market? The long view - goal setting

Why you need to nurture the big idea

THE PLAN - TAKING A CRITICAL VIEW

2. THE PLAN - TAKING A CRITICAL VIEW

Did you ever grow sunflowers as a child? Maybe at school you were given a rather unprepossessing black and white seed which you carefully put under the soil in a small pot. Were you sent home with it? How did it fare? Maybe you checked it daily, watered it when dry and kept it in a warm sunny place, or maybe it got left outside the back door, near the dustbin and quietly withered and died. There’s a reason that so many people use plant analogies when talking about setting up businesses. Your idea will face many challenges along the way and it is you and you alone who have to keep feeding and nurturing that idea if you want to make it become a reality.

How does it serve the market? Whatever the reason for going into business and hopefully you have thoroughly analysed these after reading Chapter one, the very next question you need to ask, is “Where’s the market?” You don’t have to feel compromised into producing work that has no integrity or value in your eyes, you simply need to find the audience for the work you want to create and one that is willing to pay you what you need to sustain your business and your creative work. That is not an impossible task. The question “Where’s the market?,” often comes last after, ”What shall I produce? How many shall I make? How will I fund my business? Where will my premises be? How will I pay the rent while I start off? And what will my partner or family think?” However it should come first. Without a market you will have no business. Read more about the market and marketing in the next chapter.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

A recent PhD study into entrepreneurship researched and written by Jeanne Gwynne2 found a correlation between long term goal setting and profit. The more detailed and long term the goals the more successful and higher levels of profit the business had achieved. Not so startling really. If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know if you’ve got there? Don’t panic, if being asked to set five or 10 year plans makes your mind go blank, then begin with six months from now, 12 months from now and 2 years from now. Once you get caught up in the day to day reality of creating your work and running the business it is very easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. This makes day to day planning easier because you can simply ask, “Does this activity take me closer to my goals for this month or year... or not?” Reviewing your goals regularly is a good habit. Think weekly review rather than annual review.

THE PLAN - TAKING A CRITICAL VIEW

The long view - goal setting

Goal setting map For many in creative industries, taking a holistic view comes naturally, so you’ll probably find the Goal Setting Map opposite, quite easy to use.

HEALTH FAMILY / RELATIONSHIPS

PERSONAL

ME SPIRITUAL / RELAXATION

BUSINESS LEARNING

Figure 1 Goal Setting Map by Juliet Fay

You are at the centre of the map and the idea is you put down everything you want to achieve in the different areas of your life. So • next to health you could put go to the gym twice a week, • personal might include getting an iPad, learning to salsa, • relaxation might have daily meditation or prayer or walking on the beach • relationships might include regular nights out, a special anniversary celebration etc • learning might be how to use Twitter, or do book keeping • business - you might have a huge list here, everything from setting up a business bank account to creating a website. Put down everything you can think of. Then you choose no more than 2 or 3 in each area. Underline them. These are the things you work on first. They might be big things or little things. It doesn’t matter. Some you will achieve in a few weeks, others might take a year. By regularly reviewing this little drawing, you will keep you, your life and business going where you want it to go. In a nutshell..... A new business needs to be nurtured Find, interrogate and learn to love your market Set goals for today, tomorrow, next week, next year

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Andrew McCutcheon and Elizabeth Brickell, a husband and wife team, run Fine Art Banners. Set up in 2004, the business designs and makes colourful, decorative flags and banners for festivals, weddings and parties. They hire the flags out and now also run workshops where people can learn to make their own flags.

Why did you go into business? Both Andrew and Elizabeth are professional artists and part time tutors for Aberystwyth University but they were looking for ways to generate income in the quiet non tutoring summer months. It made sense to apply their creative minds and skills to increase their income.

“Many creative people prefer to disassociate with the dreaded ‘men/women in suits’ who can have such influence on their development.” Andrew McCutcheon

As self employed artists they were both used to managing accounts, responding to briefs, deadlines and budgeting so setting up in business was not that daunting. Initially the pair sought advice from Carmarthenshire County Council Business and Business Eye (now Business Wales). It was here that they received crucial help to write a convincing Business Plan3.

THE PLAN - TAKING A CRITICAL VIEW

CASE STUDY

Fine Art Banners - looking back at the plan

Although a business idea may be a good one, being able to communicate that idea through a well recognised structure such as a Business Plan is vital. Looking back how did the plan work out? Originally Fine Art Banners was set up to supply individually designed (bespoke) installations for festivals, theatres, corporate or public sector venues, businesses or events. Following the suggestion of a festival organiser, the business has been diverted into mostly hiring to festivals where it has achieved success, in particular attracting recurring orders from Cambridge Folk Festival and Ashbourne Arts Festival. They had hoped to win large contracts to provide that crucial income over the summer but the reality has been smaller contracts which take more time and sometimes conflict with other work and family commitments. If they had their time over again, they would pursue more capital investment at the beginning to give them the premises and equipment to keep their “noses in front” as Andrew says.

The couple are very clear that their family comes first. To that end they have always adjusted their work commitments to fit in with raising children. That has meant sometimes sacrificing regular income. For instance competitors in the summer season are willing to travel from festival to festival, living rough and keeping their overheads low. This is not an option for Elizabeth and Andrew.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

• Be clear about your priorities and the time and resources you have to commit to your business. • Be clear about your objectives e.g. generating income, developing your art.

• Engage with the ‘men/women in suits’ e.g. your bank manager even though you may feel uncomfortable in that environment. • At the same time be open to opportunities.

THE PLAN - TAKING A CRITICAL VIEW

• Secure adequate investment at the beginning.

CASE STUDY

Fine Art Banners tips for planning your business

• A rural location is good for creativity and the benefits outweigh the downsides of e.g. slow broadband, transport costs. • Make connections with other creatives through e.g. projects like iCreu and take advantage of all opportunities to develop your business and marketing skills. Fine Art Banners - percentage income by activity banner workshops 10% banner hire 60% bespoke banner sales 30%

Note the business contributes around 30% of the total household income

Contact Andy McCutcheon and Elizabeth Brickell Tel: 01550 777967 info@fineartbanners.co.uk

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Summary In this chapter we look at: Understanding your market What is marketing? Why you should learn to love marketing

Understanding your market The market is the place we buy and sell. It can be a real place, a market stall, or online through an electronic shop, on the phone or by post. Without buyers you have no business.

“The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit.” Milton Friedman4

Finding your market, listening to what inspires, motivates or tickles them and specialising for that market is one of the keys to developing a strong business. If you create art works then you simply need one genuine customer to begin your research. Take them out for a drink. Interrogate them. Find out what makes them tick. Where there is one, there are others. You just have to know where to find them.

MARKETING - WHO’S BUYING WHAT YOU’RE SELLING?

3. MARKETING - WHO’S BUYING WHAT YOU’RE SELLING?

There are just over three million people in Wales, over 60 million people in the UK and the current world population stands at over 6.8 billion5. All you have to do is find the small percentage who you can benefit by your work.

What is marketing? The process of researching your market and defining your offering, is only a part of what we call marketing. The term is often used to mean advertising, promotion or selling. Marketing encompasses all those things and more. The Business Dictionary defines marketing as the: “Management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer.” I like this one. It links your art with your customer. It puts you firmly in charge as The Manager and it describes marketing as a process rather than an act. Putting leaflets in a local arts centre is an act of promotion. Sitting down and working out why people buy and what they are buying from you is all part of the wonderful process of marketing.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Marketing covers every aspect of your relationship with your market.

Why you should learn to love marketing For people who love what they create there can be a lurking resistance to thinking about The Market. This is connected to a vague distaste about selling. When I ask for people’s idea of sales people at workshops it’s always the same: used car salesmen. What’s our perception of these stereotypes? Pushy, rude, won’t take no for an answer. I’m going to challenge you to a radical re-think now. You need to become as fascinated with your market as you are with your work or art. That market is not just your meal ticket but holds within it your financial freedom to develop your creative talents. The more you give to the market, the more you will get and the more you get, the more you can give.

MARKETING - WHO’S BUYING WHAT YOU’RE SELLING?

Your marketing activity could include: • Visiting exhibitions to check out the competition. • Attending craft workshops. • Developing a brand including a business logo. • Searching online for all the other businesses in your sector. • Sending a letter to all the gallery owners in your region. • Developing key messages about your business. • Sending on and offline press releases. • Setting prices. • Packaging and presentation. • Communicating with customers. • Getting feedback after sales.

For this relationship to be mutually beneficial you have to charge enough. Value is not fixed. The value of something can change from person to person, place to place, even week to week. Understand how to increase perceived value. Specialising works well. Who do you think can charge more, a general photographer or a specialist food photographer?

The Marketing Plan A marketing plan gives you a road map. Planning helps you integrate marketing activity into your every day business. Spend at least an hour a day on marketing and see the results. Send an email, scour the local paper, design a leaflet, update Facebook or Twitter or phone a potential buyer. If people don’t know you’re there, they can’t buy from you.

In a nutshell..... Finding your market is key - don’t be afraid to specialise Learn about marketing Do something to market your business every day

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Yoka Kilkelly runs Siramik - a pottery business near Alltwallis outside Carmarthen set up in 2005. It all began when Yoka was asked to attend an event at the National Wetlands Centre in Llanelli with her potter’s wheel. The interest from the public was over-whelming and Yoka spotted a potential market for short pottery workshops. After checking out the limited competition, Yoka began by taking her potter’s wheel out to events around the region.

Originally from Amsterdam in The Netherlands, Yoka was browsing through Ceramic Review Magazine one day, when she spotted an advert for an assistant at Gwili Pottery, a well established pottery studio at Pontarsais in Carmarthenshire. Two days later she was in Carmarthenshire rolling up her sleeves to start work. Since then everything has gone, as they say in Holland, “bergopwaards” , “mountain upwards or up and up”.

“We say in Holland, assertive people have half the world.” Yoka Kilkelly

MARKETING - WHO’S BUYING WHAT YOU’RE SELLING?

CASE STUDY

Siramik - finding the market

She learnt about running a business from her seven years at Gwili Pottery before branching out on her own. Taking advice from a friend, Yoka started small with just one wheel, attending events such as The Welsh Game Fair . The opportunity arose to develop redundant farm buildings on her small holding, Lanclynadda, perched 300 feet above sea level, near Alltwallis. Yoka seized the chance to expand her business by installing a pottery studio and B&B accommodation with a view to offering pottery weekends.

Although Yoka had artistic and administrative skills, she didn’t have any marketing skills but being in a very rural location she realised that she couldn’t just sit there and wait for people to come. She took advantage of marketing seminars offered by organisations like Business Eye (now Business Wales) and kept her ears and eyes open, learning from others. She takes every opportunity to let people know about Siramik, leaving a trail of leaflets behind her wherever she goes. Yoka mentioned the importance of local networks, in the early years she found the Carmarthen branch of Women In Rural Enterprise (WIRE) particularly helpful for advice, information and ideas.

Siramik is currently growing at 15% per year. In 2010 Yoka was running two to three courses a week; either half day, evening classes, full day courses or weekend courses. In the future she would like to increase sales of her own pottery range as well as doing more workshops in the region and from her studio. When asked about the key to promoting her business, Yoka says with a grin, “We say in Holland, assertive people have half the world.”

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

• Siramik travels to events no further than an hour from the studio.

• The website has brought visitors from as far as Scotland & Zimbabwe. • 50% of Siramik bookings come from the website. • Siramik keeps multiple income strands, offering: •

evening classes

•

weekend classes

•

pottery at parties

•

pottery mini workshops at events

•

pottery for sale

•

B&B

• Siramik has taken up other opportunities to develop its profile. Yoka is also: • artist in residence at Portfield School in Haverfordwest •

a facilitator for Careers Wales West offering primary and secondary teachers the chance to brush up their pottery skills

•

a Dynamo Role Model for the Dynamo Project6, which seeks to increase awareness of entrepreneurship for young people

•

using networks like Women In Rural Enterprise (WIRE) for ideas, support and making contacts.

Siramik - income by activity Pottery courses 70% Sales of pottery 10% Bed & Breakfast 20%

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

MARKETING - WHO’S BUYING WHAT YOU’RE SELLING?

CASE STUDY

Siramik business facts and tips • 70% of people attending weekend workshops come from within the county.

Summary In this chapter we look at: What are your strengths and weaknesses? How do you capitalize on this knowledge? How does that affect your business?

Your strengths and weaknesses

YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

4. YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Flying solo. Up above the clouds, free as a bird. No-one to answer to. No-one to clip your wings. Sounds attractive doesn’t it? The desire to be in control of one’s own life and to be free of the tyranny of a boss and the hum drum of the 9 - 5 regime is often at the root of people’s desire to set up their own enterprise.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” Helen Keller

What are your strengths and weaknesses? Flying solo has one important down side. It’s lonely up there. Without a work place structure around you it can be oh so difficult to keep motivated to do what needs to be done, not just to run your business but to build it too. Identifying your strengths and weaknesses at an early stage can be crucial for the success of your enterprise. How do you do that? A simple check list will do it. Ask close friends or colleagues if you find it difficult. Family opinions are sometimes less reliable because our personality types tend to be declared when we are still children. Below are areas you might consider. Some are about knowledge, some about skills, but all are relevant to running a business. Strong

Could improve

organising time keeping managing money creative ideas IT skills: word processing, spreadsheets, email and internet social media skills: Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, blogs, forums etc.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Could improve

presentation skills artistic skills design skills writing skills marketing skills management skills time management skills

What you will probably find is that areas you mark as strong, are areas where youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve already spent time learning and practicing. That is the only real difference between the two options.

YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Strong networking skills

How do you capitalise on this knowledge? Knowledge is power. Once you see the areas that are weaker, you can make a plan to improve your skills in both areas. Yes making the strong areas even stronger will improve your confidence and help you develop your business. Go to seminars, learn online or simply watch and learn from those who perform well in your sector. Imitating systems that work will save you an enormous amount of time and effort. Unlike copying a piece of creative work (see Chapter eight on Intellectual Property), imitating a sound business process is a really smart move. Another route is to form partnerships with others who are strong in areas you dislike. Some of the most successful businesses start with a trio of complimentary skill sets. A money person, an artist and an entrepreneur will get further quicker than an artist alone.

How does this affect your business? Forming partnerships (see Chapter seven: Legal and financial structure of your business) can take your business forward in leaps and bounds if you share a vision. Whether you go into partnership or go it alone, if you make learning a habit you will give yourself a valuable advantage in business. In a nutshell..... Spend some time assessing your strengths and weaknesses Get the learning habit Consider hooking up with others with complimentary skills

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Summary In this chapter we look at: Different purposes of funding Ways businesses can be funded

FUNDING AND GRANTS

5. FUNDING AND GRANTS

Accessing funding

Different purposes of funding When you start a business you will need money to buy equipment, get some promotional material developed and cover other start up costs. This is called capital expenditure. As the business starts to operate, bills will come in - bills for business expenses, things like making calls, travel and materials. You will also need money to cover household bills like rent, food and so on. Initially the business may not make enough to cover all these. There are good tools on the Business Wales site to help you work out how much money you need to set up. You need to know this before you can search for funding.

Ways businesses can be funded Simply stated the options for financing your business are as follows: • your own seed money from savings • bank loans • loans from family or friends • grants - see resource box below • outside investment • gifts or grants from philanthropists There are other less common sources of finance such as: • community development finance institutions - offer micro finance particularly if you are in a deprived area • peer group lenders - some groups have set up to help specific individuals or groups e.g. women in business Take me to information about these two sources of funding: http://business.wales.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1079144502&r. i=1076795328&r.l1=1073858790&r.l2=1076795303&r.t=RESOURCES&site= 230&type=RESOURCES

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

For most sources of funding, you will stand a better chance not only of securing the money but making your business work if you have a Business Plan. In the case of grants, you will often find the grant officer can help you put a Business Plan together (see the Resource Section for links to advice on writing a Business Plan). You will often be asked for a Cashflow Forecast. This is a projection of your income and expenses over a set period, usually three or five years.

FUNDING AND GRANTS

Accessing funding

Links to information on sources of funding, advice and grants The Business Support Finder on the Business Wales website allows you to search for financial assistance and free advice in different sectors and for different aspects of your business. It is worth spending time here looking through all the options. http://business.wales.gov.uk/bdotg/action/bsf Carmarthenshire County Council Business Pages - explore the links on the left hand side of the website as there are various small grants as well as some business loans http://www.sirgar.gov.uk/english/business/advice/pages/advice.aspx The Rural Business Development Centre - a one stop shop to help new and existing businesses in the area. Information on grants is also available here. http://www.carmarthenshire.gov.uk/english/business/advice/ developmentcentre/pages/ruralbusinessdevelopmentcentre.aspx

In a nutshell..... Work out how much money you need to get going and keep going in year 1 and 2 Take the time to explore all the funding options Get the help you need to write your Business Plan - the key to unlocking funding

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Summary In this chapter we look at: Keeping track of it all Price setting

MANAGING THE MONEY

6. MANAGING THE MONEY

When to spend and when to hold back

Imagine a well fed child running across the beach, laughing. Now picture an underweight, pale, unhappy child, listlessly poking the sand with a stick with her mouth downturned.

Keeping track of it all

“It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating” Oscar Wilde

A profitable business, just like a well nourished child, is a healthy business. Struggling to pay the bills can block the creative flow. Making more than just enough to get by, enables you to invest, develop, explore and grow as an artist. This is a huge area that holds many creatives back and if you feel uncomfortable about making money you either need to be prepared to live in perpetual struggle or you need to change your view of money and see it as a form of nourishment. Managing money well is not an inherent skill. It means keeping track of what you spend and what you bring in and looking ahead to see when extra expense might be coming up so you can bring in more income or save ahead of time. There are countless books, seminars and websites to help you in this area. Keep an eye on the local press for notice about events near you. What I would like to do in this guide is get you to challenge any negative perceptions about profit. Money is neutral. It is what we do with it that matters.

Price setting Deciding what price to charge can be tricky for unique works. The value of something is entirely subjective. An antiques dealer in Australia used to travel around rural Queensland offering to buy vases he spied on people’s verandah’s. He knew they didn’t value them because they kept them outside. He would clean them up and sell them in Brisbane for a tidy profit because in Brisbane these vases were sought after.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

A practical way to work out what to charge is first to work out how much money you need to cover all your business and household expenses. Then work out how many pieces or projects you can create per year. This may show that your idea cannot cover your expenses. So consider how you can change it. Can you charge more or make more, or offer something else as well?

How knowing when to spend and when to hold back can help your business growth

MANAGING THE MONEY

There are differing views on how you arrive at a price.

There is no formula for working this out, but a good rule of thumb is to ask whether spending will help you win work directly or indirectly and how much work would you have to win to pay back that investment. To build a business you always have to invest but money isn’t the only thing. Sometimes it is better to invest time in learning or networking. Before you take on any recurring expense, ask whether you can achieve the same result another way that costs less e.g. before taking on a book keeper ask yourself whether you wouldn’t be better to take a short course and do this work yourself. An added benefit being that you will be in touch with the detail of your finances. Keeping your overheads (the day to day running costs as opposed to cost of materials) low in the beginning just makes sense. It also helps when you do come to pass that work on to someone else. You will be in a far better position to judge someone else’s competence.

In a nutshell..... Become money savvy and get it working for you Take a practical view to help you set prices Spend to gain work or commissions, hold back to keep overheads low

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Summary In this chapter we look at: Which legal structure should you choose for your business? What other legal & financial areas will you come up against? Where to get advice

Which legal structure should you choose for your business? Once you’ve decided to start a business there are a few housekeeping jobs that need to be done. The first is deciding how your business will be structured. Which option you chose will affect: • which National Insurance and tax bands apply to your business • the level of detail in your records and accounts • your financial liability (how much of the loss will be your responsibility) if the business runs into trouble • how your business can raise money • how management decisions are made about the business

LEGAL AND FINANCIAL STRUCTURE OF YOUR BUSINESS

7. LEGAL AND FINANCIAL STRUCTURE OF YOUR BUSINESS

The options are: • self employment • sole trader • partnership • limited liability partnership • limited liability companies • franchises • social enterprises There is comprehensive information on the options and how to decide which set up is best for you on the business.wales.gov.uk site, or you can get advice from an accountant or solicitor (but you may have to pay for this advice).

Changing structures as you grow Some creatives never move beyond being a sole trader because they set up the enterprise to be able to ‘do’ what they love and have no interest in taking on staff or becoming a manager. However if you have plans to one day sell your business or you aspire to being more than a self employed artist, then you will be faced with decisions about how you develop your business. Employing people requires a shift in your role from doer to manager. You may go for outsourcing and contracting the expertise you need from freelancers but the need to manage and lead is just as vital. Read more about this in Chapter 10.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Whatever business you set up you need to face up to a certain amount of red tape. Never welcome, it is nonetheless, important that you are aware of your responsibilities. Below is a quick check list of areas with links to more information: Taxes and returns - understanding at the beginning what information you need to record will save you time and money in the long run. Business insurance - some insurance is compulsory and other policies will give you peace of mind and back up. If you begin working from home, you may need to change your house insurance policy. The link will download a document from The Association of British Insurers giving you advice on insurance for business. Health and safety policies - particularly relevant if you are running workshops or members of the public or staff will be in your working area. Environmental policies - understanding in this area can save you money as well as keeping you on the right side of the law. The Data Protection Act - if you hold any information about customers or prospects you need to check out the terms of this act and ensure you comply with it. Becoming an employer - employment contracts, employer liability insurance will be just two areas you need to consider.

LEGAL AND FINANCIAL STRUCTURE OF YOUR BUSINESS

What other legal and financial issues should you consider?

Where to get advice? Keeping yourself up to date in all these areas is daunting and many entrepreneurs would rather do something else. As with so much about running a business, informing yourself about the basics makes sense whether you take on responsibility for e.g. environmental policies or pay someone else to do it for you. If you know nothing about a given area, it is difficult to judge whether the services you buy in are good value for money or of good quality. Having said that, outsourcing is a viable option for many areas. Before you shell out any money do make use of the various government departments. Remember government employees are called â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;public servantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for a reason. Many enforcement officers such as health and safety officers also have an advisory role. This advice is usually free and unbiased so it is a good starting point. Public sector useful links Carmarthenshire County Council - health and safety Carmarthenshire County Council - environment and planning Carmarthenshire County Council - employment and training

In a nutshell..... Get advice on the legal structure for your business Keep yourself informed of areas where you need to comply with the law Make full use of free advice from government sources

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Summary In this chapter we look at: What is intellectual property? Trademarks and protecting your brand Inventions Copyright Design protection

What is intellectual property?

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION

8. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION

The Intellectual Property Office describes intellectual property as “resulting from the expression of an idea” So it could be a brand, a design, a song or another intellectual creation. Intellectual property can be owned, bought and sold. For many in business, protecting their intellectual property is a major concern. Some protection is automatic and free, other protection requires you to pay and register. There are several areas to consider: • Trademarks can be used to protect a brand name and logo • Inventions may be patented • Copyright protects actual work created rather than ideas • Design protection relates to the appearance of a product

Trademarks and protecting your brand You can protect a brand, that is the business name and logo, with a trademark. These are not given automatically and you have to pay for them. The process goes like this. First make sure that the name and logo you want to use are unique and distinctly different by searching The Trademarks Register. To get a trade mark your name and logo have to be distinctly different from existing names and logos. Some companies will aggressively pursue perceived trademark infringement through the courts. MacDonald’s devotes a great deal of time and money to this area: Norman McDonalds’ Country Drive-Inn (US) From the early 1960s to the mid 1980s, Norman McDonald ran a small “Country Drive-Inn” restaurant in Philpot, Kentucky called simply “McDonald’s Hamburgers; Country Drive-Inn”, which at the time also had a gas station and convenience store. As a play on the real McDonald’s, Norman also included a couple of lit “golden arches”. McDonald’s the restaurant chain forced Norman to remove the arches and add the full Norman McDonald’s name to its sign so customers would not be confused into thinking the restaurant was affiliated with the McDonald’s restaurant chain.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Patents Patents protect the features and processes that make something work. Inventors will try to patent new inventions to ensure they profit from any production of that invention.

Copyright Copyright protects actual work such as written work, scores, lyrics and also film, book layouts, sound recordings, and broadcasts. Copyright is an automatic right, which means you don’t have to apply for it. Copyright applies abroad as well as in the UK. You simply include the copyright mark, your name and the year of creation.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION

You then have to choose the class that your goods or services come under. For example the West Wales fashion house ‘Toast’ could only register in a fashion related category as a quick search revealed the name ‘Toast’ was already in use by recruitment, design, media, festival and many other businesses.

© Dafydd Davies 2010 Understanding copyright law will also help ensure you don’t infringe other people’s copyright by, for example, reproducing photographs without permission if you are creating websites

Design protection Some design rights are automatic like copyright but if you want more protection you could consider registered design protection. This is a complex area and if you are in the design business it is worth taking the time to read and understand the information on The Intellectual Property Office website. Further information on all these areas can be found there.

In a nutshell..... Learn about intellectual property Consider applying for a trademark to protect your brand Learn about different forms of protection and use this knowledge to protect your work and ensure that you don’t infringe other people’s rights

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Summary In this chapter we look at: Something to talk about, something to share Create locally, interact globally Social media - what is it? There is a You Tube video called Battle at Kruger. It is a recording, caught by a tourist, of crocodiles, lions and buffalo fighting over a buffalo calf. Over 59 million people have watched this video. How did they hear about it? Those that found it, shared it across the internet and via mobile phones with friends and colleagues, saying, “you’ve got to see this.”

Something to talk about, something to share

“If Facebook was a country it would be the third largest in the world after China and India”

That sums up how promotion has changed and yet stayed the same. The best advertising always created a buzz. Now the internet demands a two way interaction. The most exciting businesses are creating that buzz, “something to talk about, something to share.” Given an easy mechanism, sharing is exactly what your fans, customers, clients, listeners and readers will do. Sharing information and ideas can lead to business opportunities, sales and learning.

PROMOTION - SOCIAL, DIGITAL AND TRADITIONAL MEDIA

9. PROMOTION - SOCIAL, DIGITAL AND TRADITIONAL MEDIA

It is that sharing of ideas, content, products and services that are, ‘cool’, ‘shocking’, ‘amazing’, ‘unique’, ‘challenging’ or ‘just funny’ that has changed the promotion of businesses. It is no longer enough to put an advert in a newspaper. Offline and traditional promotion via leaflets, post cards, press releases and person to person still continues but the advent of tools like Facebook, You Tube and Twitter allow conversations about your work, products or services to happen day or night, north or south of the equator.

Create locally, interact globally This revolution is not over but already it has had a huge impact in more rural, sparsely populated areas like Carmarthenshire. Despite some unresolved issues with broadband coverage, the internet has suddenly leveled the playing field for businesses and particularly creative businesses in rural areas. An early adopter of all things web, Heather Gorringe, a farmer’s wife, and owner of a mail order country products business in Herefordshire, Wiggly Wigglers (turning over more than £1.2 million) won a Nuffield scholarship and chose to spend her year studying social media. Her report was published in 20078. It gives you an excellent overview in plain English of the potential of interacting with people on the internet.

What is all this Social Media stuff? There are hundreds of internet tools to help you increase business from internet buyers. The main social media tools are Facebook, You Tube and Twitter. They are social because they are sites where you can share information and comment on other people’s content.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Social Media facts • 500 million people around the world use Facebook7 • 50% of mobile Internet traffic in the UK is on Facebook • YouTube, the video sharing site, has over 1 billion subscribers Twitter Facts from Chirp - The Twitter Developers Conference, San Francisco April 14th -15th 2010 • Twitter has 105,779,710 registered users • 300,000 new users sign up per day • Approximately 60% of them are coming from outside the U.S • Twitter receives 180 million unique visitors per month • 75% of Twitter traffic comes from thirdparty applications • 60% of all tweets come from third-party applications • Since the new Blackberry application was launched, it has accounted for 7 to 8% of new sign ups • Twitter now has 175 employees, up from 25 one year ago • There are 600 million search queries on Twitter per day • There are over 100,000 Twitter applications • Twitter gets 3 billion requests a day through its API • 37% of active Twitter users use their phone to tweet

Facebook Facebook is quite simply a fantastic tool for any business but particularly businesses with a limited marketing budget. If you value communication as most artists do, then Facebook is the ultimate communication tool. Rather than a shop window for your organisation as many static websites are, it is a virtual cafe where you can interact with your customers, clients or fans, wherever they are in the world. If you are publicly funded or need to report to donors, Facebook is an ideal showcase to capture the practice and essence of what you do. Read how Arts 4 Wellbeing have used Facebook to promote their activities. If you have any concerns about Facebook being used socially, I urge you to look again at using it for your business. Twitter Twitter is like a massive public notice board but each post is limited to 144 characters. People share links to articles, news, ideas, pictures and videos, post inspirational quotes and carry out conversations with others in a peculiar abbreviated language similar to text speak. YouTube YouTube is a video sharing site and though many say it is filled with poor quality work, countless creatives and entrepreneurial types have already recognised the potential to promote products, particularly educational products. These sites are democratic. You cannot plant comments from other people (or not easily anyway). Go and learn about these tools.. you never know you might love them Facebook, Twitter and You Tube are free to join (it takes about 2 minutes to sign up) but what takes longer is working out how to use them profitably (in its widest sense) rather than just wasting hours and hours of your time there. The best way to learn is to see how others in your field or other areas are making best use of these tools. It can be totally overwhelming, so I recommend going on seminars or workshops. There are many run throughout the region by a range of private and public sector organisations. If you find the whole thing confusing and alienating, take a look at the resource section for some plain talking online guides to social media.

In a nutshell..... Promotion is all about letting people know you are there You can do that online, for free, and it’s fun Create locally; interact globally

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

PROMOTION - SOCIAL, DIGITAL AND TRADITIONAL MEDIA

• It is free to set up and use. • By its sixth month the site achieved 25, 346 post views (people who had looked at the posts). • It is ‘liked’ (this is how people can share the content on your site) by people across a wide age bracket from teens up to mid fifties. • 75% of fans are in the UK with remaining 25% spread across Africa, East Asia, Japan, USA and other parts of Europe • They can add their logo to the page. • They can have a personalised web address http://arts4wellbeing.co.uk so it looks like an every day website. • It is easy to add text, images and videos, you don’t need technical skills. • You can add content at any time building your site as your enterprise grows. • Workshop participants can easily add their own experiences and give feedback for everyone to see. • You can add content from your mobile device, particularly useful for recording images, sounds and thoughts about workshops. • It has a built in forum for discussion - see Arts 4 Wellbeing post on ‘Creative evaluation and monitoring’ • It combines a number of elements already set up for you to use: - status updates (post what’s going on) - post articles as in a blog - see Intergenerational Work and Reminiscence- Supporting our Elders - add events easily and invite people to those events - add links at any time, just as a website might have a links page - interactive features: people who are connected with your page can add content - mail function - you can email out to those who ‘like’ your site - this is invaluable and easy.

Arts 4 Wellbeing - connecting through Facebook

CASE STUDY

Why a Facebook Page works for Arts 4 Wellbeing

Mike Hotson and Sara Wentworth run Arts 4 Wellbeing, a Community Arts Organisation based in West Wales. It specialises in facilitating fully inclusive accessible creative projects which engage, inspire and motivate. Supporting and promoting emotional wellbeing through creativity.

Arts 4 Wellbeing use the arts as a tool to build confidence and to develop new ways of seeing and being in the world. The organisation works in partnership with many community groups and organisations throughout West Wales to deliver arts based workshops, projects and events throughout the region. The organisation works closely with Artscare Gofal Celf [ACGC]. Arts 4 Wellbeing and social media It is no surprise, given the aims of this organisation, that they have turned to social media to promote their work and engage with the wider community. Rather than a dedicated website, their work is displayed on a Facebook page. Arts 4 Wellbeing in action Just go over now and take a look at how versatile Facebook is not just for saying what you do but showing it. It also brings your community of followers, fans, users, clients or customers together and allows them to feed ideas into how your enterprise develops by commenting on what you are doing. The willow arch building photo story is a perfect example of a project in action being recorded and shared through a social media site. The polymer clay workshop photo album demonstrates the tangible results of just one of the many creative projects that Arts 4 Wellbeing undertakes. Arts 4 Wellbeing Mike Hotson and Sara Wentworth Phone 01559 363273

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Summary In this chapter we look at: A cool hard look at management Solo entrepreneur Leading a team

Did you ever spend afternoons playing with Lego®? Do you remember getting lost for hours in the creation of ships, spaceships, houses, fantasy creatures and other constructions. Totally absorbing isn’t it? Now imagine if three of your friends came round to build your Lego® model. How different would that afternoon be?

A cool hard look at management

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Managing a business comes down to managing people, ideas and money. It is the managing people bit that many find difficult. Compared with the creative process it seems alien yet it is vital if your enterprise is going to move forward and provide fulfillment for those working in it and those benefitting from it (customers, viewers, participants and so on). Good managers take different roles at different times. Being organised, good at planning and communicating will stand you in good stead but if you set up the company, have a vision for where it’s going and want to take others with you then you need more than management skills. You need leadership skills.

MANAGEMENT, ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND DEALING WITH STAFF

10. MANAGEMENT, ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND DEALING WITH STAFF

The solo enterpreneur The internet is changing the way we do business and accelerating the spread of ideas as discussed in Chapter nine - Promotion. There is scope for new types of businesses that are run by one person but are connected to a huge number of skill sets and ideas. These businesses often end up being educational in nature, passing on skills and knowledge to those who want to follow where you have led. For creatives who have spent decades doing their art, this is an exciting prospect. There is something about moving from doing to sharing that feels very natural. In more traditional cultures, elders are held in high regard for the wisdom and experience they have accumulated. According to Seth Godin, in his book Tribes, the world is looking for inspirational leaders. The beauty of making this shift is that selling your knowledge allows you to spend more time developing your expertise which is after all, why many creatives go into business in the first place. David Bellamy and Jenny Keal, artists, writers and broadcasters in Powys, have done this very effectively, providing art courses while continuing to hone their own skills producing their own work.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

In this as in so many areas, there are skills to be learnt. Taking on the financial commitment of your first full time employee is a big step and for it to work out well for all concerned you owe it to yourself to understand more about being an employer and managing staff. Beyond keeping the day to day operations running smoothly, if you are to develop your business and make a name in your field then you will need leadership skills. Leadership is less about telling people what to do and more about inspiring others to work towards a shared vision. It is also about facilitating the personal, professional and emotional development of those you lead.

In a nutshell..... Understand that being an artist is different from being a manager Be open to different ways of growing by collaborating with others or changing the structure of your business To be a great leader, find out more about how great leaders tick

Inspiring books on leadership written for or by highly creative entrepreneurs Seth Godin, Tribes: we need you to lead us, Barnes & Noble - an American marketeer and thinker who is inspiring a new generation of internet tribe builders.

MANAGEMENT, ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND DEALING WITH STAFF

Leading a team

Jim Collins, Great to Good, Random House - an oft quoted work describing a detailed study into what differentiates great companies from merely good companies. The findings will surprise you. Ricardo Semler, The Seven-Day Weekend: Changing the Way Work Works, Penguin Publishing - an inspiring tale of a company in Brazil that turned accepted wisdom about business structures on its head.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

There you have it, less of a Dummies Guide to Business, more of a grabbing you by the arm and showing you business from different angles. More than anything this guide hopes to inspire you to see that business can be exciting and as creative as any art, dance, writing or media project. We are at a pivotal point in history where events now have a global impact and response. Our interconnectedness as a species has never been more obvious. You are living in a global village. Just take a look at hot topics on Twitter. With that immediate access to so many of the other billions on the planet comes tremendous opportunities. Go out and learn, plan, act and review and keep doing it.

SUMMARY

The future The future for the creative industries is exciting here in Carmarthenshire. There is already a hot bed of talent here and the academic, business and research facilities are outstanding. Using the internet you can cross geographical and cultural boundaries and create an enterprise that has vision, integrity and is about small groups of people, or you can take on the giants of your sector. Already projects like iCreu have brought creatives together and provided a place to learn and grow. Coracle9 set up in 2010 (and running for three years), offers more opportunities for the development of skills and exchange of knowledge between project partners here in South West Wales and in South East Ireland. Please add your thoughts, comments and ideas online at iCreu.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Part 2 Guide for Students in Creative Industries

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

By performing arts we generally mean drama, dance and singing but it also includes all the off stage work that enables performances to take place, such as stage management, directing and costume design. Here in Wales there is a strong bardic tradition. In medieval times, bards were professional poets employed to compose eulogies. Today many aspiring poets and performers get their first taste of the stage through the area heats of the annual Eisteddfod. Prime time television series like Dancing on Ice, X Factor, Glee and musical theatre talent shows have brought performing arts into the mainstream

PERFORMING ARTS

Skills required To succeed in this, now even more competitive area, you need talent, dedication and high levels of motivation. The hours are irregular and the work can be intermittent. You could be working 12 hour days for 6 months, followed by no work at all. Stereotypically we think of divas on the stage and it is true that big personalities and big egos can be found among the acting fraternity. However there are more technical, behind the scenes roles, where you’ll find quieter but no less creative types. For those who enjoy, for instance, digital technology or fashion and design there are roles back stage like sound and lighting engineering and costume designing. Understanding and managing people is essential for any role in stage management. In this way it is no different from managing personnel in a business, albeit these ‘staff’ may be blessed with larger than life personalities. Without good people and communication skills you won’t get the best out of actors or crew.

To succeed in this, now even more competitive area, you need talent, dedication and high levels of motivation.

Training required Depending on where your interest lies and whether you see your future in performing, education or management, you may want to specialise in particular areas. By taking a broad course initially that covers all aspects of the performing arts, on and off stage, you can develop a range of skills and have a useful base for any work in this field. Most careers in this area will require you to be self-employed or working on short term contracts so an ability to manage your finances and promote yourself are vital. Many actors today have a website or blog and certainly understanding how to market your skills and network will be essential if you want to find a steady supply of work. Career prospects Some performing arts students train in acting, singing and dancing with a view to becoming performers. Others take these skills and use them in education and a surprising number end up working in the community through theatre groups and even through social work. The skills and confidence you gain from studying this art form can also give you a sound base to pursue studies in apparently unrelated fields such as law or psychology. By combining business and management skills with performing arts skills, you could potentially set up small businesses e.g. a touring stage management company, providing lighting, sound and complete technical support. Otherwise you have the option to provide freelance services such as lighting engineering to a variety of theatre companies. The performing arts covers a wide variety of activities and for many the main attraction is the rewarding and stimulating nature of the work. However those that think it is a sure fire way to fame and fortune should be aware that materially lucrative careers from the performing arts are only achieved by a tiny minority.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Liane Davies from Llanelli runs Stagecoach, a performing arts school in Carmarthen for children aged 4 - 18. She came to musical theatre relatively late, while studying ‘A’ levels, as sport was her first love. During dance lessons for her Physical Education GCSE, her dance teacher suggested she try theatre. At 17 she joined a local drama group and there fell in love with musical theatre.

PERFORMING ARTS

Liane Davies

CASE STUDY

PERFORMING ARTS

Describing herself as both academic and practical, Liane is continuing her studies with a PGCE in lecturing and has held various project officer roles at Trinity Saint David including Project Officer for iCreu, a programme designed to encourage the creative arts in rural Carmarthenshire.

As an undergraduate, Liane enrolled on the Theatr Cerdd a’r Cyfryngau1 course at what is now University of Wales, Trinity Saint David. This offered a broad approach, covering musical theatre, music, dance, drama, media, filming, editing and marketing.

“having a child who may be hasn’t spoken for two terms, speaking two lines on stage, this is the biggest reward.” Liane Davies

Rather unexpectedly, one of Liane’s ambitions was to become a lawyer. Indeed she was accepted to study law after graduating from Trinity. The drama of the court room appealed but in the end she had to make a choice. As she says, “head said law, heart said theatre”.

On graduation, Liane was awarded the Stuart Burrows Student Award for her year. This played a major part in her decision to continue her theatre studies, working towards LAMDA exams. Not wanting to quit theatre studies, Liane weighed up the choice between studying a post graduate course in acting in London or starting her own acting school. The lack of steady income from acting finally persuaded her that starting her own school was the way forward. She set up Stagecoach in Carmarthen in 2009.

The leap from studying theatre to running a theatre business was helped by the marketing elements of her course and also she has an accountant in the family, her mother.

The Theatr Cerdd a’r Cyfryngau course gave her an all round experience of the performing arts. Now she is lecturing and directing, but that experience of all roles in theatre from performing to stage managing has helped enormously in running Stagecoach Carmarthen. The future for Liane is about directing and teaching so that she can pass on more and more to her students. She harbours a desire to further develop her knowledge and practice of dance, perhaps even developing a dance degree in the future. Her own academic aspirations are still there and one day she hopes to do a doctorate.

She enjoys her work in both the business world and in the academic world and will continue to bridge these two areas.

1 see Appendix 1 Student Resource Guide

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Photography is a language. As a culture we communicate visually on a level which is almost subliminal. Just like any language the range of expression is immense. As with writing you can write for an Argos Catalogue or you can write sonnets; so with photography, you can take product photos for an Argos Catalogue or you can fill Tate Modern with high art photography. Skills required As a skill, photography is not really valued, especially in the art world. Anybody can learn to be a competent, professional photographer through courses. However to have vision and to be able to create images that have an impact on society - that is an entirely separate thing. You can approach photography from so many angles.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Whether you’re working commercially or going down the fine art route, you need to be able to communicate. You have to be able to verbally describe what you are trying to do e.g. to gallery owners. If you are a professional photographer e.g. a fashion photographer, it is vital that you can communicate with all sorts of people. If you read Amateur Photographer for six months, it will take you through every technical challenge you are likely to face. The benefit of going to college is that it will enable you to contextualise your work, to understand the philosophical implications of what you do. You should come out of college with something that separates you from all the other aspiring photographers. In any one year more people undertake training in photography than are employed in the industry. It is not a course for the faint hearted.

“There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer” Ansel Adams

Training required If you are attracted to going down the ‘photography as art’ route, life experience is immensely important. Helpful previous study could include a degree in Theology or Philosophy. Other experiences like travel help to not only broaden your mind, but give you something to say. Photography is just a vehicle. If you have nothing to say, then it is meaningless. There are many specialisms to consider, such as fashion photography, food photography, press photography and working with graphic designers or web designers to help companies communicate their brand through appropriate images. Networking is an important skill if you want to develop as a freelancer. You need to understand the power of networking. The younger you are the more possibilities there are and the more risks you can take. Photography equipment is expensive and could eat up to £5K per year, so you also need a sound business head about you. Career prospects If you want to make a business out of photography then it is worth specialising in, for example sport photography, animal photography or wedding photography and learning all you can about promotion and marketing. Only a tiny proportion of high art photographers will ever make any serious money at their work. On the other hand, wedding photography can provide a good steady income that can pay the rent. You need to be clear about what you want out of a photography career. If you enjoy the actual medium of photography in all its forms then teaching could be a good area to explore.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Betsan Haf Evans is a a successful wedding photographer and vocalist from Carmarthen. Her path so far has been characterised by a broad approach allowing her to develop a portfolio of design, photographic, film and performance skills.

She enrolled on the Theatr Cerdd ar Cyfryngau course at Trinity College (now University of Wales, Trinity Saint David) after doing an Art Foundation course. Keeping an open mind, she had no grand plan, other than an early interest in photography which kept re-surfacing. This was triggered when she opened her first bank account which came with a free camera. With that she began to take pictures, perhaps influenced by her grandfather who avidly recorded her own childhood on film. For her eighteenth birthday her godfather gave her a film SLR camera and so her passion for photography grew.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Betsan Haf Evans

CASE STUDY

PHOTOGRAPHY

Thinking she would like to be a video camera woman, after a Masters degree, Betsan took an Access to Media course at Carmarthenshire College (now Coleg Sir Gar) to improve her video recording skills.

“... my goal is to become a Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney in one - a photographer and rock ‘n roll star.” Betsan Evans www.celfcalon.co.uk

She followed this with a 6 month interactive Dimension 10 media course in Caernarfon with Cyfle. These skills helped her produce an interactive CD with video clips, photo gallery and lyrics of songs, for her band at the time, Johnny Panic.

Work experience and employment as a graphic designer followed with Sain Records. She then became a web and graphic designer for Antena, a film and television production company in North Wales where she worked on Uned 5, a live youth magazine style programme.

Missing South Wales, Betsan moved back to Carmarthen and took the plunge to go freelance working for the likes of Golwg Magazine, Amnesty Wales and The Welsh Language Board. In 2009 Amnesty Wales asked her to photograph children at the Model Church in Wales Primary School in Carmarthen, doing a presentation on human rights to Welsh Assembly members.

By chance she was asked to do wedding photos for a friend after she’d edited some photos for a CD cover. She found she absolutely loved photographing weddings. Betsan wants to develop this part of her business and continue to use her photography skills in the media industry, particularly TV. She recently took the still photographs for an S4C programme called Lle Aeth Pawb? Where Did Everybody Go? which involved re-assembling a gang of college friends photographed 20 years ago and taking a present day shot. Brushes with celebrity include taking wedding photos for Richie Pugh, the Scarlets player and photographing the Hairy Bikers, celebrity cooks.

Her love of performance continues, Betsan is a vocalist for hip hop band Freshold and would love to offer combined photography and vocal packages for weddings. To those looking at a career in photography, Betsan says, “Years ago you could be very specialist but nowadays you need to be able to multi task across several disciplines. Get as much experience as you can.”

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Visual arts and crafts is a general term covering a vast area. It includes 3D art made with materials such as ceramic, clay, wood, metal, textiles, stone fabric and bronze. It also covers all forms of painting, drawing, illustration, environmental land art and new media such as Assemblage, Collage, Conceptual, Installation and Performance art. Craft or art works can be purely decorative, symbolic, functional or worn as adornments. Carmarthenshire and West Wales attract artists from all over the world. Why? It could be the quality of the light, the pull of other creative types, relatively cheap land prices or the perception of a more tranquil existence, or any combination of these.

VISUAL ARTS & CRAFTS

Skills required The passion to create works of art often stems from an early interest inspired by family members or teachers. Many who enjoy art for pleasure choose to go on and study this area so they can enhance their technique and explore their ideas further. While creating art remains a hobby then you can focus purely on the skills needed to produce the work. If you want to make a living from your art then you need to consider how you will promote and market it. Even if you don’t get directly involved with selling yourself, aiming to sell through galleries or other means, you will need to develop good communication skills. These ensure you can get on with gallery owners and help them promote your work.

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” Pablo Picasso

Training required Mastering your art is something that requires daily practice. Creativity is something you need to feed. Beyond learning the techniques to fire clay or work in ceramics or glass, you need to develop your own ideas. Regularly visiting exhibitions, mixing with other artists, reading widely and being open to experiences and ideas will all feed into your art. Once you want to make it pay, then you need to understand marketing. Many people think marketing means promotion, yet it is so much more than that. It is about understanding your market, understanding not what you are selling but what people are buying. For artists it is about creating a loyal fan base or tribe - people who follow your work, want to collect it and show it to others. Marketing is a skill like any other which can be learnt. Career prospects Carmarthenshire is home to many artists working from small home studios and selling their work through fairs, galleries or online. For many years, arts and crafts has been the second largest employer after the public sector in West Wales. There is scope to use arts and crafts in health and education. Arts Care, Gofal Celf is a small charity with 130 artists on its books providing arts sessions for people with disabilities. In St Clears you can hire a room or studio at the Carmarthenshire Centre for Crafts, where there is also a cafe, meeting room and the opportunity to work alongside other crafts people and artists. Eiryl George from Arts Care Gofal Celf sees an opportunity for artists “If you make something of quality there is always a market for it, you just have to find it. I think things are turning back, arts and crafts are becoming very fashionable again, people want things that have meaning, things that are made well, things with character.”

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Illustrator/Graphic Designer

Rhiannon Sparks is an illustrator and graphic designer working with the University of Wales: Trinity Saint David University Press, Canolfan Peniarth. Although brought up in Somerset, her mother’s family is from the Rhondda valley. After graduation Rhiannon had no desire to head for London despite advice from her lecturers about the greater opportunities there. She had plans to start a family, so whilst working part-time she set up as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer.

VISUAL ARTS & CRAFTS

Rhiannon Sparks

CASE STUDY

VISUAL ARTS & CRAFTS

Rhiannon comes from a family of artists and teachers. Her father makes and restores early keyboard instruments and her grandmother is a watercolour artist. Perhaps because of this close contact with commission based artists, she was clear that she wanted to develop a career in the creative sector, either in publishing or providing illustrations and design services for organisations.

“...this work is less touchy feely and less personal than say fine art. You have to be able to take criticism and adapt your work to suit the client - there is no room for being precious.” Rhiannon Sparks www.rhiannonsparks.co.uk

Art and design was her favourite subject in school and her art teacher recognised a future career in the arts when Rhiannon was only 11 years old saying “I will be very surprised if she doesn’t go into art”.

At 16 she thought she wanted to be an architect but a short stint of work experience revealed that the mathematical element and computer based drawing were not her cup of tea. Rhiannon enjoyed and still enjoys all forms of creativity, from pottery and sculpture to 3D design to painting and drawing. This led her to enroll on an Art Foundation Course to help her decide which area to take further. She chose to do a Bachelor of Arts degree in General Illustration at Swansea Institute (now Swansea Metropolitan University). The General Illustration BA covered marketing, book keeping and other business areas as well as the practical side of illustrating which she found useful as well as enjoyable.

After graduating Rhiannon direct mailed postcards and leaflets to all the graphic designers she could find in the Yellow Pages and online, offering her services as an illustrator. This resulted in numerous commissions including work on a project for Rhondda Cynon Taf Council who wanted to run an advertising campaign to encourage the elderly into community activities. Rhiannon’s brief was to provide 6 illustrations in the style of Beryl Cook.

Her ambition is ultimately to write and illustrate children’s picture books for publication. With this in mind she keeps a “picture book ideas” note book of all her story ideas. Her sister Amy, a ‘professional traveller’ provides plenty of inspiration with tales of her adventures. In the meantime she is busy developing her portfolio working on the illustrations and design of Welsh language and bi-lingual educational books and resources for University Press Canolfan Peniarth. Rhiannon is inspired by illustrators like Kristina Stephenson of Sir Charlie Stinky Socks fame and artists like Emma Ball and Janet Bell who have both developed their art into successful businesses. Rhiannon would ultimately love to have a set of picture books published, establishing herself as a successful illustrator and perhaps to own and run a gallery and studios.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Digital technology generally refers to any electronic media that is created and displayed using computer technology, such as digital audio, digital video and anything that you would find online, such as computer games, internet technology, communication (email) & social interaction (Facebook for example). For the purposes of study, digital media generally refers to online marketing and electronic public relations. This includes the development of an online marketing strategy to promote a brand or business and it means understanding and using search engine optimisation (SEO)1 for websites. In addition it increases familiarity with the use of online tools like blogs, forums, social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and You Tube to promote and develop a business.

DIGITAL MEDIA

To be effective in this area a certain amount of technical knowledge will be required such as understanding the building blocks of the internet; how search engines like Google index content and how that affects what you should put in your online press releases; blog posts and Facebook status updates. An ability to use different applications and a basic grasp of how content is presented, edited and shared is essential in this area.

“We are living through the largest expansion of expressive capability in the history of the human race.” Clay Shirky, Adjunct Professor in the graduate interactive telecommunications program, New York University

1 SEO is the process of choosing targeted keyword phrases related to a site, and ensuring that the site places well when those keyword phrases like ‘wedding photographer Carmarthen’ are part of a Web search.

Skills required A good degree of focus and the ability to grasp new concepts quickly are important. You also need to be able to keep an open mind. While you do not need computer programming or software development skills as such, some grasp of e.g. HTML (Hyper Text Mark-up Language) and website development will be useful. Strong design skills and an ability to use design software such as Adobe Photoshop and web development applications such as Dreamweaver can only help in this area. Above all, this field is about communication, so ironically getting on with people is vital even though you may be interacting virtually. Training required Undergraduate study of digital media will give you access to the latest developments as well as a broad grounding in traditional marketing principles, many of which apply in the online environment. The range of resources you can access by studying in a tertiary level establishment are particularly important in this fast moving sector. They will give you the skills to take into the industry or to further specialise in a number of areas including web design, internet marketing, online PR and SEO1. Career prospects Before it was the geeks: programmers and software engineers in demand and making their fortunes. While they are still there developing applications for mobile phones, games for the lucrative internet gaming market and programmes for industry, a new breed of web savvy marketers and entrepreneurs are emerging. Equipping yourself with the knowledge and skills to provide services for companies or setting up to teach business owners how to use the different internet tools can provide a good income for you as a web content manager, internet marketing specialist or digital media instructor. There is a great thirst for knowledge which provides big opportunities for you, if you can bring solid knowledge and expertise, and an ability to communicate that knowledge.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Film maker for a web TV station Eifion Melnyk-Jones is a young filmaker from Carmarthen who went away to study but has returned to work for an internet TV station Carm-tv, mainly consisting of public interest stories in and around Carmarthen. Although he studied Acting at the Arts Institute in Bournemouth (now The Arts University College, Bournemouth), he has found himself working in film.

DIGITAL MEDIA

Eifion Melnyk-Jones

CASE STUDY

DIGITAL MEDIA

He still pursues acting, but Eifion’s day to day work involves working as a director, producer and editor. He came to film because of acting. It fueled his interest in understanding more about the human condition.

“...I just enjoy that feeling of getting a shot perfect, or seeing an actor bring to life something you wrote.” Eifion Melnyk-Jones

Eifion has been acting since the age of 6 and initially, like many aspiring actors, he dreamt of fame and fortune. However acting aroused his curiosity about the deeper issues that make us human which in turn led to an interest in directing. You can only explore this so far in front of the camera. Studying acting hones your communication skills. This has been valuable for Eifion in his film making roles which involve working in a team. Producing and editing film has been far more technical than anticipated. In fact getting to grips with the various computer programmes that go into the film making process has been the main learning activity since moving into film making. A choice that faces many young creatives in Carmarthenshire is whether to head for Cardiff or London where the opportunities are greater or to continue to live and build a future here. Eifion is still keeping his options open.

His achievements so far include gaining a City and Guilds in Film Making Technique and being approached by Oxford film maker, David Trumble (Trumble Productions) and Vassie and Saville Productions who want his involvement with some of their projects. Keen to make a name for himself in film, Eifion is writing two Carmarthenshire-based feature length films that he hopes to make in 2012. One film is called Contract Cleaners, a comedy about the monotony of a dead-end, full time job and the second is called Zombology, a Zombie horror film mixed with a lot of psycho-thriller spice. Film making has its own social networks and these networks are the best place to learn, get advice, find out about opportunities and get your face and work known. Eifion advises, “if you want to be a film maker, make friends in the business.”

A common misconception about film making is that it is all about the camera, the director and the story. What people don’t realise is that there are so many different jobs involved in making a film and it involves mountains of paperwork. That’s why the credits are so long!

Having said that, it is a growing industry that’s fun and fast paced and you don’t have to hit the dizzy heights of Hollywood to make a good living from it.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Short film and animation have become specialist fields which can lead to a career in either entertainment or the corporate world. Short film has its roots in education. Before television it was the main channel through which to inform or educate the masses. It was also the first form used by entertainers like Charlie Chaplin. Animation or, ‘making drawings move’, developed alongside film. The advent of easy to use internet based video sharing sites like You Tube is a mixed blessing for creatives in this area. It makes promotion accessible for everyone. Getting out there is no longer difficult; being found among the masses is the next challenge. The process of creating a short film begins with a concept or an idea. In a business context there should be a purpose i.e. to inform, educate, promote or sell. An organisation might be trying to gather support, encourage donations or lobby for political change. In the entertainment world, films often tackle social issues and can be used for awareness raising in, for example, the social care sector. Knowing what story you want to tell is the first step.

SHORT FILM & ANIMATION

Skills required As with so many art forms discussed in this guide, animation, just like photography and other media, is only a tool to convey an idea or a message. So too with short film. If you have nothing to say, all the technical ability in the world is not going to produce a stunning piece of film. The technical aspects of animation can be learnt and mastered with practice. To develop a business or career out of an interest in short film and animation means you will have to master more than the software or camera.

“Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive. This facility makes it the most versatile and explicit means of communication yet devised for quick mass appreciation.” Walt Disney

Excellent organisation skills are crucial to bringing a short film into production. Actors, locations, costumes and budgets have to be considered. To have to return to a set or location to re-shoot footage is costly and could sink a project. Training required The advantage of studying short film or animation at undergraduate level is that you gain an understanding of the context of this art form. Knowing where it has come from and how it has developed gives you a creative foundation to go out and develop ideas and see new applications as the technology evolves. If you hope to work in the commercial sector or as an animator in an artistic agency, you will need good people skills and some commercial nous. You will often have to work to a brief and in many cases guide the client in the development of that brief. Your job as an animator will be about communicating the possibilities of the medium and how your vision can solve the client’s problem. If you are not a people person then you could consider more technical work, for example developing special effects, though this is a very competitive area. Career prospects In business, moving pictures are still powerful tools to educate the masses. It is said if you educate a buyer you make the buying decision so much easier. Short film is now a recognised art form with its own category at the Oscars. For new film makers, it is the perfect vehicle to showcase your skills.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

FASHION

Attracted by thoughts of international cat walks and celebrity lifestyles? The world of fashion casts a spell over many aspiring designers, but working in fashion is nine tenths hard grind and only one tenth glamour, if you’re lucky. However fashion design does allow you to express ideas in a unique way. Fashion isn’t just about design, the industry employs: photographers, illustrators, promoters, stylists, journalists, event organisers, commentators, critics and of course the industry couldn’t survive without the people who buy the clothes. Skills required The business of creating designs and garments calls for highly developed visual awareness and precision cutting and stitching skills. Much design work is now done on computer so mastering the software is essential. If the raw material fascinates you, consider textile design. It’s a fast moving, exciting industry ideal for those who like high pressure situations and can work to deadlines.

“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” Coco Chanel

Training required Undergraduate study gives you a broad grounding in all aspects of fashion which will help you find your path for the future. In most areas of fashion a good portfolio will be the key to getting interviewed or finding opportunities. The internet is an easy, free place to promote your work. Sites like Facebook, You Tube and blogs are ideal places to get your designs and ideas noticed. PR expert Gwyneth Moore edits Cardiff Fashion blog where you can comment and network with others in the Welsh fashion industry. Get your friends to wear your designs, or post pictures on Twitter. The more you can experiment and showcase your work, the better chance you will have of building a future in the fashion industry. Career prospects Only a select few enter the world of haute couture design, but if fashion is your passion consider specializing; carve out a niche in less exclusive areas like, sports clothes, children’s clothes, wedding dresses or set yourself apart by the textiles you use such as organic cotton, prints inspired by the natural world and so on. Finding your own style and finding those that want to wear it is a good way to build a following, which you will need if you are going to succeed on your own. Apart from the world of top designers, there are many roles in the fashion industry where you can make a reasonable living such as costume design for theatre or film, retail buying, fashion illustration, fashion styling. If you love the concept stage and have good drawing skills then being a fashion illustrator could be the ideal role for you. You need to be able to create drawings of whole collections or tiny details for use in books, magazines and other media. Fashion journalism could be another area to consider if you love following trends and have writing skills. Jamie and Jessica Seaton began a small mail order business called Toast, selling pyjamas from their West Wales farmhouse, back in 1997. Now they run an international clothing and home ware empire that attracts a loyal tribe of fans and customers who espouse the brand’s style, ethics and quirky laid back designs for women, the home and now men. During sale times up to 70% of their business comes from the internet. Proof that a rural location no longer keeps you away from your customers.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Sarah Llewellyn is a fashion and design graduate from Salem near Llandeilo who dreams of owning her own bridal shop. Sarah’s interest in fashion and design began at a young age. Always keen on drawing,

FASHION

Fashion and design graduate

CASE STUDY

FASHION

Sarah Elizabeth Llewellyn

making clothes and creating different outfits, she was heavily influenced by her grandmother who taught her to sew at the age of eight.

As well as creating garments, Sarah has a keen interest in designing material and considered studying textiles. On balance she felt fashion and design would be more useful for her chosen path. It is the whole design process from producing the material to creating the best design for the fabric and producing the finished garment, that interests Sarah. The Fashion and Design Bachelor of Arts at West Wales School of the Arts in Jobswell Carmarthen seemed the best course to pursue.

“Going from a design in your head to having something made up is very complex indeed.” Sarah Elizabeth Llewellyn

To date Sarah has taken part in London Graduate Fashion Week. Her final collection for her course was called ‘Delilah visits the Big Smoke’. Using her knowledge of textiles, Sarah designed the clothes and the prints. The story behind the collection is of a shy Welsh girl visiting London for the first time. She used Bronwydd train station in Carmarthenshire for the shoot. Gwili Railway, based in Bronwydd, is the only standard gauge railway operating steam services in South West Wales. It means Carmarthenshire attracts film crews (for films like The Edge of Love, Carrie’s War and Heidi) who want to film period railway scenes.

The course gave Sarah practical skills such as sewing, pattern cutting and using the latest technologies such as computer aided design. However as her ambition is to run her own bridal shop, she is now considering an evening class in business studies to give her a grounding in the commercial aspects of her trade. A career in fashion is sometimes seen as an easy option. You like clothes, so you think you’ll study fashion. Having been through the process Sarah warns, “it is very hard work indeed.” You need drive, determination and passion. Her mother and grandmother’s interest and encouragement have helped Sarah to be creative and push the boundaries.

As well as further study to improve her business skills, Sarah is keen to find a position in a bridal shop to gain that essential experience of the trade.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

MUSIC

Music is regarded as an international language. Music covers singing, conducting, musical theatre performers, instrumentalists and technicians. From pop music to choral music, the field is very broad and roles within it, very varied. Musical production is becoming much more accessible as technology moves on. Now you can have your own studio at home for a relatively low investment and industry standard software means you can self publish your work. Music has a special place in Wales and especially here in Carmarthenshire. The Urdd Eistedfodd and the County Music Service provide incredible opportunities for every child to experience the magic of performing and playing music. Skills required Dedication and practice are essential for a career in music. If you dream of performing in an orchestra, a choir or as an opera singer or concert pianist, you will have to be utterly single minded and prepared to practice for hours each day. Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers referenced research into hours practiced by top performers in various fields including sport, IT and music. One study carried out among violinists at Berlin’s Academy of Music showed an interesting result. 10,000 or more hours of practice emerged as the common attribute shared by the school’s top players. Lesser performers generally had practiced to a lesser degree. This finding was duplicated across many different disciplines. Of course the nature of the practice must be considered as well. To succeed as a performer you also need a thick skin. You have to be able to take criticism and deal with people well, especially in the role of conductor.

“If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music.” Gustav Mahler

Training required If you want to pursue a career as an instrumentalist you need to have at least a first degree and a higher degree may give you an edge in this competitive field. There is a very high standard of peripatetic music teaching in Carmarthenshire. To become a music teacher here, a high level of study is expected. Thinking of becoming a self employed performer or music teacher? Then you need to have some basic business skills so that you can balance your books and understand about budgeting and simple book keeping. In addition, you need to know how to promote yourself and how to network. Take every opportunity. Every time you perform or play you are showcasing your skills. Even if it is unpaid you should see every performance as an investment in your future. Eilir Griffiths a conductor comments, “Keep your eyes open, don’t stay in your own bubble, think bigger, think Britain, Europe and America.” Career prospects Besides being in the limelight there are plenty of choirs, orchestras and instrumentalists looking for accompanists. Music is used in so many areas. In health care, for example, singing has been found to be beneficial for dementia patients. In the world of film and theatre, in advertising and for worship, music is used to communicate and express emotion. The internet and social media, like Facebook or a blog, makes bringing your music to a global audience instant and easy. This provides tremendous opportunities for collaboration with people around the world and makes lesser known music genres accessible to a wider audience. Eric Whittaker is an American composer who has become a global phenomenon by using the internet to promote his work and create a virtual choir.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

MUSIC

Violinist

CASE STUDY

MUSIC

Claire Roberts

Claire Roberts from Ferryside, Carmarthen has a conditional place at St Hugh’s College Oxford to study music. This academic course covers composition, musicology, harmony, the history of music, as well as the performance element. As well as being drawn to the beautiful city of Oxford, Claire chose an academic course rather than an instrument based course because she wants to explore more aspects of music rather than specialising on performance just at the moment.

Claire also applied to Bangor University to study Music and Creative Writing as she enjoys writing and has had several poems published in a Writing Club at Ysgol Bro Myrddin where she is currently studying for her A levels. Ultimately though Oxford is her first choice. After visiting her sister there who is studying medicine, she fell in love with the city. Both her parents are music teachers and music has always been in her life. As early as 3 years old, she can remember holding a plastic violin and then throughout primary school, performing was always there, either singing or playing violin. Much of her music study is carried out at home with her parents providing tuition and inspiration. Although violin is her main instrument, she also plays piano and has continued to sing. She is studying for A Levels in Spanish, French and English as well as music and hopes to travel this Summer and use her languages in mainland Europe.

Claire usually plays classical pieces but she describes the feeling coming off stage in the early rounds of the Urdd Eistedfodd, after playing Poliakin’s The Canary in 2010, as “fantastic.”

“...I have never wanted to do anything other than music. I am just curious about it” Claire Roberts

When asked about what feeds her passion for music, Claire says she has never wanted to do anything else. Music crosses that boundary between pleasure and work. She plays in orchestras for pleasure and listens to music. She says she has friends who study one subject and then go and do other activities to relax, whereas music fills both functions for her. She is looking forward to taking advantage of opportunities to see many more performers in and around Oxford. She recently went to see the Welsh National Opera for the first time in Swansea but as she said such opportunities are “rare being in rural Carmarthenshire.”

A self confessed “music geek” at this stage Claire is still enjoying exploring all the different avenues open to her. She has been helping out with hospital radio and enjoys the mixture of chat and music selection. This inspired her to apply for work experience with Radio Cymru where she loved the radio studio environment. Work with the media is an area she is considering developing further. Claire is ambitious and likes to challenge herself but at this stage she is keeping her options open. Following undergraduate study she may apply to a conservatoire and devote herself to violin practice and performance. Carmarthenshire has produced this successful and talented young musician who won Young Composer of Dyfed in 2009 with her Tribute to a Harpist which was performed in the St David’s Music Festival. She gained her Grade VIII violin at just 13 years old and went on to achieve a Diploma in Music Performance.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Creative writing is a broad category that covers poems, plays, novels, novellas and short stories but there are other areas often forgotten that could come under this category such as song lyrics, graphic novels, sketch writing and even gag writing. As a form, novels come in a variety of genres from the literary to the classic Mills and Boon romance. Other forms such as journalism, copywriting (generally writing text to promote products services or ideas), technical writing and academic papers sit outside this art form. It is tempting to define it as writing to entertain but that would ignore the life changing impact of creative writing. It’s function is hard to pigeon hole; since words were first written down, stories have been used to teach, to console, to convey ideas, to change opinions and to change behaviour.

CREATIVE WRITING

Skills required Creative writing is above all, a solitary pursuit that requires great discipline and determination. Some writers say they have to write. Others have a passionate interest in a particular subject, the Industrial Revolution, for instance, and want to share that interest through fiction or non fiction works. There are few earning mega bucks but there are plenty of writers earning a good enough living. If you want to become a published author you need to develop a thick skin. A publisher must be able to see a commercial value in your work and for that to be realised, your work must be promoted. As an author you will be expected to assist with that process by being available for interviews and helping to convey an appealing or interesting persona.

“What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers” Logan Pearsall Smith, “All Trivia,” Afterthoughts, 1931

Training required Developing your writing skills will happen faster if you can give and receive feedback. Enrolling on a creative writing course will give you frequent opportunities to share your work. Although many writers are shy, if you want to make money from writing, you need to consider how you would deal with public readings, interviews and other promotional activities. If your main concern is getting your work out to a wider audience rather than seeing your work in a bookshop, you could consider keeping a blog or looking into self publishing. Many published authors come to writing later in life and it is something you can develop at any time. In fact having a variety of experiences from different work activities or travel can only enrich your writing. Career prospects If you are looking for a good income from writing then understanding what the market buys will help you decide which subjects to tackle. However if writing for you is about developing the stories inside you, then you may have to accept that the financial reward will be small. For many writers it is not about money; they simply have to write. If you just enjoy the act of putting words on paper then you could consider journalism, copywriting, or writing technical books if you have a specialist area of knowledge.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Writer Rebecca John is a published writer completing her studies for a BA in English and Creative Writing at Swansea University. She has applied to study for an MA in Creative Writing.

CREATIVE WRITING

Rebecca John

CASE STUDY

CREATIVE WRITING

Brought up in Llanelli, Rebecca knew from an early age that she wanted to write for a living, but was undecided whether she needed a degree to achieve that aim. Although she was accepted at several prestigious universities to study English Literature / Creative Writing straight after school, Rebecca decided against further study at that point and spent a few years in the workplace before reviewing that decision and applying to university once again in her early twenties. Rebecca’s passion for writing came from reading. Although not from a bookish family, her parents were happy to feed her passion by supplying her with books. The realisation dawned that she wanted to be a writer after reading Philip Pulman’s Northern Lights. She was just 10 years old.

Rebecca believes that the key benefit from studying creative writing rather than simply writing on your own, comes from sharing your written work with peers and tutors. She comments,

“Writing is a ‘murky kind of thing... simply sitting at my computer and playing around with words, trying to turn them into something more than words, brings me a huge amount of pleasure” Rebecca John

“You improve much quicker when you share your work with other writers.... sometimes you have to share certain aspects of yourself to make your writing more effective and that... isn’t always comfortable.”

Writing every day is crucial if you want to succeed and Rebecca also recommends entering short story competitions. These give her deadlines and also successes to help provide that crucial track record that can be so important in getting your first major work published. Her short story ‘Vane, Gregory - 26 and counting’, was published in Spring 2009 by Parthian in their anthology of young writers, Nu: Fiction and Stuff. The collection was launched at the Hay Festival, an experience Rebecca found both terrifying and exciting.

For others who want to make their living from writing fiction, Rebecca believes a creative writing course can speed up the process of improving your writing but says that many people underestimate the sheer amount of time writing takes up. It is also a lonely pursuit requiring self discipline and self motivation.

She is well aware that the form she loves best, literary writing, will not bring her great riches. In fact less than 1% of writers make a living from their work. She acknowledges the vital ongoing support from her parents and students and staff on her course.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

At it’s simplest, advertising combines words and images to attract attention, interest and desire in a potent combination that advertisers hope will influence behaviour. Depending on the intent behind the advertising, that could result in a new or repeat purchase of a product or service, making a pledge, joining a club, subscribing to a list, marching or taking direct action. If you have design flair, a fascination with human behaviour and an area of special interest e.g the environment, then a career in advertising could be for you. In larger agencies the words are handled by copy writers and the images by graphic designers, but if you are working freelance or for an in house design studio, you may have to deliver the whole brief from concept to final proof.

GRAPHICS & ADVERTISING

Skills required Creating adverts, brochures, catalogues, posters and flyers requires a wide range of skills but most importantly you have to be able to work to deadlines. If you aim to work in a design agency you will have to demonstrate a level headedness that will allow you to manage your own work load. When large sums of money are spent on say 50,000 leaflets, attention to detail is vital. If you’re not good at crossing ‘i’s and dotting ‘t’s, then you will struggle in a more traditional design agency set up. Attention to detail comes with practice but another approach is to consider working in partnership with someone who has the skills you lack. For instance a graphic designer and a copywriter can combine to offer promotional services for small businesses.

“The secret of all effective advertising is not the creation of new and tricky words and pictures, but one of putting familiar words and pictures into new relationships” Leo Burnett

Training required As well as design skills and an understanding of the history of advertising and design, a good knowledge of typographical design will be helpful. In larger agencies this would be covered by a specialist, so if you are intrigued by fonts and their ability to change the tone or emphasis of a communication, then this could be a niche area to consider for further study. Almost all advertising is now created on computer. However free hand drawing may still be vital at the concept stage. A good knowledge of software such as Quark Express, the Adobe products: Illustrator, Photoshop and Indesign will give you the tools to create and manipulate e.g. logos, photographs and other images and create attractive page layouts. However these are only tools and cannot replace creative ideas and a thorough understanding of good design principles. Many people in this area are already good networkers, but learning about specific marketing and promotion skills will help in your design work and if you go freelance, they will be essential to keep a steady stream of projects coming across your desk. Career prospects It is a competitive industry with few design agencies here in Carmarthenshire but the opportunities to develop a freelance career, designing for instance websites, are limited only by your own horizons. With improving broadband speeds across the county there is a global market out there. Finding your specialist area is the key. A good portfolio is essential. Ian Lloyd of Stuart Lloyd Associates, Carmarthen comments, “to succeed as a freelance you need confidence in your ability and good contacts and you need to get your work known.”

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Clayton Richards is a student from Carmarthen town, intent on a career in graphic design. He is currently studying A levels in Product Design, Art & Design, Physics and Mathematics (Mechanics).

Clayton’s interest in graphic design and product design began at an early age. In Primary School he was forever sketching on endless scraps of paper, usually creating imaginative and innovative inventions. More often than not, Clayton says “the designs were nonsense and almost always impossible to actually create. Yet they helped me develop my imagination and search for new creative designs.”

GRAPHICS & ADVERTISING

Clayton Richards

CASE STUDY

GRAPHICS & ADVERTISING

At Primary School, Clayton found himself somewhat isolated as mainstream activities like football and rugby didn’t interest him. Sketching was a form of escape. Art and design inspired and satisfied him like nothing else.

When asked where the inspiration came from for new inventions and designs, Clayton responded that some ideas seemed to happen spontaneously while others came from observing clumsy or imperfect designs in every day objects and realising he could design something better. He remembers an early design for a ‘weed mower’. Rather than just cut grass why not eliminate weeds at the same time? Design flair obviously runs in the family, as Clayton’s mother Helen holds a British patent for a push chair design she developed when, like her son, she saw a design and thought, “I can do something better.” Clayton also credits his graphic design teacher at Queen Elizabeth High School in Carmarthen as an inspiration, who offered continuous encouragement.

“What really persuaded me was how I, as a designer, could become more recognised than an artist..... I wanted my designs to become unavoidable.” Clayton Richards

Clayton is drawn to the commercial world of art and design, inspired by the likes of Roy Lichtenstein, an American Pop Artist whose work was heavily influenced by both popular advertising and the comic book style.

At GCSE, Clayton studied graphic design but he also took Business Studies as one day he would love to have his own Graphic Design business. The Business Studies syllabus introduced him to the Marketing Mix and for his coursework he had to produce a Business Plan. He found the process of thinking through how he might structure and develop a business of his own one day in the future, invaluable. Clayton has found that graphic design is about so much more than just doodling. The challenges of planning, innovation and sketching have increased his interest in this area.

Of the subjects he is currently studying, Product Design is the one he enjoys most. He comments that he will probably drop Physics as studying nuclear energy and the solar system is not an area that interests him.

Clayton would like to study in higher education after A levels but would also be keen to find a part time job with e.g. a local printers. Increased confidence and team work are skill areas he would like to develop further. The study Clayton has done so far has improved his visual communication, his problem solving, numeracy, mathematics and his knowledge of IT. He plans to enter the Innovation Awards in Cardiff though the details of his invention are a closely guarded secret. Clayton has also secured work experience as a graphic design assistant with a signage company and is highly motivated to succeed in this competitive area.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Arts management falls into two categories: the finance, people and promotional management and the creative management of productions. The former, usually the role of the Arts Manager, involves dealing with contracts of employment, budgets, promotions and planning for say a theatre company. The latter, usually the Director’s role, involves creative collaboration with the whole team involved in a production from the stage manager, to the actors and sometimes even the playwright. Skills required - Arts Manager For Arts Managers, a head for figures is important, as are inter personal skills. Another key area is the ability to absorb a steady stream of new legislation e.g. employment law updates. Resourcefulness and the ability to think on your feet are essential. It is not necessary to have a performance background. However stage management experience can be helpful for arts management, requiring as it does, juggling multiple strands and managing a diverse range of people. Experience of managing people is vital, so experience of management roles will be useful, for example being a secretary of a sports clubs or charitable project can all help to evidence your skills in managing projects and people.

ARTS MANAGEMENT

Skills required - Creative Director Those who are interested in creative management of theatre tend to come to this area via performance, stage management or some other role in theatre production. Directing is a multi faceted role which requires a winning combination of communication, creative thinking and the ability to learn from others. The greatest directors allow their actors to flourish and uncover hidden depths to bring to each role. This is a hard skill to teach; directing is more of a journey.

“And I taught acting for years, and without knowing it that was the real thing that started bending me toward directing.” Sydney Pollack

Training required - Arts Manager There are now three year courses in arts management available at graduate level. This will give you a good grasp of important areas like budgeting, contract law, project management, presentation and other skills. Some people come to arts management from e.g. youth work and teaching. An increasing number of people study as mature students after having worked in different fields. Marketing skills are vital, especially harnessing social media for networking and promotion. Training required - Creative Director There is no substitute for experience. You can apply for directing courses or do a more general theatre course but either way you should take every opportunity to practise directing and attend as many workshops and performances as you can to build your skills. Career prospects - Arts Manager Arts management skills are very transferable, typically into tertiary education and in business. The broad skills of budgeting, project management and people management are applicable outside the arts. It can also provide a broad base to help you discover areas you may want to pursue in more detail e.g. accountancy, fund raising, charity work. However, there are now fewer revenue funded companies in the arts than there used to be. Mai Jones, General Manager at Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru comments, “We are all going to have to think outside the box and look at alternative ways to get funding..... the more creative the arts managers can be, the better.” Career prospects - Creative Director If you are prepared to travel, you can look for a paid or unpaid position as an Assistant Director with a theatre company or if you can secure funding you could look at setting up your own theatre company. Someone with arts management skills would make an ideal partner.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Bryony Evett-Hackfort Director Bryony Evett-Hackfort is Course Leader for the Extended Diploma in Performing Arts at Coleg Sir Gar and also course leads the A Level Drama and Theatre Studies programme.

ARTS MANAGEMENT

Bryony studied for a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Theatre Studies, Design and Production at Trinity College (now University of Wales, Trinity Saint David) after developing an interest in drama in Year 9. When she discovered the course and people at Trinity, and stood on the stage at The Halliwell Centre, she realised it was the only course she wanted to do. People often go into drama because they want to change something about themselves. At Trinity she found people that understood her. Bryony is not particularly extrovert and always felt she wasn’t creative because she couldn’t make things - her mother for instance was a dress maker and her brother could draw, neither of which she had any talent for at all. Once she found theatre and especially directing, she realised that she was creative in a “thinking and talking” way. Bryony never aspired to go to London or be in a West End Musical. Plays about drug addictions and other issues bore her to tears. It is the relationship between text and performance that excites her.

“...directing is not something you can necessarily learn how to do through a course.... it is more internal than that... you have to feel it” Bryony Evett-Hackfort

Coming from a rural, even sheltered background where her main passion as a teenager was looking after her horse, coming to Trinity opened up a whole new world. There she discovered her vocation in directing after being asked to direct a short piece in her second year. Now, her goal is to be Artistic Director of her own company. After graduating, Bryony did a season at The Torch Theatre Company as an Assistant Director working with Peter Doran and professional actors for the first time. She soon realised how hard it is to make a living in this field, how competitive it is and how insecure it can be. The lecturing position has enabled her to pursue her passion for directing but also to settle down with her husband - the life/work balance is hard to achieve if you are on tour with a theatre company. The Theatre Project, a new initiative, is something Bryony is particularly passionate about. Running in conjunction with the Coracle Project at Trinity Saint David, this is a theatre group for young people, aged 18 and over, interested in exploring alternative types of theatre. Eager to develop her own skills, Bryony welcomes opportunities to learn from others. She spent a month at California State University, Fullerton on a lecturers’ exchange project working on Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood. Through these and other projects she has increased her confidence to take creative and visual risks. Bryony enjoys challenging audiences these days rather than pleasing them. Her lecturing role provides her with plenty of opportunities to direct. One of the biggest pieces the students have done was a play called DNA, part of the Theatre Connections Programme, run by the National Theatre which they performed at the Egg Theatre in Bath. Her favourite styles of theatre, which she loves sharing with her students are: British political theatre of the 1970s and 1980s and works by Kafka and other writers covered by the term ‘Theatre of the Absurd’.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

It is not intended to give you detailed information on each and every creative course available in Carmarthenshire. You can find links to the higher education establishments in the county in the Resource section at the back [internal link]. Course content changes so it is best to check with each institution to find out the latest information.

SUMMARY

The second part of this guide has been designed to give you a broad overview of study and work in the major art forms and to share the experiences of some of the young creative people in Carmarthenshire.

The guide is aimed at those considering studying creative arts at undergraduate level. You may still be in school or be further on in life and considering study because you want to change career direction or set up a new business. Whatever the reason, this guide is here to raise questions, give you ideas and encourage you to explore the myriad opportunities for study in the creative industries. The guide is also intended to encourage the creative industries here in Carmarthenshire. We hope it has opened your eyes to the diverse opportunities there are here for study and entrepreneurship. Having whetted your appetite, we hope you will explore the area youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re considering in more detail. Work experience is a fantastic way to get a feel for an industry and what it is really like working as an artist, graphic designer, illustrator, web designer, musician or whatever your chosen path is. Speaking to people in the industry is also highly recommended. They can give you so much insight and it is a great way to discover opportunities. All the people who have contributed to this guide have been more than willing to give their time and share their experiences. Get out and get involved with clubs, societies and events in the arts. If you have access to the internet, join the conversation on blogs, Twitter, Facebook or on You Tube. If you havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t already, go and look at the Creative People section on the iCreu website. You can register yourself there and get in touch with other creatives.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

1 The story of the fisherman and the business man is often quoted but I cannot find an original source. Please contact iCreu if you know the source of this story.

REFERENCES

References

2 Jeanne Gwynne is a writer and motivational speaker from Denmark living in Carmarthenshire 3 Prepare a business plan from business.wales.gov.uk 4 Milton Friedman, economist 5 US Census Bureau 6 The Dynamo Project is a Welsh Assembly Governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Department for the Economy and Transport (DE&T) and is part financed by the European Union 7 Facebook blog 8 Web 2.0 & Social Media. Identifying the opportunities that new media can bring to Farmers and Rural Business, Heather Gorringe 2007 9 Coracle is an inclusive programme of activities and projects engaging the creative communities in South West Wales and South East Ireland in an exchange of knowledge, best practice and higher level skills. Find more information on their Facebook site.

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

1.Background Welsh Assembly Government ARTS & Culture Members Research service topic brief

RESOURCEES

Business guide additional resources

2. The plan - taking a critical view Prepare a business plan from business.wales.gov.uk Useful business links on Carmarthenshire County Council website Register FREE for regular updates on business advice on Business Wales 3. Marketing - who’s buying what you’re selling Free writing and marketing tips at www.onlinesalesmessages.com 5. Funding and grants Prepare a business plan from business.wales.gov.uk 6. Managing the money Finding and managing the money on Business Wales website provides a comprehensive overview of managing cash flow in a business and other areas to do with money and finance. 7. Legal and financial structure What is franchising? 8.Intellectual property protection Carmarthenshire Trading Standards can provide advice on the law regarding a variety of issues around trading. 9.Promotion - social, digital and traditional media The Facebook Effect, The real inside story of Mark Zuckerberg and the world’s fastest growing company by David Kirkpatrick, published by Virgin Books Getting started with social media: A Resource Guide The above guide covers Facebook, Twitter, blogs and LinkedIn How to create a Facebook Page Twitter 101: Getting Started If you are interested in web tools and about driving more visitors to specific sites, enter the names of these web tools in a search engine like Google to find out more: Alexa Facebook LinkedIn Mail Chimp Market Mailer Twitter Tweetdeck Tweetups Microsoft Movie Maker YouTube Itunes Google Insights Google Analytics Google Alerts Google Reader Google Blogger Wordpress Typepad Lulu Flickr PBWiki Ezine Articles Widgets Skype TinyURL

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

University of Wales, Trinity Saint David Coleg Sir G창r Hot Courses (www.hotcourses.com) Short courses, evening courses and degrees

STUDENT COURSES

Resources

Creative and Cultural Skills (www.ccskills.org.uk) Carmarthenshire County Council - Arts Development

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

I would like to thank all at the University of Wales: Trinity Saint David who have helped with this guide and to thank those who have contributed especially, Louise Emanuel, Ruth Taylor Davies, Laurence Trigwell, Liane Davies, Dominic Williams, Ric Bower, Eilir Griffiths, Ian Lloyd, Brett Aggesberg, Eiryl George, Mai Jones.Thank you also to all those who agreed to be interviewed for the case studies. This guide has been published by University of Wales, Trinity Saint David through the iCreu project. This project has received funding through the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013 which is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Acknowledgements

http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/160032.htm

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries

Juliet Fay encourages rural businesses to increase sales by understanding why their customers buy and using that information to create compelling communications online, offline and in person. Although now immersed in marketing, Juliet has not come via the conventional route of a marketing degree followed by industry experience in a large agency. Instead she took off to Papua New Guinea aged 21 after completing an English degree at York University, to spend four years south of the equator variously teaching adult literacy, writing fund raising proposals for community development projects and rebuilding a Series IIA Land Rover.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

About the author

On her return, employment seemed too restrictive and so with her farmer husband she set up a small scale organic vegetable box scheme in Wiltshire. Trying to combine passion for food, with ideals about sustainable production and making a living proved challenging but also immensely rewarding. Always passionate about people and ideas, it was only after receiving all the farewell letters from the box scheme customers when she was set to move to Wales that she realised that the business was about something more than vegetables. The move to Wales has taken Juliet and her family closer towards their goal of creating an abundant holding producing its own sustainable income streams from training, information products and idea generation for rural businesses, sustainable energy sources from a woodland due to be planted in 2011 and of course from growing food sustainably. In recent years she has helped a range of micro and small businesses sell more through better communications. She also provides workshops for rural businesses independently and on behalf of Gallu, iCreu, Better Organic Business Links and others. You can get regular updates from Juliet by subscribing to her e-news on her website. When you sign up you will get free articles on writing and marketing roughly twice a month. If you have any comments or suggestions, please contact her at juliet@onlinesalesmessages.com

Making It Pay - A Guide For Businesses And Students In The Creative Industries