INVESTING IN YOUR BRAND
As December progresses, I can’t help but to think back and reflect on 2018. This last year has presented many challenges, but luckily mostly challenges that I’ve posed towards myself. From diving into more finite details on the website, to purchasing the East/West orchestral collection, to later purchasing the full Adobe bundle, I’ve had my hands full learning new software for the better part of the year. That said, the solution to any technical challenge isn’t much further than a couple of Google/Youtube searches away. Also, is helps to have friends that specialize in whatever new software you might be exploring, but learning the software is only a small part of the entrepreneurial climb to success. The hard part for me was justifying the allocation of funds to be able to afford these monthly subscription services.
This year I have been blessed to have worked on demo music for Sea Doo, Mark’s, Campbell’s, and Canadian Tire, and through these demo fees have been able to justify the recent upgrades to my gear. That said, I might not have gotten these gigs had I not first invested in this new gear…call it a leap of faith…and it paid off! Hear me out for a minute. If I invest money into a company that I’ve put a lot of research into, I have to hope that the business stays as relevant, functional, innovative, and hard-working as when I first invested, which is not always the case. However, if I had enough belief in myself and my business as an entrepreneur, then I could deem myself a worthy investment, knowing that I’d get a good return. Now, I’m not saying to go out and get a new BMW because it will help your real estate business look more professional. Instead, what I’m suggesting is to, over time, suss out what you think would be worthy purchases to help push your business forward. Essentially, you’re investing in your own brand. You do this when you get a haircut before a job interview, and when you buy software/hardware that helps you create a better product. When I say “investing in your own brand” I don’t just mean in visual brand aesthetics (ie. new office space, new car, new suit), but more importantly in purchases that will help your work/art return a better profit. Of course, this isn’t all about profit. You may want to just create art that speaks more truthfully to your artistic soul, but evaluating and augmenting the worth of your product is necessary in the longevity of your artistic career.
So, ask yourself where you fall short in terms of relevant technology, art supplies, marketing etc. From there, write down how these purchases could generate more income, and then commit to using these purchases to expand your business. If you aren’t sure if this purchase will even generate income, start small and suss out the situation. You don’t need to buy $1000 worth of google ad words when you’re first starting out. It’s no different than crabs finding newer/bigger shells when they’ve outgrown their old shell. For a while, the initial shell will work fine, but try to determine when it’s appropriate to take the leap of faith, and get into a new shell as you start to feel limited by your resources. You don’t want to be that artist that buys all of the best gear at the start of their career and never learns how to ‘fully’ use any one piece of their collection. But, you also don’t want to be the beaten down artist that doesn’t believe in themselves enough to invest in their own art. Find the balance that works for you, and each year (or maybe even more frequently) assess if you need to expand, downsize, or keep your business as is. You’ll make mistakes, and you’ll have great successes…it’s all part of the journey!
Perhaps this blog is just a way for me to justify having recently purchased the Adobe Creative Cloud bundle, but let me tell you…it rocks! I’m seriously feeling like my Youtube game is going to increase exponentially in 2019. For more details on this bundle, click here.
So far I’ve been really loving After Effects, be sure to check it out!
