I had a dream. No, no, this has nothing to do with Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech. I really had a dream and maybe still have it, but I don't think it will ever going to come true. It is not rant or complain either, these are my thoughts and I'm going to share it with the blockchain today.
Most likely I was born with a good amount of creativity and have been doing different creative works all my life, but it has never been my main focus or a profession. I learned knitting and crocheting from my grandmother and in school at a very young age. I have made several pullovers for myself and family over the years, socks for fun, scarves, beanies and so on. Sewing has also been part of my life in one way or another. We had needlework class in school for years and I loved it. I remember once I had some good quality cotton and made a full set of underwear for myself, all by hand as I didn't know how to use my grandmother's sewing machine. It was just for fun, but loved it.
Then a decade ago I think, I started creating jewelry using glass and wooden beads. I made a lot of money as I had a lot of orders. Then I learnt sewing from YouTube during the covid lockdown, also for fun and created bags that I sold on etsy.
Talent is not my thing, unfortunately, I don't have any, but that has never stopped me from trying to create different things. Like I started drawing, although I have no talent.
Hive had a huge influence on me. The needlework community gave me a push to try out sewing and I will always be grateful for that. We have a lot of artists here and my old friend from another platform Barbara, had a huge influence on me and gave me confidence to try out drawing. Not long ago I bought my first electronic drawing tablet and I'm about to start a new journey, a new chapter of my (untalented artistic) life.
As you can see, I had a lot of crazy dreams and some of them came true, but I have one that most likely never will and that is having my own souvenir shop. Now, most likely you're asking why is that so impossible, as you can rent a location, adjust it to your needs, fill the shelves with products and you're good to go. I wish it was as simple, but it's not. It requires more than that, but that's not the only reason.
The reason I will never have my own souvenir shop is ... or basically are many.
I'd want to fill my souvenir shop with my own creations exclusively. My own art, my own sewing, my own drawings and whatever my crazy mind tells me to create for those who might be interested. But the economist in me would aim for the highest profit possible, as the main scope and that would kill creativity instantly. In order to create a successful and profitable business, you need to have a very good understanding of the market, know what people demand and provide them at an affordable price and at the lowest costs. I could go on and on about this, but I suppose everyone here knows how a business works.
As much as I'd love to see love, how people react to seeing my products, the chances for that to happen are slim to none. Artists are dreamers and most of them have little understanding of how these things work (no offense), but my mathematical mind would never let my artistic side take over.
The worst thing you can do as an artist is create art on demand, meaning the same item endlessly. It kills you and it makes your art less valuable as well.
So what's the solution to this? There's one, no worries 😎
We live in a digital era, where you can reach the other end of the world without even leaving your home, or desk if you want. This gives a huge opportunity to artists. You can have your online shop, with very minimal costs and it takes off the pressure of covering the huge costs of a shop. You sell what you have, no pressure of creating mass products just to cover costs or end the month in red.
I love the idea and there are several platforms, that allows you to have your own shop. There are several marketing tools and options you can use to reach the targeted audience. If you have a bit ok knowledge, you can do it for free, or for as little as possible.
And this is exactly what my plan is. Creating art for me is not a business. It is my way of relaxation after my trading sessions but I'm going to mix business with pleasure by selling what I create. I'll be a way of living basically. Most likely I'm going to show you what I create and maybe write about how this whole crazy idea will be going. Who knows?
What do you think? Do you have an online shop where you are selling your creations? I know some of you have.
Everything you say makes sense, and I think you would do great. Today, there is an audience for everything. I'm sure there are people who will love your art. You also explain your ideas very well, which is a great virtue. The ability to share your story and background so eloquently is also a great asset! It's lovely!
I've had an alternative fashion store project on pause for two years. Life got so complicated that I couldn't sit down and create, even though I had a good audience and people who were attentive to the project. You're right; creating isn't enough. I know nothing about numbers, but I've had to learn how to price my creations and transform my project into a real business instead of an expensive hobby.
Fortunately, there are many kind and intelligent people on the internet who share their wisdom for free. I'm learning how to correctly calculate production costs. For example, I was surprised by a formula that divides the cost of machines by their useful lifetime divided by the number of units produced per month. It's interesting.
I send you my best wishes and hope your dream comes true because it's an idea worth the effort 🙏 💗
Your reply is upvoted by @topcomment; a manual curation service that rewards meaningful and engaging comments.
More Info - Support us! - Reports - Discord Channel
This is very true, but in order to succeed, you need to find that audience and this is why an online store is better than a physical store. Imagine living in a small town, where everyone knows everyone, they hold grudges for generations, plus the buying power of the population is only enough to make ends meet, or even less. What chances do you have there? Your chances are slim to none.
Reading your comment proves my point. If the economical situation of the country is going from bad to worse, you are limited, or your business is killed, while you could reach a wide audience online at a reduce cost and still make it.
This is called amortization. It is a must when doing accounting and I've been doing this for years. It's the only way to know your profitability exactly. But again, artists kinda live in the clouds, they don't have the necessary knowledge to run a business. No offense intended.
Thank you for the valuable comment and for your wishes. I wish you all the best and success in whatever you're doing. You have the right mindset, so you'll succeed 💚
I have a business. We have recording areas for tv shows, podcasts, voiceovers for ads, jingles, audiobooks and film. A lot of the work we do is for our clients and not for us. One in a while, I'll use the studio for my own creations. I even share them on HIVE sometimes. I love it, even though it doesn't make me any money. I guess what I'm trying to say is you can sometimes find ways of doing what you love and also make money. You just have to make compromises and find balance.
Congrats on the business, it's great to see you're doing what you love.
Our dreams evolve with time, so if you love doing artwork in your spare time and can sell it as well, it for sure is a win-win situation! You can achieve your dream, although it's not as you originally planned it. And...of course, dear @erikah, you do have talent!
I sell preloved stuff online, but unfortunately, none of it is anything I've created.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday @erikah <3
I love the expression 😍 I've been doing the same since last fall. I had enough of storing things I don't need anymore, for years, so I made a huge selection and sold quite a lot of my stuff, but still have a huge chunk.
Thank you for the nice comment my dear friend and sorry for the late reply. Have a lovely week my dear friend and don't change, be the lovely lady you are 🤗💚
The important thing is to never give up on your dream and make it happen.
I found this article quite interesting and timely, as I recently shared with some families about one of my interests when thinking about creating a business. First, I always think about something that interests me and that gives me pleasure to do and how I could monetize this activity and where I would do it. I have a long-standing dream of buying a small plot of land and building a house in Alentejo, an area I love in my country. From a very young age I developed an interest in a very ancient art, pottery, which happens to be very popular in this part of the country. So the idea came up of, together with moving house, creating a small pottery business, first as a hobby and possibly monetizing this activity :) this comment may seem like a series of loose thoughts, but in my head it is all connected and makes perfect sense. Now I just have to focus and make it happen. I hope you can create your business too and that you share all the progress here, it would be very interesting to follow. I'm thinking about doing the same when I decide to create mine, and sharing all the steps and its evolution here.
Something like this:
https://programasaberfazer.gov.pt/tag/olaria-de-mafra-1
I also share some of your concerns and after investigating, I found that 80% of sales are made online and the pieces are exported to all corners of the world :) there is still hope :P
Pottery is a wonderful thing to do. The photos I posted in this post, the pottery ones were tajen not long ago in an area where the whole region is living off creating and selling pottery, but to be able to make ends meet, they are now selling a lot of garbage too, that has nothing to do with the local tradition, it's kitsch imported from China. It's a huge shame it came to this, because it ruins everything, but I suppose this is the compromise they need to make to be able to live.
Selling your pottery or whatever you're creating is not a bad thing, but when you do that, to cover the costs of running a local shop, that otherwise would not be profitable, it tells you your potential buyers are not in the same location as your shop, so then why run a shop at all, right?
I wish you all the best and I hope you can make your dream come true.
I love crochet and macrame, although I have shown little of that here on Hive, I also used to sell many pieces both at fairs and online, but for a few years now it has been difficult because of the unstable economy in my country, sales have fallen a lot for this type of products and you can't live only from that. But I think that by making a greater effort, in social networks, offering the pieces directly to stores with artisan profile, maybe there will be success. I hope that somehow your creations will make you fulfill that dream!
Unfortunately life has changed everywhere in the world and the more this economical setback continues, the less funds people are going to have to spend on art and souvenirs.
Sad but true 🤷🏻♀️...
I see that you understand it perfectly and you do well, although there is the counterpart that many artists really don't know anything about business and art is their life, it's nice, but success is bingo for them. I'm glad you see it as a method of relaxing, and if someone appreciates it that's great, it's a win-win. The mpio thing is music, it can be hard too, although just now I've been lucky enough to make a living at it, but not everyone makes it, so you have to prepare yourself in everything, to have many opportunities. Beautiful post Erikah! 🙏
I'm an economist fists and have been working in sales one way or another all my life and I can't consider myself an artist. So unlike artists who many times don't have a sense of reality and only see the artistic side of things, I'm at the other end of things as my first thought is always efficiency.
I'm glad to know you're able to make a living out of music. So congratulations!
We know how many artists have struggled all their lives and only got famous post mortem.
Maybe it's a hard life hahahaha, but for the moment I'm in the right place. I like your way of thinking, and I feel it's the right one. Hugs!!!
I think it’s great to have passions like yours with art but sometimes it just doesn’t feel right if it’s both a passion and a career, the latter coming latter. That’s not always the case of course but sometimes it’s best to have a career and have things you really love doing outside of that.
I wouldn’t be able to have a souvenir shop either I wouldn’t be able to sell the things lol they would be too cool.
Yeah, being attacked to what you create is abreal thing and it's another reason why maybe a shop would not work. I know this from experience when I was sewing bags. I kept some for myself because I loved them.
Hi Erika! I have the same experience as you. Sometimes it can be difficult to be creative, when you are seething with inspiration, but can't execute due to other complications in life!
Also, it's not easy to live on. There are so few people who notice artistic decorations, they are simply in their mobiles or their comics... I often think that it is a shame for humanity.
You may think how can I say that? Because I am almost 70 years old and have lived life, which feels like several hundred years.
Now I will be more positive. I thought about what I said last time, when you showed the fantastic exhibition about us trying to create something with textiles. I promise I have checked what I have, and it is a lot. It will come eventually. You don't have to create a painting, it could just as well be a box or something else.
What you show in the photos, ceramics, is also satisfying. The inlays in the last picture look delicate, I would like to try!
Never stop dreaming
This is definitely true and the sad reality, unfortunately. When you need to make profit in order to move forward, you can't afford to follow your dreams and that kills creativity instantly.
I'm really glad to read this and looking forward to reading your post. Can't wait actually :)
The photos in this post have been taken at different exhibitions and markets, but just as i said, these people are also struggling to make ends meet and are mostly creating based on demand, not necessarily what they would like.
Hey! Thanks for sharing! I hope you reach that dream of having your own souvenir shop with your creations!
Thank you very much Belug. Maybe an online store ... :)
I have facebook page for my art but I have not updated it in years(?). Last I checked it had some followers and I was getting a few reactions. But it was not going anywhere and stopped growing. And these days I am thinking about stopping using facebook at all. On Hive when I share my art I get some rewards and comments on facebook I only get a few likes so I am starting to think that it is not even worth posting there.
Posting on Facebook to collect likes is not selling art.
Posting about whatever you create on Hive is not selling art either. You get some upvotes, but some are autovotes, others are just voting to get curation rewards, but that doesn't mean selling art.
Selling art means you upload an image of your physical or digital creation and someone pays to own it.
I created that page to sell my art and not to collect likes. But nothing good came out of it.
Have you tried the NFT showroom on Hive? Although I suppose someone would have contacted you if they would be interested in buying your drawings.
I do have an account in NFT showroom. But I only sold 1 NFT(It was also my first NFT).
Unfortunately this is how it is. You can't force people to like or buy art. Every artist has faced this and only a selected few make it. Most of them are just dreaming about becoming successful one day.
Haha! So much dreams you couldn't base on one well you are still dreaming when you are awake we will know which one you have chosen🤣🤣 if am to say for that your souvenir it won't work because the economist in you will chase away all your customers and for that of drawing is a no no for me, good you already know as an untalented artist hehehe where are you heading to? Well Barbra still have a lot of work to do in your life. Mmmmm we can consider those ones you learned from your grandma I believe they can go. Thanks for sharing 😂🤣
Are you drunk? I've never seen so much crap in one comment.
Be polite for once did I kill anyone? Even am wrong that's not how to correct someone and beside if am drunk I I won't be here
Be polite? After your rude comment you'retelling me to be polite? How about you be polite.
My friend how can i be rude to you after all I was reading your post with smile is just that you misunderstood me it was all joke I didn't mean to be rude please if I offended you with my comment am so sorry for that it won't happen again 🙏
That wasn't joke, it was mocking.
Accept my apology if that was how you saw it 🙏
Why don't you start small with a market stall?
I'm a regular at these markets as I love looking around, but trust me, it's a struggle for them too. I've heard them talking not once and they are complaining about huge ranting fees, slow sales, bad weather chasing away potential buyers.
It is not about the struggles and the problems that you will face. A teacher of mine was specialized on childhood dreams but it will probably work with any kind of dream. In order to be fulfilled and achieve happiness, you do not need to be perfect and mega succesfull, you just need to act towards it.
So, if you dreamt about becoming a plane pilot, taking 3 flying lessons will fulfill you as much as getting your pilot licence, in terms of achieving your dream. Learning how to do your favorite cake counts as awesome cooking as much as you becoming a masterchef. Achieving your dreams is easier than you think, as long as you do not delay it and act toward it.
I would think getting a market stall once a month for 6 months can be a pleasant experience, for example, and you may make a profit or not, but if you count on it as a learning experience, you may still benefit greatly out of it. Just do it few times, with no expectations, and you may enjoy it.
This would be my approach.
I understand what you're saying, but I'm wired differently. As I said in the post, I'm an economist first and artist second (but I'm not even an artist if I want to be honest), so I know from the start that a market stall would not work and it's not really what I would want.
Well, when you know, you know!
I pray that you have a shop someday and now it is true as you said we can have an online store now to sell our produk.
I am also trying to make a business here even though I don't have a shop so I sell business on Facebook or in the Marketplace
Thank you @waliphoto and good luck with your business idea. I hope you can make it profitable.
I think the hardest part of business is getting past the idea that "I produce things that I want people to buy" and getting to the point that your idea of business is that "I make things that people are wanting to buy". You may love what you make, but if no one wants those things, then you are making things for no reason. Find something that people want to buy that you know how to make or acquire and supply those things for them to purchase.
The thing is, the main idea would be to sell my art. Otherwise it's just doing commerce, focusing on maximizing profit. And this is exactly why I don't want to have the store.
I understand. I suppose, the way to do that is to do it like anyone else. Create an online Gallery, present your Gallery to art outlets for promotion or inclusion and then when someone wants to acquire a piece, then haggle over price. Hopefully you don't become a true artist, though. They never seem to sell anything until their DEAD! OoO
Best of luck in whatever you do, though.
Exactly. We have this huge advantage of having an online portfolio and marketplace, we can reach basically everyone who has access to internet and reduces costs as well.
That's a danger I don't have to face 😁
Thank you @michaelklinejr!
MOst artists I know aren't business minded - the term 'struggling artist' is real! To make money from creativity seems to kill the process, creating stress and anxiety. You seem to have found a way through.
Most artist, as you say, know nothing about business and this is why they have managers. Those who can afford it, obviously.
This is exactly what I wrote in the post. You lose yourself when you start creating mass products just to make money. That's not art anymore.
Tome will tell 😀