Fuse Chamber

If you’re busy, especially if you are working on a day job to sponsor your passion, and you have family and social commitments the blend in there too…it can seem almost impossible to find time to create awesome core content, let alone marketing content.   But I have really good news for you.  That’s this week on the Fuse Chamber podcast.

* Life is busy

* People expect content - frequently - AND the best way to get good ideas is to have lots of them, so it seems to hard to squeeze in time to make awesome quality content every day

* Yes people expect frequent content, but quality is not the focus

* Turn your daily chores, wait time, and the conversations in your head into content

I want to do more.  To be more.  I get the feeling that maybe I could, or just that I should try to live a life more in line with my passions and principles.  But I can literally feel myself getting in my own way.  It’s like watching a movie of myself - I see it happening, I know its not good, but I do it anyway.  What’s going on?

* Routines are the things we do automatically, without conscious thought

* Most routines are behaviours or thought patterns that we used to have to think about, but have tucked out of sight of the conscious mind and allow them to go on autopilot

* The human brain has tremendous capacity for this and allows us to perform a great many tasks without having to spend our valuable mental energy on them

* However, the downside is that some routines are bad for us - and the brain doesn’t really know the difference

* Unfortunately, we run these routines without questioning them so we don’t always know they exist and act against our self-interest

* The best way to identify negative routines is to run down a list of common ones and see if any sound familiar.  You might be running these.

* There’s nothing wrong with running routines - the brain needs to do that - but its important to figure out what beliefs caused you to install negative routines, change the belief so you can short-circuit and eliminate the pattern

An artist is committed, heart and soul, to the work.  So I have to quit my day job now right?

* You have to starve to create right?

* You have to be committed full time - 8+ hours per day, right?

* Times are changing.  There aren’t as many ‘full time salaries’ for artists anymore.

* You have to balance work that pays the bills with work that feeds the soul

* Nothing says you have to work for a big corporation doing a business-y job though.  You could easily start your own small business

* Your business could be related to your art, or not, but it must be some you LOVE doing (must be related to your vision and purpose)

* The bad news - if you’re just getting started, expect that you now have three jobs - your day job, your side job, and your art.   You have to keep the first one until the side job and art career take off enough to provide sustainable income.  That can take years

* The good news - doing things you’re passionate about helps fuel and refresh you.  If you choose correctly, you won’t burn out

* Don’t ever make a choice based on money or fame.  Do what you love, authentically.  Serve, and everything you need will come.

Does the Arts need Leaders?   What are the qualities of a leader, and what does it take to become one?

* There is a huge demand for leadership in the arts and culture work

* It may seem like its difficult to be a leader, but a leader is just someone who goes first

* Leadership doesn’t require permission

* All you need is that picture in your head - a vision, and a desire to serve

* Beyond that, the most important qualities to foster are Courage, Humility, Listening, Ability to Handle Haters and Rejection, Integrity, Originality and Grit

Does the Arts need Leaders?   What are the qualities of a leader, and what does it take to become one?

* There is a huge demand for leadership in the arts and culture work

* It may seem like its difficult to be a leader, but a leader is just someone who goes first

* Leadership doesn’t require permission

* All you need is that picture in your head - a vision, and a desire to serve

* Beyond that, the most important qualities to foster are Courage, Humility, Listening, Ability to Handle Haters and Rejection, Integrity, Originality and Grit

Innnovators and artists alike both want more of this.  Here’s how you get it.

* Discipline

* You have to set up time and work

* Many people are creative first thing in the morning.  Fine.   Set an alarm, get up early, set a 20 minute timer and go

* BUT - as soon as that's done, you take a 5 minute break and then set another 20 minute timer, and then another, and then another.

* The volume of output is what makes the great ideas come, not great ideas themselves.

* your full time job is creating stacks of ideas that might be gold, might be trash, or might be mined for gold

* When you are challenged to come up with a good idea, come up with 50.   The pressure of getting 1 idea perfect throttles most people and keeps them from from producing

* always have your tools handy - never have a reason to not be able to capture

What makes most dreams nothing more than a dream?  What derails most people in their efforts to live the life they dream about?  And how can you conquer it?  That’s this week on the Fuse Chamber podcast.

* Assuming you make it past the initial fear, and decide to start on something…most people get tripped up and quit pretty early

* When things go wrong, or don’t pan out, or don’t show progress quickly enough, we often throw up our hands and start making excuses.

* Not enough time, wasn’t cut out for it, the world is unfair, etc

* The truth is, every day is a fight.  An unfair, unnecessary fight.

* Fight can mean unusually hard work, but it can also mean setbacks, injuries (physical, mental and emotional of course), struggles, delays, surprises, bad luck

* The secret is to watch your response to these  events, and subvert your natural instincts - to push just a little further than you think you can stand

Being a team of one is extremely difficult.  I never recommend shortcuts but there is something to be said for efficiency, and maximizing your time and investment.  Here are five essential things that you need to do if you are producing your own marketing and content in support of your art and business.

* Learn how to take good photographs - compose shots and use editing tools

* Keep up with design trends (from the graphic design industry) and emulate the use of space, colour, type

* Learn how to capture and edit audio

* Make a habit out of creating and publishing video content - no need for expensive equipment

* Learn to mimic voice across all media - advertising, journalism, scholarly articles, social media

What is the importance of a brand, how is related to your vision, and how do you market it?

* A brand is your outward expression of your vision and purpose.  It is your promise to the world

* You need to figure out your vision and how you serve your customers or community

* Marketing without a brand is just randomly trawling for customers

* Once you’ve figured out your brand, however, use it consistently and use it across all platforms - digital and real-time

There's a specific reason why you have unfulfilled dreams. Why there is somewhere you want to be, and you're not there yet. Want to know what it is?

* Nothing has changed - crazy hard work trumps all

* But the hard work isn’t hard work if you are locked in to a service-based vision/purpose

* it’s possible you haven’t found the right vision yet, or that vision compels you for the wrong reason

* It’s possible you’re making excuses

* It’s possible you’re looking for shortcuts.

* You need to get real about all three of these.  The good news is, if I can just inspire you for a nanosecond, to create a spark, and get you to do differently