Make It Happen! was developed with Banks Mill Studios during 2004-5. The entire programme has run seven times, the most recent during June 2008. Booking enquiries should go to Banks Mill Studios.
The aim of the programme is to support artists, makers, designers, in fact all creative people who are seeking to become self-employed. It covers every aspect of self employment from setting up a business, defining a practice, developing products and finding a niche, through to getting everything legally and financially straight.
Originally conceived as twelve sessions, additional workshops have been substituted in some runnings due to demand, so that there are now a total of fourteen possible workshops. All are three hours in length. The style of delivery is highly participative.
Session outlines
The Future Starts Here: Exploring self-employment
This session explores creativity, practice, motivation and what people want from self-employment. It will help you identify what barriers you will need to overcome on the way to working for yourself, and identify which parts of the programme are most relevant for you.
To Boldly Go: Setting your mission and finding your niche
The most difficult part of setting up for many creative people is deciding exactly what to do. What are my most marketable strengths? Can my idea be turned into reality? Will people buy my work? What is my best chance of success? In this session we explore the defining of creative practice, setting a business mission, finding a niche and developing products.
How much is that doggie in the window? Pricing and selling your work
As soon as you begin to consider your work from a commercial perspective, you will be faced by two questions: How much should I charge for it and where can I most effectively sell it? This session explores different ways at arriving at a price and various channels through which work can be sold.
Tell them about it: Marketing and promoting you and your work
Nobody will buy your work unless they know about it. But getting people's attention is difficult in a world where they are bombarded with information and choices. This workshop explores the many ways of marketing and how to identify which will be most appropriate for your current situation and resources.
It started with a chat: The art of creative networking
More business transactions and relationships are initiated by networking and personal contact than any other method. To some people it comes naturally and easy, to others it’s difficult and alien. This workshop looks at the outcomes of networking and the personal and organisational skills required to network effectively and creatively.
Legal, decent and honest: setting up a creative business the proper way
The legal, financial and administrative aspects of setting up a business rarely appeal strongly to creative people. This session aims to give you the skills and motivation to avoid the forms, legal notices, tax collectors and other sundry officials that will arrive on your doorstep if you don’t take care of these aspects.
Buddy can you spare me a dime? Funding and financing your creative business
Starting up any kind of business takes money. Maybe you already have plenty of that, but probably you don’t. This session will help you to work out how much you are likely to need and how you might go about getting it.
I’ll do that yesterday: Making effective use of your time
The feeling that there’s too much to do and not enough time to do it is a common one to both creative practitioners and the self employed. Yet time is fixed – it just happens – and the only thing we can really change is what we do with it. This session explores common time-management issues for creative practitioners and the newly self-employed.
Click here to get started: Making the web work for you
Almost all businesses have a presence on the web these days, but this can range from a single page not much more than a business card, through to a full e-commerce site that provides the main sales outlet. This session explores what sort of web presence is best for your business and how you can go about getting it.
Who stole my cheese? Protecting your intellectual property
If you can come up with an idea or product that people want to buy, it’s a sure thing that there will be somebody, somewhere who is willing to steal it and take some of the financial benefits, if you let them. This session explores what rights you have over the intellectual property assets you create, and how to protect them.
Art never sounded so good: presenting yourself in writing and in person
To sell your art widely, you want as many people to know about it as possible. But many communication media rely on words or on personal presentation. This session explores the presentation of work in a wide variety of forms, including presentations, CVs, press releases, and marketing materials.
Stand and deliver: Presentations skills for artists, makers and highwaypersons
Presentations have become a common part of applying for jobs, courses, grants and business finance. This practical workshop combines basic advice on how to avoid the most common pitfalls, along with a chance to practice in front of a supportive audience.
My office is the third shelf down: Setting up a workspace
Workspace for artists and makers is about more than just having the space to work; the environment also affects their work. This session will help you explore what your own workspace needs are and how you might go about finding your own space.
Are we nearly there yet? Launching your creative business
Most of the work in putting a man on the moon happened before lift-off; so it is with self-employment – most of the work is preparation before you launch your venture onto the world. This session explores putting together the elements of a successful start up, including the development of a business plan.
Although delivered face-to-face, participants also have access to a dedicated website, accessed from the client area.
