Comments on: Do You Really Want to Make a Living from Your Creativity?

By: Mark McGuinness

Mark McGuinness — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:46:09 +0000

Thanks Helga, glad you found it (and the Roadmap) helpful!

By: Helga van Leipsig

Helga van Leipsig — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:12:47 +0000

As a person who makes actual products and working hard on marketing them, this was a very enlightning article, it doesn’t even matter it was allready written 3 years ago.
I definately started out as an artist/technician but lately, with help from the Roadmap course, start to understand how even I can be an entrepeneur on the long term.
In my book your a rockstar Mark!

By: fabian fernander

fabian fernander — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:45:27 +0000

Mark I had a blast reading your rockstar series. It amazing how you created this piece of work, 2 yrs ago and it is still highly pertinent now. I’m also doing your lateral action worksheets, that go with your creative pathfinder course.

I’m excited to see how this will all turn out.

p.s stumbled across you via Peter Shallard, another good chap!! You guys are doing great things

By: Muhamed Ali

Muhamed Ali — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:28:00 +0000

So true !!!! Love it !!!!! Awesome!!!

By: Mutuelle santé

Mutuelle santé — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:28:11 +0000

“there may be something in that, but I know a lot of entrepreneurs who love their work, and a few arts that require a lot of technical know-how!”

Totaly true!

By: mutuelle

mutuelle — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:05:46 +0000

@Mark Ok

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:08:23 +0000

@ Mutuelle – there may be something in that, but I know a lot of entrepreneurs who love their work, and a few arts that require a lot of technical know-how!

@ Fuad – My pleasure, thank you!

By: Fuad Ahasan Chowdhury

Fuad Ahasan Chowdhury — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:18:52 +0000

I love the way you write . All very in-depth, informative, and to the point. Made me think, thanks!

By: mutuelle

mutuelle — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:08:09 +0000

I think with in the “artist” side,things can be easier ,…I don’t have tried but ,I guess it’ll work ,because people love to do and achieve things they love to do,enterprises needs technical stuffs more than an artistic activities does .

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:35:25 +0000

Hi Adam,

It’s extremely difficult to answer your question without being you.

i.e. I’m afraid I can’t give you a surefire recipe for success. But three key ingredients are going to be:

1. Making amazing music.

2. Finding an audience and engaging with them, via what Seth Godin calls a ‘permission asset’. I.e. getting their permission to keep feeding them information about what you’re doing and selling. This could be a mailing list, blog, forum etc

3. A business model that generates cash from the relationship between 1. and 2. The music industry is particularly volatile in this respect at the moment — there used to be an agreed way of doing things, i.e. sign to a record label, get them to promote you, etc. But that’s all changing now. Nobody really knows ‘the answer’ any more, and there are lots of new models and routes to success for aspiring rock stars. Which is either bewildering or exciting, depending on your point of view.

For specific information and advice about the changing face of the music industry, I recommend Andrew Dubber’s excellent blog http://www.newmusicstrategies.com

As a bottom line, I would encourage you to look at the business challenges you face as creative challenges — it’s a different kind of creativity to your music, but it can be just as rewarding in its own way.

We’ll have plenty more to say about 1, 2 and 3 on Lateral Action – I hope you’ll consider subscribing to our own permission asset to hear what we have to say!