This is the biggest mistake freelancers make when building a creative business
Feeling stuck growing your creative side hustle? This is the reason why + Special Guest revealed for our next Confessions of a Creative Live Episode
Hey, Creatives!
I’ve never shared this before but…
I spent 4 years believing that freelancing was an uncertain career path
Until I realised I was making this big mistake.
Everyday, I saw creatives quit their 9-5,
Travel across the globe to start freelancing,
Spend all day at the beach
And live life on their terms.
I was left wondering, how did they make it look so easy?
While I felt stuck,
Waiting for client enquiries to land in my inbox.
That’s when I realised I was approaching freelancing all wrong.
I was acting like an employee, instead of a business owner.
I was so laser-focused on delivering the work.
That I’d missed out on the step of actually marketing my services.
I realised, in order to build a successful freelancing career, you need to create a system to:
Market your services
Build relationships
Convert leads into clients
Deliver your services
Ensure the clients have a great experience
Freelancing can give you the freedom you’ve always wanted.
If you build the systems that makes finding work enjoyable and effortless.
For me, that system has been building my personal brand.
Over the last 6 months, I’ve had 50+ work opportunities land in my inbox because of my personal brand.
If you’d like help building a personal brand that attracts new opportunities, reply to this email!
Creative News - What’s In & What’s Out🗞️
We’re mixing up our weekly news updates by spilling the tea on what’s in and what’s out this week. Sometimes brands miss the mark and we’re going to share our favourite and least favourite campaigns of the week.
Image credit: Creative Boom
What’s In: New brand identity for major festival turns heads
Last year, the founders teamed up with Oat Studio—a London-based, multi-disciplinary firm established in 2022 by husband-and-wife duo Owen and Tori Phillips-Walmsley—to refresh the branding for a series of nationwide comedy festivals, beginning with the Brighton Comedy Garden.
Owen and Tori bring a combined 40 years of industry experience, having worked with major global and national brands like Nike, Converse, Apple, Lego, Everyman Cinemas, and Gail's Bakery, as well as with arts and cultural institutions such as Green Man Festival, Southbank Centre, and Arts Council England. Their mission is to "deliver big agency quality to smaller businesses and founders, providing them the best possible start and levelling the playing field."
What’s out: The Collapse of Creative Education System
In May, Channel 4 News revealed that just one in 12 people working in film and TV are from working-class backgrounds—the lowest figure in a decade. Creatives shared stories of the challenges they faced in school and the obstacles encountered in their careers.
New data from the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC), funded by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council, shows a sharp decline in enrolment for creative courses in further education. Over the last decade, uptake has dropped by 57% in England, 68% in Wales, 28% in Northern Ireland, and 20% in Scotland.
Although no single cause has been identified, teachers from a North London school highlighted that young people are being deprived of opportunities to pursue the arts from an early age. Protesting against pay cuts for creative subject teachers, they emphasised that the exclusion of arts subjects from the English Baccalaureate has particularly marginalised the arts in state schools.
Have you experienced this too? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the creative education system in the UK.
I’d love it if you could share this newsletter with your creative friends so they can get the inside scoop on the creative industries.
Our second episode of Confessions of a Creative has arrived and we’re joined by the amazing Adam Faulkner.
Join us Tuesday 27th August at 12 pm BST
We’ll be talking all about:
→ How to use LinkedIn as a creative
→ How to make the most of networking + attracting opportunities
→ How to build your personal brand on LinkedIn
+ There will be a chance to ask questions too 🎤
I'd love to see you there!
See you next week!
Please like or comment below if you enjoyed this week’s episode ❤️
Emma
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