Developing the business skills the arts sector clearly needs
Having worked with several individuals and organisations in the arts and creative sector, we noticed a shortage of business development skills. Having identified the skill shortage, we thought we could address and raise awareness so that individual artists and arts organisations could understand and implement a straightforward plan to develop their practices.
To this end, we devised the SWTICH System together based on the mentoring and teaching we have done in the arts sector over past few years. It became obvious that artists of all genres are taught how to make great works but not how to sell, market or identify exactly what, how and why they do it.
What is the SWITCH System?
We wanted to ensure the system was as easy to remember as possible. We wanted to make it memorable. The SWITCH System discovers the Self that defines your way forward by getting your audience Involved. By telling your story, you will Create a movement that makes change happen repeatedly.
S – defining your SELF, who, why and what you do
W – finding the WAY, sharing your uniqueness & your work
I – getting your crowd INVOLVED, find out who they are
T– TELL your story that engages people to what you do
C – CREATE a movement, move your crowd
H – Making change HAPPEN, and keep it happening
Later in this series of posts, we more detail all of the stages involved in the system. Each stage is designed to show the steps you need to take to make change happen. But critical to this is knowing who you are, what you are doing, your motivation and Why you do what you do.
Defining Your Why
Would you like to make your passion your profession? Have you been trying to make a living from your art? Have you been trying to get an audience for your art? Struggling? This will give you a basic insight into how to change this, the steps you can take and what results you are looking for. It will also ask you the question, WHY am I doing this? For whom, what and why? If you can Define your why, purpose and impact; construct your stories; be honest, authentic and one with yourself, then you can kickstart your career in the arts.
Defining the You in your work
We look at You in your work. We look at how a knowledge of Somatic and Embodied Leadership skills can help you in your artistic practice. Exploring the idea of CIOACC – Centered, Integrity, Openness, Action, Collaboration and Commitment. We will also look at motivation and what drives you. We will also look at what motivates others to engage with your work – be they audiences, stakeholders, funders or customers and how you need to engage on a personal level with them and to look at the World from their perspective
Next time we will start to break down the individual components beginning with S – defining your SELF, who, why and what you do.
Help with business development in the arts sector.
Ian Oliver
Head of Operations
Head of Operations at Letcombe Production I have been working in the arts and culture sector for over 20 years in Ireland. I am passionate about business development for artists and creatives as well as building totally inclusive societies.
Letcombe Production
The Digital Agency For Arts & Cultural Organisations
Letcombe Production is dedicated to the arts, creative and social enterprise sectors. Our website has dedicated reels on running your creative or artistic practice as a business, articles and opportunities for artists. In addition, we can organise digital media, marketing, project management, grant writing, application assessment, and tools to help you run your creative and artistic practice.
Working predominantly with arts and social enterprises, Letcombe Production can assist in all getting projects from idea to distribution. We can look after any size of project.
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