šŸ‹ Should Your Art Also Be Your Business?

This is issue #120 of LifeLemons. šŸŽ‰ View the rest here.

Should Your Art Also Be Your Business?

This week, I managed to catch up with a friend visiting from the U.S.A. We caught up over the drive home too, mulling over our ā€˜creatorā€™ plans and various side-hustles. And through it all, I think I may have concluded a solution to a year-long problem.

My Problem

Since the inception of my Youtube channel, Iā€™ve been going back and forth with my intention of making content.

One day, I would convince myself that I should only work on passion projects. To push the limits on every aspect of the video. Storytelling. Cinematography. Editing. Writing. Colour grading. You name it, Iā€™d work on it.

The next day, Iā€™d level with myself. These passion projects take time. The algorithm wonā€™t favour me if Iā€™m uploading once a month. So, I try and churn out a more consistent series, something that can get the audience growing. Something that can bring in a bit of income to make this hobby sustainable in the long run. But I hate putting out ā€˜contentā€™ as opposed to something Iā€™d consider art.

The reality is, that my mindā€™s always been fractured between these polar opposite ways of thinking. On both days, I genuinely believe that Iā€™m doing the right thing. The result is inconsistency in content, outcomes and mindset. For so long I tried to find the middle ground, but now Iā€™m starting to think that it might not exist for me.

Fast forward back to our chat, and I accidentally stumbled on a solution, one that I hoped will settle things once and for all.

My Solution

I explained to my friend that I was planning a business. A business that involved a lot of content marketing. I use ā€˜contentā€™ purposefully here because I donā€™t see it being created for the sole sake of artistic expression or self-fulfilment. The intent behind this business is to execute an idea well, grow an audience and monetise.

This ā€˜businessā€™ would be my true sandbox. One that hopefully would allow me to exercise my knowledge, skills and experience. One that has one overarching aim: results.

So, what does that mean for my Youtube channel? Well, it may have just relieved me of applying the lens of business to a passion.

My Reasoning

Some of the best artists arenā€™t great at sharing their work, nor do they particularly enjoy it. They just want to create.

Conversely, businesses suffer when they try to make products too ā€˜polishedā€™. Thereā€™s this saying in business that goes something like: ā€œIf youā€™re proud of the first version of your product, you launched too late.ā€

Business and art do have a middle ground, but itā€™s an average of two incredibly different realities.

Business is consistent. Art is spontaneous, inspired.

Business is results. Art is process.

Business is problem-solving. Art, is an answer, in and of itself.

So, when I explained to my friend why I was so inconsistent on Youtube, I may have rumbled my thoughts enough to find the missing piece of the puzzle.

My ā€˜businessā€™ had freed my art from the shackles of results and numbers, in turn volunteering itself as tribute.

So perhaps, making your art a business isnā€™t your only solution.

Instead, consider creating a business that you see only as a business. Let your ā€˜business mindā€™ go crazy so that your ā€˜creative mindā€™ can enjoy its art, and keep them apart.

Faisal

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ā€” Chuck Palahniuk

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šŸ¤“ About Me

I'm Faisal, a Doctor working in the NHS who writes online and makes Youtube videos on self-development, intentional living and doing the things that matter.

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