market-driven creativity 101

Do you allow the market to drive your creativity? Tara & I are very interested in exploring the idea that you don’t have to create in a vacuum nor do you have to cop to the demands of the marketplace. There’s a place right in the middle where we can be true to our creative vision of our business but still allow the market to shape what we have to offer.

This is the first topic we’ll be covering at The Creative Empire. If you haven’t heard, The Creative Empire is a new membership community for creative entrepreneurs. It will feature exclusive business-changing content, a dedicated forum, conference calls with us, and a supportive environment for growing your business to the next stage and beyond. We’re launching in just 1 week for an invitation only test run. How do you get an invite? Easy, right below the video, you’ll find a sign-up form. Get on the list, get an invite. In addition to the invitation, you’ll receive a 6 part mini ecourse of ideas for Conquering Your Business.

How do you allow the market to drive & shape your business while your creative spirit stays authentic? We’ve got ideas and you’ll find them in The Creative Empire.

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Transcript

Tara Gentile: Hey everyone, it’s Tara Gentile and Megan Auman coming at you from The Creative Empire, a brand new in-the-works membership community for creative entrepreneurs. And what we’re really interested in at The Creative Empire is learning how to leverage our creativity to develop robust and sustainable businesses. And one of the topics that Megan and I have been tossing around in regards to this new community is the idea of market-driven creativity.

So we want to talk a little bit more about what we think market-driven creativity is and how you might be able to use it for your business. So, Megan, tell me more about the concept of market-driven creativity.

Megan Auman: So market-driven creativity, this phrase came out of a session that you and I were having… Meredith over at the Smaller Box, had this really great post up called, I think it was Do You Want to Make Money or Create. She talks about there are two camps, one being groups of people who follow their creativity, follow their passion, follow their vision to create this business and it’s kind of their vision, come hell or high water, they’re making what they want to make.

And then the other group is focusing on the business, so what do the customers want, making the products that the market place is demanding in order to make the big bucks. And I think what you and I are talking about is that there’s actually a middle ground in there,

Tara Gentile: Right.

Megan Auman: and that you can look at the market but then use your creativity to meet the needs of that market and hopefully have something that‚Äôs uniquely yours but also appeals to a lot of people too and I really think it’s about looking at the market and then using your creativity to solve problems in the market.

Tara Gentile: Right.

Megan Auman: And then I think the other portion of market-driven creativity is to start with your own vision, your own ideas, your own creativity and then to take that and say, and kind of react to what’s going on in the market.

I have a friend who always talks about this idea of prototype & ship – prototype & ship – and I actually think Seth Godin talks about it too. Seth is not the friend I’m alluding to. I wish Seth and I were friends we’re not that. But Seth, if you’re out there, you can call me any time.

So this idea that instead of kind of refining your vision in secret in your workspace, you do something. You get it out and then you respond to how the market’s responding to it and I think I do that a lot with my products.
You know I’m actually in the process of kind of bringing back a revamped product line, something that I had done, that I had taken away and then I realized, hey the market really likes this, how can I bring it back, still make it my own, make it something that I really love but that the market really loves too.

Tara Gentile: I think when you allow the market to sort of shape and mold your own vision you create a product that kind of sells its self.

Megan Auman: Yeah, exactly, yeah.

Tara Gentile: And it kind of takes that burden off your shoulders of finding an audience or targeting an audience and figuring out how to market to that. When you solve their problems through your own art or through your own creativity, whatever that might be. Whether it is art or design or something more scientific.

Megan Auman: Or even being a blogger, you talk about that, that’s something you do with Scoutie Girl, you’re responding all the time to what the market is interested in talking about but you’re putting your own creative spin on it.

Tara Gentile: Right, right and it creates a product that almost can’t lose and when you’re talking about business, I think that that’s an important thing to look at and that’s something that we’re all sort of striving for.

Megan Auman: Yeah, so I think it all really comes back to that you can’t make your products in this bubble on‚ you know, it’s me and my products and I don’t have to look at the world. I think you do have to look at the world but at the same time you don’t have to abandon your creativity in order to have a successful business.

Tara Gentile: Right, right. So I think that about wraps up what we wanted to say today about market-driven creativity. If you’re interested in learning more about the topic, how we feel about it and also what market-driven creativity can specifically do for your business and in actionable sets, you know projects that you can try, marketing techniques that you can try, hop on over to thecreativeempire.net and sign up for the mailing list where you can get on the invite list for our first month of community goodness as a charter member.

So once again, hop over to thecreativeempire.net and until next time, it’s been Tara Gentile and Megan Auman for The Creative Empire. Thanks so much and have a fabulous day.

Megan Auman: Bye, guys.