Here at Colour Box Studio, as we come up to 3 years of operating, we’re really stoked to have worked with over 300 artists and creatives in Melbourne. These peeps have been involved in our pop up shops, events, workshops, exhibitions, public art program and more. We’ve showcased musicians, writers, sound artists, installation artists, creative business owners, crafters, performance artists, painters, photographers, illustrators, animators, video artists, street artists to name a few.
One of our primary goals at Colour Box Studio is to enable our creative community by providing opportunities for creatives to showcase & share their work and make an income in doing so because we recognise that ‘making it’ in the creative industries is a tough gig and following your creative passions can be really challenging. We strive to create a supportive community where we share opportunities, knowledge, resources and creativity.
Through our experience working with creatives, we’ve seen that one of the toughest aspects of making an income from your own creative pursuits, is that little ole thing called: Marketing. And when we’re talking about our own creativity, art and passion, words like ‘selling’ and ‘branding’ sound a lot like dirty words! We’ve talked to artists and creative business owners about this, and many acknowledge that self-promotion, selling, charging what you should be charging, valuing your art practice is all really hard to navigate whilst trying to stay motivated to keep creating great work. Not only that, marketing and promotion can be expensive.
And we feel you. Colour Box Studio is a 100% independent arts business that started on a budget of $0. We don’t have a marketing budget but over the years we’ve devised strategies to find the best ways to communicate with our supporters, followers and community whilst embracing free/ low cost platforms to help us do what we do.
And we know that many of you are working from home (your bedroom/ kitchen table), freelancing and doing it on your own in the best way you can. Sometimes being an artist/ creative means that you have to take the reins and Do-It-Yourself. We know that all creatives have a story to share with an audience out there and we understand the journey because we’ve done it ourselves.
And so, we’ve developed a very special masterclass (30th November, West Melbourne, 6pm) where we’d like to help creatives to find their audience, learn how to communicate with their supporters and gain confidence to do a little self-promo.
In this workshop we’ll delve into:
• how to build a community of supporters, customers and participants for your art, brand, work;
• how to you engage your audience;
• how to market your creative practice on a shoestring budget.
We’ll discuss things like:
• How to find your audience;
• Websites: how do you make your own and maintain it OR if you have one already how it can be improved;
• Pricing: How do I find my price point?, How much should I charge per hour?;
• Facebook – pages, groups, posts and events. How are they different? How do I reach my audience?;
• Instagram & Newsletters: we’ll take a look at the Mailchimp platform;
• How to Write a Media Release and find the contacts to send it to;
• DIY Events/ Workshops Promo;
• Design & Photography tips for your profile photos, marketing, fliers & social media;
• The possibilities of crowdfunding.
This Colour Box Studio Masterclass is limited to 5 people so that participants receive a quality workshop experience with facilitator, Founder & Director of Colour Box Studio Amie Batalibasi. This masterclass is for artists, creatives, arts managers, creative business owners, those thinking of following their creative passions and anyone who feels the challenges of marketing. We recommend booking in advance (details below).
DIY Marketing Masterclass for Creatives on a Shoestring Budget
• 30th Nov, 6-9pm, West Melbourne
Enquires, email Colour Box Studio Director Amie Batalibasi: amie@colourboxstudio.com
