COVID-19 + (Most) Artists = Disaster

Well…here we are. Our worst nightmare — another email on COVID-19 😉 Millions of people all over the world are suffering and freelance artists, in particular, seem to be in a state of freefall. While I do not want to seize the moment as a “told you so”, we do need to take a hard look at the realities of what a crisis like this does to those of us who are woefully unprepared and what we can do in the immediate to take care of ourselves.

We have all had creative highs otherwise we wouldn’t be chasing after all of this in the first place but it’s those of us who are able to weather the lows that will ultimately stay afloat. If I had to choose one word to name the goal of Artist’s Strategy it would be sustainability.

A major litmus test for the sustainability of our businesses is what happens or doesn’t happen over the next four weeks. Below are some questions to gauge where your business is at:

Do you have an income stream that can bend with the times?

Do you have a savings cushion to rely on during this period of uncertainty?

While everything is shut down, do you still have a day to day clarity about what you can continue to do for the growth of your business or are you dependent on your industry to feed you next steps? (i.e. Do you have a plan?)

While all of this is unprecedented, I think the situation underlines potential sensitive areas for most freelance creatives including:

1. Lack of Income / Savings
2. Inconsistent Passive Income
3. Lack of general control of business
4. Inability to properly network
5. Lack of day to day direction

Assuming most of us are left with a great deal of time, now is the perfect opportunity to check in with where the clear “holes” are within your business…and fill them! Even if you are still working, your down time is assumedly solo. This must not defeat us. Instead it must be a period of time that reminds us to:

1. Save and not spend money when we don’t have to.
2. Engage with as much of our community as we can.
3. Catch up with those self produced projects that may have fallen woefully behind.
4. Consider new income streams that could keep us solvent for future moments where we’re forced out of work. Say…in between gigs maybe?

Hell – let’s change the name of this post… COVID-19 + Artists = the gift we didn’t know we needed.

Also by Artist’s Strategy:

Artists: When Money is Tied Into Your Validation

Freelance Life is One Giant Paintball Fight

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