Thinking of becoming a thriving artisan?

My mobile office

I often get asked questions about becoming a Telegraph artisan, selling online, and what you need to do to "do this" so I thought I'd put together a quick and dirty list of a few resources for those of you crazy enough to think about taking the plunge.

First, a certain amount of fearlessness (and there are some who WILL call you crazy) is in order, as well as a pretty well-rounded set of business skills that you will need to navigate this, well, crazy life. A good book to start with is  Craft, Inc.: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business but I'd also recommend spending some quality time hanging out in your local library looking at books on starting small businesses, online selling, and even frugal living if you are making the plunge from a regular paycheck to irregular (but hopefully multiple) income streams.

My favorite kick-in-the-pants sites for creative professionals (my preferred title for what I do!) are Crafting an MBA and Big Thinking for Small Business by Tara Gentile and you can thank Tara for pointing me to Marisa at Creative Thursday for using the term "thriving" artist instead of "starving" artist, not only because it may just make your family quit worrying about you, but there is something to be said for embracing your talent and not poo-pooing it into something noble but, well, destitute. Inspiration by Marisa here. :)

I think the whole business of selling online and doing shows/vending is going to be a separate post but if you have done a bit of research on online venues I can let you know that Artfire is having a big promotion to get people on board now that they are leaving beta and rolling out their official site in time for the holidays. I'm a happy fan of Artfire so of course I'm more than happy to share the love with other crazy (there's that word again!) artisans.

Okay kids, now's your chance to pick my brain on this topic. What do you want me to talk about in the next post?