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A freelance career in the creative arts
A freelance career in the creative arts

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1 My potential audience

When you embarked on this course you already had an idea of the product, service or creative event that you wanted to develop as a freelancer, and in Week 2 Activity 1 [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] you started to articulate that. This week, you’ll focus more attention on the audience for your creative idea, also known in business as your ‘offer’.

Lightbulb on a yellow background.

Entrepreneur Will Mitchell (no date) outlines his crucial ingredients for the perfect business idea starting with:

Ingredient 1 – a responsive audience

Who will your idea have the most impact on? Will your audience be motivated to respond to it?

Accurately identifying your audience is an important element of a successful business and this is an area where having a product or service-based business can make a difference. For example, with the right infrastructure a product could be delivered to a global audience, whereas the reach of a service based on your own skills and abilities will be restricted by your willingness and ability to travel. Bear that in mind when you are considering your potential audience in Activity 1.

Activity 1 A responsive audience

Timing: Allow about 15 minutes

Use the box below to summarise your thoughts about the potential audience for your idea, product or service. Think about who they are, where they are and why they might be motivated to respond to your offer.

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Discussion

If you’ve already started your audience research, this activity should be easier for you. But if this is something you haven’t yet done, this activity marks a useful starting point.

If your freelance business is based on a product, you might have been thinking about members of the public who will buy it directly from you, or perhaps the shops that might buy from you in bulk.

If your business is a service, your potential clients might be individuals or organisations. For example, they might be theatres, corporate businesses, arts venues or educational institutions.

A great idea won’t get you very far if you don’t know who will buy or engage with it, and that applies equally for products, services and cultural experiences.

Don’t worry if you found this activity challenging. In the next section you’ll focus on market research in more detail and this should help you to refine your thinking.