Matt Charboneau
COSE Arts Network
Arts-Entrepreneur Resources:
Creative Views from the COSE Arts Network
Creative Workforce Fellowships
A few weeks back I was part of a strategic planning session with area arts leaders and funders. We were all asked to look forward and imagine the Cleveland area in 2020, and how we might envision a best case scenario arts and culture community. More than a few people mentioned that they would like to see the NE Ohio area come to be known for attracting artists and creative Read more
Small Business Summer Reading List
Have you ever wondered what books or resources a professional business coach would recommend? Seize This Day Coaching’s Diane Helbig provided the COSE Arts Network with this reading list for aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners. Each month Diane moderates our Arts Network roundtables and many times the books listed below have come up in our discussions about wroking professioally in the creative sector.
Lemonade Stand Selling by Diane Helbig
Toilet Paper Entrepreneur Read more
75 computer geeks, 15 non-profits, 1 amazing weekend
Although many small and medium sized arts organizations are aware of the need to improve their technology, branding, web sites and e-marketing, often times it simply isn’t possible given the understaffed and undercapitalized nature of these nonprofit businesses. Many times organizations with annual budgets under $500,000 have only 2 or 3 full time employees, whose primary duties include creating and delivering content or programming, managing the day to day business, Read more
Made in the 216
What is an arts entrepreneur? Is it someone who simply hangs out their shingle and sells their goods or services to the public, or does operating as an entrepreneur in the arts require a more broad skill set, capacity for collaboration and creative thinking than one would normally associate with simply running a business? Is there an onus on the artist entrepreneur to bring fresh new ideas to the marketplace Read more
Achtung, baby.
One of the most important topics for any artist that creates and sells their work is sales and marketing, and more pointedly, how to gain the attention of the buying public in a market that is very much oversaturated. Speaking from experience, the music industry is highly competitive and the advance of technology over the last 10 years has made it increasingly easier and more affordable for musicians to record, Read more
It’s Getting Better All the Time
Anecdotally speaking, support for creative professionals in Cleveland is currently the most robust I have seen in my 17 years of playing music professionally. When I first started out in my early years as a freelance jazz/rock/roots music bassist and manager of musical acts, support services and funding for artists and small arts groups was limited. The local foundations did a great job of supporting arts nonprofits and cultural institutions, Read more
Recognizing Artists
It’s not easy being a working artist, musician, dancer or other creative professional. Not only do artists have to deal with modest and fluctuating levels of income, but also the perceptual issues of not being held in the same regard as other small business owners or entrepreneurs. At a recent conference a speaker mentioned that their national survey indicated that 97% of Americans said that they valued art, but only Read more
Contractor Blues
I’ve posted before that while sometimes it seems daunting and time consuming, creative professionals often need to think more like a small business and accept the necessary evils of financial management, bookkeeping, sales and marketing and other business issues. Although these activities do require some time commitment—taking the artist away from creating their art or practicing their craft—a little bit of upfront effort on certain matters will pay dividends in Read more
Online Small Business Coaching Broadcast
Starting this afternoon at 1:00 pm Diane Helbig, a certified business coach with Seize This Day Coaching, will begin a series of online programs and live chats dedicated to helping small business owners grow and improve their business.
Diane is a frequent collaborator with the COSE Arts Network as she leads our monthly Arts Roundtable discussions. I’ve witnessed firsthand how artists and owners of creative businesses can benefit from Diane’s practical Read more
Under the Bridge Downtown
If you have not yet heard, Ingenuity—Cleveland’s Festival of Art and Technology, will have a new home in 2010; the lower level of the Detroit Superior Bridge. In previous years Ingenuity has occupied Public Square, Playhouse Square and the area near Prospect and East 4th as it staged its three day presentation of arts installations, technology, and both musical and performing arts. While the event has always been very interesting Read more