Matt Charboneau
COSE Arts Network
Arts-Entrepreneur Resources:
Creative Views from the COSE Arts Network
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
Jazz Musicians, Where Y’all At?
I’ve spent nearly 13 hours over the past two days attending and observing the public review sessions for the CPAC and Cuyahoga Arts and Culture Creative Workforce Fellowships (CWF). As I write this, the adjudication panel is deliberating on the applications that made it into the second round, and at some point this afternoon they will have come to a consensus as to which 20 applicants will be recommended for Read more
Mind on Your Money
In my experience many of those in the creative arts take an “out of sight out of mind” approach to their finances and taxes. While there are artists, musicians and gallery owners that track and manage their money well—using either professional software such as QuickBooks or simple spreadsheets—a good majority of the freelance artists that I have hired, managed or worked with tend to put money matters off until it Read more
Social Media for the Arts
Not long ago at the COSE Small Business Conference, Linda Nawrocki from Optiem delivered a presentation on how to best use the social media tools Facebook and LinkedIn to benefit an artist’s career or creative arts business. Linda gave some very practical advice as to how each of these social media outlets lends itself to putting forward a professional image, attracting new fans/clients and reaching the broadest range of people. She Read more
Notes From the Artist Trenches
Every month the COSE Arts Network hosts peer to peer roundtable discussions for its members. The sessions are open in format and moderated by award-winning business mentor Diane Helbig from Seize This Day Coaching. Members discuss issues that affect their arts careers and businesses on a daily level, as well as larger trends and issues in the arts and culture sector and small business sector alike. The following notes are Read more