Promotion and networking for creative-activity businesses The Creativity Found Collective offers multiple ways for members to connect and to promote what they do, and in this bonus podcast episode I delve into the origins of creativityfound.co.uk and the Collective, both born out of the Creativity Found podcast. I explain how I wanted to create a platform to help people explore their creativity and support small businesses offering creative activities or business support. Creativity Found connects creativity seekers with facilitators and businesses, allowing them to learn from each other and grow together.
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Claire Waite Brown:
Hi, I'm Claire, founder of Creativity Found, a community for creative learners and educators, connecting adults who want to find a creative outlet with the artists and crafters who can help them do so. With workshops, courses, online events and kits. For this cheeky bonus episode, I want to talk to you about creativity found.co.uk and the creativity found collective membership concepts that were both born out of this very podcast. Recently, lots of businesses have decided they need to make a podcast to help promote their services. From meta McDonald's and Microsoft to independent VAs and life coaches, brands, big and small, have decided that podcasting is an important part of their marketing strategy. For me, things happen the other way around. I started a podcast, then decided that I could build a business around everything I'd learned from the show. What I had learned was that there are many, many grownups who value taking part in creative activities, but they also have the same doubts and fears about getting started. I'll be rubbish. I'm too old. I don't know where to start. I'm not creative. I don't have time and the list goes on. I hope that listeners of this podcast are inspired by my guests stories of finding their creative love, and the benefits that brings to their everyday lives. But a year into producing the show, I wanted to do more than simply Inspire. I wanted to be able to physically help people to take the first step and try that new creative activity, whatever it may be. I wanted to make it easier for people to find a creative class or course or kit in one place without having to scour multiple websites a process that can cause your resolve to wane and make you more likely to give up altogether. From the other side of the table. I knew that the artists and crafters out there offering classes in kits probably felt a lot like I did as a freelance editor, dance fitness instructor, organiser of drama and singing classes for adults and now podcaster overloaded and isolated thinking you are the only one in a specific predicament or feeling despondent, alone, overwhelmed, and more. So, as well as helping adults get started on their creative journey. I also wanted to support the small businesses that could help them do that. So that's what I did by creating creativity found.co.uk. I started by building a website that anyone can visit to search for creative classes, kits and supplies for all sorts of arts and crafts activities. I then invited some creative activity businesses I knew of to join the creativity found collective, a membership for artists and crafters, who share their creative skills with grownups. So, not only does creativity found help creativity seekers find creative facilitators. It also helps those creative businesses connect with each other. We're all in the same boat with the same experiences, aspirations struggles, annoyances, and it is so good to get together and talk about them, learn from each other, give or receive advice just to have a good old moan or celebrate another's achievements. As I mentioned earlier, running a creative business can be lonely. And when things get tough, you might believe that what you're doing is wrong, or that you are the only one going through a particular challenge. With a creative community such as the creativity found collective behind you. You can easily speak with others who have been there are there or want to avoid going there. But what does that actually mean Claire? How do members connect and help each other? Well, let me tell you. First of all, there are monthly online meetups. Sometimes these are simply a chance to get together, introduce ourselves and our businesses and discuss any current struggles or future opportunities. At other times the meetups have a specific theme where members highlight particular topics they might like to explore further. I take that on board and actively seek out experts in those fields. For example, some of our targeted meetups so far have included the topics What the heck do I need social media for anyway? traditional publishing or self publishing which is right for me, hosting retreats a q&a with Lucy Claire events, photography tips for your creative business or personal brand and the creative side of search engine optimization Then there are creativity catch ups, where any member can ask other members to go to an exhibition or event with them. I don't know about you, but my family don't always enjoy the kind of arty crafty events that I like to go to. So it's good to find other people to go with who will enjoy the event. This year alone, I've been to the other art fair and the fashion and textile museum with other collective members and had an absolute blast. All you need to do to organise a creativity catch up is to post about the event in the members chat group, and wait for someone in that neck of the woods to reply. Speaking of the members chat group, that's another way for members to connect with each other. It's like a social media feed or message board, but just for members, and it is easily accessed in your online members pack more about that later. And finally, from a connections point of view, members connect and support each other on traditional social media. We are all constantly fighting the algorithm to help our services get seen, and likes, comments and shares of our posts from fellow members can only be a good thing. So that's the community side of the collective. But that's not all there is to it. Oh, no. There's also promotion. Creativity found collective members have all of their offerings featured on a dedicated webpage at creativity found.co.uk, which I designed for you using your choice of text and images, and including links to your website, booking sites, social media accounts, anywhere you want. Basically, it's another place for your classes or products to be found in addition to your own website, and the backlinks to your website add to your authority. Now, I didn't make the rules. But that's how Google decides you have expertise we already know you do, which means they start showing you higher up in the search rankings. For visitors to the website, find your dedicated page and by first visiting what I call the directory pages. It's very easy to find these pages from the homepage, and visitors can choose to click on classes and events, kits and supplies or business help more about that one later. Members are organised by type to make it easier for visitors to go to a specific discipline, or the page can be scrolled. Then the visitor simply clicks on a pic they like or the button that goes with it. And they are whisked off to the relevant beautiful dedicated page. Your business can be listed in more than one category or directory page. So for example, if you teach a class in real life and also sell kits, you will appear in both of those categories, so more ways to be found. There's also a gift ideas directory page featuring your products and gift vouchers, which I tend to promote at relevant Gifty times. The homepage also features a section called breaking news. So when you have something new to share, I will pop you in that section with the usual links to your dedicated page. The business help directory page is brand new. And it is here that I list members who don't offer creative classes but do offer business expertise that can help the creative teachers to grow their business or lessen their workload. What that means is that if your small business can help other creative small businesses to spend less time on admin and more time sharing their creative skills and if you offer ad hoc services rather than budget busting packages, you too can join the creativity found collective and start promoting your services and meeting other members. Now for that members pack I mentioned this is your online access point to make the most of everything your membership offers you. It is here that you will find all the details of how to get your page designed how to access our online meetups, how to use the chat group how to book an Instagram live chat with me how to submit blog posts for the website and how to present it future online meetups. There's also a resources pack containing recordings of past events, details of discounts from our members and third parties and other useful info. Please note that due to my streamlining of the collective membership in order to pass on financial savings to members, this pack will not be regularly added to although I will add event recordings and any other nuggets as I find them. So that is everything you need to know about the creativity found collective except of course the cost and how to sign up. So Signing up is super easy visit creativity found.co.uk Eight slash join us and all the info and links are there. The cost of this membership is five pounds 99 per month, a fee I've been able to get to by simplifying the membership offerings, as I just mentioned, you can also cancel at any time with one month's notice. So I think that's everything. If I've missed anything or you have any questions, simply email me it's Claire CLA IR e at creativity found.co.uk. If you're still not sure, the next best thing would be to subscribe to the creativity found mailing list by visiting creativity found.co.uk/contact. And that's it. Thanks for listening to me babbling on about why I started creativity found.co.uk and the creativity found collective and what both of these things are, they mean a lot to me, and I really relish the connections I've made and initiated through these endeavours. So what I'm trying to say is that I can't wait to meet you in real life soon, even if that is through a screen. Thanks so much for listening to creativity found. If your podcast app has the facility, please leave a rating and review to help other people find us on Instagram and Facebook follow at creativity found podcast and on Pinterest look for at creativity found. And finally, don't forget to check out creativityfound.co.UK. The website connecting adults who wants to find a creative outlet with the artists and crafters who can help them tap into their creativity.