When to Monetize Your Creative Work

When people are considering starting a creative career, one of the first questions they ask is "When should I start charging money for my work?" This is a great question. And I think it's worth understanding that there are some people who are so excited about their newfound talent that they rush into trying to make a living from their creative work before they're ready.

In this Coffee Break, I share a perception I've had with people I work with and people I've observed over the years to help make sense of that question. The first thing I want you to understand is that getting paid for what you do is only a small fraction of the value of your creativity. And for many people, it doesn't mean anything compared to the intrinsic value of the creative experience.

If people are asking you for your work, it's safe to say you can start charging money for it. How much? That's a whole other topic, likely a series of videos, but it's OK to charge something. And for those of us who feel a twinge of guilt for being paid to do something we enjoy and that is so personal - stop equating money with evil and accept payment for your labor of love.

So much more to say, but thanks for joining the Coffee Break.

#sellingart #creativedevelopment #makingmoneycreatively

[Mirvlu]

This makes perfect sense to me, Franklin. I'm practicing writing on Medium to develop and hopefully gauge my progress from page views, visitors, and comments. My first post was written in response to the weekly writing prompt topic: dreams. I wanted to post it before the week ended. So...after it was live, when I read it on-screen, I thought, I should have said this, this way, I should have said that etc...etc.
But, I think it worked out okay anyway because Medium Editor Amy Shearn highlighted some text, and the next thing I noticed was that my post appeared along with others in the Write Here Weekly Roundup and gave me 50 claps. I felt so grateful that I cried. 🙂