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Nell | The Savvy Creative

@the_savvycreative

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💪 Helping creatives learn about business, marketing and personal finance.
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The Savvy Creative is a place for creatives to learn the essentials of building a business.

I believe something very important is lacking in arts education of any kind and that is basic business skills; marketing and finance included. But EVERY creative needs these skills… you tend to learn them through a lot of trial and error or if you’re like me, once it’s too late and you’ve thrown in the towel to get a “stable job”.

I’m on a mission to empower artists early in their career.

I’m Nell.

I always wanted to be an actor.

No back up plan. No plan B.

My single mother was hugely supportive of me so when I inherited a large sum of money (I’m talking life changing) at 16 nobody batted an eyelid when I moved to LA at 21 to go to Drama school with a big fat bank account.

Fast forward 4 years and I had spent it all. I completely panicked and moved home to Sydney where I had no network and no real credits to speak of. Over the next few years I even got myself into hefty credit card debt as I had no real job and was still doggedly trying to make acting work going back and forth to LA.

I fortunately landed an entry level job at a major publisher and worked my way up from there in different sales roles.

Looking back I always thought if I had just had a bit more financial literacy earlier on, I might have had a better chance at being able to stay the course.

I decided to go to Film School to study business and leadership with the thought to build my own company one day. I realised that a lot of what I was learning and had learned in my years in corporate was actually really useful for creatives and freelancers and identified a gap in the market.

The Savvy Creative was born. I started writing an ebook whilst on maternity leave with my son and worked with an agency on the branding and website.

I began to teach at my old film school and test out some of the content. It was getting great response.

We just had our first in person event in Sydney with fantastic speakers all covered important topics like Marketing 101, Diversifying your income from your skillset, building an online presence, maximising tax (legally) and more. by @the_savvycreative

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7 months ago

Swapped the usual office for the sunny Gold Coast this week.

Hearing all about the future of marketing. #marketing #howtobeasavvycreative by @the_savvycreative

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2 months ago

Our final episode of How to be a Savvy Creative is out.

This one deals with the elephant in the room - AI.

I asked all of our guests about what they thought…

#ai #artwork #howtobeasavvycreative #podcast by @the_savvycreative

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3 months ago

I asked Alison in episode 9 about things to be careful of when starting out and she had a great comment on pricing.

She warned about trying really hard not to underprice yourself - which is such a great concept but so hard in practice. I know I personally have accepted far too many exposure/experience jobs to gain network and for other valid reasons BUT… are you just not asking the question as well?

It’s not natural to confidently ask for money, let alone on something you would quite often do for free.

But it’s a muscle. Keep practicing and it will get easier.

#howtobeasavvycreative #creativepreneur #podcast #performerbusinesstips #pricingstrategy by @the_savvycreative

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3 months ago

Episode 9 of How to be a Savvy Creative with the one and only @alisonldean.

I sort of fell into marketing but I’ve fallen in love with the storytelling aspect. It served me well as my parallel career throughout my creative pursuits. I really enjoyed this chat with Alison who equally loves marketing and looks for the storytelling each time she works with a new client.

Listen now #podcast #howtobeasavvycreative #marketing by @the_savvycreative

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3 months ago

Our final interview for Season one of How to be a Savvy Creative is with marketing guru @alisonldean discussing Marketing 101.

This episode is such a great example of practical advice and a how to for all creatives who are looking for opportunities to grow their audience and work.

Listen now 🎙️#marketing #howtobeasavvycreative #podcast #performerbusinesstips by @the_savvycreative

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4 months ago

Spoiler alert… government grants and funding is not free money.

They have KPIs and objectives they are trying to achieve so it’s crucial to think of it as a business transaction.

Your application needs to demonstrate as much proof as possible that you can deliver what you are proposing.

For all of Olivia’s fantastic insights on this topic catch the latest episode of How to be a Savvy Creative.

#grants #fundingsuccess #howtobeasavvycreative #podcast by @the_savvycreative

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4 months ago

This is your sign to download all episodes of How to be a Savvy Creative podcast.

We have just two more episodes to drop from our first season so catch up before next Tuesday.

#bts #podcast #instudio #howtobeasavvycreative by @the_savvycreative

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4 months ago

Finding the right grant, doing your research and completing the application can be time consuming and daunting.

It may surprise you to see this statistic - around 63% of applications in Australia don’t get submitted - according to a report (Grants in Australia).

But the funding is there to be accessed and if you don’t hit submit you have 100% chance of not being successful - as Olivia points out.

So give yourself the best chance possible and take a listen to this episode before starting your next grant application. It might just give you that one thing you need to be competitive.

#howtobeasavvycreative #pod by @the_savvycreative

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4 months ago

Make sure you catch this week’s episode of How to be a Savvy Creative - How to write a killer grant application with @oliviaeverittprojects.

Olivia is a wealth of knowledge and really demystifies funding and grants in Australia for artists.

She shares the dos and don’ts when it comes to preparing your application and how to ensure you are competitive and putting your best foot forward.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts!

#howtobeasavvycreative #grants #fundingstrategy #podcast by @the_savvycreative

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4 months ago

It’s scary to pursue a creative career.

There’s no linear path.

It takes time. It takes effort. It takes investment.

And there’s no guarantee.

But you know what? You can take steps to give yourself better chances. Ways to get there quicker. Opportunities to maximise any openings.

We talk about having no back up plan in this episode. Something I thought meant I REALLY backed myself. When in fact it was a bit naive.

Anna talks about this as well. We both put everything into a plan and it didn’t work out how we thought. But we survived. And in fact, there were a million other options out there other side.

Listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts. by @the_savvycreative

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4 months ago

Episode 7 of How to be a Savvy Creative with Anna Mackenzie talks about changing lanes.

In this conversation we talk about how the best learning can come from when things haven’t worked out.

For me, I changed lanes from a performer into digital marketing and have pivoted again now to a producer. I have taken so many lessons from giving the LA thing a red hot crack and even more from my digital marketing career. Both I invested heavily into and have decided to switch lanes anyway.

We also touch on how opportunities come through people so a really powerful thing you can do as a freelancer is to consciously and strategically network and build relationships.

Go on coffee meetings. Show up to events. Reach out to people a year or two ahead of you.

So many other brilliant gems from this one.

Take a listen.

#howtobeasavvycreative #podcast #advice #freelancer by @the_savvycreative

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4 months ago