How to Succeed as a Creative Entrepreneur with Daren Smith, Film Producer & Author, Founder of Craftsman Creative
Aug 30, 2023
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Film producer and author Daren Smith shares his journey from broke to successful creative entrepreneur. Topics include mastering the creative entrepreneurial mindset, the importance of owning your audience, and building a profitable creative business. Advice for creative entrepreneurs is also provided, focusing on mindset, desired outcomes, business optimization, and choosing the right type of business and audience.
Establish direct connections with your audience by building an email list, website, and lead magnet to adapt to any circumstances.
Think like a business owner and choose the right type of business that aligns with your desired outcomes for long-term success.
Deep dives
Darren Smith's Journey to Becoming a Successful Creative Entrepreneur
Darren Smith, founder of Craftsman Creative, shares his journey of becoming a successful creative entrepreneur. Starting as a struggling entrepreneur, Darren experienced financial hardship before finding success as a film producer. He emphasizes the importance of perseverance and staying in the game long enough for opportunities to arise. Darren also highlights the need to design your business around the outcomes you want, rather than striving for unrealistic goals. He encourages creative entrepreneurs to think like business owners and optimize their businesses in order to achieve long-term success and fulfillment. Additionally, Darren discusses the benefits of building a book in public and offers valuable insights on developing a growth mindset and designing the life you want.
The Similarities Between Film Production and Startups
Darren Smith draws parallels between film production and startups, highlighting the tight budgets that both often face. He shares his personal experience of producing a movie with a low budget, where he took on multiple roles to compensate for the lack of funds. This led to exhaustion and burnout, prompting him to reevaluate his approach. Darren advises creative entrepreneurs to define their desired outcomes and choose the right type of business to align with those goals. He encourages thinking like a business owner and taking a long-term perspective to ensure sustainable success.
Darren Smith's Book as a Business Card on Steroids
Darren Smith discusses the power of his book, 'Craftsman Creative,' as a business card on steroids. He explains how giving away over a thousand copies of the book, both in physical and digital formats, has helped him build an audience and connect with potential clients. Darren emphasizes the value of sharing rough draft versions of chapters and writing in public to attract readers and foster a personal connection. He shares the importance of designing a business around the outcomes you want and building a strong personal brand.
Actionable Advice for Creative Entrepreneurs
Darren Smith provides practical advice for creative entrepreneurs starting their journey. He emphasizes the significance of mindset and encourages sharing imposter syndrome and developing a solid mindset. Darren emphasizes the importance of aligning financial goals with one's desired lifestyle and choosing the appropriate business model. He encourages creative entrepreneurs to think like business owners and spend time on data analytics and systems optimization. Lastly, Darren highlights the importance of defining the life you want and designing your business around those goals.
E46: Ever find yourself stuck in the hamster wheel of creativity, pouring your heart into your craft, but struggling to turn a profit? It's a challenge many of us face – the journey from creator to successful entrepreneur can feel like an uphill battle.
Get ready as Yong-Soo Chung (@YongSooChung) chats with Daren Smith (@DarenTSmith), the founder of Craftsman Creative, a film producer and the author of "Five Figure Creators Build Six-Figure Businesses." Daren shares his incredible story of being broke to making it as a creative entrepreneur.
On today’s episode, you’ll learn:
- Mastering the Creative Entrepreneurial Mindset - The Secret to Success as a Creative Entrepreneur - Why Books Are "Business Cards on Steroids" - How to Build a Profitable Creative Business
Let's get down to business!
*** SPONSOR: Big thanks to Swell AI for sponsoring this episode. Swell AI is like having a production assistant 24/7. If you're a content creator, do yourself a favor and try Swell AI.
*** EXCERPTS:
The Importance of Owning Your Audience: "Get an email list, have a website, have a lead magnet. These are the four things you need to be building right now. In times of uncertainty like COVID, it's crucial to establish direct connections with your audience. Don't rely solely on social media platforms that can change their algorithms or shut down. By owning your audience, you have the power to grow your business and adapt to any circumstances." — Daren Smith (8:51)
Designing the Life that You Want:"Take the longer path to focus on your mindset, your outcomes, and build that business that's going to give you that long-term success and fulfillment that you want.' - a reminder to be intentional in creating a business that aligns with your desired lifestyle and values." — Daren Smith (28:08)
*** First Class Founders is a show for indie hackers, bootstrapped founders, CEOs, solopreneurs, content creators, startup entrepreneurs, and SaaS startups covering topics like build in public, audience growth, product marketing, scaling up, side hustles, holding company, etc.
Past guests include Arvid Kahl, Tyler Denk, Noah Kagan, Clint Murphy, Jay Abraham, Andrew Gazdecki, Matt McGarry, Nick Huber, Khe Hy, and more.
