In the first of three episodes, from the section titled Clients, we will explore the dynamics of working with others, discussing collaboration, compromise, and communication. We'll delve into managing emotions when your work faces criticism. Learn to balance defending your vision with being open to feedback.These insights should help you ease off and prevent any client battles in the future. Listen on to find out more ~

Welcome to five minute magic from Creativity For Sale Podcast. A quick fire episode, sharing tips and tricks from the pages of the book of the same title. 

Every week I'll be sharing one or two ideas that can give you. And actionable take away for your creative career, your business, or just the food for thought for the weekend ahead. These are taken from the audio book, and you can find the full version in the show notes . 

Daring Creativity. Podcast with Radim Malinic

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Radim Malinic: Hello, and welcome to five minute magic from creativity for sale podcast. A quick fire episode, sharing tips and tricks from the pages of the book of the same title. [00:00:10] Yes. Creativity for sale. Every week I'll be sharing one or two ideas that can give you. And actually we'll take away for your creative career, your business, or just the food for [00:00:20] thought for the weekend ahead. These tapes are taken from the audio book, and you can find a link to the full version in the show notes.

Radim: in the first of three episodes from the section [00:00:30] titled Clients, we'll explore the dynamics of working with others, discussing collaboration, compromise and communication. We'll delve into managing emotions when your work [00:00:40] faces criticism and to learn how to balance defending your vision with being open to feedback.

These insights should help you ease off and prevent any client battles in the [00:00:50] future. So, let's listen on to find out more.

The nature of working with and for others can open up a lot of new [00:01:00] horizons, experiences and opportunities. Indeed, we can invent our own dream future by building our own brand of creativity. [00:01:10] When something is made out of nothing, It can produce the most amazing feeling of accomplishment.

However, getting creative work right for [00:01:20] other people is a mastery in its own right. When more than one person is involved in the process, it can open up added opinions, [00:01:30] speculations, and suggestions based on previous experiences or the lack thereof. When you collaborate, you set the stage for that sometimes dreaded [00:01:40] other C word.

When you're younger, compromise can feel like selling out or lowering your ambitions. [00:01:50] In reality, compromise is about growth. It shows you new ways to learn and accept that input from others can create the best outcome. [00:02:00] To compromise is to tune in to the right questions to produce the best answers.

Compromise comes in many disguises, and whether [00:02:10] you redefine, adapt, absorb, learn, change or improve something, it's an essential part of providing creative services and solutions. [00:02:20] Working for or with others comes with other challenges, like communication. Yes, there's a lot of C words here. Being able [00:02:30] to work with others means you have to understand others and make them understand you.

And this means you have to be accountable for how you communicate with [00:02:40] people and play an active role. Naturally, working with people isn't always easy or smooth, the same way as any human interaction. [00:02:50] People have off days. We all make mistakes. It's all part of the process. At times, things will feel frustrating.

But [00:03:00] every collaboration, no matter how challenging, offers valuable lessons in understanding people. Big or small fish. [00:03:10] When it comes to choosing your clients, does size matter? A small operation with small clients can be a steady business, and a happy one too. [00:03:20] On the flip side, another small business may be hell bound on hyper growth, landing the biggest named clients and projects.

Both, as [00:03:30] you might expect, have their pros and cons. The internet is flooded with memes about the ease of getting paid larger sums by big ticket [00:03:40] clients, which can make some creatives think it's far easier to work with bigger clients on bigger projects. The truth is that it's never that easy, and [00:03:50] it's not always that hard.

If you want to handle projects 20 times the size, they might come with 20 times the budget. But you will need [00:04:00] 20 times your operations and capability. No magic fairy drops tens of thousands of pounds or dollars or euros in budget without [00:04:10] wanting a return on every single coin. To state the obvious, bigger work comes with bigger rewards and even bigger headaches.

There's [00:04:20] also no guarantee that higher value ticket clients work will be more fun or engaging than work that is a fraction in size. Bigger corporations are [00:04:30] often tangled in red tape where an invoice can get lost in complicated procurement software before it gets processed, approved and paid. [00:04:40] By contrast, smaller projects can offer more freedom and satisfaction as what you're making matters and there's less risk so it won't, or [00:04:50] shouldn't, be lost.

Having an army of smaller clients makes for a granular business as you finish the work, or lose a client and [00:05:00] the bag is still full. A bit like a bag of Skittles. But you'll probably need a lot of these to pay your bills. And you have to factor in the [00:05:10] time taken to manage multiple clients, as each one will require communication.

Plus, a handful of one off projects. will require [00:05:20] more regular time for retention in the case of any losses than a handful of long term clients. So the type of project matters too. [00:05:30] Smaller clients might have too much on their plate and lose their concentration on your project or struggle to pay your invoice.

And, of course, [00:05:40] an endless supply of small work may make you long for meatier projects with bigger clients. Ultimately, which you choose should be [00:05:50] right for you as an individual, and right for your business. As with anything I've said in this book, it shouldn't be based on what someone else does or says, [00:06:00] and you're probably bored of me saying that by now.

Miracles can happen on any size wave, a surfing analogy that I love. Meaning [00:06:10] you are rewarded for getting up on your board regardless of the size of the wave you surf. The key is to pay attention to the individual [00:06:20] client and not their size, as we should be striving to build genuine connections. And this means inherently not viewing prospects as [00:06:30] just a ticket item, regardless of its size.

Managing Emotions Providing creativity for sale can [00:06:40] be a roller coaster of emotions when your work is on show for everyone to see. Everyone can judge it. The very nature of [00:06:50] making creative work for public consumption means that people can easily make up their mind about how skillful, creative and talented you are all [00:07:00] without ever talking to you directly.

And this can be hard to take when your brand of creativity is also your identity. It can be [00:07:10] hard to keep a lid on your emotions when things get tough and people are critical. This is one thing when it's a stranger on the internet [00:07:20] hating on your designs. But what about when it's a client? If a client doesn't like a piece of work but you truly believe it's what's best for the [00:07:30] brand, then you, like most creatives, will want to fight your corner and defend your work.

But while less than positive feedback can feel [00:07:40] like a dagger to the heart, Don't let your pride be the reason you're fighting. The essence of creativity means we are all coming [00:07:50] at it from a subjective perspective. And you should try to squish your damaged ego back down, and instead ask yourself, [00:08:00] can the work in question be improved?

And if so, how? What should be left alone? How can I [00:08:10] give and take feedback more constructively? When you've set aside your ego, emotions and subjectivity, you might realise that [00:08:20] the client is right. In this case, think about the people who will ultimately be encountering you. and using the thing you're making or [00:08:30] creating.

Or if you still really believe in your creation and it's end user applicability, then you can fight for it. And the better your [00:08:40] communication skills, the better you can make a case for why it works or why it doesn't. What's crucial is putting the end user front and [00:08:50] center. So your ego can step aside on this one.