Sarah Kuhn, Jaimie Painter Young and Dany Margolies posted a blog entry at Backstage, the Actor's Resource that hit it to the bleachers with me. I've taken their 10 Ways to Advance Your Career and adjusted them to Events2000 blog readers' concerns:

1) Have an advocate. Who's willing to be in your corner and pitch for you? Who's looking at the big picture, constantly readjusting your long range vision, selling your talent?

2) Find a Supportive Environment. Where is it that you can go and people understand what you are trying to do? Some creative types belong to artscentric organizations, or have their studio in a co-op or center with other working artists. Do you know who's in your area? Do you have a group you can throw ideas off of? Look around. Find some support, even if it's your best friend.

3) Offer your talents to projects in the schools. Project-based creative programming is becoming more popular as schools find less time to teach art. Teachers of various subjects - shop, technology, science, math - are collaborating with area artists to enhance the creativity of their students in projects. Call the principal of your middle school; see if she knows of such activities for the coming school year.

4) Create something different. Have you been thinking of trying video? or carving? or textiles? Go wild. See what comes out of your hands when your heart is leading the way.

5) Take a look at the way you present yourself and your work. Is your work well coordinated so that one piece easily draws the viewer into the next? Do you have a good story that people can repeat to others as they are showing off their latest purchase from you? Do you keep your collectors informed about what you are doing?

6) Give the Business Side of your work some time. Are your festival applications getting to the shows BEFORE the deadlines? Are you caught up with your monthly sales and expenditures recaps? What does your collateral (business cards, brochures, etc) look like?

7) Promote yourself as if you are selling your personality. Because you are. Years ago, we knew a quirky guy who lived in a different world than most folks. I found him on Facebook recently; and, the guy is still quirky, living in a different world. But that's how he sells his work. He's still writing, drawing, and telling stories. And his FB profile seems to indicate he's doing well. He always understood his personality was a part of his work. And it sold/still sells it.

8) Find where you belong. Do you thrive doing festivals? Is teaching what you look most forward to? Is design what excites you? Whatever it is that makes you most happy is where you belong. And nobody can find that niche but you.

9) Learn how to network. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, networking is the most important task you have every day, week, and month. Do people in your neighborhood, county and area know what you do? Are you a member of local or regional groups like the chamber or a tourism committee or arts boards of directors? Experts disagree as to how much networking a businessperson needs to do. It goes from 20% to 80% of your time on the job. Whatever the percentage, it's a wildly important part of entrepreneurship.

Fortunately, some networking can be done at your desk in your ratty tshirt and shorts. Facebook, newsletters to your peeps, phone calls just checking in, are often as important as public face-to-face meetings.

10) Shut the door on your business and do something totally unrelated. Go see the Braves play ball. Take a camping trip. Ask your six best girlfriends over and have potluck and a gab session. There should be time regularly that you take off and just have fun. Work shouldn't be your whole life! And after some time away, work often is welcoming and brings you back into the rhythm of your life.