Most creatives are multi-passionate. Yet, we're told that you need to decide on a unique niche, find your ideal audience, & develop your signature style~ which are all ways of saying you need to hone in on the one area that will bring you the most success and let the others go. Finding focus when multi-passionate can absolutely be the game changer in your business. When you learn what drives your brand, it helps you define your style, know who you're talking to, and what niche you want to sell to.
Not intending to ruffle any feathers here, but here we go.... I don't know about you, but when I follow an artist & see them painting the same painting every day, I get a little bored. (It feels rude to say that, but sometimes being blunt is the best way to explain things.) The first few times, I'm mesmerized, I love watching how they create their vision. But when there isn't any progression or variation, I'm ready to move on to see what other people are doing.
I still appreciate the beauty they created, but I don't need to keep watching because it's going to be another version of the same thing. And isn't marketing really about capturing and keeping attention?
Side note: Have you ever watched the people that make blown glass items? FAS-CI-NA-TING. I could watch them all day. But aren't they doing the same thing over and over? Yes. And no. Yes, they are blowing glass all day, but each item is different. You have no idea when they start what the end product is going to look like. And the process is awe-inspiring. And bonus, when you watch everything that went in to creating that little item, you now understand it's worth. (another point for another day)
I think a lot of well meaning advice can confuse new entrepreneurs that are multi-passionate. You have a lot of interests and don't want to be put in a box. But how do you create a brand with a single unique niche, find your one ideal customer, & develop your defined signature style without being stifled? You don't want to grow tired of what you're doing & you certainly want to be able to create things that inspire you & others without getting bored or feeling stale.
The first thing we need to clear up is to acknowledge that you will grow as an artist. It's a fact. Things you like & do well today will progress & change & morph into something else over time. It's okay to plan for growth as a person, in fact, it's encouraged.
It's the advice that's limiting, not you.
If you look at really successful people in your area of interest, they may pursue multiple income streams, multiple product lines, or even multiple creative styles. However, if you went back in time to just before they made their money, they focused on just one thing. They found an audience that liked one aspect of their business or interests and went all in on it. They didn't veer off into other things until they were successful with that first step.
So finding focus early on is crucial. You want to be doing something well before you try the next thing. I talk about this inside the membership, but I wanted you to have some guidance if you haven't joined. The best thing you can do is to develop your dream business plan. What do you want your life to look like once you're super successful? You need to be able to picture the dream to start working on it, right?
"It's a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy."Â -Lucille Ball
Once you have that, even if you're multi-passionate & know your business will likely evolve into multiple arenas, decide which one thing you get most excited about. Is there something that will give you the biggest impact in the shortest amount of time? Start with that.
I also want to address finding your signature style. This is one I struggled with for a while, because of how I started my business. I created simple products that focused on the sarcastic side of my personality- because I needed more laughter in my life at the time. But then those products took off so I kept making them. I knew I wanted to shift to using my drawings & paintings in my work, but they focus on a more rustic sketched style. (*interesting that I chose Rustic & Simple as my business name before realizing how it would evolve....I think my heart always knew.) But then I got stuck- how do I make the shift to more sincere, thoughtful, & art related products? I went through various ideas, like creating sarcastic wine bottle labels cause then I can add back in my wedding products or create drawings that work with sarcastic phrases....but these things didn't feel right. It felt like settling. So I went back to the beginning...
In my business dream, I envisioned being able to be creative when I'm inspired and license my art patterns to some big name stores, sell products in the background, & be connected to a lovely community of other entrepreneurs. But I couldn't see how to get from where I was to where I am now.
I knew I wanted to update my branding, but I couldn't find guidance on what was swirling around in my head. I started brainstorming words that describe me & what I want my brand to be & feel like. I should add an image of that page- it's filled with words all over the place and sketches in no rhyme or reason. It doesn't make sense to anyone but me and yet I love it. It was really more of a heartstorming than brainstorming.
What developed was this system of working through finding your brand voice first, then you pair that with visuals like your colors, fonts, images, logos, etc. And now it all clicks. When you look at my brand guide- I identified words that feel on brand for me: peace, nature, simplicity, kindness, ease, style, joy, community...and now if you look through my website or my etsy shop or my membership community, everything fits and works within my brand. I can create products that are inspired by nature and products that bring me joy. People are nuanced, so our businesses can be as well.
You just need to identify the things that will carry over no matter what you create in your business. Even on the about me page of my website, I tell you that I love clean lines & calming colors found in nature, so no brights and neons will be found here. I revel in neutrals and subtle hues. These things will always be true about me because they've always been true about me.
Instead of starting with developing a signature style, try defining your brand voice.
Make sure your overall brand/website/products feel cohesive. You've seen artists that blend too many styles & you can't tell what they're doing. Their work feels all over the place. If, instead, you start your business with solid brand messaging- then everything you produce will feel like it's an extension of you. I would argue that determining your brand voice & vision before developing your signature style is a great way to help you hone in on your style as well.
I started this by postulating that maybe what you needed was focus. So how does focus help you when you're multi-passionate, multi-talented, and multi-faceted? If you focus on just one thing, it actually gives you freedom to later expand your horizons and explore multiple areas of interest because your success in the first thing will be a driving force of your success in others. People are drawn to others that have passion in their work, work that feels authentic & from a place of love. Sometimes I see people get hung up on developing a style that they miss the point of experimenting for fun. Try to build a business that really lets you be YOU, messy, indecisive, & full of creativity.
Warmest regards,
P.S. If you want help working through branding, see this guide. If you want help learning how to focus this year, see this workbook. If you want help building your dream business that includes both of those things, see more information on our Designed Simply Membership. Lots of great resources to help you!
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