You might not be depositing checks earned by the sweat of your pen (yet). But that doesn’t mean you can’t start becoming financially savvy with your writing or art.
One of the top tips for becoming financially empowered is to pay yourself first. But how can you do that without incoming cash? Set your intention, and take action. Here are eight ways to make money a part of your writing, even before you get paid from others.
Begin by setting your intention to match money with your creativity. Do this by opening a bank account for your creative life. Get a savings account and label it ‘creativity’ or another inspiring name that will remind you of your intention.
Fund your account by paying yourself when you submit a query, finish a body of work, or achieve some other creative victory. Don’t wait for others to acknowledge your progress. It doesn’t have to be a lot; even ten dollars for each success signals to yourself that you value your efforts.
Spend from your creative stash only for your creative work. Use your creative funds to pay for contest entry fees, subscriptions, and supplies. Or, earmark your account for a big reward such as a workshop, retreat or conference.
Track of your art-related expenditures. Make creativity a priority and investigate how you can shift your financial priorities to support your art or writing. Keep a log of your creative money and see where you are spending more money than time on your art.
Calculate the return of ‘psychic payment’ on the creating you do. These include the side effects, or benefits, that you get from doing something. Psychic payments from writing could be: feeling of satisfaction with yourself, surge of power from expressing yourself, excitement over completing and submitting something. How do these non-monetary rewards ‘pay’ you?
Affirm your abundance. Write a whopping check and in the memo line, put Book Advance. Carry it around or post it in your studio. I write affirmations about the number of clients I want to work with and the number of workshop participants I want to enroll. I include a dollar amount with plus signs, like this: $50,000+++. I’ve been doing this for years. Guess what? Woo-woo as it sounds, it absolutely works every time.
State clear money goals. Write down when you’d like to start making money for your art and writing, what you’d like to get paid, and what you’re willing to work for. Set a standard for yourself and stick to it. For instance, your intention might look like this – After January, 2018, I publish only for payment in money (not just ‘visibility.)
Get dreamy. What will you do with the money you earn from your creativity? You might take a trip, pay off your computer or fund a conference. Write down your big vision of how you will spend your hard-earned cash. I suggest funneling the money back into your writing.
Try any or all of these over the next three months and see what happens. Notice what happens when you take these actions instead of waiting, wishing and hoping the world will pay you for your efforts.
By bringing awareness and financial focus to your art, you prepare yourself for the day when others pay you for your creative work. Keep track of emotions, ideas, and external events that stem from your efforts.
Let me know how it goes. If you already practice some of these things, let me know what results you’ve experienced. Share your money wins in the Comment section below.
Great post! THANKS!