Do you have creative skills, services, an idea or a product that you want to showcase, sell or market? Do you feel overwhelmed by the idea of working for yourself and find it difficult to know where to start? If you do, then this free course, A freelance career in the creative arts will support you in your first steps, helping you to identify useful sources of advice and exploring the emotional, practical and legal implications of your choices. Working through this course will allow you to investigate the options available to you and make more informed decisions about your next steps.To whet your appetite and inspire you to find out more, watch the following video of several creative freelancers explaining why they chose a freelance path and what they most enjoy about it. You'll hear more from them throughout the course, sharing their own experiences and top tips.TranscriptThis course is endorsed by the Creative UK.Creative UK said: 'Freelancers and the self-employed make up over a third of the creative workforce, and are a driving force of the UK’s creative industries. This free OpenLearn course is a brilliant resource for those who are considering pursuing their creative passions and careers, and forging their own paths.'Enrolling on the course will give you the opportunity to earn an Open University digital badge. Badges are not accredited by The Open University but they're a great way to demonstrate your interest in the subject and commitment to your career, and to provide evidence of continuing professional development.Once you are signed in, you can manage your digital badges online from My OpenLearn. In addition, you can download and print your OpenLearn statement of participation – which also displays your Open University badge.The Open University would reallyappreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our start-of-course survey68.Once you complete the course we would also value your feedback and suggestions for future improvement, in our end-of-course survey69. Participationwill be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others.This course is accredited by the CPD Standards Office. It can be used to provide evidence of continuing professional development and on successful completion of the course you will be awarded 24 CPD points. Evidence of your CPD achievement is provided on the free Statement of Participation awarded on completion.Anyone wishing to provide evidence of their enrolment on this course is able to do so by sharing their Activity Record on their OpenLearn Profile, which is available before completion of the course and earning of the Statement of Participation.
Overview
Syllabus
- Introduction and guidance
- Introduction and guidance
- What is a badged course?
- How to get a badge
- Acknowledgements
- Week1Week 1: What is a creative freelance career?
- Introduction
- 1 What are the creative arts?
- 2 What is a freelancer?
- 3 Taking the leap
- 3.1 The ability to diversify
- 4 Portfolio careers
- 4.1 The organic approach
- 4.2 The planned approach
- 4.3 Planning a portfolio career
- 5 Creative career collaborations
- 6 Why do creative businesses hire freelancers?
- 7 This week’s quiz
- 8 Summary of Week 1
- Further research
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week2Week 2: Spotlight on me
- Introduction
- 1 Testing my idea
- 2 Do I have what it takes?
- 2.1 Key skills and attributes for becoming a freelancer
- 2.2 Auditing my own skills
- 3 What I need to learn
- 4 Pros and cons of working for myself
- 5 Goal setting for the future
- 6 This week’s quiz
- 7 Summary of Week 2
- Further research
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week3Week 3: Identifying my support network
- Introduction
- 1 Helping myself to thrive
- 2 What support do I need?
- 3 Organisations that can help
- 3.1 Online support
- 3.2 Face-to-face support
- 3.3 Choosing the right support for me
- 4 People who can help me
- 5 Sharing the experience
- 5.1 Who do I already know?
- 6 This week’s quiz
- 7 Summary of Week 3
- Further research
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week4Week 4: Identifying my audience
- Introduction
- 1 My potential audience
- 2 Market research
- 3 Target markets and target audiences
- 4 Narrowing my target audience
- 4.1 Audience segmentation
- 4.2 Visualising my ideal customer
- 5 Competitor analysis
- 6 This week’s quiz
- 7 Summary of Week 4
- Further research
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week5Week 5: Promoting my offer
- Introduction
- 1 How to make my business stand out
- 1.1 Naming my business
- 2 Marketing my business
- 2.1 Creative content marketing
- 3 Pitching my idea
- 4 Connecting with my target market – useful tools
- 5 Marketing on social media
- 5.1 Promoting on Instagram
- 5.2 Choosing what’s right for me
- 6 This week’s quiz
- 7 Summary of Week 5
- Further research
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week6Week 6: Investigating investment
- Introduction
- 1 What funds do I need?
- 1.1 What are my costs?
- 2 Sources of funding – public money
- 3 Sources of funding – crowdfunding
- 4 Other sources of funding
- 4.1 Start up loans
- 4.2 Business angels
- 4.3 Competitions
- 4.4 Trusts and foundations
- 4.5 Artists in residence
- 5 Applying for finances
- 5.1 Applying for a grant
- 5.2 Applying for a bank loan
- 6 This week’s quiz
- 7 Summary of Week 6
- Further research
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week7Week 7: Business structures and other practicalities
- Introduction
- 1 Options for structuring your business
- 2 Sole trader
- 3 Limited company
- 4 Charity vs social enterprise
- 5 Taxes and insurances
- 5.1 Intellectual Property (IP)
- 6 Other business practicalities
- 6.1 Quoting and invoicing
- 6.2 Legalities to be aware of
- 7 This week’s quiz
- 8 Summary of Week 7
- Further research
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week8Week 8: Making it work
- Introduction
- 1 Planning your next steps
- 2 Developing a business plan
- 2.1 Visualising your plan
- 2.2 Reviewing your plan
- 2.3 Financial planning
- 3 Contingency planning
- 4 Maintaining motivation
- 4.1 Tackling procrastination
- 5 Managing your success
- 6 This week’s quiz
- 7 Summary of Week 8
- Further research
- Where next?
- Tell us what you think
- References
- Acknowledgements
