Artisan Blog

 

Creatives, your skills are in high demand by many organizations, businesses and individuals. Sometimes even by friends—if they need a website, advertising copy, graphics or other creative work produced.  Read more

 

You’ve heard of the Proust Questionnaire, I’m sure. Made famous in the back pages of Vanity Fair Magazine, it was named not for questions, but for the answers given by Marcel Proust to a set of questions asked by his friend Antoinette Faure.

I remember them best from a television show called “Inside the Actors Studio” where, at the end of every episode, host James Lipton would ask these questions of the famous actors he interviewed. His questions included: What is your favorite sound? What is your favorite curse word? If you weren’t an actor, what would you be instead?  Read more

 

You might think that with today’s high unemployment rate, as a business owner you don’t have to worry about turnover - nobody’s leaving, right?  Wrong!

The fact is, for every person who is putting off looking for a new job, there are those who are already working and planning to move on. As soon as they can. Read more

Good and Bad by vees via Flickr Creative Commons 

Have you heard about the new trend in vacation policies?   Unlimited vacation has taken off quickly, being put into practice at some major companies: Netflix, IBM, Morningstar and Blue Wolf, according to this article at The Grindstone.  Read more

 

Photo by yajamesu via Flickr Creative Commons 

I read an interesting article in The Atlantic last week, and it got me thinking about my creative process and the creative process in general. Read more

 

Did you ever have one of those days when you worked and worked hard for hours on end and still felt like you didn’t get anything done?
Yesterday?

Well, you may be working harder than you need to.

Wait! That doesn’t make any sense!

But maybe it does? Read more

Photo by Chloe Dietz, Flickr Creative Commons 

Creatives are not known for being comfortable in a formal business setting. Suits and ties and long strategy sessions are not their normal M.O.

But freelancers do end up going to business meetings or formal pitches and it is important to stay involved in the material and remember what was discussed, since they will probably be sent home to work on the project at hand.

Some meetings, sad to say, are not as interesting and exciting as they could be and creatives may very well have trouble staying engaged. Here are some tips to keep you looking and feeling like you are fully present at your next formal business meeting: Read more

 
Photo by rob.knight via Flickr Creative Commons

I saw an article in Inc. Magazine this week about the 5 Hardest Jobs to Fill in 2012 so I clicked to see what they could possibly be, and I was in for quite a surprise! Read more