Bob's Guide: Infrastructure Basics!

The original title for this was 'I Have No Money And I Must Sell!' It still makes me laugh. Anywho, here we go:

You are a creative, and you are just starting out. You have no money. But you need to start getting the word out there, and maybe start getting some sales. Also, you’re broke so your time is usually spent, you know, surviving. So here it is: a six week guide to getting set up as a creative. Each week you have ONE fairly simple task to complete. If you are a real go-getter, you could do one a day, but hey, life is life, so if you do one a week you’ll be in good shape.

Week One: Set Up Your Linktree

You don’t have a website yet, so this is going to be the stand in for now. It costs nothing, and you control what links go on it. When you pick your name for it, try to make it something that you can also use for your social media account names. Smart money says you should check to see if they are free on the sites you plan to use (and maybe go ahead and lock those in). Maybe even see if the domain name is available.

Week Two: Set Up Your Primary Social Media Account

Pick whatever social media you are most comfortable with. Instagram, Facebook, X, whatever. Set up your account on there, and start using it regularly. Starting out it may be hard. But here is my advice: do a series of introductory posts (five or six) the day you set it up. Now, commit to at least one post a week on there. Maybe set a reminder in your phone. Make it visual, a picture or video. Put your Linktree in the bio. Put a link to this social in the Linktree.

Week Three: Set Up Your Secondary Social Media Account

Pick the social media you are next most comfortable with. This is your back up social media in case you have to stop using the other one/life changes/who knows. Start using it in the same manner as the above. Two is plenty to start with. If you think ‘man, how on earth am I going to keep up with two social media accounts…well this may not be the life path for you. Spoiler: you will probably end up spending as much time marketing/networking as you spend creating, unless you blow up to the point you can afford to pay someone to do it for you. Put your Linktree in the bio. Put a link to this social in the Linktree.

Week Four: Set Up Your Newsletter

In short, find a free service like MailChimp, and set up an account. Use their service to generate a free landing page, and put a link to it in your Linktree. Once you have some subscribers (it may take some time, you’re just starting out, that’s ok), send your first newsletter. Send one a month after that.

Week Five: Order A Business Card

This is going to cost, but it won’t cost a lot, if you look around. Price shop, look for a promo code, etc. You need to order 500 one sided business cards. Put your name and business name on it. If you have a website, include it. Go to your Linktree. There is a share button. Click that, then click the link to get a QR code for your Linktree. Download it, and add it to your card. This is going to be how you market yourself in person, and will help you with networking. Don’t put your email or phone number on there. If someone needs to have it (like that publisher you ran into who asked you to send them a draft of your book) then you can write it on the back of the card. But also make sure you get their info, because honestly, it’s more likely that you will follow up with them than vice versa.

Week Six: Set Up A Paypal/Square

I’m old (school?), I still use Paypal. I link it to my business bank account, and run a lot of my business money through it from more niche sites who use it. But I also use Square, especially for in person sales. If you have a phone with an audiojack or lightning cable port, you can get them to send you a free magstripe reader. This will allow you to swipe credit cards using your phone. That, and a handful of change, and you are set to start making in person sales.

More Complex/Costly Next Steps:

This list is not exhaustive, its just a few things to get you thinking. You’ll need to do some of these things, for sure. Others not as much. And there a billion things not listed, these are just some of the high notes:

• You need a website. Yes there are free options. But folks are url snobs, it's sad but true. If they see authorname.wixsite.blah, they are gonna think “they don’t take this seriously, so why should I check out their product, they probably don’t take that seriously either.” So go for a domain and website that gets you to authorname.com or the like. Typically you can pay for a year at a time, or in three year chunks. Do what you can afford.

• You need a business license and such. This is way more complicated than I can explain. If you get gummed up, look for your local Small Business Administration office. They will help you out, for free.

• You may want to add more social media accounts. Remember: it is better to not have a social media account, than to have one that you don’t update. This can include things like Goodreads if you are an author.

• You can look into sites like Teepublic and Redbubble if you are an artist. They are print on demand online stores. This will enable you to get sales without having to carry any inventory/pay up front. You won’t make as much as other ways, but the other ways cost money and require you to carry inventory that may or may not sell.

• The flip side of this for authors is a site like Amazon, using KDP, or Ingram Spark. They are also print on demand, so you don’t have to carry inventory, and you can make online sales. Then for when you are selling at live events, you can usually order books at cost+shipping ahead of time to be your inventory.

• You can look into setting up an account on Fiverr or the like to freelance to build up funds to pay for more expensive things, like websites and editing.