Week 2 of coronavirus restrictions in the UK.
Last week, I asked my daughter to proofread the post I wrote on LinkedIn. She knows my business has slowed way down with the coronavirus situation and, being stuck at home with me, she asked me if she could be my client. It was very sweet how she approached me, unsure if I could help her because my background is in biomedical innovation. She wants me to help her get more followers on Instagram so she can grow her reputation and start making money out of her artistic talents. My network is not set to manage artists, but I manage innovation talents to help people make money out of their innovative ideas. Akin to my clients, she is passionate about her topic, talented and has lots of ideas. I suggested I investigated it to see if I can help her. What’s a few hours of my time to draft an innovation report for her?
What she wants and what she needs might be different to achieve the goal she has in mind. So, I looked at what I could do to manage her creative (innovative) and entrepreneurial talents. I am not a marketing expert and I don’t use Instagram for my business. It does not mean I cannot do some research to identify the key drivers to increase traffic on Instagram (or any social media platform) accounts, but we need much more than tricks to move towards her goal.
As with any ideas, to move forward, we need to understand it: what is offered, where will it be found, when will it be available, how will it be delivered and why is it such a great idea that people will want to engage with it. Behind every idea, there is a story, my role is to bring that story to life. I will work with her to build her ‘business’ plan and generate strategies to help her achieve her goals. We will work together to build her vision, tell her story and make things happen.
As a mother and businessperson, I am very pleased my daughter is looking into earning a living with her talent. It is hard to rely on your talent to make money, no question about it. In the end, we all rely on our talents to earn money. It is our drive and our passion that makes us successful. One thing she was a bit worried about was that she cannot pay me to work as her innovation agent. She offers to give me artworks as retainer. I asked for 5% of her future earnings through my activities and she said – only for one year. Fair enough, we’ll have to discuss it a bit more. I’m glad she is thinking about her future and understanding that giving away everything might seem like a good deal in the present, but it is not going to help her in the long run. As my husband and I are still paying for the art materials and the university degree, it is a bit cheeky to pay me with artworks, but her time is as precious as mine. I’m looking forward to working with her and help her with her entrepreneurial initiative. In the meantime, you can check her art on Instagram @carrotandcoriander