Seek inspiration outside your industry

In my recent Substack Live interview with Olivia Rafferty, she spoke of looking for creative inspiration outside of your industry.

“Even in terms of marketing and things, I just think there’s so much you can do if you look outside of how people in your industry are making the thing that you’re making. Like, if musicians don’t just focus on what other musicians are doing and how they’re making music, if, like, people on Substack who make newsletters start to think, ‘how could I make a newsletter in the way like a ceramicist would make a pot?’”

Olivia wrote an album about geology which led to performing in front of a Tyrannosaurus Rex at a museum.

Photographer Noah Kalina sold out of limited edition print he made in just a few hours from this video, which at the time had just around 300 views.

Alex of Saint Francis Apizza recently wrote about “Four sound decisions I made before opening our pizzeria.” Even if you’ll never open a pizza shop, there is much wisdom here. (link via Emily).

‘The True Costs of Being on YouTube’ by carla lalli music is an eye opening read, even if you have no interest in making YouTube videos:

“It costs $29 per thousand to run an ad in my videos, and I get $10 per thousand. Where does the other $19 go? To YouTube, of course. That’s a 2:1 split in favor of the platform. Lord, give me strength.”

Artist David Speed’s work is only available for purchase via his email list.

Seek inspiration outside of the creative sphere you occupy, across other genres, mediums, and industries. Find the people making work on their own terms, and use their approach to guide your own artistic journey.