Entrepeneurial Ideas for Artists - Ideas from two MOOC courses and the book "One Simple Idea"

Entrepreneurial Ideas For Artists - Ideas from two MOOC courses and  "One Simple Idea" ( a book by Stephen Key)

ideas reviewed by "Surfer" Chris Garrah

  Creativity and Business Ideas For Artists - Free Courses and A Library Book That Could Help You

 

If you are an artist you definitely want to tap into your creative spirit.   In the MOOC course  Learning How to Learn   ( I took the free version of the course) the professors relate how Thomas Edison would hold ball bearings in his hand and when he was half asleep the ball bearings would drop from his hand .  In that state he would be able to jot down ideas that occurred to him.  Salvador Dali used a similar method. (also described in the course)

Businesses , successful ones - paint  a visual representation of a business - perfect for an artist with nine blocks (perfect for coloring different colors.!)  In the  free MOOC course I studied  Innovation for Entrepreneurs the professors describe a business model canvas ( artists like canvas!).   Really the course outlines all nine factors .  One factor - revenue streams - will be of interest to starving artists or those who want to add streams.  The course stresses that the business canvas is a living canvas so that once you become familiar with the canvas as it represents YOUR business model you can change it as new ideas come to you - or you think of your business in new ways.  But to really find new ways to make you different from all other artists study the video Blue Ocean Strategies - ways to make you completely different from other artists or other businesses!  Remember you can be completely unique!

So the above two courses are great courses for artists  The third idea I want to introduce are ideas from the book ."A Simple Idea" authored by Stephen Key



.  I highly recommend artists to skim through the chapters to get an idea about licensing.  In this book Stephen Key outlines all the steps needed to look at the marketplace , come up with a simple idea and sell the idea to businesses.  Why would you be interested as an artist?  Well the idea that resonated for me that might appeal to some artists is that he licensed an indoor basketball net with a backboard. Stephen Key licensed the idea of putting Michael Jordan's image on it. Yeah!.  So creative ways to put art or an image on something , a great technique.  This book by Stephen Key stresses balance in your life - so you should nott  put all your energy into selling your ideas to businesses at the expense of creating art.   If you ever watch the show Dragon's Den they talk about licensing.  But they don't describe the process of licensing.  But this book describes the process ... so here is something you will not see on Dragon's Den  - something that in theory can tirn YOU into a Dragon.  Licensing is a low cost alternative to a full patent.   The book  outlines an optimum time to  file a provisional patent for a few hundred dollars and then license it.  This can be another tool in the artist's toolbox.

Wrapping It all Up

Well fellow artists,  I pointed you in the direction of tuning up your business acumen and your creativity.  So if you want to fine tune your business model or the creativity of your art check out the book and courses .  And of course if you are not pursuing your art at all and you want to check out a solution for procrastination in Learning How to Learn - a course from Coursera.org.  I recommend taking  the free version of the course only because I like free things! Sharpening creativity, creating art without procrastinating and sharpening your art business by using a living changing business model canvas.  These are the key ideas here.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1) One Simple Idea  - Turn Your Dreams into a Licensing Goldmine While Letting Others Do the Work - a book by  author Stephen Key.
Look at author Stephen Key's profile on Twitter

2) Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects     A MOOC course from Coursera.org with Dr. Barbara Oakley & Dr. Terrence Stejnowski

 3).  Innovation for Entrepreneurs: From Idea to Marketplace ............A MOOC course also from Coursera.org

Review of a How to be an Entrepeneur Book "Driven" by Robert Herjavec reviewed by "Surfer Chris" Garrah

Review of "Driven - How to Succeed in Business and In Life" a book by Robert Herjavec

 

The Book - Why You Need to Read The Book If You Are Thinking Of Starting A Business

Robert Herjavec describes his life story starting with his arrival in Canada in an immigrant family and the financial struggles of the family.

I found the book to be instructional as an entrepreneurial book.  Robert Herjavec describes in more detail than many books the specific steps that he took to rise to a very successful businessman.  You really need to read the book to develop your own insights into the steps he took.

Key points in his success include  how he is able to get by with limited sleep and still function normally.  In the reference portion of this article I supply a book title as a reference that might contain more information on the ability for some people to sleep less.  In the book Mr. Herjavec emphasizes that an entrepeneur should have the ability to deal with crises as they arise and for new business owners many can arise.

 I was impressed with Mr Herjavec developing his own sales pitches that worked for him in the difficult area of collections early in his career.  Mr Herjavec's superior sales techniques and his self described ability to foresee years into the future products that will be in demand are other parts of his success. His superior sales ability allows Mr. Herjavec to recruit employees that excel in their fields.  The detail in the book is concrete with 50 principles outlined in 50 chapters.   Some books are merely motivational books but I think of this book as much more because it is an insider book of an entrepreneur that keys in on 50 areas that will help you as an entrepreneur.  Buy the book if you want to succeed as an entrepreneur or at the very least ... read it!  Mr. Herjavic gives many examples of how he worked very hard to be successful.  And how his beginnings in sales and customer-oriented jobs help him to read people and tailor pitches to those people.

As an aside there is no indication that Mr Herjavic procrastinates.  He is on top of things and does not shy away from difficult tasks such as the need to fire things.

I recommend the course "Learning How To Learn" which is offered by Coursera which will help you master procrastination and avoid putting off difficult tasks if you tend to procrastinate.  ( I was guilty of this before I recently took the course - changed my life!  You can take a free version of this Coursera course if you want.  This course offers a specific, effective technique on how to avoid procrastination.  It also explains in video form why people procrastinate.  Also in video form Dr. Barbara Oakley (in the Coursera course)  explains that you should "eat the frogs" in the morning - meaning handle difficult things in the morning.  Along with Mr. Herjavec's broad-based instructions on how to succeed as an entrepreneur , the Coursera course and your ability to thrive on limited sleep you might have a distinctive advantage over your sleep-headed competitors.

REFERENCES

Genetic Basis of Sleep and Sleep Disorders
authors Shaw P,Taft M, Thorpy M

"Learning How to Learn"  a course at Coursera.org with Professors Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowki

Driven - How to Succeed in Business and In Life - written by Robert Herjavec -co star of Dragons' Den

What I Found to Be the Best Tips for Learning - An Assignment

What I Found to Be the Best Tips For Learning - A Student   Assignment Of the Coursera.Org Course "Learning How to Learn" by a student -me- Chris "Crispy" Garrah

What I Found Out:

I have a life long love of learning.  But the featured course at Coursera.org which I choose to take as an absolutely free course showed me that in my fifty years of studying that I really did not have the best study skills, at best they might be considered average or poor. This course is offered by Professors Dr. Terrence Sejnowski and Dr. Barbara Oakley through Coursera.org.

This assignment or presentation is for parents, friends and teachers who may benefit from taking their study habits to the highest level.

Really I have and had so many problems in studying that I am going to list them by number along with a solution.

1.  Not Being Able to recall where you obtained your information-yikes-Plagiarism!

This may not be critical if you use on-line sources and can Google an answer to help you where you got your material  But if you happen to crack open a book
the solution is to write down the name and author because it just won't work for you to bring up information that you can recall but you don't list a source only because you cannot remember - that is plagiarism - so avoid the deadly trap - and write down the book and author.  Just in case you inadvertently use something.  If you don't write down the sources of your material you may receive a luke-warm or failing grade where you thought you wrote something brilliant.  In this courses' assignments it is necessary to quote specific references.  ("Learning How To Learn"  Assignment Rules Posted)

2. Procrastination may have been my biggest problem

"Learning How to Learn" from Coursera.org emphasizes  that a person will avoid the temporary anticipated pain of studying and do something more pleasant.  Before I started this assignment I was in a cold sweat thinking about how close the deadline was.  Setting a timer for 25 minutes as featured in this course will get you started.  The talk by Dr. Oakley was especially helpful asw as the video of a student squirming in her seat until she got underway and apparently some of the pain went away.
Here is a good place to show these are not my ideas -  "The Pomodoro Technique" - Wikipedia says Francesco Cirillo developed this time management  technique in the 1980's.  And Professor Oakley in this course focuses on this technique for avoiding procrastination.  Other tips are shown to stay focused on studying.

3 A Collection of My Other Bad Study Habits

 I would re-read the material but in some case this could be "over learning" - italic term  from "Learning How To Learn".  Similarly, reading problem solutions and thinking I could solve the problems on my own.  Wrong!  Big mistake!.  It is much better to look away and come up with a solution.  That is a good time to look at the solution especially if the solution consists of many steps.
Dr. Oakley in the course mentions several techniques that are better :  read and recall instead of re-reading. 

Also emphasized in the course is the importance of sleep.  I could be mistaken but in the early weeks of the course a closeup of neurons show before and after sleep photos - where the neurons connections resemble to me anyway -intertwined trees.  Your neurons are changing branch shapes as you learn.  Your brain i rewiring as you sleep.  Am I wrong or am I right?  You really should sign up for this exciting course and excel at learning and your life.

My final thought:  Stressed throughout this course are terms like "diffused learning" and "focused learning".  In diffused learning your brain is continuing to work on your everyday problems as when you take a walk.  Exercise and sleep.  Important parts of learning and learning well. 

 

 

"How to Negotiate to Achieve Your Goals In the Real World"

Review Of The Book "Getting More"  - How To Negotiate to Achieve Your Goals In the Real World    - reviewed by "Surfer Chris" Garrah

 

Is this Book for You?

Well, from personal experience I have found that the techniques in the book do work.   The author gives many examples of the techniques.  The author says that you should always show respect towards your counterpart.
 The twelve strategies  I have found really do empower you -  they work.
As an alternative, the idea of "blowing up" if you don't get your way I don't recommend. And that is in fact what the book recommends always staying calm and not letting your anger be in control, There is a caveat in the book that the strategies don't apply in situations where a person is being physically abused.
  But they do apply where there is a "hard bargainer."   A key strategy outlined in the book is to hold the other person to their standard that as a company they may have published somewhere but when dealing with you they have not followed.

Other Benefits Of the Book

The book will give you confidence to ask companies to tell you what kind of discounts they have.  Being friendly, repeating the clerk's name and asking about the clerk's life if it presents itself are featured in the book.   I have found that the size of the book or the lengthy title of the book might scare you off.  (The second part of the title is "The 12 Invisible Strategies That Change Everything You Thought You Knew About Negotiating")

Do not let the book scare you!   An excellent course to help you learn the material or any material that you may find a little complex is a free course "Learning How to Learn" at Courser.org.
The book will help everyone.  There are examples in the book of how parents  negotiate with toddlers and win!  Not being a parent myself I can see how negotiating with a screaming child could be terrifying.  But the book gives at least one example that is inspirational.  Because I don't want to infringe on copyright I just indicate that many examples of everyday situations are rampant in the book.

Summary

Here is a book that can really impact your life in a positive way.  When you first try the techniques in the book you may only have read a few of the 12 techniques.  That doesn't matter.  You can always keep building your toolbox from the 12 techniques.  You don't use 12 techniques all at once.  There is an art of deciding what techniques to choose from.  Because there are many examples in the book you can simply plug the example in as you deal with an airline, a child or negotiate with a store clerk.  I found my copy at a thrift store so I can flip through it to try to retain more information .  The author is Stuart Diamond who has taught a Negotiation course at Wharton Business School.  He has advised the UN and the World Bank (these credentials from the book jacket).  The book is a "New York Times Bestseller"

Getting More - the book on Amazon