Hey there Mr./Ms. Creative. How are your social skills?
Think you can get by on raw talent? Think your agent, rep, manager or business partner is going to take care of that fluffy customer-facing stuff so you can be a reclusive artist, camera-hider-behinder? Think again. Like it or not, the feeling you’ve been feeling all along is becoming more pronounced. Call it unfair, call it fake, call it whatever you want, but as the world becomes more connected socially, the bias toward socially connected individuals and groups is continuing to serve out the prophecy…social skillz help pay the billz.
While geographic location clearly means a lot for earning more, growing faster, and reaping the rewards of a larger network–ie. being a professional creative located in LA, NYC, London, etc–, recent article in The Atlantic by Richard Florida (author of Rise of the Creative Class
Highly developed social skills … including persuasion, social perceptiveness, the capacity to bring the right people together on a project, the ability to help develop other people, and a keen sense of empathy…are quintessential leadership skills needed to innovate, mobilize resources, build effective organizations, and launch new firms. They are highly complementary to analytic skills [read: your technical abilities as a photographer]…and indeed, the very highest-paying jobs usually require exceptional skill in both realms.
So are you prepared to get a lot more social and heighten your chances at success?
So true, an open minded (web- & offline) socially active creative just reaches out more naturally. And I think this can even easily beat the advantage of being in one of the metropoles you mentioned (or not). All skillsets are key!
Another great post Chase. I just recently got into photography (little over a year ago) and am still having trouble figuring out what exactly I love to photograph. Due to the fact I am in the USAF I find it hard to find time to set up a photo shoot. It has been hard for me to find anyone to even shoot. Due to these restrictions I had no choice but to turn toward social media to find someone. In my search I came across a small local Parkour group to photograph. One flash and available light I cannot wait to see what I can produce. I am a big believer in networking however, I have always been to scared to put myself out there. Thanks to this and previous post of your I am excited about this and other projects that come do to networking.
-Arron
Hello Chase,
Thank you for the push (so to speak). I am actually in the process of becoming more social :). At the moment, it seems like an extremely daunting task, but I am taking the first step today. I will worry about tomorrow … tomorrow.
Thanks again!
Here’s a start to a more social me : Whatttupp Chase and the team, all the way from Asia – the Philippine Islands! Your blog and photos are awesome and most inspiring!
Love it. Thanks Chase, as always, for challenging and sharing.