Nikki buechler
Outaouais Jan. 11, 2022
A Business Bootcamp for Artists series started on Tuesday, January 11th. The six week course is hosted by Youth Employment Services, also known as YES Employment – an English-language non-profit organization supporting Quebec residents in their efforts to obtain employment.
The organization also helps entrepreneurial individuals who are starting and growing businesses, as well as . . .
helping individuals develop personalized career or business strategies and equipping them with the skills and confidence needed to achieve their career and business objectives.
YES Artist Coach, Caroline Gauthier, will be leading the majority of the seminars. The experienced art business expert will help artists recognize and develop strategies for tackling the fundamentals of monetizing their creativity and talent.
The introductory seminar will outline the services and resources available to artists and creative entrepreneurs through YES Employment Services, as well as those offered by other arts organizations in the community. “We are imparting practical information through our seminars, but at the same time we are trying to build connections between artists, to bolster the art community in general,” said Kathy Slotsve, Director of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement.
The sessions aim to touch upon the fundamental building blocks of sustaining a career or business as an artist, no matter what discipline or medium. Essentials, such as getting to know the industry, marketing, artist branding, time management, developing relationships with stakeholders, understanding the funding landscape, and essential grant-writing tips will be discussed.
Artists who are looking to monetize their creative endeavors will benefit from many of the industry-specific techniques offered by YES employment. Compared with traditional business ventures, some of the challenges faced by artists are unique and unintuitive, and many budding creators benefit from insight that will allow them to navigate these efforts. For example, writing an artist’s biography and artist statement is challenging for some creators, who aren’t confident as to what they should write.
The second workshop in the series will address this topic, and is designed to help artists understand the objectives and context of descriptive marketing material, and avoid common mistakes when writing about themselves and their art.
Although each session is focused on a specific subject, “we do recommend participants register for and attend all of the sessions,” urged Yoana Turnin, the Provincial Projects Manager. “That said, there are some sessions that people will find relevant, and other topics less so, depending on their personal situations.” She continued: “we are getting more registrants than we were expecting, so it seems we are offering something people need. There are a lot of artists in the Outaouais.”
Despite the popularity of the seminars, Turnin remained optimistic that YES Employment will be able to provide services to anyone who is interested: “even though we have a lot of interest, we will try to accept as many as we can, as long as we feel people are still able to benefit from the workshop,” said Turnin. “We have a lot of programs for people who are interested in starting a business. If people reach out to us, we can help them learn what they need, even if they miss the bootcamp,” she assured.
Over the six week series, it is hoped that participants will acquire practical information designed to help artists feel comfortable marketing themselves using ecommerce and establishing an online presence.
Presenters will discuss different platforms for setting up a website, various ways to sell online, the costs of doing business online, and other endeavors artists often find difficult to approach, such as pricing art, using social media, artist branding, and advertising. The program has been designed to be as comprehensive as possible, and this course is a unique opportunity for local artists to gain insight into how they can market and monetize their talents.
“Our goal is to help individuals who have ideas for business opportunities but feel like they need some entrepreneurial guidance,” said Slotsve. “When we started, we had two streams through which we could offer people assistance: employment services and entrepreneurial support. We added our services for artists because we were discovering there are a lot of artists out there who would benefit from business acumen, but didn’t quite fit with our traditional business startup classes.”
YES Employment has a number of programs available for entrepreneurs, artists and employment seekers. For artists, there are a number of opportunities to receive low-cost coaching and other forms of personalized, practical guidance from industry experts. The Montreal based non-profit offers online and in-person opportunities.
The Bootcamp for Artists series is limited to artists residing in the Outaouais region, as it is a collaborative effort. YES Employment is partnering with two organizations for the Bootcamp: the Regional Association of West Quebecers (RAWQ, https://www.westquebecers.ca/) and the 100 Mile Arts Network (https://www.100milearts.net/).
Anyone interested in registering for the course is encouraged to visit YES Employment Services to peruse their extensive catalogue detailing available services and upcoming classes and educational opportunities.
Artists and entrepreneurs who are unable to attend, but wish to access comparable material through other courses or personalized coaching are encouraged to discover the wide range of services on offer: sessions,https://yesmontreal.ca/yes-employment-entrepreneurship-program-book/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=general-staffwinterprogrambook-email&utm_content=en
