PP 005: Location Doesn’t Matter: 2 Ways to Create Successfully Wherever You Live
The People Who Care & Want to Discover Your Work Live Online—No Excuses
The only way to have a successful creative career is by moving to a big city where all the action is right?
This is what I grew up believing and it held me back for the longest time to confidently pursue my work. However, I’m here to convince you that location doesn’t matter.
After college, I watched many of my friends travel to big cities such as Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis and California to pursue their careers. I kept seeing success after success while I was stuck trying to find an entry-level graphic design job…..for 3 years.
It was brutal.
I was convinced that there was nothing for me here in Iowa, but I didn’t have the financial resources to move to one of the big cities with private student loans suffocating me.
The feeling of being trapped and the thought of quitting art was top of mind until I started posting my work to this little thing called Instagram back in 2013.
This platform changed my life and is a part of the reason why creatives like you have a shot no matter where you live.
Location doesn’t matter.
Here are 2 massive reasons why you can create a successful career wherever you live.
1. Seek Out Communities
I live in a small town called Cedar Falls, IA. The closest place for me to really mingle with creatives for workshops and meetups is 2 hours away in Des Moines! There are times I feel disconnected when I hear my design friends in New York and California always having a fun event to engage with like-minded creatives.
It sucks; don’t get me wrong, but there’s a way I can brush shoulders with these folks in other ways….
It’s called the internet.
It’s this place full of people who just happen to share the same interests as you–but you have to be proactive and seek them out.
Communities allow you to grow, get feedback, collaborate and build a tribe.
For example, the lettering community is massive on Instagram. I’ve met some of my best friends to date on their as crazy as it seems. If you’re encouraging and reach out to others, that’s all it takes to spark a relationship.
There are communities on Dribbble and even Facebook for all flavors of creatives. You just have to do the work to find them.
The biggest difference for me was stumbling across the Seanwes community. I found it by listening to my friend Sean McCabes, “Seanwes Podcast” which was all about building a sustainable business off the work you love.
It’s a worldwide community full of people who want to help you thrive with encouragement, advice and stellar feedback. I recommend checking into it or at least listen to some of the podcast to see if it’s a fit for you.
2. Access the World with One Click
You live in a golden technology era where it seems every few months there is a new wrinkle that makes connecting with others and sharing your work even easier.
I don’t think you understand how easy you have it–with the click of a button, you can share your creativity with the world.
Granted there is a lot of noise you have to fight through to get discovered, but through consistently sharing quality work, you put yourself one scroll or swipe away from getting discovered.
I actually have a product in the works over at WeeklyContentChecklist.com that will help you strategize a consistent content creation process, but I’ll mention more about this later.
The ability to publish your work to millions of people in niche creative communities is huge!
By stringing together years of consistent work, you’re giving yourself a huge advantage to get noticed. I mean, come on, it’s going to be hard not to have you work eventually stumbled upon.
Imagine what could happen in 5 years if you started today?
Social media can be a curse, but it can also be a blessing for people like you and me to gain confidence and have our work seen.
This can lead to you:
growing your own brand
getting clients
selling your work
The pros significantly outweigh the cons and you can do all of this in the comfort of your own home.
Location doesn’t matter.
No Excuses
There really is no reason why you can’t start building a thriving career exactly where you are today.
The people who are doing what you want to do are online.
The people who can discover your work are online.
You don’t need to move to a big city to have the creative career you desire.
Start sharing your creativity and find like-minded people from the comfort of your own home.
Location doesn’t matter.
Key Takeaways
Communities are out there but you have to be proactive and seek them out.
Communities allow you to grow, get feedback, collaborate and build a tribe.
Through consistently sharing quality work, you put yourself one scroll or swipe away from getting discovered.
With the click of a button, you can share your creativity with the world.
By stringing together years of consistent work, you’re giving yourself a huge advantage to get noticed.
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CREDITS
Music - Blookah
Executive Assistant - Paige Garland
Photo & Video Specialist - Colton Bachar
Social Media Coordinator - Hannah Schick
Animation Specialist - Greg D'Amico