LEVEL UP YOUR CRAFT
Courses from your favorite creators to help you learn new skills, improve your creative mindset, and build more resilient creative businesses.
Learn the essential principles that create a foundation for a successful creative business.
Start mastering your business finances, marketing, sales, and more.
Everything you need to take incredible images and grow your photography business.
Everything You Need To Know To Start Creating Your Own Hand-Lettering Works Of Art!
By the end of this class, you will be what I like to call a “self-reliant lettering artist” meaning that you will have all the tools and the knowledge to confidently go forward to create work that is unique, beautiful, meaningful & well-designed.
In times of chaos and uncertainty, the businesses that survive and come out stronger on the other end are those with a strong foundation. In this course, we'll start building that foundation for YOUR creative business.
Learn How To Discover, Create, And Share Your Work With The World (and make a little money in the process) Without Fear Or Procrastination In The Next 30-90 Days
Take your creative, artistic passion full time. Learn to create assets that make money while you sleep, master the business side of your craft, and grow a business that gives you the independence, fulfillment, and success that you've been working for
Learn how to do an every day makeup look (and even add some drama for special events or a night out) from professional makeup artist Katie Livingston
(1) 5.0 average ratingGet The Two Makers Academy Courses - Create a Product and Launch a Kickstarter
Start learning songwriting, and learn how to play any song on the radio on the piano from singer-songwriter Faith Marie.
A mini-course on turning a text into a complete, published choral composition.
More information is great, but only if you take action in the right places based on that new knowledge.
Our courses are curated and produced to not just give you more knowledge, but to help you get the outcomes you want in your creative life and business.
Courses for Creatives to help them get the skills to craft their work and share it with the world
Curated and Produced to get you results, not just more information. The goal is to direct artists and creatives on how to build better businesses.
A Proven System used by creatives and business owners to create their best work and live their creative life on their terms
(Manifesto)
Creators come in many forms - writers, filmmakers, musicians and songwriters, producers, photographers, storytellers, creative business owners, and artists of all sorts - anyone who brings something new into existence.
To use their heart and mind and talent and desire to produce something that only they could make.
Anyone who feels the pull to create, whether as a professional, amateur, or hobbyist -
- at their kitchen table
- in their office
- in their studio
- in their bedroom
- outside
- anywhere, anytime, in any way possible
Creating work they are proud of, that serves their audience or their clients, or even just themselves.
The creator believes that their art, their craft, is a calling.
Inside this group of creators is a smaller subset known as Craftsmen (and craftswomen).
They care as much about the process as they do the outcome.
The work comes first, and the pull to create motivates them. Fame or fortune comes as a result of the work, the execution, the focus on their craft.
We Create Craftsmen.
Craftsmen care about work that is an extension of themselves, not just another commodity for a crowded marketplace.
Art, to them, requires craft, not outsourcing or drop shipping or fans or followers.
They don’t need accolades or recognition in order to be a creative. The process of doing the work every day is the only qualifier.
Writers write.
Photographers take photos.
Creators create.
Doing the work is the only metric they measure themselves by. They are professional, whether in action or in compensation.
They are creators, not just creatives.
They know that success follows the work, rather than being the driving force.
They seek to serve through their art, not be served by it. It’s a part of who they are, not a facade for the masses.
Being seen as a creative person is an empty pursuit compared to the fulfillment and the pride of doing the work and creating art that is for someone or some purpose.
If you’re a creative, driven to do the work and create things that only you can create, you’re in the right place.
Welcome.
Here, we help creatives become creators, and we help them craft the life that they truly want.
It’s easy to get stuck at different points in our lives.
A new job takes precedence and demands much more of our time.
We confronted the fear a few too many times, and the most recent attempt at something knocked us down and now we’re questioning if our dreams are possible anymore.
Staying in that place is not an option.
We help creatives get unstuck, wherever they are in their lives.
We start by focusing on the mindset.
Regaining control allows us to then focus on the work - on making something - because the best way to overcome fear and pain is through results.
Getting back to the craft helps us recenter and refocus on our work.
From there, a Craftsman’s potential is unlimited, because they know they are capable of anything, as long as the take action and do the work.
Then, the world begins to be pulled toward them.
They already possess everything they need to succeed, so now they are giving and serving, not seeking and getting.
We have to create in order to be truly living, and we help get creatives back to their craft so that they can live life to the fullest.
To have joy, to have fulfillment, to be their true selves.
The purpose of art is to share a part of ourselves that can’t be expressed any other way.
That’s the true driving force of a Craftsman creative. To contribute in a way that only a craftsman can.
It’s easy to be “seen” as a creative these days.
Slap a few photos on Instagram, go live on FB in your new home studio, whip up a quick website to start selling something online that someone else made.
There is certainly a place for that in the market, and there are even some that have found a way to do it nobly, with pride and with a focus on serving a need.
But then there are those who use every tactic they can find online to game the system, race to millions of dollars and millions of views and millions of followers.
No thanks.
That’s not us.
We don’t care about size and scale and growth without purpose.
We seek small, tiny even.
The company of one mantra resonates much deeper than building a funnel, hacking anything, or thinking in terms of 10X.
We’re proud of the work we create, not the numbers we’ve manufactured.
We choose to pursue our craft because it’s an extension of who we are, not because of fame or fortune.
The world needs more creators and fewer influencers.
So we choose to create, for ourselves, and for those we seek to serve.
If our craft does grow because of our effort, our work, our tribe, we hang on to the relationships and optimize for human interaction, not EBITDA or ROI or how we look to investors.
Seth Godin champions this mentality perfectly:
We seek the smallest viable audience.
We don’t market to everyone, but to the one.
We really only need a thousand true fans to have a business that supports our work and our lives.
We need to find a small handful of people who care, who resonate, the “people like us”.
We seek to become someone who cares enough to be meaningful to a few, rather than someone who interrupts anyone they can through an ad and an algorithm.
Craftsman Creative was created to serve people like you, people who care - about others, about the work, about the impact.
After 15 years as a professional creative, and seeing how many creatives were struggling with how to actually create, to do the work, to build a business, to craft a life of their dreams, the focus expanded to be able to serve.
We believe there is clarity to be found, answers to your deepest questions and doubts, and ways to craft your own creative life.
OUR MISSION: to turn creatives into creators. We start with the creator, helping with their psychology and mindset, which allows them to start doing the work.
The greatest antidote to fear and doubt and procrastination is results. We take action and create a single project that we 100% control, and we do it in a matter of weeks or months, not years.
If you have struggled with starting or completing or sharing your creative project, start here.
From there we provide both group and one-on-one coaching for those ready to take the next step.
And when you feel compelled to turn your craft into a business, whether a side gig or full-time work, we have a course (coming) that will help with that as well.
We create products that serve those that are in it to serve others, not just themselves. The creatives who seek to be craftsmen, to be creators.
If that’s you, we’re glad you’re here. Have a look around our blog, our courses, our coaching, or reach out and say hello. We read all of our emails.
Welcome to Craftsman Creative.
Daren Smith
Group coaching options for creatives ready to accelerate their creative journey
Access to the private group coaching Facebook Group Weekly calls that include Q&A, walkthroughs, additional course training, live feedback, and more. Engage with dozens of other course students that have or are currently taken the course.
Weekly One-On-One Coaching Calls Personalized to your project, your situation, your needs, and your goals. Continue for as long as needed.
Business Results Coaching For Leaders Of Creative Small Businesses