As he is wont to do, Seth Godin wrote a great post a few days ago about what triggers trust. I love the two issues he sees:
- The trustworthy person or organization that fails to understand or take action on the symbols and mysteries that actually lead to trust, and as a result, fails to make the impact they are capable of.
- The immoral person or organization who realizes that it’s possible to be trusted without actually doing the hard work of being trustworthy.
Apply these issues to creative businesses and you have me spinning from the moment I read Seth’s post over the weekend.
Simply, whoever you need to trust you, your art and your creative business has to be able to see themselves in your vision. It does mean they have to want to be like you or even like you for that matter (although it helps), it just means they have to see you as a catalyst for their dreams. Dreams as in what clients hope you will create for them beyond the physical – how you will bring their best selves to life.
You have to know what the triggers are to instill confidence and trust that you appreciate, embrace and can fully articulate their vision in your art. Your portfolio will NEVER, EVER be able to do this work for you. Of course, it is a great start, but only a start.
I am not going to focus on Seth’s second concern – where you can talk the talk but not walk the walk because I am of the (naïve?) opinion that, when it comes to creative business, bad work is ultimately unsustainable. If you bait and switch, are unresponsive, take all of your money up front, you are just begging to get your ass kicked by a creative business that does not. You are just not that good. Nobody is.
Instead, my eye is on those who are unwilling to let clients, employees, colleagues alike find themselves in your answers, your vision, your value. These people I will call the humble egotists. Why? Because they most often talk about what it takes to hire them. Even if the client asks how much do you charge, starting there is the surest way to communicate that only your story matters. If you listen and then talk about why you create the art that you do, what you would hope to create for them, you, of course, are talking about yourself, your art and your creative business, just in a way that allows a client to tell themselves their story in your answers. Subtle it may be, but massive nonetheless. The first kills trust dead, the latter cements the foundation.
No one said running a creative business was easy. It is not hard for the obvious reasons (hours, energy, labor, etc.). Every business has this in common. No, creative business is hard because it demands that you reveal yourself. The work you do might cost a lot of money, but it is not expensive to the right client. If you cannot understand the difference, you have not yet allowed yourself to be exposed – truly judged as to the essence of what you are tasked to create beyond the thing.
The story beyond the image is all that matters. Trust lives there. So must you and your creative business.
