Sometimes a room fills with incredibly creative people and you can’t help but smile. That’s how we felt last Wednesday when Ghostpatrol gave his ten tips in, well, a few more than ten minutes. But we were secretly glad it was a little longer — there was something about his chilled demeanor, humility and beautiful illustrations that inspired everyone on a really deep level. Yeah! See what you missed out on! Everyone had a blast, and we transcended spiritually. Can’t get much more inspirational than that.

It’s no use calling yourself a creative if you don’t make things. We learned that lesson last week. But what to do? Where do you start? “I need briefs!” – Graduate student, 22.  “I need inspiration!” – Artsy Schmartzy Dude, 24.  Bah! You don’t need nuthin’. All you need is to start. If even that’s giving you grief, here’s some suggestions from our resident whip-cracker, Stan.

You don’t need me to tell you that getting a full time creative job takes time. It can take months, even years. Yes years.

But if making a living out of being creative is what you want to do, what you really want to do, then you will get a job. Eventually.

So what can you do in the meantime to put your creativity to good use?

Got an idea for a short film or a TV ad? Get some friends together, grab a video camera and post your work to YouTube. Believe me, it’s easier than you think.
You could start a blog. But there are literally a billion blogs already, so if you start one use your creativity to put together something new, different and uniquely you.
If you enjoy writing, set up a Twitter account. There’s no better way to sharpen your skills than by churning out pithy 140 character bon mots on a regular basis.
Photographers should be regularly posting photos to photography sites. Just be sure to set up an email list and let people know whenever you post new work.

Art directors and designers can get work by offering their services to local businesses. If a handful of shops in your area let you makeover their logo, or design a flyer for them, you’ll quickly fill a folio with real work.

There are loads of ways to put your creative skills to work. And all of them will make you more employable. As long as you understand that getting a job takes time.

If you want to be a creative there’s only one thing to do – create. Make stuff every day. Someone once told us, “There is no right or wrong – only make.” This week Stan does what he does best, reminding us why we’re here and what to do.

So you wanna be a creative do you?
OK then. Tell me what you’ve created this week?
“Well….It’s a bit hard at the moment. Um….I work in a café a couple of afternoons a week, so it’s hard to find the time.”
That, my young friends, is a snippet of a conversation I had this week with a wannabe copywriter who came to show me her folio.
She had a pretty good book to be honest. But It hadn’t really changed since the last time she’d come to see me three months ago.
Which is, to be totally blunt, not bloody good enough.
If you want to be a creative, you must create. Not now and again. Not just on the weekend. You must create whenever and however you can.
You should be constantly adding to your folio. If it stagnates, so too will your chances of getting a job.
So if you’d rather come up with excuses than great ideas, do yourself (and me) a favour and go get a job in an accounting firm.

That’s right folks. It’s days like today that mean we as Australians get the chance to live a pleasurable life. (And if you’re not an Australian, listen up. This goes for you too.) So why not use this opportunity to reflect on the Americans – Our crazy over zealous brethren from the North. Because although they may be crazy and over zealous, they are also very good at raising the bar. Especially on a day of national importance like today. So instead of downing a few stubbies in the backyard, read this post by Stan and reflect on what you might be able to achieve this year.

“It’s never crowded along the extra mile” wrote positive thinking pioneer Wayne Dyer many years ago.

He’s right too.

But if you’re happy to settle for mediocrity, that’s fine by me.

And if you’re the sort of person who thinks that you don’t need to have amazing ideas to succeed in the creative industries, that fine by me too.

I couldn’t care less in fact.

For those of you who are interested in the journey along the extra mile, I’ll leave you with this excerpt from the inauguration speech of Barack Obama. A man who is more than familiar with that sparsely populated stretch of road.

“Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the fainthearted – for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.

Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor — who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.”

You know, there’s this word people use called ‘impossible’. It gets thrown around a lot. Mainly by those more accustomed to talking rather than doing. This week, Stan has a story that challenges the word impossible. Because anytime you hear someone say it, that’s your permission to find a way around it.

My friend Lauren is an artist. She does what she refers to as conceptual installation art.

I’m not exactly sure what that means, but I have seen her work and it is jam packed with ideas. It also makes generous use of the colour red.

Thing is, a lot of what Lauren does can’t be picked up and put on a pedestal or taken home and put in a frame. So how does she fund her arts practice?

By using her creativity.

Drawing and sketching are a key part of her artistic projects. Schematic diagrams, hand drawn layouts, you know the sort of thing.

Smart cookie that she is, Lauren has decided to put those drawing skills to work on raising some much needed funds.

So she created 20 one-off works on paper and priced them at the bargain price of £25 each.

Rather than wasting time with a gallery, she has bypassed the bow-tied middleman and posted all of the works onto a blog. She then publicised them using social-media like Facebook and Twitter.

Which means she gets £25 for each one she sells. Not £15, which is more like what she would get once the gallery took their cut.

Now that’s what I call using your creativity.

Lauren still has a few of her paper works left. So if you’d like to support an emerging Oz artist, why not visit her blog and snap up a bargain before she becomes incredibly famous and successful.