The North East Business and Innovation Centre are pleased to announce a series of free practical workshops designed for creative businesses.
Melanie Shee, Shee’s Creative Industries Consultancy and Training
1. Setting up a Creative Business – 27th May 10-3.30pm
Looking to go freelance or start your own creative business?
2. Marketing your Creative Business – 3rd June 10-3.30pm
Explore how to reach your customers and promote your products or services.
3. Costing and Pricing your Work – 9th June 10-3.30pm
Help identify the types of costing you may incur in your business
4. Using Social Media for your Creative Business – 16th June 10-3.30pm
Introduction to social explore how to build your online presence.
5. Networking – 26th June 12.30pm-3.30pm
Making contacts is the key to success.
Delivering these workshops is Melanie Shee a creative practitioner with over ten years in the creative industry. The BIC caught up with Melanie to find out more. “These workshops are not only for established creative businesses and freelancers but also for those starting up.
“Two years ago I made the decision to set up on my own business and established Shee’s Creative Industries Training and Consultancy and I know first-hand the benefits as well as the challenges that come with being a self-employed freelancer.”
Melanie is a creative industries specialist with a wide range of qualifications offering professional standards, training and business support for the creative and cultural sector, nationally and regionally. She discovered her entrepreneurial spirit at college.
“Whilst at Art College I set up and ran an incubator space for graduates and alumni, as well running a shop selling handmade designer good with over 60 sellers.
“I am also the Skills Academy Network North East Manger for Creative & Cultural Skills, an organisation representing businesses and organisations from performance, live events, music, visual arts, design, literature, craft and cultural heritage, who are all committed to working with young people to help them get into creative career. It gives young people opportunities to work and learn in the creative industries, to ensure that employers benefit from a skilled generation of talent and helps those creative industries continue on a course of economic growth.”
Joining Melanie on the workshops are creative practitioners Eyv Saunders and Grant Brydon.
“Eyv is a designer and educator based in the North East, specialising in interior textiles, floor coverings and surface pattern. In addition to running her own creative business Eyv also works in Higher Education, passing on knowledge of the creative sector to undergraduates to inform their future careers. Her work is currently on show as part of `Creativity Is Great’ – an exhibition to promote the achievements of leading British artists selected by The British Council, at the British Consulate in New York City.
“Grant Brydon is a journalist and blogger specialising in hip-hop and new music. He is currently the online music editor at RWD Mag, the UK’s biggest youth lifestyle magazine, and hip-hop editor at award winning music magazine, Clash. As well as writing, he also has a background in marketing, having run a small PR business called Fiend Digital which helped new independent artists to begin thinking strategically about releases and make their first steps into the music industry, as well as helping a few more established acts to advance their brand in the online world. He is currently working towards the launch of a brand new print publication which is set for release later this year.
“I look forward to seeing you at these informal workshops.”
