Keeping It Real: The Power of Authenticity in an AI-Driven World

Authenticity is more important than ever in today’s world, especially with artificial intelligence. Recently, I was at a trade show event where another booth had a photo booth, not unusual but it printed out a drawing of the person taking the photo. This was pretty interesting considering I was there to draw caricatures at another booth to attract attention to their booth. What was my competition like? Well, it turned out that it did a pretty good drawing. I was impressed with the drawing that it created but it was missing one thing authenticity! Sure it had the company logo and event name on it, but it didn’t have that personality to draw people in? Our booth was busy all day and the reason was because you had the personality. If the sales people didn’t have something to say I had something to say to keep the guest engaged. You’re drawing based on people and what they want, sometimes it’s multiple people in a picture, or a special relation to their profession. This made it really important for that booth in attracting attention. They had a line and the other booth didn’t, in fact due to the slowness of the printer people had to come back for their pictures and many were left on the table. So how well did the marketing method work?

The AI Caricature

If you’re thinking of using artificial intelligence, there are benefits to using it, I’m not saying don’t use it. It is a great way to increase efficiency and get a helping hand on some of those basic tasks, but don’t let it take over your personality and certainly don’t let it replace you! Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should! In today’s world of social media issues, mental health, and people trying to be authentic, showing your personality in your service or business is going be a sure sign way of making your business successful for the future.

In my opinion, if you’re looking to attract attention to build your business get somebody real and of course the saying is, “Deal with people you like, know, and trust.” It’s very hard to like, know, and trust somebody that’s promoting themselves through artificial intelligence. Use it effectively and efficiently for your business and you will be successful. Good luck on your BRAND.

About the Author

Bruce Outridge has been a media entrepreneur for over a decade helping creative entrepreneurs build successful businesses. He is a professional cartoonist, podcast producer, radio host, and produces two television shows for Your TV. He has been passionate about helping people have successful careers and you can learn more about Bruce and his work at www.bruceoutridge.com

Is Your Business a Trend?

Personal-Growth

Is your business a trend or a stable environment that you can build on? Shiny object syndrome is a real issue for many entrepreneurs, especially when you are trying to build a business for the long haul. It’s important to stay focused on your core business, but also okay to watch for opportunities you may not have thought of for the future.

I recently conducted an interview with an artist from Hamilton about staying the course in her art business. Watch the short video below to find out how she related art to business and the importance of not following trends.

Listen to the full interview here

I like to ask myself three questions when looking at new opportunities:

Will I enjoy doing or selling this particular service or product?

Does it fit with my current business focus?

How long before I decide to keep it permanent or discard it if it is not working?

New opportunities can come out of nowhere and I have tried a lot of things. They may not always make sense to outsiders but I always know where I would like them to go. If they don’t work at least you haven’t veered off your main path too far. Good luck!

About the Author

Bruce Outridge has been a media entrepreneur for over a decade helping creative entrepreneurs build successful businesses. He is a professional cartoonist, podcast producer, radio host, and produces two television shows for Your TV. He has been passionate about helping people have successful careers and you can learn more about Bruce and his work at www.bruceoutridge.com

Is It Time to Cash In On Your Creativity?

Do you have a talent that you would like to do as a career or business? Many people do and find that it can be hard to get started. I was that way to back in 2003 when I started Bruce Outridge Productions. I remember those days doing pet pictures and house portraits wondering if I could build a business from it. I didn’t come from a marketing background or have training in selling art, I was a truck driver that had just become the supervisor of a fleet of trucks at work. I certainly hadn’t planned on becoming a full time artist, but here we are! Since I didn’t know what to do I also didn’t know what I couldn’t do and tried everything in the beginning, maybe that’s why I do so much stuff to this day. All I knew when I started was I had a strong work ethic and if I could find one customer then I could find more and that was enough to start my business. Three years after that I would become a full time professional artist. As they say the rest is history, well maybe not quite.

Back in 2011, five years after going full time as an artist I wrote a book called “How to Start an Artistic Business in 12 Easy Steps to help other artists get started. That transitioned into a podcast called the Cashing in on Creativity Podcast where I interviewed many other artists, musicians, and authors to see how they built their businesses and careers. I have always looked at what other industries are doing to keep themselves marketable and wanted to show that to others. The podcast lasted 6 years and 268 episodes before I put it on hiatus because it was picked up for television. We have restarted the podcast and it is still airing on YourTV in Halton if you want to see the television version.

You may be asking what’s the point of all of this? If you are an artist trying to figure out if working your talent full time can work, the answer is “YES!” It is hard work but can also be very fun and rewarding. How you get there is up to you, but I can tell you where to get some inspiration, starting tips, and examples of people who have done it. You can find the podcast on your favourite podcast platform, our YouTube Page, and on social media. Is it time to CASH IN ON YOUR CREATIVITY? I wish you luck for the future, you can do it!

About Cashing in on Creativity Show

Welcome to Cashing in on Creativity Show where we take your creative talents and show you how to develop them into business ideas. This podcast blends the arts and imagination with entrepreneurship to show you how others have succeeded in their creative business.

Are you an artist, author, musician, or entrepreneur with talent, experience, or a dream? If so this is the show for you. The show features topics, interviews, and ideas to take your creative talents and turn them into profitable ideas. Want to know how a musician takes their love of music and makes a living? How about learning how a cartoonist created a business because he loves to draw? How did that author write their latest book? How does a jewellery maker, photographer or software maker make money with their passion? The show interviews real people actually making money from their creative crafts hopefully inspiring you to do the same.

Enjoy the show! LISTEN HERE

You Get Things Done By Having a Plan as a Creative Entrepreneur

Bruce Outridge

I get asked all the time how I get so much done in my business. As a media company we have many different moving parts to consider and execute on. We have regular weekly podcast episodes to create. We have live radio shows each week to perform, and we have television episodes to create and submit to the station. Add social media, marketing, event coverage and you can see things can get very confusing and out of control very fast. So what is the secret? Batching content and having a schedule for creation, but when do you have time to plan all this content?

Watch the video to find out how to create great content

The solution in the video has worked for me for many years and allows me to focus on creating that content and not worry how much I need to create. If content is part of your marketing plan like it is for us then you can’t stop it when your busy and only do it when slow. You need to create it on a regular basis. Try it and you will see how well it works.

About the Author

Bruce Outridge has been a media entrepreneur for over a decade helping creative entrepreneurs build successful businesses. He is a professional cartoonist, podcast producer, radio host, and produces two television shows for Your TV. He has been passionate about helping people have successful careers and you can learn more about Bruce and his work at www.bruceoutridge.com

Cashing in on Creativity Returns for Season 3 on Your TV – June 2025

I am happy to announce that the Cashing in on Creativity Television Show is returning and begins broadcasting it’s third season on Cogeco / Your TV in the Halton area beginning June 2025. The show will air June to September. Watch for the show on your local Cogeco network.

SEE THE SHOW SCHEDULE HERE

Here are the people featured on the June Shows.

About the Show

Welcome to the Cashing in on Creativity Podcast where we take your creative talents and show you how to develop them into business ideas. This podcast blends the arts and imagination with entrepreneurship to show you how others have succeeded in their creative business. Enjoy the show!