Here's the full-length parody from Season 6 Episode 2 - How to find a profitable niche.
How can you use the Creative Freedom Business Model equation to help you find your niche - even if you don't have a lot of data to determine if your niche is profitable yet? Find out when you tune in to Season 6 Episode 2 of the Creative freedom Show!
The podcast takes a deep-dive look at Katy and Shania Twain to show you how to carve out your own profitable niche in your industry. BOTH of them came from a musical world that was different than the one they ended up in. It required a little patience and courage to make the jump... and it made all the difference.
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
"There are worse things I could do than niching" is a parody of "There are worse things I could do", originally recorded by Stockard Channing for the movie Grease. Parody lyrics by Lisa Robbin Young.
As part of Season 6 of Creative Freedom, we decided to take our parodies to a new level. Here's the full-length parody from Episode 1.
How do you build a business that lets you stay true to yourself - you know, without selling out? That's what Season 6 Episode 1 of the Creative freedom Show is all about!
T.A.D.A. is an acronym we developed to help you listen to what's really on your heart and bring yourself and your business into alignment (or back into alignment) with what's true for you. Check out the show episode to learn more.
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
"Be True to Yourself" is a parody of "Be Good to Yourself", originally recorded by Journey. Parody lyrics by Lisa Robbin Young.
This week we’re going to focus on brand visibility, but not until I tell you a story about Marvin the rooster. That’s right, a neighbor’s stray rooster is going to teach the importance of brand visibility for your company.
After the recent storms in Mississippi, Marvin has been seen strolling up and down our quiet neighborhood street, stopping traffic, blocking our driveway, and waking me up with his obnoxious crowing at 3am every day this week.
I always know where he is because he’s got an unmistakable sound. There’s another rooster somewhere else in the neighborhood who doesn’t crow nearly as often, and I can tell them apart.
Yes, Marvin has branded himself, and it feels like he is EVERYWHERE in my life right now. I can’t get away from him. Even when I chase him off, he’s right back a few hours later.
So... how do we grow brand awareness as a creative entrepreneur? It’s all about showing up consistently to your target audience and having a great logo that draws people in and creates an impact.
As I mentioned in my last episode, consistency and frequency are not always the same thing. No, you can’t just post one youtube video and call it a day - but you don’t have to post multiple times a day either.
It really boils down to finding a rhythm you can commit to for a while, mapping out your visibility strategy - and yes, we’ve got a downloadable in the Rising Tide Learning Library to help you with that.
This episode walks you through finding a rhythm you can commit to for a while and mapping out your visibility strategy.
Check out the show to get started.
Inside this episode, we're talking about:
Rising Tide community members can login and access your free downloads here.
Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for the Rising Tide, you also get email updates, the FREE learning library, and access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and more!
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
"How I'll Remind You" is a parody of "How You Remind Me", originally recorded by Nickelback. Parody lyrics by Lisa Robbin Young.
Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
In this week’s dose of empowerment for creative entrepreneurs, I’m keeping my word. Last time, I told you we’d dig into how to build a sustainable marketing strategy for your business. It begins with knowing your stories, so before we go any further, be sure to download your copy of the mini workbook inside the Rising Tide learning library that accompanies this episode. Think of it like a study guide that’s going to help you make your content marketing plans go a whole lot faster from here on out.
Let’s also address the elephant in the room when it comes to creating content and then marketing said content: Burnout. Decision fatigue, and the sheer volume of tasks that have to be done to create and promote that content.
Too many folks have equated consistency with frequency - myself included. But they are NOT the same thing!
So how do you develop a profitable, sustainable marketing strategy that doesn’t lead to burn out? The good news is that it’s totally possible.
This episode shares 3 sustainable business practices that help to pull you out of the content hustle and step into the creative freedom you crave.
As a friendly reminder - this month I’m leading the Cashflow Creator workshop - a small group intensive where we take a long hard look at your business model. You know: You + why + who + what + how. All things that will help bring the tips from this episode to life for your business!
Check out the show to learn more.
Inside this episode, we're talking about:
Rising Tide community members can login and access your free downloads here.
Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for the Rising Tide, you also get email updates, the FREE learning library, and access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and more!
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
"The Content Hamster Wheel" is a parody of "Running Just To Catch Myself", originally recorded by Mark Schultz. Parody lyrics by Lisa Robbin Young.
Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
In today’s dose of empowerment for Creative Entrepreneurs, we’re getting tactical and practical. By that, I mean, we’re looking at your planning for your business. Now, I don’t mean business plans - which I believe are mostly useless for creative entrepreneurs who aren’t looking for external funding. There’s a much simpler and easier way to do them - which we’ll talk about in a future episode.
Instead, I’m talking about strategic planning and goal-setting for your business.
I know. I know. It’s March, and I hear you saying, “Lisa. Why are we talking about goal setting and planning now, when the year has already started?
Because if you’re like some creatives I know, you’re still in recovery from 2020, which was a hell of a ride in more ways than one.
The end of Q1 is hot on your heels here in March, so it's a GREAT time to reflect and re-set for the remainder of the year if you've already done your annual planning. OR, you can get your year in gear now and set yourself up to be on track for the rest of 2021.
This episode shares 5 tips to help you get your strategic business planning done for the next 12 months - whenever the year begins for you!
Check out the show to learn more.
Inside this episode, we're talking about:
Rising Tide community members can login and access your free downloads here.
Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for the Rising Tide, you also get email updates, the FREE learning library, and access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and more!
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
"Your Breakout Year" is a parody of "Breakout", originally recorded by Swing Out Sister. Parody lyrics by Lisa Robbin Young.
Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
We started talking about business models in our last episode. Don't let your eyes glaze over because whether you like it or not, you've already GOT a business model. So, it's important for you to have a better understanding of how they work and - more importantly - which business models are best for your creative entrepreneur type.
This week, we're taking a closer look at how each creative entrepreneur type can take advantage of these different business models. Sure, you can have any business model you want, but each creative type needs to focus on doing business in a way that's in alignment with their strengths.
That's what we're looking at in this episode.
The podcast "deep dive" this week shares an example of how a Chaotic Creative can transition from a product-based business model to one that is more profitable and capitalizes on the boutique nature of a high-touch, personalized business.
Check out the show to learn more.
Inside this episode, we're talking about:
Rising Tide community members can login and access your free downloads here.
Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for the Rising Tide, you also get email updates, the FREE learning library, and access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and more!
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
"Do What Comes Natural" is a parody of "Natural", originally recorded by Imagine Dragons. Parody lyrics by Lisa Robbin Young.
Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
We have gotten such great feedback on the new season of Creative Freedom! Thank you! If you haven't seen the first episode yet, what are you waiting for?
Close your eyes for a minute and think about Katy Perry - you know, the strong-willed, powerhouse vocalist behind Roar and Firework. See her in all her glory.
Okay, now that you've got that image in your head, try to imagine her singing her edgy songs about... Jesus.
Yeah. I know. That was weird, right?
Well, Katy Perry started her singing career as a Christian artist. SERIOUSLY! She signed a record deal and released her first album in 2001 as "Katy Hudson" - her real name, btw.
It flopped. It took 7 years of trial and error before her second album made it to the airwaves and made Katy the candy-coated pop star we know today.
Whether you love her or hate her, she's got an amazing brand that's immediately recognizable in a niche that's unlike anyone else in the industry.
Wanna know how you can do the same thing?
This week, the podcast takes a deep-dive look at Katy and Shania Twain to show you how to carve out your own profitable niche in your industry. BOTH of them came from a musical world that was different than the one they ended up in. It required a little patience and courage to make the jump... and it made all the difference.
Check out the show to learn more.
Inside this episode, we're talking about:
Rising Tide community members can login and access your free downloads here.
Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for the Rising Tide, you also get email updates, the FREE learning library, and access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and more!
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
"Worse Things" is a parody of "There are worse things I could do", originally recorded by Stockard Channing for the motion picture "Grease". Parody lyrics by Lisa Robbin Young.
Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
We are FINALLY back with a new season of Creative Freedom!
It has been a journey to get here, but this season is shaping up to be the best so far. We've also got a new feature this season - music videos! It's something I've been wanting to play with for a while, and I'm still scared out of my mind about doing them. I think it takes the opening to a new level, though, so I'd love to hear YOUR thoughts.
If you've only been listening to the podcast or watching just the video show, you're not getting the full meal dealio. I mean, the topics are usually the same, but we also do things that are unique to each format. We go deeper on the podcast, with more examples than we can squeeze into the video show. But the video show gives us a place to have more fun with the musical elements.
And, I haven't abandoned my writing roots, either! Since our last episode aired, I've added a bunch of posts on the blog - stuff that will never appear in on the show!
Why do I do this to myself? One, I'm a Fusion creative, which means I like to do a lot of different things. But also, we have a pretty diverse audience, and I want to do what I can to reach you where you're at. SO... we do a lot to bring you insights and inspiration in a variety of ways.
I'm also looking at bringing back the live Q&A. I know. I know. I don't recommend that everyone do #AllTheThings - especially not at the start. But as long as it's still fun for me, we're going to keep at it!
We kick off this season with a look at how to build a business that's true to you. You know... a business that keeps you from selling your soul! How do we do that?
T.A.D.A. - An acronym we developed to help you listen to what's really on your heart and bring yourself and your business into alignment (or back into alignment) with what's true for you.
Check out the show to learn more.
Inside this episode, we're talking about:
Rising Tide community members can login and access your free downloads here.
Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for the Rising Tide, you also get email updates, the FREE learning library, and access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and more!
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
"Be True To Yourself" is a parody of "Be Good To Yourself", originally recorded by Journey. New lyrics by Lisa Robbin Young.
Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
This is bonus episode 5 in an unscripted series of lessons learned from 25 years as a creative entrepreneur. You're getting 4 big lessons in a single episode as I gear up to lead you through the Fix This Next methodology. Can ya handle it?
President Eisenhower was right: plans are useless, but planning is everything. That said, you can't control the outcome, you can only influence it by what you do and what you choose not to do. Remember, too, that your goal isn't always THE goal, and if you want to achieve it, you need to be consistent. Consistency isn't sexy, but it works.
Rising Tide community members can login and access your free downloads here.
Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for the Rising Tide, you also get email updates, the FREE learning library, and access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and more!
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
First, I'm super thrilled to announce that I'm now a fully licensed and certified Fix This Next coach and I'm booking assessments now. I mention this now because it's a huge celebration, but also because it's relevant to this week's episode. When you can pinpoint the biggest issue in your business, you can fix it sooner and get your business back on track. That's what Fix This Next can do for you. Schedule your Fix This Next assessment today and get the clarity you need to grow your creative enterprise.
“If you can avoid just a few of the biggest, most crucial mistakes that I’ve made, then success is going to come much easier.” Said Shravan Gupta.
Okay, on with the show. This is bonus episode four in a series of unscripted "lessons learned" from 25 years as a creative entrepreneur.
One of the hardest lessons I learned was this: No one is coming to save you. You're a business owner, and you need to act like one. If you don't like the way the system works, the only way to change it is from the inside. In this episode, I'll take you behind the scenes in my biggest business failure and share how I turned it around.
You'll also see examples from Apple, Denise Duffield-Thomas, and Leonie Dawson, to show you why you need to take control of your business and act like a business owner if you want it to grow - and how growing for growth's sake is only going to make you miserable.
Rising Tide community members can login and access your free downloads here.
Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for the Rising Tide, you also get email updates, the FREE learning library, and access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and more!
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
This is bonus episode two in a series of unscripted "lessons learned" from 25 years as a creative entrepreneur. Your business is NOT the Field of Dreams. If you built it, ya gotta market it or people ain't coming - or BUYING!
At the core, marketing is sharing your message with an interested audience. But what's that message? And where do you find an interested audience? That's what we're looking at in this episode! You'll also hear about some real-world marketing examples and my "SIMPLE" framework for marketing and launching your offers.
Rising Tide community members can login and access your free downloads here.
Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for the Rising Tide, you also get email updates, the FREE learning library, and access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and more!
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Firstly, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope 2020 is as amazing for you as it has already been for me. I just celebrated my 45th birthday, and the entire weekend was superb. Then, on Monday, Charlie and the gang at Productive Flourishing published my guest post about the 25 lessons I've learned from 25 years in business. Some of them I'll be sharing in future episodes, but if you want the whole list, go check out Charlie's blog!
This is Episode Two in a series of unscripted conversations I'm hosting on the podcast between seasons. This episode shares one of the first principles I started teaching to direct sellers when I first became a coach: The most important "product" that your company has to offer is you. No matter where you go, there you are, on display for the world to see, and if you represent a business, that's part of the reputation of the company.
It's just as true today for creative entrepreneurs as it is for direct sellers. In a world where there are lots of people doing things similar to you, the truth is that YOU are the competitive advantage your business relies on most. As the face of your company, you were what your audience is buying into every time they make a buying decision. This week's bonus episode fills in the details and helps you get a handle on it even further. You'll also get a peek into my business and see what's been working, what hasn't, and how we're re-tooling for 2020
Rising Tide community members can login and access your free downloads here.
Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for the Rising Tide, you also get email updates, the FREE learning library, and access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and more!
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Firstly, to those of you celebrating it, MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope Santa brought you everything you wanted this year.
I debated back and forth about launching a Christmas episode, but here we are. This is Episode One in a special bonus podcast-only series I've created to share the most important lessons I've learned over the past 25 years. Yep. I've been an online entrepreneur for over 25 years now - back when the World Wide Web was a new-fangled thing and the Internet itself was a young upstart, barely old enough to drink.
A lot has changed in the past two and a half decades. Ideas have come and gone, money was made and lost, businesses opened and closed. I was there through all of it - and learned quite a few lessons along the way.
This episode talks about the single most important lesson I've learned in my 25 years online - how your mindset is more important than the mechanics of being a creative entrepreneur... and how to set yourself up for success.
Rising Tide community members can login and access your free downloads here.
Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for the Rising Tide, you also get email updates, the FREE learning library, and access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and more!
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Okay, I gotta rant a little. There's nothing that grates my toast more than the phrase "EPIC CONTENT" (be sure to say it like you're announcing a monster truck rally this Sunday-Sunday-SUNDAYYY!)
In the final regular episode of Season 5, I'm going OFF about how this phrase "create epic content" has become synonymous with "if you can't make something that goes viral, then don't do anything at all" - which is a trap that either keeps you stuck on a hamster wheel of content creation in your creative business or paralyzed by perfectionism to the point of doing nothing at all.
Instead, I'm going to show you an easy way to share engaging, meaningful content with your audience on the regular on any platform. And you don't even have to create it all. In fact, if you want to have a life, you probably shouldn't!
THAT, to me, is what epic content creation is all about!
December is content creation month at Creative Freedom HQ. I'm leading a series of workshops to help you plan AND create your content for 2020. Be sure to sign up for email updates to get advance notice of the next one!
Rising Tide community members can login and access your free downloads here.
Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for the Rising Tide, you also get email updates, the FREE learning library, and access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and more!
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
As a creative entrepreneur, you've got LOTS of ideas. How do you keep track of them all? Can they even be managed? How do you decide which ideas to pursue, and which ones to table for later (or even give away to someone else)?
You're in luck because this week I'm sharing some useful tools and resources to help you organize your ideas and get clear on what you're going to move on now, and what can wait. You'll be able to end the distractions and stay focused!
Rising Tide community members can login and access your free downloads here.
Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for the Rising Tide, you also get email updates, the FREE learning library, and access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and more!
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
Music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
You've probably heard the phrase "riches in niches" more times than you care to count. As a creative entrepreneur, finding a niche can feel challenging if you don't solve a "problem" or "pain" with your Great Work.
That's why I don't support the idea of looking for a pain to solve, but instead, looking at core values - which are a clearer indicator of why clients buy from you (and keep buying from you for years to come). In this episode, I'm stealin' a process from the manufacturing world to help you hone in on why clients buy from you and how to find more clients just like 'em.
Rising Tide community members can login and access your free downloads here.
Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for the Rising Tide, you also get email updates, the FREE learning library, and access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and more!
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
Music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
If you're a heart-centered creative entrepreneur struggling with pricing, there's good news: you don't have to subsist on a survival-level income, and you don't have to price gouge your clients in order to be successful. There's a middle ground that's profitable and sustainable.
Your pricing tells a story, and it's personal. For creative entrepreneurs there is no topic more in need of a mindset shift than pricing. Pricing is more than just materials + time. It's about your pricing mythology, your audience expectations, and other considerations that we'll run through in this episode.
P.S. Tickets for the 2020 Creative Freedom Retreat go on sale soon! We're going to NOLA, baby! Make sure you're on my email list to be one of the first to know more!
Rising Tide community members can login and access your free downloads here.
Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for the Rising Tide, you also get email updates, the FREE learning library, and access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and more!
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
Music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Have you ever watched Cake Boss? They make some pretty amazing cakes, and my youngest has recently become fascinated with every cooking show on Netflix he can find, including that one.
I'm no Cake Boss, but I love my kids.
So when it comes to birthdays, I do my best to give my kids the cake they most want. Sometimes, when it's clearly beyond my skill, I get help:
My friend has mad cake skills, and she once made my youngest this fun Angry Birds cake. The grass alone would have put me in the loony bin.
But this year, my youngest wanted a lego cake - which he, of course, designed using legos:
At first blush, it looked simple enough for me to tackle. Four "bricks" layered on and around one larger "brick" in a quasi "L" shape (because "Liam" starts with "L" after all). I used graph paper. I measured. I planned, and I baked the hell outta this cake. I bought three cake mixes and two cans of frosting, just to be sure I had enough of everything, in case I screwed up and had to do it again. I even started making the cake two days before his birthday - JUST to be sure.
A half sheet cake and 2 dozen miniature muffins later, I thought I had this in the bag.
Until I didn't.
Making the cake part was easy. Mix and bake. Cutting the cake into bricks went pretty smoothly, too. I froze the whole lot to make sure of it. I remembered the LAST time I made a lego cake, and how I thought it would be easy, but it didn't quite turn out according to plan:
So this time, I took it out of the pan, froze it, and that made it SO much easier to level and frost.
But then there were those blasted studs. The lego cake two years ago was a pain to frost between the studs... and this time the studs would be smaller!
I figured that mini muffins would work well, since the last time we used regular cupcakes. But the minis were too wide, and I couldn't get six of them on the bottom layer.
Then I had this seemingly brilliant idea - I have a small petit-four cutter that I could use to cut the cupcakes into perfectly shaped studs!
Hooray!
Except the cake was so light and fluffy that they kept falling apart.
Crap.
So then I had another seemingly brilliant idea - what if I dipped the cake studs in chocolate? That should firm them up, yes?
No.
Even frozen, the fluffy tubes of cake kept spinning on the dipping stick. So I just plunged one into the chocolate, and it disintegrated in the warm puddle of chocolatey goo.
Double Crap.
I looked for suggestions on how to frost the studs on a lego cake... and got all kinds of explanations telling me I was doing it wrong.
People were using brownies, peanut butter cups - pretty much everything except cake.
And all I had were these crumbling pieces of cake. I had to make ten studs, and I'd already lost seven of my mini cupcakes. I was starting to panic.
Okay, I was, in fact, getting angry. So angry, that I scraped up all the chocolatey cake glop and poured it out onto wax paper, trying to figure out what the bleep I was going to do. I grabbed the wounded cupcake remains - shot clean through by the cutter - and started squishing and squeezing them, generally being pissed off at the world.
The chocolate and cake started to form this dough-like substance. I'm told this is something like how cake balls are made.
So I took my doughy-chocolate-cake-ball glop, packed it down into the petit-four mold, then I stuck it in the freezer for a minute or three.
Voila! A perfectly hard chunk of cake-stuff that wasn't going to be a beeotch to frost! Now I could proceed with the crumb coat!
I frosted and froze each layer independently, then assembled everything once the crumb coat was on. I'd like to say that was my first mistake, but if you've read this far, you know better. I really should have frosted each layer separately and then assembled the darn thing after all the frosting was completed. But since I'm not a cake boss, and I was building this whole thing from a lego design, I, of course, built it the same way my kid built the original plan.
Only problem is, cakes don't interlock the way legos do.
When we cut into it today, we'll have to avoid the mine field of wooden skewers and toothpicks that are deftly holding this creation in an upright and locked position.
But it's assembled. I even managed to frost it (in multiple colors) without killing myself. Although I ended up sending the husband out for another tub of frosting because I didn't have enough to put on the final white coat or finish the blue layer.
I managed to finish last night, just in time for him to see it before he went to school this morning.
Here's the finished product:
It leans a little The layers aren't perfect. If you look really closely, there are a couple of spots behind the blue studs where the white crumb coat still shows because I couldn't get in there to frost it without screwing up the green. On the other side, there's a small gap between the yellow and white frosted layers. And the size of the studs make it look more like a set of Duplo blocks than Legos, but you know what? My kid thinks it's fantastic, so I am completely happy with it.
"Exactly 10 studs showing, Mom! Nice job. And you used strong brick connections, just like a real Lego build!"
Dude. I just followed your design. I changed the colors a bit (I was NOT making grey frosting. Ick.), but other than that, this is your design, kid.
And that's the reality of being a mom - it's not about me. Sure, I want it to be perfect and measure up to the original idea, but my definition of perfect and his are entirely different. Maybe his bar is set too low, but maybe mine is set too high - on a lot of things.
So, too, is this the journey of every creative entrepreneur. We get an idea, and even the best laid plans don't always mean our project will turn out perfectly... far from it, usually. You can plow a lot of money into hiring a great team to support a project and still get lousy results (like Langley's government-backed team of experts trying to get an airplane off the ground). You might even run out of frosting - er, I mean, resources - mid way through the project. But still you plow through.
So if it's not about money, or planning, or even a great idea, what is it really about?
Oh, I know it sounds all cliche and Pollyanna, but the reality is that love - not passion - is what keeps you going on projects like this. I have no passion for making cakes, but I love my kid. You love your fans, and you're creating for them. You love the act of creating, so you're creating for you. And the problems that come up along the way are just the hurdles you have to navigate - they're part of the journey. Never once while I was making this cake did I threaten to quit. I did threaten to throw the cake across the room and start over a couple of times with those blasted studs, but I wasn't about to quit.
Why?
Because my kid matters. Because bringing him joy matters. Because bringing his creation to life matters to me. Showing him you can take an idea and make it a reality is important to me. It's a lesson I want him to learn now, while he's young, so that he can take it with him into the world when he becomes a creative entrepreneur in his own right.
Because the sooner you learn that it's never about you (and yet, it's all about you), the sooner you realize that all the external measures of success don't mean squat. It's only ever been about your fans, and deepening your connection with them. It's only ever been about finding your joy and sharing that joy with the world.
Those studs are the best part of the cake, in my opinion. Because that's where my heart and soul are. That's the part I had to figure out. That's the part that challenged me and gave me an opportunity to grow - not just as a cake maker (God help me), but as a human being. Those studs challenged me to not give up, to keep trying, to figure it out.
I never would have tried so hard if it were just about me. This was for my kid. My fan. So I doubled down. And in the process, I got a tremendous benefit: I learned. I persevered. I created.
Every creative endeavor meets this moment of challenge: do you give up, or keep trying? Do you listen to everyone around you that says your way is wrong ("Use peanut butter cups!" "Use brownies!"), or do you keep trying to figure out the way that will work for you ("But all I have is cake, frosting, and chocolate chips. Hmm, I wonder...")?
Maybe it will work, maybe it won't, and maybe you'll throw it out and start over. But one things for certain: you won't quit until you figure it out. And maybe, just maybe, if you're like most creatives, you'll come up with some clever new way of doing/being/experiencing the world that will inspire your fans and deepen that connection in a way that makes them love you even more.
Isn't that what it means to be a creative anyway?
==========
If you're looking for a community of creatives that are encouraging each other to step up and keep figuring out the way that will work for who you are, join us in the Accountability Club. Every month we take specific action on goals that moves us closer to our dreams. Only a few spots remain and when they're gone, you'll have to get on the wait list.
Here in the U.S., it's almost Thanksgiving, which means, black friday, cyber monday, and a whole lot of campy, cheesy, in-your-face marketing to ply you into buying more "stuff" to make your holiday complete.
Blech.
It's one of the reasons I do an annual give-back campaign each November around the anniversary of my launch of The Secret Watch. Last year, we gave away over 1000 books. This year, we're doing a week-long event, so I can't wait to see how it all shakes out on December 1. You can learn more about the give-back event here (there are a few cool prizes I'm giving away, too!).
It's one way I stay top-of mind with my audience without the crazy "sell. Sell! SELL!" of the holidays. But this kind of marketing madness can happen any time of year, as this week's post proves. I managed to contrive a "reason" for having a crazy sale for every month of the year... and one heart-centered approach that works all year long.
The best marketing, regardless of the season, is caring for your clients. (click to tweet)
Side note: For St. Patrick's Day, I was trying to point out my green shirt, not my boobs. *sigh*
I hope you get a kick out of this fun little video. After you've watched it, I'd love to hear your ideas for heart-centered marketing during the holidays (at any time of year). Share your ideas in the comments so we can all learn a thing or two about marketing done right.