Lisa Robbin Young

[Creative Freedom S5EB1]

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.

Listen To The Podcast

Download Season 5 Episode B1 | iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify 

Podcast Show Notes

  • 2:40 - A brief history of the World Wide Web in the last 25 years.
  • 4:35 - Why "profit" isn't just about the money you make.
  • 7:17 - The 25 year evolution of business for a Fusion Creative I didn't do just one thing, and it's turned out just fine, thanks.
  • 12:35 - Why your business needs to be sustainable, not just profitable.
  • 15:00 - Why now is the time for "compassionate hustle".
  • 16:25 - The most important lesson I've learned as a creative entrepreneur
  • 20:20 - How to build a healthier, growth-oriented mindset

Mentioned In This Episode

Rising Tide Members

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!

Sponsors & Credits

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/

[Creative Freedom S5E10]

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!⁠

Listen To The Podcast

Download Season 5 Episode 10 | iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify 

Podcast Show Notes

  • 2:45 - a little behind-the-scenes from filming on the new Disney+ show, Encore!
  • 5:32 - How doing a shorter season for my show, instead of a year-round production, allows me to play to my strengths as a Fusion Creative while still creating quality content for my audience.
  • 8:00 How the phrase "EPIC CONTENT" has actually devolved into a notion that keeps creatives stuck in perpetual creation mode.
  • 12:15 The 4 elements of engaging compelling content that you can use in any format at any time.
  • 20:20 The one place where creatives consistently fall down in their content marketing

Mentioned In This Episode

Rising Tide Members

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!

Sponsors & Credits

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/

[Creative Freedom S5E9]

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!

Listen To The Podcast

Download Season 5 Episode 9 | iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify 

Podcast Show Notes

  • 4:00 - Five ways you can track and secure all your great ideas, from low-tech to high tech, including a hybrid form that I'm eager to start exploring.
  • 7:43 - The mindset is more important than the mastery. Here's how to put your mindset to work for you with all your ideas.
  • 12:15 - for all you skeptics out there, let's talk about the "name it and claim it" mindset about bringing your ideas to life.
  • 13:30 - The advice I give my clients about taking action on their goals and ideas
  • 15:45 - How to flip the script on the "I'm not worthy" feeling and get clear on which ideas to pursue first with the "idea interview"
  • 19:11 - An example from my own business that illustrates how we decide on new projects and what gets tabled for later.
  • 20:00 - The problem with "High impact, minimal effort" decision making, and how to improve it, with examples from my own business.
  • 22:25 - Like we learned with toasters and light bulbs, sometimes the ideas you get aren't meant for you to pursue or bring to market. Here's why that's actually a great thing.
  • 26:10 - how opportunity costs help keep you focused on what really matters (if you're paying attention).

Mentioned In This Episode

Rising Tide Members

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!

Sponsors & Credits

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/

[Creative Freedom S5E8]

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.

Listen To The Podcast

Download Season 5 Episode 8 | iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify 

Podcast Show Notes

  • 1:34 Why getting super specific in your niche (target market) might be problematic when you're just getting started.
  • 4:35 The Six Sigma tool that helps you find the real reasons why your clients buy from you.
  • 10:00 How to triangulate your best clients through "people types" that match your core values.
  • 11:25 Two questions to ask your potential audience to help narrow your niche and avoid working in an unprofitable market.
  • 14:45 Why paying for ads might not be a good idea with a new niche
  • 19:35 How to test your new niche and how to know if you've picked the wrong one

Mentioned In This Episode

Rising Tide Members

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!

Sponsors & Credits

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/

[Creative Freedom S5E7]

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!

Listen To The Podcast

Download Season 5 Episode 7 | iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify 

Podcast Show Notes

  • 2:53 - Why you may need a mindset shift around pricing and high-priced offers
  • 5:10 - Why you probably can't charge less than $100/hr and why $500/hr may be more reasonable.
  • 8:40 - How pricing mythology means a company like Starbucks can charge more than McDonald's
  • 14:00 - How your audience is a factor in pricing.
  • 23:00 - IPA2 is the key to your livelihood in business
  • 25:43 - Another approach to pricing: Mark Silver's Resonant Pricing Exercise

Mentioned In This Episode

Rising Tide Members

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!

Sponsors & Credits

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/

[Creative Freedom S5E6]

How ya liking the new website? Have you checked out the virtual card deck or taken the new version of the quiz yet? I haven't done a formal post yet about all the changes. That's coming soon. Right now, I'm coming off the high that is Creative Freedom Live. I got home earlier this week, and it's been fun to unwind and "recover" from such an amazing weekend. More on that later, too!

Today, though, I'm going to do my darndest to make business models approachable and easy to navigate. Just hearing the word “business model” can conjure up spreadsheets, process diagrams, flow charts, and other stress-inducing imagery. But business models don't have to be stressful. 

Once you figure out your unique business model, you’ll like how sexy the results are: more money, meaning, and impact. More Raving Fans for your work, more freedom, and more time to focus on what’s truly important to you. 

The best part? It isn’t hard to figure out. The hard parts are sitting down to DO the work and then staying true to the business model that works for you. If you follow along today, you’ll even have some of that handled, too.

Listen To The Podcast

Download Season 5 Episode 6 iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify 

Podcast Show Notes

  • 4:51 - A true story "cold" calling - and how that model works, but at what cost?
  • 8:28 - 360-degree business design and the business model "equation"
  • 10:20 - questions to ask yourself to help get clarity on the first part of the equation
  • 12:50 - Creatives can't usually "Start with why" like Simon Sinek suggests, but "why" is an important SECOND question
  • 14:00 - Finding the people most likely to say "Yes" to your offers
  • 16:37 - How the second half of the equation falls together more easily
  • 18:35 - The flexibility of the "What" and "How" elements of the equation

Mentioned In This Episode

Rising Tide Members

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!

Sponsors & Credits

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/

[Creative Freedom S5E4]

Sales coach and author, Jeffrey Gitomer, famously said, "Customer satisfaction is worthless... do you want your wife to be satisfied or loyal?"

It's a little crude, but the point is well taken. As a creative entrepreneur, having a loyal following means you've got Raving Fans who love your work, support you financially, and you can make great money doing what you love. If they're not loyal, they'll drop you like a hot rock as soon as someone new hits the scene.

So how do you build customer loyalty?

L.O.V.E.

It's an acronym for the 4 actions that draw your audience closer and help you build meaningful, loyal relationships with them.

Listen To The Podcast

Download Season 5 Episode 4 | iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify 

Podcast Show Notes

  • 2:30 The best way to stimulate the Know, Like, and Trust factor with your audience
  • 7:33 Why your audience will say one thing publicly and do the opposite.
  • 9:11 The simple approach one recording artist used to crowdsource more than one hot-selling record.
  • 13:50 Why I think surveys are a waste of time for creatives.
  • 15:24 An example of how I used my social media "listening station" to create engaging content for my audience.
  • 18:10 How being a "creature of comparison" can be helpful (and hurtful) to your business.
  • 23:34 How one artist created a line of potential buyers for a collage before it was ready for sale.

Mentioned in this episode:

Rising Tide Members

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!

Sponsors & Credits

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/

[Creative Freedom S5E3]

One of the things that stops creatives from growing their business is a fear that they don’t have the credibility it takes to attract quality clients. Fusion Creatives tend to be “credential collectors” which stops you from bringing your Great Work to the world. This episode shares five things you can do (starting today) to build credibility in your niche, even if you’re just starting out.

Listen to the Podcast

Download Season 5 Episode 3 | iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify 

Podcast Show Notes

  • 2:01  – What a well known “Trust Barometer” tells us about building trust in today’s marketplace
  • 3:38 – How Muhammad Ali, Steve Jobs, and Lady Gaga built credible brands (hint: it’s not sexy!)
  • 9:08 – How I built credibility when I first started in the online world.
  • 11:18 – Questions to ask to get powerful testimonials
  • 14:03 – How to ETHICALLY borrow the credibility of peers and influencers
  • 22:23 – A subtle “underground advertising” technique to get more press coverage

Mentioned in this episode:


Rising Tide Members

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!

Sponsors & Credits

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 like a lot of creative entrepreneurs, you might still be scrambling to put your goals down on paper for the year. In fact, several guru-types are only just now getting around to leading those goal planning workshops. The folks in A-Club and the Incubator did their annual planning before December, so that they could hit the ground running this year. I'm not bragging (well, okay, maybe a little), I'm trying to illustrate a point that the longer you wait to set your goals, the longer it will be before you can achieve them.

But even if you're only just now getting around to it, there's still one thing you've got to remember to do before you shore up your plans for the new year.  (more…)

In our last episode, I shared some tips to know if an event is worth attending or not. This week, it's only fair I offer some tips and lessons learned from my past 10+ years of doing live events. From basic teleclasses and online concerts to big, multi day virtual and in-person events, here are 8 lessons I learned - the hard way - that can save you a LOT of headaches and lost money when planning your next live event.

Update: Creative Freedom Live is filling up! We've got 2 private rooms left for the event. If it's a good fit for you, I'd love to see you there!

What kind of support do you need to make your next event a success?

Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments. Your insights may spark a conversation that helps someone else!

Mentioned in this episode:

Rising Tide Members

If you haven't already downloaded this week's bonus content, you'll want to do that here. Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for email updates, you also get access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and other downloadables!

Credits and Sponsors

Fashion jewelry from Kerianne at FancyBargain.com. Tell her you saw her bling on Creative Freedom!

Music: "Welcome to the Show" by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0