Creative Business Success Jenn Zellers

Welcome to Season 2 Episode 6 of the Creative Business Success Podcast! I'm psyched about today's episode because we're going to be talking about something you don't hear a lot in creative business circles: how working for exposure can be GOOD for your business! Elizabeth, the artist behind By Elizabeth Hope, is joining me today to share how and when exposure can be truly beneficial for your business's bottom line and how to figure out when it's okay to work for exposure.
Here's a cheat sheet of some of the episode highlights:
Elizabeth's intro, 1:03
"Exposure is the bad guy!" 2:05
Elizabeth's experiences with working for exposure, 2:45
How to find the right opportunities to work for exposure, 5:29
Know your audience before working for exposure, 6:57
Working for exposure when starting your creative business, 10:13
Working for exposure as practice for working with clients, 11:06
Should you get paid for other work before working for exposure? 12:41
One of the most effective digital marketing methods, 15:17
NEVER PAY TO WORK FOR EXPOSURE, 15:53
Get creative with the value from working for exposure, 17:51
How to use working for exposure as marketing, 18:26
How to use working for exposure as business networking, 21:02
Presenting yourself professionally while working for exposure, 21:41
Improving your creative business through working for exposure, 22:23
Choosing when and who to work for exposure, 24:22
Finding GREEN flags before working for exposure, 25:53
Other times to work for exposure, 27:01
Vetting someone before working for exposure, 28:47
Elizabeth's closing thoughts on working for exposure, 31:34
Where to connect with Elizabeth, 33:15
Let's dive deeper into a few of these key takeaways...

1 | Know your value when working for exposureIf you're working for exposure simply because you don't think anyone will pay you for your creative work - STOP. That is the worst time to work for exposure and it'll only degrade your confidence as a creative entrepreneur. We mentioned this several times in this episode because it's such an important point.
Some folks are confident enough in their creative work before they make a sale that it's okay for them to work for exposure before that. If that's not you, though, wait until you make a few sales before you seek out or accept exposure work. Knowing your own value will help you communicate that to your work-for-exposure clients and keep you from getting suckered into a bad experience.
Working for exposure can be good for creative entrepreneurs, but you have to know yourself. Give yourself a self-evaluation to determine if you're mentally ready to work for exposure or if you should wait.

2 | Vet your clients before working for exposureYou may have heard Elizabeth mention that SHE sought out her work-for-exposure clients, not the other way around. This is the opposite of most work-for-exposure stories. By seeking out her clients, Elizabeth was able to validate the opportunity before accepting it.
One of Elizabeth's key criteria for accepting a work-for-exposure project was the charities the project would support. When she and her client have a mutual goal for the project, it helps Elizabeth know they share some of the same values and that they aren't in it to take advantage of her.
Another good way to vet a client before working for exposure is to ask if they have a plan for marketing. If you can create a marketing plan with them before starting the project, you'll both be more likely to get good returns from the project. If they aren't willing to...

Welcome to Season 2 Episode 5 of the Creative Business Success Podcast! Crystal over at Crystal Clear Photography is a killer product photographer. If you're a product-based creative entrepreneur and you haven't checked out her work, you definitely should! I invited her onto the podcast today to share her best tips to help YOU improve your product photography. It doesn't have to be as hard as it may seem!

Here's a cheat sheet of some of the episode highlights:
Crystal's intro, 0:59
How to improve your product photography lighting, 1:56
How to handle product photography shadows, 3:12
Should you use ring lights in product photography? 4:20
What to use instead of ring lights, 4:39
How to style your art photography or product photography, 7:03
Know your branding! Listen to Episode 2 of Season 2, 7:34
Why knowing your ideal audience is important for product photography, 7:57
How to use your ideal audience to style your product photography, 9:05
Tips for lifestyle product photography, 10:39
Taking photographs of your art, 12:08
Get even more product photography tips and tools! 12:27
Creating a story with your product photography and brand photography, 15:19
How to edit your product photographs, 16:21
Color temperature in product photography, 17:46
Should you use Lightroom on your phone? 19:07
Lightroom Mobile vs. desktop, 20:18
Storing your product photographs, 21:48
Make time to practice your product photography! 22:45
Check out Crystal's product photography course and presets, 23:32
Where to connect with Crystal, 24:59
Let's dive deeper into a few of these key takeaways...

1 | Lighting is key to product photographyA lot can be forgiven in product photography if you have good lighting. After all, if you can't see the product in the photo, you're probably going to ignore it! Crystal recommends using natural light as much as possible, but if you don't have access to a location with good natural light for your product photography, there are alternatives.
Crystal recommends avoiding ring lights unless you're doing beauty photography or something along those lines. However, softbox lighting kits are a great alternative that won't break the bank. I finally bought a softbox kit after Crystal and I recorded this episode and it's crazy how much of a difference it can make!
If all you can control is the lighting for your product photography, DO IT. It's the first step toward professional-looking product photos and can be the difference between someone buying your product or ignoring it.

2 | Keep your audience in mind when styling your product photographyKnowing who your ideal audience is can be an important factor when it comes to styling your product photography. Your ideal audience may be different than the audience of another creative entrepreneur and because of that, you may need to style your product photography differently than they do. If you style your product photography for the wrong audience, they won't connect with it and you could lose sales!
If you don't know your ideal audience's tastes very well, check out Episode 2 of this season and soak up Britt and Kelsey's tips. Establishing a solid brand, including knowing your ideal audience, can have a big...

Welcome to Season 2 Episode 4 of the Creative Business Success Podcast! I'm super excited to introduce you to Laura today. In case you missed the Accelerate Your Creative Biz Summit in spring 2019, Laura was one of the speakers and she had so many fantastic nuggets of wisdom that I knew I needed to have her on the podcast as well. Today, she's going to be giving you her best tips for increasing referrals - aka essentially free advertising! - to get new clients in your creative business. It may not be what you immediately think of, either, so don't miss this one!
Here's a cheat sheet of some of the episode highlights:
Laura's intro, 1:04
Get access to Laura's summit session, 2:12
Laura's secret to increasing referrals, 2:59
Laura's story of increasing photography referrals, 4:27
How client experience helps increase referrals, 7:12
Can a neutral client experience decrease referrals? 9:08
Client communication is key! 10:32
Why you need a standardized client experience, 11:58
Do you use your clients' first names? 14:55
Do you struggle with email marketing? 16:19
Why managing your energy is crucial for referrals, 16:54
You can transfer your energy to your clients! 20:23
You need to create a referral program, 22:14
Be proactive and not reactive in your creative business, 25:20
Give memorable client gifts after a project, 27:35
Laura's closing thoughts on increasing referrals, 29:42
Where to connect with Laura, 33:15
Let's dive deeper into a few of these key takeaways...

1 | Client experience is crucial to referrals!No matter what kind of creative business you run, a good client experience can make or break when it comes to getting referrals. If someone has a bad client experience, you'll get negative word of mouth, but if they have a so-so client experience, they just won't talk about it at all! As Laura's experience shows, having a stellar client experience can net you dozens or even hundreds of additional referrals than you would get otherwise.
You can start with something as simple as addressing your potential clients by name. Do this in email, in person, and when referring to them on social media or to other people. That little bit of personalization can go a long way!
Do you provide a fantastic client experience for your customers? If it's not the kind of experience that they HAVE to tell their friends about (and thus send you referrals!), it's time to step up your game and make it outstanding!

2 | You need a standardized workflowAgain, no matter what kind of creative business you have, this is key. Without a standardized workflow, it's a lot harder to provide a stellar client experience! You end up scrambling, forgetting things, and letting your clients down. And no one wants that!
If you don't have a workflow in place (and hopefully at least partially automated!), Laura and I strongly encourage you to get that set up. If you're a photographer, Laura has workflow guides, email templates, and more in her shop.
Bonus tip: if you're an artist, photographer, or designer, I highly recommend Dubsado to help you automate your workflows. It's a tool created for creative entrepreneurs by creative entrepreneurs that helps you with everything from lead capture to invoicing and workflow management. It can be a serious sanity saver!
Take a moment to create or update your creative business workflows today! Taking that time now can increase your referrals tenfold down the road.

3 | Get a referral program set up!It's easy to think that referrals will be organic and 'just...

Welcome to Season 2 Episode 3 of the Creative Business Success Podcast! In this episode, I talked with Sarah from Love and Spreadsheets, who's here to show you how creating a system can help you do more in your business - without melting your brain. The best part is that the tool she uses and recommends is 100% free!Here's a cheat sheet of some of the episode highlights:Sarah's intro, 1:01How Trello works, 1:46How to use Trello in your business, 2:40The two Trello boards to start with, 3:40How to organize your business with Trello, 4:38Keeping your business moving, 9:21Start simple with Trello, 11:41Start small with Trello, 12:41Is Trello really for you, 13:54Keep everything straight with a client portal! 14:18Documenting your business processes, 16:02'Secret' Trello tips! 17:31Using Trello as an editorial calendar, 18:27Using Trello PowerUps, 18:49Using Trello if you're visual or kinesthetic, 23:30Who Trello ISN'T great for, 25:43Where to connect with Sarah, 28:45Let's dive deeper into a few of these key takeaways...1 | You should use Trello if...If you're a visual or kinesthetic person (i.e. you learn best when you can see something or when you can interact with something), Trello could be a great fit for you. But here's the thing: no tool is the perfect fit for every person on the planet. And Trello is no exception.If you're a list-oriented person who loves crossing off your to-do list, Trello might not be for you. If you need have more complex needs, like Gantt charts (oh man, I love me some good Gantt charts! *nerd alert* 🥰), Trello may not work for your either. Trello is a very straightforward, simple tool, which is FANTASTIC in many situations, especially if you need to reduce overwhelm.Not sure if Trello is right for you? Just give it a try! You can sign up for a free account or trial of any of the productivity tools you're considering and see which one works best for you.2 | Your first two Trello boardsSarah recommends creating an All Things Business board and an Operations Manual board. That means that you have your All Things Business (ATB) board to use as your 'brain dump,' catching all the things that don't fit anywhere else or that you just want to keep in one place. Sarah suggests using the ATB board for routine tasks, organizing things like courses you're taking, content management, etc.The Operations Manual board can be used for things like answers to commonly asked business questions, brand info, affiliate links, etc. It gives you a place to refer to when you need to quickly grab something related to your business so you don't have to search through three different tools to find it.Pick one of these Trello boards to create and start from there!3 | How Trello can keep your creative business movingThere can be a lot of moving pieces in a creative business. The cool thing about Trello is that it's visual and interactive, so you can see exactly where different pieces are in a process. If you're onboarding clients, you can have a board where you move cards for each client along the process, for example.Being able to see what pieces need to move forward to keep everything flowing can make a huge difference in your business!Want to connect with Sarah?You can find her on her website, and on Instagram and Pinterest @loveandspreadsheets. You should also check out Sarah's Trello resources page to learn more about Trello. Don't forget to subscribe to the Creative Business Success Podcast for more episodes and share your biggest takeaways in the comments! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome to Season 2 Episode 2 of the Creative Business Success Podcast! In this episode, I talked with the amazing Britt and Kelsey from Launch Your Daydream, where they provide branding and web design for photographers. These ladies are pros at helping creative entrepreneurs master their branding and stand out in a crowded market. After they spoke at the Accelerate Your Creative Biz Summit, I knew this dynamic duo would be perfect for the podcast too. I can't wait to dive into branding with them, so let's get started!
Here's a cheat sheet of some of the episode highlights:
Britt + Kelsey's intro, 0:57
Branding foundations, 6:14
The Brand Pizza, 6:59
Establishing your niche, 9:28
Fears and the importance of niching down, 12:09
-Take some things off your business plate!-, 14:00
How to niche down as an artist or maker, 14:38
Finding your differentiator, 19:30
Helping customers remember you, 22:44
A branding exercise for you! 26:20
Where to find Britt + Kelsey online, 26:32
Let's dive deeper into a few of these key takeaways...

1 | Branding is more than just a logoBritt and Kelsey talked about their Brand PIzza framework and it's a great reminder that there's SO much more to branding for creative entrepreneurs (and really anyone!) than just having a good logo. Building a solid brand foundation is crucial to your branding success. Without a good foundation, your creative business 'house' is going to crumble eventually.
Don't rely on your logo or any single piece of your branding to carry you! Make sure to establish your brand foundation to make the most of your creative business.
Have you established your brand foundation? If not, it's not too late! Use the strategies and exercises Britt and Kelsey shared in this episode to create your own creative business brand foundation.

2 | Having a niche you love is important!Do you take every client that comes your way or sell to every Joe Schmo that shows up to your booth at a craft fair? While that's fine at the beginning of a creative business, you don't want to do that forever. Finding a specific audience that you LOVE to serve can make or break your business!
When someone looks for a specific solution to their problem, whether it's finding a photographer for a special occasion or looking for the perfect art for their home, they want to find someone who's GREAT at that specific thing. Specializing in a particular area can actually help you get MORE clients, not less! When you're the go-to person in your creative business niche, it's easier for folks to refer you to new customers.
Have you figured out who your favorite customers are? If not, keep experimenting until you find them! Once you know who you want to work with or make your creative product for, focus on them.

3 | Find your differentiator as a creative entrepreneurEveryone has something that makes them different, even if you don't think that's the case. (I promise, it's true!) Britt and Kelsey shared some fantastic ways to find your own differentiator to help set your creative business apart from the crowd. If you're not sure what makes your creative business unique, it's time to dive in and figure it out!
If you haven't found your differentiator, grab a friend and find THEIR differentiators while they find yours. It's a great way to get an outside perspective on you and your creative business!

4 | Create a stellar client experienceWe've all had bad customer experiences, right? That's why having a fantastic client experience is so important as a...

If you want to take your creative side hustle full-time, you know it's a lot of work. Today's guest, Joyce from Modern Creative Pursuits, did just that, taking her calligraphy business from a side hustle to her thriving full-time career, and she's here to share her tips on how to make the transition to full-time. And even if you're not ready to go full-time, these tips can help you improve your side hustle, too!
Here's a cheat sheet of some of the episode highlights:
Joyce's intro, 0:59
Taking All The Jobs, 4:20
Giving yourself grace, 5:40
When and how to educate yourself, 7:25
When Joyce hired a business coach, 9:08
What to do if you fall out of love with your business, 10:53
Outsourcing to boost business growth, 13:18
Automating to boost business growth, 15:20
Why community is key to business success, 17:40
It's going to be okay! 19:24
Where to connect with Joyce online, 19:55
Let's dive deeper into a few of these key takeaways...

1 | Give yourself graceIt's really easy as creative entrepreneurs to get inside our own heads and feel like we have to do everything right - and get it right the very first time! The truth is, businesses change, sometimes on a daily basis. What you did last year likely won't be what or how you do it this year.
That's a good thing!
Without exploring your business and giving yourself grace when things don't go as expected, you won't be able to grow quite as well. Both Joyce and I have changed our business trajectories and we wouldn't exchange those 'failures' for the world!
Learn how to reframe your 'failures' into learning experiences. This isn't just a cliche - it's a way of life as a creative entrepreneur! Give yourself grace when things don't go to plan and roll with the punches.

2 | Educate yourself - within reasonHave you ever listened to one podcast episode or read one blog post... only to realize two hours later that you just kept going? That's not necessarily a bad thing, but if you aren't implementing what you learned, you've wasted that time.
Joyce talked about how she used to consume, consume, consume other peoples' content. Even if she wasn't at a point in her business where she was ready to implement it, she consumed it for 'later, just in case.' If she had waited to consume that content until she was ready to implement, she could have implemented other strategies that might have gotten her to that point sooner.
If you find yourself consuming a lot of content (even this podcast), STOP. Take a moment to reflect on whether you can implement the education within the next quarter and if not, start a list (in Google Drive, Evernote, or wherever you take notes) of content you want to come back to. Categorize it so it's easy to find when you know you need advice on a particular topic, too!

3 | Community and accountabilityWhen you're running your business by yourself, you can quickly end up feeling isolated. That isolation can in turn lead to despondency and eventually you just stop following through on business tasks because "hey, what does it really matter? No one's watching anyway." That's why community and accountability are so important for creative entrepreneurs!
If you aren't already plugged into a creative community, I invite you to join me over in The LAB for Creative Entrepreneurs Facebook group or join Joyce over in the Creative Biz Society Facebook group! Getting to know other creative entrepreneurs who will understand this crazy business journey can light a fire for your creative business.
Accountability is crucial to your...